# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (November 2006)



## GAP (1 Nov 2006)

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

*I will build more and kill less, says Nato's Afghanistan general*
By Michael Evans and Anthony Loyd November 01, 2006 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2431423,00.html

Winter campaign is to improve country rather than kill insurgents 
  
The general says 'armchair critics' in Britain fail to see the progress being made in Afghanistan (Musadeq Sadeq/AP) 
  
THE British general commanding all 31,000 Nato troops in Afghanistan has pledged to focus his winter campaign on development projects rather than killing Taleban fighters. 
Lieutenant-General David Richards conceded that significant improvements were needed over the next few months to persuade Afghans to “keep the faith” with the Nato mission. 

In an interview with The Times, General Richards said that he aimed to switch all the efforts of his 37-nation force towards protecting and enabling “visible” reconstruction projects. He was ready to “put a security cloak” around rebuilding programmes that would make an immediate difference to the people. 

The shift follows months of fighting in which hundreds of Afghans have been killed in some of the toughest fighting experienced by British troops facing a resurgent Taleban. While not playing down the threat still posed by the Taleban, General Richards said he hoped that the “kinetic energy” that marked the first six months of his command would ease through the winter. Forty-six Nato troops have died in Afghanistan this year. 

“Something that really hit me in the eye was just how important it was for the Afghan people for us to prove that we could fight and defend their areas. We did prove this but we don’t need to carry on doing this in the long term, and I hope the fighting element throughout the winter will be minimal compared with what our troops have had to face in the summer,” he said. 
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Al-Qaeda leaders frequented bombed Pakistan madrassa: official
10-31-2006, 20h08 ISLAMABAD (AFP)
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=149204

A religious school destroyed in Pakistani airstrikes was frequented by top Al-Qaeda militants including Ayman Al-Zawahiri and the alleged mastermind of the foiled London airliners attack, a senior security official said.

Neither Zawahiri -- Osama bin Laden's Egyptian-born deputy -- nor Abu Obaida Al-Misri were in the Islamic school, or madrassa, at the time of the raid on Monday, the official said in a briefing to journalists.

Thousands of tribesmen rallied earlier Tuesday saying the seminary in the Bajaur tribal agency near the Afghan border was harmless and that the 80 people who died in the helicopter raid were all civilians, mostly young students.

"The madrassa that was targeted was frequently visited by Al-Qaeda leaders, including Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Abu Obaida Al-Misri," the security official said on condition of anonymity.

He said Al-Misri was Al-Qaeda's operational commander in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province and was also the mastermind behind August's alleged conspiracy to blow up jets flying from London to the United States.

Al-Misri was responsible for guiding Rashid Rauf, a British national arrested by Pakistan in August in connection with the alleged plot, the official said.
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2 NATO troops killed in eastern Afghan bombing
Updated Tue. Oct. 31 2006 7:23 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061031/nato_soldiers_061031/20061031?hub=CanadaAM

A roadside bomb killed two NATO soldiers and wounded two others on patrol in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nuristan on Tuesday.

The two wounded soldiers were transported to an American military facility in Asadabad in neighbouring Kunar province.

The roadside bomb struck the soldiers' vehicle in the province of Nuristan, NATO said.

NATO did not release the nationalities of the soldier but American troops are the bulk of the NATO component in eastern Afghanistan. 

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast in the restive region, which is a bastion for militants as well as a stronghold for former prime minister and militant leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. 

Taliban's top military commander, Mullah Dadullah, said the attack was triggered by a remote controlled device, according to unconfirmed reports from Reuters.

Meanwhile, NATO reported that its warplanes killed 12 insurgents in Kandahar province as "they tried to occupy firing positions on the roof of a compound."

The troops also reported that suspected militants launched an attack on a convoy of foreign troops in Nuristan.

There are a number of casualties in that attack, a NATO spokesman said, without offering further details. 

In Ghazni province, meanwhile, a suicide bomber detonated himself Tuesday in the office of the chief of Andar district. 

One police officer was killed and another wounded when they tried to keep the attacker from entering the office of the chief, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Ghafar told The Associated Press.
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Who pays for Afghanistan's Tim Hortons?
Canadian taxpayer foots nearly $4-million bill  
Hannah Boudreau, Brian Liu  globalnational.com  Tuesday, October 31, 2006
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=925e280d-e9fc-402e-a121-151618ddd9d6&k=17995

OTTAWA -- In late June 2006, a pair of Soviet-era Illyushin-76 transport planes left Canada, carrying inside their cargo bellies tonnes of precisely chilled ingredients for making doughnuts and bagels. 

Along with the precious cargo, six Canadian experts made the 10,000-kilometre journey over the North Pole to a region of the world from which Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs advises its citizens to stay away.

That place was Kandahar, Afghanistan, home to roughly 2,300 Canadian soldiers who are there to fight terrorism and rebuild the nation. Their mission was simple: to set up and train a team of Canadians to open the first Tim Hortons franchise outside of North America, at a place where Canadians feel furthest away from home.

Although while the Oakville, Ont.-based company initially balked at opening a franchise nine time zones from their main market (Canada and the U.S.), negotiations between Tim Hortons and the Department of National Defence eventually led to what was initially thought to be a private franchise operation on the Kandahar airfield -- the site of Canada's main base of operations in the region.

However, through Access to Information requests, Global National has learned that it took a lot more than thirsty soldiers longing for a "double-double" morale boost to open the Afghan coffee shop -- to the tune of nearly $4 million in Canadian taxpayers' dollars.

Upon the March announcement of the plans to open the Kandahar branch, Tim Hortons announced in a press release that it would convert a trailer normally used for restaurant renovations and deliver it to the Canadian Forces for use in Afghanistan.

Documents obtained now show that in fact, two trailers were purchased and retrofitted at the cost of $378,000. And renting the two Illyushin-76 cargo planes to transport the trailers over? The Canadian government picked up the $425,000 tab for that too.

The costs don't stop there: 

More on link

Canadian soldiers are not enough
Unless Hamid Karzai cracks down on his government's corruption, the people will keep making room for Taliban, says author and Kandahar businesswoman SARAH CHAYES 
SARAH CHAYES  From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/RTGAM.20061003.wcoafghan03/BNStory/specialComment/home

'Are you going back to Kandahar?"

On a speaking tour in the United States and Canada, I keep hearing this question. The recent assassination of Safia Ama Jan, the provincial director of women's affairs in Kandahar, not to mention the death of yet another Canadian soldier, has made people wonder whether the violence in Afghanistan has taken a quantum leap that would cause me to reconsider.

I have lived in Kandahar for nearly five years -- arriving originally as a radio reporter, then deciding to stay on to help rebuild. Currently, I run a small co-operative that manufactures fine skin-care products and exports them to Canada and the United States. For residents of Kandahar, like me, who have been watching the apparently inexorable decline, Safia Ama Jan's killing seemed utterly within the realm of normalcy. More than a year ago, in late May of 2005, the head of the provincial council of religious leaders -- a much more important person locally than Safia Ama Jan -- was gunned down outside his office right next to the seat of provincial government. Three days later, my best Afghan friend, the chief of the Kabul police, was blown up along with 21 other people at the oldest mosque in town, at a prayer service in memory of the slain mullah.

At that time, it seemed to me that nothing could ever get worse.
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Drawing battle lines
Sun Media sent undercover employees to the street where they gauged the pulse of the nation 
By THANE BURNETT
http://torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Burnett_Thane/2006/10/31/pf-2186194.html

There is a quiet divide in our country. 

It is between those who believe we should remain fighting in Afghanistan and those who hope we find a way out now. 

But unlike our neighbours to the south, most Canadians don't often take a stand on corners to express and press our world views. 

Last weekend's anti-war protests in Canadian cities, as well a few pro-mission gatherings weeks earlier, are rare and include only a small number of our voices. 

We're usually so very quiet in our convictions and conversations, as we walk by one another on crowded streets. So I'm looking for signs to break the silence -- and get us talking. 

Over the past week, in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and London, Sun Media journalists, including myself, have stood on our busiest boulevards, carrying sandwich boards and waving placards which spelled out battle lines on our home front. 

One day, our billboards called for us to hold fast in Afghanistan. In my case, the words were "Support Our Troops" -- the acknowledged slogan to stay the course. 

Then the next day, the placards changed to a call of withdrawal -- "Canada Out of Afghanistan." 
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US's Afghan policies going up in smoke  
By Ann Jones 
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HK01Df01.html

On the fifth anniversary of the start of the Bush administration's war in Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld wrote an upbeat op-ed in the Washington Post on that hapless country's "hopeful and promising" trajectory. He cited only two items as less than "encouraging": "the legitimate worry that increased poppy production could be a destabilizing factor" and the "rising violence in southern Afghanistan". 

That rising violence - a full-scale onslaught by the resurgent Taliban - put Afghanistan back in the headlines this summer and 
brought consternation to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) governments (from Canada to Australia) whose soldiers are now dying in a land they had been led to believe was a peaceful "success story". 

Lieutenant-General David Richards, the British commander of NATO troops that took over security in embattled southern Afghanistan from the US in July, warned at the time, "We could actually fail here." In October, he argued that if NATO did not bring security and significant reconstruction to the alienated Pashtun south within six months - the mission the US failed to accomplish during the past five years - the majority of the populace might well switch sympathies to the Taliban. 
More on link

 Taliban handpick their targets
By Jason Motlagh   Oct 28, 2006
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HJ28Df03.html

KABUL - Taliban militants are targeting Afghan government officials in yet another nod to Iraqi insurgents, marked by a spike in assassinations and attempted attacks in recent weeks that coincide with a greater reliance on suicide terrorism and the use of imported bomb technologies. 

The killings appear to represent a systematic campaign to undermine the weak government of President Hamid Karzai, both to create fear in urban centers with a heavy security presence and distant provinces that have in past months experienced the 
bloodiest fighting since the hardline movement was ousted five years ago for harboring al-Qaeda operatives. 

"This really is a deliberate campaign to assassinate Afghan officials," Barnett R Rubin, a leading expert on Afghanistan at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Asia Times Online. "We have seen well-placed suicide bombers operating more effectively than they ever have before." 

Suicide attacks have killed seven government officials so far this year, with many near misses. The upward trend began when Paktia provincial governor Abdul Hakim Taniwal, a Karzai confidant, was killed along with two aides on September 10 outside his office by a suicide bomber, followed by another strike at his funeral service the next day that claimed six lives. 

A district police chief, an intelligence officer and an administrator in the eastern province of Nangarhar died on October 9 when a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle en route to check on a school that had been torched. 

Last month, a gunman killed Safia Ama Jan, the director of the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Kandahar province, a Taliban stronghold, after which four other female state employees opted to quit their posts. Two other provincial governors have since escaped assassination attempts, including one last month in which a suicide bomber killed 18 people outside the governor's compound in Helmand province. This week a provincial councilman was slain in Kandahar, prompting the council to double the amount of bodyguards on hand. 
More on link

Taliban demand release of hostage  
By Danish Karokhel Oct 26, 2006  
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HJ26Df03.html

(A review of Gabriele Torsello's book, The Heart of Kashmir , can be found at A story in black and white, Asia Times Online, Jan 26, 2004) 

KABUL - An Italian freelance photojournalist kidnapped in southern Afghanistan by unidentified gunmen should be immediately released, a Taliban spokesman said on Tuesday. 

Gabriele Torsello was abducted with his Afghan assistant on October 12 between Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province, and Kandahar. Five armed men stopped their taxi and took them away, according to Ghulam Mohammad, a fellow-passenger. 

The kidnappers had threatened to kill the photojournalist, who is now a practicing Muslim, unless Italy returned Abdul Rahman, an Afghan Christian convert who was given asylum, and also withdrew its soldiers from the country. This deadline has passed. 

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, a so-called Taliban spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News by phone from an undisclosed location that the journalist was innocent and must not be made to pay for the actions of the Italian government. "The abductors who claimed they were Taliban did so only to defame us," he said. 

"Kidnappers of the Italian journalist are robbers and they have abducted the journalist for money. We will drag them to court if we find them," he declared. 

Torsello had visited the Musa Qala and Sangin districts of restive Helmand province. The Taliban, who have appealed for his release, said that they provided the photojournalist with security during his five-day assignment in the two districts. 
More on link

*Gross stupidity in Afghanistan*
By Ajai Sahni Oct 25, 2006 
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HJ25Df01.html

The US-led coalition is unambiguously losing the war in Afghanistan, and it is important, at this stage, to reiterate the obvious, that is, precisely why the war was undertaken in the first instance: because of September 11, 2001, because of the al-Qaeda presence in Afghanistan, and because of the assessment that the Taliban regime there had provided safe haven and operational facilitation to al-Qaeda for its planning and execution of the multiple and catastrophic strikes in the United States. The war was not merely punitive, it was intended to be preventive. It has proved a failure on both counts. 

As with all the pertinent leaderships confronted with the possibility, if not imminence, of defeat, saving face has become infinitely more important than the original objectives of this war. It is useful to emphasize here that this was not a war of conquest, or even of "liberation" (despite the rhetoric of "Enduring Freedom"), but of defense. Its principal objective was to deny a base for future September 11s to be strategized, planned and executed. 

But the Taliban and al-Qaeda have survived - albeit somewhat damaged - and, if current trends persist, will soon have the freedom, the power and the required setting to plan out their next wave of attacks against the West. And Western - particularly US - leaderships are squarely to blame for this. US diplomat Alberto Fernandez has spoken scathingly of the "stupidity in Iraq", but the stupidity in Afghanistan is far more manifest, and was considerably the more avoidable. 
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No 'real change' for Afghan women   
By Pam O'Toole  BBC News  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6100842.stm

Millions of Afghan women still face discrimination, the report says 
An international women's rights group says guarantees given to Afghan women after the fall of the Taleban in 2001 have not translated into real change. 
Womankind Worldwide says millions of Afghan women and girls continue to face systematic discrimination and violence in their households and communities. 

The report admits that there have been some legal, civil and constitutional gains for Afghan women. 

But serious challenges remain and need to be addressed urgently, it states. 

These include challenges to women's safety, realisation of civil and political rights and status. 

Self-harming 

Womankind Worldwide sent a film crew to Afghanistan to investigate the situation of women there. 

They found a young Afghan woman crying in hospital who said she wanted to die. She was recovering after setting fire to herself. 
More on link


*Taliban factions map*
October 30, 2006
http://www.snappingturtle.net/flit/archives/2006_10_30.html#005976

For those who are having trouble (like me) keeping up with the increasingly complex Taliban dynamics in Afghanistan, here's a heavily oversimplified map, just depicting the three major anti-government factions' geographic centers of gravity
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*A Tim Hortons Soldier Fires Back*
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/004896.html

From the comments of the CTV Politics blog (responding to a quote from the Senlis Council's Norine MacDonald in this CTV story);

Re: The Afghanistan conundrum
by Trevo on Sun 29 Oct 2006 08:29 AM EST | Profile | Permanent Link

I'm not quite sure where you're going with the "Our military base in Kandahar has a Burger King and a Tim Hortons. And 15 minutes away, there are children dying of starvation," comment. 

Is it a time issue that determines who should help these children you mention? Is the Tim Hortons you go to, far enough away that you don't care about starving children? Do you really think that because our coffee is closer to starvation, we should feel guilty? So are you saying the closer I am with my coffee to the problem of starving children, the worse I should feel? Further to that, because you are really, really far away, it’s not your concern? 

What are you doing about the children of Afghanistan? You're sitting back in your recliner, after turning up the thermosat and having a warm shower, and deciding we (Canadian soldiers)should feel bad for having a coffee becuase we're closer than you to starving children. So you put down the newspaper, tell the kids to go outside and play, and head over to your computer to “throw” your opinion out there. We're trying to help these kids. We're giving girls the chance to go to school and we are doing our best to make this a safer place for everyone. Some of the greatest people i have ever met in my life have died trying to help these people. We leave our families, missing birthdays, funerals, new births, hockey games, and every comfort we as Canadians can enjoy. Now, we have a Tim Hortons to microscopically ease the burden of putting our lives on hold for 6 months, and bring our morale up for the 7 minutes it takes to drink a double-double.

For me personally, the hardest part of my job was not going to Afghanistan, Bosnia, or Kosovo, but it was the fact that I put my life on the line so that people like you can have these opinions.
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*International Security Assistance Force Map*
http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF/media/pdf/placemat_isaf.pdf

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Majority backs Afghan troop deployment: survey
Updated Mon. Oct. 30 2006 2:16 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061030/tory_reportcard_061030/20061030?hub=Politics

A new survey finds a majority of Canadians support sending troops to Afghanistan, believing they provide "critical assistance" to the local population. 

But at the same time, support for Canada's current mission and confidence that it's making a difference seem to have eroded since the summer. 

The Innovative Research Group Inc. survey of almost 2,500 Canadians was conducted for the Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute -- a Calgary-based lobby group. 

The survey found that 54 per cent of Canadians are willing to put troops in harms way in Afghanistan.
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Tribal fury at air strike in Pakistan
POSTED: 1134 GMT (1934 HKT), October 31, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/31/pakistan.attack.reut/index.html

KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) -- More than 15,000 armed Pakistani tribesmen protested on Tuesday over a Pakistan Army helicopter attack on an al-Qaeda-linked religious school that killed around 80 suspected militants.

Chants of "Down with America" and "Down with Musharraf" rang out as the tribesmen gathered in Khar, main town in the Bajaur tribal region close to the Afghan border, in anger at the air strike.

"Our jihad (holy war) will continue and Inshallah (God willing), people will go to Afghanistan to oust American and British forces," Maulana Faqir Mohammad, a pro-Taliban cleric, told the crowd of turbaned tribals, many carrying Kalashnikovs and wearing bandoliers, and a few shouldering rocket launchers.

While the government claimed the madrasa school at Chenagai was being used to train militants, protesters said the dead, mostly young men aged between 15 and 25, were merely students.

President Pervez Musharraf, speaking at a seminar in Islamabad, said the army had killed militants.

"We were working on them for six or seven days, we know who they were. They were doing military training," Musharraf said.

Nowhere is Musharraf's alliance with the United States in a war on terrorism more unpopular than in the Pashtun tribal belt straddling the Pakistan-Afghan border.

A mountainous region that is difficult to access, Bajaur lies across from the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, where U.S. troops are hunting al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

Along with North and South Waziristan, Bajaur is regarded as a hotbed of support for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
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Canada's David Fraser wraps up deadly mission in southern Afghanistan 
Published: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=411f3403-aaae-4237-bd01-6856a8dc1979&k=2867

 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Canada's Brigadier-General David Fraser has handed NATO control of southern Afghanistan to the Dutch. 

It's a rotational change of command that wraps up a deadly eight months for Fraser in one of the world's most dangerous zones. Fraser says much has been accomplished: new roads, canals and schools. But he concedes that many Afghans are still waiting for help, and that NATO needs more troops to fight back insurgents and finish the job. 

Maj.-Gen.Ton Van Loon of the Netherlands takes over for Fraser in southern Afghanistan. 

Forty-two Canadians and one diplomat have died in the country since 2002
End


Afghanistan to prove to be 3rd Vietnam for U.S.: dissident  
November 01, 2006      
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/01/eng20061101_317263.html   

As leader of the radical Hizb-e- Islami and a former Afghan premier, Gulbudin Hekmatyar warned that this post-Taliban central Asian state would become the third Vietnam for the United States, a Kabul-based newspaper reported Wednesday. 

"Afghanistan will prove to be a third Vietnam for the United States," daily Outlook quoted a statement of the dissident Afghan warlord as saying. 

Terming Iraq as the second Vietnam, Hekmatyar maintained that wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would break the U.S. economic backbone and that its fate would be similar to the former Soviet Union, a reference to the USSR's dismemberment. 

Hekmatyar, a wanted man by the U.S. government, in his statement also called on Afghans to continue Jihad or holy war till the withdrawal of U.S.-dominated foreign forces from Afghanistan. 

It is the second statement issued by Hekmatayr over the past 10 days. In his previous statement released on the eve of Eidul Fitr to mark the end of Muslims fasting month of Ramadan, he called on Afghans to back him in fighting the foreign forces in Afghanistan. 

Source: Xinhua 
End






More on link


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## MarkOttawa (1 Nov 2006)

1) 'Canada responded magnificently'
NATO's top general lauds performance of our troops under fire in Afghanistan
MATTHEW FISHER, CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, November 01, 2006
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=54be8c7e-6871-4353-ad44-2e8fb53a7106&k=81339



> The Taliban specifically targeted Canadian forces in southern Afghanistan this year in an attempt to weaken NATO's political resolve, but the strategy backfired badly on the Islamic extremists, the often outspoken U.S. marine who commands the transatlantic alliance said yesterday.
> 
> "I think the Canadian leadership in the south is the answer to what was a clearly open question in some communities: Would NATO fight if tested?" General James Jones said in an interview at SHAPE, NATO's military headquarters in southern Belgium.
> 
> ...



2) *Foreign military fatalities*--a complete list since 2001 from the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count is here:
http://www.icasualties.org/oef/Afghanistan.aspx

3) *Afstan orbat info *at Wikipedia.  Looks pretty accurate to me.  Interesting that OEF CFC-A is winding up at the end on November.  Note also this--I've often wondered if our BGEN Fraser actually had command of the Brits in Helmand:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan_War_order_of_battle



> The relationship of the British Task Force in Helmand to the MNB RC South is unclear; there may be effectively two brigade HQs for a brigade's worth of troops.



Mark 
Ottawa


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## GAP (2 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 2 November 2006*

3 Journalists Are Hurt in Afghanistan
The Associated Press Thursday, November 2, 2006; 7:46 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/02/AR2006110200273.html

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Three National Geographic TV crew members were hurt in southern Afghanistan last weekend in a roadside bomb blast that killed one U.S. soldier and injured eight, a military official said Thursday.

The three American journalists suffered non-life threatening injuries in the blast Saturday in Uruzgan province, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Matt Hackathorn said. He did not disclose their names.

The Department of Defense has previously said that one American Special Forces soldier died in the blast. Eight other soldiers and an interpreter were injured.

Two of the National Geographic crew members, the producer and the cameraman, were flown to Germany for treatment for face lacerations, Hackathorn said. The crew's soundman suffered a ruptured eardrum; he stayed behind in Afghanistan.

The entertainment Web site TMZ.com, which first reported the injuries, said the crew was embedded with Army Special Forces for an upcoming special called "Inside the Green Berets."
End

Kroll Denies Iraq, Afghanistan Pullout
November 2, 2006 
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2006/11/02/73849.htm?print=1

Kroll, the security division of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, has issued a statement denying reports that it is planning to pull its international security services out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Company stated: "Kroll is remaining in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it has no intention of withdrawing any of its assets. Kroll staff are amongst the most professional, qualified and experienced in their field, and are distinguished for providing the highest quality security services globally. Kroll is fully committed to its clients that operate in Iraq and Afghanistan and will provide security services to them on an ongoing basis in these countries and in other locations worldwide."

However, Kroll also indicated that it has "decided to refocus its security business and is considering the sale of its United Kingdom-based high-risk asset protection business, Kroll Security International."
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Enforcing insecurity in Afghanistan 
by Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls; November 01, 2006  
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=49&ItemID=11312

The following is an excerpt from “Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence” (Seven Stories, 2006) by Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls. 

Once touted as a success in the “War on Terror,” Afghanistan has now deteriorated into increasing violence with the return of warlords, a flourishing drug trade, and ongoing women’s oppression. Additionally, us/NATO bombing raids still claim civilian lives and their brutal “hunt and kill” tactics have ironically resulted in a resurgence of the Taliban. Despite the NATO takeover of “security operations” this summer, Western troops in Afghanistan are more unpopular than ever and per soldier are just as likely to be killed as in Iraq. 

But this descent into violence is a predictable outcome of deliberate U.S. policies over the past five years. As we explain in our new book, Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence (Seven Stories), the U.S. refused to allow UN peacekeeping troops to stabilize Afghanistan outside Kabul, and instead allowed their old allies, the Northern Alliance and other warlords, to regain power and resume their oppression. 

This, in combination with U.S. military policy, has actually increased insecurity and made the Taliban once more a palatable alternative for many Afghans. However, despite the resurgence of the Taliban, “many Afghans [still] cite regional warlords as the greatest source of insecurity (Human Rights Watch).” 

The following is an excerpt from Bleeding Afghanistan, Chapter 3: Replacing One Brutal Regime With Another 

The U.S. ensured that its warlord partners were spared the glare of international oversight by working to restrict international peacekeepers to Kabul for more than two years after the fall of the Taliban. This had the effect of entrenching warlords in rural Afghanistan, where the overwhelming majority of Afghans reside. The New York Times, 

As warlords have carved out chunks of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, the lawlessness that gave rise to the strict Islamic movement in the mid-1990’s has begun to spread, once again, across this country. The United States-led military campaign… has returned to power nearly all of the same warlords who had misruled the country in the days before the Taliban. 
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E.U. Aid to Afghanistan Victims, notes Israel Rafalovich  
http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=2748&blz=1

2006-11-01 | Brussels - The European Union has decided to give 2.5-million Euro in emergency humanitarian aid for the victims that were affected by the drought in Afghanistan.

2.5-million people have been affected by the drought and are facing difficult living conditions. The money will be used to provide food and clean water with special focus on disabled persons and female headed households.

Significantly less snowfall and rain in the last winter season throughout Afghanistan have caused severe drought, as there has been considerable reduction of wheat.

The European Union decision will target the most vulnerable population and the food will be distributed directly to the most needed.

Until now the European Commission has given 77-million Euros in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. All other 25 member states of the European Union are individually making aid donations to Afghanistan.
End

Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan Tallies Operations
On October 26 – 27, 2006 Nov 01, 2006 
http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=106674&list=/home.php
Ahmed Al-Marid, JUS Afghan Correspondent

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Taliban are becoming increasingly savvy not just on the battlefield but in reporting their progress to Muslim Ummah that testifies that the movement is gaining strength. In the communiqué, the Media Committee details operations it carried out fro the two day period commencing October 26, 2006.

Here is their statement, published uncut and uncensored, as translated by JUS.

We remind our viewers that the opinions and points of view expressed in this statement are those of the author and shall not be deemed to mean that they are necessarily those of JUS, the publisher, editor, writers, contributors or staff. In addition, JUS assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of third party content. 

News Report And Tally Of The Military Operations Carried Out By Your Brothers, The Mujahideen Of The Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan-Taliban October 26 – 27, 2006

OCTOBER 27, 2006 

Two Mercenary Troops Killed In Helmand Province Explosion

At around 8 AM this morning, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate killed two army collaborators in a bomb explosion in Bande Bark Area in Helmand Province’s Jreshk district causing death among the soldiers manning a checkpoint near where the explosion occurred.
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EDITORIAL: Honks with heart!
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/Commentary/2006/11/02/2207898.html

Helmets off to the Sun's Andrew Hanon. 

Recently, Hanon, our "public pulse" reporter, along with a team of Sun Media journalists from across Canada hit the streets to gauge public reaction to our troops remaining in Afghanistan. 

Hanon marched around armed with two signs. One supported our continued presence in that wartorn nation, where a fledgling democracy is taking root, and freedoms and privileges that Canadians take for granted are finally being experienced by ordinary Afghans, now that the evil Taliban are being held at bay. 

Another placard, reading "Get our troops out of Afghanistan," echoed the cynical and opportunist words of federal NDP Leader Jack Layton. 

The NDPers and their left-wing friends organized tiny anti-military rallies on the weekend, which attracted large and mostly distorted media coverage. And the mood reflected the message on Hanon's sign. 

According to Hanon's "honk test," when he hung the pro-military message around his neck, the positive reaction went up substantially. 

Hanon's pavement poll complements our equally unscientific - but significant nonetheless - yellow ribbon survey. 

"Support Our Troops" stickers have been appearing on the end-gates of pickups and SUV hatchbacks throughout the city in recent weeks. And for troops serving with the NATO forces overseas - and their loved ones left at home at the Edmonton Garrison - that's a heartwarming message indeed. 

Edmontonians do care. 

Yes, the Afghan casualty rate has been a disturbing consequence of the war, particularly after the bulk of the forces were shifted to the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar from relatively peaceful Kabul. 

For a country whose military has been downgraded to little more than a humanitarian aid agency under successive Liberal governments, having an engaged army takes some getting used to. 

And it will make the Remembrance Day ceremonies next week all the more vivid and personal. 

It certainly brings into sharp contrast the kind of Canada Layton would have in mind if Canadians were foolish and misguided enough to ever elect him and his party to office. 

If fact, it might be a lesson in Canada 101 for Layton to borrow Hanon's sandwich boards and spend some time by the road at rush hour. He'd get a healthy dose of good, old Albertan and Canadian reality. 
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Countering Afghanistan’s Insurgency: No Quick Fixes
Asia Report N°123  2 novembre 2006 
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4485&l=2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Fierce battles rage in southern Afghanistan, insurgent attacks in the east creep towards the provinces surrounding Kabul and a new campaign of terrorist violence targets urban centres. The country’s democratic government is not immediately threatened but action is needed now. This includes putting more international forces into the battle zones but insurgencies are never beaten by military means alone, and there are no quick fixes. Diplomatic pressure on Pakistan is needed, and the government of President Karzai must show political will to respond to internal discontent with serious efforts to attack corruption, work with the elected National Assembly and extend the rule of law by ending the culture of impunity. Afghanistan needs a renewed, long-term effort to build an effective, fair government that provides real security to its people.

The desire for a quick, cheap war followed by a quick, cheap peace is what has brought Afghanistan to the present, increasingly dangerous situation. It has to be recognised that the armed conflict will last many years but the population needs to be reassured now that there is a clear political goal of an inclusive state. Actions to fight the insurgency must be based on and enforce the rule of law with priority given to the reform of the police and judiciary. Short-term measures such as reliance on ill-trained and poorly disciplined militias, harsh, ad hoc anti-terrorism legislation and discredited power brokers from past eras will only undermine the long-term goal of building sustainable institutions. Political strategy talk seems to focus increasingly on making a deal with the Taliban. That is a bad idea. The key to restoring peace and stability to Afghanistan is not making concessions to the violent extremists but meeting the legitimate grievances of the population – who for the most part have eagerly supported democratisation.

The intervention in Afghanistan has been done on the cheap. Compared even to many recent post-conflict situations (Bosnia, Kosovo) it was given proportionately many fewer peacekeepers and less resources – and Afghanistan has never been a post-conflict situation. Even the numbers do not tell the full story since force protection, rather than the creation of durable security, remains the first priority for some NATO members. Those prepared to go south and east to confront the Taliban – mainly the U.S., UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Romania, Australia and Denmark – are to be congratulated. Others, such as Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Turkey, must be persuaded to be more flexible and remove restrictions that impede true interoperability of the international forces.
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Bomber Strikes NATO Convoy in Afghanistan
By NOOR KHAN 11.01.06, 2:07 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/11/01/ap3137715.html

A suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, wounding two soldiers and damaging a vehicle, while a NATO air strike killed three suspected insurgents in the east.

British Gen. David Richards, NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, told The Financial Times in an interview published Wednesday that he doesn't have enough forces to defeat the Taliban within the next six months, but they can still make "sufficient improvements" to keep Afghans confident in the government and international community.

Richards told The Associated Press last month that Afghans would likely switch their allegiance to resurgent Taliban militants if their lives showed no visible improvements in the next six months.

Maj. Luke Knittig, an International Security Assistance Force spokesman, said NATO's mission was a long-term effort.

"We're not after instant victories here," Knittig said at a news conference in Kabul. But he said Richards "absolutely has enough in a countrywide command now to continue to provide tangible results and progress."

U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley, meanwhile
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Blair urges Britons to support their forces in Afghanistan
The Associated PressPublished: November 1, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/01/europe/EU_GEN_Britain_Afghanistan.php

LONDON: Prime Minister Tony Blair urged Britons on Wednesday to support the tough battle their forces are fighting against insurgents in Afghanistan, and he denied the troops have inadequate equipment.

During his weekly question session in Parliament, Blair said British commanders, who are currently leading the NATO forces in Afghanistan, have not requested additional armored vehicles to make up for shortages, but he said his government is willing to supply them with everything they need in the war.

"The work we're doing there obviously is extremely important. Yes, it has proved very, very tough down in the south of Afghanistan," forcing the soldiers to rethink their strategies, Blair said.
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AFGHANISTAN: Measles, tetanus and polio vaccination drive launched
01 Nov 2006 19:38:53 GMT Source: IRIN
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/e7ed8c7ec393080eaeed1c969c26f999.htm

 KABUL, 1 November (IRIN) - Tens of thousands of children will be vaccinated against measles, tetanus and polio in southern parts of Afghanistan during a 10-day campaign launched on Wednesday by the Ministry of Public Health, with support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and NGO partners.

WHO officials said that the insurgency-hit south and southeastern areas of the country were especially susceptible to measles outbreaks this winter due to high internal displacement and low immunisation due to insecurity. 

The drive, which started in Paktya, Paktika and Khost provinces will be extended on Sunday to ten districts in the southern provinces of Kandahar, Nimroz and Helmand targeting around 540,000 children, according to United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

UN officials in the capital, Kabul said that the remaining districts in Kandahar, Helmand and Nimroz and in Uruzgan and Zabul provinces would be tackled at a later date. 

More than 6,000 health workers will be engaged in the ten-day effort, said Dr Hemlal Sharma, a UNICEF health officer in Kabul.
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Tim Hortons in Afghanistan could cost taxpayers
Nov, 01 2006 - 9:20 AM
http://www.cknw.com/news/news_local.cfm?cat=7428109912&rem=51136&red=80110923aPBIny&wids=410&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm

“VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980)” - The president of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is seeing red after learning the cost of setting up a Tim Horton's coffee shop in Afghanistan was almost four million dollars.
John Williamson says the restaurant chain giving Canadian soldiers a taste of home in Kandahar should be footing the entire bill.

“Tim Hortons is receiving a massive P.R. benefit from this whole entire venture.”

Speaking on CKNW’s morning news with Philip Till, Williamson says he's also concerned Canadians could end up paying more than two million dollars each year to keep the shop open. 
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"There is No Clear Strategy for the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan"
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2222357,00.html

In an interview with DW-RADIO, Klaus Reinhardt, the former commander of the KFOR peacekeeping force in the Balkans, criticizes the German government for lacking a strategy in its deployments of the Bundeswehr.

DW-RADIO: What would you say is the main problem with the Bundeswehr's missions abroad?

Reinhardt: Post-conflict operations have degenerated too much into military operations, rather than into combined civil-military operations. In the first phase, the military should provide for internal and external security. If you see how we do this today in our deployments, be it in Bosnia, be it in Iraq or Afghanistan, these things are not coordinated enough.

So, you're saying that it's not just the German government, it's all the governments. After all, Germany is only involved in missions that are organized by others, such as NATO, the EU or the United Nations.

Absolutely. This is not a thing that is unique to Germany. I saw this in all the nations, and if you read the book by Mr. Bob Woodward on the campaign in Iraq, you see that the Americans are still struggling for a strategy, how to cope with the problems. If you don't do this at the very start, you have very many actors in the country who all try to do the best they can, but very often they contradict each other. We had in Kosovo, and still have, some 3,500 NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and international organizations. Somehow this has to be brought together in some sort of synergistic approach for the well-being of the local population.

What kind of strategy is needed?

I think before we deploy into a country, the individual nations and the international community has to sit together and consider what we have to give to the country, with what means -- as in personnel, medical and financial means -- in order to make sure that in a bottom-up approach the conditions for the population are being met. It's not good enough in southern Afghanistan only to fight the Taliban and to be there with military forces if the living conditions for the people in all these villages are not being amended at the same time. This has to go hand in glove, otherwise we lose the confidence of the people for whose sake we are deployed to that particular country.
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Kroll Looks to Sell Security Subsidiary 
Nov. 1, 2006, 3:58PM By EILEEN ALT POWELL AP Business Writer © 2006 The Associated Press 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4303611.html

NEW YORK — Kroll, the risk consulting and technology division of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc., is looking to sell a subsidiary that provides security services in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Simon Freakley, the chief executive of Kroll, said Wednesday that the company is exploring the sale of Kroll Security International because it has decided to refocus on consulting and training.

Kroll Security International currently has some 350 employees and accredited subcontractors on the ground in Iraq, he said. The size of its work force in Afghanistan was not immediately available.

"Over the last six weeks, we have been speaking to high-quality companies that do this work and have expressed an interest in purchasing that subsidiary and taking over the activities," Freakley said.

He added that "as we explore a transaction, our priority is that our people and clients (in Iraq and Afghanistan) are not compromised."

Freakley said that KSI's staff would be maintained in both countries while negotiations were under way.

The issue came to light because insurance brokerage Marsh & McLennan, in its earnings report on Wednesday, said Kroll planned to leave high-risk international assignments that no longer fit its business strategy. Marsh & McLennan executives later said the reference was to security personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Rice and Kasuri not attending conference on Afghanistan in India
Wednesday, November 01, 2006  By Iftikhar Gilani
http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/Nov06/01/13.htm

NEW DELHI: Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will not attend a foreign ministers’ conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan, to be hosted by India from November 18 to 19. 

Pakistani Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will represent Pakistan at the conference, which will be inaugurated jointly by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The first such conference was held in Kabul last year. The meeting is aimed at accelerating regional cooperation for Afghanistan’s economic development and improving security for the war-ravaged country. Nineteen countries, including the G8 group, China, Pakistan and Iran are expected to participate in the conference, which is also likely to be attended by the foreign ministers of Iran, France and Russia. 
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Turkey rejects NATO Afghanistan request
ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 1 (UPI) 
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20061031-095832-5323r

Turkey is unwilling to extend its operations in Afghanistan despite a NATO request to do so. 

Turkey's Zaman newspaper reported Oct. 29 that the Turkish government has rebuffed a NATO request to deploy its forces outside the capital Kabul. The rebuff comes despite a personal request by NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, U.S. Gen. James Jones, that Turkish forces in Afghanistan lift their self-imposed restrictions in the war-torn nation. 

The Turkish chief of staff and the Turkish Foreign Ministry are opposed to Jones' request. 

Hikmet Cetin, Turkey's former NATO senior civilian representative in Afghanistan for nearly three years, has indirectly supported the NATO request. 

During an interview with Zaman Cetin said restrictions on Turkish troops in Afghanistan should be reduced to a minimum even as he observed that no other nation could force Turkey to alter its polices. 

"The Afghan mission is NATO's most significant operation. I repeated that restrictions were completely unnecessary even when I was representing NATO there. Gen. Jones is right in demanding more troops. When I was in Afghanistan, I was saying that restrictions were unnecessary and strict policies were causing difficulties. Restrictions should be minimized," Cetin said. 
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Afghanistan to deploy additional police personnel in six districts of Nangarhar  
Wednesday November 01, 2006 (0130 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?158511

KABUL: Sixty additional police personnel are to be deployed each at six border districts of Nangarhar province. 
The step is aimed at checking growing incidents of drug trafficking and infiltration of terrorists from across the border in these districts, BBC Pushto reported. 

It was decided at a meeting of the District Police Chiefs in Nangarhar that additional police force should be deployed at all the six districts of the province, bordering Iran and Pakistan, to check drug trafficking and cross border infiltration. 

Each district will have sixty additional border police force personnel at its respective border. Youth between eighteen and thirty five years of age will be recruited to man the border force. After completing ten days training, the newly appointed police personnel will be sent to the respective district for performing security duty at the border. 
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US Diplomat: Taleban Not Strategic Threat to Afghanistan 
By Gary Thomas  Washington 31 October 2006
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-10-31-voa75.cfm  

A senior U.S. diplomat is playing down the resurgence of the Taleban in Afghanistan, saying it poses no real threat to the government of President Hamid Karzai.

In a speech Tuesday to an Afghan investment conference in Washington, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said the surge of attacks by the Taleban does not pose any long-term threat to the Afghan government.

"Security has to be the primary concern of any government, at any level of government,” he said.  “And while we've seen an increased number of attacks in the regions and some of the provincial cities and even in Kabul and Kandahar themselves over the past few months, we do not believe that these attacks pose a strategic threat to the central government.  But they do have an effect because they prevent government from operating at the provincial level."
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Afghanistan becoming more unstable say returning NZ troops  
Wednesday November 01, 2006 (0130 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?158515

WELLINGTON: New Zealand Defence Force personnel returning from Afghanistan say security is worsening in the country. 
The eighth rotation of troops flew into Ohakea Airbase on Monday, finishing a six-month tour rebuilding and patrolling the wartorn country. 

The commanding officer of the contingent, Captain Ross Smith, says violence in Afghanistan increased during his time there. He says bombings and other incidents have slowly spread closer to where New Zealand troops are based. 

Captain Smith says the Bamyan province, where most of the New Zealand troops were based, remained stable enough for the contingent to carry out its duties. 

A ninth rotation of Defence personnel has already taken over in Afghanistan.
End

China voices support for Afghanistan's reconstruction  
www.chinaview.cn 2006-10-31 00:44:41  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/31/content_5273960.htm 

    BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- China supports and will actively participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong said here Tuesday. 

    Zeng made the remarks in his meeting with visiting Afghanistani Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak. Zeng said that China respects Afghanistani people's choice on their social system and development path and supports the Afghanistani government's efforts to safeguard national independence, sovereignty and territory integrity, maintain social stability and develop their national economy. 

    "China is willing to join hands with Afghanistan to further implement the bilateral treaty of friendship and cooperation in an effort to boost bilateral relations," Zeng noted. 

    Wardak expressed his appreciation for China's valuable supports, calling China "a reliable friend" and vowing to make concerted efforts with China to promote the bilateral relations to a higher level. 
End

China ratifies good-neighborly treaty with Afghanistan 
October 31, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200610/31/eng20061031_316949.html

China's top legislature on Tuesday ratified a treaty with Afghanistan forging closer ties especially in security cooperation to maintain peace in the region. 

The Good-neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between China and Afghanistan, signed by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Beijing on June 19, 2006, says the two sides will enhance the fight against terrorism, separatism, and extremism. 

"Under the treaty, China and Afghanistan will launch more military and security cooperation and expand exchanges in trade, agriculture, science, education, natural resources exploration and so on," said Deputy Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. 

Chinese experts have voiced concern that terrorists and drugs in Afghanistan are threatening peace and stability in China's western region. 

Signing the treaty will consolidate China-Afghanistan ties, and be helpful in maintaining peace in Afghanistan and to fight "East Turkistan" terrorists in western China, source with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress said. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Valcartier troops en route to Afghanistan
Updated Tue. Oct. 31 2006 9:11 AM ET Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061031/valcartier_troops_061031/20061031?hub=TopStories

QUEBEC CITY -- An extra contingent of Canadian soliders is en route to Afghanistan. 

Seventy-six troops left CFB Valcartier last night on a 22-hour flight to Kandahar. 

Fifty will be on a nine-month assignment to guard reconstruction projects in the area, which has grown increasingly hazardous. 

Since summer, Taliban insurgents have picked up the pace of suicide bombings and ambushes. 

The rest of the fresh troops will join a Canadian contingent helping to train the Afghan national army. 

The poorly equipped force needs foreign support to maintain security in the volatile country. 

Another 100 soldiers from Valcartier leave for duty in Afghanistan at the end of November. 

Canada has about 23-hundred soldiers in Afghanistan. 

Forty-two have been killed since 2002. 

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor was on hand to see the latest troops off and said their mission in Afghanistan is a noble one.
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## GAP (2 Nov 2006)

*More articles found on 2 November 2006*


A hidden enemy frustrates efforts to rebuild Afghanistan  
By Raymond Whitaker in Gereshk, Afghanistan Published: 31 October 2006 
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1943287.ece

"Effing brilliant," said a Royal Marine as J Company, 42 Commando, returned to base from their heaviest clash with the Taliban since they arrived in Afghanistan a month ago. Their elation and relief was understandable, but the engagement also showed the movement remained a threat, even in the relatively secure centre of Helmand province. 

Up to a dozen Taliban fighters were believed killed. No marines were hurt, but the company found an Afghan civilian with a leg wound lying in the road after the encounter. He was brought to the Gereshk base and evacuated by helicopter to the hospital at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand.

The encounter began yesterday afternoon as the company was completing a patrol on the eastern bank of the Helmand river about six miles outside Gereshk, an area known to be heavily infiltrated by the Taliban. "Just as we were returning to our vehicles, we came under mortar fire from two positions, one on each side of the river," said the company commander, Major Ewen Murchison.

"At first the fire was inaccurate, but then it started coming closer to us, and one shell fell 25 metres from some of the men. We saw a group of five to seven armed individuals down on the river bed, who were signaling with mirrors to the mortar crews, apparently to direct their fire. We neutralised them with machine-gun fire. One of the mortars was in range, and we neutralised that too." Although two RAF Harriers were scrambled from Kandahar air base, the pilots could not identify the second mortar, which was mounted on a truck. Major Murchison said he decided against a follow-up operation, which could have run into a prepared ambush, and casualties could not be verified.

"Every time we've gone out in force before, they've always moved out," said one of J Company's officers, Captain Tom Vincent. "This was the first time they've been prepared to stand up and have a go. That's why the lads are so happy." His commander added that for some of the younger men, "it was the first time they've heard the thump of a mortar and the whizz of the shell going past. It's an interesting sound if you've never heard it before."

Rarely, though, are encounters between British forces and armed Afghans so straightforward. Major Murchison described an incident earlier in the patrol, when they detained an Afghan with a shotgun who appeared to be passing on their movements by mobile phone. Although they found two AK-47 ammunition clips beneath his bed when they searched his home, they could not find any clear evidence that the man was connected to the Taliban or the opium trade, and he was released. It lent force to the major's comment that "it is difficult to distinguish between the Taliban and ordinary hoods".

Gereshk, the commercial capital of Helmand, is an important target for the Taliban, because it straddles a strategic intersection. "But they do not need to take the town," said the marines' commander. "They can sit outside and have an influence, both economically and through intimidation. It is our job to restrict their freedom of action and allow the Afghan security forces to build up competence and confidence."

The death of a marine in a suicide bombing in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, this month signalled that British forces faced a new threat, although Major Murchison said he was more concerned about roadside bombs, three of which had exploded in Gereshk in the past three weeks.

As for the main mission of British troops in Helmand, to support development, the major made it clear that only a handful of smaller projects were possible at the moment. 

"Effing brilliant," said a Royal Marine as J Company, 42 Commando, returned to base from their heaviest clash with the Taliban since they arrived in Afghanistan a month ago. Their elation and relief was understandable, but the engagement also showed the movement remained a threat, even in the relatively secure centre of Helmand province. 

Up to a dozen Taliban fighters were believed killed. No marines were hurt, but the company found an Afghan civilian with a leg wound lying in the road after the encounter. He was brought to the Gereshk base and evacuated by helicopter to the hospital at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand.

The encounter began yesterday afternoon as the company was completing a patrol on the eastern bank of the Helmand river about six miles outside Gereshk, an area known to be heavily infiltrated by the Taliban. "Just as we were returning to our vehicles, we came under mortar fire from two positions, one on each side of the river," said the company commander, Major Ewen Murchison.
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Linguists Key to Success for Afghan Soldiers Training in U.S.
By Sgt. Kevin Stabinsky, USA Special to American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1998

FORT POLK, La., Nov. 2, 2006 – Afghan interpreters are crucial for the success of Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police forces training at the Joint Readiness Training Center here. 
Hassan Wilson, a native Afghan who has been interpreting between American and Afghan forces for two years, said their role is vital. “What we do is very important,” he said. 

Without proper translation, Wilson said, orders can be misinterpreted, which can cost lives and ruin missions the Afghan army conducts with coalition forces in Afghanistan. 

Training for such missions would not be as effective without interpreters, Wilson said. “We help them (other Afghans) understand the concept (of being trained) so they don’t make mistakes,” he said. 

Fellow Afghan interpreter Imram Mohamad Rasul agreed. “The (Afghan National Army is) getting good training here they’ve never done before, learning new stuff with the U.S. Army,” he said. “They like the different training, but can’t speak any English, so we try to do our best to help them learn.” 

Learning as much as possible is vital for the troops to succeed against Taliban extremists, said Rasul, who has been interpreting for a year. 
More on link


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## GAP (3 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 3 November 2006*


NATO brass sees progress in Kandahar
Canada hands command to the Dutch
Troops battling to build trust in region
Nov. 2, 2006. 01:00 AM SUE BAILEY CANADIAN PRESS
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1162421411330&call_pageid=1140433364397&col=1140433364286


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan—Despite widespread reports of growing intimidation and fear, NATO leaders say this volatile region is open for business and increasingly safe for development.

That might be cold comfort for local residents who say they're regularly threatened because they work for foreigners, teach school or promote women's rights. And there are the suicide bombers. 

Paranoia is common in Kandahar city, the iconic former Taliban stronghold referred to as the "jewel in the Crown" by military planners.

But Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the new Canadian commander in Kandahar, said yesterday such tactics are proof anti-government forces are running scared.

"Those are desperate measures by desperate people," he said. "And we need to make sure that people understand that the coalition is here, and that we have made significant improvements in the security of the average Afghani. It's a matter of getting the message out."

It was a resounding theme as Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser handed command of southern Afghanistan to the Dutch after a tough nine-month mission.

The emerging goal is to hold hard-won former Taliban ground while doing more to win lasting Afghan support. New roads, wells and schools are desperately needed.

"We need more police, more soldiers, more international support and development to build on what we have achieved," Fraser said as he passed the NATO reins yesterday to Maj.-Gen. Ton Van Loon of the Netherlands.

Otherwise, bloody battles against insurgents from within and outside the country will be repeated, strategists say.

About 150 troops from Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment will soon arrive to bolster security for development projects.

Earlier yesterday, a suicide bomber attacked a U.S. convoy a short drive down the main highway from the Kandahar base. Two soldiers were wounded.

In the eastern province of Khost, a NATO air strike killed three suspected insurgents. British Lt.-Gen. David Richards, NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, told The Financial Times in an interview published yesterday he doesn't have enough forces to defeat the Taliban in the next six months, but said they can still make "sufficient improvements" to keep Afghans confident in the government. Richards, head of 31,000 troops in the country, has asked for 2,500 more soldiers.


Retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie, who was briefly in Kandahar as part of a fact-finding mission, offered a characteristically blunt assessment.

"We're doing the maximum we can with what we have," MacKenzie said, adding that more help clearly was needed.
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How not to go to Afghanistan
Canadian Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061102.wtroopss1102/BNStory/National/home

FREDERICTON — Soldiers who test positive for drugs will not be deployed to Afghanistan early next year, says a senior military official.

Lt.-Col. Rob Walker, the commander of 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, said soldiers who fail mandatory drug tests will be taken out of training.

Col. Walker, who is in Wainwright, Alta., where he is helping to guide his battle group through the last phase of its pre-deployment training, is taking a tough approach in enforcing the new policy.

“I can tell you one thing, those soldiers who have tested positive are not here on this training and they will not deploy to Afghanistan,” Col. Walker said.
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Military wife wants to talk
Oct. 31, 2006. 01:00 AM BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH OTTAWA BUREAU
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1162248614277&call_pageid=1140433364397&col=1140433364286


OTTAWA—Miranda Kostiuk-Hein has three children, a husband in uniform and a bone to pick with NDP Leader Jack Layton.

She says it's time that Layton, who addressed a weekend protest rally in Toronto to speak out against the Afghan conflict, made some time to hear the stories of the soldiers who have been fighting overseas and the families they leave behind.

"It's great he had time to go to this rally and yet again speak out about soldiers. Why can't he take 10 minutes and phone and talk to combat Joe's wife, who lives with it?" she asked.

As a military wife whose husband, Cpl. Dwayne Hein, is just back from a dangerous tour of duty in Kandahar, Kostiuk-Hein is keen to tell Layton about the life of Canada's military families. 

"... At least give us a chance and hear our side, hear our stories, hear what we live with on a day-to-day basis," Kostiuk-Hein said in an interview yesterday.

She has invited Layton — who has called for Canadian troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan — to her home, just outside CFB Shilo, to sit at her kitchen table and see her life first-hand.
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NATO sees body counts as a measure of success  
Alliance vision of Afghanistan is being painted by numbers 
PAUL KORING From Friday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061103.wxafghannato03/BNStory/Afghanistan/home


KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — NATO has exhumed an old and notoriously unreliable measure of war -- body counts -- in an effort to show it is making progress against the resurgent Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

Almost daily, the alliance's International Security Assistance Force trumpets another lopsided killing toll. But the practice, considered odious by some and pointless by others, irks some top Canadian commanders.

In the past week alone, leaders of the 31,000-soldier force issued statements saying "55 insurgents, one ISAF soldier killed in Zabul province" and "more insurgents dead in Uruzgan province," explaining that a revised body count showed "the number of insurgents killed . . . has increased from 55 to 70," and finally that "ISAF forces were engaged in heavy fighting with large groups of Taliban," killing 48 Taliban with no ISAF casualties.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's high-level decision to resurrect body counts apparently reflects an inability to find any other headline-grabbing measure to demonstrate success. Body counts were last used by the Pentagon in Vietnam, where the wildly optimistic and soaring totals were completely at odds with the grim reality that the United States was losing.
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All eyes on 'little Napoleon' in NATO command switch
DOUG SAUNDERS From Thursday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061102.wxafghandutch02/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

When his admirers call him "a little Napoleon," they are referring both to his stature and his voluble confidence. Brigadier-General Ton Van Loon, the Dutch officer who took over command of the NATO troops in Afghanistan this week, is clearly a different personality from the mild-mannered Canadian general he replaced.

But soldiers in the field, including more than 2,300 Canadians in the deadly Kandahar region, and political observers in the Netherlands and Canada, are anxiously waiting to see whether Gen. Van Loon will be a different sort of leader in other respects.

In an Afghan war that has been hampered by friction between nation-building and fighting the Taliban, the change of leadership from Canada to the Netherlands this week has led to speculation that the tenor of the conflict will also change.

"Is Van Loon going to do things differently? He may want to but I'm not sure he can do much," says Jan Willem Honig, a Dutch expert on the politics of NATO warfare at King's College in London.
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Italian 'released in Afghanistan'
POSTED: 1443 GMT (2243 HKT), November 3, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/11/03/italy.afghan.ap/index.html

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- An Italian photographer kidnapped in Afghanistan last month was freed Friday and is in good health, Italy's ambassador said.

Gabriele Torsello and his Afghan translator were kidnapped in mid-October while traveling from Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern Helmand province, toward neighboring Kandahar.

Ettore Francesco Sequi, Italy's ambassador to Afghanistan, said authorities at an Italian-run hospital in Helmand province received a phone call telling them to go to a location on the road linking Lashkar Gah and Kandahar. It was there that an Afghan hospital employee found Torsello, he said.

Torsello is in good health and will travel back to Kabul, where he could arrive sometime Sunday, Sequi said.

Maj. Luke Knittig, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said the military was helping transport Torsello back to Kabul by air, but he didn't know when he would arrive.

"We are making air assets available to Italian authorities, but it's really their show," he said.

In Italy, Modesto Nicoli, Torsello's family spokesman, welcomed the photographer's release.

"It's an indescribable joy, it's a news we have been waiting for a long time," he told SkyTG24.

Sequi said he didn't think that a ransom was paid for the freelance photographer. "I really doubt it, so my reply is no," he said.

Torsello's kidnappers had asked for the withdrawal of Italy's 1,800 troops from Afghanistan, and for the return of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan who had faced the death penalty for converting to Christianity and was granted asylum in Italy.

Torsello's release was first reported by PeaceReporter, the online daily that has been handling media on behalf of Emergency, the Italian aid group that runs the hospital in Helmand province and that has been in contact with Torsello and his abductors.
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FACTBOX-Foreign hostages in Afghanistan
Fri 3 Nov 2006 8:13 AM ET
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L03832882

Gabriele Torsello, an Italian photojournalist kidnapped in Afghanistan last month, was released on Friday, government officials and aid workers said.

Following is a short chronology of some reported foreign kidnappings in Afghanistan.

November 2003 - Turkish engineer Hassan Onal is released by Taliban kidnappers after a month in captivity. Onal was seized from a U.S.-funded highway project on Oct. 30.

December 2003 - Two Indians, kidnapped while working on a U.S.-funded road project, are released unharmed.

March 2004 - One Turk is shot and a second kidnapped in an attack in southern Afghanistan. They had been working on the Kabul-Kandahar highway. The kidnapped Turk was later released.

November 2004 - United Nations workers Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Shqipe Hebibi from Kosovo and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan are freed almost four weeks after they were abducted at gunpoint in Kabul. A Taliban splinter faction, Jaish-e Muslimeen (Army of Muslims), claimed to have held them.

December 2004 - A Turkish engineer working on a road-building project between Jalalabad and Kunar is kidnapped. The Interior Ministry later said the body of a kidnapped Turkish construction engineer had been found in eastern Afghanistan.

May 2005 - Clementina Cantoni, an Italian working for the CARE International aid agency, seized by gunmen in Kabul. She was released unharmed after more than three weeks.
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Comedian to bring laughs to our troops
Dartmouth native off to Afghanistan
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/538317.html  


Tracey MacDonald probably won’t have to worry about jokes bombing, but the Dartmouth native will be wearing a helmet and flak jacket to protect her from real explosives when she lands in Afghanistan later this month to entertain Canadian troops.

The comedian is one of 15 entertainers from across the country travelling to Kandahar for the military’s Smiles From Home tour.

"When I told my family I was going to Afghanistan, I swear to God both my parents said to me, ‘You’re no safer living in Los Angeles,’ which I thought was really funny," Ms. MacDonald said Thursday in an interview from her home in California.

The 33-year-old moved to Hollywood after winning $200,000 on the CBS television show Star Search.
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Don't share a table with the Taliban
Women's rights would be negotiated out of existence by misogynists, says LAURYN OATES 
LAURYN OATES Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061103.wcotalib03/BNStory/specialComment/home

Afghanistan is spiralling into further chaos as donor governments, which have poured millions into the country, are scratching their heads in bewilderment. Some critics have called for alternative responses to the conflict that has taken the lives of more than 40 Canadian soldiers. One of the propositions gaining traction is the idea of negotiating with the Taliban, bringing them to the table for peace talks and giving them a place in the country's fledgling government.

Unfortunately, in negotiations dominated by men, women's rights are often the first thing to become a bargaining chip -- usually meaning they are negotiated right out of any discussions. This is particularly true with groups having a proven track record for human-rights abuses against women and girls, such as the Taliban and the Northern Alliance.

Misogyny is not peripheral to the Taliban's agenda. Rather, it is a central tenet of their platform. We have already had the chance to see the Taliban in power, and know that their policy of subjugating women is not mere rhetoric but bona fide practice. Their warped interpretation of Islam swiftly became the law of the land, and was brutally enforced during their horrifying rule in the late 1990s.

The evidence we have of what happened to women under the Taliban is not light stuff. Their edicts meant torture, rape, the amputation of nail-polished fingers, women whipped in the streets for an exposed ankle, and girls killed for studying secretly. The haunting stories of women stoned to death inside crowded soccer stadiums are not urban myths, but actual events in the very recent history of Afghanistan. Have Canadians so soon forgotten our shock and fury at hearing about the hell Afghan women faced for more than five years? 

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Think tank warns more troops needed in Afghanistan as 6 police killed in militant ambush
The Associated PressPublished: November 3, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/03/asia/AS_GEN_Afghanistan.php

HERAT, Afghanistan: Suspected militants with machine guns killed six police patrolling in western Afghanistan and wounded three others, an official said Friday, as a think tank warned that more foreign troops are needed to secure the country.

The police car was sprayed with bullets in the ambush in Herat province's Adraskan district late Thursday, said Nasar Ahmad Paykar, the provincial deputy police chief. The district police chief was among those killed, and three police were wounded.

Paykar blamed Taliban militants for the ambush near Shindand district, where a clash between two rival warlords and their tribes left a dozen people dead last week.

In the southern province of Kandahar, a suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy Thursday, wounding three soldiers, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. There were no reports of civilian casualties.
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NATO fighting the wrong battle in Afghanistan
By M K Bhadrakumar Nov 4, 2006
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HK04Df02.html


The pre-dawn attack on the Zia-ul-Uloom madrassa in Pakistan's Bajour tribal region on Monday killing 80 people, mostly students, is bound to impact on the course of the Afghan war. No matter the repeated assertions by Islamabad to the contrary, widespread suspicions of US involvement in the attack have arisen. 

The incident offers "proof" to those who clamor for Pakistan doing "more" that indeed Islamabad is going the extra league in the "war on terror". White House spokesman Tony Snow was quick to lavish praise on President General Pervez Musharraf for showing 
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UNSC to send fact-finding mission to Afghanistan    
www.chinaview.cn 2006-11-03 12:11:08  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-11/03/content_5285403.htm

    UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council will send a high-level fact-finding mission to Afghanistan next week to review the threat posed by Taliban and Al Qaida extremists, council president for the current month Jorge Voto-Bernales said on Thursday. 

    Voto-Bernales, Peru's ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters that a nine-member team from the 15-member council will leave for Islamabad on Nov. 10 on its way to Afghanistan where it is due to arrive on Nov. 12. 

    The mission is due back at UN headquarters on Nov. 17 and the Security Council is to hear a briefing on the trip on Nov. 22, Voto-Bernales said. 

    The Taliban is waging mounting insurgency in Afghanistan. The rebels who are allied with Al Qaida have attacked troops in large numbers and intensified a campaign of suicide and roadside bombings. 

End

U.K. Military, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Is Short-Staffed, NAO Says  
By Mark Deen Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) 
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aZ1Vj5m5lVeo&refer=uk

Britain's armed forces are short- staffed, the country's spending watchdog said, adding its voice to concern that commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan have left the military over-stretched. 

Shortages are most acute for specialists such as technicians who run the nuclear reactors in submarines, explosive experts, doctors and the Royal Marines Corps, the National Audit Office said in a report released in London. 

With 7,200 troops in Iraq and 5,600 in Afghanistan in addition to British commitments in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and Africa, lawmakers are concerned that government is pushing the military too hard. The issue is adding pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair to set a date to bring forces home from Iraq. 

``There simply aren't enough men and women in all parts of the armed forces to meet the planned levels of military activity, never mind enough to cope with the heighten demands'' placed on them, Conservative lawmaker Ed Leigh said in response to the report. ``Given the ferocity of the challenges they face in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, this is intolerable.'' 

Recruitment rates have dropped while departures have increased in the past year, the audit office said. 

The Ministry of Defense achieved 96 percent of its recruitment target last year, compared with 98 over the previous five years, the audit office said. The number of those leaving the forces increased ``slightly'' to 9,200, with pressures on family life being cited by 49 percent. 

`Immense Strain' 

``The U.K. has been involved in more military activity than even the most demanding levels it had planned for and that looks like continuing to be the case for years to come,'' Leigh said. ``It must exhaust our service men and women and put immense strain on their personal lives.'' 

In an effort to reverse the trend, the government said last month that it will begin paying bonuses to soldiers deployed in dangerous areas. 
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US Drug Policy in Afghanistan at Crossroads
http://www.bloggernews.net/11495


Afghanistan’s primary industry, its main export and the chief prop holding up its shaky economy is opium cultivation. For tens of thousands of Afghani opium farmers and their families growing the opium poppy that supplies Europe with an estimated 92% of its heroin is their only means of livlihood. The US supports the government of Afghanistan with billions of dollars while jailing tens of thousands of its own citizens for drug-related offenses. US official drug policy in Afghanistan calls for the complete eradication of the opium poppy. It is a failed policy, but getting out if won’t be easy.

Supposedly under the Taliban opium production was stopped entirely. The Taliban decided the opium production was “un-Islamic”, but many doubt whether they really stopped opium farming or just used its profits to fund Islamic terror groups. The US quandry is that even if its eradication program succeeded, the result would be a devasting blow to the Afghan economy and an even heavier burden on US taxpayers along with unpredictable social upheaval.

On October 24 Rep. Henry Hyde (R. - Ill.) sent an open letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as asking for a change in US Drug Policy in Afghanistan. Instead of pursuing the failed program of eradication of opium farming, Hyde wants the US DEA to go after drug traffickers, the so-called “Drug Lords” who make most of the profit and who control the refining and export of the final product, heroin. So far Rumsfeld hasn’t responded to Hyde’s letter.

Last January a two-day symposium was held in Kabul on the subject of formulating a new drug policy for Afghanistan. The sponsor of the symposium was a European-based think-tank called the Senlis Council. Made up of foreign policy and world health experts, the Senlis Council proposed a solution that may shock some Americans, but which would seem to hold out the promise of a way out of a very sticky situation if adopted.
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## GAP (4 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 4 Nov 2006*

Hundreds support troops at Edmonton rally
Updated Fri. Nov. 3 2006 10:55 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061103/red_friday_20061103/20061103?hub=TopStories

Freezing cold and a biting wind didn't stop more than 300 people from showing up at a "Red Friday" rally in Edmonton to support Canada's troops in Afghanistan. 

As at similar rallies in previous weeks in other Canadian cities, supporters who gathered in Edmonton's downtown Churchill Square wore red to symbolize support for troops. 

Organizers had hoped for attendance to reach 3,000, but the extreme cold discouraged all but the most determined. Organizers vowed there would be encore performances in coming weeks, however. 

A choir of young people wearing red T-shirts started Edmonton's gathering by singing Oh Canada. 

Rebecca Jones told CTV News that hearing the youngsters sing in tribute to Canada's brave troops brought tears to her eyes. 

"My boyfriend is in the military and he was deployed from January until the end of August so it's hard," said Jones. 

"It's nice to hear everybody singing the national anthem," she said. "It makes you know everybody is supporting them when they're away." 

"Your soldiers don't crave pity, they don't want you to fear for them," Col. John Vance told the crowd. "They need your love and your unwavering support." 

Regardless of their opinions of the mission in Afghanistan, Edmontonians came to thank the soldiers for the job they do, and sign a banner that will lift troops' spirits in the war-torn country. 

"I'm not supporting the war -- I'm sorry," rally participant Maria Grundel said. "But I'm supporting our soldiers." 

Master Cpl. Paul Franklin, one of hundreds of soldiers based in Edmonton Garrison who have served in Afghanistan, was a key speaker. 
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Combating the Ideology of Suicide Terrorism in Afghanistan

By Waliullah Rahmani

Although there was no record of Afghan suicide attacks during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the pursuant civil war, suicide attacks in the country have steadily increased since the fall of the Taliban. Since January, more than 85 suicide attacks in Afghanistan have killed or injured 700 people (BBC Persian, October 13). Recently, on September 30, a suicide bomber blew himself up in an entryway to the Afghan Interior Ministry, killing more than 12 people and injuring 42 others (Radio Farda, September 30). Since the September 30 attack, Kabul has suffered from at least one suicide bombing per week. Statistics show that this year alone, Afghanistan was hit by more suicide attacks than in all past years combined. With the absence of a historical tradition of suicide attacks, important cultural and sociological questions must be addressed. For example, what has convinced Afghans to adopt suicide attacks as a military tactic? When was this tactic adopted? Were there outside influences or examples that influenced Afghans? Most importantly, can this ideology of suicide terrorism in Afghanistan be combated?

Suicide Attacks: Low-Cost and High Profile
http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370192

After the fall of the Taliban, there was a large-scale campaign to bolster the support of the Afghan government through the strengthening of the Afghan army and the presence of coalition forces. Initially, this made ground operations for the Taliban difficult. In recent months, however, the Taliban insurgency has adapted and has changed tactics to fit the new situation on the ground. Kabul-based Afghan analyst Fahim Dashti, the editor of Kabul Weekly, argued that the current surge in suicide attacks marks a "change in tactics by the Taliban." He stated that "suicide attacks have been executed to decrease the Taliban's causalities" and "to create fear" among the Afghan people. Dashti explained that by "killing civilians and causing insecurity, the Taliban want to motivate people against the foreigners in Afghanistan" (Radio Dari, May 12). The rationale behind this strategy rests on the assumption that the population will blame the U.S.-led coalition and the Afghan government, rather than the Taliban, for the lack of security in the country.

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Abducted Italian photographer flown out of Afghanistan
Nov 4, 2006, 8:49 GMT 
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/article_1218214.php/Abducted_Italian_photographer_flown_out_of_Afghanistan

Rome - A Italian freelance photographer formerly kidnapped in Afghanistan was flown from the country to an undisclosed destination Saturday, it was reported. 

According to the Afghan news agency Pajhwok citing the Italy embassy in Kabul, Gabriele Torsello was able to telephone his family in Italy, telling them he was in good health. 

Torsello, a 34-year-old convert to Islam, was freed by his captors on Friday after spending three weeks tied up in chains and in the dark in an undisclosed location in Afghanistan. It remained unclear whether a ransom was paid. 

He was abducted in the restive Helmand province in southern Afghanistan by gunmen on October 12. 
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Taliban kill two in attack on US convoy in Afghanistan  
http://www.thenews.com.pk/update_detail.asp?id=12351 

KHOST: Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy supplying logistics and goods to a US base in southeastern Afghanistan, killing two Pakistani drivers and wounding an Afghan, police said Saturday.

The attackers opened fire on the two trucks from both sides of the road in a mountainous area of Khost province late Friday, the provincial police chief told foreign news agency.

"Two Pakistani co-drivers were killed and one Afghan driver was wounded in an enemy attack on non-military trucks hired to supply goods for Americans," General Abdul Hanan Raufi said. 

Raufi said the attack was carried out by Taliban insurgents who fled immediately afterwards. Police were searching for the killers, he said. 
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Fort Polk bids farewell to 1,000 soldiers headed to Afghanistan
By KELLY MOORE/Staff Writer Published: Friday, November 3, 2006 11:08 AM CST
http://www.leesvilledailyleader.com/articles/2006/11/03/news/news2.txt

FORT POLK — Fort Polk honored 1,000 soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team as they deploy to Afghanistan as part of Task Force Boar in support of Operation Enduring Freedom here Thursday morning at Fort Polk’s Mountain Field.

The 1,000 soldiers who are deploying have been preparing for this day for more than two years. They have spent countless days in combat training, weapons training and buddy medical training awaiting their turn the theater of operation.

Lt. Col. Ronald Metternich addressed the soldiers and hundreds of friends and family members who attended the ceremony.


“As I look out across Mountain Field today I see a task force that is fully-prepared to embark on a journey ... a journey that we have prepared for nearly two years,” Metternich said.

Metternich spoke of the “newly” formed unit as it has only been formed for two years.

“It seems like only yesterday that this unit was formed, sparse of soldiers and equipment. Over that time we have built the combat task force that you see before you today.”

This unit has been on 15-day alert for more than a year and have been trained and prepared to deploy at a moment’s notice.
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Clashes kill six cops in Afghanistan 
Web posted at: 11/4/2006 1:53:9
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Pakistan+%26+Sub-Continent&month=November2006&file=World_News200611041539.xml

HERAT, Afghanistan • Six Afghan police and a soldier were killed and eight Nato troops injured in three separate attacks by Taleban insurgents in Afghanistan, officials and the military said yesterday. 

The attacks which occurred in Herat in the west and Laghman in the east also left three Afghan police and four soldiers injured, they said. 

The six policemen, including a district police chief, were killed when rebels ambushed a police convoy in Herat province on Thursday. 

Mohammad Sediq, police chief of Adraskan district, was visiting police posts in the area when he was attacked, the province’s police chief, Nisar Ahmad Paikar, said. 

Paikar blamed the attack on remnants of Taleban who have waged an insurgency since 2001 when they were forced out of power by US-led invasion of Afghanistan. 

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) Major Luke Knittig said seven Isaf soldiers were injured Friday when their convoy was hit by a rocket fired by Taleban in Laghman province. 

We had “two incidents in the last two days in Laghman province. Eight Isaf were soldiers wounded, one yesterday, seven today. An IASF convoy was hit by rocket propelled grenade,” he said. 
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FOLENA: TORSELLO'S RELEASE GOOD NEWS. NOW WE LEAVE AFGHANISTAN
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200611031542-1153-RT1-CRO-0-NF82&page=0&id=agionline-eng.italyonline

(AGI) - Rome, Nov. 3 - The chairman of the lower house culture committee, Pitero Folena (Refounded Communists) said that "the release of Gabriele Torsello is a wonderful piece of news". "In recent days, we felt that it was all turning for the worst and that the approach used lacked the necessary determination. The fact that football players wore a T-shirt calling for his release, following a proposal by the Italian Football League, was something positive ". "The mobilization of the Islamic communities and that of Torsello's colleagues, that is journalists, "Folena said, "were also positive. Now, I believe that Torsello's kidnapping, as well as the massacres of civilians that take place on an almost daily basis in Afghanistan, should convince us of the need to withdraw our troops. On the other hand, the main player in Torsello's release was Emergency, that is an organization which is operating there without any military protection and is calling for the withdrawal of all foreign troops. I think that this position can be easily shared".(AGI) - 
031542 NOV 06 
End

Afghan president opens work on 15 million dollar hospital  
Saturday November 04, 2006 (0214 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?158866

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended a ceremony to mark the start of the rebuilding of a 15-million-dollar Chinese-funded hospital to replace one that collapsed under construction in 2004, killing around 10 labourers. 
Karzai said that the new hospital represented progress in Afghans' hopes of having good medical services inside the country instead of having to go to neighbouring nations for treatment for basic illnesses. 

The new 10-storey Jamhuriat Hospital will have around 350 beds. The walls and roof of the old hospital collapsed while under reconstruction by a Chinese firm in 2004. Around 10 labourers were killed and 18 wounded. 

Once built, the hospital will be equipped with modern medical instruments at a cost of more than five million dollars, Health Minister Mohammad Amin Fatimi said at the ceremony. 
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Atop Azerbaijan's oil boom: Mr. Aliyev
The country's president is overseeing an uprecedented influx of wealth in one of the world's most corrupt countries.
By Fred Weir | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1102/p06s01-wosc.html

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – British Petroleum's gleaming, ultramodern Sangachal oil terminal is the face of Azerbaijan that President Ilham Aliyev wants the world to see. 
Surrounded by a jumble of derelict Soviet-era oil rigs, the sprawling $350 million facility is an oasis of computerized efficiency. Soon, it will be pumping up to 1 million barrels of Caspian crude daily to thirsty Western markets through the new Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. 

  Thanks to the gusher of profits as Azerbaijan's new oil and gas fields come onstream, this Caucasus country of 8 million has rocketed in just three years from near-stagnation to become the world's hottest economy. GDP growth will be a dazzling 32 percent this year, according to Economics Minister Heydar Babayev. 

"We need to use this unique opportunity to solve our social and economic problems," says Aliyev, speaking to a group of visiting journalists in his office. "We aim to build a strong, independent, economically self-sufficient, politically free state."

But the Moscow-educated, multilingual president has his work cut out for him: Azerbaijan is rated one of the world's most corrupt countries, and critics have voiced concern that the government is ill-prepared to preside over such a massive influx of wealth. But Aliyev, who's seen his state budget quadruple since 2004, insists the expected $150 billion in oil revenues over the next two decades will be put to good use, slashing poverty and unemployment, rebuilding Azerbaijan's crumbling infrastructure, and creating a sustainable, diversified economy.
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7 Taliban militants killed in S. Afghanistan    
www.chinaview.cn 2006-11-04 21:29:28  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-11/04/content_5290570.htm

    KABUL, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Afghan and NATO forces killed seven Taliban insurgents and injured 30 others on Saturday in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan, the provincial police chief told Xinhua. 

    Nabi Jan Mullahkhil said the conflict, which lasted for hours, occurred in Zanboba area of Gereshk district. 

    The forces carried out an operation to wipe out militants in the area after locals complained Taliban activities were rampant there, he added. 

    There were no casualties of the troops and civilians, he said. 

    Helmand, famous for its gigantic opium product, has been a hotbed of Taliban insurgents, who clash with government and foreign forces frequently. 

    Due to rising Taliban-linked violence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of bloodshed since the Taliban regime was toppled down nearly five years ago. 

    Over 2,600 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed in this volatile country this year.
End 






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## The Bread Guy (4 Nov 2006)

*Afghanistan role could last 10 years*
general: Low pay for Afghan police, army hurts self-sufficiency drive    
Joel Kom, CanWest News Service, 3 Nov 06
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=f9498ac9-fc3d-4c99-8f68-cac1bc6e10c8&k=21288

NATO operations will likely continue in Afghanistan for another 10 years, a high-ranking Canadian soldier said Thursday.  Maj.-Gen. Ivan Fenton, NATO's assistant chief of operations for the international military staff, said the mission will extend into the next decade.  "I would think 10 years would be a rule of thumb," Fenton, who has almost 35 years of military service, said Thursday.  The strength of Afghanistan's army and police force will be the biggest factors determining when the International Security Assistance Force leaves Afghanistan, Fenton said ....



*Mission in Afghanistan is crucial: ambassador*
Lecture helps students grasp Canada's role  
David Lea, Kingston Whig-Standard, 3 Nov 06
http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=256936&catname=Local%20news&classif=

Canadians are making a difference in Afghanistan, and the country's ambassador to Canada warned that if western nations leave, extremists would move in to fill the void. "You have to have a military on the ground to stop the Taliban from burning down the girls' school that was just built," Omar Samad told students at Queen's University yesterday. "We need them to say to the Taliban, 'No, you will not turn this country into a terrorist training camp again.' " He said Canada's 2,200 soldiers are both needed and necessary. "The mission is critical as far as Afghans are concerned," Samad said ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*SNL creator Lorne Michaels applauds Canadian Afghan mission*
Jennifer Ditchburn, Canadian Press, 2 Nov 06
http://www.brooksbulletin.com/news/entertainment.asp?itemid=58171

"Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels applauded Canada's participation in the Afghan mission Thursday, saying he's glad his native country is "back in the world."  But the Toronto-born Michaels, one of six Canadians being honoured this week with a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement, had some sharp criticism for the previous Liberal government's reaction to the September 11 attacks.  He said in an interview Thursday that while he lives in Manhattan, he still tries to keep up to date with what's happening in Canada and has a strong "emotional connection."  "It's obviously unfortunate we're in Afghanistan, but I think it's important we're there," Michaels said of the military mission. "I don't know enough about it to know what the correct judgments are, but it feels like Canada's back in the world."....



*Taliban to launch war in the cities*
Christina Lamb, news.au.com, 23 Oct 06
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20626209-2703,00.html

TALIBAN fighters are preparing for a campaign of urban warfare, say Afghan and Western intelligence, and have established cells in the cities of Afghanistan from which to launch a campaign of explosions and suicide bombings.  While military chiefs have been declaring victory in the south of the country and claim to have killed more than 3000 Taliban over the northern summer, diplomats in Kabul warn that security in Afghan cities is deteriorating fast. "This could turn into another Iraq," one said.  Suicide bombs were almost unheard of in Afghanistan until last year, with only five since the fall of the Taliban in December 2001. But this year has already seen 81, which killed or wounded more than 700 people ....


*Taliban Commander: We're Planning Attacks in Europe *  
Fox News, 23 Oct 06
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,223918,00.html

A Taliban commander has told Sky News that the militants are for the first time plotting to attack Westerners in Britain and the rest of Europe.  In a rare exclusive interview, the commander insisted the militants had stockpiles of weapons and would never give-up exacting revenge from what he called "the foreign invaders".  He confirmed that Taliban fighters are taking refuge within neighbouring Pakistan and are being helped by locals sympathetic to their cause ....



*Protests demand Canadian troops out of Afghanistan*
The political issues in the fight against war
Socialist Equality Party (Canada), 27 Oct 06
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/oct2006/cana-o27.shtml

Two thousand three hundred Canadian Armed Forces troops, backed by Leopard tanks and NATO warplanes, are waging a colonial-style war in southern Afghanistan in support of the US-installed regime of Hamid Karzai.  Last month Canadian troops killed hundreds of villagers in Panjwayi district who had risen up in protest against local Afghan police and security forces who were extorting, robbing, and abusing them. This week saw a fresh atrocity: NATO warplanes reportedly killed dozens of villagers in Panjwayi and in a second district of Kandahar province, Pashmul.  The Canadian mission in Afghanistan is directly tied to the illegal US occupation of Iraq. The deployment of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel in southern Afghanistan was undertaken at Washington’s request and with the definite aim of enabling the Pentagon to concentrate its forces on subjugating Iraq ....


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## GAP (5 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 5 November 2006*

Pakistan is urged to seal border with Afghanistan
Sunday, 5 November, 2006, 10:05 AM Doha Time 
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=115966&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23

KABUL: Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot pressed Pakistan yesterday to seal its border with Afghanistan to stop the infiltration of militants and also called on Nato nations to send more troops.

Bot, who is due to visit Pakistan today, has made similar appeals in previous visits to Afghanistan to visit Dutch troops, most of them based in the province of Uruzgan on the Pakistan border.

"The world community, including The Netherlands, is very serious in exerting pressure on Pakistan to (see) ... that its borders are sealed off and the terrorists can no longer cross from Pakistan into Uruzgan, into south of your country," Bot told reporters.

Afghan officials allege that Taliban and other insurgents have training facilities in Pakistan and find support and finance among extremist circles there.

They say the government is not doing enough to crack down on these groups, a claim Islamabad rejects.

Bot, who was talking to reporters after meeting his Afghan counterpart Rangin Dadfar Spanta, said he had raised the issue with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a recent visit to the United States.

He said he hoped Pakistan realised the world was watching.
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Turkey To Open 27th Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2026

Turkey will open the 27th of 34 Provincial Reconstruction Teams planned for Afghanistan later this week, officials in Bagram, Afghanistan announced today. 
The new PRT, in Wardak province, will assist Afghan authorities with reconstruction efforts and enhance development and stability within the province, according to Army Col. Thomas Collins, spokesman for Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. 

The PRT will focus on providing health care, education, police training and agricultural alternatives to local farmers, Collins said. Its projects will be structured to meet the benchmarks of the Afghanistan Compact Document and the Interim Afghanistan National Development Strategy.

Although the PRT won’t open officially until Nov. 9, Turkish representatives already have started what they call “quick impact assistance projects” before the official opening ceremony, officials said. 

These include construction of:

* Primary girls’ schools in Nirkh, Jalriz and Saidabad districts; 
* A childbirth and comprehensive health-care center in the Desti Dut region of Saidabad district; 
* A recreational sports center; 
* A children’s park in Maidan Shar; 
* A vocational agriculture school and student dormitory; and 
* A water tank and cold storage facility. 

These projects are valued at about $3 million U.S. dollars, officials said.

Turkey also has started a humanitarian assistance project for the Wardak people, officials said. The first phase of the project, which cost $300,000, will deliver 150 tons of flour, 150 tons of rice, 150 tons of beans, 30 tons of sugar, 30 tons of oil and 6 tons of tea to some 6,000 needy families in eight districts. 

An official ceremony today at the Wardak Governor’s Building will launch the delivery of this humanitarian aid, officials said.
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Afghanistan drug problem not that easy to solve
By DOUGLAS BLAND 
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/538817.html

Simple policy analysis leads, of course, to simple solutions that very rarely succeed. Scott Taylor – in between making gratuitous remarks about Canadian military officers – offers to the public just such a simplistic suggestion for redressing the poppy/narcotics problem in Afghanistan (Oct. 30 column).

He recommends that "we" should buy the poppy harvest directly from the farmers, thereby eliminating the drug trade, cutting the warlords out of the market and lessening their influence, and enriching the farmers. Everybody wins.

Unfortunately, the problem is more complex, and Mr. Taylor’s "solution" would likely cause more problems and violence in the country and elsewhere. The flaw in his "free enterprise"solution and in the "eradication" solution now in place is that both are based on the erroneous notion that we are dealing with a supply problem – the production of opium made available to a market.

In fact, we are dealing with a demand problem. It is the demand for illegal drugs in North America, Europe, Russia and Asia that stimulates the cultivation and production of drugs in Columbia, Africa, Afghanistan and, indeed, in marijuana grow-ops in Canada.

Basic economic theory and reality suggest that were we to enter the drug market, we would stimulate a bidding war with other buyers – the warlords – and encourage more farmers to enter the business because the demand and price would increase. We would also increase the violence in the area as buyers in an already unregulated marketplace attacked each other and the farmers as they tried to control prices and market share – see Chicago, circa 1920. Our buyers would be the first on the hit list.
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Support for Afghan mission continues to decline
Allan Woods CanWest News Service Sunday, November 05, 2006
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=e45af5b6-ffb6-42a9-ada5-d9c23e9bb210&k=55504

OTTAWA - The level of support among Canadians for Canada's military mission in Afghanistan dropped considerably over the course of the last month, according to a new Ipsos Reid opinion poll conducted for CanWest News Service and Global Television.

The latest figures peg support for the use of troops in combat operations in the troubled country at 44 per cent. That number is down 13 per cent from the level of support expressed by survey participants at the end of September.

In that one-month period, six Canadian soldiers were killed in four separate incidents and a number of Afghan civilians, including women and children, were killed in a bombing in Kandahar's Panjawaii district.

That air attack, in which no Canadian soldiers were directly involved, also killed dozens of suspected Taliban fighters, according to coalition military officials in Afghanistan.

But more than anything, the drop is a "correction" from the boost in support that came along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's address to Parliament in September, said Ipsos Reid senior vice president Darrell Bricker.
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Dutch foreign minister arrives in Pakistan for talks on Afghanistan, terrorism
The Associated PressPublished: November 5, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/05/asia/AS_GEN_Pakistan_Netherlands_Afghanistan.php

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Dutch foreign minister discussed counterterrorism measures with his Pakistani counterpart on Sunday, a day after he called for greater international pressure on Islamabad to stop militants from infiltrating into Afghanistan.

Bernard Bot, who arrived in Islamabad after visiting Kabul, and Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri held talks on the situation in Afghanistan and cooperation in fighting terrorism, Pakistani foreign ministry officials said.

Bot was also expected to meet with other Pakistani government officials during his one-day visit.

In neighboring Afghanistan, where the Netherlands has assumed command over NATO-led troops in the country's troubled south, Bot said on Saturday that Islamabad needed to be pressured to block Taliban fighters based in Pakistan from crossing into Afghanistan.
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Reservist reunited with youth he met in Afghanistan
Web Posted: 11/04/2006 09:00 PM CST Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje Express-News Staff Writer 
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA110506.02B.sketch.2a59059.html

Call it a one in 300 million chance. 
Maj. Joseph Leon, an Army reservist with the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion, was on the last leg of a one-year tour in Afghanistan, working in a remote farming village in a central highlands province. 

He was in charge of overseeing the building of infrastructure in the impoverished village — schools, highways, public works. To do this, he needed someone to help him communicate with the village elders. 

That someone turned out to be Assadullah, a resourceful 16-year-old who spoke passable English and was well known as a reliable interpreter. 

For weeks, Leon and Assadullah worked together to bridge language differences for the betterment of the community. It was a lofty job for a teenager. 

"It would be similar to me going down to city hall and talking with the mayor," says Leon, a soft-spoken man with a direct stare behind wire-frame glasses who now teaches special education students in Floresville
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Saturday, November 04, 2006 

‘We should learn lesson of Iraq and Afghanistan’: America is the sole superpower: Kasuri
By Zulfiqar Ghuman
http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/Nov06/04/01.htm

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on Friday refused to comment on the Bajaur incident, saying that questions related to the incident should be directed to the interior or defence ministries. 

“The Foreign Affairs Ministry has nothing to do with this. These questions should be asked from ministries of interior or defence,” Kasuri was quoted as replying to Senator Maulana Samiul Haq’s question on whether US or Pakistani forces carried out the Bajaur attack, during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

The committee held an in-camera session here with Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed in the chair to have a briefing from Kasuri on the government’s foreign policies. 

Haq said he protested against the Bajaur incident and insisted that the operation was carried out on US orders. “This is the result of failed foreign policy. The Bajaur killings are extra-judicial and the government is responsible for them,” Haq said. 

Briefing the committee earlier, Kasuri said that Pakistan had decided to join the US-led war on terror “in the best national interest” and added that Pakistan could otherwise have faced a fate like that of Iraq. “We should learn lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan and admit the fact that the US is the sole superpower of the world,” he added. 
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----------



## GAP (6 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 6 November 2006*

Why we remember
http://www.ottawasun.com/Comment/Editorial/2006/11/03/2230681.html

As Stan Kircoff, poppy manager of a local chapter of the Royal Canadian Legion in Quebec accurately put it the other day, "every year, there's something." 

Every year some local manager at one chain of stores or another bans a war vet from selling poppies, reversing years of past practice. 

And every year, the media gets wind of the story, the ban is reported, veterans and members of the public raise their voices in outrage and within hours the business is apologizing and welcoming the war vet and his or her poppies back into the store. 

This week it was Loblaw Co. Ltd. reversing the decision of one of its local managers at a Provigo supermarket in Montreal. Korean War vet Tom Mullin, 76, whose brother died in the conflict, was allowed back into the store along with his small poppy stand. 

Loblaw issued a statement apologizing to Mullin and emphasizing its support for vets and Remembrance Day. It said a misunderstanding occurred because recent renovations had limited the free space available in the store and after allowing poppy sales for five days, the manager thought most of the customers had been covered. 
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DoD Identifies Army Casualties
http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=10156

The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died of injuries suffered when an IED detonated near their vehicle Oct. 31 in Wygal Valley, Afghanistan. All soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

            Killed were:

            Maj. Douglas E. Sloan, 40, of Evans Mills, N.Y.

            Sgt. Charles J. McClain, 26, of Fort Riley, Kan. He later died in Asadabad, Afghanistan.

            Pfc. Alex Oceguera, 19, of San Bernardino, Calif.
End

Till the boys come home
Janice Kennedy, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Sunday, November 05, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=3655e951-13d3-436b-b27b-37683e0088d1&k=15126

For wives of soldiers in Afghanistan, it's a stress-filled life of endless days and sleepless nights, yet somehow life goes on

Keep the home fires burning,

While your hearts are yearning,

Though your lads are far away

They dream of home.

There's a silver lining

Through the dark clouds shining,

Turn the dark cloud inside out

'Til the boys come home.

(Ivor Novello/Lena Ford, 1914)

It was the Monday before Labour Day. With two young daughters about to return to school, Chantal Robinson -- 37, but with the fresh-faced look of a university student -- had a thousand things on her mind and a hundred things to do. Such burdens are routine for those who run households on their own.

Her husband, Scott -- Warrant Officer Scott Robinson of the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment -- had left their Petawawa home just three weeks earlier for a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Then she got the phone call, Scott's voice coming at her from 10,000 kilometres away.

"You need to sit down," he told her from a base hospital phone line in Kandahar.

"They always get the guys to call themselves, if they can," explains Chantal, recalling the moment. Scott told her he had been wounded, shrapnel slicing into him from a mortar attack in a dusty area west of Kandahar.

Hospitalized for a couple of days and recuperating after that, he was out of commission for the action that took place the following Sunday, the day before Labour Day. In that fierce firefight, which took place near a small village west of Kandahar, Taliban insurgents wounded eight Canadian soldiers and killed four, all from CFB Petawawa, including his two close friends, Warrant Officer Frank Mellish and Warrant Officer Rick Nolan.
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Soldiers’ tough duty
http://www.ottawasun.com/Comment/Editorial/2006/11/04/2241599.html

With Remembrance Day fast approaching and our soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, the Canadian military deserves special respect at this time of year. 

We can start by dispensing with the cheap shot often taken at soldiers — that they are stupid and violent. 

That idea raised its head in the U.S. midterm elections last week when defeated Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry had to apologize for comments that appeared to suggest American soldiers serving in Iraq are dumb. 

Speaking to a university audience, Kerry warned them that unless they studied hard they might “get stuck in Iraq.” 

Faced with fury from both Republicans and Democrats, Kerry later claimed he had blown the punch line of a joke he intended to tell — that if the students didn’t study they would “get us stuck in Iraq,” as President George Bush has done. 

Sounds like a pretty lame explanation to us. 

But whether Kerry made a mistake (accidentally saying something he doesn’t believe) or a gaffe (accidentally saying something he does believe) we’ve all heard the argument that people only go into the military because they have no other real prospects. 

In a word, preposterous. First, it’s ironic that this smug smear against those who serve in our military often comes from people who consider themselves intellectuals
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Pace of Afghan reconstruction is painfully slow
Updated Sun. Nov. 5 2006 11:37 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061105/afghan_reconstruction_061105/20061105?hub=TopStories

With a current lull in heavy fighting in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Canadian troops are refocusing their efforts on reconstruction, which the military regards as the best hope for peace. 

If there is any hope of Canadian soldiers leaving Afghanistan, the military says it will be tied to how successful it is in rebuilding the country. 

With the increased strength of the insurgency this year, however, rebuilding has been almost impossible, as NATO troops had to focus on combat. 

There are some small successes.

The stadium in Kandahar, where the Taliban once held most of its public executions, has been reclaimed by the city's youth. Canadian soldiers have donated shoes and uniforms, and helped organize more than 1,000 players in a soccer tournament. 

"It puts a face to the future of Afghanistan," reconstruction team commander Lt. Col. Simon Heatherington told CTV News, "and, if we can, impart some positive message now." 

But CTV's Steve Chao said that beyond the stadium, life remains grim. "Five years after the fall of the Taliban, many of the country's 31 million people still don't have access to clean water or basic medicine." 

According to the International Monetary Fund, international generosity has been sorely lacking. This year, aid money flowing to Afghanistan totalled about $75 per Afghan. In Bosnia, it came to about $275 per person. 
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Afghan army 'wafer thin'
SUE BAILEY Canadian Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061105.wafghhh1105/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

KABUL — It will be at least 10 years before Afghan troops can handle national security without help from Canadians and other foreign soldiers, says a top military trainer here. 

British Col. Paul Farrar, deputy commander of the international assistance wing of the Kabul Military Training Centre, says the four-year-old Afghan National Army is making real but painfully slow progress.

“It's superficial,” he said in a candid interview. “It's wafer thin — that's the way I describe it. But it's better than it was last year and the year before that.

“It's really been struggling on to its feet, and it's probably not even now fully on them. But there is potential.”

His assessment isn't exactly good news for countries, including Canada, who pin their exit strategies from Afghanistan on the ultimate hand-over of security duties.

The challenges are monumental. American, British, Canadian and French soldiers are helping to build a modern force almost from scratch after the Taliban's iron-fist rule. Comparison with Western military standards is simply unfair, they say.

Most Afghan recruits can't read, write or add; some officers left over from the vestiges of a class-based army system think they're entitled to a job; and the rate at which soldiers desert, go absent without leave or decline to renew their three-year, volunteer contracts hovers between 20 and 50 per cent, depending on circumstances.
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Afghan Governor Denounces Terrorist Lies, Violence  
American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2029

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2006 – An Afghan governor denounced recent Taliban and Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin claims that Afghan and coalition forces caused casualties and deaths of local nationals in the Tagab Valley, officials in Afghanistan reported today.
“These claims are false,” Governor Murad said. “The Taliban will use innocent Afghan civilians as human shields and then blame us. Their tactics are truly inhumane and cowardly.”

The Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army and coalition forces have been conducting joint operations in the Tagab Valley of the Kapisa province to deny safe havens to the Taliban and HIG. The terror groups have launched numerous attacks against Afghan civilians.

The groups want to undermine the Afghan government’s ability to provide security and services to the people of Kapisa.

Murad provides 900 police officers from his area to work with ANA and coalition forces in Tagab Valley. The significant number police and Murad’s cooperation demonstrates the intense dedication that the local government has towards ensuring security and services to its citizens.
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Afghan army `struggling' to make progress
It will take 10 years, colonel says

Many recruits fail to renew contract
Nov. 6, 2006. 01:00 AM SUE BAILEY CANADIAN PRESS
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1162770307036&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

KABUL—It will be at least 10 years before Afghan troops can handle national security without help from Canadians and other foreign soldiers, says a top military trainer here. 

British Col. Paul Farrar, deputy commander of the international assistance wing of the Kabul Military Training Centre, says the four-year-old Afghan National Army is making real but painfully slow progress.

"It's superficial," he said in a candid interview. "It's wafer thin — that's the way I describe it. But it's better than it was last year and the year before that.

"It's really been struggling on to its feet, and it's probably not even now fully on them. But there is potential."

His assessment isn't exactly good news for countries, including Canada, who pin their exit strategies from Afghanistan on the ultimate hand-over of security duties.
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Milford area troops off to Afghanistan
By Timothy R. Homan/ Daily News Correspondent Monday, November 6, 2006 - Updated: 03:53 AM EST
http://www.milforddailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=102448

NEWTON -- Family and friends wished a tearful goodbye yesterday to 13 local National Guard soldiers being deployed to Afghanistan for a yearlong mission. 

    Members of the 726th Finance Battalion, which includes members from the Milford area, will depart Wednesday, under the name Task Force Diamond, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The unit will be responsible mainly for paying soldiers and contractors. 

    "A pay issue doesn’t just affect a soldier," said Brig. Gen. Oliver J. Mason Jr., the state’s adjutant general, "a pay issue affects a family." 

High-ranking military leaders and civilian dignitaries, including Newton Mayor David B. Cohen, were among the approximately 200 people on hand at the National Guard Armory in West Newton to bid farewell to the troops. 

    Cohen told the departing soldiers, whose motto is "Pay Ensured" and "Fit to Fight," that their work is critical because it means combat soldiers "can concentrate on their job because you are concentrating on their welfare." 
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Afghanistan: Who, What, Where, When, And Why?  
by Milo Clark 
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/mgc196.html
  
(Swans - November 6, 2006)   With so little being what it may seem at any given time, where to turn for a sense of balance? Or a sense that accurate or even useful information is out there? That statement is a macro-perception rolling onward into American mid-term elections and stumbling over persistent sore points worldwide. 

Over the last few years, I have read and studied and pondered to little avail about the great swath from Balkans to Bering Strait. I have only known, to any extent, two Pashtun people, part of the largest segment of Afghan population. From my conversations with them, I am left with a profound sense that Westerners, especially Americans, rarely, very rarely, have any meaningful sense of these peoples. 

And "peoples" is the proper word since the tribal and ethnic mixes of the regions defy counting unless one has been brought up among them. 

Sarah Chayes, once NPR correspondent and more recently a worker within Afghanistan, writes with more understanding and compassion than commonly on display. The Punishment of Virtue, inside Afghanistan after the Taliban (Penguin, New York, 2006, ISBN 1-59420-096-3) documents her personal transitions from observer to participant. One by one she first questions and then walks her readers through her many hard lessons as she moves toward grokking Afghan peoples, places and events. 
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U.S.-led troops detain 6 suspected extremists in Afghanistan
The Associated PressPublished: November 6, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/06/asia/AS_GEN_Afghan_Suspects_Detained.php

KABUL, Afghanistan: U.S.-led and Afghan troops detained six suspected extremists, including Saudi and Pakistani nationals, in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, a U.S. military statement said.

The troops detained "a known al-Qaida terrorist and five other extremists" during an operation near Khost city, in Khost province, the statement said.

No shots were fired, and nobody was harmed during the operation, it said.

The military did not provide details on those arrested. It only said that one of them "has known ties to al-Qaida leadership."
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Securing Afghanistan's future
By Harlan Ullman November 6, 2006  KABUL, Afghanistan. 
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20061105-095548-1461r.htm

    For want of a nail, as the old adage goes, the shoe, horse, battle, and, ultimately, the war, were lost. Afghanistan too is missing the right nail. Without it, that war could easily be lost. 
    The missing nail is a single authority with the clout to enforce integration, cooperation and action across the hugely complex and multifaceted layers of government, external actors and realities of Afghani culture, politics and tribal relationships. 
    Five years after Operation Enduring Freedom toppled the Taliban, Afghanistan is both better and worse off. On the positive side, there is every opportunity to create a stable, functioning state under an acceptable standard of rule of law. On the negative side, the lack of urgency by the Afghan government in addressing these challenges has created a perplexing contradiction that could leave Afghanistan a failed state slipping back under the horrors of Taliban rule. And the friction and often childish behavior between President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan are also unneeded impediments that must be fixed. 
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The Dalles remembers planner killed in Afghanistan
11/5/2006, 6:10 p.m. PT The Associated Press    
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1162779542221470.xml&storylist=orlocal

THE DALLES, Ore. (AP) — An Army reservist killed in Afghanistan was remembered Sunday as a strong-willed boy who grew into a man that sought to make a difference.

Staff Sgt. Robert Paul, 43, died Sept. 8 when a car bomber struck near the Humvee that was carrying him. Paul, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, had come to Oregon from Chicago and worked in land-use planning, starting with the city of The Dalles and then with Wasco County.

At a memorial service at The Dalles Wahtonka High School, Gov. Ted Kulongoski, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden and Major Gen. Raymond Rees spoke about the man who served his country. His mother, meanwhile, told the audience about a boy who watched movies with a box of hats
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NYC Marathon a challenge for blind runner from Afghanistan Karen Matthews, Canadian Press
Published: Monday, November 06, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=02d9d648-6d8a-426e-a5f1-e9bdf6dfba57&k=32834

NEW YORK (AP) - Nooria Nodrat's legs and hands went numb in the 24th mile in the New York City Marathon on Sunday. So she rested for half an hour before finishing. 

"I'm very obsessed with challenges," said Nodrat, an immigrant from Afghanistan who has been blind since 1997, when she was attacked in the New York subway by a mentally disturbed teenager who punched her in the head, destroying her retinas. 

The 45-year-old Nodrat ran and walked the course through the city's five boroughs tethered to a rotating team of supporters with a dish towel. She finished in about seven hours. 

"I want to continue my running until the age of 90," she said, undeterred by the numbness, which she thought might have had to do with hunger or her asthma. "Every year I want a marathon." 

A record 38,368 runners started the race, which began on Staten Island and ended in Manhattan's Central Park. 
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Afghanistan Slipping Further Away
By Justin Gardner 
http://donklephant.com/2006/11/05/afghanistan-slipping-further-away/

That’s what the CIA is tellling the administration. 

Here’s more from the NY Times:


The assessment found that Mr. Karzai’s government and security forces continued to struggle to exert authority beyond Kabul, said a senior American official who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. The assessment also found that increasing numbers of Afghans viewed Mr. Karzai’s government as corrupt, failing to deliver promised reconstruction and too weak to protect the country from rising Taliban attacks. […]

The assessment, which was conducted before Mr. Karzai’s visit to Washington in late September, echoes the frustration that has gathered force in Afghanistan since the spring, and American officials in Washington and Kabul are expressing increasingly dire warnings regarding the situation here. Ronald E. Neumann, the American ambassador in Kabul, said in a recent interview that the United States faced “stark choices” in Afghanistan. Averting failure, he said, would take “multiple years” and “multiple billions.”

“We’re going to have to stay at it,” he said. “Or we’re going to fail and the country will fall apart again.”

Listen, the fight in Afghanistan always felt more important than Iraq because of the Taliban and Osama. And let’s not mention 80% of the world’s heroin production. 

Maybe we’ll start paying more attention to Afghanistan after the election… 
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Failing to ‘liberalise’ Pakistan and Afghanistan frontiers
Monday, November 06, 2006 Daily Times Monitor
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C11%5C06%5Cstory_6-11-2006_pg7_45

LAHORE: It was just before dawn when the residents of Chinagai, a small border village in the Bajaur tribal area, woke up to a thunderous blast. Then came three more explosions in quick succession. The missile attack reduced a local seminary known as Madrassa Ziaul Uloom to a huge pile of rubble. Some 85 people died—including several children—in the single deadliest operation launched by Pakistani forces against suspected militants in the country’s lawless tribal region. Pakistani military officials said the madrassa was being used to train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to a report published in Newsweek International.

The missile strike provoked a strong backlash in the border region and exposed a troubling reality for President Pervez Musharraf: he has run out of options in the fight against rampant radicalism along his country’s rugged western border. Thousands of armed Pashtuns took to the streets in Bajaur to protest the attack, and the demonstrations spilled over to parts of North West Frontier Province, which is ruled by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). Islamists, angered by the rumour that US military drones had bombed the Chinagai madrassa, whipped up anti-American sentiments in the region. “It has basically provided a propaganda tool to Taliban and Pakistani Islamists to gain sympathy,” says Samina Ahmed, country director of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
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O'Connor says military 'scrambling' to find soldiers for Afghanistan
Last Updated: Sunday, November 5, 2006 | 6:45 PM ET CBC News 
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/05/afghanistan.html

Canada's military is "scrambling" to find soldiers to send to Afghanistan as it seeks to keep front-line troops from being overworked, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Sunday.

"What we're trying to do in principle is try to avoid having people who are in daily operations to go back [to Afghanistan] a second time before the end of February, '09," O'Connor said, referring to the date to which Parliament extended the Afghan mission.

"So that's had them scrambling to figure out where all the troops are coming from."

O'Connor said he believes it will be "no great challenge" to avoid sending soldiers back to Afghanistan for a second deployment because recruiting is up.

The military is lowering its fitness standards for new recruits and moving training and administrative personnel into combat units.
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Hundreds rally to support Afghanistan mission  
Sunday November 05, 2006 (0059 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?158957

OTTAWA: More than 300 people braved a bitter wind and freezing cold in downtown Edmonton Friday for a rally in support of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. 
The rally at Churchill Square is the first of what organizers promise will be weekly demonstrations dubbed Red Fridays. 

Rachel Lambert, who helped organize the event, says the soldiers in Afghanistan need to know Canadians care. 

We have a lot of veteran military members who sign on the dotted line willing to do a job that many of us wouldn't do," she said. 

"We need to support them 100 per cent because, as I said, they're doing a job to protect our freedoms here at home, whether you want to believe that they can accomplish that somewhere else or not." 

A choir of children dressed in red T-shirts opened the event with O Canada. A key speaker at the event was Master Cpl. Paul Franklin, who lost his legs in a suicide bomb attack. 

"When you are on a mission you don't have to think about how Canadians support us," he told the crowd. "We know that if we head out those gates, that no matter what, Canadians across this land support what we do." 
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Nato forces attack insurgents close to Afghanistan capital  
By Rahim Faiez in Kabul Published: 05 November 2006 
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1956566.ece

In a clash unusually close to the Afghan capital, Nato forces attacked an insurgent compound in the Tagab Valley, some 40 miles north-east of Kabul, and a Nato official said fighting continued in the area yesterday. 

The air strike on the compound, where eight to 10 insurgents were sheltering, is part of Operation Eagle, which a Nato spokesman, Major Luke Knittig, said was aimed at hunting down Taliban fighters. Most of the fighting has been concentrated in Afghanistan's south and east, close to the Pakistan border, but Major Knittig said the operation "is going to address known areas where the Taliban, we suspect, are seeking safe haven. If that's close to Kabul, then so be it."

Taliban fighters, meanwhile, attacked a convoy of supply vehicles going to a Nato base in the eastern province of Khost, killing two Pakistani drivers. The Afghan defence ministry said nine Taliban insurgents and one Afghan soldier were killed in other violence in the past few days.

A photographer kidnapped in Afghanistan last month returned home to Italy yesterday, one day after his captors freed him and left him on the side of a road. The Taliban denied holding him and said he had been seized by bandits. Italy said it had not paid a ransom.

Relatives and officials greeted Gabriele Torsello, 36, at Ciampino Airport in Rome. "I am well. Thank you, Italy," he said, after stepping off the plane, clad in Afghan dress. Hewas kidnapped on 12 October while travelling by bus from Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, to neighbouring Kandahar. 

In a clash unusually close to the Afghan capital, Nato forces attacked an insurgent compound in the Tagab Valley, some 40 miles north-east of Kabul, and a Nato official said fighting continued in the area yesterday. 

The air strike on the compound, where eight to 10 insurgents were sheltering, is part of Operation Eagle, which a Nato spokesman, Major Luke Knittig, said was aimed at hunting down Taliban fighters. Most of the fighting has been concentrated in Afghanistan's south and east, close to the Pakistan border, but Major Knittig said the operation "is going to address known areas where the Taliban, we suspect, are seeking safe haven. If that's close to Kabul, then so be it."

Taliban fighters, meanwhile, attacked a convoy of supply vehicles going to a Nato base in the eastern province of Khost, killing two Pakistani drivers. The Afghan defence ministry said nine Taliban insurgents and one Afghan soldier were killed in other violence in the past few days.
More on link

Pakistan proposes mining Afghanistan border to block Taleban
(DPA) 6 November 2006 
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/November/subcontinent_November205.xml&section=subcontinent

ISLAMABAD - In response to charges that it has not done enough to halt Taleban infiltration, Pakistan proposed to Afghan and NATO authorities that they fence and mine the border between the two countries, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam said in Islamabad on Monday.

She was responding to a demand made by Dutch Foreign Minister Bernhard Bot in Kabul the previous day that Pakistan should fence its border to stem the infiltration which is blamed for the intensified Taleban insurgency in Afghanistan.

‘Pakistan has made a number of suggestions, including fencing the international border, selectively mining the border, introducing restrictions and checks on movement of people and requirement of documents at border crossings,’ she said.

But Afghan President Hamid Karzai ‘in fact is for further liberalizing the movment at the border,’ she added.
More on link

Rebels abduct 4 in Afghanistan: Police
Agence France-Presse Khost, November 6, 2006
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7598_1837163,000500020005.htm

Two Afghan engineers employed by an international aid group, and two other Afghans working with them, have been abducted in southeastern Afghanistan, police said Monday, blaming Taliban.

Police said the engineers worked for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) but the group could not immediately confirm some of its staff were missing.

The United Nations said it was aware of the report and looking into it.

The four were abducted in the remote Zurmat district of Paktia province on Sunday afternoon, provincial police chief General Abdul Hanaan Raufi said.

"Two engineers from IOM and two other local liaison workers were abducted by Taliban on Sunday afternoon in Zurmat," said Raufi.
More on link

Jolie meets Afghanistan refugees
Monday, November 6 2006, 11:55 UTC - by Matt Houghton
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds39036.html

'Alexander'
Angelina Jolie has taken time out from filming in order to meet refugees from Afghanistan and Burma.

According to the BBC, the Tomb Raider star toured a refugee camp in New Delhi as part of her role as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Jolie is currently working on a film in India about Daniel Pearl, the US reporter who was murdered in Pakistan in 2002.

After touring the camp Jolie released a statement that read: "I am grateful to the refugee families who spent time with me and shared their stories. They are remarkable courageous people." 
End

Memorial planned for soldier killed in Afghanistan  
By TERRY CORCORAN THE JOURNAL NEWS
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061106/NEWS02/611060344/1022/NEWS06

MOUNT KISCO - Bob Coulombe, a National Guard member who lives in Chappaqua, was hoping to help Army Staff Sgt. Kyu Hyuk Chay get his career rolling as a judge advocate general in the Army once Chay returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Instead, Coulombe is helping to plan a memorial service at the Mount Kisco American Legion post for Chay, a married father of two who was killed Oct. 28 by an improvised bomb in Oruzgan Province of Afghanistan.
More on link

Afghan Reconstruction Projects Continue
American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2037

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2006 – Reconstruction projects continue in Afghanistan with an agricultural extension center being expanded and construction for an urgent care facility beginning, officials in Afghanistan said. 
The Zormat agricultural extension center is being refurbished and expanded in the Zormat district of Paktya province. The $22,535 project is funded by the U.S. Gardez Provincial Reconstruction Team in conjunction with local officials. The project began in August and will be completed in the spring. 

“The purpose of this project is to help farmers grow bigger, healthier crops so they can earn an income rather than just support their own families,” said Army Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force 76. “A stronger agricultural community will improve the economic outlook for the people of Paktya.” 

In Kabul, Afghan and coalition officials today are laying a cornerstone for an urgent care facility. The clinic is scheduled to open early in 2007 at a cost of $670,000, funded by the U.S. Defense Reconstruction Support Office. The clinic will minimize patient overload at other hospital emergency departments and permit affordable services based on each patient's ability to pay. The clinic will be under the direction of the Afghan Ministry of Public Health and will provide employment to 28 Afghan health care workers. 

"The development of this clinic is another step towards the improvement of conditions for the Afghan people. There is no substitute to the access of urgent medical care," said Col. Donald Johnson, command surgeon for Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (6 Nov 2006)

NATO calls for overhaul of Afghanistan strategy
Alliance leader wants to revamp training
International Herald Tribune, November 5, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/05/news/afghan.php



> NATO's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, is calling for a radical overhaul of military, civilian and development operations in Afghanistan that would involve the U.S.-led military alliance in playing a greater role in training the Afghan Army and the European Union taking over the entire training of the police forces...
> 
> NATO, he added, "should do much more to train and equip the national army. Why? Because that is part of an exit strategy. We want to have the Afghan national army to do what any normal army does - that it be responsible for security in its own country."..
> 
> ...



UN Envoy Urges Deeper NATO Involvement in Afghanistan
Deutsche Welle, 06.11.2006
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2226359,00.html



> The UN representative in Afghanistan Tom Koenigs, warned that NATO and especially German forces must step up efforts to keep the strife-wracked country from sinking into chaos.
> 
> Koenigs told Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that the international troops serving in Afghanistan had reached a key crossroads.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (6 Nov 2006)

*More articles found 6 November 2006*



Storming towards the enemy...with their bayonets fixed and helmet-cameras rolling
By MARK NICOL, Mail on Sunday Last updated at 00:19am on 5th November 2006
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=414531&in_page_id=1770

Video 1 mms://a1247.v266748.c26674.g.vm.akamaistream.net/5/1247/26674/454cf62e/1a1a1a9b086f9d0162cb37b01d7ee75381e45381f66190066fd338a7/Video1.wmv

Video 2 mms://a524.v266746.c26674.g.vm.akamaistream.net/5/524/26674/454d2a9b/1a1a1a9b086f9d0162cb37b01d7ee75381e45381f66190066fd338a7d644b3295b8bbbf1/Video2.wmv

WARNING: The footage shot by British soldiers in Afghanistan is graphic and the soundtrack includes strong language that is unsuitable for minors

These are the most dramatic images of British soldiers on the front line ever shot by the troops themselves. 

Troops face new battles in blitz on heroin crop

They show paratroopers and Royal Marines fighting in Sangin province at the end of September in the most fierce exchanges of the controversial Afghanistan campaign. 

More on link


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## The Bread Guy (6 Nov 2006)

*A Duty NATO Is Dodging In Afghanistan*  
David Bosco, Sabawoon Online (AFG), 4 Nov 06
Article Link

.... The European and Canadian publics have been disgusted by reports of prisoner abuse, and they want nothing to do with what they see as American excess. In Brussels and Ottawa, Bagram and Guantanamo Bay are dirty words.  So NATO countries have essentially opted out of the detainee business. Before committing their troops to combat areas, the Canadian, Dutch and British governments signed agreements with the Afghan government stating that any captured fighters would be handed over to Afghan authorities rather than to American forces.  In practice, these agreements mean that NATO troops have no system in place for regularly interrogating Taliban fighters for intelligence purposes ....



*Schools Reopen in Panjwayee*
Ahmad Farzan, Pajhwok Afghan News, 4 Nov 06
Article Link

Schools have reopened in Panjwayee district of the southern Kandahar province after the conclusion of the NATO anti-Taliban operation there.  All the 42 schools were closed after the launching of anti-Taliban operation by the NATO forces in the district.  Director of the Education Department Hayatullah Rafiqi told Pajhwok Afghan News on Thursday Shamsuddin Kakar High School and another located in centre of the district were opened a day earlier.  In this connection, a meeting was held which was attended by local officials, elders and students. He said more schools would be opened in other parts of the district after improvement in security situation ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Training: 'This is the exit strategy'*
Canadians training Afghanistan's future soldiers admit there are difficulties, but failure isn't an option
Lee Greenberg, Ottawa Citizen, 6 Nov 06
Article Link

At the academy that pumps out hundreds of new Afghan soldiers every month, a multi-ethnic group of wispy young men is in the midst of a training exercise when suddenly one of the men flips his AK-47 to automatic and, holding it one-handed, fires a barrage of shots in all directions.  The bullets are blanks, but it is enough to make a group of seasoned Canadian soldiers hit the deck. "He will not be firing again," says Capt. Carlo Tittarelli, 25, a reserve infantry officer from Stony Creek, Ont., one of 15 Canadian soldiers stationed at the Kabul Military Training Centre, just east of the Afghan capital. "He'll probably go back for remedial training." Capt. Tittarelli and his colleagues, who put the fledgling Afghan troops through their final paces, are confronted with daily challenges that have taught them to temper their expectations ....



*NATO Boosts Afghan "Confidence" in Reconstruction, Diplomats Say*
Alliance ranks high in opinion surveys; Taliban attacks spark outrage
Vince Crawley, News from Washington (USA State Dep't), 6 Nov 06
Article Link

International diplomats, meeting in Belgium to discuss the urgent need for Afghanistan reconstruction, said recent NATO operations south of Kandahar have given the Afghan people “enormous” confidence that the international forces are serious about preventing the Taliban from returning to power.  Also, Taliban attacks against civilians and schools have undermined the Taliban’s credibility among Afghans, who continue to hold positive opinions about the United States and the international community, the diplomats said.  Representatives of the United Nations, the World Bank and NATO’s political civilian body met with reporters November 2 at alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, following an informal Afghanistan planning session that also included partner countries that have contributed forces to the country ....


*NATO expands humanitarian role in Afghanistan: NGOs fear backlash*
Daily Times (PAK), 7 Nov 06
Article Link

Non-government groups in Afghanistan are worried about the growing role NATO forces are playing in reconstruction, fearing people will not differentiate between soldiers and aid workers as security deteriorates.  NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is putting a lot of emphasis on “civilian military” projects, such as the building of bridges and schools or distribution of aid, in what is as much a hearts and minds campaign against the Taliban insurgents as a military one.  But their efforts “put aid workers in danger”, says the head of the Afghan mission of the French NGO Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger), Thomas Loreaux.  “People cannot tell the difference between aid workers and soldiers,” he told AFP. “And that challenges our neutrality and independence.” ....


*Four Afghans linked to foreign aid group abducted*
Agence France Presse, via Khaleej Times Online (UAE), 6 Nov 06
Article Link

Two Afghan engineers employed by an international aid group, and two other Afghans working with them, have been abducted in southeastern Afghanistan, police said Monday, blaming Taleban.  Police said the engineers worked for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) but the group could not immediately confirm some of its staff were missing.  The United Nations said it was aware of the report and looking into it.  The four were abducted in the remote Zurmat district of Paktia province onSunday afternoon, provincial police chief General Abdul Hanaan Raufi told AFP.  “Two engineers from IOM and two other local liaison workers were abducted by Taleban yesterday afternoon in Zurmat,” said Raufi ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (7 Nov 2006)

*One ISAF Soldier killed, 2 wounded in roadside explosion in Kandahar province*
ISAF News Release #2006-266, 7 Nov 06
Link to Statement

One ISAF soldier died and two were injured when the vehicle they were travelling in was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the Panjwayi District of Kandahar yesterday.  The soldiers were conducting a patrol as part of the countrywide joint Afghan - ISAF Operation OQAB when their vehicle was caught in the blast of the IED. The wounded troops were evacuated to the ISAF Hospital at Kandahar for treatment.  In accordance with NATO policy, ISAF does not release the nationalities of casualties prior to the relevant national authority doing so. 


*Nato soldier killed in Afghanistan*
The Guardian (UK), 7 Nov 06
Link to Article

A soldier was killed and another two wounded when an explosive device struck a Nato patrol vehicle in southern Afghanistan, officials said today.  The blast, which killed the Nato soldier, whose nationality has not been disclosed, occurred in the volatile Panjwayi district of the southern Kandahar province on Monday, a Nato statement said.  The wounded soldiers were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.  Another Nato spokesman said initially that the militants had fired a rocket-propelled grenade on the US-led coalition patrol in the area. It was not immediately clear what caused the discrepancy ....


*NATO soldier killed, two wounded in Afghanistan*
CTV.ca, 7 Nov 06
Link to Article

NATO says one soldier has been killed and two others wounded after an explosive device struck their patrol vehicle in southern Afghanistan.  The blast occurred yesterday in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province.  The NATO statement did not disclose the nationalities of the dead and wounded soldiers.  The wounded soldiers were taken to a nearby military hospital for treatment ....


*Blast kills 1 NATO soldier, injures 2 in southern Afghanistan*
CBC Online, 7 Nov 06
Link to Article

An ambush on a NATO patrol vehicle left one soldier dead and two others injured in southern Afghanistan, NATO said in a statement on Tuesday.  The attack occurred Monday, NATO said, when suspected insurgents detonated an explosive device in the Panjwaii district in Kandahar province. NATO officials did not disclose the nationality of the soldiers involved ....


*Nato soldier dies in Afghanistan *  
BBC Online, 7 Nov 06
Link to Article

One Nato soldier was killed and two injured when an explosive device struck their vehicle in southern Afghanistan, officials said.  The incident occurred 35km (19 miles) west of Kandahar city on Monday, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said.  The injured were taken to an Isaf hospital in Kandahar, Captain Andre Salloum told the AFP news agency.  The nationalities of the dead and injured were not given ....


*New Afghan violence leaves five dead, including coalition soldier*
Agence France Presse, 7 Nov 06
Link to Article

The latest in a wave of attacks blamed on Taliban fighters in Afghanistan has left five people dead, including a foreign soldier, police and the NATO-led military force said.  The soldier with the US-led coalition was killed Monday when militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade into a military vehicle travelling through the southern province of Kandahar, a spokesman for the NATO force said.  "One vehicle was destroyed and one coalition soldier was killed, but there was no heavy fighting," International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman Captain Andre Salloum told AFP on Tuesday ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here


----------



## GAP (7 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 7 November 2006*



`*We've got to see it through to the end'*
Nov. 7, 2006. 06:27 AM BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH OTTAWA BUREAU
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1162853414178&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

Commander back from 9-month tour Says Canadians should be proud of work

CFB TRENTON—Brig.-Gen. David Fraser arrived back on home turf with a smile on his face, relief in his eyes and an admission that he will always be marked by his gruelling nine-month tour in Afghanistan.

"I might have left Afghanistan, but Afghanistan will always be part of me," he told the Star in an interview yesterday. "The people out there are phenomenal, courageous. 

"You can't help but leave a part of yourself back there," he said.

"Men and women, the children who are just trying to eke out a living. ... We've got to see it through to the end," he said.

In February, Fraser took over command of the multinational forces in the southern region of Afghanistan as they faced a rebounding insurgency that killed allied troops and thwarted efforts to rebuild.

While the mission is proving divisive on the home front, Fraser said Canadians should take pride in the mission.
More on link

*Drones on military wish list*
Jul. 4, 2006. 05:09 AM BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH OTTAWA BUREAU
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1151963410111&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

Armed forces seek to add to Ottawa's $17B spending spree unveiled last week
Unmanned `eyes in the sky' would monitor oceans here, hot spots abroad 
New chief of army calls for better fighting gear, protection for troops

Canada's air force hopes to buy a fleet of sophisticated aerial drones — unmanned "eyes in the sky" — to patrol Canadian territory and waters as well as spy on enemy troops in hot spots like Afghanistan, a top general says.

Lt.-Gen. Steve Lucas, the head of the air force, said he hopes the purchasing process for 18 drones, valued at $500 million, will begin this fall.

As well, the air force hopes to finally move on the long-delayed purchase of 19 new search-and-rescue aircraft for an estimated $2 billion to replace the old Hercules planes now doing the task, he said.

Lucas's comments came on the heels of last week's announcements of $17 billion in new spending to boost Canada's military. The spending includes:

$8.3 billion to buy and maintain four Boeing C-17 Globemaster strategic lift cargo jets or similar aircraft to replace Canada's Antonovs, plus the smaller tactical lift aircraft to replace our aging Hercules transports.

$2.9 billion for three new supply ships.

$4.7 billion for 16 heavy Chinook-type helicopters.

$1.2 billion for 2,300 trucks.

And that's far from the end of the military's wish list.

Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, the new head of the army, said he wants to tweak capabilities to cope with evolving conflicts that demand a mix of guerrilla fighting and development work.

"I think what we're doing in places like Afghanistan will be our stock-in-trade for a good many years," Leslie told the Star, describing the mission as "dangerous and complicated."
More on link

Torch passed to troops in Afghanistan, PM says
SCOTT DEVEAU  Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061106.wharper1106/BNStory/National/home

Speaking to a group of veterans and youths at the Canadian War Museum Monday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper drew on Canada's proud military history to reiterate his government's support for the troops in Afghanistan.

“When the cause is just, Canada always answers the call, just as it is today in Afghanistan,” Mr. Harper said in the build up to Remembrance Day this weekend. 

“In Afghanistan, more than two score of our troops have fallen since we joined the United Nations campaign to rescue that country from tyranny, terrorism, and the Taliban following 9/11. This week, we remember them too.”

Since 2002, 43 Canadians have been killed in the war in Afghanistan, where more than 2,200 Canadian troops are participating in the mission.
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Troops kick ass - See picture below
Dan Harrison November 7, 2006 - 3:50PM
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/troops-kick-ass/2006/11/07/1162661671342.html

They may be 11,000 kilometres from Flemington, but that hasn't stopped Australian troops in Afghanistan from getting into the spirit of the spring carnival.

Australian Defence Force personnel serving in Tarin Kawt, southern Afghanistan, as part of a NATO reconstruction taskforce, have honoured the day with the inaugural TK Derby carnival donkey race.

The 600-metre race, which kicked off at 3.15pm local time yesterday, covered one lap of the ring road at Camp Russell, within Camp Holland, the toops' heavily fortified desert base.

Soldiers donned brightly-coloured wigs and fluorescent silks for the race, while uniformed troops watched from the tops of what appeared to be shipping containers positioned along the edge of the dusty track .

The eventual winner was a donkey ridden by Darwin-based second cavalry regiment trooper Tim Brusch, who was hoisted on the shoulders of his mates and presented with a small silver cup trophy.
More on link

Al-Qaida operative captured in E. Afghanistan: U.S. military  
November 06, 2006   
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/06/eng20061106_318815.html

The U.S. coalition forces have captured another suspected al-Qaida operative in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, a press release of the U.S. military said Monday. 

"Afghan and Coalition forces captured a known al-Qaida terrorist and five other extremists during an operation nearly Monday morning near Khost city," the press release added. 

It said the detainee had ties with al-Qaida network's leadership. However, it declined to identify his name but added, "The detainee along with five other terrorists found in the compound including Saudi and Pakistani nationals." 

The press release also claimed that several women and children were found from the compound where the suspected terrorists were hiding, saying the "terrorists willingly place non-combatants in danger." 

No Afghan or coalition soldiers were injured during the operation while a number of arms and ammunition including AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades had been found from the compound. 

According to officials, over a dozen terrorists have been arrested over the past couple of months in Khost and the neighboring provinces of Paktia and Paktika. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Pakistan, Afghanistan to hold tribal jirgas  November 06, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/06/eng20061106_318924.html

Pakistan and Afghanistan are in touch to sort out modalities for holding of tribal jirgas as agreed between President Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart during their meeting in Washington, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told a weekly news briefing on Monday. 

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri is expected to visit Kabul in the first half of next month to exchange views with his Afghan counterpart on the subject, she said. 

Aslam said Pakistan is doing everything possible to ensure that its territory is not used for violence in Afghanistan. 

"Pakistan has made a number of suggestions including fencing of the international border," she said. 

She said Pakistan has also proposed introduction of restrictions and checks on movements and requirement of documentation on points where such movement should be allowed. 

"There have been interactions with Afghan side on various levels including the highest level," she added. 

"Pakistan however feels that challenges in Afghanistan are compounded by lack of progress in reconstruction, poppy cultivation, gun running, corruption and role of war lords," she said. 

"There is also need for reconciliation in Afghanistan and early relocation of Afghan refugees living close to Afghan border," she said. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

India Conference to Support Afghanistan  
Nov. 6, 2006, 11:33AM © 2006 The Associated Press 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4313617.html

NEW DELHI — India will host a conference this month to seek new commitments to support the fragile Afghan economy as it recovers from decades of war.

The regional economic cooperation conference on Afghanistan _ scheduled to be held in New Delhi beginning Nov. 18 _ will bring together the Central Asian nation's neighbors, including Pakistan, Iran and China, and members of the G-8 group of industrialized nations.

The conference is "envisaged to bring together all the important players in the postwar reconstruction of Afghanistan on a single platform," Navtej Sarna, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman, said Monday.

Representatives from the World Bank, the United Nations and other multilateral agencies will also participate in the two-day conference. Other attendees will include representatives from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The first such regional conference, hosted by Britain and Afghanistan, was held in Kabul in December last year.
More on link

Taliban support on rise in Afghanistan
Monday, November 6, 2006 By JASON STRAZIUSO ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Afghan_Taliban_Support.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- For Ata Mohammad, who lost 19 members of his family during a fight between NATO and Taliban militants, the choices ahead are bleak.

He has no particular wish to join the Taliban. He could support NATO and President Hamid Karzai's government, but feels betrayed by the violence in the Panjwayi district he lives in. His other options include becoming a refugee in Pakistan or Iran.

Many in Kandahar say their confidence in the government is falling, and some say that is helping fuel support for the Taliban.

"Should we join the Taliban? Should we join the government? We don't know," Mohammad said. "The Taliban, they are causing problems for us, but the government is causing problems for us too."

"We can hardly feed our family bread. We are struggling for our life," he said. "And with the Taliban and the government and NATO fighting, we are victims, too."
More on link

Suspected insurgents kidnap four Afghan aid workers
Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061106.wafghani1106/BNStory

Kabul — Suspected Taliban insurgents kidnapped four Afghan aid workers in eastern Afghanistan, while U.S.-led Afghan troops detained six suspected extremists Monday, including one described as a “known al-Qaeda terrorist,” officials said.

The four aid workers, employed by the International Organization for Migration, were abducted Sunday in Zormat district of eastern Paktia province, said General Abdul Anan Raufi, the provincial police chief.

The workers were on their way to visit a newly built school in the area, he said.

“There were no demands from the kidnappers so far, but the elders in the area are involved in negotiating their release,” Gen. Raufi said.
More on link

Cross border infiltration allegations leveled by Afghanistan not acceptable: FO Spokesperson  
Tuesday November 07, 2006 (0430 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?159168

 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has brushed aside cross border infiltration allegations leveled by Afghanistan against it saying such baseless accusations are not acceptable. 
" We do not accept cross border infiltration allegations leveled by Afghanistan against us. Pakistan has done a lot to stem cross border infiltration. We put forth the proposals for erection of fence besides laying land mines but Afghan president rejected the proposal of fencing", said foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam in weekly press briefing here Monday. 

Several challenges are there in Afghanistan with reference to peace, she held. They are presence of war lords, poppy cultivation and Afghan refugees, she added. " We want Afghan refugees return to Afghanistan or their camps be relocated to Afghanistan, she maintained. 

Ms Tasneem Aslam said no strategic talks are going to be held between Pakistan and US nor Nicholas Burns is coming to Pakistan. 

Responding to a question, she said Pakistan is optimistic about success of foreign secretaries level talks with India, she underscored. During the meeting outcome of second phase talks would be reviewed. " We hope that both the countries would move forward to all the key outstanding issues including issue of Kashmir and a positive movement forward will take place}", she added
More on link

Dutch soldier refusing service in Afghanistan convicted without punishment 
 November 07, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/07/eng20061107_319096.html

A Dutch military court convicted a soldier for refusing to be redeployed to Afghanistan, but spared him punishment because he was suffering post-traumatic stress from the earlier service of duty. 

The court in the central city of Arnhem said in a written judgment that both the soldier and the armed forces were responsible to deal with the negative consequences of a mission, such as post-traumatic stress syndrome. 

The court criticized the military for not doing enough for the 20-year-old man. The soldier, whose identity was not known, had faced a maximum sentence of two-year imprisonment. 

The Dutch have about 1,400 troops stationed in the southern Afghanistan province of Uruzgan. They serve as part of NATO forces, mainly engaged in a peacekeeping and reconstruction mission. 

The unidentified soldier said earlier this year that he had been promised he would not be sent abroad when he re-enlisted after a previous mission in Afghanistan. He described his unit then as "a kindergarten class" unprepared to serve in a hostile environment. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

R E G I O N: NATO expands humanitarian role in Afghanistan: NGOs fear backlash
Tuesday, November 07, 2006  
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C11%5C07%5Cstory_7-11-2006_pg4_14

* People’s inability to differentiate between aid workers and soldiers may create security problems for aid workers

KABUL: Non-government groups in Afghanistan are worried about the growing role NATO forces are playing in reconstruction, fearing people will not differentiate between soldiers and aid workers as security deteriorates.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is putting a lot of emphasis on “civilian military” projects, such as the building of bridges and schools or distribution of aid, in what is as much a hearts and minds campaign against the Taliban insurgents as a military one.

But their efforts “put aid workers in danger”, says the head of the Afghan mission of the French NGO Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger), Thomas Loreaux.

“People cannot tell the difference between aid workers and soldiers,” he told AFP. “And that challenges our neutrality and independence.” The confusion is dangerous as the Taliban direct most of their attacks against troops, although scores of aid workers have also been killed in the increasingly deadly insurgency launched after hardliners were toppled in 2001.

Loreaux says his group treasures its neutrality because “we are here to help people and if we need to negotiate with the Taliban, we will.”

This year at least 14 Afghans working with NGOs have been killed, most of them in the north of the country which does not see as much of the Taliban violence that is gripping the south, although banditry and territorial rivalries are rife.
More on link

2 suspected Taliban, 1 police killed in eastern Afghanistan clash
The Associated PressPublished: November 7, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/07/asia/AS_GEN_Afghan_Violence.php

KABUL, Afghanistan: Suspected Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan, leaving two militants and one police officer dead, an official said Tuesday.

The militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns on the police post in the eastern Khost province late Monday, which also left two police wounded, said Gen. Mohammad Ayub, the provincial police chief.

Police rushed reinforcements to the area, forcing the Taliban to flee, Ayub said. They took their dead with them.
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Afghanistan opposes fencing border with Pakistan  
November 07, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/07/eng20061107_319192.html

Afghanistan Tuesday repeated its firm opposition to fencing border with Pakistan. 

"We are against fencing or erecting barriers on the Durand Line and would not accept it," Afghan Presidential spokesman Mohammad Karim Rahimi told newsmen at a press briefing. 

He made these remarks just days after suggesting fencing border with Afghanistan by Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmoud Kasuri. 

Khurshid Kasuri, according to media reports at a joint press conference with his Dutch counterpart Bernhard Bot on Sunday, stressed the need to seal the border with Afghanistan saying it could be fenced and jointly monitored in order to check terrorist activities. 

Spokesperson of Pakistan's Foreign Ministry Tasneem Aslam, according to media report, also said Monday that Islamabad had proposed fencing and selectively mining the 2,500 km porous border with Afghanistan. 

"Fencing the Durand Line or erecting barriers cannot curb terrorism except dividing the inhabitants of the people living on the both side of the line," Rahimi emphasized. 

Demarcated in 1893 by the erstwhile British Empire, the Durand Line divides the Pashtun tribe which used to live on the both sides of the line over the past centuries. 

Afghanistan's successive governments have not recognized the line as international border with the neighboring Pakistan. 

Karimi also stressed that eliminating terrorism requires joint and coordinated struggle among Afghanistan, Pakistan and international community to target the root cause and breeding centers of terrorism but declined to name any specific country as the breeding center of terrorism. 

Afghanistan officials often say that Taliban militants usually cross the Durand line and after conducting subversive activities go back to Pakistan, and such claim is rejected by Islamabad as groundless allegation. 

Source: Xinhua 
More on link

From agony in Angaston to Diggers' donkey races in Afghanistan
Richard Sproull and John Stapleton  November 08, 2006
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20720188-2702,00.html

STRAPPERS, jockeys and trainers from David Hayes's Lindsay Park Stud always retreat to the nearby Angaston pub, the Barossa Brauhaus, when their horses are running at the Spring Carnival's big races.
"Most of them drink here when they've had a win, too," said Julie Blenkiron, the hotel's night manager. 

More than 200 patrons packed the bar of the 155-year-old pub in the heart of the Barossa Valley to watch the Melbourne Cup yesterday where Hayes's Tawqeet and Short Pause were running. 

Lindsay Park, the stud established by his late father, Colin, in 1965, is just a kilometre down the road. 

Horses that have stood or been trained at Lindsay Park include past champions Zabeel, Rory's Jester, Jeune, At Talaq, St Covet, Kaapstad, Military Plume, Blevic and Devaraja. 
More on link

Pashtuns protest Pakistani meddling in Afghanistan
07 Nov 2006 14:23:28 GMT Source: Reuters By Saeed Ali Achakzai
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL63449.htm

CHAMAN, Pakistan, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Several thousand ethnic Pashtuns rallied in a Pakistani town near the Afghan border on Tuesday, accusing Pakistan of meddling in Afghanistan's affairs.

The protesters, Pakistani Pashtuns and some Afghan Pashtun refugees, accused Pakistan of providing sanctuary to Taliban militants, who have this year unleashed the most intense violence in Afghanistan since their 2001 ousting from power.

"We demand the government of Pakistan stops playing its game in Afghanistan," Hamid Khan Achakzai, a leader of a Pakistani Pashtun nationalist party and a former member of parliament, told the rally in the southwestern town of Chaman.

"This duplicitous policy poses serious danger to the entire world," Achakzai said.

Pashtuns live on both sides of the rugged Afghan-Pakistani border.

Afghan complaints that Taliban insurgents are operating from safe havens on the Pakistani side have seriously strained relations between the neighbours this year.

Pakistan nurtured the Taliban after they emerged from Pashtun tribal lands along the border in the early 1990s, but officially ended support after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
More on link




More on link[/color


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## MarkOttawa (7 Nov 2006)

Dutch take command of ISAF in South Afghanistan (note bold )
Radio Netherlands 01-11-2006
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/ned061101mc



> The major general's headquarters at the sprawling base close to Kandahar Airfield puts one a little in mind of a Canadian log cabin, and in an attempt to make it somewhat more attractive a small square has been created close by, complete with neat, paved paths. Visitors here pass by two monuments - one erected by NATO, the other by the Americans - and two flags, NATO's and the national flag of Afghanistan.
> 
> With effect from 1 November, this 'cabin' will be the centre of operations for Major General Van Loon as he holds command of NATO forces in Afghanistan's six southern provinces, including the most volatile three: Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan. *Ton van Loon's predecessor in the post was Canadian Brigadier General David Fraser, and a British general will succeed him next year. These three countries - the Netherlands, Canada and the UK - will continue to hold command of NATO's operations in the area on a rotating basis for the next few years. At the moment, some 11,000 NATO troops are stationed in this part of Afghanistan, including a large contingent of US forces in the province of Zabul [my emphasis].*
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (8 Nov 2006)

*Canada says has broken S. Afghan Taliban uprising*
Reuters (UK), 8 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian troops have broken the back of an insurgency by Taliban militants near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, the scene of fierce recent fighting, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said on Tuesday.  Canada has 2,300 soldiers based in Kandahar. Since 2002, 42 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, most of them in battles in the south of the country over the past few months.  Although an opinion poll over the weekend showed most Canadians pessimistic about the future of the mission and want the troops to come home, O'Connor struck an upbeat tone.  "It is a critical time in the south. ... I believe that we are going to succeed," he said in a Parliamentary debate on the Canadian military.  "We have already broken the back of the insurgency in the Kandahar area in the sense that they (the Taliban) are not prone to attacking us directly. They are going to have to revert to suicide bombings and IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," he said ....

*Taliban vow renewed jihad against Canadians*
Lee Greenberg and Noor Khan, Ottawa Citizen, 7 Nov 06
Article Link

The Taliban have pledged to wage a renewed jihad against Canadian troops in Afghanistan, saying Canada has, by killing innocent civilians, broken its promise to redevelop the war-ravaged country.  "We will pursue our fighting in winter," Qari Mohammad Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said in a telephone interview yesterday, shooting down suggestions of a lull in fighting over the winter when insurgents traditionally retreat to mountain hideaways.  "We will change our tactics according to the situation."  He said if Canadian troops want to avoid casualties, "the best way is to stop their operations."  Lt.-Gen. David Richards, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, has accused the Taliban of deliberately enmeshing themselves in civilian populations to increase casualties. He calls the tactic a "cynical" attempt to diminish support for the coalition.  But one tribal elder in a hard-hit southern village said his people had little choice but to comply with Taliban demands.  "NATO is telling us not to give shelter to Taliban," said Zarif Khan, a tribal elder in Sperwan Ghar. "This is not our duty. The government and NATO have to stop Taliban. We don't have weapons to stop armed people. If they ask us for shelter we don't have any options." ....



*`We've got to see it through'*
Commander back from 9-month tour 
Says Canadians should be proud of work
Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star, 7 Nov 06
Article Link

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser arrived back on home turf with a smile on his face, relief in his eyes and an admission that he will always be marked by his gruelling nine-month tour in Afghanistan.  "I might have left Afghanistan, but Afghanistan will always be part of me," he told the Star in an interview yesterday. "The people out there are phenomenal, courageous.  "You can't help but leave a part of yourself back there," he said.  "Men and women, the children who are just trying to eke out a living. ... We've got to see it through to the end," he said.  In February, Fraser took over command of the multinational forces in the southern region of Afghanistan as they faced a rebounding insurgency that killed allied troops and thwarted efforts to rebuild.  While the mission is proving divisive on the home front, Fraser said Canadians should take pride in the mission ....


*Support for troops lauded*
Cary Castagna, Edmonton Sun, 7 Nov 06
Article Link

Brig. Gen. David Fraser isn't putting much stock into recent polls suggesting Canadian support for the war in Afghanistan is dwindling. "If the support out there's dwindling, I haven't seen it," said Fraser, who arrived home last night with the final wave of Edmonton-based soldiers from Joint Task Force Afghanistan. Fraser, who handed over command of the NATO troops in southern Afghanistan on Nov. 1, said he's received nothing but positive e-mails from supporters across the country. "All they tell me is keep going," the Edmonton-based commander said, adding support is "100% solid." ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*$189M to send tanks to Afghanistan: O'Connor*
Canadian Press, via Toronto Star, 7 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada’s defence minister says it’s costing taxpayers $189 million to send re-enforcements, including Leopard tanks, to Afghanistan to support Canadian troops.  Gordon O’Connor told a House of Commons committee Tuesday night that includes the cost of sending the tanks, a team of engineers and a counter-mortar unit.  “That’s transportation, plus what was necessary to get all the equipment up to standard for operations,” said O’Connor in reply to questions from opposition MPs.  The military announced last summer that the 42-tonne Leopards would be deployed to Afghanistan.  Five of the 42-tonne monsters are already in operation with another 12 to be deployed in the next month ....



*Conviction, not contempt  *  
Susan Riley, Ottawa Citizen, 8 Nov 06
Article Link

When is Prime Minister Stephen Harper going to stop treating Canadians like slow students, or spineless wimps, and announce a new approach for the failing Afghan mission?  Leaving before 2009 will be awkward, at the least, given the Harper government's promise to NATO allies to keep our troops in the country until that date. But are we doomed to losing more soldiers (and inflicting injuries on more civilians) in a stumbling military effort for three more years, while our allies tiptoe away from the mess and Afghans turn against the Karzai government and against their would-be rescuers?  It is a real possibility. Yet Harper's public comments on Afghanistan conform to an unchanging pattern: praise for the troops and abuse for anyone who questions the direction, or duration, of the mission ....



*AFGHANISTAN: Tribal elders reopening southern schools*
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 7 Nov 06
Article Link

LASHKAR GAH, 7 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - In an effort to reopen hundreds of schools, closed due to fear of attacks from insurgents in southern Afghanistan, local tribal elders in Helmand province have helped the government to open the doors of at least 20 schools in the past two weeks, local officials said on Tuesday.  The initiative came after local officials in the insurgency-hit south announced last month that more than 300 schools were now closed following attacks and threats from insurgents.  “Community leaders in Sangin and Nawzad districts have also raised their voices and support for reopening schools and now we hope that many other schools will be reopened for students in the near future,” Saifal Maluk Noori, head of Helmand’s education department, said.  The elders, who command considerable respect and power in their villages, have promised to guard and protect schools and mount a community-based protection network to counter the threats from militant groups ....



*Afghanistan: UN-backed panel voices alarm at surge in opium cultivation*
UN News Centre, 3  Nov 06
Article Link

A United Nations-backed panel on narcotics control today expressed alarm at the rise in illicit opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, by far the world’s largest supplier, and called on its neighbours to crack down on the apparent smuggling of a chemical needed for the manufacture of heroin within the country.  The Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) Board, an independent and quasi-judicial control organ set up in 1961 to monitor implementation of UN drug conventions, noted that although acetic anhydride needed to make heroin appears to be available in the country, the sources from where it is smuggled have not been identified ....


*INCB Expresses Concern Over Illegal Manufacture of Heroin in Afghanistan During Annual Session*
The International Narcotics Control Board, UN Information Service, 3 Nov 06
Article Link

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) during its ongoing 87th session in Vienna, Austria, has expressed concern over alarming increase in illicit opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and the illegal manufacture of heroin in the country.  "Although acetic anhydride, which is needed to manufacture heroin, appears to be available in the country, the sources and routes from where the chemical is smuggled have not been identified. The Board is extremely concerned that hardly any of the countries bordering Afghanistan have reported seizures of acetic anhydride during 2005 and 2006. The Board therefore urges all Governments in the neighbouring countries to ensure that acetic anhydride transiting through their countries illicitly, is intercepted," said Dr. Philip O. Emafo, INCB President.  The Board, during its present session, will adopt its Annual Report for 2006 which will be released in February 2007 ....



*Afghanistan: Profile Report 07 Nov 2006*
United Nations Security Council, via ReliefWeb, 7 Nov 06
Article Link - .pdf report

For the last quarter of a century, Afghanistan has been embroiled in conflict. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was followed by a decade of clashes between Soviet troops and Afghan fighters, the mujahedin. After the withdrawal of the Soviet army in 1988, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, factional fighting among the mujahedin forces continued until 1996, when the capital, Kabul, was taken by the Taliban ....


----------



## GAP (8 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 8 November 2006 
(even though milnewstbay beat me to it   ;D - he saves me a lot of work- thanks)*

Afghanistan 'to spray poppy crop'   
By Najiba Laima  BBC Pashto/Persian service  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6126966.stm

The Afghan government has for the first time accepted that aerial chemical spraying could be considered to curb the cultivation of opium poppies. 

Poppy production across Afghanistan has increased by 60% since 2005. 

A spokesman for the anti-narcotics ministry told the BBC that spraying could be used to free Afghanistan from its "biggest enemy", opium. 

The government has resisted aerial spraying, but the spokesman said it was now being considered as a last resort. 

Local people in the southern Helmand province, which cultivates more than a quarter of Afghanistan's poppies, claim there has already been clandestine spraying which reduced the province's poppy yield by more that half last year. 

They say the spraying also badly affected other crops and that some people complained of skin conditions. 

New plans  

President Hamid Karzai has declared jihad, or war, against drugs, arguing they are destroying his country and its future prospects. 

However, a leading member of the Afghan parliament, Daud Sultanzoy, has told the BBC that he will fight the aerial spraying. 
More on link

Extreme care is exercised to avoid collateral damage in war against terrorism: Musharraf  
Wednesday November 08, 2006 (0354 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?159300

RAWALPINDI: President General Pervez Musharraf Tuesday said extreme care is being exercised to ensure that there is no loss of innocent lives or collateral damage while combating terrorists. 

He observed this while presiding over a day long 99th Corps Commanders` Conference here at General Headquarters. Vice Chief of Army Staff, Corps Commanders and Principal Staff Officers attended the conference. 

After recitation from the Holy Quran, President General Pervez Musharraf dwelt at length on the international and regional environment and their relevance to the security of Pakistan; domestic environment and professional matters. 

Talking about the role of Security Forces in combating militancy and terrorism, the President said that given the complexity of the issue, various parties try to exploit it for petty vested interests and create gross misperceptions amongst the general public. 
More on link

Pakistan providing full-fledged protection to foreign entrepreneurs, companies: Sherpao  
Wednesday November 08, 2006 (0354 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?159296

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has said Pakistan offers conducive environment for foreign investment adding full security is being provided to the foreign entrepreneurs and companies in the country. 
He said this while talking to a delegation of oil and Gas Company of Hungry, MOL here Tuesday in ministry of interior. The delegation was led by company's executive vice president. 

Interior minister held that new era of development and prosperity has ushered in Pakistan. A record surge has been noticed in foreign exchange reserve. 

Country has carved a unique niche in the comity of nations under the courageous leadership of the President General Pervez Musharraf and the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. " We are playing our key role to protect the world against the scourge of terrorism", he added. 
More on link

Drug money being used in promoting terrorism in Afghanistan: Kasuri  
Wednesday November 08, 2006 (0354 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?159297

ISLAMABAD: Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs said the drug money in Afghanistan is being used for crimes and terrorism. 
He said this while speaking to UN Secretary General's Special Representative Thomas Koenigs on Tuesday at Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The Foreign Minister informed the UN secretary General representative that he would be soon be visiting Afghanistan during early December 2006. 

Mr Keonigs briefed Khurshid Kasuri on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan's role and functions.
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Travelling with the Taleban   
The BBC's David Loyn has had exclusive access to Taleban forces mobilised against the British army in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6081594.stm

There is no army on earth as mobile as the Taleban. 
*Taleban interview*   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/3681938.stm

I remember it as their secret weapon when I travelled with them in the mid-1990s, as they swept aside rival mujahideen to take most of the country. 

Piled into the back of open Toyota trucks, their vehicle of choice, and carrying no possessions other than their weapons, they can move nimbly. 

The bare arid landscape of northern Helmand suits them well. 

After one hair-raising race across the desert last week, patrolling the large area where they can move at will, they screamed to a stop at a river bank. 
More on link

Nato struggles in Afghanistan   
By Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5345452.stm

For now there is not going to be a Polish solution to Nato's problems in Afghanistan. 

 Nato spokesmen are making it clear that Poland's decision to send 1,000 troops to the country early next year - a few months earlier than planned - has nothing to do with the alliance's current military problems in the south of the country. 

Nato is still struggling to find up to 2,500 extra troops for southern Afghanistan and it needs them urgently. 

If they cannot be found then the success of Nato's mission could be called into question and this in turn could have a considerable impact upon future perceptions of the alliance itself. 

Nato leaders accept that Afghanistan represents a fundamental test for the alliance. 

The crucial problem for any international institution is relevance. Is it still useful to its members? Can it re-invent itself for a world that is very different from that in which it was founded? 
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Afghanistan: Tactics and techniques   
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5147832.stm

International forces in Afghanistan are facing mounting security problems. The Taleban - ousted from Kabul in the 2001 US-led invasion - have regrouped over the last couple of years, and are now a resurgent force in the south and east of the country. 
Although there are no reliable estimates of their current manpower, Taleban tactics are nothing new. 

Their fighters follow exactly the same principles of low-level guerrilla warfare as the mujahideen fighters who inflicted heavy losses on the Soviet army which occupied Afghanistan from 1979-89. 

Leading defence analyst Colonel Christopher Langton from the International Institute for Strategic Studies told the BBC News website: "It's a well-practised Afghan way of operating. There has been no change in tactics since 2001. A far as they're concerned, it works. 

"They're limited by the type of equipment they have. It's been a long time since they operated any tanks or armoured vehicles. 
More on link

Afghans speak on foreign troops   
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4989456.stm

The presence of foreign forces are a daily reality for people throughout Afghanistan. 
While British forces launch offensives against Taleban strongholds in the south, Nato troops patrol the streets of Kabul to maintain order. 

Here Afghans from around the country give their verdict on the foreign troops in their midst. 

More on link

Can change in Afghan tactics bring peace?   
Analysis By Alastair Leithead BBC News, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6060384.stm

The British forces in southern Afghanistan have finally had a change of tactics. 

Ever since they were deployed into the small government compounds in Helmand's remote district centres they have been under fire and looking for a face-saving way out. 

In Sangin, Now Zad and Musa Qala, the small deployments of men have been defending attack from all sides - rocket propelled grenades, small arms fire, mortars. 

The enemy was underestimated and was a lot tougher, more determined and fearless than they expected. 

It would launch "wave after wave of attack" to quote one commander, in the most intense fighting "since the Korean or even the Second World War" to quote another. 

They went into these centres bowing to pressure from the governor, and because they could not be seen to be losing ground to the Taleban as they were deploying, but before they were up to full speed. 
More on link

15 suspected insurgents killed by NATO troops, aircraft in eastern Afghanistan
The Associated PressPublished: November 8, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/08/asia/AS_GEN_Afghan_Violence.php

KABUL, Afghanistan: NATO-led troops aided by military aircraft killed 15 suspected insurgents in eastern Afghanistan after the militants opened fire on the Western patrol, wounding one soldier, an official said Wednesday.

The troops came under attack on Tuesday in Barmal district of Paktika province, which borders Pakistan, said Capt. Jose Lopez, a spokesman for the NATO-led troops.

Troops returned fire and called in close air support, killing 15 suspected insurgents, Lopez said. A NATO soldier was also wounded in the leg.

The nationality of the wounded soldier was not disclosed. Most of the troops in the area are American.
More on link


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## GAP (9 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 9 November 2006*

Taliban rockets hit NATO base after clashes
Updated Thu. Nov. 9 2006 8:05 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061109/taliban_nato_061109/20061109?hub=TopStories

Canadian troops in Afghanistan helped in the aftermath of a truck bombing Thursday, one day after Canadian and NATO troops killed 28 Taliban fighters and just hours after insurgent rockets hit a nearby NATO base. 

The clashes took place in southern Afghanistan, said CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from Kandahar. No Canadians were killed or wounded in the fighting.

Three rockets landed in the NATO base at Sperwan Ghar early Thursday. 

Less than two hours later, a young Afghan man was killed and a 10-year-old Afghan boy was wounded when the burned out hulk of a gravel truck hit by a roadside bomb exploded for a second time. 

Chao said the boy, who suffered from leg injuries, is being treated by Canadian medical staff at the military hospital at Kandahar airfield. 

"Time and again Canadians have been trying to help Aghans as much as possible because often it's the civilians that are caught in the middle in this battle between the Taliban and NATO forces," Chao told CTV Newsnet. 

Late Wednesday, Canadian troops called in a NATO air strike in the deadly clash that left 22 suspected insurgents dead. 

Canadian troops and Afghan police located a Taliban position in Shari district, and sent in the air strike, district police chief Ghulam Rasool Aga told The Associated Press. 

Canadian troops had exchanged fire with a group of insurgents who attacked them, but there were no reports of casualties, said Canadian military spokesperson Lieut.-Cmdr. Kris Phillips. 

In fighting earlier Wednesday in Zhari district, Afghan police fought with Taliban fighters for three hours. The battle claimed the lives of six Taliban fighters and wounded another four, Aga said. One police officer and three villagers were wounded in the clashes.
More on link

22 Taliban fighters said killed in clashes with Canadians  
Canadian Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061109.wafghan1109a/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Canadian troops called in NATO air strikes in a clash in Kandahar province that killed 22 suspected Taliban militants, Afghan police said Thursday.

The Canadian soldiers along with Afghan police identified a Taliban position in Zhari district late Wednesday and called in close air support. District police chief Ghulam Rasool Aga said 22 Taliban fighters died.

Canadian military spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Kris Phillips confirmed Canadian troops and Afghan forces clashed with a group of insurgents who had attacked them with small arms fire, but had no immediate details on militant casualties.

Cdr. Phillips called the clashes “pretty standard stuff for the Pashmul area,” a greenbelt region that sits between Zhari and Panjwaii district to the south. The region lies just to the west of Kandahar Air Field where the Canadian and other NATO troops are based.
More on link

Afghan gunmen erase a beacon of hope  
A pharmacist shuts his little clinic in a dangerous area after insurgents take him for a terrifying ride 
GRAEME SMITH From Thursday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061109.wxafghan09/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Gul Mohammed was in a fine mood a week ago, as he left his modest home in Kandahar city, climbed into his minivan and started his daily commute to work. He was moments away from getting kidnapped by masked gunmen and enduring what he describes as the most frightening day of his life. But in those crisp, cool hours after morning prayers, when the slanting winter sun hit the horizon with a dazzle of pink and orange, Mr. Mohammed had reason for optimism.

One year had passed since the 44-year-old signed up for a job as a pharmacist at a clinic run by Afghan Health & Development Services (AHDS). It was a risky post: The little yellow clinic was located about four kilometres outside of Bazar-e-Panjwai, a village at the heart of the notoriously dangerous Panjwai district.

Panjwai has been the focus of Canadian military action this year, and the fighting in that district got steadily worse for six months. But a few weeks ago, after the biggest battle yet, the violence abated.

There have been fewer gunfights and fewer bombings, and Canadian officials now talk hopefully about improving the lives of ordinary people in Panjwai.
More on link

Letters for a fallen soldier
Nov. 9, 2006. 02:53 AM TESS KALINOWSKI EDUCATION REPORTER
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1162983014963&call_pageid=1140433364397&col=1140433364286

Jessica Buyers is writing condolence cards to families she has never met — people who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan.

The cards are among more than 1,000 being written by students at Loyola Catholic Secondary School. 

They will be delivered to the widows and parents of the 42 Canadian soldiers who have died in that mission.

"I think it's really going to affect the family in a good way because they'll know so many people are with them," said Jessica, 16, who chose to address her cards to the families of Sgt. Robert Alan Short and Sgt. Marc Leger.

The exercise, designed by Loyola teacher and retired military officer Robert Smol, is one of the ideas schools in the Toronto area are using to convey the gravity of war and sacrifice to students.
More on link

Most want end to Afghan mission: Poll
Nov. 9, 2006. 06:09 AM CANADIAN PRESS
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1163069643499&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_World&call_pageid=968332188854&call_pagepath=News/World

TORONTO — More than half of Canadians wanted to see their troops pulled from Afghanistan before the scheduled end of their mandate in 2009, and almost as many did not think Canada's mission to the violence-plagued country will be successful, a new poll suggests.

The poll, conducted for the CBC by Environics Nov. 2 to 6, indicated that 59 per cent of those surveyed said they want Canadian troops out of Afghanistan before 2009.

Ten per cent of respondents said they believe Canadian soldiers should stay in Afghanistan past 2009, while 23 per cent said the troops should remain in the central Asian country until 2009.

The federal Conservative government has committed to keeping troops in the country until at least February 2009.

When respondents were asked how they thought the Canadian mission to Afghanistan would end, 58 per cent said it would not be successful, while 34 said it would be.
More on link

November 09, 2006 edition

Taliban fighters talk tactics - while safe in Pakistan
By Suzanna Koster | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1109/p01s03-wosc.html?s=hns

BALOCHISTAN PROVINCE, PAKISTAN – The 22-year-old doesn't look like the traditional turbaned Taliban commander. His black hair shoots out at all angles from beneath a red cap. He smiles easily and has a neatly trimmed beard. 
But Hilal says he is the co-leader of 200 Taliban fighters who operate across the border in Afghanistan. "Two years ago, we only attacked Afghan officials, but now we have so many Talibs that we can attack Americans," he boasts. 

 In a rare interview with a Western reporter, Hilal and three other Afghan Taliban fighters describe how they slip into Afghanistan, attack NATO and Afghan forces, and return to Pakistan to rest. 

"Everybody in the neighborhood knows we are Talibs," says Noman, a 19-year-old fighter with a blue-white block-printed turban. "Paki-stan is a little bit free for us."

The interview was conducted over two days in a small house made of yellow mud in Pakistan's Balochistan Province. The fighters, who won't give their real names, say they are here for a refresher course in Taliban ideology in a Pakistani religious school.

"We are enormously organized," brags Mustafa, a 20-year-old wearing a black turban usually favored by conservative Muslims.

"Even British defense officials say they face a lot of problems from the Taliban."
More on link

Three "terrorists" captured in south-east Afghanistan  
dpa German Press Agency Published: Thursday November 9, 2006 
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Three_terrorists_captured_in_south__11092006.html

Kabul- Afghan and US-led coalition forces captured three alleged terrorists early Thursday morning during an operation on a compound near Khost city, the coalition said Thursday. "Credible intelligence indicated the compound was a refuge for a terrorist network operating in the Khost Province," coalition forces said in a statement. 

The coalition statement added, "The combined force ensured the safety of the Afghan women and children present in the compound." 

No Afghan or coalition forces were injured during the operation. 

Six alleged terrorists were captured, including Arabs and Pakistanis, by Afghan and US-led coalition forces last Monday with grenades, military equipment, armour-piercing rounds and AK-47 assault rifles during the search of the compound. They also recovered a camera containing surveillance video of nearby military installations. 
More on link

Turkish Provincial Reconstruction Team To Serve In Afghanistan
Published: 11/8/2006
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=150522  
  
ANKARA - The Provincial Reconstruction Team established by Turkey upon Afghanistan's demands to serve in Afghanistan's Vardak province will formally go into operation tomorrow and serve for five years in this country. 
Setting-up of Provincial Reconstruction Team by Turkey is appraised as an indicator of historical friendship between Turkey and Afghanistan and the Turkey's eagerness of contribution to peace and stability as well. 

Comprised of 64 military and 30 civilian staff, Provincial Reconstruction Team will carry out projects worth 3.2 million USD. In this framework, educational, health and agricultural projects will be given priority in Vardak. 


-PROVINCIAL RECONSTRUCTION TEAMS-  

Provincial Reconstruction Teams became the most important tools for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to get extended to entire Afghanistan. 

Provincial Reconstruction Teams are based on a model in which military and civilian components work together to bring civilian-military cooperation to foreground. 
More on link

Canadians Face Uphill Battle in Afghanistan
Canada's soldiers have suffered heavy losses in the violence-prone region of Kandahar, Afghanistan, but change may be on the horizon.
By Joan Delaney Epoch Times Victoria Staff Nov 09, 2006 
http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-11-9/47943.html

After 43 deaths and $2.1 billion, Canadian troops may be turning the corner in the fight against a Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan. 

Although an opinion poll over the weekend showed most Canadians pessimistic about the future of the mission and want the troops to come home, O'Connor struck an upbeat tone. 

"It is a critical time in the south. ... I believe that we are going to succeed," Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor said on Tuesday. 

"We have already broken the back of the insurgency in the Kandahar area in the sense that they (the Taliban) are not prone to attacking us directly. They are going to have to revert to suicide bombings and IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," he said. 

O'Connor's assertion came shortly after a weekend opinion poll showed that most Canadians remain pessimistic about the future of the mission and want Canada's troops to return home. 
More on link

NZ troops destroy $18m of opium in Afghanistan   
1.00pm Thursday November 9, 2006
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10409924

New Zealand troops in Afghanistan have destroyed a haul of opium with a potential street value of US$12 million ($18m).

The almost one tonne of drugs was confiscated on November 1 by a team of Afghan National Police after they caught up with smugglers on a deserted road.

The New Zealand Defence Force in Bamyan received a call from the province's governor Habibi Serabi asking if they could incinerate the drugs.

Wooden pellets filled with opium were stacked on top of each other and doused in petrol before being set alight.

Medical Officer Major Phil Misur, one of those involved in the drugs' destruction, said the experience was as satisfying as it was extraordinary.

"Working in the burn pit surrounded by millions of dollars worth of foul smelling opium, mixed with plenty of diesel and petrol, is an experience I'll never forget," he said.

Police superintendent John Kelly, from Hamilton, said he had never seen such a large quantity of drugs in 30 years of police work.

Mr Kelly said: "It's certainly the biggest haul I've seen in my career and it's a bit different from the average couple of pounds of cannabis you might turn over back home."

Afghanistan is the world's biggest supplier of opium with the country's southern Helmand province producing over 70 per cent of the world's total production alone, the NZDF said. 
More on link

Wednesday, November 08, 2006 | Updated at 5:41 PM EST


Afghanistan mission worthwhile, Clinton tells Kitchener luncheon audienceFormer president says return of the Taliban would be a "nightmare" 
By LUISA D'AMATO RECORD STAFF 
http://www.therecord.com/breakingnews/breakingnews_7536865.html

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton today affirmed the need for American and Canadian forces to stay in Afghanistan. 

Clinton, speaking to a fund-raising lunch in Kitchener attended by nearly 1,000 people, said that it had been a "serious mistake" for the United States to invade Iraq at the same time that it also had troops involved in Afghanistan. 

There's a need for 5,000 to 8,000 more troops in Afghanistan, he said. "We never put enough troops there." 

The Afghanistan operation — where soldiers are supporting the democratically elected government and keeping the extremist Taliban forces at bay — "may look like another Iraq to you" but it is a quite different situation from Iraq, Clinton said. 

Winning in Afghanistan is "far, far more important, in terms of protecting Canada and America against terror," than Iraq, he said. 

"If we lose in Afghanistan and the Taliban come back, it will be a nightmare," he said. 
More on link

N.S. premier applauds Afghan mission
November 8, 2006 By JAMES KELLER
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/2006/11/08/2288441-cp.html

HALIFAX (CP) - Nova Scotia's premier used a rally in support of Canada's military on Wednesday to applaud the Afghanistan mission, while dismissing the suggestion that Nova Scotians are divided on whether troops should be fighting there. 

Several hundred people stood under a light rain outside the legislature in Halifax to applaud Canada's Armed Forces. 

The event was billed as a chance to support all Canadian soldiers and their families, but Premier Rodney MacDonald paid special tribute to troops serving in Afghanistan. 

"Their mission is to create the conditions for stability and for freedom," the Conservative premier told the crowd. 

"Afghanistan is a country still struggling, and this is a concern for us all." 

The rally was staged hours after all three of the province's political parties passed a resolution supporting the mission. 

Some civil servants were given time off to attend the rally. 
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (10 Nov 2006)

*Canadians battle on in Afghanistan as they honour those who had fallen *  
Sue Bailey, Canadian Press, 9 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser wears a little black bracelet as a tender reminder of two soldiers he'll never forget. "Matt Dinning, Randy Payne killed in action April 22, '06," it says.  The two men were once part of his personal protection team.  "Remembrance Day is every day," said Fraser, who completed his term as NATO commander in southern Afghanistan on Nov. 1 ....



*A soldier’s story*
Sarah Elizabeth Brown, Chronicle-Journal, 9 Nov 06
Article Link - 1.12MB .pdf version

After a school assembly Wednesday, a handful of curious Algonquin Avenue students hung back to ask the visiting veteran questions or shake his hand.  Fit and trim, he’s not wearing a vet’s familiar navy blue blazer, but the desert-camouflage uniform he wore in Afghanistan from February to August.  And he’s only 30.  Cpl. Robin Rickards, a Lake Superior Scottish Regiment rifleman and grenadier, spoke to the school’s youngsters — all decked out in red and white — about remembering soldiers who’ve fought overseas as well as those who helped during natural disasters closer to home.  The students prepared poems, a song and a slide show, as well as a book of art and writing that will be sent to Kandahar for Canadian troops to read.  Called “Celebrating Canadian Soldiers,” the book grew from teacher Natalie Corbin’s idea of letting overseas soldiers know folks back home are thinking of them. She’d seen a Kandahar-based soldier interviewed on the news and thought how she’d feel if that was her husband with the fatigue and sadness lining his face ....



*`A very spiritual exercise'*
Tallying the war dead row on row for all to see
Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star, 10 Nov 06
Article Link

With a focused eye and practised strokes, Nancy Ellis's hand moves her broad-edged nib pen carefully across the paper. Letter by letter, the sumi ink leaves its mark — "Tedford, Darcy Scott, CD."  She stops, leans back and checks her handiwork, and with that, another fallen Canadian soldier has taken his place in the Book of Remembrance.  Seven weighty volumes list the names of Canada's more than 116,000 war dead dating back to the Boer War in 1899. This week, Canada's latest casualties in Afghanistan were added to their calfskin vellum pages.  Names like Nichola Goddard, Matthew Dinning, Timothy Wilson and William Turner.  As a professional calligrapher, Ellis works quietly and deliberately. But she admits she wonders about the people behind the names.  "It becomes a very spiritual exercise. Who loved you? Who misses you? How did you die?" Ellis said ....



*More News on CAN in AFG **here*



*Top investigators on case following failed drug tests*
Military using ‘every available resource’ to ‘stamp out’ problem
Chris Lambie, Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 10 Nov 06
Article Link

The military has put its top crime investigators on alert after a spate of recent failed drug tests at CFB Gagetown.  Maj. Rob Bell, senior operations officer with the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, said he has met with army representatives to discuss the drug tests conducted on soldiers training to go to Afghanistan next February.  "The army and other organizations are definitely concerned about the issue, and so they’ve engaged us to ask what strategies we are using to try and mitigate it," Maj. Bell said Thursday. "It has definitely got the attention of the highest echelons, and we are using every resource available to try and stamp it out."  "Those guys are taking these people into theatres of operations where their performance is important to the survival and the effectiveness of the group," Maj. Bell said. "And so I think they have definitely got a renewed focus at reducing and eliminating drug usage." ....



*Canadians help boy hurt by truck bomb; at least 22 Taliban killed in clashes *  
Sue Bailey, Canadian Press, 9 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian troops were helping in the aftermath of a truck bombing in southern Afghanistan Thursday, hours after Taliban rockets hit a nearby NATO base and a day after Canadians and Afghan police reportedly killed more than two dozen Taliban militants. Early Thursday morning three rockets hit a nearby NATO camp at Sperwan Ghar. Less than two hours later, a group of Afghans approached the hulk of a gravel truck hit by a roadside bomb. The burnt-out truck exploded again, killing a young man and wounding a 10-year-old boy. It's not clear whether the truck was booby-trapped. The boy, with injuries to his legs, was being cared for by Canadians at a field medical unit and was to be transferred to hospital. An Afghan man, who identified himself as a local farmer, was detained by Canadian troops. The soldiers tested him for explosive residue and let him go shortly after. He is now staying with the young injured boy ....



*Forum panelists debate Canada's Afghan role*
Ethan Ribalkin, CBC Radio Vancouver, 10 Nov 06
Article Link

The question of whether or not Canadian troops should be in Afghanistan came under fire Wednesday night at CBC Radio Vancouver. The forum, which was co-sponsored by 24 hours, included four panelists - Afghani ambassador Omar Simad, injured Canadian soldier Capt. John Croucher, Michael Byers, academic director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues, and Lauryn Oates, spokesperson for the national organization Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. With 36 Canadian soldiers killed since last Remembrance Day, the forum quickly brought forth an array of viewpoints. According to Simad, Afghanistan is a much better place today, five years after the Taliban ....



*Afghanistan not a lost cause, but major changes needed: crisis group *  
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 9 Nov 06
Article Link

The raging violence in southern Afghanistan should be a wake-up call to western nations, not an excuse to give up, says a new report by a respected international conflict studies group. The Belgium-based International Crisis Group says there is nothing "inevitable about failure in Afghanistan," but some major policies of both NATO and the Afghan government must be reconsidered. Those policies include aggressive house searches and detentions of residents. "The desire for a quick, cheap war followed by a quick, cheap peace is what has brought Afghanistan to the present, increasingly dangerous situation," says the group, which has a self-appointed mission to prevent and resolve conflicts. The study also says NATO has not committed enough troops to provide security to the fragile democracy, and its efforts to bring stability are severely undermined by corrupt Afghan authorities ....


----------



## GAP (10 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 10 November 2006*

Live war message from Afghanistan
By BROOKES MERRITT, Edmonton Sun
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2006/11/09/pf-2290493.html

Soldiers speak to local students via videolink

ST. ALBERT - The same technology used to stream live war footage into Canadian homes brought a wartime message of peace Thursday, as two local soldiers chatted to students via live videolink from Afghanistan. 

As their images were projected onto a gymnasium wall, Capt. Glen Morrison and Sgt. Ernie Kuffner bowed their heads in a prayer with more than 400 students at Ecole Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d’Youville. 

The pair, whose daughters attend ESSMY, appeared in a cramped yellow broadcast booth from Kandahar to share stories of their tour and answer questions from students. 

Only one question was censored by principal Shawn Haggerty: Do you feel Canadians support your contribution? 

“It’s a dead-end question,” Haggerty said. “Yes, these men were speaking to our students, but also directly to their wives and children, whom they haven’t seen for months.” 

He’d approved the questions beforehand, but changed his mind during the videocast and quietly asked a student to skip that particular question. 

“I decided at the last minute that it wasn’t the proper forum. This was about remembrance and honour, not politics.” 

The three students chosen to query the soldiers in front of the entire student body agreed with Haggery’s decision. 

“It was just an honour to speak with them, for them to have taken the time to talk with us. This was about peace,” said Grade 11 student Dave Henderson. 

“We all knew the answer anyway,” said Roslynn Ricard, a Grade 10 student. She and Grade 10 student Jennifer Lissey said their peers are well aware of the Afghanistan conflict. 

“The soldiers were very positive, they believe they are changing things there.” 

As for the issue of censoring a question, the girls said Social Studies class is a better forum to debate such questions. 

“And we do,” Lissey added. 

During the ceremony the soldiers talked of losing friends in battle, specifically Capt. Nichola Goddard and Cpl. Francisco Gomez, with whom they were friends. 

They showed a slide presentation of images from the war, including sombre ramp ceremonies. 
More on link



Military to buy new shells costing $150,000 each
Updated Thu. Nov. 9 2006 11:09 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061109/military_shells_061109/20061109?hub=TopStories

The Canadian Forces are investing in a new high-tech shell to be used in Afghanistan. But at $150,000 per round, it could be the most expensive ammunition ever fired by the military. 

"It's like shooting a Ferrari every time you use one of these things," Steve Staples of the Polaris Institute told CTV News on Thursday. 

"These are incredibly expensive weapons. And really, it's overkill for the kind of mission we're doing." 

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor estimates Canada will have poured $4 billion into the Afghanistan mission by 2009. Just sending a squadron of Leopard tanks to the region costs $190 million. 

But supporters argue the shell -- called the Excalibur -- is worth the added expense. U.S. defence contractor Raytheon promotes the shells as "the next-generation family of projectiles," and the U.S. military already uses them in Iraq. 
More on link

Poland to have 1,200 troops deployed in Afghanistan by February, defense minister says  
The Associated Press 
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/10/europe/EU_GEN_Poland_Afghanistan_NATO.php

Poland will deploy some 1,200 troops in Afghanistan by February and will allow them to operate in the volatile southern provinces where allied troops are battling Taliban insurgents, Defense Minister Radek Sikorski said Friday.

The troops will be based mainly in eastern Afghanistan, but could be used anywhere in the country to help allied forces, Sikorski said.

"They will have their area of responsibility and their area of operations, but if there is an operational need to reinforce our allies, including our British allies, (we) have told our soldiers they have no political restrictions on where they move," he said.

"In Afghanistan as NATO we'd have enough troops if they could be used according to military logic rather than according to political constraints."

About 20,000 NATO troops are operating in Afghanistan, along with 21,000 mostly U.S. troops on a separate mission to hunt down terrorists.

NATO had focused on peacekeeping and supporting 
More on link

Blind Quran reader teaches peace
POSTED: 0322 GMT (1122 HKT), November 9, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/11/09/blind.quran.ap/index.html

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The village medicine woman caked the baby's eyes with a concoction of opium and tobacco, telling his parents it would cure his ailing sight. When the bandages came off two months later, he had lost 90 percent of his vision. He was totally blind by 16.

But Barakatullah Salim, now 57, regards his affliction as a blessing.

He memorized Islam's holy book, the Quran, by age 9, then he studied at Egypt's revered Al-Azhar Mosque for five years after turning 13. And he became renowned across the Muslim world as a "qaria" -- Arabic for recitalist of the faith's scriptures.

"Yes, I have a gift from God," Salim said in the cushioned salon at his Islamic seminary, or madrassa, in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

An ethnic Pashtun, Salim is one of Afghanistan's most respected figures, blessed with a flawless grasp of the Quran, soaring baritone, pious nature and amazing memory. He says he can instantly recall more than 2,000 telephone numbers.

Hardly an event involving Afghan President Hamid Karzai goes by without the burly Salim first stepping onto stage to recite Quranic scripture, his breathtaking voice and measured style holding crowds spellbound at events from Coca-Cola factory openings to official conferences.

"Barakatullah Salim is the best Quranic reader in the world," said Karzai spokesman Khaleeq Ahmed. "The people of Afghanistan and the government officials trust him. For any big event or an important gathering, he always has his revered place."

Until its ouster by a U.S.-led offensive five years ago, the hard-line Islamic Taliban regime also called on Salim for special events and openings, although he says he was not always needed.

"The Taliban all recited the Quran anyway. They were already clerics. But they did ask me to come read the Quran from time to time to open a madrassa or for some other event," he said.
More on link

China donates stuffs worth 1 mln USD to Afghanistan  
November 10, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/10/eng20061110_320066.html

The Chinese government donated vehicles, security equipment and kitchenware worthy of 1 million U. S. dollars to Afghan parliament on Thursday, once again providing timely assistance to the country under reconstruction. 

Liu Jian, the Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, and Ghulam Hassan Gan, Deputy Secretary-general of the lower house of Afghan parliament, signed an agreement on the donation. 

The stuffs include 20 jeeps, 20 pickup trucks, sets of security monitoring system, lots of cooking utensils and others. 

Liu said the Chinese government has consistently supported Afghanistan's post-war reconstruction and provided assistance in its power. 

China attaches great importance to developing the ties between its legislative and Afghan parliament, and hopes the two legislatives can carry out more communication and exchange in the future, he added. 

On behalf of Afghan parliament, Gan thanked the Chinese government for providing the aid, saying as Afghanistan's neighboring country, China has played an active role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, which suffered decades of war, and afforded timely assistance frequently. 

In another latest case, on Nov. 2, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Chinese ambassador Liu Jian laid the foundation stone for the China-funded new main building of Jamhuriat Hospital in Kabul. 

With an investment of some 16 million U.S. dollars, the project will bring Afghan patients a 10-storeyed new building, which has 350 beds and a total of about 19,000 sqm construction areas. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

NATO making a difference in Afghanistan
Nov. 10, 2006. 01:00 AM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163112609373&call_pageid=970599119419

Five years after the ousting of the Taliban, the country is making progress in democracy, education, health care and equality, writes NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer 

On Nov. 13, 2001, coalition and Northern Alliance forces took Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The Taliban was ousted from power, and Al Qaeda lost its safe haven. It was an important day for the people of Afghanistan, who were liberated from a terrible oppressor. It was also important for the international community, which began a major effort to help build a new Afghanistan: democratic, at peace, and no longer a threat to the world.

Five years later, what has been the result? Are we making a difference? Have the lives of the Afghans gotten better — and are we, in the international community, safer than we were?

The answer is a clear "yes." It is sometimes difficult, as we read media accounts of suicide attacks and roadside bombs, to step back and look at the big picture. 

But anniversaries are the opportunity to do just that. And the big picture — the story of Afghanistan five years after the fall of the Taliban — should encourage all of us who believe in what we are helping to build there.

Democracy:  Five years ago, there was no national government and no democracy. Today, Afghanistan has held a series of successful elections, and now has a constitution, an elected president and parliament.

Equality: Women, banished from society under the Taliban, are now in government. Eighty-seven women, 25 per cent of the total number of MPs, sit in the National Assembly. Almost four in 10 Afghan children in school are girls — from around zero five years ago.

Health care: 80 per cent of the population now has access to health care, up 10 times from 2001. For a country at Afghanistan's stage of development, this is extremely high.

Education: Almost 6 million Afghan children are in school, six times more than 2001. Enrolment in higher education is up 10 times, to more than 40,000. And despite a big increase this year in attacks by the Taliban, killing teachers and burning down schools, more than 1,000 schools have been built or opened so far this year.

Economy:  The Afghan economy has tripled in value in the past five years and per capita income has doubled. People simply have more money in their pocket. 

There are two final indicators of progress. First, people are coming home. Four million refugees have returned to their homeland, one of the biggest return movements in history. They know they are safer now, and that they have a chance to build a better life for their children.
More on link

Afghanistan takes tough measures to counter narcotics: official  
November 10, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/10/eng20061110_320368.html

The Afghan government is taking various tough measures including the sacking of governors, possible ground chemical spraying, to prevent the rocketing poppy cultivation in this country, a senior Afghan officer said Friday. 

"If governors and district chiefs are not able to reduce poppy cultivation, at least they will lose their jobs," Said Mohammad Azam, director of Public Relation and Public Information of Afghan Counter Narcotics Ministry, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. 

District and police chiefs of Daryam in the northeastern Badakhshan province had been sacked for incapability in fighting drug, he added. 

Azam said an eight-member anti-narcotics committee, grouping district and police chiefs, has been established in 108 districts of 11 provinces where poppy cultivation is rife. 

The committee would supervise poppy crops closely and find ways to reduce it, he added. 

In 2006, poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a record 165, 000 hectares, up 59 percent from last year, according to a report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime issued in September. 

Opium production reached 6,100 tons, witnessing a 49 percent rise over 2005 and accounting for 92 percent of the world's total supply, the report said. 

The Afghan government has been severely criticized by the international community, especially Western countries for its failure to curb the booming opium industry. 

Azam said "Ground chemical spraying would be the last option if all other options do not work. But no decision of using chemical spraying has been made." 

It is the first time that the Afghan government accepted that chemical spraying could be considered to curb poppy cultivation. 

But Azam said aerial spraying is out of the choice, as it would do great harm to water resources, cattle, human being, etc. 

The number of 6,100 tons of opium is "not acceptable and not tolerable," and it "brings a bad name for the country," said Azam, adding Afghanistan is pushing the national anti-drug campaign led by President Hamid Karzai. 

However, analysts say it is a daunting task to curb opium production in Afghanistan as insecurity, official corruption and poverty there are providing fertile soil for the industry. 

Moreover, as Azam said the government would not provide job opportunities, crop seeds, and other compensation for those who are forced or persuaded out of planting poppy, it is extraordinarily difficult for farmers to abandon the industry, which many tightly tie their lives to. 

Source: Xinhua
End

Afghan government says relations with U.S., troop levels unaffected by political shake-ups  
The Associated Press 
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/10/asia/AS_GEN_Afghanistan.php

Top American and Afghan officials said they don't expect the United States' commitment to Afghanistan to change despite the shake-up in Congress and the Pentagon. A new poll found that Afghans are losing confidence in the direction their country is headed.

Jawed Ludin, chief of staff to President Hamid Karzai, told The Associated Press Thursday that the Afghan government watched the midterm elections in the U.S. with "tremendous interest" but was not worried relations would change significantly after the Democratic takeover of the House and Senate.

"I think the people of the United States have been with Afghanistan, and that's all that matters for our people," Ludin said.

Ludin said he did not think Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation would greatly affect U.S. troop levels
More on link

Kabul after the Taliban blossoms for the rich, unchanged for the poor  
The Associated Press 
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/10/asia/AS_FEA_GEN_Afghanistan_Kabul_Five_Years_On.php

Eight-year-old Sajjad's kite struggles upward. It's nothing grand — a plastic bag salvaged from a heap of garbage and fashioned into a diamond shape.

But it's a symbol of change in Kabul, five years after the Afghan capital was freed from a Taliban regime that believed activities such as kite-flying would distract youngsters from studying the Islamic holy book, the Quran.

The U.S.-led war and the Western-friendly government that followed eliminated that rule and a host of others. Girls have returned to school. Public beheadings and amputations as punishment for crimes came to an end.

The times have changed. But in Kabul today the question often asked is: How much and for whom?

Sajjad (he says he has no last name), lives in a neighborhood called Shirpur, a significant symbol of what has changed since U.S. and British bombs drove the Taliban from the city on the night of Nov. 12-13, 2001.

Part of it has been demolished and its inhabitants evicted to make way for a "new Afghanistan" of palatial homes — scores of four- and five-story mansions boasting gold-painted marble columns and floor-to-ceiling windows flanking grand wooden doors.

The owners are the successors to the Taliban — movers and shakers who in 2003 used their new power to seize and clear the land. About 250 of Sajjad's neighbors were tossed from their homes.
More on link

Startling findings from friendly fire investigations  
The Associated Press 
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/10/america/NA_FEA_US_Inquest_for_a_Warrior.php

In a remote and dangerous corner of Afghanistan, under the protective roar of Apache attack helicopters and B-52 bombers, special agents and investigators did their work.

They walked the landscape with surviving witnesses. They found a rock stained with the blood of the victim. They re-enacted the killings — here the U.S. Army Rangers swept through the canyon in their Humvee, blasting away; here the doomed man waved his arms, pleading for recognition as a friend.

"Cease fire, friendlies, I am Pat (expletive) Tillman, damn it!" the former NFL football star shouted, again and again.

The latest inquiry into Tillman's death by friendly fire should end next month. But The Associated Press has combed through the results of 2 1/4 years of investigations — reviewed thousands of pages of internal Army documents, interviewed dozens of people familiar with the case — and uncovered some startling findings.

One of the four shooters, Staff Sgt. Trevor Alders, had recently had PRK laser eye surgery. Although he could see two sets of hands "straight up," his vision was "hazy," he said. In the absence of "friendly identifying signals," he assumed Tillman and an allied Afghan — who also was killed — were enemy.

Another, Spc. Steve Elliott, said he was "excited" by the sight of rifles, muzzle flashes and "shapes." A third, Spc. Stephen Ashpole, said he saw two figures, and just aimed where everyone else was shooting.
More on link

'Pakistani Taliban' take credit for blast  
The Associated Press 
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/09/news/pakistan.php

An investigation into a deadly attack on Pakistani troops waging a counterinsurgency campaign along the Afghan border was progressing well, an investigator said Thursday, as a previously unknown group said "Pakistani Taliban" were responsible for the attack, a suicide bombing that killed 42 soldiers.

A man with explosives strapped to his body ran up to soldiers doing calisthenics and blew himself up Wednesday at an army training center in the town of Dargai, about 100 kilometers, or 60 miles, north of Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province.

At least 42 troops were killed; 20 more were wounded, with some in critical condition.

"Body parts of the suicide bomber have been collected for DNA test," said a security official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the case, at the training center. "We have vital clues, and the investigations are proceeding well."
More on link

Defense chief: New Zealand handed captured Afghans to coalition forces  
The Associated Press 
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/10/asia/AS_GEN_New_Zealand_Afghanistan_Prisoners.php

New Zealand troops fighting insurgents in Afghanistan handed captured prisoners to U.S.-led coalition forces, Defense Minister Phil Goff said Friday.

He was responding to media requests for information on the status of prisoners taken by New Zealand troops fighting insurgents in Afghanistan. Previously, no information had been released on New Zealand troops' treatment of such detainees.

New Zealand commandos "temporarily detained individuals for up to five hours while those persons were awaiting evacuation," Goff said in a statement.

Prisoners were handed over to "other coalition forces" that "had the capacity to identify them and process them as required under international law," he said in a letter to the Dominion Post newspaper in the capital, Wellington.

Goff said that from an early stage, New Zealand had made clear to U.S. authorities "our expectation that all detainees would be treated humanely and in accordance with international law."

He said that as far as New Zealand knows, no one who had been held in New Zealand custody was currently in U.S. authorities' hands.

People captured during armed conflict in Afghanistan were not legally entitled to prisoner of war status, Goff said. He said they did not qualify for combatant status under Geneva Convention III, noting that al-Qaida was not a party to the conventions because it was a terrorist organization, not an armed force.
More on link

Cdns. losing knowledge of military history: study
Updated Fri. Nov. 10 2006 8:26 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061110/remember_quiz_061110/20061110?hub=TopStories

Just one day before Canadians pause to remember those who fought for freedom, a new survey suggests our collective knowledge of Canadian military history is eroding. 

The survey by the Dominion Institute found that only 42 per cent of Canadians received a passing grade on a simple test of First World War knowledge. 

In a multiple choice quiz, only 33 per cent of those quizzed identified Sir Arthur Currie and Billy Bishop as the correct answers. And one quarter of those surveyed said that General Douglas MacArthur, an American, was a Canadian war hero. 

Among young Canadians, the grades were even worse, with only three out of every 10 young Canadians passing a four-question quiz. The lowest grades came from Quebec's young people. 

Along with those dismal results the survey, which was conducted during the last week of October, revealed that Canadians are having a harder and harder time remembering the names of Canadian war heroes. 

More than 1,000 Canadians were surveyed. The results are considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20. 

The survey was carried out by the Dominion Institute's Innovative Research Group. 
End







More on link


----------



## GAP (11 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 11 November 2006*

Canadian soldier receives Star of Military Valour
Updated Fri. Nov. 10 2006 11:00 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061110/remembranceday_tower_061111/20

061110?hub=TopStories

Sgt. Patrick Tower has become the first ever Canadian to receive the Star of Military 

Valour. The courageous soldier saved at least four comrades in a brutal Afghanistan 

firefight. 


Although Tower survived to continue fighting, his best friend Sgt. Vaughn Ingram died in 

the violence. 

"I asked him what were the ranks of the soldiers that were killed and he told me," said 

Tower's father, retired captain Bob Tower, who spoke with his son shortly after the attack. 

"I said, 'Who was the sergeant?' and he said Ingram. I said, 'Oh Pat, I'm sorry.'" 

The honour is one of the highest military decorations for valour in Canada, second only to 

the Victoria Cross. Both of those awards, along with the Medal of Military Valour, were 

created for the Canadian Forces in 1993. 

Tower received the honour for his valiant act on Aug. 3, in which he risked his life to 

save troops pinned down by rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fire. 

The platoon was trying to secure a school in the volatile Pashmul region. Along with 

Ingram, two other Canadian soldiers were killed in the attack: Pte. Kevin Dallaire and Cpl. 

Bryce Jeffrey Keller. 

Another soldier, Cpl. Christopher Reid, died earlier in the day from a roadside bomb. All 

four soldiers were from the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. 

It was one of the worst days of casualties suffered by the military since the Afghanistan 

mission began in 2002. 

"Not a day goes by when I don't think about Sgt. Ingram, or the 3rd of August, or what 

happened that day," Tower told CTV News. 

Tower, born in Victoria, B.C., gathered together another soldier and the platoon medic, and 

took them through 150 metres of open terrain -- without any place to hide or find cover -- 

while grenades and bullets rained down on the small group. 


"I just told Tom (the other soldier) and the medic, we've got to go up there," Tower 

recalled. "I thought there was a lot of fire before, but as soon as we started running, 

they really picked it up." 
More on link

Remembrance Day held across Canada, and online
Updated Sat. Nov. 11 2006 7:13 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061110/remembranceday_2006_061111/20061111?hub=TopStories

Canadians will be gathering at legislatures, cenotaphs, city halls and community centres across Canada Saturday to observe a moment of silence in memory of Canadians who gave their lives protecting our country. 

CTV Newsnet will be carrying live coverage of events on Parliament Hill and from Afghanistan throughout the day. 

A wreath laying and Ceremony of Remembrance is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. 

Royal Canadian Legion branches across Canada have scheduled events to mark the day, as have local groups and municipalities. 

Canadians who haven't already chosen an event to attend can tune in to their local CTV News broadcast for locations of events in their city, or browse the activities listed below to find activities to attend. 

Veterans Affairs of Canada has posted an extensive list of Remembrance Day events on its website, ranging from ceremonies at the Red Deer Arena in Red Deer Alta., to a parade and dinner that starts at the Pine Beach Park Cenotaph in Dorval, Que. 

The City of Toronto has posted a list of locations for city-organized ceremonies at city hall and community centres, along with a list of other ceremonies at such locations as Royal Canadian Legions, Historic Fort York, and the Toronto Zoo. 

Entry to the Canadian War Museum at 1 Vimy Place in Ottawa will be free, and the museum has posted a list of scheduled events that begin with a Remembrance Ceremony in the Memorial Hall at 10:45 a.m. Get there early to attend the ceremony, as the doors will be closed for it between 10:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. 

More on link

Afghanistan brings poignancy to Remembrance Day
Updated Fri. Nov. 10 2006  Phil Hahn with files from The Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061108/remembrance_feature_061108/200

61110/

For Sally and Tim Goddard, every day is about remembering their beloved daughter, who 

earlier this year became the highest ranking Canadian soldier to die in combat in 

Afghanistan. 

Capt. Nichola Goddard died May 17 at the age of 26. She was caught in a Taliban ambush 

while she was directing artillery fire at enemy positions. With her infectious smile, her 

compassion and leadership qualities that helped her rise to position of combat soldier, the 

captain known as Care Bear came to symbolize the sacrifice of soldiers in Afghanistan. 
With relatives that have fought in both world wars, the Goddard family has always 

participated in Remembrance Day ceremonies. This year, the day carries heartbreaking 

poignancy for them, as they prepare to lay down a wreath in Nichola's honour. 
"We're taking things one day at a time, sometimes an hour at a time," Sally Goddard told 

CTV Calgary. "Every day is a remembering of some kind." 
In line with Nichola's famous ability to take on life's challenges with a smile, Tim 

Goddard said he'll be doing more than just honouring his daughter's memory during the 

moment of silence on Nov. 11. 
"I'll be remembering this vibrant young woman who we've lost and, in a joking way, telling 

her off for getting herself killed -- and making us go through all this," he said with a grin. 

PRINCESS PATS 

Goddard was a member of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, based in Shilo, Man. 
As part of Task Force Afghanistan, Goddard was serving with the Princess Patricia's 

Canadian Light Infantry - the backbone of Canada's battle group during the summer's fierce 

battles with insurgents in Kandahar. 
More on link

McGuinty presents plaques for fallen soldiers
CTV.ca News Staff
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20061110/mcguinty_troops_plaques_061011/2006

1110?hub=TorontoHome

Premier Dalton McGuinty presented the first "Tribute to the Fallen" plaques at a special 

ceremony Friday to commemorate the 17 Ontario soldiers who have died in the line of duty 

since 2002. 

Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of Canada's defence staff, and Major-General Richard Rohmer are 

joining McGuinty at Queen's Park. 

The soldiers' families will accept the plaques, which commemorate the heroism and sacrifice 

of not just fallen military personnel, but also firefighters and police officers. 

"We are going to remember their footprint in the sand, their legacy that they have left 

us," Hillier told the families. 

"We thank them for that, and our commitment is they'll never be forgotten. 

"To the families, your courage and your dignity have inspired us all through what I know 

are the most difficult days of your lives." 

McGuinty said those who died in Afghanistan paid the "the ultimate sacrifice." 

More on link


4th Brigade Combat Team Task Force Deploys to Afghanistan
By 4th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Nov 10, 2006, 13:08	
http://www.blackanthem.com/News/military200610_2089.shtml

Blackanthem Military News, FORT POLK, La. - The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain 

Division deployed about 150 Soldiers in the early morning hours Nov.7 to Afghanistan as 

part of an advanced party that will lay the foundation in theater for Task Force Boar, 

which consists of about 1,000 deploying Soldiers.

The majority of Soldiers, a reinforced battalion-sized element from 2nd Battalion, 30th 

Infantry Regiment, named Task Force Boar, will deploy later this month and will assume 

duties in Afghanistan as part of the U.S. contribution to the NATO International Security 

Assistance Force. 

Several 4th BCT elements from 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment; 94th Brigade 

Support Battalion; 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment and Brigade Special Troops Battalion 

will augment Task Force Boar.

Members of Task Force Boar have been preparing for almost two years for deployment such as 

this, and Lt. Col. Ronald Metternich, 2-30 Inf. and Task Force Boar commander, assured 

family members and friends the task force Soldiers are fully trained and prepared to 

undertake the mission ahead. These deploying 4th BCT units have completed 

activation-related tasks and are fully equipped for conducting operations around the world, 

he said.

The 4th BCT Soldiers accomplished this level of readiness through outstanding leadership at 

all levels of the organization, said Metternich. The 2-30 Inf. Infantry battalion has some 

of the finest leaders Metternich has had the privilege of working with in 20 years of 

service, he said.

"More importantly, we achieved this (because) of the tremendous dedication, sweat and 

sacrifice of the Soldiers of this task force," said Metternich. "I am also confident 

because I believe we all share a common goal - once deployed, successfully accomplish our 

mission and get back here to our families and friends.

"I am sincerely proud to be a part of this unit of the men and women that are standing 

before us that made that decision to make a stand for what they believe in.; men and woman 

of action," continued Metternich. "I'm not talking about some haphazard action but 

deliberate, measured and, when required, intensely focused action. 

Not one of these Soldiers wants to go into harm's way and risk it all, but rather than 

sitting at home and talking about what needs to be done to make this a safer place to live, 

these Soldiers have stepped up to do their part in providing that blanket of security for 

this country."

More on link

Support for Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan to be part of remarks at annual Mountain  
Remembrance Day service tomorrow at Legion
Mark Newman, Mountain Nov 10, 2006 
http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/hmn/news/news_655652.html

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

The Act of Remembrance, from the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon

Canadian troops in Afghanistan will be included in Remembrance Day remarks tomorrow (Nov. 

11) at the Mount Hamilton branch 163 of the Royal Canadian Legion by guest speaker Reverend 

Alan McPherson.

Rev. McPherson is the Presbyterian representative and current chair of the Interfaith 

Committee on Canadian Military Chaplaincy that meets regularly in Ottawa. He is also the 

former padre of the Hamilton-based Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.

"I want to talk about the care of the troops who are there (in Afghanistan)," Rev McPherson 

said. "I don't want to get into the justification of why we're there, that's not the 

purpose of Remembrance Day."

As a Member of the interfaith committee Rev. McPherson said he is in frequent contact with 

chaplains who are serving with Canadian forces at home and abroad.

Rev. McPherson noted chaplains are currently providing moral and spiritual support and 

encouragement for Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

More on link

Loss of 15 Ontario soldiers in Afghanistan not in vain, Hillier says
November 10, 2006 - 17:12 By: CHINTA PUXLEY 
http://www.680news.com/news/national/article.jsp?content=n111055A

TORONTO (CP) - Fifteen Ontario soldiers did not die in vain in Afghanistan, but rather for 

the sake of a noble mission to rebuild a country that has been "brutalized and beaten for 

some 25 years," the country's top soldier said Friday as he paid tribute to the province's 

war dead.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier told the province's first "Tribute to the Fallen" 

ceremony at the Ontario legislature that Canada's resolve in Afghanistan has not been 

shaken by the sacrifice made by the country's fallen soldiers.

"The loss that took place there has not been in vain," Hillier told a sombre ceremony 

inside the legislature's cavernous front foyer.

"We seek to help a country that desperately needs help, that has been brutalized and beaten 

for some 25 years, with families broken apart and thousands and thousands of deaths. We 

seek to continue to help that country rebuild itself."

Hillier acknowledged the price Ontario has paid in Afghanistan - of the 17 Ontario soldiers 

who have died since 2002, 15 of them died in Afghanistan.

The 16th, Cpl. Trevor McDavid, died when a Cormorant rescue helicopter crashed into the 

ocean during a midnight training exercise off Canso, N.S., in July.

The 17th, Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, died while serving with the United Nations in 

Lebanon. All but two of Ontario's 17 fallen soldiers died this year.

Hillier said he's used to Remembrance Day sending a chill down his spine. "But this week, 

the chill down my spine and the emotion that I and all of us feel across this country is 

greater than it has ever been."

This Remembrance Day will be different for the families who lost their sons, husbands and 

fathers in 2006. Cynthia Hess-von Kruedener has attended services all her life, but she 

said this year, she understands profoundly what the word 'sacrifice' means.

Her husband, who was serving as a UN observer, was killed in July during an Israeli 

airstrike in Lebanon.
More on link

PREVIEW-Afghanistan shows challenges for more global NATO
10 Nov 2006 17:16:53 GMT Source: Reuters By Arshad Mohammed
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09351523.htm


WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The United States is pushing NATO to shoulder more global 

burdens but the alliance's Afghan deployment illustrates the challenges of getting the 

26-nation group to project its power beyond its borders.

Ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Nov. 28-29 summit in Riga, U.S. officials 

are making the case that Afghanistan is a model for the Western alliance to take on more 

security challenges around the world.

But analysts argue, and U.S. officials acknowledge, that NATO has had trouble getting some 

members to send troops to the south of Afghanistan, where British, Dutch and Canadian 

forces are fighting a revived Taliban insurgency.

NATO's top commander called on Sept. 7 for 2,000 to 2,500 more troops to go to Afghanistan. 

Most members of the alliance -- which has about 32,500 troops in the country, including 

about 11,800 U.S. forces -- have not jumped to fill the gap, although Poland has committed 

to provide about 1,000 soldiers.

"Only a handful of NATO members are prepared to go to the south and east and to go robustly 

-- mainly the U.S., UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Romania, Australia and Denmark," the 

International Crisis Group said in a report issued this month.

"Hard questions need to be asked of those such as Germany, Spain, France, Turkey and Italy 

who are not," it added.

"Obviously, there is some concern in capitals that there is, in fact, a shooting war going 

on," said a U.S. official who asked not to be named given the sensitivity of the issue.
More on link

Italy wants review of international strategy in Afghanistan  
The Associated Press 
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/10/europe/EU_GEN_Italy_Afghanistan.php

Italy wants a review of international policy in Afghanistan, saying the time is ripe for 

new choices in world affairs following the U.S. midterm elections, the foreign minister 

said.

In two interviews published Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema also called on 

the United States to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

D'Alema made the comments on the eve of a trip to Afghanistan, where he will hold talks 

Saturday with President Hamid Karzai as well as with U.N. and EU envoys. He said he would 

press Afghan and international officials to hold a global conference on the future of the 

country.

"The strategy of military intervention that has been followed so far unfortunately has 

turned out to be ineffective," D'Alema told the Rome-based daily La Repubblica.

"Italy is working to organize an international conference on Afghanistan. We want to start 

a review and a relaunch of multilateral strategies, starting with this area," D'Alema was 

quoted as saying. "If we don't do this, the military mission is bound to fail."

"We need to sit at a table and start a plan 
More on link

Mood Sours in AfghanistanNovember 10, 2006 Prepared by:  Lionel Beehner 
http://www.cfr.org/publication/11984/mood_sours_in_afghanistan.html?breadcrumb=%2Fpublicati

on%2Fpublication_list%3Ftype%3Ddaily_analysis

In the mid-1990s a fledgling group of Islamic students emerged from Kandahar. So-called 

Talibs, they lived ascetic lifestyles and promised a crackdown against Afghanistan’s 

criminal warlords. “They preached for a reborn alliance of Islamic piety and Pashtun 

might,” writes Steve Coll in Ghost Wars. Interestingly, their brand of Islam was not deemed 

a threat by Washington, unlike Iran’s Shiite evangelism. But after 1996, when al-Qaeda 

began to wage global jihad against the “far enemy,” the Taliban harbored terrorists like 

Osama bin Laden and his ilk. 

Fast-forward a decade and the Taliban, ousted by a U.S.-led campaign in October 2001, have 

replanted themselves from Pakistan to the deserts of the Kandahar region, again vowing to 

rout out warlordism and fill a power vacuum in the region. They continue to rely on 

resentment of the central government among locals and sustain themselves with opium 

profits. These militants also reportedly benefit from the largesse of Pakistan and its 

intelligence apparatus, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). As a madrassa leader told 

the New York Times Magazine’s Elizabeth Rubin, “The heart of [the Pakistani] government is 

with the Taliban. The tongue is not.”

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has launched a series of sweeps 

against Taliban militants in the region—the most recent of which killed twenty-two—but has 

failed to quash the insurgency. In a new report, the International Crisis Group (ICG) calls 

for more troops, more diplomatic pressure on Pakistan, and more political will by Hamid 

Karzai’s government in Kabul. “The desire for a quick, cheap war followed by a quick, cheap 

peace is what has brought Afghanistan to the present, increasingly dangerous situation,” 

says the ICG. Dialogue or deal making with the Taliban will not work, the report concludes, 

but “meeting the legitimate grievances of the population” will.  
More on link

Deaths in Afghanistan bring new poignancy to Remembrance Day
John Ward  Canadian Press Friday, November 10, 2006
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=1cfcd9c0-eda1-490f-a9e2-1ede0f5a5d
2c&k=27627

OTTAWA (CP) - Remembrance Day ceremonies have a new poignancy with the fresh memories of 

combat deaths in Afghanistan. 

But the harsh impact of those deaths over the last four years - reflected in questioning 

editorials, anti-war demonstrations and increasing concern over the direction of the 

mission - might suggest that Canadians have largely forgotten a military history that 

embraces more than 100,000 war dead over the last century. 

Opinion polls seem to see-saw every time a flag-draped coffin comes home. Historians say 

Canadians raised on the "myth" of Canada as a nation of peacemakers, not warrior, are 

disturbed at the very notion of deaths in combat. 

And the country is divided on the wisdom of the Afghan mission. 

There have been 42 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2002. There have been 

several days in which four soldiers were killed. 

Though any death is tragic, the losses in Afghanistan are low by historical standards. 

Even the Boer War, an almost forgotten conflict more than 100 years ago, cost 277 Canadian 

lives. 

The worst casualty days for the Afghanistan mission would have been routine, or seen as 

even good days for Canadians in past wars. 
More on link


Dutch general says Canadian troops have done good work
Last Updated: Friday, November 10, 2006 | 12:51 PM ET CBC News 
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/11/10/afghanistan-general.html

NATO's new commander in southern Afghanistan said Friday that Canadian troops have made it 

easier for him to focus on reconstruction work in the volatile region.

Dutch Maj.-Gen. Ton Van Loon took charge last week, which means he oversees a NATO 

coalition force of about 9,500 troops in six southern provinces of Afghanistan. It is 

mostly composed of Canadian, British and Dutch soldiers.

Van Loon, who replaced Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, told CBC News that priorities have 

already begun to shift in southern Afghanistan. Fraser was in charge of the troops for 

eight months.

"I think when the Canadians came in, they encountered a really difficult situation, they 

were challenged very hard, and the Canadians really did a great job," he said from 

Kandahar.

"Because they did such a great job, because David Fraser did such a great job, my chances 

are really much greater in going for the reconstruction part."

Canada has more than 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the majority stationed in the south. 

Forty-two Canadian soldiers have died since Canada first sent troops to the country in 

early 2002.
More on link


UN urged to act over Afghanistan  
Matt Prodger  BBC News, Kabul  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6135596.stm  

Human Rights Watch has urged the United Nations to address the situation in Afghanistan 

where more than 3,000 people have died in fighting this year. 
At least 1,000 civilians were killed in the country's south alone, HRW said in a letter to 

a Security Council fact-finding team. 

Fighting and drought had displaced 80,000 people in the region, it said. 

The New York-based group also said urgent action was needed to address corruption and 

abuses by warlords. 

It blames not only the Taleban-led insurgents for the violence, but also regional warlords 

- some of them operating with the blessing of the Afghan government - and Nato-led forces. 

HRW says that many gains made by women since the fall of the Taleban have been reversed and 

that teachers, schools and students had been attacked by insurgents. 

It also complained of corruption, illegal land grabs, ethnic violence and the intimidation 

of journalists. 

The UN team is due in Kabul on Saturday
End

AFGHANISTAN: Lethal floods strike the east
10 Nov 2006 13:26:31 GMT Source: IRIN
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f37b07f8ebed29153e5353b74138c6b2.htm

KABUL, 10 November (IRIN) - At least four people have been killed and five others are 

missing after flash floods, triggered by torrential rains, hit the eastern Afghan province 

of Nangarhar, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Friday.

"Early this morning in the Behsoud district of Nangarhar province, severe flooding occurred 

and we can confirm that four people were killed as a result and five are currently missing, 

many others have been injured," Dan McNorton, a public information officer with UNAMA, told 

IRIN in Kabul.

"Our initial reports indicate that over 1,000 houses have been destroyed either partially 

or totally," McNorton asserted.

Meanwhile, local authorities in Nangarhar province have called for further urgent 

assistance to thousands of flood-affected people.

"Hundreds of families have been badly affected and are in urgent need of tents, blankets 

and food,"Ajmal Pardis, head of health department of Nangarhar province, told IRIN, from 

Jalalabad, the provincial capital.

Pardis said women and children were also among the dead and their medical teams have 

treated some 30 injured people in the flood-affected area.

East and southeastern Afghanistan has seen several episodes of flooding this year.
More on link

Tim Goddard urges dialogue on Afghanistan
Updated Fri. Nov. 10 2006 8:17 AM ET Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061110/afghan_goddard_061110/20061110
?hub=Canada

CALGARY -- The father of Canada's only female soldier killed in Afghanistan says 

Remembrance Day is a time to celebrate the freedoms his daughter died defending. 


But Tim Goddard also wants Canadians to get more involved in the debate over the Afghan 

mission which Canada is committed to until 2009. 


Last May Captain Nichola Goddard became the 16th of 42 Canadian soldiers to die in 

Afghanistan. 


She was killed in a Taliban ambush while directing artillery fire at enemy positions. 


Nichola come to symbolize Canada's sacrifice, and her father has emerged as an eloquent 

spokesman for other families grappling with both grief and pride. 


Tim Goddard has chastised Prime Minister Harper for restricting media access to grieving 

families, and expressed hope for an end to the Afghan conflict so that Nichola will not 

have died in vain. 


He also says Canadians have a duty to be better informed about the war and the political 

process involved. 
End


EU mulls security reform aid for Afghanistan  
dpa German Press Agency Published: Friday November 10, 2006 
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/EU_mulls_security_reform_aid_for_Af_11102006.html

Brussels- European Union governments are studying plans for assistance to reform 

Afghanistan's security sector, including training for Afghan police forces, the bloc's 

diplomats said Friday. EU foreign and defence ministers are set to discuss increased EU aid 

for Afghanistan, including assistance for the so-called "rule of law" sector - security 

services, police forces and judges - at a meeting in Brussels on Monday. 

Any EU decision on the issue will be coordinated with NATO and the World Bank, said EU 

diplomats. 

"There are plenty of ideas around" on reinforcing the government of President Hamid Karzai 

in its fight against drug trafficking and criminality, said an EU diplomat, speaking on 

condition of anonymity. 

EU governments, including Germany, Spain and Italy, are already working on national police 

training and other schemes in Afghanistan. 

Ministers will discuss whether converting these operations into a larger project under an 

EU banner would provide any "added value," said the diplomat. 
More on link


Afghanistan takes tough measures to counter narcotics: official   
November 10, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/10/eng20061110_320368.html

The Afghan government is taking various tough measures including the sacking of governors, 

possible ground chemical spraying, to prevent the rocketing poppy cultivation in this 

country, a senior Afghan officer said Friday. 

"If governors and district chiefs are not able to reduce poppy cultivation, at least they 

will lose their jobs," Said Mohammad Azam, director of Public Relation and Public 

Information of Afghan Counter Narcotics Ministry, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. 

District and police chiefs of Daryam in the northeastern Badakhshan province had been 

sacked for incapability in fighting drug, he added. 

Azam said an eight-member anti-narcotics committee, grouping district and police chiefs, 

has been established in 108 districts of 11 provinces where poppy cultivation is rife. 

The committee would supervise poppy crops closely and find ways to reduce it, he added. 

In 2006, poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a record 165, 000 hectares, up 59 percent 

from last year, according to a report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime issued in 

September. 

Opium production reached 6,100 tons, witnessing a 49 percent rise over 2005 and accounting 

for 92 percent of the world's total supply, the report said. 
More on link


Civilian deaths in Afghanistan, challenge for NATO power 
11/11/2006 8:30:00 AM GMT  
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=12311

Five years after the U.S. invaders entered Afghanistan to “liberate” it and end the rule of the Taliban regime in Kabul, peace remains a distant dream for Afghans with occupation forces’ attacks killing more civilians than militants, poverty on the rise, and widespread corruption.

Numerous editorials and anti-war demonstrators stepped up recently criticism over the devastating impact of the NATO failure to handle the country and protect civilian lives.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had only 4,500 members in 2002, with the majority of the troops concentrated in Kabul. The alliance now commands 31,000 troops, backed by 10,000 troops from the U.S.-led occupation forces.

ISAF's chief, British General David Richards attributed the failure of the NATO mission in Afghanistan to the lack of forces sufficient to counter violence that has effectively doubled since 2004.
More on link


Two US Tanks Destroyed, US Invaders Annihilated in Afghanistan
Publication time: Today at 08:46 Djokhar time 
http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/11/11/6364.shtml

A number of US invaders were annihilated in a clash with the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate  in southern Afghanistan. 

Talking to Radio Tehran, a Taliban spokesman, Qari  Muhammad Yousuf said that the clash followed a Taliban attack on a US military convoy in Char Chino district of Uruzgan province Tuesday, destroying two tanks and killing an unknown number of US troops. 

Giving further details of the fighting in the province, the spokesman said that an army camp was attacked by the Taliban Monday night, killing five puppet soldiers. 
More on link


----------



## GAP (11 Nov 2006)

*More Articles found 11 November 2006*


Canadian troops mark Remembrance Day with ceremony in Afghanistan
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/front/index.html

PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) — About 100 Canadian soldiers have marked Remembrance Day with a simple but moving ceremony in the Panjwaii area of southern Afghanistan. 
They laid a wreath at a wooden cross to honour the 42 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2002. 

Some of the Canadians wept as they knelt at the cross. 

The service was led by the sergeant-major for the Second Battalion with Princess Patricia’s Light Canadian Infantry. 

He offered words of remembrance and encouragement, telling the soldiers they’ll get through their mission if they’re as tough as they can be. 

The soldiers are on a particularly difficult mission, facing Taliban militants who can often hide among local villagers until they see an opportunity to attack.   
The Canadian troops must be extremely vigilant anytime they leave their bases because of the constant threat of suicide attacks
End


Editorial - Canada will remember
Sat Nov 11 2006
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/editorial/story/3771245p-4361625c.html

CANADIANS are familiar with Remembrance Day as that time of the year when old battles and fading memories are dredged up to honour the dead and salute those who served and survived. 
It is a day to think about the exploits of dad and grandpa, and wars that now seem like ancient history. That all changes today. The deaths this year of 34 Canadians in Afghanistan makes this Remembrance Day different. It is the first time since the Korean conflict (1950-1953) that we have marked Nov. 11 while Canadian soldiers are engaged in significant combat operations. We may not have been able to know those who died in past wars, but we can know and relate to the thousands of men and women who are risking their lives today. For a new generation of Canadians, then, this Remembrance Day is personal. 

The troops serving in Afghanistan are mainly career soldiers, unlike those of the First World War and Second World War who volunteered after the fighting started and quickly returned to civilian life when the war ended. Some are reservists, who have temporarily given up their full-time jobs to do their duty. They come from across Canada, from big cities and farms, and from all social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. On average, today's front-line soldiers are older than their counterparts from the past. Many of them are married with children, earning good salaries, and members of their local community clubs. They are professionals -- many are well educated -- who have made Canada proud in both times of peace and war. 

Many Canadians do not like the fact that we are engaged in combat in Afghanistan, but today is not the time for that debate. Hard questions can be asked about the validity of Canada's participation in the Boer War or even the First World War, but Remembrance Day was never meant to be a value judgment on the decisions of our political leaders or the validity of a particular conflict. It was -- and remains -- a spiritual exercise that honours sacrifice, duty and the value of human life. There are also some who believe Remembrance Day was established to mark the slaughter of the First World War only, with the death toll of the second war sufficiently ghastly to warrant inclusion in the club. For these purists, the significance of Nov. 11 -- the day in 1918 that the Great War ended -- is diminished by including peacekeeping and small conflicts in the ceremony. But the fact of the matter is that many soldiers from past wars never saw combat, while young Canadians today are risking their lives in some of the worst conditions imaginable. Many of these soldiers believe passionately in the cause. A few may doubt the wisdom of our role in Afghanistan, but nothing changes the fact they are in the line of fire for Canada. As in the past, Canada's military role is not motivated by greed or the hunger for more power and treasure, but by the genuine desire to make the world a safer and better place. No one can doubt this.
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Is Afghanistan mission another pointless war?
PM's comparison to WWI oddly ironic
Nov. 11, 2006. 01:00 AM THOMAS WALKOM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163199011671&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

In the years immediately following 1918, Nov. 11 was known as Armistice Day. Not Victory Day (although, in real terms, the Nov. 11 truce did represent a victory for Allied forces) but Armistice Day — the day the fighting stopped and the terrible slaughter of World War I finally ended.

In later years, Canadians adopted the term Remembrance Day. But the sense of sad relief remained, particularly among those who had experienced what they called The Great War. To them, the slogan "Lest we forget " held a double-edged meaning.

On the one hand, it was a heartfelt testimonial to soldiers killed in battle. But on the other, it was a reminder of the ultimate futility of that costly war. 

"The World War of 1914-18 was an appalling event in the history of humanity," the authoritative Encyclopaedia of Canada pronounced in 1937, on the eve of another great war.

"Even those who had foreseen and prepared for it for many years had no idea how tremendous a cataclysm was to shake the world, what enormous armies would be engaged, what stupendous supplies of ammunition would be expended, how many millions of men would die."

For Canada, the conflict of 1914-18 remains the deadliest in the country's history, far outstripping both the Korean War and World War II. Of the roughly 620,000Canadians who served in World War I, more than 66,000died. A further 173,000were injured. 

And yet, as most historians readily acknowledge, these deaths and injuries were for naught. World War II, the war against Hitler, was worth fighting. But World War I accomplished nothing. 

In the end, it created more problems for the Allied victors than it solved — a Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the rise of Nazism in devastated Germany.

So, it is strange and somewhat ironic to find Prime Minister Stephen Harper using World War I as a model for Canada's involvement in the Afghan conflict.

Speaking in Ottawa this week, Harper quoted John McCrae's haunting 1915 poem "In Flanders Fields" and in particular, its final stanza exhorting Canadians to "take up our quarrel with the foe."

Harper also raised a personal example — his wife's great uncle, who was killed in the 1917 Battle of Arras.

Just as this young man fought for democracy and human rights then, the Prime Minister said, so we must do now in Afghanistan.

"When the cause is just," Harper said, "Canada answers the call."

And indeed that is our history. But our history also shows that Canada often answers the call when the cause is neither just nor sensible, as it did in 1914.

For Harper's great-uncle-in-law, the real tragedy was not just that he died young but that he died pointlessly. The Battle of Arras, like most World War I assaults produced, no real gains. Even the celebrated Battle of Vimy Ridge that same year, in which — at a cost of 3,600killed — Canadian troops valiantly seized and held a strategic bit of ground, accomplished little of real value.

This week, the Star published an account of how a set of bagpipes, used by Canadian soldier James Richardson to rally his comrades in the 1916 Battle of the Somme, was finally returned home. That Richardson was brave is unquestionable. His actions, and subsequent death, won him a Victoria Cross.

But what the news story neglected to mention was that the Battle of the Somme was a notorious cock-up. Canada alone took 24,000 casualties. The British suffered almost half a million. Yet the amount of ground gained amounted to about eight kilometres.
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'Iran, Afghanistan, Pak. to share date on drug smugglers'  
Tehran, Nov. 11 (AP)
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200611110921.htm

Iran and neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan must share intelligence on drug smuggling, the head of the United Nations agency against drugs has said. 

Antonio Maria Costa, the director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, finished a three-day visit to Iran by praising the government's efforts against drug trafficking, according to a statement issued by the agency yesterday. 

Iran had seized 231 tons of opium in 2005, more than any other country in the world, the statement said. 

But Costa warned the world's production of opium was far greater than what was being intercepted. 

"Afghanistan has produced a record 6,100 tons of opium this year and about 80 per cent of this will flow through Pakistan and Iran," he said in his statement. "Only about a quarter of this is likely to be intercepted - about half the success rate with the world cocaine trade. 

"I urge these three countries, and their international partners, to establish an intelligence-sharing platform," he added. "If counter-narcotics police in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran share intelligence, they could really hit the traffickers hard." 

While in Iran, Costa met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other senior Iranian officials and made a helicopter trip to the Iranian border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, the statement said. 
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Stable Afghanistan in Pakistan’s interest: PM for flexibility over Kashmir
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C11%5C11%5Cstory_11-11-2006_pg7_4

NEW YORK: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that a historic opportunity exists to resolve the Kashmir issue in an acceptable manner for all concerned parties and emphasised the need for courage, magnanimity and flexibility for settlement of the decades-old dispute.

Addressing a gathering of academics and students at Princeton University on Thursday evening, he said a stable conflict-free cooperative relationship between Pakistan and India holds the key to durable peace and prosperity in South Asia. Aziz said that since the launch of the Pakistan-India peace process in 2004, the atmosphere has improved and people-to-people contacts have increased, “but we must now move towards dispute resolution”. 

In his wide-ranging address, Aziz spoke about Pakistan’s vital strategic importance and spelt out the country’s position on major regional and international issues and its efforts to sustain a high economic growth befitting its enormous potential.
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Afghan, Nato forces kill 18 Taleban rebels  
Web posted at: 11/11/2006 3:46:15 
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Pakistan+%26+Sub-Continent&month=November2006&file=World_News2006111134615.xml

KABUL • Afghan soldiers backed by Nato forces and warplanes killed 18 Taleban militants in a series of clashes in south-eastern Afghanistan, the alliance said yesterday. 

Three Nato soldiers, three Afghan troops and an interpreter were also wounded in the fighting in Paktika province, near the Pakistani border, an International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) press release said. 

The statement said the combined forces came under small arms fire from a group of 25 to 30 insurgents in remote Bermal district. 

“After the initial clash, the ANA (Afghan National Army) succeeded in counter-attacking with small arms and close air support,” the statement said. 

“During the engagements near the border with Pakistan, three ANA, three ISAF soldiers and one interpreter were injured and subsequently evacuated to an ISAF hospital,” it added. 

“Eighteen insurgents were reported to have been killed in the incident.” 

Bermal is one of the most remote districts in Paktika province and has seen many similar attacks on government and foreign troops. 
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Quebec students witness unveiling of plaque for soldier killed in Afghanistan  
MARK CARDWELL
http://www.therecord.com/news/national/n111083A.html

QUEBEC (CP) - Gina Farnell says she was surprised when she first learned that one of her former students, Jason Patrick Warren, had become a soldier. 

"As a teenager, he did not believe in following orders," the Quebec High School teacher told some 400 students and invited guests, including Warren's family, at a memorial service in his honour Friday. 

A Quebec City native and reservist with Montreal's storied Black Watch Regiment, Warren, 29, was killed along with another Canadian soldier by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on July 22. 

Warren, his parents and two siblings - brother Stephen and sister Rachelle, who is a corporal in the Royal Canadian Dragoons Regiment and herself a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan - all attended Quebec High School. 

Farnell, one of several speakers who took the podium at a moving ceremony that combined a Remembrance Day service with the unveiling of a metal plaque in Warren's honour, said her initial surprise passed once she'd thought about how determined her one-time pupil had been. 

"Once (Jason) believed in a cause, once convinced of its good, he could be very committed to seeing it through," she said. "If he chose to serve in the army, it is because he believed in it." 

Warren's family and friends echoed those sentiments
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For the newly fallen 
(Nov 11, 2006)
http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163199015432&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322320546]Article Link=http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163199015432&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322320546]http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163199015432&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322320546]http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163199015432&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322320546]http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163199015432&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322320546]Article Link=http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163199015432&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322320546]http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163199015432&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322320546

It is time to find space for two more words on the grey cenotaphs that stand tall across Canada. It is time for loving hands to chisel the name of a new war beneath the Great War, the Second World War and Korea, and the name of a new battlefield beside Vimy Ridge, the Somme, the Atlantic and Normandy. The new war is Afghanistan. The new killing field, Kandahar.

On this Remembrance Day, as the nation honours those who served and died in the wars of the 20th century, let us honour as passionately those serving in Afghanistan today. And as we mourn those who died in those long ago conflicts, let us mourn as deeply those who have died, some just weeks ago, in Afghanistan.

Since 2002, when Canadian troops were first sent to that country, 42 of our soldiers have died. Thirty-four of those soldiers died this year alone. It has been more than half a century since Canada experienced this magnitude of human loss in combat during the Korean War.

The 2,300 Canadian troops in Afghanistan are half a world away. They would say that they have put their lives at risk so the lives of Canadians at home are more secure. They would argue that by denying terrorists a base for operations in Afghanistan, they are denying them the chance to attack Canada. This, too, as well as their sacrifice, is worth remembering today.
End


----------



## GAP (12 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 12 November 2006*

From Flanders to Afghanistan
'Thank you, we will never forget'
Nov. 12, 2006. 01:00 AM LISA WRIGHT STAFF REPORTER
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163286612138&call_pageid=968332188492

As a young man he braved bullets and bombs and lost countless buddies on the battlefields of Europe in World War II. 

And with the roar of cannons as a backdrop yesterday, Albert Wade was moved by both sad memories and the encouraging support of about 500 people who stood beside him to attend Remembrance Day services under light rain on the lawn of the Legislature.

It was the first ceremony at Queen's Park in front of the new 30-metre granite memorial built this year to honour Canadian veterans like him for the sacrifices they made long ago, along with soldiers serving overseas today.

"To me that's very wonderful," said the 85-year-old veteran, who was a sergeant with the Royal Canadian Dragoons.

"I'm glad a few of my friends from the regiment were here to see this. There's not many of us left." 

Retired major-general Richard Rohmer told the crowd the world is losing World War II vets at the rate of about 500 per week due to the inevitable passage of time.

"We want to say thank you and that we will never forget," Premier Dalton McGuinty said after a lone bugler played Last Post, followed by a two-minute silence in honour of Canada's fallen soldiers. From Flanders fields, Vimy Ridge and Normandy to Korea and the "harsh" realities in Afghanistan today, the premier paid tribute to "the men and women who have devoted themselves to creating a lasting peace."
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Seamus O'Regan's journey to Kandahar
Updated Fri. Nov. 10 2006 1:49 PM ET
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061105/oregan_afghanistan_blog_061105/20061106/

CTV's Canada AM will broadcast live from Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Thursday, Nov. 9 and Friday, Nov. 10 for a special salute to the troops ahead of Remembrance Day. 

Updated: Photo gallery of Seamus in Afghanistan

Follow Seamus O'Regan as he travels to the Canadian military base and shares his experiences meeting frontline soldiers, service producers and medical staff.

Friday Nov. 10

Well, the show just ended, and, by all accounts, it went well. We tried to tell the stories of the troops today - to demonstrate to Canadians that these are their neighbours, friends, and family that are living here - on an air field, on the other side of the world, away from home. 

The troops who stood with us during the course of the show laughed and cried, and were deeply moved that so many Canadians were watching and so many cared enough to watch. 

The roll call of casualties at the end was difficult for them. There was silence for about a minute. None of them moved from their chairs. Eventually, I thanked them for being here, and told them that it was an important show. They stood and applauded. 
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NATO air strike kills 10 militants in E. Afghanistan  
November 12, 2006 
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/12/eng20061112_320742.html         

A NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) air strike killed ten insurgents in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, a spokesman of the NATO forces in the province Major Shul said on Sunday. 

"Acting on received intelligence, we carried out an air raid on an insurgent hideout in Dagarmol village of Watapoor district on Saturday, killing ten enemies belonging to an Arab fighter named Abu Ikhlas," the spokesman told a press conference. 

The militants were attending a meeting when the air strike was carried out, he added. 

Abu Ikhlas, according to Shul, was the commander of Arab fighters in the area. 

Kunar and the neighboring provinces of Nooristan, Laghman and Nangarhar have been the scene of increasing insurgency over the past year. 

More than 2,700 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed since the beginning of this year in this post-Taliban nation. 

Source: Xinhua 
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Soldiers serving in Afghanistan feel kinship with past veterans
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=8ac81c26-50a4-450d-a19e-dafa6a7bb6b2&k=16085

Lee Greenberg, CanWest News Service
Published: Sunday, November 12, 2006 
ZHARI, Afghanistan -- As day broke at Patrol Base Wilson, a logistics hub in the dusty southern Afghanistan province where 34 Canadians have died since March, Master Bombardier Rick Atkinson scaled a tattered brick wall and lowered the base's sun-bleached Canadian flag to half-mast.

Like so many soldiers on the front lines of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan, Atkinson and his colleagues paused, but never stopped, as they commemorated a unique Remembrance Day.

"We're part of it now," said Atkinson, 37. A veteran of numerous tours, Atkinson, like many soldiers on the ground, feels he has only now experienced a loss of innocence. Canada has suffered 43 casualties (including one diplomat) in some of the fiercest fighting by Canadian troops since the Korean war.

"It's an honour that we can be mentioned in the same breath as them now -- people who'd fought in WWI, WWII, Korea," said the Petawawa, Ont., resident. "Not even to take away from the peacekeeping missions, it just feels more like we're like them now.

"The sacrifices they made, those are the ones we're making now."

While the rugged Afghan landscape -- dotted by marijuana fields and mud-walled villages -- could never remind them of home, the weather was reminiscent of a typical Remembrance Day in Canada. The skies turned grey and dumped the first heavy rainfall in months. Chilly soldiers broke out their fleece jackets.

Capt. Andy Lockridge, an artillery officer from Gagetown, N.B., who is Camp Commandant at Patrol Base Wilson, said he treated Remembrance Day "the same as any other day."

Security concerns -- Wilson is located in the cradle of the Taliban-led insurgency -- and the need to maintain "operational tempo" prevented him from doing anything else.
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'The gravity of war': Newest veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan among past, present soldiers honored in Hudson
By Jennifer Kavanaugh/ Daily News Staff Sunday, November 12, 2006 
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=145242

HUDSON -- Looking back on her three Air Force deployments to Afghanistan, Jenny D'Olympia told Hudson veterans and residents about her "intense wake-up call" to the dangerous realities of war.

D'Olympia, who is now a captain in the Air Force Reserves, was in Afghanistan in June 2002, when she and others learned that a military plane carrying 10 people went down. Three of the people aboard died, though the other seven escaped with minor injuries, and one with a broken leg.

    "On June 12, 2002, when the MC-130 went down, I realized the gravity of war," D'Olympia said. "Up until then, I felt like I had been playing soldier in the desert and pretending to be serious about it."

    D'Olympia's speech, and the Hudson Veterans Day parade and ceremony, were part of events throughout MetroWest to mark the holiday. Hudson's event also included the laying of wreaths on war memorials, a parade of veterans, the American Legion Band from Waltham and the Hudson High School Band.

    At the ceremony following the parade, two Hudson High School students, senior Christopher Jordan and sophomore Cristy Jenkins, sang "God Bless the U.S.A."

    The parade's grand marshal was Marine Lance Cpl. Terry "TJ" Kearney Jr., a Hudson resident who returned home last month, after serving in Fallujah, Iraq. While over there, he helped capture Mohammed Dafar Farham, a man the U.S. military believed was responsible for the murders of 300 Iraqis.

    If Kearney represents the accomplishments of the young men serving, D'Olympia represents the growing number of female service members and veterans. About 20 percent of the volunteer forces supporting the war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq are women, she said. One of the three people killed on that plane that day, Anissa Ann Shero, was the first woman from the Air Force to die in Afghanistan.

    After that plane went down in 2002, D'Olympia said, she would get other sobering reminders of the danger she and others faced. By the time she was back in Afghanistan for her third deployment, in 2004, she was routinely facing rocket and mortar attacks.

    D'Olympia said people mark Veterans Day to remember the sacrifices of all the people who served in the military.

    "It is because of them that we can carry out our lives without concerns about rocket and mortar attacks on our homes when we go to sleep at night," D'Olympia said. "We don't have to worry about snipers on Town Hall when we go to vote, we don't have to worry about roadside bombs on the way to work."

    On a lighter note, D'Olympia, who is from Missouri, said that despite the relative security people experience here, they still have to contend with "the war-zone atmosphere during rush hour on 128."
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UNSC mission in Afghanistan for security review
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C11%5C12%5Cstory_12-11-2006_pg7_30

KABUL: A high-level delegation from the United Nations Security Council arrived in Afghanistan Saturday to review efforts to establish stability after the bloodiest period of growing Taliban-led violence.

The delegation included UN ambassadors from Argentina, Britain, Denmark, France, Greece, Japan, Qatar, Russia, Slovakia and the United States, the UN said in a statement.

The group was due to meet President Hamid Karzai and other government officials and UN agencies during its four-day visit.

It would also travel to the south of Afghanistan to “demonstrate solidarity with local Afghan communities most affected by recent fighting between anti-government elements and military forces,” according to the statement. Southern Afghanistan has seen the most of this year’s spike in Taliban violence, which NATO commanders deployed in Afghanistan have admitted took them by surprise and showed new sophistication and outside influence.

Taliban attacks and military operations against the militants have killed 1,000 civilians this year, Human Rights Watch said Friday in a statement that urged the UN mission to push for compensation for victims of the violence.
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Truro, N.S.feels impact of Afghanistan casualties
Updated Sat. Nov. 11 2006 11:23 PM ET Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061110/remembranceday_truro_061111/20061111?hub=Canada

TRURO, N.S. -- It's quiet at the cenotaph. 

Sitting on a small rise in the centre of town, the statue of a solitary soldier, his head bowed, looks downcast as life hums along nearby. 

No one approaches the simple monument to war's dead on a day when golden sunlight streams through fall leaves and a stiff wind blows by. But that will change on Remembrance Day when thousands of people are expected to gather here to pay their respects to generations of military lives lost. 

And, some say, this community will feel a particularly keen sense of loss as it remembers four young men whose deaths have shaken its residents and made Afghanistan's distant war a very real part of their lives. 

"You can feel it. You can hear it. Out on the street, everybody talks about it," Leo Boudreau, president of the local legion, says at the steps of the memorial to the First and Second World Wars. 

"We are one of the communities that's been really hit the hardest." 

On Nov. 11, in addition to the 275 names inscribed on the monument, people will honour Canada's most recent combat casualties, four of whom grew up in or had ties to this central Nova Scotia community. 
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Canadian women pull their own weight in Afghanistan's danger zones
Sue Bailey, Canadian Press Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006 Article tools
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=6a4abfac-3ffb-45cb-b7e3-46fc6fa1bdd4&k=76269

 PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) - Medic Angela Townsend erupts into her trademark laugh when asked about the most unusual gift she has received from well-wishers back in Canada. 

"I got a package of 30 Freezies and it's 42 degrees here I think," she said. "So I'm going to have to save those for a rainy day. 

"If I get to freeze them somewhere, I'll be able to share them with all the guys here." 

Townsend, 31, was stationed during a recent interview at a dusty military outpost surrounded by sun-bleached mountains of rock and sand. The other-worldly scene conjures images from Mad Max movies. 

Canadians are dug into the former Taliban heartland here, holding crucial ground won during bloody battles last summer. 

Cool water is a luxury, let alone anything frozen. 

But Townsend is clearly touched that someone cared enough to try sending a bit of relief from the searing daytime heat. 

The Cape Breton native is one of few Canadian women doing every job from medic to front-line infantry in Afghanistan. 

Women make up about 15 per cent of the Canadian Forces but only around seven per cent of the 2,400 soldiers deployed here. Troops are serving six-month tours that will continue through 2008. 

There are now almost 8,000 women in Canada's military and another 4,800 with reserve units. 

Townsend says she's treated much like any other soldier. 

"I find if you portray yourself as someone who can do the job, and you put in the effort to help them out as well, you'll gain the respect from the guys." 

Women are equally expected to unload heavy deliveries of food and water, and to fill and haul the endless sandbags needed to fortify positions against insurgent attacks. 
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Cdn troops hold emotional tribute
By SUE BAILEY
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/2006/11/11/2315069-cp.html

PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) - It was a Remembrance Day like none other for troops serving in this deadly region, and it began with a rare but fitting nod from Mother Nature: rain. 

The normally intense sun and blue skies gave way for the first time in months Saturday to cloud cover. Afghan interpreters stared at the sky while, as if on cue, thunder rolled across the sand-sculpture mountains that ring the site where Canadians gathered to remember lost friends. 

The storm cloud broke just after the troops - many from the hard-hit A Company of 2nd battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry - had paid their respects. They lined up before a simple wooden cross to pin the poppies they'd been wearing for days on to a single wreath. 

Many fought tears, and some cried openly. 

Pte. Mackenzie Haut, 21, of Edmonton, knew and looked up to four of the soldiers who have died in a costly fight against insurgents bent on overthrowing an elected government and expelling international forces. 

"They were like big brothers," he said. "I was an only child growing up in my family. In the army, the camaraderie is a lot like a brotherhood."  
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Canadian Troops In Afghanistan Honour Fallen Comrades
Saturday November 11, 2006
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_5214.aspx

It was an emotional day for Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan who paid tribute to their fallen comrades Saturday. 
This Remembrance Day was particularly hard considering the number of Canadian lives lost during this mission - 42 soldiers and one diplomat have died since 2002 and 34 four of those troops were killed since March.

Many soldiers held back tears and others wept openly as they pinned poppies to a wreath before a simple wooden cross in a rainy Remembrance Day ceremony in Kandahar. Many of the soldiers were from the A Company of 2nd battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, which has suffered many losses this year.

"They were like big brothers," Pte. Mackenzie Haut, 21, of Edmonton said. "I was an only child growing up in my family. In the army, the camaraderie is a lot like a brotherhood."

"It would be important to them to know that we can still be combat-effective and accomplish our missions without them. And then, when the mission's done, we can remember them and mourn in our own ways."

Sgt.-Maj. John Hooyer recited lines from "For the Fallen", written by British poet Laurence Binyon.

"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

He also urged his troops to remember and honour their fallen comrades, but also to maintain their resolve.
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Italy proposes international conference on Afghanistan 
 November 12, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/12/eng20061112_320685.html

Visiting Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema proposed Kabul on Saturday an international conference on Afghanistan be held to seek more support for this post-Taliban nation. 

At a joint press conference with his Afghan counterpart Rangin Dadfar Spanta, D'Alema said "We feel the need of holding an international conference, during which the problems of terrorism, narcotics and reconstruction in Afghanistan should be discussed." 

D'Alema brought forward this idea amid increasing militancy in this country, particularly in the southern and eastern regions and record opium production this year. 

Such a conference, he added, would provide an important opportunity to discuss the achievements and problems in Afghanistan. 

However, he did not suggest the time and place of the conference. 

The Italian top diplomat stressed military actions alone cannot solve all problems in Afghanistan. "The international community ought to give more weight to non-military solutions in political and economic fields." 

It would be the 4th international conference on Afghanistan if accepted by the world community. 
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Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO review efforts against terrorism 
 Sunday, November 12, 2006 Staff Report
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C11%5C12%5Cstory_12-11-2006_pg7_5

ISLAMABAD: The Tripartite Commission, comprising senior military representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, held their 19th Plenary Session in Kabul to review their cooperative efforts in the war on terror. 

The commission also reviewed on Saturday plans to build a jointly staffed centre to share intelligence in the war on terror, said an official. Senior delegates included Afghanistan’s General Sher Karimi, Pakistan’s Major General Ahmad Shuja Pasha and ISAF’s General David Richards. 

The agenda for the 19th meeting included reports from the Border Security Sub Committee, the Military Intelligence Sharing Working Group and the Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) Working Group, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). 

In a significant development from previous meetings, a series of workshops was also conducted in which officers from all 3 delegations discussed information operations, cooperation to enhance the Afghan National Army’s ongoing operation OQAB, and ways in which the security forces of Afghanistan, Pakistan, ISAF and the Coalition could improve their long-term planning and cooperation.

Lieutenant General Karimi gave a presentation on Operation OQAB, the first ever Afghan-wide joint security operation involving all branches of the Afghan National Army and Police with the support of the ISAF. The operation is already underway, intelligence-led, and aims to disrupt insurgents plans over the winter and spring months to allow reconstruction and development to begin in selected areas. “The operation will also involve close cooperation with the Pakistan Army,” said the ISPR.
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General says troops in Afghanistan preserve freedom
By Associated Press Saturday, November 11, 2006 - Updated: 11:53 AM EST
http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg?articleid=166801&format=text

BAGRAM, Afghanistan- Hundreds of U.S. troops paused to observe Veterans Day at the largest American military base in Afghanistan. 

     Their commander, Major General Benjamin Freakley, thanked the troops, telling them they are working to protect American freedom just as troops did in World War Two. 

     He said veterans “have earned this day” because they have sacrificed for the sake of freedom and peace. 

     About 20,000 American troops serve in Afghanistan, with 12,000 serving under NATO. 

     At least 288 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since 2001. 
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Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO review joint intelligence centre
(AFP) 11 November 2006 
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/November/subcontinent_November399.xml&section=subcontinent

KABUL - Military commanders from Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO reviewed plans Saturday to build a jointly staffed centre to share intelligence in their battle against extremist militants, an official said.

The commanders were in Kabul for the 19th meeting between the three forces that are together fighting unrest that spans the Afghan and Pakistan border and involves Islamist groups such as the Taleban and Al Qaeda.

Part of their discussions focussed on a planned joint military intelligence sharing centre expected to be based in the Afghan capital, an official with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force told AFP.

The centre will be staffed by Afghan, Pakistani and ISAF officials and will ‘work to understand what information can quickly be shared in a mutually beneficial fashion,’ he said.

The meeting -- led by Afghanistan’s General Sher Karimi, Pakistan’s Major General Ahmad Shuja Pasha and ISAF’s General David Richards -- also heard reports on border security and efforts to counter improvised bombs regularly used by the rebels.

The Taleban were in government from 1996 until 2001, when they fled the capital on November 12 after an offensive led by the United States and involving Afghan resistance factions now in the new government.

Members of the extremist group and their Al Qaeda allies fled across the border into Pakistan from where Afghan and international officials allege they are directing an insurgency against the current administration and its international allies.
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Enemies Seek Insecurity, Instability in Afghanistan  
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8508200561

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed that enemies of regional nations are seeking instability and insecurity in Afghanistan. 

 According to a statement released by the Presidential Press Office, Ahmadinejad made the remarks in a meeting with the speakers of Afghanistan's Senate and National Consultative Assembly. 

Also during the meeting, Ahmadinejad stressed that efforts by some hegemonic countries to insecure the world are destined to failure, adding that establishment of security and progress in any of the regional states serves the interests of that given nation and all the other countries in the region. 

Noting the campaigns and struggles waged by the Afghan people against colonialist and bullying powers in recent decades, the President described Afghans as a courageous and resistant nation, and called on the government and parliament of that country to provide their nation with security and prosperity through unity and solidarity. 
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## The Bread Guy (12 Nov 2006)

*Navy ship weapons may boost Afghan cache*
Guns to defend against mortars, rockets
David ********, Ottawa Citizen, 11 Oct 06
Article Link

Canadian military planners are looking at stripping weapons off the navy's ships so they can be sent to Afghanistan and be used to destroy incoming mortar shells and rockets.  The proposal would see a number of the 20mm Gatling guns, used to protect Canada's warships against missiles and seaborne suicide bombers, removed and sent to Kandahar, according to defence sources. The guns, outfitted with a specialized tracking radar, are capable of firing 4,500 bullets a minute, which can shred an incoming warhead.  Canadian planners are now examining whether it is feasible to follow through with the idea to use the navy's Phalanx Close-In Weapons System, better known as CIWS ....



*Canadian troops needed past '09, Afghan official says  *  
Andrew Thomson, Ottawa Citizen, 12 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada's military presence in southern Afghanistan needs to extend past the current February 2009 deadline, that country's first post-Taliban finance minister said Saturday.  Ashraf Ghani, a recent candidate for the post of UN secretary-general, served in President Hamid Karzai's cabinet from 2002 to 2004. During a visit to Ottawa he praised Canadian military, diplomatic and development efforts _ including recent pressure on NATO allies to increase their commitment.  "You cannot surrender the south," said Ghani, 57, now the chancellor of Kabul University. "Once you've started fighting you cannot leave without securing victory." ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban fighters talk tactics - while safe in Pakistan*
Suzanna Koster, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Nov 06
Article Link

The 22-year-old doesn't look like the traditional turbaned Taliban commander. His black hair shoots out at all angles from beneath a red cap. He smiles easily and has a neatly trimmed beard.  But Hilal says he is the co-leader of 200 Taliban fighters who operate across the border in Afghanistan. "Two years ago, we only attacked Afghan officials, but now we have so many Talibs that we can attack Americans," he boasts.  In a rare interview with a Western reporter, Hilal and three other Afghan Taliban fighters describe how they slip into Afghanistan, attack NATO and Afghan forces, and return to Pakistan to rest.  "Everybody in the neighborhood knows we are Talibs," says Noman, a 19-year-old fighter with a blue-white block-printed turban. "Pakistan is a little bit free for us." ....



*UN urged to act over Afghanistan*  
Matt Prodger, BBC News, 10 Nov 06
Article Link 

Human Rights Watch has urged the United Nations to address the situation in Afghanistan where more than 3,000 people have died in fighting this year. At least 1,000 civilians were killed in the country's south alone, HRW said in a letter to a Security Council fact-finding team. Fighting and drought had displaced 80,000 people in the region, it said ....

*Afghanistan: Security Council Upcoming Mission*
Human Rights Watch (HRW) letter, HRW web page, 9 Nov 06
Letter

The deteriorating human rights situation throughout Afghanistan warrants immediate attention and action by the United Nations. Human Rights Watch believes the Security Council’s upcoming fact-finding mission to Afghanistan can help improve conditions by demonstrating the United Nation’s ongoing commitment to the well-being of all Afghans.  2006 has been the bloodiest year for Afghans since the United States and its allies helped oust the Taliban from power. Southern Afghanistan has degenerated into open warfare, placing Afghan civilians at risk of direct injury, both by insurgent forces, and, tragically, the international forces supposed to be protecting Afghans. This fighting has halted much needed development activity and has reversed some of the modest gains made in the Taliban’s absence, such as returning children, particularly girls, to school ....



*UN says Afghanistan still faces 'daunting challenges'*
Dose.ca, 12 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghanistan faces "daunting challenges" five years after the fall of the Taliban, chief among them a bloody insurgency, a UN Security Council team said Sunday, renewing its commitment to help.  The 10-country delegation, which arrived Saturday on a four-day tour of Afghanistan, addressed the media after talks with President Hamid Karzai and other officials.  The delegates also attended Sunday a meeting of the government and its international partners that was told economic development in the war-torn country had been slower than expected in part because of the violence ....



*AFGHANISTAN: Lethal floods strike the east*
United Nations, Integrated Regional Information Networks, 10 Nov 06
Article Link

At least four people have been killed and five others are missing after flash floods, triggered by torrential rains, hit the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Friday.  “Early this morning in the Behsoud district of Nangarhar province, severe flooding occurred and we can confirm that four people were killed as a result and five are currently missing, many others have been injured,” Dan McNorton, a public information officer with UNAMA, told IRIN in Kabul ....


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## The Bread Guy (12 Nov 2006)

*Canada mentors Afghan troops battling faulty weapons and inexperience *  
Sue Bailey, Canadian Press, 12 Nov 06
Article Link

Lt.-Col. Sheren Sha is a battle-weary Afghan battalion commander who towers over most of his troops and doesn't mince words.  "They're going to die," he said when asked his top concern for fresh recruits newly arrived in Panjwaii from training in Kabul, the capital.  Days after graduating from 16 weeks of instruction, including field drills overseen by Canadians, the new Afghan National Army soldiers find themselves in a hot zone dreaded by veterans.  "It's like expecting a newborn baby to eat, walk and talk," Sha said in an interview.  A world-class soldier needs specific military training, with emphasis on strategy and knowledge of the latest technology. Education is the key, he says. Most Afghan soldiers are illiterate, adding to steep challenges faced by NATO troops helping to prepare and mentor new recruits ....



*Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan quadrupled: report*
CBC Online, 12 Nov 06
Article Link

The number of attacks by militants in Afghanistan has quadrupled since 2005, to about 600 a month with 3,700 deaths so far this year, says a bleak report released Sunday.  Afghanistan saw about 130 insurgent attacks a month in 2005, said the report by the Joint Co-ordination and Monitoring Board, a body of Afghan and international officials charged with overseeing the implementation of the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year reconstruction and development blueprint signed in February.  But by the end of September 2006, insurgents were launching more than 600 attacks a month, up from 300 a month at the end of March, the report said. The violence has killed more than 3,700 people this year, it said.  In the volatile border area near Pakistan, more than 20 militants — and possibly as many as 60 — were killed during several days of clashes, officials said Sunday ....



*Former freedom fighter wants Afghan people to speak out against Taliban  * 
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 12 Nov 06
Article Link

The people of Afghanistan will continue to be terrorized by the Taliban until they learn to stand together against the terrorist group, a former freedom fighter said Sunday. And support for Canadian and NATO troops in the country is higher than critics would suggest, argued Neamat Arghandabi, leader of the National Islamic Society of Afghan Youth.  "The only thing is they're silent-they're the quiet majority because if they express their support then they're dead people," Arghandabi said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "Many people appreciate (Canada's) presence in Kandahar but they can't say so publicly because they're afraid. This is what terrorism is all about-to scare you off because they can come in the night and kill you because you told the media you like the Canadian presence here," he added ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*'Die-hard Taliban will have to be eliminated'  * 
Sean Rayment, Telegraph (UK), 12 Nov 06
Article Link

All "hardcore" Taliban fighters will have to be killed or captured before peace in Afghanistan can finally be declared, the commander of British forces there believes.  Brigadier Jerry Thomas, in charge of the 4,200 strong United Kingdom Task Force based in Helmand province, said that a small core of "ideological" Taliban was fuelling the insurgency. The Brigadier, who has been in command of the force for just four weeks, said that a "cadre" of Taliban fighters would have to be dealt with. If they attacked British forces they would be "engaged and killed".  Speaking at Kandahar Air Base, Brig Thomas said: "The hardcore Taliban, in my view, are probably irreconcilable and therefore you have to deal with them as irreconcilable people. If they fight us, we will fight them and we will use all of the forces at our disposal to make sure they are defeated ....



*Taliban insurgency major Afghan challenge: UN team *  
Reuters, 12 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghanistan's biggest challenge remains the Taliban insurgency, the head of a visiting U.N. mission said on Sunday on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the overthrow of the Taliban's puritanical Islamist government.  The intensity of the Taliban's fightback this year has surprised        NATO and U.S.-led troops in the bloodiest year since the group's ouster in 2001. More than 3,100 people, a third of them civilians, have died so far this year.  "I think the single most important challenge facing this country is insurgency, fighting the Taliban insurgency," Japanese Ambassador Kenzo Oshima told a news conference in Kabul after talks with government officials ....


*UNSC delegation discusses security, other issues with Afghan leader* 
Kuwait News Agency, 12 Nov 06
Article Link

A high-level UN Security Council delegation on Sunday called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and discussed with him a vast range of issues with the deteriorating security situation, poppy cultivation and reconstruction process on top.  The high-level delegation is headed by Japan ambassador to the United Nations Kinzo Oshima and its other members included representatives of the United States, Britain, France, Denmark, Argentina, Greece, Qatar, Russia and Slovakia.  The delegation will stay for four days in Afghanistan to review the security and reconstruction and apprise itself of various problems faced by the Afghan government and the people ....



*'ANCIENT' COMBAT CHOPPER  * 
Sunday Mirror (UK), 12 Nov 06
Article Link

A CHINOOK helicopter which is so old it flew in the Falklands War is being sent into battle in Afghanistan. The 25-year-old aircraft was brought as chiefs were desperate for extra choppers to support troops.  Now it is used to ferry hundreds of Royal Marine Commandos across Helmand Province while they fight the Taliban.  The Bravo November aircraft was the only Chinook to survive an horrific attack in the Falklands conflict in 1982 ....



*Policy Stops E-Mails To Son In Afghanistan *  
Associated Press, 12 Nov 06 
Article Link

With her son deployed with the military in Afghanistan, Sheila Chunis finds peace of mind with each e-mail he sends her.  It's a cyber chat she looks forward to every day. Because of the 10-hour time difference, she's at her work computer about the same time he comes off duty and sends her a message.  But Chunis, an employee at the state Department of Social Service, has been threatened with disciplinary action if she continues to read her son's e-mails on state time because of a government policy on computer use.  “I feel like he's a member of the state militia, and in effect a state employee, so why can't I send him an e-mail?” Chunis said ....


----------



## GAP (13 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 13 November 2006*

Senior al-Qaeda member caught in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Monday, November 13, 2006 | 6:25 AM ET CBC News 
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/13/afghanistan-arrest.html

A man reported to be a senior member of al-Qaeda who escaped from a U.S. prison last year has been arrested in southeastern Afghanistan by U.S. and Afghan forces, an Afghan provincial police chief said on Monday.

U.S. and Afghan forces arrested six people on Thursday in the city of Khost, said Mohammad Ayub, the provincial police chief. He said the four Afghans, an Arab and a Pakistani are being held by U.S. forces.

In a report by Pakistan's daily The News, one of those arrested was Abu Nasir al-Qahtani. He is one of four Arab al-Qaeda members to have escaped from a U.S. prison in July 2005 in Bagram, about 60 kilometres northwest of Kabul.

"I'm not sure if this Arab is the one of the four Arabs who escaped from Bagram last year, but what I can tell you is that he is an important al-Qaeda member," Ayub said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press.

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick declined to identify the arrested al-Qaeda operative.

Last week, coalition forces said a "known al-Qaeda terrorist" and five other extremists had been arrested on Nov. 6 near Khost.

Officials said the detainee has "known ties to al-Qaeda leadership," and was detained with Saudi and Pakistani nationals.
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EU Debates Role in Afghanistan  
13.11.2006 
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2237234,00.html

European Union foreign and defense ministers meeting in Brussels today are expected to engage in a heated debate about the 25-member bloc’s future role in Afghanistan. 

Before the meeting, the NATO general secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer sharply criticized the European Union of doing too little to help the reconstruction process in Afghanistan. 

"The solution is not a military one. The solution is called development," he said.

The transatlantic alliance is fighting an uphill battle to get Taliban insurgents under control in the extremely shaky south of the strife-torn country. 

At the same time it’s becoming more and more obvious that reconstruction and institution building efforts have so far failed to stabilize Afghanistan. 

Germany wants NATO and EU to work together

For the German government, the key issue is how to better coordinate efforts on the ground. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for closer cooperation between the European Union and NATO. She said the situation needed "a combination of military, humanitarian and reconstruction aid." 
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Qanouni Calls for Afghanistan's Permanent Membership in AAPP  
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8508220328

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Afghan Parliament Speaker, Younes Qanouni applied for the permanent membership of his country in the Association of Asian Parliaments. 

Addressing the 7th Conference of the General Assembly of Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) here in Tehran Sunday afternoon, the Afghan top legislative official said justice and peace in the relations of a group of closely tied states could bring about stability and development in the world. 

"Justice means balanced relations based on joint regional interests and sustainable peace, and Tehran conference can produce good results in this ground," he continued. 

Describing his country as a victim of terrorism and international Mafia, he termed security one of the main factors contributing to the regional states' progress and success. 

The lawmaker also stressed Afghanistan's profound belief in the reinvigoration of legal bodies, development of political, economic and scientific cooperation and dialogue in the international arena. 

He said Asia is in dire need of peace, stability and development, reminding that achievement of understanding requires confidence building and development of mutual relations. 

He also criticized some countries which seek their stability and security in the insecurity and instability of other states, and further expressed the hope that the Tehran conference would be a proper opportunity for discussions about common fundamental issues which contribute to the fate of Asia. 
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60 rebels killed in Afghanistan
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C11%5C13%5Cstory_13-11-2006_pg7_32

KABUL: A NATO and Afghan operation that ended on Sunday killed more than 60 Taliban-linked rebels over six days, a provincial governor said, adding that Chechen and Arab fighters were among the dead.

The operation was near the border with Pakistan in the province of Paktika, which has recently seen significant security force action against militants, some of whom have admitted to infiltrating from across the border. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed it had been involved in the operation in Barmal district of Paktika. While it did not have an assessment of the casualties, it did not dispute the Afghan official’s figures, spokesman Major Luke Knittig said. “Over 60 Taliban have been killed in operations launched six days ago that ended today,” Paktika governor Muhammad Akram Khoplwak told AFP. ISAF troops and air power assisted the local forces, he said.

The number of dead was estimated from surveillance and from bodies left behind after the clashes, he said. “There were Arabs and Chechens and other foreign fighters among those killed. A number of weapons and missiles have been seized,” Khoplwak said. Afghanistan suffers more than 600 cases of terrorist or insurgent-related violence a month, a fourfold increase from last year, according to a report released Sunday. The report came as 20 Taliban militants were killed in the latest fighting in eastern Afghanistan, an official said. The report by the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, which consists of representatives from Afghanistan and the international community, said Afghanistan was experiencing more than 600 security incidents a month as of the end of September, up from 300 a month at the end of March. agencies
End

Farewell to Afghanistan: A Failed State Fails With Our Help  
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-jacobs/farewell-to-afghanistan-_b_33967.html

Remember Afghanistan? As we celebrate the transfer of power in the Capitol, let's remember that we are losing two wars simultaneously: one in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan. The reasons for the failures are linked in that surely the invasion of Iraq has totally distracted not just the military from Afghanistan, but the entire American political elite.

We must recall that in the immediate wake of 11 September 2001, an immensely popular President Bush called for the toppling of the Taliban government, which was completed five years ago, with a few troops and relatively little loss of life. The US led the world in pledging to make Afghanistan a modern state, replete with the physical and political infrastructure that embeds democracy. For a time, that seemed possible. But within months, war plans for Iraq preoccupied our military and within a year Afghanistan disappeared from political view. Osama bin Laden was forgotten as was all of Afghanistan.

Perhaps the saddest chapter of the Bush presidency will be written in the anonymous blood of American soldiers who died determined to build a free Afghanistan, but whose memory now is soiled by the Bush ideology of global dominion rather than global peace. America voted Tuesday to leave Iraq. America also voted for sanity. As committees are assigned, defense secretaries replaced and perspective partially restored, let us not forget that the terror emanated from Afghanistan and it likely could have ended there. Instead, we face an eerie and spectacularly similar fate to the Soviets who invaded Afghanistan in 1979, only to find ten years later that they had lost an empire by overreaching. 
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Portraits of Afghanistan  
Five years after the Taliban's fall, much of the country is in the grip of violence. But some Afghans have seen their lives transformed 
By Justin Huggler Published: 13 November 2006 
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1963550.ece

Kubra, 38, Teacher  

Kubra looks far older than her 38 years. Like the other women in her village, her life has been hard and as mother to 12 children - five daughters and seven sons - there has been the added burden and stress of bringing them up during 25 years of constant insecurity and the turmoil of war. "I lived in five different villages in just seven years. Later, under the Taliban, some of my sons fled to Iran. My husband is a farmer." Her four youngest children, two sons and two daughters, are going to school - an opportunity her other children and she never had. Kubra is the only cash bread-winner for the family. Before, she was earning between 30 and 50 Afghanis a day as a tailor (35p-60p), but now her salary has increased as she is employed under the National Solidarity Programme as a tailoring teacher for village women.

"This is a time of lots of improvements in my life. When I'm working, I feel very happy. Security is very good, there is electricity and they have brought sewing machines for us - the women want the project to continue."

Kubra prefers not to think about a return to anarchy. "If the NGOs didn't help us we would die - I mean, now we have a clinic and when we get we can get help. Most important for her are the new freedoms in her life and her hope that Afghanistan "will be good again like other countries".
Rohgul Walidzada, 38, Organiser, Local Politician  

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Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan quadrupled: report
Last Updated: Sunday, November 12, 2006 | 4:41 PM ET The Associated Press 
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/11/12/afghanistan.html

The number of attacks by militants in Afghanistan has quadrupled since 2005, to about 600 a month with 3,700 deaths so far this year, says a bleak report released Sunday.

Afghanistan saw about 130 insurgent attacks a month in 2005, said the report by the Joint Co-ordination and Monitoring Board, a body of Afghan and international officials charged with overseeing the implementation of the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year reconstruction and development blueprint signed in February.

But by the end of September 2006, insurgents were launching more than 600 attacks a month, up from 300 a month at the end of March, the report said. The violence has killed more than 3,700 people this year, it said.

In the volatile border area near Pakistan, more than 20 militants — and possibly as many as 60 — were killed during several days of clashes, officials said Sunday.

Drug trade fuels insurgency

The violence "threatens to reverse some of the gains made in the recent past, with development activities being especially hard hit in several areas, resulting in partial or total withdrawal of international agencies in a number of the worst-affected provinces," the report said.
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## The Bread Guy (13 Nov 2006)

*Opposition MPs say G-G should visit Kandahar*
Peter O'Neil, CanWest News Service/Vancouver Sun, 13 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada's embattled troops in Afghanistan need to see their commander-in-chief, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, who has never set foot in the country since taking the vice-regal post more than a year ago, say two opposition MPs.  Jean told Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, in early 2006 that she wanted to visit the troops in Kandahar, witness some of the provincial reconstruction teams at work outside the Canadian base and meet with local citizens.  But the trip still hasn't been arranged due to security concerns, even though Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor have all met the troops in Kandahar, as have professional entertainers, retired soldiers, and business people ....



*Kandahar PRT helps refurbish school in Panjwayi Bazaar*
ISAF News Release #2006-279, 13 Nov 06
News Release

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Last week, the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) completed work on a $30,000 project to repair and improve the Shams-E-Dinkar High School in Panjwayi Bazaar.  The school re-opened on Saturday for its 900 students following its temporary closure due to recent operations against insurgents in the Panjwayi district. Its reopening is a measure of the improved security in the district and the ongoing commitment of ISAF to reconstruction and development as part of the wider Operation OQAB.  A local contractor, employing workers from Panjwayi Bazaar, completed the construction work. Repairs to the school included new windows and doors and the reconstruction of concrete paths. Improvements were also made to the school’s plumbing as well as the installation of new sinks and toilets. Commenting on the repairs, PRT Warrant Officer Dean Henley said, “they will make things better and easier for the kids who go to school here.”  
Speaking to the community’s assembled elders at the school, PRT Deputy Commander Major Steve Murray said, “The people of Panjwayi can be proud of this, because this is their achievement. The elders of Panjwayi recognize that education is important and placed a priority on the school. The people in Panjwayi were employed to make the repairs and improvements, and, as a result, on Saturday the children returned to school.”  The PRT also provided 1,300 backpacks for the students, each containing school supplies such as notebooks, pens and pencils.



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*As Taliban insurgency gains strength and sophistication, suspicion falls on Pakistan*
Five years on, more than 4,000 killed in succession of attacks and suicide bombings in Afghanistan  
Declan Walsh, The Guardian (UK), 13 Nov 06
Article Link

Five years ago today the Taliban vanished from Kabul and a liberated city exploded with joy. As the turbaned Islamists scurried, whooping residents rushed on to the streets. Men queued to have their beards shaved, some women removed their burkas and Radio Kabul played music for the first time in years - announced by a woman. There was savage vengeance too - some Taliban stragglers were lynched and dumped on the roadside.  But not everyone was celebrating. Sultan Amir, a Pakistani intelligence agent who helped to propel the Taliban to power, watched in dismay ....



*NATO Chief: Afghanistan Needs More Foreign Aid *  
Dow Jones news wire, 13 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghanistan needs a stronger flow of international aid and its government must root out corruption to build on the country's progress since the fall of the Taliban five years ago, the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said in remarks published Monday.  Secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also repeated his call for NATO members such as France and Germany to drop restrictions that keep their troops out of the war against resurgent Taliban militants.  Fighting is intensifying in southern Afghanistan, where local leaders complain that international aid has been too little to strengthen faith in President Hamid Karzai's government or replace drug cultivation.  In an article for the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung on the fifth anniversary of the Taliban's retreat from Kabul, de Hoop Scheffer pointed to improvements in areas including the economy, women's rights and access to health and education ....



*Human security key to Afghan future, aid agencies advise UN Security Council*
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), 13 Nov 06
Summary - Norwegian Refugee Council

On the anniversary of the fall of the Taliban exactly five years ago today, member agencies of the peak aid agency coordinating body here (ACBAR) met with the President of the United Nations Security Council and UN Member State ambassadors currently in country investigating the 'situation in Afghanistan'. Aid agencies expressed their collective concerns over a spiraling cycle of violence; insufficient peace and reconstruction strategies; and ongoing human rights violations and abuses. They shared their concerns that the international community has had five years to bring sustainable 'peace dividends' but has over-relied on military and related solutions ....



*EU could add more value in Afghanistan *  
Ministry of Defence web page (UK), 13 Nov 06
Statement

UK Defence Secretary Des Browne called for the EU to work more effectively with international partners in Afghanistan at a meeting of Defence Ministers in Brussels today. Mr Browne praised the crucial support role the EU has recently played in support of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but said that there was still a need for greater cooperation between NATO, the UN and the EU.  Mr Browne said:  "There is scope for the EU to reinforce and reinvigorate civilian work on the rule of law in Afghanistan. I want to see it make more of a contribution in this area by working more closely with international partners and complementing efforts already in place. We have made good progress towards a more joined-up EU approach, but we still have a long way to go."  Mr Browne said that the mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in support of a UN force, is a prime example of the EU responding to a call from the broader international community and adding real value at a critical moment ....


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## MarkOttawa (13 Nov 2006)

Major article in _LA Times_:

Afghan army could help unify a nation
Afghanistan hopes its nascent force, made up of all ethnic groups, can be a unifying institution. But can it defend the nation without the U.S.?
By David Zucchino, TIMES STAFF WRITER, November 13, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghanarmy13nov13,0,3401331.story?coll=la-home-headlines



> THE commander of Afghan troops confronting the Taliban here is a career officer with a clipped gray beard and a formal bearing who once fought for a Soviet-backed puppet government. His deputy is his former enemy.
> 
> Many of their soldiers fought for or against the Russians, against the Taliban or for various warlords — except those so young they had never picked up a rifle.
> 
> ...



CP story:

Survival odds slim for inexperienced Afghan troops, commander says
By SUE BAILEY The Canadian Press, Nov. 13
http://thechronicleherald.ca/World/540585.html



> Lt.-Col. Sheren Sha is a battle-weary Afghan battalion commander who towers over most of his troops and doesn’t mince words.
> 
> "They’re going to die," he said when asked his top concern for fresh recruits newly arrived in Panjwaii from training in Kabul, the capital.
> 
> ...



And another major_ LA Times_ article on Pres. Karzai and the political situation:

Steering his nation without a rudder
Afghanistan's Karzai faces disaffection in a nation hungry for progress. Many see him as a shadow of a president, and they fear a slide back to the Taliban.
By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer, November 12, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-karzai12nov12,0,6094060.story?page=1&coll=la-headlines-world

Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (13 Nov 2006)

*NATO countries must deploy more troops to Afghanistan, assembly told* 
Martin Ouellet, Canadian Press, 13 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO member countries need to deploy more troops to Afghanistan to stabilize the troubled region, said parliamentarians who are meeting in Quebec City.  The 18,000-soldier contingent needs to be increased by 15 to 20 per cent, said Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, vice-president of NATO's parliamentary assembly. The reinforcements can't come from Canada, said the Conservative senator.  With more than 2,000 soldiers currently stationed in Afghanistan, Canada has already done its part, he said.  Nolin said the ball is now in the court of the 25 other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's not the first time the point has been pressed to the organization but there have been few takers.  The Afghanistan situation and the NATO mission is at the heart of the discussions by about 300 members of the NATO parliamentary assembly which is meeting in Quebec City in its 52nd session until Friday ....


*German chancellor rejects sending troops to Afghan hotspots *  
People's Daily Online (CHN), 14 Nov 06
Article Link

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday ruled out sending German troops to the more volatile regions in southern Afghanistan despite growing international pressure. "Germany has a strong presence in Afghanistan. We have taken responsibility for the North," Merkel said on Monday after meeting New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark in Berlin. "We have a mandate that allows us in emergencies to help in the south but we believe this mandate should not be altered," she added. About 2,800 German soldiers were stationed in the relatively stable northern part of Afghanistan, though the United States and Britain have been urging Berlin to send soldiers to the more dangerous southern part ....



*Wounded soldier still focused on his comrades overseas*
Ronald Zajac, Brockville Recorder, 13 Nov 06
Article Link

Corporal Bruce Legree has a hard time considering himself a veteran - or a hero.  And while the 21-year-old Smiths Falls native, who was recently wounded in the battle against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, is entitled to carry both those honorifics, he prefers to focus on his comrades still fighting overseas.  "My support is still with all the guys who are back there right now," he said during a brief interview at the Brockville Armoury after Saturday's Remembrance Day ceremony.  "That's who you should be thinking about."  Legree, a member of the Brockville Rifles, was augmented to 1 RCR Bravo Company (the Royal Canadian Regiment) in Petawawa and left in early August for a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.  He joined Operation Medusa, a Canadian-led offensive that began on September 2 and sought to root out Taliban insurgents in Kandahar Province, in particular the town of Panjwayi ....



*The Written Word: Rafe Mair Nov.14th*
Opinion250.com, 14 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadians, especially in BC and Quebec, aren’t wild about Canada having a military presence in Afghanistan. Our brave soldiers are being killed and wounded and we mourn nationally. But those who oppose our being there, especially the national windbag, Jack Layton, misunderstand why we are there.
This is not Iraq, a military misadventure by the United States, the UK, Australia and others ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Grand Pak-Afghan jirga signs MoU for settling issues*
Daily Times (PAK), 14 Nov 06
Article Link

A grand jirga consisting of government officials of Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to settle all outstanding issues, such as cross border infiltration, by negotiation. The Pakistani side, led by Chitral District Nazim Sartaj Ahmad Khan, consisted of Chitral union council nazims and a number of notables of the area. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Sartaj Ahmad and Lali Ameer, a member of the Afghan provincial assembly. Earlier, both delegations had met at the Pak-Afghan border and discussed issues such as law and order in border areas. A function was also held on the occasion. Sartaj Ahmad said that Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially Chitral, shared a common history, religion and culture. He said that both countries should work to bring peace in the region and not allow their territory to be used for activities against each other ....



*Afghan insurgence kills over 3,700 this year: report  * 
People's Daily Online (CHN), 14 Nov 06
Article Link

Rising violence in Afghanistan has killed over 3,700 people this year, a rate fourfold greater than last year, said a report on Monday.  The report, released by Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB), said the insurgents and terrorist-related security incidents in this country have increased from less than 300 per month by end-March 2006 to over 600 per month by end-September, compared with average of approximately 130 per month in 2005.  The JCMB, which consists of 28 Afghan and international officials, is charged with overseeing the implementation of a five- year blue print for Afghan reconstruction signed in February ....

*Third Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board Meeting   * 
Government of Afghanistan web page, 12 Nov 06
Links to Different Sections of Report
Benchmark Report - shows what was expected, what's been done, and why the gap (.pdf)

A meeting of the Joint Monitoring and Coordination Board (JCMB) took place on 12 November in Kabul . The JCMB oversees implementation of the goals set out in the Afghanistan Compact (the five-year blueprint for reconstruction of the country).  The meeting brought together Afghan Government officials, representatives of international organizations and donor countries, as well as other development partners. UN Security Council members attended the morning session of the meeting.  This was the third meeting of the JCMB since the Afghanistan Compact was signed in February 2006 at the London Conference. 



*Afghan Suicide Attacks Linked to Pakistan *  
Carlotta Gall, New York Times, 13 Nov 06
Article Link
NY Times login codes, if needed

Afghan and NATO security forces have recently rounded up several men like Hafez Daoud Shah, a 21-year-old unemployed Afghan refugee who says he drove across the border to Afghanistan in September in a taxi with three other would-be suicide bombers.  Every case, Afghan security officials say, is similar to that of Mr. Shah, who repeated his story in a rare jailhouse interview with a journalist in Kabul, the Afghan capital. The trail of organizing, financing and recruiting the bombers who have carried out a rising number of suicide attacks in Afghanistan traces back to Pakistan, they say.  “Every single bomber or I.E.D. in one way or another is linked to Pakistan,” a senior Afghan intelligence official said, referring to improvised explosive devices liked roadside bombs. “Their reasons are to keep Afghanistan destabilized, to make us fail, and to keep us fragmented.” He would speak on the subject only if he was not identified ....


----------



## GAP (14 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 14 November 2006*

O'Connor hopes to boost support
Defence minister to kick off speaking tour
Canada also trying to get NATO allies to take bigger role
Nov. 14, 2006. 01:00 AM BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH OTTAWA BUREAU
Article Link

OTTAWA—The federal government looks to bolster its Afghan mission on two fronts this week, with some backroom arm-twisting urging allies abroad to pony up more troops and a sales pitch to Canadians at home to boost support.

With polls showing Canadians divided on the merits of the Afghan mission that has killed 43 Canadians so far, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor kicks off a cross-country speaking tour today in Vancouver.

In his speeches, O'Connor will explain the mission of Canada's 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

"When Canadians find out what we are doing in Afghanistan ... they're more supportive of this mission," a senior department official said yesterday. "He (O'Connor) will give examples of the progress we are making."

O'Connor will deliver his speech in Toronto on Thursday.
More on link




Make peace with the Taliban, village elders tell UN
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 | 12:37 PM ET CBC News  
Article Link

Some village elders told visiting United Nations officials in Afghanistan on Tuesday that the international community should make peace with the Taliban and focus all of its efforts and money on rebuilding the country's infrastructure.

A select group of Afghans met a UN Security Council delegation in the village of Qalat in the volatile southern province of Zabul.

The delegation has been in Afghanistan since Saturday to review the progress and challenges facing the country. It plans to visit provincial cities in the north and south.

Kenzo Oshima, Japan's ambassador to the UN and head of the delegation, told the crowd of elders that the ongoing war against the militants will be won and the UN will stand by Afghanistan as it works to rebuild.

"The United Nations is determined not to fail in Afghanistan," he said. "We would like you to know that the United Nations stands with you."

Oshima said violence, poverty and illiteracy continue to plague Afghanistan, but the international community will help the country overcome these problems.
More on link

War's Toll
During her six weeks in Afghanistan, the Herald's Renata D'Aliesio witnessed the impact of war on Canadian soldiers
Renata D'aliesio Calgary Herald Sunday, November 12, 2006
Article Link

Daylight is fading when the padre drops by a farm field bulldozed to sand. He wants to know how the boys from 'A' Company are doing. He has letters from home, the kind written by schoolchildren that begin with: "Dear Canadian soldiers."

Lt. Zbigniew Jonczyk offers words of encouragement, hope and faith -- and pictures of angels.

"Would you like one of St. Michael?" he asks Sgt. Dan Holley's crew.

St. Michael the Archangel, patron saint of war, was a force for good in an epic battle against evil. Centuries of soldiers have prayed to him.

St. Michael finds a home in Holley's armoured vehicle, the angel's picture placed near a homemade noose. Life dangling by a thread next to death.

Knotted from army-green rope, only a Barbie doll's head could fit through the loop. There are days, though, when it feels as if it's wrapped around their necks, squeezing, trying to break the souls of Canadian soldiers fighting in Kandahar.

The nearly 130 soldiers from A Company knew they were in for a fight when they arrived in early August, but never thought the battles with the Taliban would be so intense, so constant, or so deadly.

Within days they lost their first man, a father of three killed when a rifle accidentally went off. Thirteen days later, a suicide bomber took out another, a corporal who dreamed about a career in the military since he was a kid.

These deaths were only the beginning. In my six weeks in Kandahar, 10 more soldiers would die and an untold number injured. A Company, in particular, would suffer greatly.

Kandahar is unlike any mission the Canadian military has embarked on for half a century. The soldiers here now have done more killing, and more dying, than any Canadians since the Korean War. Officially, the wounded are barely spoken of, but their mounting numbers -- nearly 200 this year -- and the severity of their injuries are startling.

Take Sgt. Chris Desjardins for instance.

From B1

If Desjardins were to stand on his left leg today, he would collapse. It will be about a year before the shattered pieces of bone between his left hip and knee take shape around a titanium nail surgically placed in his femur.

At least he's home alive, his wife thinks. She's five months pregnant with their first child. Not all of the men who stood alongside Desjardins on the September morning a suicide bomber struck were so lucky.
More on link


Ashamed of corruption, Afghan offers to quit  
Customs chief says it's impossible to stay on in job 
GRAEME SMITH  From Monday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

KANDAHAR — Kandahar's director of customs has threatened to resign, saying he feels ashamed of the corruption in his own office and the entire government of Afghanistan.

Azizullah Sakzai, 44, controlled a major source of government revenue during his three years as customs chief, as his outpost on the highway near the eastern edge of Kandahar city collected millions of dollars every year from trucks passing along the busy southern trade routes.

Those revenues were often caught in political tugs-of-war between Afghanistan's top power brokers, but Mr. Sakzai said the situation has now deteriorated so badly that it's impossible to continue working.

"I feel shame, because our administration is very weak and cannot control corruption," Mr. Sakzai said. "I can't continue like this. I must resign."
More on link

Remembrance in Afghanistan
Afghan police pay respects at Canadian memorial ceremony By CP
Article Link

PANJWAII, Afghanistan -- It was a Remembrance Day like no other for troops serving in this deadly region, and it began with a rare but fitting nod from Mother Nature: rain. 

The intense sun and blue skies were covered in clouds for the first time in months yesterday. Afghan interpreters stared at the sky while, as if on cue, thunder rolled as Canadians gathered to remember lost friends. 

The storm clouds broke just after the troops -- many from the hard-hit A Company of 2nd battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry -- had paid their respects. They lined up before a simple wooden cross to pin the poppies they'd been wearing for days on to a single wreath. 

Many fought tears, and some cried openly. 

Pte. Mackenzie Haut, 21, of Edmonton, knew and looked up to four of the soldiers who have died in the fight against insurgents. 

"They were like big brothers," he said. "I was an only child growing up in my family. In the army, the camaraderie is a lot like a brotherhood." 

As much as those soldiers are missed, they believed deeply in what they were doing and would want that work to continue, Haut said. 
More on llink


November 14, 2006 edition

New push to resolve after-effects of USSR's forgotten war
The Minsk Group meets in Brussels Tuesday in a fresh attempt to break the deadlock over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region
By Fred Weir | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor 
Article Link

SABIRABAD, AZERBAIJAN – Since being driven from her family's comfortable farmhouse in eastern Azerbaijan by Armenian forces 14 years ago, Salbeh Suleimanova has raised four children in a canvas-roofed mud hut , making do with state assistance worth about $40 per month in this squalid refugee camp of 10,000 people. 
But she has never stopped yearning for her home, now occupied by Armenians, 100 miles down the road. 

Not a day goes by that we don't dream of liberation, going back to our own place," she says. "I don't feel any hatred, but I'm always angry. No one should have to live like this." 

Ms. Suleimanova is among the nearly 1 million Azeris and 400,000 Armenians uprooted from their homes in the Soviet Union's longest, bloodiest, and - in the West - most widely forgotten war.

As the USSR was crumbling in 1998, brutal ethnic cleansing erupted between this region's Muslim Azeris and Christian Armenians, and the subsequent war left 30,000 dead.

The trigger: Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave claimed by Azerbaijan but populated mainly by Armenians, which had enjoyed autonomous status under the USSR.

The Minsk Group - co-chaired by Russia, France, and the US - meets Tuesday in a fresh attempt to break the deadlock over Nagorno-Karabakh, after a dozen years of fruitless international diplomatic efforts.
More on link

Afghanistan calls: Frank seeks to shift emphasis from Iraq  
By GERRY TUOTI Staff Writer  11/14/2006
Article Link

BRIDGEWATER - The war in Iraq was the dominant theme during U.S. Rep. Barney Frank's speech Monday at Bridgewater State College. 

"The election obviously shows that people understand the war in Iraq is now doing us more harm than good," Frank said, referring to the Nov. 7 midterm elections, in which Democrats won a majority in Congress.

Frank, D-Newton, said the U.S. war efforts should focus on Afghanistan, rather than Iraq.

"It is undermining our efforts in Afghanistan," he said. "We have shifted so much of our energy to Iraq. The problem in Iraq is now an internal Iraqi problem."

The U.S. mission in Afghanistan is now in doubt, he said.

"Getting out of Iraq should be contingent on stepping up our effort in Afghanistan," he said.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Frank voted to go to war in Afghanistan after that nation's oppressive Taliban government refused to hand over al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and other suspected terrorists. 

Two years later, Frank voted against invading Iraq. He criticized Bush administration officials for using the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction as an excuse for an invasion. He also called the belief that there was a link between 9/11 and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein a "conscious lie."

The war is taking the lives of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians daily, costs the United States an "enormous amount of money" and impedes the country's ability to settle other international disputes, Frank said.

"I think the continued unpopularity of the war in Iraq strengthens the terrorists' appeal worldwide," Frank said.
More on link

No Larger Military Role for Germany as EU Debates Afghanistan  
13.11.2006 
Article Link
Top German politicians rebuffed increased pressure from NATO Monday to send troops to hot spots in southern Afghanistan, but they did agree to consider increasing civilian reconstruction and police training efforts.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer encouraged greater mobility among the European troops stationed in Afghanistan, including those from the German Bundeswehr, in a statement published in the Monday edition of Berliner Zeitung. 

"We need to better configure our forces in Afghanistan," he wrote, reiterating past appeals to the German government. "That also means removing the limitations individual nations have placed on their troops."

Scheffer called lifting deployment restrictions an "important and necessary sign of solidarity among the allies." Last week he said there was no military solution to the country's lack of stability, adding that "Afghanistan is not sufficiently on the EU's radar screen."

German troops to stay in the north

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Scheffer wants more troops in the south, where fighting is more intense
For her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday in Berlin that no changes needed to be made to Germany's mandate in Afghanistan. 

"Germany has a strong presence in Afghanistan. We have taken responsibility for the north," Merkel said. "We have a mandate that allows us in emergencies to help in the south, but we believe this mandate should not be altered."
More on link

Two Iwounded In Missile Attack On German Troops In Afghanistan
November 13th 2006

Two Afghan policemen were wounded during an attack using a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) on German troops in the north of Afghanistan, the German Defence Ministry said in Berlin Monday. 

The attackers fired their Russian-made missile Sunday evening at a three-vehicle German patrol in the northern region of Kunduz. The Germans were not injured. 

The frequency of attacks against the Germans by Taliban insurgents has increased in recent months.
End

Torrential rains, floods kill nine in eastern Afghanistan   
 GEO-AFGHANISTAN-RAIN 
Article Link

Torrential rains, floods kill nine in eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Nov 12 (KUNA) -- At least 10 people, including three children, have been killed as flashfloods preceded by torrential rains hit the eastern parts of Afghanistan, officials and residents said Sunday.

The districts of Behsood and Sar Rod in the eastern province of Nangarhar were affected the most, where roofs of several mud houses caved in due while floods swept away more than one hundred other houses.

Governor of the province Gul Agha Sherzai said the death of 10 people was reported, but residents said the death toll was more than described by the officials.

Officials of the Afghan Red Crescent Society said that according to the initial figures, more than 100 mud houses were washed away by the floods in the districts of Behsood and Sar Rod while the same number of cattle were also drowned.
More on link


Iran Ready to Extend All-Out Aid to Afghanistan  
Article Link

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel voiced Iran's full preparedness to extend all-out aid to the Afghan nation and government. 

 Speaking in a meeting with Speaker of the Afghan Senate Sebqatollah Mojaddadi on the sidelines of the 7th Conference of the General Assembly of Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) here in Tehran on Sunday, Haddad Adel noted the two nations' age-old bonds, and stressed that Iran seeks security, stability and progress of Afghanistan. 

He also expressed the hope that the present problems and insecurities of Afghanistan would be removed through the industrious efforts of that country's government and nation. 

Elsewhere, the Iranian top legislative official noted the extensive deployment of foreign troops in Afghanistan and pointed to their role in the continued insecurities in that country, reminding that Americans are seeking to exercise extensive intervention in Afghanistan and the region on the pretext of insecurity in Afghanistan. 

He further referred to the increased production and plantation of illicit drugs in Afghanistan and called for enhanced efforts by Kabul in fighting against this devilish phenomenon. 
More on link

Young soldier gets top-class care
Nov. 10, 2006. 04:29 PM BILL TAYLOR FEATURE WRITER
Article Link

In the space of a second or two, less time than it takes to tell, Ryan Pagnacco, heard "a crackling like popcorn;" saw "sparks zipping past me, like sparklers hitting the ground and flying around;" got a whiff of "the distinct smell of explosives;" and realized the sparklers were "little pieces of molten metal."

That's when he went down, his legs, right arm and lower back riddled with shrapnel. Only then, still hardly aware that he'd been cruelly hit, did Pagnacco actually hear the rattle of guns and realize that this was no enemy.

"You don't hear the firing right away," says the 27-year-old on the phone from his home in Waterloo, where he's recuperating. "You see the explosions and then there's a delay of two or three seconds. When I heard it, I knew immediately. It's an unmistakeable sound, an A-10's gun."
More on link

The most wrenching mission of all
Nov. 11, 2006. 08:05 AM BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH OTTAWA BUREAU
Article Link


CFB TRENTON—"RE PAT."

Scrawled in black spray paint, this permanent marking on the tarmac of the airbase here is a sombre portent of more casualties to come in Afghanistan.

It's short for repatriation and it notes the precise spot where the big military Airbus jet is meant to stop when it arrives carrying the bodies of soldiers killed abroad.

"It was sad to see that happen, an actual permanent line be painted on there," says Capt. Craig Waldick. "It was the reality that this is happening and it's going to continue to happen."

As a pilot with 437 Transport Squadron, Waldick himself has parked an Airbus Polaris jet on that very spot some 15 times, bearing flag-draped caskets home from the Afghanistan conflict.

It's at that moment, when he sets the parking brake, shuts down the engines and looks out his cockpit window at the families gathered below that the emotion of his mission hits him.
More on link

No soldier left behind
Nov. 11, 2006. 03:43 AM JIM RANKIN STAFF REPORTER
Article Link

Death for a Canadian soldier comes on a dusty Afghanistan road, witnessed and, if time allows, absorbed by comrades.

Soon afterward, the soldier's death is marked before an entire company, embedded media and others as the body in a metal box, draped in the Maple Leaf and resting on eight shoulders, is loaded into an aircraft cargo hold at Kandahar Airfield.

Touching down on Canadian soil in Trenton, the box, if family so wishes, is unloaded before cameras and set upon eight new shoulders, and the soldier's death plays out before a nation.
More on link

Aziz hails likely review of US policy in Iraq, Afghanistan 
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 
Article Link

NEW YORK: Pakistan welcomes an expected reappraisal of US policy in Iran and Afghanistan, and thinks military action alone is “not the answer” to the threat posed by extremists in the two countries, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told The Washington Times on Monday. 

Aziz said that he would like to see a more nuanced approach to battling extremism, which included massive investment and economic assistance to the two countries. 

The prime minister, who is in New York for some United Nations meetings, said the world needed to focus “more seriously” on Afghanistan’s narcotics trade, which was becoming an increasingly important source of terrorist financing. By some estimates, the trade accounts for half of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product. 

An American commission – headed by former secretary of state James A Baker and former representative Lee H Hamilton – is expected to recommend strategies for the Iraq war before the end of the year, a development that Aziz welcomed. 

“We believe that conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan need to be carefully reviewed because military action is not the answer or the solution to such a crisis,” he said. 

“We must work on winning the hearts and minds of the people. We have to involve the people to give them the sense that the world cares.” 
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (14 Nov 2006)

_- Edit - removed duplicate article, added porn in K'har story_

*Defence minister on tour to promote Afghan mission*
CBC News Online, 14 Nov 06
Article Link

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor will visit four provinces in four days this week to try to build support for Canada's mission in Afghanistan.  O'Connor said he wants to explain to Canadians that Canada is playing an important role in the rebuilding of Afghanistan and its mission in the troubled country must continue.  "Well, I'm trying to get out across the country trying to explain why we are in Afghanistan and the progress were are making in Afghanistan," he said.  *O'Connor is expected to be in Vancouver on Tuesday morning. From there, he will go to Calgary, Toronto and Quebec City.* He said he knows that the Canadian public is divided over the mission, but he wants to make the case that the mission is making a difference ....


*Five years after Taliban's retreat, no celebrations in Afghan capital*
Jason Straziuso, Associated Press, 14 Nov 06
Article Link

A chuckle rang out from under the blue burqa as the mother of eight rifled through a mound of children's sweatshirts. "Yes," the woman said, "life is better today. I can go shopping by myself."  An Afghan barber smiled as he recalled a shop full of customers waiting to shave their Taliban-mandated beards. The eyes of a janitor lit up as he described Northern Alliance fighters rolling into town.  "That's when the music started," said the janitor, Jan Mohammed.  On Nov. 13, 2001, the Taliban regime that had imposed a harsh brand of Islam fled Kabul as Northern Alliance fighters backed by a U.S.-led coalition poured in. Residents celebrated in the streets with music and laughter. Men flocked to barber shops to shave their long beards ....



*Kabul Conference On Self-Immolation Among Women Opens *  
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 14 Nov 06
Article Link

A three-day conference to discuss self-immolation among women opens today in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.  The aim of the gathering is to come up with a comprehensive strategy to address self-immolation. The conference has been organized by Medica Mondiale, a German rights organization that focuses on violence against women ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*US needs an exit strategy in Afghanistan: Pakistan*
Rediff India Abroad Home, 14 Nov 06
Article Link

Pakistan has asked the United States to think of an exit strategy from Afghanistan after holding discussions with Afghans and their neighbours.  In an interview to The Washington Times, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz gave an implicit reminder that the US must leave Afghanistan eventually after having consultations with all stakeholders.  "History is full of examples where we didn't focus too much on exit strategy. A good exit strategy is one which leaves that country, that area, peaceful, economically and politically empowered," he said on Monday ....



*US attacks within Pakistan borders unacceptable: Aziz *  
Reuters, via The Penninsula Online (Qatar), 14 Nov 06
Article Link

Pakistan is an ally of the United States in its war on terrorism but cannot abide US strikes on militants within its borders, a Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Sunday.  “We do not allow any country to violate our sovereignty.  We are committed to fighting terrorism but it has to be fought together,” Aziz said on CNN’s “Late Edition” programme.  The US military has used pilotless drone aircraft in places that are seen as hotbeds for anti-American activity like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen to try to take out Islamic militants targeted in the US war on terrorism ....


*US cannot fly drones inside Pakistan: PM*
Penninsula Online (Qatar), 14 Nov 06
Article Link

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that Pakistan does not allow the United States to use unmanned aircraft to fire missiles into Pakistan to kill terrorists.  "We do not allow any country to violate our sovereignty. We are committed to fighting terrorism but it has to be fought together," Aziz said on CNN's 'Late Edition' programme aired in Pakistan early yesterday.  The US military has used unmanned drone aircraft in places that are seen as hotbeds for anti-American activity like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen to try to take out militants targeted in the US war on terrorism ....



*Islamists pass Taleban-style bill in NWFP *  
The Penninsula Online (Qatar), 14 Nov 06
Article Link

Islamists ruling a Pakistani province passed a controversial bill yesterday to introduce what critics say would be Taleban-style religious police.  The Supreme Court had blocked attempts by the government of North West Frontier Province last year to set up a Hisba, or accountability, department by ruling several clauses of the bill unconstitutional.  The Islamist-led provincial government said it had drafted the Hisba Bill anew in light of recommendations made by the Supreme Court before presenting it to the provincial assembly.  “This bill has been prepared according to the provisions of the constitution and the directives of the Supreme Court,” NWFP Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam said after the provincial assembly passed the bill despite opposition from liberal groups ....



*Porn boom in Taleban heartland * 
New Zealand Herald online, 14 Nov 06
Article Link

On the television screen, the two naked young women writhe together to the sounds of "Hotel California" as the occasional crackle of gunfire punctuates the Afghan night.  Several overseas phone numbers offer an intimate chat with the ladies, or some of their equally outgoing friends.  The heaviest fighting in five years has slowed reconstruction to a crawl in the deserts and oases of Kandahar, where the strict Islamist Taleban movement began in 1994, but pornography, opium and illegal alcohol are flourishing, officials say.  At least one satellite operator offers foreign channels such as eurotictv, allsex, 247Sex and transex, along with the God Channel and the Church, Miracle and Hope channels.  In a country where converting to Christianity from Islam carries the death penalty, the Christian channels are just as offensive to some as the pornography, although not as popular ....


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## The Bread Guy (14 Nov 2006)

*Support for Taliban grows in rural Afghanistan as villagers lose hope: elders *  
Sue Bailey, Canadian Press, 14 Nov 06
Article Link

.... Dutch Maj.-Gen. Ton Van Loon recognizes that battle-fatigued Afghans are sick of fighting after almost three decades.  But troops can't pack up just yet, he said.  "We cannot accept insurgents taking control," and sabotaging aid efforts, Van Loon said.  "If we need to fight the Taliban, we will fight the Taliban. There is no doubt whatsoever about that."  Still, Van Loon said it's "crucially important" that momentum shift from combat to reconstruction.  Also vital is the involvement of anyone who is committed to building a democratic Afghanistan, he added. Even former Taliban should be included if they've genuinely changed tack, he said.  "What they've been in the past, to me, is less relevant. We need to talk to the Afghans." ....


*NATO commander ready for talks with Afghans*
Daily Times Monitor (PAK), 15 Nov 06
Article Link

LAHORE: The Commander of NATO forces in south Afghanistan has said that he is ready to negotiate with all Afghan citizens, including the Taliban, to stop fighting in the country, Geo television quoted him as saying. At a press conference in Qandhar, Major Gen Ton Wan Lon said that NATO forces should know their enemies in Afghanistan, but it was “impossible without the help of tribal elders”, reported the channel. Wan said NATO forces wanted negotiations with those who wished stability in Afghanistan. He said the force would fight the Taliban – if required – but “ceasefire is more important” ....


*NATO seeks elders' support in defusing insurgency in S.Afghanistan  *  
GEO News (PAK), 14 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO-led forces battling resurgentTaliban-led militants in southern Afghanistan at times feel like a blinded boxer who needs to be guided where to throw his punches, a senior alliance official said Tuesday.  Maj. Gen. Ton Van Loon, the commander of NATO-led troops in thesouth, said that his forces needed the help of tribal elders to makesure they correctly targeted militants. But he added that NATO was also willing to talk to "all Afghans'' to bring an end to fighting.  Dozens of civilians have been killed during the alliance's summeroffensive in the south, including airstrikes, that NATO says also left hundreds of suspected militants dead.  "We are maybe like the blind boxer,'' Van Loon told reporters."We can hit very hard but (tribal elders) will need to talk to us to make sure that we hit the right target.''  But Van Loon said the allies were "sick and tired of fighting''and were ready for talks with "all Afghans,'' and hinted that offer may also extend to Taliban insurgents.  "We need to talk to all Afghans that want a future for their country,'' Van Loon said ....



*AFGHANISTAN: WFP to provide aid to vulnerable in restive south*
IRIN Asia (UN), 14 Nov 06
Article Link

Tens of thousands of people affected by the recent conflict and this year's harsh drought in southern Afghanistan will receive food assistance, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday in the capital, Kabul.  "Over 1,300 mt of food will be distributed to over 81,000 people displaced by the recent conflict in Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan provinces this month," said Ebadullah Ebadi, a public information officer with WFP.  To cope with the drought which has affected some 1.9 million people countrywide, the UN food agency will distribute over 1,100 mt of mixed food such as cereals, oil, pulses and iodised salt to some 70,000 people, including widows, orphans and the disabled in Zabul, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces, the agency said ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Survival of the Taliban: Musharraf says fault lies with Afghanistan*
Daily Times (PAK), 15 Nov 06
Article Link

President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Monday denied that his country was responsible for the survival of the Taliban.  “There is trans-border cooperation in militant activities, with the base in Afghanistan but support from Pakistan. We need to isolate the two, and deal with whatever is happening from Pakistan on our side, while the main action will have to be taken in Afghanistan to counter militancy,” Musharraf told a British TV channel.  The president told Channel 4 News in an interview how he wanted to suppress the Taliban.  Asked whether he accepted that Quetta was the headquarters for Taliban operations in Afghanistan, he said, “The base of the whole organisation is in Afghanistan. The whole of Afghanistan is divided into five command regions of the Taliban, each of which is headed by a commander. The financing comes from the drug underworld. However, they have support – I will accept to an extent – yes … in Quetta, there are about 450,000 Afghan refugees, and this is a hotbed of all kinds of activity.”  ....



*EU Gives Cautious Reception to Calls for Greater Role in Afghanistan *  
Lisa Bryant, Voice of America, 14 Nov 06
Article Link

European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels offered a cautious reaction Monday to calls for the EU to increase its role in Afghanistan. Lisa Bryant has more from Paris on the issue, and on separate talks about EU peacekeeping in Bosnia.  Britain and the Netherlands have called on the European Union to assume responsibility for training Afghan police, and to help an overburdened NATO battle the Islamist insurgency in Afghanistan. But those calls are being greeted guardedly by other EU countries. Still, European foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters the EU would likely do more in Afghanistan in the future ....



*Resistance not from people but from some miscreants: Kandahar Governor*
Pak Tribune, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

Governor of Kandahar Asadullah Khalid has said that Afghan government is not facing resistance from the people rather there are some miscreants who are resorting to creating violence.  Talking to VOA, Governor of Kandahar said that some emotional and young people have been misguided on the name of Jihad. He added some Islamic books have been misinterpreted.  Asked about measures taken by the government, Governor said that we have formed a commission to negotiate with these misguided people, adding that the commission is also negotiating with the detainees ....



*Int`l community urged to play role for establishing national govt in Afghanistan *  
Pak Tribune, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

Senate Standing committee on Foreign Affairs has urged the International community to change its policy regarding Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan and stop military operation in the war-torn country.  The committee recommended that Hekmatyar-model national consensus government should be established in Afghanistan.  The committee expressed these views while briefing the parliamentary delegation of Common Wealth (UK) at the parliament house here on Tuesday. Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and other members of the committee briefed the delegation ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (15 Nov 2006)

*O'Connor on blitz to sell Afghan mission*
Jane Armstrong (with a report from Gloria Galloway), Globe & Mail, 15 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor kicked off a cross-country public-relations blitz on the Afghan war by arguing here yesterday that terrorists must not be allowed back to the country where the Taliban and al-Qaeda once flourished.  "We cannot allow the Taliban to return to their former prominence, to take over Afghanistan and resume their regime of terror and tyranny, to flaunt their disregard for human rights, to punish and terrorize their own people, to murder innocents, to harbour those who would threaten us and our families at home and abroad," Mr. O'Connor said in luncheon speech in Vancouver yesterday.  Quoting Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Mr. O'Connor said Afghanistan five years ago was a "terrified and exhausted" country. The minister then listed off reams of statistics that bolstered his argument Afghanistan is in far better shape today.  Schools have been built, young girls have returned to school, living standards have improved and about four million refugees have returned to their homeland, he told the gathering, sponsored by the Vancouver Board of Trade ....



*NATO, UN dispute war's progress * 
Commander rejects world body's assertion that situation in Afghanistan has worsened  
Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail, 15 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

A dispute has emerged between the United Nations and the top NATO commander in southern Afghanistan, as the two most powerful organizations in the country say they have reached opposite conclusions about the progress of the war.  The conflicting assessments -- after the first UN review of the mission in three years -- is part of a growing list of differences over vexing questions such as negotiating with the Taliban and counter-narcotics policy.  The UN Security Council sent senior envoys to Afghanistan this week to review the mission. They arrived in time to observe a meeting of top Afghan and foreign officials last weekend in Kabul, where they heard a bleak report that estimated that the number of insurgent attacks had climbed to 600 a month as of the end of September -- up from 300 a month in March.  But the envoys were shown a more optimistic view during a military tour of the dangerous southern provinces yesterday. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization whisked the ambassadors and representatives from 10 countries by helicopter to a reconstruction centre in the ancient city of Qalat. The envoys saw young Afghans learning to weld metal, and nursing students taking a first-aid course ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*NATO's Afghanistan Mission is in Trouble  * 
NATO Parliamentary Assembly, via Epicos.com, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

A senior European parliamentarian warned today (Tuesday) that NATO's mission in Afghanistan could end in failure unless member states honoured commitments they had already made to ensure its success.  Mr Bert Koenders, a member of the Dutch parliament, told a meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO-PA) the mission was in trouble but could still be saved.  "The overall security situation has deteriorated significantly. Insurgents' attacks in the southern and eastern regions that border Pakistan led this summer to be the bloodiest since the fall of the Taliban," he told a meeting of the NATO-PA's Political Committee ....



*General says U.S. preparing for longer stay in Afghanistan*
James Janega, Chicago Tribune, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

The U.S. military is preparing for a longer commitment in Afghanistan, a general with U.S. Central Command said Tuesday in Chicago, while stopping short of saying there is a political commitment to do so.  Earlier, Army Maj. Gen. Michael Diamond, deputy director for logistics at CENTCOM, said the arrest of an insurgent lieutenant in Afghanistan early this month would force combatants there to switch tactics.Diamond made the comments at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., before and during a luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Chicago.  Long-term preparations are topped by an upgraded airfield at the Bagram military base near the Afghan capital. It already has been used to resupply NATO forces but is not scheduled to be fully operational until January, he said ....



*Slovakia:  Army to advise move to Kandahar*
Slovak Spectator, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

A SENIOR source at NATO headquarters in Brussels was quoted by the Pravda daily as saying the Slovak army was about to advise the government in Bratislava to agree to a transfer of Slovak troops from Kabul to Kandahar in Afghanistan after having weighed the risks.  A special team sent to Afghanistan by the Slovak army general staff “received information that will lead the experts to agree to the transfer on their return”, the source said.  On his visit to Bratislava at the end of October, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged Prime Minister Robert Fico to agree to the transfer to the more dangerous Kandahar area to join the rest of the ISAF mission troops who were already there “as a sign of solidarity”.  However, Fico, who is less supportive of sending Slovak troops to foreign missions than his predecessor Mikuláš Dzurinda, has maintained that the soldiers will not be moved unless he has guarantees of their safety ....


*Jagland: Norway should contribute in Southern Afghanistan*
Norway Post, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

President of the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) and former foreign minister Thorbjoern Jagland (photo) is of the opinion that Norway ought to send special forces to Southern Afghanistan if NATO makes a new request.This is contrary to the Government's decision not to send special forces at the present time. 
- The Norwegian special forces would certainly be welcomed this winter. If NATO makes the request, Norway ought to contribute, Jagland writes in a feature article in Aftenposten on Wednesday.  However, Jagland refutes that he is on collision course with the Government.  ''The Government said in its statement that it is open to sending troops at a later time. This is also what I am saying. Even if all seem to be taken up with developing a new strategy in Afghanistan, this must not be confused with the present need for more troops. These two things must be seen in relation to each other,'' Jagland says ....



*Musharraf says Pakistan not responsible for Taliban survival*
Islamic Republic News Agency (IRN), 15 Nov 06
Article Link

Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf has denied his country is responsible for the survival of the Taliban. "There is trans-border cooperation in militant activities with the base in Afghanistan but support from Pakistan.  "We need to isolate the two and deal with whatever is happening from Pakistan on our side, while the main action has to be taken in Afghanistan to counter militant activity," General Musharraf told a British TV channel.  In the exclusive interview, President Musharraf told Channel 4 News yesterday how he wants to suppress the militant Taliban.  When asked whether he accepts that the Pakistani city of Quetta remains the headquarters for so many Taliban operations in Afghanistan, President Musharraf said that the base of the entire organization was in Afghanistan ....


----------



## MarkOttawa (15 Nov 2006)

Troop numbers in Afghanistan v Iraq: are different prescriptions required?
_Flit_, Nov. 15
http://www.snappingturtle.net/flit/archives/2006_11_15.html#005997



> A reader of the last few posts could ask why a proposal by Bill Clinton to increase Afghan force levels by 8,000 meets with some approval and a proposed increase by John McCain of Iraq force levels by 20,000 does not.
> 
> Leaving aside all the other obvious differences between the situations in the two nations, an argument for this can still be made from statistical reasons. Simply put, the McCain proposal is repeating something that's already been tried, whereas the Clinton proposal is breaking new ground.
> 
> ...



Afghan news
_Flit_, Nov. 13
http://www.snappingturtle.net/flit/archives/2006_11_13.html#005991


> ...
> Bill Clinton says another 8,000 troops are needed. That's about what I'd have said, too. Right now the combat situation is basically two brigade groups (NATO Bde and the US 4 BCT), along with Afghan auxiliaries, fighting three distinct insurgent regional commands (see posts passim). A third brigade-size formation would give NATO commanders at all levels the strategic depth to weather the coming 2007 insurgent offensive, and continue to progress on the development front in the south and east. Without further reinforcement, the potential risk is retrograde action on development in security in either or both the RC-South (NATO) or RC-East (US) areas in March-October 2007. The good news is, unlike Iraq where the insurgency hasn't been taking winter breaks, NATO should now be able to count on three and a half months of relative calm, knock on wood, before crunch time. It's fair to say it's not often in wars you see the threat coming that far off.
> 
> I think I'm about the last person to sink into a "schools painted" sort of wishful thinking when Western military interventions are involved, but the simple fact is rebuilding in Afghanistan has been more marked than Iraq because there was so much more to rebuild. In Iraq the challenge has been restoring electrical power to a capital that up until March 2003 was the center of a functioning civil society... in Kabul it's been getting electrical power at all, after decades of civil war and Talibanist medievalism. So this is probably a useful piece for war opponents to read. Highlights:
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (15 Nov 2006)

_Edited 160718 Nov 06 - adds AM copy_

*Canada looking to buy more high-tech howitzers for Afghan mission  * 
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada is looking to buy more high-tech howitzers to support operations in southern Afghanistan, defence sources tell The Canadian Press.  The army is impressed with the performance of its new, British-built M-777 heavy guns, six of which were purchased directly from the U.S. Marine Corps last winter.  The Defence Department is now negotiating with BAE Systems Inc. to buy six more of the 155-mm artillery pieces in the short-term and possibly an additional 15 over the long-term, said one source.  A senior spokesman with the defence contractor was reluctant to talk about the negotiations, beyond confirming the company has been approached.  "It's fair to say we're in discussions about potential sales of M-777s," said John Neilson, BAE's director media relations.  "We're hopeful. Because those discussions are ongoing, it would be unwise of me to predict numbers or timings." ....



*Military draws heat over visits to Afghanistan*
Bars senators, oks supporters
Mike Blanchfield, National Post, 16 Nov 06
Permalink

The military says Kandahar is not safe for visits by committees of MPs, senators or the Governor-General, but recently welcomed a taxpayer-assisted junket of retired senior officers, all of who routinely appear in the media to support the controversial mission.  The trip has drawn criticism from at least one pundit who was not ivited -- and who has been openly critical of the government's conduct of the Afghanistan deployment. It has also prompted a warning from one senator to the government not to play politics with who it allows to visit its soldiers.  The group of retired military officers included a former admiral, two former generals and at least one retired colonel. They spent several days in Afghanistan in late October and early November, travelling first to Kabul and then to Kandahar Air Field, where the group was on hand for the change of command of the NATO mission from a Canadian to a Dutch general ....



*Army woefully unready, Afghans say*
Paul Koring, Globe & Mail, 16 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

....  ANA soldiers get high marks from Canadians embedded with them for their bravery and their willingness to fight. "They are good fighters, but they are not yet good soldiers," said Warrant Officer Dominique Sauvé, part of a unit known as an OMLT, or Observer Mentor Liaison Team, embedded with the sole Afghan battalion in Kandahar province. WO Sauvé has no illusions. The ANA needs vast improvement, especially in leadership, before it is capable. Still, even ill-trained, ill-equipped, ill-paid, ill-treated and ill-led, its soldiers have significant advantages in some areas over even elite foreign troops.  "They know the language and they know the country," WO Sauvé said.  But ANA units still cannot operate on their own. They need NATO for communications, air support, logistics and transport, and to take a secondary role in any operation larger than a simple cordoning off of a compound and searching it ....



*Defence minister says lack of Taliban leaders likely making things more quiet  * 
James Stevenson, Canadian Press, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

A leadership vacuum within the Taliban is likely why things have been quieter for Canadian troops in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Wednesday.  O'Connor said a lot of Taliban leaders were killed during September's bloody clash with Canadian and other NATO troops in Kandahar.  "In Operation Medusa, when they assembled between 500 and 1000 Taliban and tried to take us on in a conventional manner, not only did they have a lot of casualties, but they lost a lot of their leadership," O'Connor said. "They're trying to re-form now."  Although 42 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, it's been more than a month since the last fatal casualty. Five soldiers were killed in October and 10 died in September.  Operation Medusa was some of the most intense combat that Canadian troops have been involved in for decades. Hundreds of insurgents reportedly died in the fighting and top NATO commanders hailed the campaign as "a clear military victory." ....


*Dodging the real questions*
O'connor only spouts support-our-troops rhetoric to counter doubts about Afghanistan
Jim Mc Nulty, Montreal Gazette, 16 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

As sales pitches go, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor's promotion of Canada's mission in Afghanistan is more remarkable for what he leaves out than what he puts in.  His speech this week to the Vancouver Board of Trade was full of patriotic vigour and rally-round-the-troops emphasis on the need for Canada to support freedom and democracy.  In that sense, he didn't need to convert the Canadian public. Of course we support the troops, and of course we endorse freedom and democracy.  But fact is that the public has deep concerns about the mission that go beyond the death toll of 42 Canadians.  Canadians are worried about other big NATO countries' refusal to join our troops in the south of Afghanistan, where Taliban put up fierce resistance ....



*Canada's NATO allies let down Canadian troops: British MP*
Kevin Dougherty, Montreal Gazette, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

A British Labour MP praised Canadian troops yesterday for their “superb gallantry and valour” in Afghanistan, but said they were let down by their NATO allies.  Frank Cook is one of 340 parliamentarians from countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization who have gathered here this week for the NATO parliamentary assembly.  He recalled the wave of shock that went through a NATO delegation in Kabul last May on news that Capt. Nicola Goddard, of the 1st Royal Canadian Horse, had been killed early in the Panjway campaign.  Goddard is the senior Canadian officer killed to date in Afghanistan and the first Canadian woman to die in combat since World War II ....



*No ice-no problem for hockey-mad Canadian troops in Kandahar *  
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

Desert heat, pouring rain and even a rocket attack hasn't deterred Canadian troops based in Kandahar from indulging in the ultimate Canadian pastime - hockey.  The last thing you'd expect to see at Kandahar Airbase, where even winter temperatures can climb to 30 C, is a hockey rink. But that's exactly what you find in the boardwalk area, which serves as the economic and social hub for the base.  Obviously there isn't any ice, but on the surface it looks as real as any rink you would find in Canada. Except the players here are participating in a ball hockey league with games three nights a week.  "We realize that Canadians have to have their hockey and after a lot of brainstorming we came up with the idea to put it here," said Maj. Ken Brooks of Glen Miller, Ont. whose Engineer and Support Unit built the rink.  To add to the Canadian feel, it seems appropriate that the Kandahar Tim Hortons franchise is overlooking the rink ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Afghanistan Drug Control: Despite Improved Efforts, Deteriorating Security Threatens Success of U.S. Goals*
US Government Accountability Office, Report #GAO-07-78, 15 Nov 06
Abstract - Report (5.9MB .pdf)

....  USAID and State received about $532 million fiscal year 2005 funds and initiated a number of projects under each counternarcotics pillar, but delays in implementation limited progress. For example, State's provision of aircraft enhanced the mobility of eradicators, but coordination difficulties between Afghan officials and security forces delayed the eradicators' fielding. Despite increased eradication and other U.S. efforts, the poppy crop grew by 50 percent in 2006 to a record level. However, many projects have not been in place long enough to assess progress toward the overall goal of significantly reducing drug cultivation, production, and trafficking. For example, projects to provide rural credit and to field teams to discourage poppy cultivation were not in place prior to the 2005-2006 growing season. The worsening security situation and the lack of Afghan capacity are tremendous challenges to the success of U.S. counternarcotics programs in Afghanistan. The security situation continues to decline; during the 2005-2006 growing season, eradicators were attacked several times and alternative livelihoods project personnel were killed ....


*Afghan insurgency threatens to derail US anti-drug program *  
Agence France Presse, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghanistan's worsening security situation threatens to derail a US anti-drug program, a congressional study has said, predicting at least a decade to stem the scourge.  The report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a US congressional watchdog agency, said "the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan threatens the success of the US counternarcotics goal of significantly reducing illicit drug cultivation, production, and trafficking."  There was "limited progress" in a US counternarcotics strategy devised for Afghanistan by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department, it said.  They received 532 million dollars in fiscal year 2005 funds and initiated a number of projects under the strategy, but the opium poppy crop in 2006 grew by over 50 percent, reaching a record amount, the GAO noted ....



*US Spy Chief Warns of Long Commitment in Afghanistan *  
Gary Thomas, Voice of America, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

The head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency says it will take many years and billions of dollars to stabilize Afghanistan.  And another official, the top U.S. military intelligence officer, adds that while the Taleban has sustained losses, it is still able to mount operations against Afghan and coalition forces.  In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, CIA chief General Michael Hayden said Afghanistan will need sustained international help over an extended period to put the Kabul government on a solid footing to provide for its people ....



*Afghan police aping Taliban tactics to beat resistance*
Terry Friel, Dawn (PAK), 16 Nov 06
Article Link

More than a decade ago, the Taliban rose to power by imposing law and order in southern Afghanistan. Now, the new police chief for the province where it all began wants to use the same strategy to neutralise and eventually defeat the resurgent Islamist group.  “The only problem is this: there is no law and order,” said Kandahar police chief General Asmatullah Alizai, appointed last month.  “First of all, we must establish our law. The Taliban are very few, so if there is law and order in Afghanistan, there will be no support for them.”  Kandahar, the city and province where Mullah Mohammad Omar conceived the Taliban in the early 1990s -- his sprawling compound now a US base -- has seen some of the worst fighting in the bloodiest year since the hardline Islamist movement was ousted from power in 2001 ....


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## GAP (16 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 16 November 2006*


Why there's a need for debate on Afghanistan
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has allowed support for Canada's mission in Afghanistan to melt away because of his refusal to engage Canadians in open discussion on the mission's merits and difficulties.

It is a failing that mimics that of U.S. President George W. Bush on Iraq: a for-us-or-against-us approach, backed by demagogic sloganeering such as "Canadians don't cut and run at the first sign of trouble." Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor was cool to a request from the House of Commons defence committee this fall for a briefing every two weeks. When he did accede to the request, he said questions could be asked only to clarify what the government said in its briefing, and he set a half-hour time limit. Opening statement, questions, everything. In 30 minutes. This, for a mission that Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier has said could last 10 years or more. 

That's insulting, and it doesn't lead to good policy -- another lesson courtesy of Mr. Bush's approach to Iraq.

Now Mr. O'Connor is on a speaking tour. Up to this point, the most candour he has shown came in a chat with a wire-service reporter on a visit to Australia in September. "We cannot eliminate the Taliban, not militarily anyway," he said. But yesterday, speaking to the Vancouver Board of Trade (he will also speak in Calgary, Toronto and Quebec City), he stuck to a narrow, rosier script. " 'We have made tremendous progress and are winning the fight,' " he said, quoting the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "This is progress!" his speaking notes say. It wasn't Mr. Bush declaring victory aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, but it was close.
More on link

*Afghanistan has an upsideMinister lauds mission successes *  
By PABLO FERNANDEZ, SUN MEDIA November 16, 2006 
Article Link

CALGARY -- Afghanistan is no Iraq, and it will not fall into civil war, Canada's minister of national defence told a Calgary audience yesterday. 

At a stop in a cross-country tour, billed as an effort to inform Canadians and not an attempt to justify Canada's bloodiest mission since Korea, Gordon O'Connor told a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon that efforts of Canadian troops in the beleaguered country are paying off. 

"After five years, the results are clear," he said. 

"Five years ago, there was no national government, there was no democracy ... women were banished by the government ... and today, 80% have access to health care, which is up 10 times from that of 2001. 

"This is progress that did not exist five years ago, and I'm proud of these achievements." 

O'Connor's comments come on the heels of reports the Taliban's tenacity this year surprised NATO commanders, that opium-producing poppy harvests reached record levels and that the lack of security in the country is driving the poor to support the Taliban. 

More than 3,700 people have been killed this year - about 1,000 of them civilians - mainly in Kandahar, where Canadians are based. 

Afghanistan has claimed 42 Canadians since 2002, most of them killed this year. 

But Canada has made significant strides in tackling the Taliban, and has successfully conducted more than a thousand humanitarian and infrastructure projects, O'Connor said. 
More on link

Veterans want better benefits for soldiers serving in Afghanistan
Article Link

OTTAWA (CP) — A group of veterans says Canadian soldiers killed and wounded in Afghanistan deserve the same benefits as senior civil servants, who don’t put their lives on the line.

Retired captain Sean Bruyea and retired navy nurse Lt. Louise Richard issued an urgent plea Wednesday for the Conservative government to live up to its pledge to create an ombudsman for veterans.

"We urge you to ensure that our soldiers, who are performing the highest form of public service — and their families — are treated at least as well as we treat our civil servants," Bruyea said on behalf of the group Veterans and Concerned Canadians.

He outlined what the group considers the discrepancies between benefits given to bureaucrats and soldiers.

The widows and widowers of soldiers killed overseas are entitled to a $250,000 lump sum payment, while the families of senior bureaucrats receive between $600,000 and $1.25 million, Bruyea said.

He added that civil servants who become disabled are eligible for a medical pension after only two years of employment, while serving military members have to wait 10 years.

And, Bruyea noted, disability benefits for soldiers are taxable, while they’re not for civil servants.

Harper promised to create a veterans ombudsman — a pledge 
More on link

Violence in Afghanistan increasing
From correspondents in Washington
November 16, 2006 12:00
Article Link

INSURGENT violence in Afghanistan this year was likely to be double that of 2005 and would continue, the US military's top intelligence official told Congress today.

General Michael Maples, director of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, said insurgents had expanded their abilities and operations even while incurring serious combat losses. 

"Despite having absorbed heavy combat losses in 2006, the insurgency has strengthened its capabilities and influence with its core base of Pashtun communities,'' he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

"Violence this year is likely to be twice as high as the violence level seen in 2005 ... In 2007, insurgents are likely to sustain their use of more visible, aggressive and lethal tactics,'' he said. 

Gen Maples said the insurgents aimed to undermine the international community's support for Afghanistan military and reconstruction operations, and to demonstrate the Kabul government's weakness. 

The head of the Central Intelligence Agency, General Michael Hayden, in his testimony emphasised the need to continue supporting the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai. 

"Kabul needs help because it lacks capacity, not because it lacks political will or lacks support,'' Gen Hayden said. 
More on link

NATO allies refused Canada's call for help in Afghanistan
The Canadian Press QUEBEC (Nov 16, 2006) 
Article Link

A British Labour MP praised Canadian troops yesterday for their "superb gallantry and valour" in Afghanistan but said they were let down by their NATO allies. 

Frank Cook is one of 340 parliamentarians from countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization gathered in Quebec City this week for the NATO parliamentary assembly. 

Last May, after Canadian troops drove the Taliban from safe havens in Panjway, killing about 200 of the enemy, Cook said Canada sought help from its NATO allies to consolidate the gain. 

"Five NATO countries refused," he said, explaining they invoked "national caveats," defined by their legislators to limit the scope of their commitment to the Afghan mission. 

Canadian Major-General Joe Hincke said the "caveats" are the subject of ongoing discussions within NATO, adding: "I can't say much more."
More on link

Aaron Tippin to Sing for Military in Afghanistan
Wed. November 15.2006 
Article Link

Aaron Tippin will perform for members of the military stationed in Afghanistan during the Thanksgiving holiday. He will depart Saturday (Nov. 18) and return Nov. 27. "Those are the real working men and women," Tippin said. "If I can repay even an ounce of what they are doing for me, my family and my country by taking their mind off the day-to-day risks... I can't think of a better thing to do with my time. They have been fighting for the rights we take for granted every day, and I want to make sure they know we're thankful." 
End

Taliban, Al-Qaeda Resurge In Afghanistan, CIA Says
By Dafna Linzer and Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, November 16, 2006; Page A22
Article Link

Al-Qaeda's influence and numbers are rapidly growing in Afghanistan, with fighters operating from new havens and mimicking techniques learned on the Iraqi battlefield for use against U.S. and allied troops, the directors of the CIA and defense intelligence told Congress yesterday.

Five years after the United States drove al-Qaeda and the Taliban from Afghanistan, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, director of the CIA, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that both groups are back, waging a "bloody insurgency" in the south and east of the country. U.S. support for the Kabul government of Hamid Karzai will be needed for "at least a decade" to ensure that the country does not fall again, he said.
More on link

NATO faces defeat in Afghanistan
Thu, 2006-11-16 02:16 By Allabaksh - Syndicate Features
Article Link

The commander of the International Security Assistance Force, which is how the Nato force in Afghanistan is known, Gen David Richards of Britain flew from Kabul to Islamabad amidst media reports that he would confront President Pervez Musharraf with fresh ‘evidence’ of Pakistan’s involvement in Afghanistan’s heightened insurgency which was inflicting heavy casualties on the 20,000-strong Nato forces. And when he arrives in Islamabad, the first thing he declared is that presenting evidence of Pakistan aiding and abetting insurgency in Afghanistan was not his intention even ‘for one moment’. His ‘intention’ was only to heap praise on the Pakistani dictator for his ‘contribution’ to the so-called war on terror and discuss ways of ‘expanding cooperation’ with Pakistan to fight the Taliban. 

Richards was, however, only repeating by now mandatory but familiar script for visiting officials from the West who land in Pakistan. The script was originally written nearly five years ago in Washington by President George W. Bush personally and heartily endorsed in London: Never let down the Pakistani strong man in public even if his ‘contribution’ and ‘cooperation’ in the fight against terror becomes more and more questionable. So sacred has this script become that it will not be diluted even if the fight against terror seems to be making little headway not only in Afghanistan but also elsewhere in the region. 
More on link

Africa's Afghanistan
November 16, 2006 
Article Link

UN report exposes outside support for Somalia’s extremists 

The United Nations report on Somalia, prepared by weapons and financial experts, does not mince words. It accuses Iran, Syria, Egypt and Libya of smuggling huge quantities of arms to the Islamic militants who control most of the country. It says that the clandestine arming and training of militants who threaten the weak transitional Government could reignite war between Somalia’s feuding neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea. And it gives warning that Somalia may become the site of “suicide bombers, assassinations and other forms of terrorist and insurgent-type activities”. 
The 86-page report is a reaffirmation of warnings that the Islamists who have seized power in the lawless country are not a force for stability, as many assert, but are likely to use their position to destabilise their neighbours, fan anti-Western sentiment and offer al-Qaeda and other extremists a safe haven. In short, the report suggests, Somalia is becoming another Afghanistan, a failed state that is falling under the control of extremists. 

The report is also a stinging indictment of countries such as Iran, Libya and Syria, which maintain that they do not support terrorism, but are secretly arming the Islamic Courts Union through proxies such as Hezbollah. It details arms shipments to the groups vying for power. One included land mines, 1,000 machineguns and M79 rocket launchers, and 45 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. The report also says that 720 combat-hardened fighters were picked in mid-July to travel to Lebanon to fight alongside Hezbollah, It even lists the sums paid for their services — $2,000 — and the $30,000 given to the families of those killed. 
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Women Born Into 'Bad Luck' in Afghanistan 
Okke Ornstein Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006 
Article Link

Okke Ornstein is an internationally acclaimed journalist working on assignment for NewsMax.com in Afghanistan. He reports from Kabul.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Mohammad Hassan believed that his daughter had died. Five-year-old Fawzia was lying in the sand and didn't move. She was bleeding heavily from what was left of her private parts. Mohammad could only stare at her, frozen in awe. 

Five minutes earlier, he had been at the back of his house chopping wood when a child came running up to him. "They've kidnapped her!" the child yelled. "The man with the white scarf has taken her!" That man with a white scarf had come to the playground where Fawzia frolicked, punched her in the face and taken her to a garden. 

There, he raped her.

"These crimes are common in Afghanistan," says Sajeda of RAWA, an organization that fights for women's rights.

RAWA is not an illegal organization, but it has to work underground because religious extremists and the political atmosphere pose a threat to the safety of its members, Sajeda explains
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Berlin rejects deployment in Southern Afghanistan  
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BERLIN: In spite of new appeals by NATO, the German government still refuses to deploy German soldiers to the war-raged South of Afghanistan. 

Government spokesperson Steg emphasized that the focus of the German forces in Afghanistan will remain the North of the country. 

Steg continued to say that there is no need to reformulate the German government’s stance on this question. 

German Foreign Minister Steinmeier said in Brussels that the stabilizing work in Northern Afghanistan must not be jeopardized by - quoted literally- "moving personnel and soldiers from the North to the South in a panic". 

In view of the difficult situation in Southern Afghanistan, NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer demanded lifting deployment limitations for all NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan. According to de Hoop Scheffer, this would allow a more flexible deployment of troops
End

Afghanistan to woo foreign investors, trade in India
Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:57 PM IST
Article Link

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai hopes to win fresh trade and investment for his impoverished country during a weekend visit to New Delhi despite the worst violence since the Taliban's overthrow in 2001.

The Regional Economic Cooperation Conference for Afghan Reconstruction brings together Afghanistan's neighbours, the G8 group of leading economies, the United Nations and global financial institutions.

Karzai flew out on Wednesday and is due back in Kabul in a few days for talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The two days of talks in India, whose close ties with Afghanistan have at times caused tension with Pakistan, will focus on regional as well as Afghan issues, officials here said.

"Through the conference, the government hopes to draw investors' attention to trade, investment and the opening of new markets," said Karzai's spokesman, Khaleeq Ahmad.

"The government will also discuss ways to import electricity and find markets for agricultural products overseas," he said.
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Marham force heads for Afghanistan
15 November 2006
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Eighteen RAF Regiment airmen from Marham have been deployed to Afghanistan, where they are protecting Kandahar air base in the battle-torn Helmand province.

The members of 2620 (County of Norfolk) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAF Regiment) have joined 2 Squadron RAF Regiment from Honington, and have undergone extensive training to prepare them for the task.

Cpl Niall Hayton-Williams, a veteran of several operations, including the second Gulf War, said just before he left: “We've been working hard since being mobilized to fine-tune our skills and fitness and to get used to working in teams alongside the regulars.”

Flt Lt Paul Taylor, the squadron's operations officer, said: “For the majority of the guys this is their second tour, having previously served in Gulf War Two in Kuwait and Iraq, where the squadron played an essential role in the defence of Royal Air Force assets.”

He added: “I'd like to place on record my appreciation of the support that the squadron has received from employers.”
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Suicide bombing injures innocent butcher in Afghanistan  
November 15, 2006          
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A suicide bomber being chased by the police exploded himself in a town of Parwan province in central Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing himself and injuring an innocent butcher, an official at the press department of Interior Ministry said Wednesday. 

Local police suspected a man of belting explosives on his boy and tried to catch him in Gulbahar town, about 70 km north of Afghan capital Kabul, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity, adding the man ran into a butcher shop and blew himself up. 

Parwan province has enjoyed relative calmness this year, although southern provinces and Kabul have suffered from lots of suicide bombings, for which the Taliban have often claimed responsibility. 

Because of inferiority in military equipment and tactics, Taliban and other militants have frequently carried suicide bombings toward foreign and government targets. 

Due to rising Taliban-linked violence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of bloodshed since the Taliban regime was toppled down nearly five years ago. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Exiting Afghanistan 
Article Link 

With the Democrats talking about a withdrawal of American forces from Iraq within six months, it was about time someone suggested to Washington to start thinking about leaving Afghanistan too. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz did that on Monday, a day after telling the world's sole superpower that its presence in Afghanistan didn't give it the right to make military intrusion in Pakistan in pursuance of its "war on terror." In a separate interview, Mr Aziz said that Pakistan was the "most important stakeholder" in Afghanistan but that America will have to leave that country sooner or later. In saying that "history is full of examples where we didn't focus too much on an exit strategy," the prime minister is clearly impressing upon Washington the need to have a well-thought out strategy for leaving Afghanistan. 

Therefore, even though it would be impractical to ask or expect the Americans to withdraw immediately, it's not too soon for them to start working on a departure plan, since leave they must. Central to any such strategy must be extensive consultations with its allies, especially Kabul and Islamabad. To quote the prime minister, a "good exit strategy is one which leaves that country, that area, peaceful, economically and politically empowered". Indeed, it is this empowerment which would be the key element in the defeat of terrorism, not military force alone, as the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan is increasingly proving. The situation calls for massive investment in Afghanistan and economic assistance to it, the prime minister said. This also applies to that country's neighbours, including Iran. In other words, there should be a kind of Marshall Plan if the troubled region is to have peace. But will the Pakistani leader's words be heeded? The softening of Washington's position on "axis of evil" Iran since the Republican defeat in the midterm elections looks like an indication that America is prepared to heed advice on such matters -- or so one hopes. 
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Five Years in Afghanistan: Then and Now
Article Link
color=orange]Audio[/color]

All Things Considered, November 13, 2006 · It was five years ago that the Taliban fled Kabul after sustaining weeks of U.S. bombardment. Residents showered victorious Northern Alliance soldiers with flowers, candy and money as they stormed in. 

An audio collage recalls reports during those hectic days -- and offers a contrast to the condition of Afghanistan now, as seen by Taliban commanders, Northern Alliance rebels, and Kabul residents.
End


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## MarkOttawa (16 Nov 2006)

Awakening Afghanistan's 'old mujahideen'
Michael Scheuer, National Post, November 15, 2006
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=970a774d-2fc7-4106-af19-de9ba8e0ede5



> From all observables, the Taliban insurgency is spreading from its deeply rooted base in southern and southeastern Afghanistan to provinces in the west and east. In addition, several Islamist insurgent organizations active during the 1979-89 jihad against the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan -- the "old mujahideen" -- have allied themselves with the Taliban.
> 
> Among the more important and militarily powerful of these long-established groups are Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami and the forces of Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, which belong to the Hezb-e-Islami-Khalis organization. Historically, both groups have been able to deploy substantial forces in the strategically vital corridors from the Khyber Pass through Jalalabad to Kabul, and along the only major highway running from Kabul to the southern provinces. Prior to the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, the first of these organizations was hostile to the Taliban, while the second was at best neutral.
> 
> ...



Lack of NATO help slammed
Report blasts member nations not carrying load
Finger pointed at France, Germany, Italy and Turkey
_Toronto Star_, Nov. 16, 2006, BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163631019329&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467



> While Canadian, Dutch and British troops have been fighting and dying on the frontlines in southern Afghanistan, other NATO nations have refused to send in reinforcements to assist them, a new report charges.
> 
> In a biting commentary, a Dutch parliamentarian takes aim at members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for not providing additional forces to assist in the dangerous mission of combating insurgents.
> 
> ...



The Asia Foundation Releases Single-Largest Public Opinion Survey Ever Conducted in Afghanistan
Thursday November 9
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061109/sfth038.html?.v=73



> The survey is separated into seven different categories and opens with findings on the overall national mood in Afghanistan in 2006, which states that 44% of Afghans think the country is headed in the right direction, 21% feel it is moving in the wrong direction, 29% had mixed feelings, and 4% were unsure. This is in comparison to The Asia Foundation's 2004 survey, "Democracy in Afghanistan," when 64% of Afghans believed the country was headed in the right direction, 11% felt it was moving in the wrong direction, 8% had mixed feelings, and 16% were unsure...



Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (16 Nov 2006)

_- edited 190729EST Nov 06, adding AM material - _ 

*Defence Minister hopeful casualties in Afghanistan will decrease into winter *  
Canadian Press, 16 Nov 06
Article Link

There's hope the casualties in Afghanistan will continue to decrease into the winter months, potentially giving military families a restful holiday, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor told an audience of soldiers and military officials Thursday.  O'Connor's remarks were similar to ones he made at appearances earlier in the week in Vancouver and Calgary, where he spoke about how Canada and its allies are rebuilding the impoverished and war-torn country.  After the speech at Toronto's Canadian Forces College, he said the Taliban has traditionally been quiet during the harsh winters in Afghanistan.  That, coupled with a lack of leadership at the top of the Taliban's command, could mean a lower threat to troops, he said.  "Normally as the weather gets worse . . . and winter comes on, the Taliban tend to reduce their strength and they go over the mountains back into Pakistan," he said.  "It's a combination of winter coming on and they've suffered so many casualties - they have to regroup if they want to take us on again." ....



*Bearing the burden in Afghanistan * 
U.S., British and Canadian forces are locked in a deadly struggle with the Taliban in Afghanistan. But while the three countries are left to the heavy soldiering, their NATO allies elsewhere in Afghanistan have seen little, if any, action. PAUL KORING reports on the questions being asked where the boots hit the dirt  
Paul Koring, Globe & Mail, 19 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

Troops from most major European nations are kept far from the fighting in Afghanistan, crippling NATO's effort to defeat the Taliban and secure the embattled south, according to NATO officers and independent analysts.  That leaves U.S., British and Canadian soldiers doing most of the fighting and dying in the battle with the fierce Taliban insurgency, a review of casualties shows.  Germany, France, Italy, and Spain -- all major military powers with significant troop contributions -- have stayed far from the Taliban fighters, deploying thousands of combat-capable troops, but keeping them hunkered down in the mostly peaceful northern and western parts of the country.  _*The starkest indicator of the imbalance is the body count, with three countries -- the United States, Canada and Britain -- accounting for 90 per cent of NATO's combat casualties.  Americans killed in action account for half of the total, followed by Canada with 25 per cent and Britain with 15 per cent. * _  But the unwillingness of many European nations to allow their troops to be sent into combat is only part of the problem.  Most of the 37 "troop-contributing" nations to the International Security and Assistance Force have sent too few soldiers to make any meaningful military impact ....



*Rain adding to the challenge of soldiers stationed in Kandahar *  
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 16 Nov 06
Article Link

 It's not the blistering heat and blowing sand that are causing problems for Canadian troops these days - it's the rain.  By definition, a desert is described as a dry, often sandy region of little rainfall, with extreme temperatures and sparse vegetation. That seemed to be the perception about southern Afghanistan last week. But since last weekend the area has been literally soaked.  Several times a day, dark clouds appear and thunder rolls across the region. The result has been unpleasant for Canadian soldiers stationed at Kandahar Airfield.  "I think you have to be careful what you wish for. A lot of people were complaining about the dust and now we don't have dust anymore-we have mud," said Warrant Officer Gerry Fischer of Kitchener, Ont., who is with National Support Element Force Protection Platoon.  "Pretty well all of our tents have free-flowing water flowing right through them so the guys are trying to figure out ways of getting water to flow uphill," he laughed ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*U.S. Airstrikes Climb Sharply in Afghanistan*
David S. Cloud, New York Times Syndicate, 17 Nov 06
Article Link

The Air Force has conducted more than 2,000 airstrikes in Afghanistan over the past six months, a sharp increase in bombing that reflects the growing demand for American air cover since NATO has assumed a larger ground combat role, Air Force officials said.  *The intensifying air campaign has focused on southern Afghanistan, where NATO units, primarily from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands, as well as American Special Forces have been engaging in the heaviest and most frequent ground combat with Taliban rebels since the invasion five years ago*.  The NATO forces are mostly operating without heavy armor or artillery support, and as Taliban resistance has continued, more air support has been used to compensate for the lightness of the units, Air Force officials said. Most of the strikes have come during “close air support” missions, where the bombers patrol the area and respond to calls from ground units in combat rather than performing planned strikes. * On a recent 11-hour mission that included a reporter for The New York Times, a B-1 bomber orbited at 20,000 feet, responding to radio calls from American and Canadian troops who asked the plane to use its radar to watch for insurgent forces and to be prepared to drop bombs ....*



*NATO chiefs to urge world re-think on Afghanistan*
Reuters (UK), 17 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO leaders meeting in Riga this month will call on the international community to revamp a haphazard strategy for rebuilding Afghanistan to plug shortcomings in aid efforts, alliance diplomats said on Friday.  Ideas being floated ahead of the November 28-29 summit of the U.S.-led defence pact include stricter monitoring of donor pledges, and greater roles for the local U.N. mission and World Bank in coordinating development and reconstruction.  Taliban insurgents have fed off growing frustration among Afghans at the slow pace of reconstruction and anger about civilian casualties as NATO troops seek to root out Islamist fighters often hiding within local communities.  Leaders at the summit are expected to call for the United Nations, the European Union and other agencies to work more closely with NATO but will stress the alliance wants to stick to security tasks and seeks no coordinating role for itself ....



*Humanitarian work is the task of aid workers, not soldiers, Security Council team told*
IRIN News (UN), 16 Nov 06
Article Link

A leading Afghan NGO body on Thursday called on the United Nations (UN) to give greater support to aid agencies in delivering humanitarian assistance.  The call came as foreign soldiers, who are battling the growing insurgency in the country, have become increasingly involved in aid and development work. This has impacted on the impartiality of aid workers, NGOs say.  The Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) addressed its concerns to a visiting United Nations Security Council fact-finding team after a number of aid organisations had questioned the growing involvement of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in development and humanitarian work. Some aid groups say ISAF’s involvement endangers their work and has made it difficult for local people to differentiate between aid workers and soldiers ....



*The Current Situation in Iraq and Afghanistan*
Lieutenant General Michael D. Maples, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
Statement for the Record, Senate Armed Services Committee, 15 Nov 2006
Prepared Statement (88KB .pdf)

.... In Afghanistan the Taliban-led insurgency, aided by al-Qaida, is incapable of directly
threatening the central government and expanding its resilient support networks and areas of
influence beyond strongholds in the Pashtun south and east as long as international force levels
are sustained at current levels. Nonetheless, DIA judges that, despite having absorbed heavy
combat losses in 2006, the insurgency has strengthened its capabilities and influence with its
core base of Pashtun communities. Violence this year is likely to be twice as high as the
violence level seen in 2005 ....

*‘Afghanistan violence will double next year’*
Daily Times (PAK), 16 Nov 06
Article Link

Insurgent violence in Afghanistan this year will likely double that of 2005 and will continue next year, the US military’s top intelligence official told Congress on Wednesday.  General Michael Maples, director of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, said insurgents had expanded their abilities and operations even while incurring serious combat losses. “Despite having absorbed heavy combat losses in 2006, the insurgency has strengthened its capabilities and influence with its core base of Pashtun communities,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee ....



*Al-Qaeda report focuses on 'Crusaders' in Afghanistan, makes specific threat against Canada*
Hans de Vreij, Radio Netherlands, 16 Nov 06
Article Link

The Netherlands figures prominently in a report from the al-Qaeda terrorist network which has appeared on a number of radical Islamic websites in recent weeks and in a printed version which has been distributed in Afghanistan. The 66-page document devotes great attention to Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the three countries supplying the vast majority of the NATO troops currently deployed in Afghanistan.  While it would normally come as a major surprise to find the former Dutch government party, the small D66 progressive democrats, and its former leader Boris Dittrich given such attention in an al-Qaeda publication, perhaps it shouldn't really come as much of a surprise at all. Earlier this year, al-Qaeda made it known that it would be shifting its attention from Iraq to Afghanistan. Consequently, the terrorist network appears to have been closely following what is and has been going on in that country ....

*The Crusaders Admit: Our Troops are Being Defeated in Afghanistan*
An Analytical Study of the Crusader Forces Occupying Afghanistan
SITE Institute, 27 Oct 06
Report Summary

.... The introduction to the document, previously translated by the SITE Institute , summarizes Raouf’s goals in the analysis as proving Western “Crusader” hubris and selfishness in the Afghan occupation, especially by the United States, and deliberate attempts by the commanding regimes to obfuscate the reality of the ground war. The analysis then pursues the signs and indications of the Crusader’s defeat in Afghanistan, highlighting reasons for U.S. withdrawal and their handing greater authority to NATO forces in the southern provinces, and reviewing the conditions of British, Canadian, Dutch, Australian, and other foreign forces ....



*NATO's Afghanistan Mission is in Trouble* 
News release, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, 15 Nov 06
Statement

A senior European parliamentarian warned today (Tuesday) that NATO's mission in Afghanistan could end in failure unless member states honoured commitments they had already made to ensure its success.  Mr Bert Koenders, a member of the Dutch parliament, told a meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO-PA) the mission was in trouble but could still be saved.  "The overall security situation has deteriorated significantly. Insurgents' attacks in the southern and eastern regions that border Pakistan led this summer to be the bloodiest since the fall of the Taliban," he told a meeting of the NATO-PA's Political Committee.  "Moreover terrorist activities including suicide bombings which were previously unseen in Afghanistan have increased significantly," he added. He noted that 3,700 people had been killed since January 2006 and that although many of these were insurgents the "frequency of terrorist attacks had increased four fold".  Mr Koenders, one of the NATO-PA's two Vice-Presidents, called for all NATO countries to meet in full all promised force contributions and to make greater efforts to win "hearts and minds" with priority projects in the areas of irrigation, roads and energy supplies ....

*AFGHANISTAN AND THE FUTURE OF THE ALLIANCE   * 
BERT KOENDERS (NETHERLANDS), GENERAL RAPPORTEUR, NATO Parliamentary Assembly Report 174 PC 06 E, 15 Nov 06
Report

.... The mission in Afghanistan is at a critical stage. The Alliance can and must succeed in Afghanistan. If we do not, we would seriously fail the people of Afghanistan and undermine our unity of purpose. Therefore, we must live up to our promises and match our political commitments with the necessary resources.  We cannot allow the security situation in the country to deteriorate and we must provide the forces agreed.  NATO member states must be more forthcoming in the allocation of troops and equipment as well as more flexible in the manner they can be used for operations on the ground.   Robust forces must be able go where they are needed most and not to the safest areas.  In addition, providing security throughout the whole country remains key, but reconstruction efforts must be better co-ordinated.  To that end, priority should be given to projects in the sectors of irrigation, roads and energy supply ....


----------



## GAP (17 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 17 November 2006*



Inside the Jihad
POSTED: 7:35 p.m. EST, November 16, 2006 By Henry Schuster CNN
Article Link

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

PARIS, France (CNN) -- The first thing you learn about Omar Nasiri is that even his name is an alias.

It is the sort of deception you would expect from a man who says he's gone undercover and spied inside the jihad. When we sit down to tape an interview with Nasiri, he wants his face in shadow, saying he still fears for his life.

"Inside the Jihad" happens to be the name of Nasiri's new book, which is subtitled "My Life With Al Qaeda, a Spy's Story."

It is a fascinating story of a man who says he betrayed his brothers to the police and then had contact with senior al Qaeda leaders at a terror training camp in Afghanistan -- all the while spying for French, British and German intelligence.

It is also an attempt to explain to a Western audience what it is that makes the global jihadi movement so attractive to young Muslim men like Nasiri, something Nasiri says hasn't changed since he became involved in his double life in the early 1990s.

The man who ran the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit during the late 1990s says Nasiri's story is "the most detailed firsthand account of someone who made his way into al Qaeda."

And says Michael Scheuer, best-selling author of books on bin Laden and terrorism, "It's certainly more complete than anything I saw at the CIA."
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Survival of the Taliban: Musharraf says fault lies with Afghanistan
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ISLAMABAD: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Monday denied that his country was responsible for the survival of the Taliban. 

“There is trans-border cooperation in militant activities, with the base in Afghanistan but support from Pakistan. We need to isolate the two, and deal with whatever is happening from Pakistan on our side, while the main action will have to be taken in Afghanistan to counter militancy,” Musharraf told a British TV channel. 

The president told Channel 4 News in an interview how he wanted to suppress the Taliban. 

Asked whether he accepted that Quetta was the headquarters for Taliban operations in Afghanistan, he said, “The base of the whole organisation is in Afghanistan. The whole of Afghanistan is divided into five command regions of the Taliban, each of which is headed by a commander. The financing comes from the drug underworld. However, they have support – I will accept to an extent – yes … in Quetta, there are about 450,000 Afghan refugees, and this is a hotbed of all kinds of activity.” 

About the failure of coalition forces in countering the Taliban, he said, “They are failing in Afghanistan … they need to understand the realities, and convert the failure into success. We need to look into why they are failing. They have given a very, very easy cause, the scapegoat of Pakistan. They will keep failing in Afghanistan if they continue following this trend.” 
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Briton freed after 18 years on death row in Pakistan
PAUL GARWOOD Associated Press
Article Link

ISLAMABAD — A British man on death row for 18 years in Pakistan was freed Friday, two days after President General Pervez Musharraf granted him clemency, officials said.

“He has been released this morning,” Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told The Associated Press.

Mirza Tahir Hussain, who has maintained his innocence for killing a taxi driver, was freed ahead of a weekend visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Gen. Musharraf gave an order Wednesday that Mr. Hussain's death sentence should be commuted to life behind bars, Mr. Sherpao said.
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Nearly 50 people killed in Afghanistan floods  
11.17.2006, 06:24 AM 
Article Link


HERAT, Afghanistan (XFN-ASIA) - Flash floods caused by heavy rains have killed nearly 50 people in western Afghanistan with 60 more missing, the Afghan health ministry said, citing provincial representatives. 

Forty-seven bodies had been recovered after floods which hit the western province of Badghis yesterday, health ministry official Ahamd Shah Shokohmand told Agence France-Presse. 
End

TA solidiers get ready for patrols in Afghanistan
By Phil Hill
Article Link 

LIFE is just about to get a whole lot more interesting for a team of volunteer soldiers from our area currently serving in Afghanistan.

The 25 from Bishop's Hull-based Territorial Army are preparing to go out on their first patrols in the Tali-ban stronghold of Helmand pro-vince.

Until now they have been confined to camp, where they have been undergoing training and carrying out guard duties.

They flew out in September on a six-month tour supporting regular troops.

continued...
Capt 'Barney' Barnes, of B Comp-any Somerset Light Infantry Rifle Volunteers, said: "They've settled into the force protection guarding the camp. But they've been training to go outside the camp patrolling and that is starting this week
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Afghanistan: Lessons India must learn
 M K Bhadrakumar 
Article Link

November 16, 2006
If the intended hype around the aid conference on Afghanistan scheduled to take place in New Delhi on Saturday is lacking, that cannot cause surprise. 
When India proposed itself as the venue for a sequel to the conference at Kabul attended by a galaxy of foreign ministers last December, Delhi's strategic intentions were clear. 

A conference of this nature would highlight India's regional role in Afghanistan. Second, since Afghan reconstruction was an integral part of the 'war on terror', and was of core concern to the US policy, Delhi would have aspired to harmonise one more facet of its regional policy with that of Washington's vital interests, consistent with the behaviour of 'natural allies'. 

That, in turn, would put pressure on Pakistan to 'do more' in the war on terror, apart from throwing into relief the Islamabad's negativism towards Delhi's insistent claim to have an access route by land to Afghanistan -- a route that also would link India to Central Asia. 
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'India should just shut up'
The Rediff Interview/Afghan expert Sarah Chayes October 12, 2006
Artcile Link

American author Sarah Chayes asserts that Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf is just not doing enough to stem the flow of the Taliban into neighbouring Afghanistan. But Chayes, the author of The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban, adds that Afghan President Hamid Karzai too "has people that he knows have close contacts with the Pakistan ISI in his government." 
In the third part of this exclusive interview, she also told Rediff India Abroad Managing Editor Aziz Haniffa why the best thing that India could do under the prevailing circumstances was to "shut up," and not make any provocative moves in Afghanistan. Continuing our week-long series on Afghanistan. 

Part I: 'Osama is not in Pakistan'

Part II: 'India is Pakistan's fundamental concern'

Is Afghan President Hamid Karzai's angry assertion that Musharraf is fomenting cross-border terrorism and meddling in the affairs of Afghanistan totally justifiable? Or is it a case, as Musharraf alleges, of his own inadequacies? Is Pakistan indeed fomenting all these resurgent problems that seem to have arisen in recent months with a vengeance within Afghanistan? 

Absolutely. There is no doubt about it. I wouldn't be speaking to you the way I am if I weren't sure of this. Oh, my God! In Kandahar, it is so visible. I went to the border a year or so ago, and I just sat on the border to watch who is coming through the main border crossing. And there were at least half-a-dozen Taliban who came through in less than 10 minutes. 

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There is no moderate Taleban: India
Dharam Shourie in United Nations 
Article Link

India has cautioned the international community against accepting the concept of 'moderate Taleban', and asked the Security Council to ensure that the Afghan militia are completely eradicated. 

"There is no moderate Taliban just as there is no good terrorist," Indian Ambassador Kamalesh Sharma told the Council on Tuesday. 

Participating in the debate on the situation in Afghanistan, he likened the Taleban to cancer and said any good doctor would attest that if it is not extirpated fully and to the last cell, it comes back working its malign influence. 

"It (Taleban) has no place in any future dispensation in Afghanistan, in any guise whatsoever," he added and expressed India's full support in eradicating the terrorist networks. 

Without naming any country, he attacked attempts by Islamabad to have a veto over the future government in Afghanistan and demanded that the new political set up should be decided by Afghans themselves and not imposed from outside in the interest of peace and security. 
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Very old Article  
Jihad, not talks: Mullah Omar January 20, 2005 19:04 IST
Article Link

Taliban Chief Mullah Omar, currently in hiding to escape the manhunt by American and Afghan troops, has rejected any possibility of talks with the US and vowed to continue the fight against coalition forces. 
"We want to make it clear to the aggressors and their puppet government that as long as one occupation soldier is on Afghan holy soil, Taliban leadership wil| not be willing to hold talks with them. We do need such talks," the one-eyed Taliban leader said in a message on the eve of Eid released in Afghanistan and Pakistan Thursday. 

"It is strange that the American forces are not only continuing their occupation of our homeland but they have come up with a claim of having talks with the Taliban for peace," he said in a one-page handwritten message in Pashto faxed to media offices in Pakistan by Taleban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi
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Very Old Article
Why Afghanistan is important to India
August 30, 2005
Article link

Ever since Operation Enduring Freedom evicted the Pakistan-sponsored Taliban regime from Kabul in December 2001, various powers started -- as they always have been -- jockeying for political and economic leverage in Afghanistan. 
India -- one of the main supporters of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, which had managed to hold on to a tiny sliver of the country in the north during the five years of Taliban rule -- and Pakistan are among them, in addition to Iran, Russia and, of course, the United States. 

Afghanistan has a long and tumultuous history full of warring tribes and ethnic factions, including a decade of brutal Soviet occupation from 1979 to 1989. 

America's war on terror: complete coverage  

Its main advantage -- its geography -- has perhaps also been its main drawback. Anyone who controls Afghanistan controls the land routes between the Indian subcontinent, Iran, and resource rich Central Asia. Almost every major power therefore wanted a slice of the pie. 

Today, flanked by Iran on the west, Pakistan on the east and the Central Asian republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north (and a very small stretch of border with China in the northeast), the country's geo-strategic importance has multiplied manifold. 

What are India's interests in Afghanistan today?  

Economically, it is a gateway to the oil and mineral rich Central Asian republics. Also, the massive reconstruction plans for the country offer a lot of opportunities for Indian companies. 

Historically, apart from the five years of Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, India has enjoyed good to excellent cultural and economic relations with Afghanistan. Indian movies are reportedly a staple part of the Afghan culture, while Afghan shawls and dry fruits, among other things, come into India both legally and illegally. 

Strategically, an actively pro-Delhi regime in Kabul (at the moment, fierce warlords rule most other parts of the country) would rattle Islamabad, which has traditionally seen Afghanistan as its backyard. 

Afghanistan keen to join SAARC 

Why is Pakistan averse to giving India transit rights through to Afghanistan?  

Officially, the reason is Kashmir. 
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NATO Head Praises Romanian Contribution In Afghanistan
Article Link

NATO General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Thursday praised Romania's contribution to the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, Romanian press agency Mediafax reported. 

"In a complicated situation I called the president of Romania and Romania put itself forward," he said during an official visit to Bucharest. 

Romanian soldiers would also be present from now on in the "very dangerous" southern Afghan region of Zabul, said the NATO chief. 

In September, Bucahrest increased the number of soldiers participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission by 190, bringing the total number of Romanian soldiers in Afghanistan to over 800. 

De Hoop Scheffer met with the Romanian Foreign Minister Razvan Ungureanu, Defence Minister Sorin Frunzaverde and Prime Minister Traian Basescu for talks about the agenda of the NATO summit in Riga at the end of the month. 

Foreign Minister Ungureanu said that Romania expected the Riga summit to clarify NATO's role in energy security in the Black Sea. 

Basescu said the NATO chief's proposal to give priority to the energy issue corresponded to his own wishes. Previously, Basescu had accused the Russian gas giant Gazprom of shaping its prices according to political criteria. Romania is dependent on gas imports from Russia.
End

Why Are Canadians Dying in Afghanistan? For Oil?
by John W Warnock Global Research, November 16, 2006 
Article Link

Remembrance Day this year brought home to many Canadians the reality of Canada’s war in Afghanistan. Despite a campaign by the mass media, recent public opinion polls reveal that around fifty percent of Canadians think the government should bring our kids home. Our Conservative and Liberal leaders insist we must stay the course and continue to back the U.S. government and NATO. The Bloc Quebecois says we should pull out. Jack Layton and the NDP have offered a qualified call for withdrawal. Elizabeth May and the Green Party have maintained a strange silence on the issue. 
         Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear some Canadian general or colonel strongly advocate an active military role in Afghanistan. We are told that Canadian forces are fighting a war to defeat the Taliban, defend the democratic government in Kabul, and help with economic reconstruction. But when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice comes to Canada, she emphasizes that Canada is in Afghanistan to support U.S. policy objectives. 
More on link

Back to school in Afghanistan
Published: 16 Nov 2006 By: Alex Thomson 
Article Link

We report on the state of education in Afghanistan, from the success in Kabul to the horros in the south. 

Watch the report

We're broadcasting live as part of our special week of coverage from Afghanistan - five years after the invasion that toppled the Taliban from power.
More on link

Afghanistan's Bid for Foreign Investment a Tough Sale  
By Gary Thomas Washington 16 November 2006
Article Link

More than 20 years of foreign occupation and civil war has left much of Afghanistan in ruins. As part of its rebuilding effort, the Afghan government is trying to lure foreign investment. But as VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, Afghanistan is not an easy sale to potential investors. 

In 2004, three years after the Taleban regime was toppled, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress the doors to Afghanistan were open to investors. 

"To succeed we ask for your continued investment. Afghanistan is open for business, and American companies are most welcome," he said.

Today the Afghan capital Kabul boasts a gleaming shopping mall and one new luxury hotel. Unfortunately, it also has a reinvigorated insurgency inflicting new attacks, a booming drug trade, and what one U.N. official labeled "endemic corruption", any one of which makes potential investors nervous.
More on link


UN urges Afghanistan to do more to tackle own problems  
Friday November 17, 2006 (0208 PST)
Article Link

NEW YORK: The United Nations "would strongly expect" Afghanistan does its part to address many challenges before the country including insurgency, narcotics and corruption, a delegation of the UN Security Council said here the other day. 
"Afghan people themselves are expected to work harder to fight endemic corruption, to establish or reestablish the rule of law, to build a culture of respects for human rights, especially women's rights," said Kenzo Oshima, the Japanese ambassador to the UN, who serves as head of the delegation. 

As the first mission of the Security Council to this volatile country in three years, the delegation, grouping representatives from 10 Security Council members, arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday to pay a five-day fact-finding visit, during which it has held a meeting with President Hamid Karzai. 

Oshima said the delegation would bring forward a report on Afghan situation with some recommendations to the Security Council, which perhaps would be published early in December. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (17 Nov 2006)

U.S. Airstrikes Climb Sharply in Afghanistan
_NY Times_, By DAVID S. CLOUD, November 17
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/17/world/asia/17bomber.html?ref=todayspaper



> The Air Force has conducted more than 2,000 airstrikes in Afghanistan over the past six months, a sharp increase in bombing that reflects the growing demand for American air cover since NATO has assumed a larger ground combat role, Air Force officials said.
> 
> The intensifying air campaign has focused on southern Afghanistan, where NATO units, primarily from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands, as well as American Special Forces [and a National Guard brigade in Regional Command (South) - Mark] have been engaging in the heaviest and most frequent ground combat with Taliban rebels since the invasion five years ago.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## NL_engineer (17 Nov 2006)

> fghanistan rains kill 15, slow down Cdn. troops
> 
> Updated Fri. Nov. 17 2006 12:30 PM ET
> 
> ...



link http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061117/afghan_flood_061117/20061117?hub=World


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## The Bread Guy (17 Nov 2006)

*Conservatives remain committed to Afghanistan mission: O'Connor*
Carly Weeks, CanWest News Service, 17 Nov 06
Article Link

Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor said Friday the Conservative government hasn’t done enough to sell the public on Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.  But despite souring public opinion and mounting opposition from other parties, the Conservatives won’t back down from Canada’s commitment and will make the military an election issue if it has to, O’Connor said at the final day of a NATO conference in Quebec City.  “Our government is prepared to defend our commitment in Afghanistan,” O’Connor said. “Whenever the next election comes and I hope it’s a long way off, we are prepared...to defend from a defence point of view and a foreign affairs point of view, our commitment in Afghanistan.” ....


*O'Connor: NATO allies must commit to Afghanistan*
CTV.ca, 17 Nov 06
Article Link

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor made another pitch for more troops to share the load in Afghanistan Friday, also lamenting that some nations have restrictions on how NATO soldiers can be used.  According to reports, some aren't even permitted to leave coalition bases after nightfall, leaving most of the front line fighting up to the Canadian, U.S., Dutch and British contingents.  Friday marked the end of a NATO conference in Quebec City, where O'Connor hoped to convince more countries to make military commitments to Afghanistan. He told CTV's Mike Duffy Live he has had some success, noting that Poland recently made a pledge ....



*NATO chief bemoans limits on troops in Afghanistan*  
David Ljunggren, Reuters, 17 Nov 06
Article Link

The head of the Nato military alliance urged member nations yesterday to drop the restrictions they impose on their troops in Afghanistan, saying this was hampering the ability to fight Taleban militants.  Nato currently has around 31,000 soldiers in Afghanistan but some member nations have placed so-called caveats on what their troops can do. Some are not allowed to operate at night and others have been banned from fighting altogether.  The caveats have upset the United States, Britain and Canada, who complain their soldiers are doing most of the fighting against the Taleban in southern Afghanistan. Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer asked a Quebec City meeting of parliamentarians from the 26 member nations to persuade their governments to lift the restrictions ....


*NATO secretary general calls for the removal of troop restrictions *  
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 17 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged the alliance's parliamentarians Friday to lean on their governments to remove restrictions on troops operating in Afghanistan.  Speaking by video conference to a meeting in Quebec City, he said so-called national caveats - limitations put on the missions soldiers can undertake - are understandable, but ultimately divisive. "NATO is about solidarity and sharing burdens and risks," he said. "National caveats reflect genuine and understandable concerns of governments and parliaments for their soldiers. Apart from restricting the ability of our military commanders to fufil their mission, they - that is those caveats - can also be perceived as divisive."   The split among alliance countries was brought more sharply into focus at the week-long meeting of politicians from NATO countries.  But the newly elected head of the parliamentary association said no one should make too much of the bickering ....



*In Afghanistan, European troops avoid combat  * 
Paul Koring, KnoxNews.com, 16 Nov 06
Article Link

Troops from most major European nations are kept far from the fighting in Afghanistan, crippling NATO's effort to defeat the Taliban and secure the embattled south, according to NATO officers and independent analysts.  That leaves U.S., British and Canadian soldiers doing most of the fighting and dying in the battle with the fierce Taliban insurgency, a review of casualties shows.  Germany, France, Italy, and Spain - all major military powers with significant troop contributions - have stayed far from the Taliban fighters, deploying thousands of combat-capable troops, but keeping them hunkered down in the mostly peaceful northern and western parts of the country ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*McDonough urges O’Connor to include Halifax in his cross-Canada tour on Afghanistan*
NDP news release, 17 Nov 06
Statement

NDP Foreign Affairs and International Development Critic, Alexa McDonough (MP Halifax) today urged Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor to accept her invitation to participate in a Forum on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan, taking place December 4 in Halifax.  “I am pleased that the Minister has begun touring the country to talk to Canadians about our role in Afghanistan,” said McDonough. “Although the government has clearly put the cart before the horse, by extending the Kandahar mission by two full years without consulting Canadians.”  “Let me also remind the Minister however, that Canada does not end at the Quebec-New Brunswick border,” added McDonough.  In the letter of invitation to the Minister, McDonough notes that, “the concerns and frustrations of Canadians have been exacerbated by the inadequate opportunity for open, informed dialogue” on Canada’s role in Afghanistan ....



*Canada has lost its way with foreign policy: CARE Canada president *  
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 17 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada has made a fatal mistake by blurring the line between its military and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, the president and chief executive of CARE Canada said Friday.  John Watson said Canada has made it next to impossible for non-governmental organizations to help those desperately in need in the war-torn southern region, including Kandahar.  "That horse has bolted, I am afraid. Too much time has passed," said Watson in a phone interview with The Canadian Press from Kabul, the Afghan capital.  "Even if we were invited to go into Kandahar, I don't think we would do it at this time. We already have our hands full in other hot-spots around the world," he said.  CARE Canada, established in 1946, is the country's leading non-sectarian international relief and development organization. It is spending some C$37.7 million in the embattled country this year ....



*UN chief: Nato cannot defeat Taliban by force*
Declan Walsh & Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian Online (UK), 18 Nov 06
Article Link

Nato "cannot win" the fight against the Taliban alone and will have to train Afghan forces to do the job, the UN's top official in the country warned yesterday.  "At the moment Nato has a very optimistic assessment. They think they can win the war," warned Tom Koenigs, the diplomat heading the UN mission in Afghanistan. "But there is no quick fix."  In forthright comments which highlight divisions between international partners as Nato battles to quell insurgency, Mr Koenigs said that training the fledgling Afghan national army to defeat the Taliban was crucial. "They [the ANA] can win. But against an insurgency like that, international troops cannot win." ....


*Commentary:  The EU should put up or shut up in Afghanistan*
Robert E. Hunter, Daily Star (LBN), 18 Nov 06
Article Link

Time is running out for success in Afghanistan. The NATO summit in Riga of November 28-29 may be the last chance to pull that country back from the brink. NATO assumed responsibility for providing security for all of Afghanistan in October. While about 8,000 of the 20,000 United States troops in Afghanistan operate independently, the rest have joined the most ambitious military venture in NATO's history, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).  Each of the 26 NATO allies has troops in Afghanistan, as do 11 other countries. Some, like Macedonia and Finland, belong to the alliance's Partnership for Peace. Others, like Australia and South Korea, come from farther afield. Soldiers from different countries operate almost as a single unit with shared objectives, similar methods, compatible equipment, and complementary skills. A half-century of working together, plus a decade and a half of adapting to new threats and demands, is paying off ....


----------



## GAP (18 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 18 November 2006*

Canada has lost its way with foreign policy: CARE Canada president
Friday Nov17 2006 BILL GRAVELAND
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Canada has made a fatal mistake by blurring the line between its military and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, the president and chief executive of CARE Canada said Friday.
John Watson said Canada has made it next to impossible for non-governmental organizations to help those desperately in need in the war-torn southern region, including Kandahar.

"That horse has bolted, I am afraid. Too much time has passed," said Watson in a phone interview with The Canadian Press from Kabul, the Afghan capital.

"Even if we were invited to go into Kandahar, I don't think we would do it at this time. We already have our hands full in other hot-spots around the world," he said.

CARE Canada, established in'46, is the country's leading non-sectarian international relief and development organization. It is spending some C$37.7 million in the embattled country this year.

Watson is seeking advice from local humanitarian aid officials in Kabul and hopes to sit down with local NATO officials as well. Despite CARE's resources being stretched to the limit, he would like to tour the Kandahar region and the Provincial Reconstruction Team base, located within Kandahar city itself. His previous comments about the PRT have him doubtful that his request will be granted.   
"I've been extremely critical of the PRT and I am sure our guys are doing it as well as it can be done. It's just a bad concept - linking what they call humanitarian aid with a military camp," said Watson.
More on link

Minister hopes to limit troops to one Afghan tour
Nov. 18, 2006. 07:23 AM CANADIAN PRESS
Article Link

OTTAWA — To avoid wearing out his troops, Canada's defence minister is proposing to limit combat troops to one deployment in war-torn Afghanistan, if possible.

Gordon O'Connor told the Commons defence committee Wednesday that with a little luck and good planning, the army won't have to ask soldiers to return again and again to battle Taliban insurgents.

"There are exceptions in some support trades, but we should have enough people, if we do our recruiting right, to get us through to the end of February '09 without committing large numbers of troops back there again," he said.

"I don't anticipate anybody being there five or six times."
More on link

Rosy picture of Afghanistan hides grim truth
Article Link

There is little to celebrate after five years, writes Chief Correspondent Paul McGeough.

PERHAPS it was Kabul's famously thin air. But while he was in the capital a few weeks ago, Britain's Defence Secretary, Des Browne, told the BBC back home how "the people of Afghanistan [had] lost 2 million people securing their freedom", before he added: "… to this extent".

That is a big caveat. The extent to which Afghans have been freed is debatable. Certainly, they have been liberated from the tyranny of the Taliban, but after the most violent year since the fall of Kabul, there is rising bitterness about the dismal first half-decade of their fragile democracy.

The NATO Secretary-General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, seemed to be breathing the same air as the British defence chief when he wrote for the Canadian press to mark this week's fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion that came so fast on the heels of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US.

Painting a rosy picture of liberated Afghanistan, Mr de Hoop Scheffer concluded: "These numbers should act as a strong counter to the idea that the international community is not welcome [in Afghanistan]."

But he was answering the wrong question. The great disappointment in today's Afghanistan is not so much that the foreigners came, but that they came and left so quickly - and when they did leave, they left so little behind
More on link

`Killings of Indians in Afghanistan orchestrated from beyond`   
Article Link

New Delhi, Nov 18: Afghan President Hamid Karzai today said the recent killing by extremists of an Indian engineer K Suryanaryana and bro driver Maniappan Kutty working in his country was orchestrated from "beyond" Afghanistan. 

These extremists see a democratic Afghanistan as inhibiting their interests in the region, he said while addressing the ht leadership summit here. 

Suryanarayana, an engineer with a telecom company, was kidnapped on April 28 and killed two days later suspectedly by Taliban. Earlier in January, Kutty was also abducted and murdered four days later with the finger of suspicion pointing to Taliban. 

Asked whether he was willing to talk to Taliban leader Mullah Omar as part of efforts to bring back peace in Afghanistan, he said, "for the sake of peace, we are willing to do anything. 

"We are willing to talk to all those who endanger peace to stop them from continuing to do so," he said but went on to make it clear that those who committed crimes against the Afghan people in the past and were continuing to do so would have to face the courts. 
More on link

Thousands stranded after Afghanistan flood  
By AP November 18, 2006 
Article Link

KABUL -- Flash-flooding in a remote province in northwestern Afghanistan has killed at least 15 people, left scores missing and stranded thousands more, a government official said. NATO forces pledged to send aid. 

Heavy rain lashed Badghis province's Balamurghab and Ghormach district Thursday, inundating many villages surrounded by mountains with little access to main towns, said Mirza Ahmad, the top government official in the province. 

A few rescue crews, some riding donkeys, reached the flood-hit area, and found the bodies of 10 people in four Balamurghab district villages and received reports from locals that at least 50 more were missing, Ahmad said. 

Another five bodies were found in the Ghormach district, where at least 1,000 people's homes had been damaged by the flooding, Ahmad said. 

"We are seeking urgent help from the government and the coalition to help the people because the area is very remote and people's lives are at risk," Ahmad said. 
More on link


Iran Slams US Strategy in Iraq, Afghanistan  
Article Link

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran slammed Washington's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan and called for a revision of strategies in the region to avert further bloodshed. 

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said he had discussed Washington's handling of the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan with Indian leaders during a two-day visit that ended Friday. 

"The two parties (India and Iran) are not pleased that Afghanistan and Iraq continue to suffer uncertainty and instability," Mottaki told reporters. 

"A fundamental formula must be found to deal with these problems... as we see it a number of wrong policies have been implemented (that) need to be addressed," Mottaki said. 

US President George W. Bush has come under fire for Washington's Iraq strategy since the invasion in 2003, with sectarian violence between the minority Sunnis and majority Shiites. 

In October, the prestigious British medical journal, the Lancet, published a study estimating that 650,000 people had died in Iraq between March 2003 and July 2006, 600,000 of them violently. 

Bush has acknowledged that the problems in Iraq played a major role in the opposition Democrats winning control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994 in polls last week and sacked his defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. 

Washington has accused Tehran of meddling in Shiite-majority Iraq, charges Iran vehemently denies. 
More on link

Afghanistan's stability and prosperity central to region: PM
By Indo Asian News Service New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS)
Article Link

 India Saturday said it was committed to a 'stable and prosperous Afghanistan' and called for accelerated regional economic cooperation to reconstruct the violence-torn country
More on link

11.18.2006 Saturday - ISTANBUL 14:50 

NATO Trains ISAF for Possible Nuclear Attack in Afghanistan  
By Cihan News Agency Friday, November 17, 2006 zaman.com 
Article Link

NATO has launched training courses for International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan police in the case of a possible nuclear strike in their vulnerable country.

ISAF Special Forces Commander Dave Tomas said that terrorist attacks had increased recently in Afghanistan, particularly in the southern part of the war-torn country. 

According to intelligence, Taliban and Al-Qaeda members might use nuclear weapons in an attack against ISAF forces or Afghan police, he stressed. 

Tomas remarked that ISAF officials and 55 Afghan police had attended the course, which instructs officials on how to defend themselves in the event of a nuclear attack. 
More on link

2 civilians die during 'routine' patrol for ISAF soldiers in Afghanistan
Thursday Nov16 2006
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - One stray bullet resulted in the deaths of two Afghan civilians and the wounding of a child Wednesday when NATO troops fired on a speeding van.
The incident occurred seven kilometres north of Gereshk in Helmand province in south central Afghanistan.

The van, crammed with people, failed to stop for hand signals which prompted one of the British soldiers on the patrol to fire a warning shot into the ground.

"What we've been told is the warning shot ricocheted from the road up into the van which unfortunately was packed with people," said Col. Tim Bevis, deputy commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan.

"We believe the two people died from one bullet in that particular incident, yes," he said
More on link




More on link


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## The Bread Guy (18 Nov 2006)

*General wants NATO to let troops fight Taliban   *  
Fisnik Abrashi, Canadian Press, 18 Nov 06
Article Link

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan would be more effective if member countries lifted restrictions that prevent their troops from fighting insurgents in the country's restive south, a senior Canadian military officer said Saturday.  Many of the 37 troop-contributing countries serving with the 31,000-member force have refused to join the fight against Taliban and other insurgents in the south, leaving the task to Canadian, American, British and Dutch soldiers.  The French, German and Italian forces patrol relatively quiet sectors in the north under self-imposed limitations, known in NATO as "caveats," that keep them out of combat operations.  Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, in charge of the 2,500 Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said that if the commander of the NATO-led force "had more flexibility in the deployment and the use of all the troops here, I think it would be better for everyone." ....



*A soldier's eye view of front-line Afghanistan*
Sean Rayment, Telegraph Online (UK), 19 Nov 06
Article Link

The cross hairs of a sniper's scope move towards two Taliban suspects crouching on a dusty road in southern Afghanistan.  A smiling paratrooper rests on his .50-calibre heavy machine gun. The pile of empty bullet cases between his legs is testament to the ferocity of the fighting that had finished just moments earlier.  In a remarkable series of pictures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, a unique insight into life on the front line in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, is revealed ....



*Wounded Taliban treated in Pakistan*
Tim Albone, Times Online (UK), 19 Nov 06
Article Link

PAKISTAN is allowing Taliban fighters wounded in battles with British and other Nato forces in Afghanistan to be treated at safe houses.  The Sunday Times found Taliban commanders and their fighters recuperating in the city of Quetta last week and moving freely around parts of the city.  In a white-walled compound in the northern suburb of Pashtunabad, more than 30 Taliban were recovering from the bloodiest fighting in Afghanistan since their regime was ousted five years ago.  Dressed in neatly pressed robes with the black turbans and kohl-rimmed eyes typical of the Taliban, they lounged on cushions, sipping green tea and sucking at boiled sweets while laughing at Nato reports that they have sustained heavy casualties ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*'Job is not over' in Afghanistan*
The Scotsman, 19 Nov 06
Article Link

AFGHAN president Hamid Karzai yesterday urged developed countries and international aid agencies to renew their commitment to rebuilding the economy of his war-ravaged country.  Karzai said the tasks of reconstructing his country and restoring peace remained largely unfinished.  "To those of our partners who may be pondering their continued involvement in Afghanistan, I say the job is not over and the stakes are still very high," Karzai told leaders from around 19 countries in India's capital New Delhi at a two-day conference on Afghanistan ....


*Afghan president urges renewed commitment to reconstruction at Indian summit*

Canadian Press, 18 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said extremism and terrorism are the twin challenges to peace in his country and the region and called for increased co-operation to tackle the scourges. Karzai, addressing an international conference on Afghanistan on Saturday, said the tasks of reconstructing his country and restoring peace to the region remain largely unfinished. "To those of our partners who may be pondering their continued involvement in Afghanistan, I say the job is not over and the stakes are still very high," Karzai told leaders from 19 countries who gathered in India's capital New Delhi for the two-day conference on Afghanistan ....


*Afghan instability jeopardizing region: Karzai*
CBC Online, 18 Nov 06
Article Link

Instability and violence in Afghanistan threatens the prosperity of the entire South and Central Asian region, Afghan President Hamid Karzai says.  "Afghanistan's stability is an asset for the region, whereas an unstable Afghanistan will undoubtedly put the vision of a peaceful and prosperous region in jeopardy," Karzai said Saturday at a conference in New Delhi, India aimed at persuading Afghanistan's neighbours to help in development and curbing violence.  Afghan officials frequently accuse Pakistan of not doing enough to stop the resurgent Taliban militants who are active in the south, south west and rugged mountainous east of Afghanistan. Many believe that Taliban fighters are based in Pakistani territory, and take advantage of a significant degree of Pakistani support ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (20 Nov 2006)

*Military blows Afghan budget*
Costs for the mission soar $500M to $2.5B
Canadian Press, via Toronto Sun, 19 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

Canada's military presence in Afghanistan is costing taxpayers close to $500 million
more than original defence department estimates, La Presse reported yesterday.  
According to documents obtained by the Montreal newspaper under Access to 
Information laws, "additional costs" for the Afghan mission were initially pegged at 
$1.714 billion last March for the period from 2001-2002 to the 2005-2006 fiscal 
year.  But a new defence estimate dated Oct. 1, 2006, which factors in spending 
predictions for the 2006-2007 fiscal year, says additional costs for the mission have 
already reached $2.5 billion, La Presse reported.  The French-language newspaper 
noted the spending estimate doesn't factor in such things as civilian salaries, depreciation 
or maintenance costs.  Earlier this month, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor told the 
Commons that additional costs for the mission had reached $2.1 billion. He projected 
additional costs would total $3.9 billion by February 2009, when the current mission is 
set to expire ....



*U.S. general says winter offensive planned against Taliban in Afghanistan*
Associated Press, 19 Nov 06
Article Link

The U.S.-backed Afghan army will step up offensives against the Taliban this winter, 
which could see heavy fighting during a period traditionally used by Afghan fighters for 
rest and resupply, a U.S. general said Sunday.  U.S. army Brig.-Gen. Douglas Pritt, 
who oversees the U.S.-led effort to train the Afghan military, said Afghan forces have 
tripled the number of forward bases to more than 60 and plan to spend the winter 
harassing Taliban and gathering intelligence from combat outposts deep inside rebel 
strongholds.  "They're much better equipped for winter operations than the Taliban. I'm 
hoping for a lot of snow this winter," Pritt said in Dubai.  Pritt said most Afghan troops 
that have emerged from training still cannot operate independently but he noted five 
battalions of Afghan National Army troops, numbering 300 to 600 soldiers each, are 
nearly ready to mount offensives on their own.  But even those top battalions will 
continue to operate in tandem with U.S. and NATO troops, he said ....



*Bomb dogs ease workload, widen safety margin for troops in Afghanistan*
Canadian Press, via Canoe.ca, 19 Nov 06
Article Link - American K-9 Detection Services

Man's best friend? Maybe that should be a soldiers best friend as specially trained 'bomb 
dogs' are taking on bigger roles in security in this war-torn country.  "We've been using the 
dogs both here in camp to avoid any explosives getting on to the camp as well as we have 
them embedded in all of our Canadian companies out in the field," said Maj. Jeff Harvey, 
provost marshal for the Canadians in Afghanistan.  "They (also) provide support for the 
dismounted patrols, again for explosive detection," he said.  The dogs are trained on-site 
by American K-9 Detection Services, which is under contract at the base to provide 
additional security ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban strangle southern heartland*
Terry Friel, Dawn Online (PAK), 18 Nov 06
Article Link

Thousands of cars, gleaming in the desert sun, fill sales yards along the road to the airport in 
Afghanistan's second city. The shops and bazaars of Kandahar are full to bursting.  But the 
prosperity is deceptive in the city where the Taliban was born, now a centre of violence amid 
a resurgence by the hardline Islamist group five years after it was toppled from power by US-led
forces.  “It's getting worse. I am afraid -- these suicide attacks happen all the time,” said Ahmad 
Shah, a 60-year-old tyre mechanic outside his shop -- an old shipping container on the airport 
road by the city gates.  “The foreigners fight only for themselves. The Taliban fight only for 
themselves.”  The road from the city to the airport, a major military base, has been the scene of 
many bombings targeting foreign troops ....



*In Afghanistan's South, Mixed Signals for Help*
Residents Differ on Strategy Toward Taliban
Pamela Constable, Washington Post, 18 Nov 06
Article Link - Washington Post login codes, if needed

Clutching scarves nervously around their faces, the women whispered details of Taliban atrocities 
taking place in their native Helmand province: A translator's body found in a sack, carved into pieces. 
A police officer taken hostage, blinded and garroted with wire. A woman shot and hanged by her thumbs.
"All of our lives are in danger now. Our schools are shut, and anyone who works for the government is 
branded as an infidel," said Ma Gul, 52, a teacher who traveled to the capital this week with 20 other 
women from Greshk, a town in Helmand 300 miles south, to demand better protection and the removal 
of weak regional officials.  Gul's woes echo across this country's four southern provinces, where the 
Taliban insurgency is on a fierce rebound five years after U.S. and Afghan forces toppled the Islamic 
militia from power in Kabul. Months of aggressive ground combat and NATO airstrikes have failed 
to halt continuous violence in the south, as well as some sporadic attacks in other parts of the country.
According to a new report by a commission of Afghan and foreign officials, insurgent and terrorist 
attacks nationwide have increased fourfold in the past year, reaching 600 incidents per month by 
September and causing 3,700 deaths since January.  The report was issued by a group called the 
Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, set up in February under U.N. auspices to promote 
and measure Afghan government performance ....



*Blair in surprise Afghan visit*
Ananova (UK), 20 Nov 06
Article Link

Tony Blair will visit Afghanistan, where British forces have been engaged in months of heavy 
fighting against the Taliban.  No details of the Prime Minister's trip were being released for 
security reasons.  But during a visit to neighbouring Pakistan, Mr Blair reaffirmed his determination 
to stand by the elected government of President Hamid Karzai.  "Nobody should be in any doubt 
at all about our commitment to Afghanistan," he said. "We believe it is of fundamental importance 
to our own security to stick with it and see the job through." ....


*British PM due in Afghanistan*
Radio New Zealand, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has flown to Afghanistan, where 6,000 British troops are 
fighting a rising insurgency by a revitalised Taleban.  British officials are not releasing details 
of Mr Blair's trip due to security fears.  Fighting in Afghanistan this year is the worst since 
American and British-led forces ousted the Taleban five years ago, and British casualty rates are 
now much higher in Afghanistan than they are in Iraq.  Mr Blair has been in Pakistan for talks with 
President Pervez Musharraf, where the pair discussed how to combat rising extremism in 
Afghanistan ....


*Blair: We will crush the Taliban*
The Sun Online (UK), 20 Nov 06
Article Link

TONY Blair pledged last night to crush the Taliban in Afghanistan — and insisted: “We must 
not be defeated.”  The PM delivered a rallying call to the 5,000 UK troops fighting in Helmand 
province on a visit to neighbouring Pakistan.  He said the Islamic fanatics beaten in the aftermath 
of 9/11 were trying to recapture a foothold in the country.  Military chiefs have warned Taliban 
troops may launch a major offensive next year after re-arming in the winter.  And yesterday Mr 
Blair demanded: “Our will has to be superior to theirs.  “To fail in this would be to be defeated 
— and we must not be defeated.  Nobody should be in any doubt at all about our commitment 
to Afghanistan.  It’s of fundamental importance to our security to stick with it and see it through.” ....



*We need a Marshall Plan to beat the Taleban, Pakistan tells Blair*
Anthony Browne,  Times Online (UK), 20 Nov 06
Article Link

Tony Blair has been urged by the West’s closest Muslim ally in the war on terrorism to change
course in Afghanistan and back a “Marshall Plan” to prise the country from the grip of the Taleban.
At the same time the Prime Minsiter predicted that Britain’s already embattled troops were set to 
face a resurgence from Taleban fighters.  Mr Blair flew to Pakistan on a mission to step up the 
battle against terrorism and gave warning that that it was a global battle that would take a 
generation to win.  In talks with President Musharraf of Pakistan in the regional governor’s 
mansion in Lahore, Mr Blair offered £480 million to combat the preaching of hatred in Pakistani 
religious schools and the two leaders agreed further co-operation against Taleban militants 
in Afghanistan ....


*Blair urged to change course in Afghanistan*
Patrick Wintour, The Guardian (UK), 20 Nov 06
Article Link

The west's leading Muslim ally urged Nato to change course in Afghanistan yesterday, as it was 
revealed that Tony Blair is to visit the war-torn country today.  Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan 
president, said Nato could not rely solely on military might but also had to make political 
settlements and pump billions into the Afghans' neglected economy.  Mr Blair's trip to Afghanistan 
is part of a sweep through the region on the fifth anniversary of the liberation of Kabul from the 
Taliban control. No details of the trip have been released for security reasons, but he is expected 
to meet the Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai, and visit British troops fighting the Taliban ....


*Musharraf calls for multiple measures to defeat Taliban*
Xinhua (CHN), 19 Nov 06
Article Link

Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf Sunday underlined the need for political and 
economic measures along with military action for defeating militant Taliban and bringing peace 
and stability in Afghanistan.  "The international community should give Marshal Plan-like 
programs for reconstruction and economic development in Afghanistan especially in its 
South Eastern region," Musharraf said while addressing a joint press conference with 
visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Governor House in the eastern Pakistani 
city of Lahore Sunday afternoon.  The official APP news agency quoted Musharraf as 
saying that he didn't support Talibanization at any time but wanted political steps parallel 
to military action to root it out, as terrorism couldn't be controlled with only military action.  
"We have to come up with a broader strategy and this strategy must involve political elements
and reconstruction and development," he said ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (20 Nov 2006)

*Layton sticks by withdrawal call *  
Stéphane Massinon, Halifax Daily News, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

The federal leader of the New Democratic Party wants to continue debating the role of the military in Afghanistan and is sticking by his call to withdraw Canadian troops from the troubled country.  In an interview with The Daily News after an NDP auction/ fundraiser in Dartmouth yesterday, Layton said Canadians are asking themselves questions about the war.  "The reaction I've had, whether it's at my own legion or military families or the public at large, has been respectful and certainly mixed. People are grappling with it," said Layton.  "There's no question there's a lot of Canadians who believe, as we do, that this mission is now facing a very long-term, very uncertain future, and that perhaps a change in direction is the right way to go."  He said it's important to be constantly re-assessing the mission in Afghanistan to make sure the best options are taken ....



*Local Afghans taking control of Kandahar airport during annual Hajj pilgrimage*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 19 Nov 06
Article Link

The Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, is providing an opportunity for local Afghan officials to enjoy some independence over the next six weeks at Kandahar International Airport.  Beginning next week, the airport next on to the U.S. run Kandahar Airfield, will be a busy hub for Pilgrims journeying to Saudi Arabia. And while there will still be a NATO presence behind the scenes, for all intensive purposes it will be the Afghan people themselves in charge of the airport in this former Taliban stronghold.  "I hope next year we will be able to run everything on our own," Abdul Samad Saho, director of Hajj in southern Afghanistan, said in an interview with The Canadian Press.  "We hope to be able to do everything very good," he said following a walkthrough at the airport Saturday.  Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so is obliged to make the pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime to Mecca, birthplace of the Prophet Muhammed.  The airport was opened to pilgrims last year with NATO forces making most of the decisions. For three years before that it was closed, forcing Muslims to travel to Kabul or neighbouring provinces ....



*Military course offers tips on love and sex*
Canadian Press, via Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

Having trained its soldiers in the art of war, the Canadian military now wants them to learn the art of love.  National Defence has begun offering a training course on how to save relationships at a time when some military families are in "crisis" because of frequent deployments abroad.  The two-day course, imported from the U.S., provides a broad range of practical advice, from how to handle relationship conflict to enjoying great sex  ....  An internal poll of Canadian Forces members taken in 2004 found that 73 per cent were in committed relationships, and four-fifths reported they had good marriages or partnerships.  But the pressure on military families has never been more severe, with frequent deployments to the Middle East and Afghanistan ratcheting up stress levels in marriages ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Blair calls for Afghanistan reinforcements*
Jimmy Burns, Financial Times (UK), 20 Nov 06
Article Link

Tony Blair on Monday stepped up pressure on the UK’s Nato allies to send more troops and bolster support for Afghanistan ahead of a key summit in Riga, Latvia, at the end of this month.  Speaking in Kabul after meeting President Hamid Karzai, the UK prime minister compared the current situation facing the alliance in Afghanistan with the hesitancy shown by some Nato countries at the beginning of the Balkan crisis in the 1990s.  Failure to act in co-ordinated fashion in the Balkans he said, had led to “thousands of dead”.  On the challenge facing the Nato international security and assistance force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, Mr Blair added: “Now is the right time to bring into sharp focus the need to stay with Afghanistan and help it progress and develop  ….


*Afghan desert key to world security, says Blair*
Sophie Walker, Reuters, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

The security of the world will be decided on the desert battlefields of Afghanistan, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told his troops on the frontline of an increasingly bloody war on Monday.  "Here, in this extraordinary desert, is where the future of world security in the early 21st century is going to be played out," Blair said in remarks barred from publication until he flew out of Camp Bastion in Helmand province.  Afghanistan's western allies say the Taliban is on the run, despite a resurgence, but Blair's long-planned visit has been kept in strict hour-by-hour secrecy due to security fears.  "You may not know this, but people back home are very proud of what you do, regardless what they think of political leaders," he told troops in the desert province that is a Taliban stronghold and the opium capital of the world's main producer ....



*ALLIES HAVE IT OUT IN CANADA*
Afghanistan Testing NATO Alliance
Der Speigel (DEU), 17 Nov 06
Article Link

Some soldiers in Afghanistan drink beer, the others risk their lives. That is how the British have characterized the current disparity among NATO allies in Afghanistan. The pressure on the Germans is growing.  So close, yet so far away. German troops are only a chopper trip from Afghanistan's war-torn southern provinces -- they could be deployed to dangerous combat zones within moments. But, the gulf that separates the Bundeswehr and its NATO allies holding the south is a wide, tangled mess of legal caveats and domestic politics that no chopper can traverse.  Once again this week, the friction that has been steadily building between Germany and its NATO allies flared up as 340 parliamentarians gathered in Quebec City, Canada for their annual meeting ....


----------



## MarkOttawa (20 Nov 2006)

"The Germans Have to Learn How to Kill"
_Der Spiegel_, November 20, 2006
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,449479,00.html

Long, and well worth reading.  Maybe the pressure may work.

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (20 Nov 2006)

*Canadian army to rely more on civilians to train new soldiers *  
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

The Canadian army is stretched so thin by the war in Afghanistan that it will rely increasingly on civilian contractors and reservists to train new recruits, the country's top soldier said Monday.  But Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie said he draws the line at using civilian contractors as a mercenaries in war zones. "There's no doubt the army is under tremendous pressure," Leslie told the all-party Commons defence committee.  Despite that, he said he's confident the forces under his command would be able to do everything asked of them. "If I wasn't, I'd tell you," said Leslie, who is in charge of the army.  The mission in Afghanistan has meant that junior officers and non-commissioned officers or NCOs, the backbone of army training, are in short supply at home.  The gap is being filled by outsourcing some training, such as driving courses for armoured vehicles and other non-combat related instruction.  Even though they're under pressure, Leslie said seasoned NCOs and junior officers will still direct all combat training and mercenaries will not be used to fill any gaps on the front lines ....



*Olympics could hurt Canada's Afghan military tour*
Reuters, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada might not be able to extend the life of its 2,500-strong mission to Afghanistan beyond February 2009 because many troops will be needed to ensure security at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, according to a document released on Monday.  The mission was supposed to end in February 2007 but the ruling Conservatives, who won the election this year in part by promising to boost the overstretched and underfunded military, pushed through a parliamentary vote approving a two-year extension.  Although the government has said little about whether Canadian soldiers will stay beyond February 2009, a formerly secret military briefing document prepared for Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor casts doubt on this possibility.  "Planning and mounting the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games security operation is a high priority activity that will represent a major commitment for the Canadian forces and will have a significant impact on domestic operations in 2009 and 2010," the document says ....


*Afghanistan or Olympics: Canada needs to choose *  
The Penninsula Online (Qatar), 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada must choose between fighting insurgents in Afghanistan or securing the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, having too few troops to do both, a report said yesterday.  The francophone newspaper Le Devoir cited a confidential memo from military commanders to Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor that said the 2010 Olympics were "a high priority activity." But, "assuring the security of the Games could ... negatively influence the military's capacity to deploy a large number of soldiers abroad."   Ottawa has committed 2,300 troops to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), hunting former Taleban and Al Qaeda militants in the volatile southern Kandahar region of Afghanistan until February 2009. Top military officials have said troops must stay longer to help stabilise the war-torn country, but Canadian public opinion is firmly opposed to an extension of the combat mission ....


*Olympics may end Canada's Afghan role*
The Age (Australia), 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada might not be able to extend the life of its 2,500-strong mission to Afghanistan beyond February 2009 because many troops will be needed to ensure security at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  The mission was supposed to end in February 2007 but the ruling Conservatives, who won the election this year in part by promising to boost the overstretched and underfunded military, pushed through a parliamentary vote approving a two-year extension.  Although the government has said little about whether Canadian soldiers will stay beyond February 2009, a formerly secret military briefing document prepared for Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor casts doubt on this possibility.  "Planning and mounting the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games security operation is a high priority activity that will represent a major commitment for the Canadian forces and will have a significant impact on domestic operations in 2009 and 2010," a document says ....



*Taleban in Kandahar area set to bounce back: Canada*
Reuters, via Khaleej Times Online (UAE), 21 Nov 06 
Article Link

Taleban militants in the violent southern Afghan province of Kandahar were “knocked on their back feet” by a recent NATO offensive but are likely to recover and mount further attacks on western forces, senior Canadian military officials said on Monday.  They also said NATO forces in the south would press ahead to develop so-called Afghan development zones in a bid to dramatically improve living conditions in major towns and thereby undercut the influence of the Taleban.  NATO troops started a major assault on the Taleban in southern Afghanistan in September and say they killed several hundred militants. The level of attacks on foreign troops has dipped over the last month.  “One of the reasons why we’ve seen fewer attacks in the short term is that the opposing forces have now essentially been knocked on their back feet,” said Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, commander of Canadian land forces.  “It does not however mean that they are out. I think there’s every likelihood that over the course of the subsequent weeks and months there’s a probability that the number of attacks could grow,” he told Parliament’s defence committee ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Troops halt 'ambush alley' work*
Safety, prosperity goals on hold as Canadians battle Taliban revival
Lee Greenberg, Canada.com, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

Construction on a deadly road that claimed the lives of six Canadian soldiers in Afghan-istan last month has been halted amid mounting security concerns sparked by a sudden withdrawal of Afghan troops from the area.  The road, one of two dubbed "ambush alley" after they became the focal points for attacks against Canadian troops, is a key security feature that military leaders say will improve safety and prosperity in two traditional Taliban-controlled districts.  However, those hopes are quickly evaporating as daily battles between Canadian and Taliban troops have displaced entire villages, closed schools and medical clinics, and severely restricted development work.  Far from getting better, the lives of Afghans in this district have gotten worse in the past several months.  Since Operation Medusa, the successful Canadian-led offensive in September that left an estimated 1,000 insurgents dead, scores of Taliban fighters have slowly re-infiltrated the Panjwaii-Zhari area ....



*Modest soldier gets hero's welcome *  
Sarah Green, Toronto Sun, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

It was a hero's welcome yesterday for Dwayne Orvis.  Family and friends of the 30-year-old master corporal packed a local legion hall in Shelburne, a town of 4,000 people, 25 km north of Orangeville, for the soldier's homecoming, just two months after he was wounded in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.  Orvis was showered with gifts, including the town's highest honour, last given to a police officer who rescued an elderly woman from a house fire. Orvis shrugged off the idea he's a hero, saying he is simply a soldier who did his job.  "I'm overwhelmed," the soft-spoken Orvis said. "I'm kind of the quiet guy who sits back and does his work."  Orvis had been in Afghanistan for just a month -- the fourth overseas posting for the 12-year Canadian Forces veteran -- when a suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked soldiers on foot patrol. "The next thing I remember was bang! -- panic everywhere," he recalled yesterday.  They killed four soldiers.  Orvis' right arm was badly injured in the attack and he will undergo surgery next week to repair the shattered limb. With a grin yesterday, he told his commanding officer he will be back to work in six months.  His homecoming was bittersweet. Orvis was happy to see his family and friends, but his heart was "over there" with his fellow soldiers ....



*Target time for training Afghans can be cut in half, says defence minister  *  
Beth Gorham, Canadian Press, via Vancouver Sun, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

A plan to train 70,000 Afghans to serve in the national army can be completed in two years and will allow other countries to reduce their troop levels, Afghanistan Defence Minister Abdul Wardak said Monday.  Wardak, who's been lobbying for more equipment and aircraft to fight Taliban insurgents, said it's possible to get them ready by October 2008 instead of some time in 2010.  He also disagrees with predictions that it will be at least 10 years before Afghan troops can handle their own security without help from Canadians and other foreign soldiers.  But a time line is impossible to lay out, he said, and will depend on how much violence escalates and how much support is offered by the international community.  "We do hope in the future to be able to pay back and not be a permanent burden on the U.S. or other countries." ....



*No evidence to support claim of execution-style killing of Afghan teen: NATO  * 
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO apologized Monday for civilian casualties in a deadly raid on a village west of Kandahar last month, but said it found no proof to substantiate claims that a wounded Afghan teen was killed execution style by alliance soldiers.  The boy's father, Abdul Karim says his wife, son and two daughters were instantly killed when a bomb ripped through their mud home in Ashogha. Another son, aged 16, was only wounded in the blast.  Karim said he tried to conceal him under a blanket but when soldiers searched the home they found his son and shot him execution style.  Karim, who along with his 18-year-old son, Sakhi Jan, were the only members of the family to survive, said at the time he was unable to identify the nationality of the soldiers, only that they looked foreign.  Canadians had also taken part in the attack, but NATO spokesman Maj. Luke Knittig said Monday in defending the operation that the soldiers in question were from a "European country and contributor to the mission."  He refused to be more specific ....



*Blair admits Afghanistan error *  
Toby Helm, Telegraph.co.uk, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Tony Blair admitted yesterday that Western leaders had underestimated how long it would take to win the war on terror as he made his first visit to the Afghan capital, Kabul, amid intense security.  Five years after the Taliban was driven from the city on Nov 13, 2001, the Prime Minister conceded that the West has wrongly presumed — when the Taliban fled — that victory was all in the bag. Now, after 18 British soldiers have died at the hands of a resurgent Taliban in the past six months, he accepted that lessons had been learned in both Afghanistan and Iraq.  It was the latest admission by Mr Blair that the war on terror had not gone to the original US/British plan and is taking far longer, with greater costs, than anticipated.  Mr Blair, who called on supporters of the war on terror to "rediscover" their self-belief, admitted that Western leaders now realised the terrorist enemy presented a challenge that it would take "a generation" to face down ....


*Blair calls on Nato countries to renew fight against Taliban*
· PM admits reconstruction will take some time 
· Former forces chief accuses politicians  
Patrick Wintour & Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian (UK), 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Tony Blair yesterday signalled that he will urge his Nato colleagues at the summit in Riga to recommit themselves to the rescue of Afghanistan from terrorism and drugs. At the summit in 10 days' time, he will back calls for the dispatch of extra troops and a relaxation of the rules restricting some countries from engaging in full combat with Taliban forces.  Nato officials have said the number of caveats imposed by countries contributing to the international security assistance force in Afghanistan is restricting the force's effectiveness. Extra troops are needed in the coming months.  Speaking at a joint press conference with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, Mr Blair made a pointed comparison to Nato's reluctance to intervene in the Balkans, which led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands. However, the prime minister yesterday drew criticism from the former chief of the defence staff Lord Guthrie, who said that the army did not have enough equipment to carry out the job it was being asked to do ....


*British PM praises troops in Afghanistan *  
ABC Radio Australia, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, says British troops will stay in Afghanistan until their job is done.  On a visit to the South Asian country, Mr Blair praised the efforts of his country's troops.  "Here in this extraordinary piece of desert is where the future in the early 21st century of the world's security is going to be played out," he said.  The British leader also praised Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the country's "remarkable progress"  Following talks with the president in Kabul, Mr Blair said the Afghan people deserve to live in a democracy without oppression.  Mr Karzai says progress has come in the form of improvements to the country's economy and health service ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (21 Nov 2006)

*Elite troops quit for fat pay*
Private security companies poach secretive JTF2
Colonel defends Canadian Forces' special allowance
Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Some of Canada's most elite and best-trained soldiers have abandoned the secretive Joint Task Force 2 unit for the promise of fat paycheques offered by private security firms working in Iraq and other hotspots, a top commander has confirmed.  In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, private contractors were dangling the promise of $1,000-a-day deals to poach JTF2 soldiers, said Col. David Barr, head of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.  "We were a targeted source for that type of employment," Barr told the Senate defence committee yesterday.  He would not disclose how many soldiers he has lost to lucrative private trade "but it was enough that it was certainly catching the interest ....


*Cash is king for elite fighters*
Canuck military pads pay to lure back its commandos from private Afghan, Iraqi security firmsKathleen Harris, Ottawa Sun, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada lost some of its most elite, highly trained soldiers to poaching by deep-pocketed private security firms in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the military managed to curb the exodus by padding their pay package.  Col. David Barr, commander of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, could not say exactly how many were lured away by the lucrative $1,000-a-day offers.  But the Canadian military stemmed the flow "in a big way" by upping allowances to account for the risk, hardship and sacrifices the secret soldiers endure, he said yesterday.  "It was enough that it was certainly catching the interest, because even small numbers, given that our annual completion rate on a special operations assaulter course is small, so you lose three, four, five people, that's a lot," Barr said after giving his first public testimony to the Senate defence and national security committee.  According to a backgrounder dated March 2006, the Joint Task Force 2 extra allowance ranges from $7,500 to $39,576 depending on years of service, skill level and role, bringing the compensation in line with the "external labour market." ....



*NDP fears Afghan mission may cause security shortage *   
Peter O'Neil, CanWest News Service, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

The federal government dismissed Monday opposition complaints it might have to choose between Vancouver and Kandahar as the 2010 Olympics in B.C. approaches.  "The member must be aware that somewhere near 50,000 army, air force and navy troops are available in the country," Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor told the NDP's Dawn Black on Monday.  O'Connor was responding to a newly released internal document that warned Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government earlier this year about the strain on the military by 2010 security obligations in Vancouver and Whistler.  The Feb. 5 briefing note said Olympic security will be a "high priority activity" causing "significant impact" on domestic operations.  "Security commitments for the Games could also affect the CF's (Canadian Forces') ability to deploy large numbers of forces overseas," states the note, which was obtained by the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Canadian army needs reservists to fill gaps in Afghan mission: commander *  
CBC.ca, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada's mission in Afghanistan has put the Canadian army under so much strain that it is relying increasingly on reservists to sign on as full-time soldiers, the head of the army told a parliamentary committee on Monday.  Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, commander of the Canadian army, told the House of Commons defence committee that to complete the mission in Kandahar, which is slated to run until February 2009, the army will have to draw on reservists.  "The army, right now, can do that which it was told to do. But it's tough," Leslie said. "I'm pretty confident the reserves will answer the call and get us through this transition period."  Most of the Canadian Forces' 18,000 reservists either work full-time in civilian jobs or are full-time students ....



*Afghan reconstruction a frustrating process*
CTV.ca, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Canada's provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan's Kandahar province is using a strategy that gives local Afghans input in the rebuilding process.  But the program faces a mounting list of difficulties.  In one case, the soldiers bring Afghan doctors from the city to the remote region of Al Bach in Kandahar province to deliver medical care.  But minutes in, angry elders from a nearby village arrive demanding to know why they've been left out. "Where's our treatment, where's our gifts?" one man shouted.  The Canadian troops are now caught up in a tribal dispute with only one group getting most of the aid ....



*Why are we in Afghanistan?*
Chris Corrigan, Hamilton Spectator, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Now into our fifth year in Afghanistan and with casualties mounting, Canadians are increasingly searching for the reasons to why we are there. History has shown that whenever a state has soldiers in combat and sustaining casualties and loss of life, support for the mission gets "wobbly."  Unlike in previous wars in which the nation was insulated from the reality of battle due to censorship and the limitations of technology -- inhibiting the story from getting home in a timely fashion -- technology has resulted in today's battlefield events being known instantaneously at home. This is further dramatized by the media's coverage of returning wounded and dead soldiers.  The concept of the Strategic Corporal so typifies this dynamic today, in which a Corporal with his section is seen on TV in "real-time" conducting an operation that results in questions being posed in the House of Commons that very afternoon. In so doing this, a corporal and his section at the very lowest tactical level is conducting tactical operations that have a national strategic impact ....


*Canadians should be proud of efforts in Afghanistan*
Alex Morrison, Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

FOR THE past number of months, The Chronicle Herald has given its readers information on the situation in Afghanistan from a number of sources: stories from news agencies, reprints of articles published elsewhere, reporting by its own energetic defence reporter Chris Lambie, and by publishing letters to the editor. Each of these has aided the public in formulating opinions about Canada’s role in that unfortunate country. That is how it should be in a democracy.  I have just returned from Afghanistan, where I met and talked to our military commanders, troops and civilian officials who work daily in dangerous and challenging situations. While visiting Kabul, Kandahar and Camp Nathan Smith, I was impressed by how each person, military or civilian, believed the Canadians and their allies were making a positive difference in the lives of Afghan citizens.  One of the main concerns expressed to me was that they cannot understand why more Canadians do not support the government’s decision to send them to Afghanistan ....


----------



## cplcaldwell (21 Nov 2006)

From the Globe and Mail  
*Two Canadian soldiers injured in Afghan blast
Canadian Press*

*Kandahar* — An anti-personnel land mine detonated in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, injuring two Canadians.

The two soldiers, from the Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont., were on foot patrol in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city at the time.

The injured troops were immediately transported to hospital at Kandahar Airfield.

One received emergency surgery for “severe lower body injuries,” a Canadian military spokesman said.

 He was being transferred to the U.S. military hospital in Germany for further treatment before being sent home to Canada.

The other soldier suffered only superficial injuries and was expected to return to duty in the near future, the spokesman said.

_Reproduced under the Fair Dealings Provisions of the Copyright Act RSC_


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## The Bread Guy (21 Nov 2006)

*2 Canadian soldiers injured by landmine in Afghanistan; 1 seriously hurt  * 
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

Five weeks of relative calm were shattered Tuesday by a landmine explosion in the Panjawaii district of Kandahar province that sent two Canadian soldiers to hospital.  Cpl. Michael Barnewall suffered "severe lower body injuries" according to Canadian Forces spokesman Lt.-Cmdr. Kris Phillips.  "His injuries would be very much in line with what one would expect from stepping on or having triggered an anti-personnel device," Phillips told reporters at Kandahar Air Field. "Lower extremity and a relatively serious but non-life threatening injury," he added.  Barnewall had undergone emergency surgery at the base and was to be transported to Germany for further treatment and eventually home to Canada said Phillips. The second victim, who has not been identified, received minor injuries and was expected to return to active duty in the near future.  The two men, from 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment based in Petawawa, Ont. were on foot patrol along Route Summit in the Pashmul area about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar  The road cuts a north-south strip between government centres in the Panjwaii-Zhari regions.  "As you are probably aware with all the rain we've had in the past little while, it's not too uncommon to have mines that may have been laid a long time ago or even recently," said Phillips ....


*Two Canadians hurt in Afghanistan landmine blast*
CTV.ca. 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Two Canadian soldiers were injured during foot patrol on Tuesday when an anti-personnel landmine detonated in southern Afghanistan.  "Two Canadian soldiers were injured after one of them stepped on what's believed to be an anti-personnel mine. This happened  about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar City in an area where Canadian soldiers are building a road," CTV's Steve Chao reported from Kandahar.  The two soldiers, who are from the Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont., were in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city when the landmine exploded.  It's unclear whether the landmine was a new one planted by the Taliban or an old one that surfaced after days of rain ....



*Canada's part-time soldiers ready for duty in Afghanistan: commander *  
Kevin Bissett, Canadian Press, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

The man who will command Canada's next battle group in Afghanistan says he has no qualms about using reservists in combat roles.  About 250 of the part-time soldiers will be among 2,000 regular, full-time soldiers who will head to the war-torn country in February for a six-month deployment.  "I've got no worry with them because they receive the same training, and they are of the same standard as we are," Lt.-Col. Robert Walker, commanding officer of Second Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, said Tuesday.  He spoke with reporters as some of the soldiers he'll command - there are 1,100 in the battle group - returned to New Brunswick's Canadian Forces Base Gagetown after a month of training in Wainwright, Alta.  "We have the same training, same leadership, same equipment, and I have confidence in every one of my reservists," said Walker ....



*Canadian army commander in Afghanistan given more development money *  
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

With civilian redevelopment agencies paralyzed, the Defence Department has quietly slipped Canada's military commander in southern Afghanistan an extra $1 million of its own money for reconstruction and aid projects.  Much of the money will be spent to finish building the road known by soldiers as "Ambush Alley" - the highway where Canadian soldiers have lost their lives. Route Summit, known coloquially as Ambush Alley, is being built in the former Taliban hotbed of Panjwaii.  The increase in the Commander's Contingency Fund (CCF) - approved Nov. 3 - comes following persistent criticism that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives are not spending enough to ease human suffering and improve the lives of ordinary Afghans.  Critics say the $3.4 million fund is a drop in the bucket compared with the resources Ottawa has already approved and is not spending in Kandahar. The sum is also dwarfed in size when compared to the reconstruction budgets given to American military commanders in the same region for the same purpose ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Common man's view: beat corruption, create jobs; Afghanistan will be fine  * 
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

He's lived and worked on what is now the provincial reconstruction team base in Kandahar city since he was a small boy. Now, at age 55, he hopes to live to finally see peace and prosperity in his homeland.  Fida Mohammed, a Jack of all trades affectionately nicknamed "Popeye" by American soldiers years ago, has watched governments and their armies come and go - the former Afghan monarchy, followed by the government of Mohammad Sardar Daoud Khan (which abolished the monarchy in a bloody coup), the Communists, the warlords, the Taliban and now the U.S.-and NATO-backed administration of President Hamid Karzai.  "While working with different people in the past I have not been working for government - I'm working for this country," he said, speaking through an interpreter.  "Whoever comes, whoever goes, it's not my problem," shrugged Mohammed, who can be found toiling day and night at the PRT, where Canadian military engineers have used left over material to build him a small house on site.  Mohammed said all previous regimes, with the exception of Daoud, had one thing in common.  "Except for Daoud, all the kings were corrupt, the Taliban was so corrupt, everybody was corrupt and everybody was thinking about themselves," he said ....



*US urges NATO allies to drop limits on forces in Afghanistan *  
Agence France Presse, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

The United States is urging NATO allies to lift restrictions on the use of their forces in Afghanistan, casting it as matter of allied solidarity, a senior State Department official said.  Allied leaders are expected to review the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan when they meet November 28-29 in Riga for a NATO summit, said Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs.  Fried said the US side is making the case to allies that national restrictions, or caveats, imposed by some countries with troops in Afghanistan, have not worked well, and should be dropped for the sake of alliance solidarity.  He said debate has been sparked by relatively high casualties suffered by Canadian forces in southern Afghanistan this year in tough fighting against the Taliban ....



*Defense officials urge more troops and equipment for Afghanistan*
Associated Press, via WLNS.com, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

American and Afghan military officials say Afghanistan's security forces need more troops and sophisticated equipment.  But U-S officials say they'll wait until after next week's NATO summit to see how many troops other countries will commit before determining if more American forces will go.  U-S military leaders have been pushing other NATO countries to meet their troop commitments for Afghanistan. They say NATO has provided only 85-percent of the support promised ....


*Officials: Afghanistan Needs More Troops *  
Lolita C. Balador, Associated Press, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

More troops and sophisticated equipment are needed to bolster Afghanistan's security forces, but it is not clear whether more U.S. troops will be deployed there, U.S. and Afghan defense officials said Tuesday.  Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry told Pentagon reporters that U.S. officials will wait until after next week's NATO summit in Latvia to see how many troops other countries plan to provide before deciding if more U.S. forces must be sent to Afghanistan.  ``I think it will be best at this point to wait and see what NATO is able to provide,'' Eikenberry said. ``There's more meetings that are taking place on the military staff. And this is very high on their agenda.'' ....



*AFGHANISTAN: Polio vaccination campaign targets children in vulnerable south*
IRIN News (UN), 21 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghanistan has begun its latest drive to vaccinate millions of children under five against the crippling polio virus, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) officials have said.  The three-day campaign is the fifth in Afghanistan this year and was launched Sunday by the Afghan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International and other partners.  Afghanistan, one of just four countries in the world where polio is endemic, has seen the number of people suffering from the disease surge this year. There have been 29 confirmed polio cases in 2006, compared to only nine cases last year, according to the WHO in Kabul ....



*Canada Asks For Aircraft Ahead Of US Military * 
Will Increase Presence In Afghanistan 
Aero-News.net, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

A move by Canada's National Defense to "jump the line" and take delivery of new helicopters and transport aircraft before the US military may be just the ticket to bolster Canada's presence in Afghanistan.  "It's being given serious consideration," a Canadian Defense Department source told The Canadian Press.  Canada wants its new Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transports and CH-47 Chinook helicopters as quickly as possible, to support its troops fighting against Taliban forces in Afghanistan. For years, the Canadian army has been unable to mobilize its forces due to a lack of such aircraft ....


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## The Bread Guy (22 Nov 2006)

*Insurgency falls down in Afghanistan over past month*
Xinhua News Agency (CHN), via ReliefWeb.net, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

Militant activities have dropped down in Afghanistan over the past month, a spokesman of the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Wednesday.  The daily number of insurgent attacks countrywide has dropped below 10 in November, and that of roadside bombings has dropped to two, while suicide bombings to 0.2, Maj. Luke Knittig told a press conference.  He also said no ISAF soldiers have been killed in this country since Nov. 6.  ISAF has said militants launched 18 attacks in this country every day from mid-September to mid-October including a total of 18 suicide bombings, while it did not give the daily number of roadside bombings in the period ....



*Kandahar provincial reconstruction team conducts village medical outreach in Sha Wali Kot district*
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), via via ReliefWeb.net, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

The Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) conducted a village medical outreach patrol on Sunday at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Martello in the Sha Wali Kot District of Kandahar Province.  Three Afghan physicians and one Afghan dentist provided medical treatment to 137 patients. The PRT provided the medical supplies and escorted the physicians during the two-and-a-half hour patrol of the area.  "It's really important that they see that it's Afghan doctors who are actually providing the medical care," said PRT Civil Military Cooperation Operator Sgt. Nicky Bascon. "It shows the people here that their own government is helping them out." ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Merkel has no plans to change German role in Afghanistan*
Agence France Presse, via ReliefWeb.net, 22 Nov 2006
Article Link

Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out changing the mandate of German troops in Afghanistan to allow them to be deployed in the violence-hit south of the country.  "We want to make the mission in Afghanistan a success," Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament on the first anniversary of her swearing-in as chancellor.  "But I see no military commitment beyond this mandate."  About 2,750 German peacekeepers are based in the relatively peaceful northern part of Afghanistan, where they hold the command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).  Reports in Germany at the weekend said the United States was putting pressure on Germany to deploy combat troops in the south, where the Taliban are mounting their most severe attacks since they were ousted by a US-led force in 2001 ....


*Merkel warns NATO against divisive Afghan debate*
Noah Barkin, Reuters, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed on Wednesday to keep German peacekeepers in northern Afghanistan and resist attempts to transfer them to the more violent south.  With roughly 2,900 troops in Afghanistan, Germany is one of the largest contributors to a peacekeeping force in place since shortly after the 2001 U.S.- and British-led invasion to oust the radical Taliban regime.  Merkel has come under increasing pressure from the United States and NATO to move German soldiers from the north to the south where Taliban fighters are staging a violent insurgency.  The German mandate as agreed by parliament stipulates that its troops be stationed in the north and help out in the south only on an ad-hoc emergency basis.  "The German army will continue to assume its responsibilities under its current mandate, but I can envision no additional military responsibilities that go beyond the current mandate and I'd like to make that clear right here," Merkel said in a speech to parliament ....


*Berlin rules out extending Afghanistan military mandate*
IRNA (Iran), 22 Nov 06
Article Link

The German government on Wednesday has ruled out expanding the Afghanistan military mandate into the southern part of the war-stricken country amid stepped up pressure efforts by fellow NATO states, notably the US, Britain and Canada.  Addressing the German Parliament on the occasion of her first anniversary since taking office, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, "We don't want by any means to question the success of the mission in the north. There will be no military engagement beyond this mandate".  Merkel was quoted as saying last week that Germany would only assist allied soldiers in southern Afghanistan in emergency cases.  She pointed out that the Afghanistan conflict was a "litmus test for NATO's capability to act" ....


*Merkel signals Germany won't send troops to southern Afghanistan*
Associated Press, via International Herald Tribune, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear Wednesday that Berlin does not plan to send troops to volatile southern Afghanistan, insisting that there is no "purely military solution," as she argued that Germany is needed in the north to maintain relative stability.   Afghanistan is set to dominate a Nov. 28-29 NATO summit in Riga, Latvia. Germany is facing pressure to let NATO commanders shift some of its 2,900 troops from the relatively peaceful north to the south, where Canadian, British and Dutch troops have borne the brunt of the alliance's fighting.  The German military is fulfilling "an important and dangerous task" in the north, providing security and backing reconstruction, Merkel said in a speech to parliament ....



*Analysis: Afghanistan decides security*
Stefan Nicola, United Press International, 21 Nov 06
Article Link

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the world's security depends on success in Afghanistan, but Washington and others feel not all countries part of ISAF are doing as much as they could.  The battle for Afghanistan has entered its bloodiest year yet. Some 180 coalition soldiers have died in 2006, most of them U.S., Canadian and British troops, many of them killed in the months since June when fighting with the Taliban escalated.  Neither the International Security Assistance Force nor the U.S.-led anti-terror operation Enduring Freedom has managed to contain the violence. On the contrary.  Apart from the volatile south, "several other regions are in danger of tipping as well," Citha Maass, a fellow at the German Institute of International and Security Affairs and one of Germany's leading Afghanistan experts, told United Press International ....



*WHO and UNICEF call for safe access of polio vaccinators in Afghanistan's Southern Region*
World Health Organization/UN International Childrens' Emergency Fund news release, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, concerned about the health of all people in Afghanistan, especially the health of children, today called for the safe access of local health workers and vaccinators during polio immunization campaigns and other health activities all over Afghanistan, but particularly in the Southern Region. The latest nationwide polio campaign was launched on 19 November, with further district-level immunization activities planned for the rest of this year and throughout 2007.  Afghanistan is one of only four remaining polio-endemic countries in the world. Strong efforts by Afghan authorities last year put the country on the verge of being polio-free. However, efforts to stop an outbreak in the country's Southern Region - which could become the last polio outbreak ever in Afghanistan - have been compromised by increased insecurity in recent months. This has significantly curtailed the ability of local vaccinators to safely reach all children ....



*Water improvement project helps local shops and community*
ISAF news release #2006-286, 17 Nov 06
News Release

The Gelan district of Ghazni province will have a new water well next month because of coordination between ISAF provincial officials and local leadership.  Local leaders in Gelan petitioned the governor’s office requesting a well to service the Gelan District Centre Bazaar. The project was approved once the Ghazni Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) assured the funding.  This project will employ at least five Afghans and once completed will service 25 to 30 shops. The project is expected to be complete around mid-December and will cost $2,500 (125,000 Afghanis).  “This is a simple and inexpensive project, but it will benefit the economic centre of the town and improve business in the bazaar for everyone,” said Lt. Col Paul Fitzpatrick, spokesman for ISAF’s eastern command. “This project reflects local government working for the people. They identified a need, sought approval, now they will all soon benefit from a new well.” 



*ISAF joins with local elders and officials to coordinate school supplies*
ISAF news release #2006-285, 17 Nov 06
News Release

ISAF, local elders and government officials distributed more than 600 packs of school supplies yesterday in the Alingar district of Laghman province.  The Mehtar Lam Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), responding to needs identified by the area's local leaders, visited the Boys and Girls Standard School of Badiabad. The objective of this mission was to ensure the children of the school receive the basic school supplies needed for successful education.  In addition to the school packs, the PRT gave away 50 soccer balls and 432 dental kits consisting of toothbrushes and toothpaste. The school’s educators received 50 teacher kits consisting of a box of chalk, ruler, pen, and map.  “Local leaders know that the future of Afghanistan begins in their village; in their school with their children,” said Lt. Col, Paul Fitzpatrick, spokesman for ISAF’s eastern command, “and they want to build on this success to ensure a secure and prosperous quality of life here.”


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## MarkOttawa (22 Nov 2006)

Go big, go bold and get it done
Tip-toeing won't work, says LEWIS MacKENZIE. We need another 30,000 NATO troops to protect Afghans while they get their country on its feet
_Globe and Mail_, Nov. 22
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/RTGAM.20061122.wcoafghan22/BNStory/specialComment/home



> General David Richards, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, expressed his dismay with the resources at his disposal shortly after taking command in August. He quite rightly indicated he had no reserve capacity to exploit or secure successes on the battlefield and requested an additional 2,500 NATO troops be provided at the earliest opportunity.
> 
> As someone who has watched each and every UN mission since the end of the Cold War -- in Croatia, Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, East Timor etc. -- stumble, and in all too many cases, fail due to overly optimistic best-case scenarios and subsequent undermanning and underbudgeting of the UN force, followed by hesitant and inadequate reinforcement as the mission became mired, I am surprised Gen. Richard's request was so modest. Perhaps he hoped that once the reinforcement flow was kick started, it could be increased. Other than Poland, no NATO member raised its hand to help in any significant way...
> 
> ...



U.S. backs NATO troop plea
Bush administration officials support view Canada drew 'short straw' in Afghanistan
PAUL KORING, _Globe and Mail_, Nov. 22
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061122.AFGHAN22/TPStory/TPInternational/Asia/



> The alliance "shouldn't have countries saying, 'No. We don't do fighting. We don't get our hands dirty,' " Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said at a briefing of defence correspondents ahead of the alliance's summit next week in Riga. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to press European allies to shoulder more of the load...
> 
> "We're very pleased to see the way that Canada and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have acquitted themselves. Each of these three countries has taken a significant number of casualties," said Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs. He said President George W. Bush's administration will press some NATO members to lift bans on their troops going into combat...



US proposes doubling Afghanistan troops
_The Age_, November 22
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/US-proposes-doubling-Afghanistan-troops/2006/11/22/1163871464635.html



> The US military has proposed doubling the size of Afghanistan's army as US President George W Bush prepares to urge NATO members to send in more troops to contain increasing violence...
> 
> He [Lt.-Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander US forces in Afghanistan outside ISAF] said the plan to double the size of the army was drawn up by the US military and Afghan defence and interior ministries, but had not yet received approval from their respective governments...
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (23 Nov 2006)

*Quiet stretch in Kandahar comes amid constant skirmishes*
Lee Greenberg, CanWest News Service, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

A lull in fatalities among Canadian troops in Afghanistan is partly due to luck and partly to the changing dynamics of the fight, according to a Forces commander.  "I mean we've had TICs (troops in contact, or firefights with enemy forces) pretty much everyday," said Major Marty Lipcsey, deputy commander of the Canadian battlegroup.  Canadian troops have been in what another officer called a "holding pattern" since late October, when they were caught off-guard by a mass withdrawal of Afghan forces from the region.   The withdrawal left Canadian troops in the area stretched extremely thin.  The military responded by digging into defensive positions along a four-kilometre stretch of road that has since become the front line in battles that leave more than one-third of the residents in the region displaced ....


*Taliban in Kandahar area set to bounce back-Canada*
David Ljunggren, Reuters, 20 Nov 06
Article Link

Taliban militants in the violent southern Afghan province of Kandahar were "knocked on their back feet" by a recent NATO offensive but are likely to recover and mount further attacks on western forces, senior Canadian military officials said on Monday.  They also said NATO forces in the south would press ahead to develop so-called Afghan development zones in a bid to dramatically improve living conditions in major towns and thereby undercut the influence of the Taliban.  NATO troops started a major assault on the Taliban in southern Afghanistan in September and say they killed several hundred militants. The level of attacks on foreign troops has dipped over the last month.  "One of the reasons why we've seen fewer attacks in the short term is that the opposing forces have now essentially been knocked on their back feet," said Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, commander of Canadian land forces.



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*NATO commander seeking strengthening of Afghan force before key summit *  
Paul Amex, Associated Press, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO's top commander urged member countries Wednesday to strengthen the alliance's force in Afghanistan, saying he was still about 15 per cent short of requirements and warning that failure to provide more resources would make the mission longer and more costly.  Supreme Allied Commander Gen. James Jones said NATO troops had battered the Taliban in open fighting in recent months. Following heavy losses, he predicted the insurgents would now resort to traditional guerrilla tactics.  "If we're properly organized and we bring all elements of our efforts together in cohesion, we will win," Jones told reporters. "If we don't, it will be longer and it will be more difficult and it will be more costly."  Jones said military planners were working with allies in the days before next week's NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, to fill gaps in the 32,000 member force in Afghanistan. But he acknowledged that an appeal he made in September for 2,500 extra troops, together with more planes and helicopters had been largely unanswered ....


*Analysis: NATO's Afghan Caveats Harmful*
Pamela Hess, United Press International, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO members have come through with only 85 percent of the troops and capabilities to which they've committed, and some of the 36 countries who contribute a total of 33,000 troops to ISAF have also placed caveats limiting their use to peaceful missions, top U.S. military and diplomatic officials said Tuesday.  Germany is of particular concern, said Amb. Daniel Fried, secretary of state for European and Eurasion Affairs, at a breakfast with reporters Tuesday.  "Four allies are doing a disproportionate share of the fighting," Fried said ....



*Taliban vow fresh offensive after Afghan winter*
Saeed Ali Achakzai, Reuters, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

The Taliban are plotting a fresh offensive against foreign troops in Afghanistan when the bitter winter ends early next year, a top Taliban commander said on Wednesday.  The Taliban have this year unleashed the worst violence against the Afghan government and foreign troops since the hardline Islamists were ousted from power in late 2001.  But the violence has tailed off sharply in recent weeks.  Afghanistan's NATO force says that's because the Taliban suffered heavy losses, particularly in fighting in the south in September.  But Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah said their attacks had eased off because the harsh Afghan winter had started earlier than usual.  "The Taliban are drawing up our strategy for attacks on American and NATO occupation forces next summer ... The suicide and other attacks will intensify as the weather gets warmer," Dadullah told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location ....



*Taliban drown our values in sea of blood, say political leaders from the Pashtun tribes*
Ahmed Rashid, Telegraph (UK), 22 Nov 06
Article Link

Hundreds of political leaders and chiefs from the Pashtun tribes inhabiting Pakistan's border with Afghanistan have for the first time held a peace jirga, or tribal council, demanding an end to Taliban violence.  Clean-shaven tribal chiefs with large turbans, religious scholars with long beards and young political activists sat together in a large hall in the Pakistani border city of Peshawar to demand that the peaceful traditions of the Pashtun tribes which "are being drowned out in a sea of blood" be restored.  Many of the gathered throng also demanded an end to the alleged support of the Taliban by elements within the Islamabad government of President Pervez Musharraf, who insists that he is an ally in the war against terrorism and whose police arrested 39 suspected Taliban fighters in the city of Quetta yesterday. "The Taliban are not the creation of Pashtun society, but the creation of the Pakistan army," said Afsandyar Wali, head of the Awami National Party (ANP) ....



*Suicide bombers often fail to hit target in Afghanistan*
Jason Straziuso, Dawn (PAK), 23 Nov 06
Article Link

When an 18-year-old dismounted his bicycle a couple kilometres outside the eastern town of Khost last week, his clothes flapped up, revealing a suicide vest to an alert farmer nearby.  Police soon surrounded the teenager and ordered him to remove his vest. He refused, grew increasingly agitated and eventually blew himself up, said Yaqoub Khan, police criminal director for Khost province.  No one else was hurt.  A suicide attacker on Monday waited on a roadside in eastern Paktika province, apparently biding his time for a target to appear. When an Afghan army convoy approached, the bomber blew himself up-- several meters (yards) ahead of the vehicles, said Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak.  He caused no injuries or damage.  The nature of the two would-be suicide bombers' deaths is strikingly common in Afghanistan. In sharp contrast to attacks in Iraq, scores of suicide strikes across Afghanistan have killed only the attacker, or a very few victims ....



*AFGHAN PARTNERSHIP REMAINS LARGELY ON TRACK, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF JAPAN SAYS WHILE BRIEFING SECURITY COUNCIL ON MISSION*
But Country Could Relapse into Conflict Without International Support for Sustained, Long-term Progress, He Warns
UN Security Council news release #SC/8874, 22 Nov 06
News Release

....  Providing an overall assessment of the mission, which had taken place from 11 to 16 November, he said the consolidation of gains over the period spent establishing democratic institutions and improving the population’s welfare was moving forward despite the inevitable fragilities and challenges.  Worrying developments over the course of 2006 included the rising Taliban-led insurgency and the upsurge in illegal drug production and trafficking.  Those and other social ills, all against the backdrop of weak and fragile State and provincial institutions, had given rise to widespread despondency and disillusionment.  “In other words, the confidence of the Afghan public in the institutions and processes appears to have been shaken, giving rise to some sense of sliding back,” he said.  The increasing insecurity in parts of the country, particularly the south and south-east, was affecting rehabilitation and reconstruction work by the Afghans and the United Nations to a worrying extent, he continued.  Under those circumstances, it was important to stress two cardinal points: that the international community’s support of Afghanistan remained firm; and that the nationally owned and led Afghan Compact would remain the best strategic framework for cooperation between the Government of Afghanistan and the international community.  In that context, the Afghanistan Compact’s implementation mechanism, the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, would play a key part ....



*Women education a daunting task in Afghan society*
Alisa Tang, Dawn (PAK), 23 Nov 06
Article Link

Decades of civil strife and rule by the hard-line Taliban regime have left most Afghan women and girls battered and illiterate. The country's only female government minister faces the daunting task of providing them with education and protection in the face of repressive social customs that would deny them both.  ''We've had three decades of war in Afghanistan, which have had very bad consequences for women,'' Minister for Women's Affairs Hussn Banu Ghazanfar said in an interview with The Associated Press. ''It takes time to solve these problems.''  Five years after the Taliban's fall, women are no longer beaten if they leave home unaccompanied by their male relatives. Girls can go to school, and 25 per cent of Afghan parliamentarians are women -- as mandated by law ....


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## The Bread Guy (23 Nov 2006)

- Edit 230733EST Nov 06 to add BBC article about allegedly faulty Brit .50 cal ammo -

*Battle-weary troops welcome relative calm * 
In southern Afghanistan, attacks are down and acceptance is up  
Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail, 23 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

The Canadian military is enjoying its longest period without a soldier killed since June, as regular troops settle into defensive positions and appear to be making progress winning acceptance among villagers in their freshly conquered terrain.  Soldiers hunkered down in the northeastern edge of Panjwai District continue to fight daily battles, holding a protective cordon just outside of Kandahar city. But the swath of farmland that Canadians seized from the Taliban insurgents during weeks of bloody fighting in early September has stayed largely under government control, residents say, and behind the front lines a sense of lawful order is slowly returning to the war-scarred district.  The zone where the Canadians have carved out some influence isn't large. They have established a front line that runs roughly 10 kilometres from north to south, building three new forward bases and several observation posts that allow them to protect Bazar-e-Panjwai, the district's biggest town, and two main roads leading to Kandahar city. They're also building a road that will connect the new bases ....



*Afghan tactic turns into whack-a-mole futility*
Hugh Graham, Toronto Star, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

After Canada's September triumph at the battle of Panjwaii, it was clear that if we were still fighting there in two months, it would have been no triumph. Now it's mid-November, we're still there and 10 more Canadians have been killed.  Yet this sort of war is in fashion.  Almost all of us are children of two epochs: the epoch of peace and human rights which began in the 1960s, and the epoch of low-tax efficiency that began in the 1980s.  In the post-Cold War world we are faced with small, nasty and expensive wars and we want to fight them with 1960s virtue and 1980s cost-cutting. We want a war that we don't have to pay for and where no one gets killed.  It would appear that two strategies which happen to be suited to such a war are the "ink-spot strategy" and the "three-block war" and those are what we're using in Afghanistan.  In the "ink-spot strategy," local centres are seized in combat and secured through development funds. Then the secure zone spreads to link up with other seized, secure and developed zones; literally, like spreading ink-spots.  The "three-block war" is the urban version of the same thing. Humanitarian work is carried out in one block, stabilization and security in the next, offensive combat in the third.  In both strategies, again in theory, the local population is won over and the enemy deprived of support. So you don't need many troops or much killing: It's cheap and it's moral ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Soldiers' lives not put at risk by faulty ammunition insists MoD*
Scotsman.com (UK), 23 Nov 06
Article Link

THE Ministry of Defence today admitted that paratroopers in Afghanistan had been sent defective ammunition.  But it denied that the faulty bullets had put lives at risk by jamming machine guns.  *An MoD spokesman was forced into the confession after troops had to borrow ammunition from the Americans and Canadians in order to conduct operations in the dangerous Helmand province.*  A platoon from the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment refused to go out on patrol until the problem had been resolved by the loan of bullets from their special forces allies.  Today a spokeswoman for the MoD said: "Three months ago there was a single defective batch of 0.5 calibre ammunition.  Some ammunition was borrowed from American and Canadian forces for the short time it took for this to be resolved. At present there are no problems with 0.5 calibre ammunition." ....


*UK troops had faulty ammunition *  
BBC Online, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

British soldiers in Afghanistan had to borrow ammunition from other Nato forces because of faulty rounds, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.  Troops from 3 Para were lent rounds by American and Canadian forces for a month while fighting the Taleban.  The MoD said the issue came to light three months ago, and the faulty rounds had since been replaced.  The problem was highlighted after members of 3 Para posted a video on the YouTube sharing site ....



*Afghan, NATO troops kill key Taliban commander *  
China View, Xinhua (CHN), 23 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghan soldiers backed by NATO forces killed five Taliban fighters including a key commander in the mountainous Nooristan province of east Afghanistan, a state-run newspaper reported Thursday.  "The troops killed Mawlawi Abdul Rahman along with four of his men in Kamdish district," daily Anis quoted Afghan intelligence officials as saying.  However, it did not mention the incident's date and the commander's exact position, only saying he was an important Taliban figure ....



*Taliban militants teach recruits how to carry out suicide bombings* 
Kathy Gannon, Associated Press, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

The recruits arrive in the remote camps eager for revenge or redemption. They leave ready to sacrifice their lives to inflict chaos and death on western troops and the Afghan government they support.  In interviews at secret locations along the Afghan-Pakistan border, two veteran Taliban officials told the Associated Press how recruits are trained to conduct the suicide bombings that have loosened the Kabul government's grip on southeast Afghanistan. Since the beginning of this year, 97 suicide attacks have killed 217 people in Afghanistan, according to an Associated Press tally.  At up to 50 sites across the region, young Afghans and Pakistanis, joined by a handful of Arabs or other foreign fighters, spend six weeks in training for their grisly missions, said Mullah Ehsanullah, a Taliban official who recruits suicide bombers.  Many seek to avenge the death or detention of a relative, while others are filled with shame because of treatment during detention at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul by coalition forces ....



*Soldiers and humanitarians*
Carol Goar, Toronto Star, 22 Nov 06
Article Link

The image lingers, searing and poignant. There was Trevor Greene, a big-hearted Canadian lieutenant, sitting cross-legged with tribal elders in a remote Afghan village, listening to their stories and cataloguing their needs.  His posture was respectful. He had removed his helmet and laid down his gun.  His intent was peaceful. He had come to help the villagers.  An attacker ran up behind him and swung an axe into his head.  Greene survived the brutal assault, but sustained severe injuries. He faces a long and uncertain recovery.  The 41-year-old Vancouver officer's example inspires his comrades in Afghanistan and his military colleagues awaiting their tour of duty in the rugged Kandahar region.  It scares the daylights out of Canadian aid workers.  Much as they admire Greene personally, he represents what they see as a dangerous mixing of military and humanitarian objectives ....



*British troops wary of joining war on drugs in Afghanistan *  
Agence France Presse, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

Despite being urged to do so by Afghan and western counter-narcotics chiefs, British troops are wary of joining the offensive against the drugs trade in Afghanistan.  British commanders reportedly stand accused of taking too soft a line on opium farmers, and forces in the southern Helmand province -- where the majority of British soldiers are based -- are being asked to bomb or ambush drug smugglers.  Though Afghans believe British troops should target the main opium smuggling route in the south of the province, military officers are wary of getting involved, which they fear may draw their forces into a drugs war, and alienate the local population.  "When there is good intelligence, smuggler convoys should be hit from the air by NATO and by using ambushes," said General Khodaidad, the Afghan deputy minister for counter-narcotics, who only uses one name ....



*Marine thinking of home cookin' at cold Afghan post*
Tom Gordon, Birmingham News (USA), 23 Nov 06
Article Link

At Regional Training Center Base Camp in eastern Afghanistan, Thanksgiving isn't being celebrated with turkey and trimmings, but with curry chicken, rice and bread.  "After this is over, I'll never eat curry again," Marine Capt. Rob Ritchie said. The 36-year-old Birmingham-area resident has been operating out of RTC since August, when he arrived as part of a unit known as Task Force Gardez to help train Afghan army soldiers.  The camp is at an elevation of 9,000 feet in a mountainous stretch of Paktia province near the Tora Bora region and the Pakistan border. It does not have the full-service chow halls that U.S. troops commonly see around the Afghan capital of Kabul ....



*Afghanistan: Weekly Situation Report 16 - 23 Nov 2006*
World Food Programme, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

The security situation was relatively calm in most parts of the country during the week, except in the eastern region where military operations against insurgents and insurgent attacks against the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) were reported in the provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan ....


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## MarkOttawa (23 Nov 2006)

_Toronto Star_ buries the good news and headlines the bad.

1) The excerpt is at the end of this story.

Frustration grows: UN
Report says violence dips but war-weary state can't go it alone
Nov. 23
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1164235812849&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724



> ...
> Two Afghan journalists who visited Toronto this week agreed it was vital for Canadian and other troops to stay to prevent a Taliban resurgence.
> 
> "People in Afghanistan want them to stay," said Najiba Ayubi, manager of Radio Killid in Kabul. "We've been through years of war, and we can't change things overnight by ourselves. If the troops left Afghanistan, it would send a very bad message. People would be saying: `If they go, why should we stay?'"
> ...



This gets a story all on its own:

Canada's strategy is failing, MPs warned
Nov. 23
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1164235812867&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467



> Locked in an "unwinnable" war in Afghanistan, Canada must now look seriously at alternate strategies that could include an accommodation for the Taliban in the Kandahar region, the head of a major aid agency says.
> 
> Indeed, John Watson, president of Care Canada, attributes a recent lull in hostilities to the fact that high-level talks are already underway involving officials from Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (23 Nov 2006)

*Afghan mission expected to cost an extra $721 million over two years*  
Canadian Press, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

There are now some hard numbers attached to the extension of the country's mission in Afghanistan 
and last summer's evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon.  Figures released Thursday as part of 
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's fiscal update projected an additional $721 million will be spent over 
two years as Canadian soldiers battle insurgents near Kandahar. The projection is over and above 
what was forecast in last spring's budget.  When the Conservatives came to power, the army was 
only committed to chasing down the Taliban in Kandahar until February 2007.  But in April, Parliament 
authorized an extension to the mission until February 2009 ....

*Five-Year Fiscal Projections*  
Department of Finance news release, 23 Nov 06
The Economic and Fiscal Update 2006 - Fiscal Projections



*Canadian Forces personnel bring medical assistance to remote Afghan area * 
Canadian Forces news release #CEFCOM NR–06.031, 23 Nov 06
News Release - CF Combat Camera Photos of Outreach Mission

The Canadian Kandahar-based Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) conducted an Afghan village 
medical outreach patrol on Sunday, November 19, at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Martello in the 
Sha Wali Kot District of Kandahar Province.  Three Afghan physicians and one Afghan dentist 
provided medical treatment to 137 patients. The PRT provided the medical supplies and escorted 
the physicians during the two-and-a-half hour patrol of the area.  It's really important that the villagers 
see that it's Afghan doctors who are actually providing the medical care," said PRT Civil Military 
Cooperation Operator Sgt. Nicky Bascon.  "It shows the people here that their own government is 
helping them out."  "This is definitely the best part of my job," said Warrant Officer Sean Chase, 
a senior member of the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team. "What is really important is that 
the Afghans are leading their own way along the road to reconstruction. This initiative is a prime 
example of Afghans helping Afghans improve their conditions of living."  As well as providing medical 
care, the PRT also donated firewood, generators and a gasoline-powered water pump, as well as 
dolls for the children. More village medical outreach patrols are planned in the Sha Wali Kot District 
in the near future ....



*Afghan army looking for extra resources to help Canadians fight Taliban*  
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, via Canada.com, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

The Taliban may not be the powerful force it once was but its hit-and-run tactics in this lush and 
mountainous region still make it a dangerous adversary, a senior Afghan military commander said 
Thursday.  Lt.-Col. Shirin Sha Kowbandi, commander of the local Kandak battalion of the Afghan 
National Army, ought to know.  Kowbandi, whose troops are currently helping Canadian soldiers 
patrol the Panjwaii and Pushnel regions, has been doing battle with the Taliban for 15 years and has 
the scars to prove it.  "In the past (before the U.S. invasion) the Taliban conquered 28 provinces in 
Afghanistan and . . . had airplanes and helicopters." ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Afghanistan: Canadians making a difference*  
Canadian International Development Agency, 23 Nov 06
News Release

Support for Afghanistan's reconstruction is a high priority for Canada. Our development assistance 
is part of a coordinated whole-of-government approach addressing the unique challenges facing 
Afghanistan.  Reconstruction in Afghanistan is key to creating lasting security in that country, the 
region, and the world. It is critical that Canada support Afghan and international reconstruction efforts 
with long-term investments. Canada's goal is to help Afghanistan stand on its own as an independent, 
stable, and prosperous nation so that it never again becomes a haven for terrorism ....



*Three-year reconstruction plan for Kandahar*  
PakTribune (PAK), 24 Nov 06
Article Link

Minister for Rural Rehabilitation and Development Ehsan Zia has said the central government will 
launch a three-year reconstruction programme in the province.  Speaking at a news conference here 
on Thursday, the minister said the projects, including construction and pavement of roads, bridges and 
provision of clean drinking water, would be completed at the cost $28 million.  He said the National 
Solidarity Programme (NSP) had launched several projects in eight districts of the province.  He said 
work on welfare projects in three more districts, including Boldak, Khakrez and Mianishin, in the near 
future.   He said several schools, health clinics and roads had been constructed and other facilities 
provided to the people under the NSP ....



*Taliban comeback traced to corruption, coalition killings, Pakistan*  
Associated Press, via International Herald Tribune, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

Until the Taliban were driven from power, Mullah Ehsanullah was an intelligence official, enforcing the 
militia's Islamic orthodoxy in eastern Afghanistan.  Five years later, he is again busy in the Taliban ranks, 
shepherding recruits through the guerrilla training camps hidden in the rugged terrain here and in Pakistan's 
tribal regions across the border.  He says a new generation is learning tactics such as suicide bombings and 
remote-detonated explosives that have had a devastating effect in Afghanistan.  These recruits have 
contributed to the average of 600 attacks launched each month this year against government officials, NATO
and U.S. soldiers, the Afghan National Army and police ....



*Students of seminaries have no relation with embattled Taliban: FATA Law Secretary*  
Pak Tribune (PAK), 24 Nov 06
Article Link

Law Secretary of Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) Arbab Arif has said that there is no relation
of students of seminaries with Taliban and embattled Taliban in Afghanistan.  Talking to Voice of America 
(VoA) on Thursday, he further said that it is a wrong speculation that students of seminary has setup parallel 
system against administration by opening offices in FATA. Complete writ of government are established in 
FATA, he added.  FATA Law secretary noted that the offices had been opened in FATA to solve confronting 
problem of students of seminaries as well as to reorganize them ....



*About-face for Afghan Women: To Veil or Not to Veil*  
Canadian International Development Agency, feature article, 15 Nov 06
Article Link

A burka is a veil-like garment worn by Muslim women that covers them from head to foot, with only a small 
mesh opening for the eyes. To many observers from the West, the burka symbolizes a denial of human rights. 
For the women of Afghanistan, however, the garment means many things: a sign of deeply held religious beliefs, 
a source of protection, freedom from harassment, an expression of cultural pride, rejection of foreign values such 
as the sexual objectification of women, and a symbol of a conservative way of life many believe is no longer relevant ....



*Clergy get basic training on Afghanistan*  
CBC.ca, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

As more soldiers prepare to leave for Afghanistan, religious leaders in Cape Breton are learning how to extend a 
hand and a prayer to their families.  About 50 clergy gathered at the Sydney Garrison Wednesday to find out 
what role they can play in supporting the families of soldiers in the battle zone.  Lt.-Col. Ken Butterworth briefed 
them on everything from military protocol to what soldiers go through in combat, even showing a video of actual 
combat in Afghanistan.  There was also a discussion about the tragedy of war and what to do when a soldier's 
body is sent home for burial ....



*Calgary students play Santa to soldiers* 
Local junior high involved with military friendship program 
Dave Breakenridge, Calgary Sun, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

For many Canadian soldiers serving in Kandahar this Christmas, Santa Claus will look a lot like Calgary junior 
high students.  Through the Chosen Soldier program, Calgary students at Branton junior high, 2103 20 St. N.W., 
today sent Canadian troops dozens of gifts and a message of goodwill.  The presents are just an example of 
Canadians wanting troops serving on their behalf to know that they’re in their hearts, said western Canada 
program organizer Walter Potter.  “They are our military members and more than anything, we want them to 
know that Canadian people care,” he said.  “It’s not political, it’s just the right thing to do.”  The program 
sees ordinary Canadians adopt a soldier for the duration of their Afghan tour by being a pen pal and sending 
gifts during special occasions, such as birthdays or Christmas, said Potter ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (24 Nov 2006)

*Rattled nerves, but no casualties, in rocket attack on Canadians in Kandahar *  
Canadian Press, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan got a scare Friday as insurgents 
fired a rocket near their forward observation post in Panjwaii district, west 
of Kandahar City.  The suspended rocket landed within 50 metres of post 
just moments before the troops were to head out on a foot patrol. There was 
a tremendous explosion, a big plume of smoke and lots of rattled nerves - but 
no casualties. Canadian troops rushed out of their tents to return fire in the 
direction the rocket is believed to have come from. But the rockets are typically 
fired from several kilometres away ....



*Canadian medics just as hardcore as combat troops in Afghanistan *  
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

Don't let the blonde hair, blue eyes and dazzling white smile fool you. 
Cpl. Shannon Fretter of Springhill, N.S. is as hardcore as any grizzled fighting 
man in the Canadian Forces.  Fretter, a medic who has been stationed with 
troops during the heaviest fighting in Panjwaii district, was on her way to 
Kandahar Air Field on Friday for a couple of days of downtime. "I just want 
to smell like a girl again," she lamented, pulling at a strand of hair sticking out 
from beneath her toque.  Fretter, 32, is a mother of five and has a husband 
waiting at home in Petawawa, Ont. She has become a popular subject for 
members of the Afghan National Army, who are forever begging her to pose
for pictures with them.  "It's the blonde hair and blue eyes. They don't get to 
see it that much here. The boys keep teasing me that they're lining the grape 
huts with my picture just like they do with their porn for their vehicles," 
she giggled ....



*We must finish job in Afghanistan*  
David Sproule, CAN Ambassador to AFG, Ottawa Citizen, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

I disagree with the opinion piece (see below)  by my former colleague, 
Gar Pardy.  I don't believe his views accurately capture Canada's objectives, 
the international community's commitment or the situation in Afghanistan.
We are in Afghanistan at the request of the democratically elected 
government, under a UN-authorized and NATO-led mission, helping 
Afghans rebuild their country, free from the threat of oppression and 
violence under the Taliban. By working with the Afghan government to 
reinstate universal human rights, we can address the needs of those most 
victimized. Girls can now go to school and women can now participate in 
government -- both previously outlawed under the Taliban.  Canada is not 
alone in Afghanistan. We are one of 37 countries, 15 of which are serving 
with us in the south. More than 60 countries are contributing to development 
and reconstruction. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan 
(UNAMA) is among the UN's largest special political missions. Sixteen 
UN agencies are on the ground.  While Kandahar presents a difficult 
operating environment, the situation does not reflect the reality in the 
rest of the country.  Contrary to the views in Mr. Pardy's article, Afghans 
in other parts of the country enjoy unprecedented economic growth and 
development. NATO efforts to stabilize the south are aimed at achieving 
similar progress ....


*When to say enough* 
It's becoming clear that the negative consequences of staying in Afghanistan 
are worse than the consequences of getting out 
Gar Pardy, Ottawa Citizen, 16 Nov 06
Article Link

It is seemingly impossible for a government to reverse a policy when it is
lear it will not yield the desired result. More specifically, can the Canadian 
government put an end to our participation in the war in Afghanistan when 
it is increasingly evident the expected objectives will not be reached?  American 
governments faced this issue in Vietnam and now in Iraq ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*NATO chief's plan takes aim at 'caveats' * 
Proposed change to Afghan mission rules would free up more troops in 'emergencies'  
Doug Saunders, Globe & Mail, 24 Nov 06
Article 

Link - Permalink

The head of NATO plans to push for a new rule to force countries to 
provide troops in "emergencies" in Afghanistan, a measure aimed at 
delivering desperately needed help to Canada and other countries 
bearing the brunt of the action in the country's conflict-ridden south.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Dutch Secretary-General of the 26-member 
military alliance, said he was confident that countries such as Germany 
could be persuaded to assist the isolated Canadian and British forces 
in the south through a new "emergency" provision to be introduced at 
a NATO summit in Riga next week. Some countries, such as Germany, 
have used exemptions in their NATO agreements, known as "caveats," 
to escape dangerous forms of combat or avoid activity in high-risk regions.
Conditions in the south are better and Canadians less isolated than commanders 
and media reports have suggested, Mr. de Hoop Scheffer said in an interview 
yesterday at NATO headquarters in Brussels ....


*NATO summit to focus on Afghanistan strategy, troop numbers*  
Associated Press, via International Herald Tribune, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

The dominant story lines out of Afghanistan this year can hardly go in the 
"good news" column: surging violence that's killed more than 3,700 people, 
a five-fold increase in suicide bombings and a booming heroin trade consumed 
primarily by European addicts.  That's a major reason why NATO's annual 
summit, being held next week in Riga, Latvia, will focus on the war-torn country 
far to Europe's east, where 32,000 of the alliance's soldiers are fighting to improve 
security and help the Afghan government take control.  Brigadier Richard Nugee, 
chief of effects for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said leaders 
of NATO nations will reconfirm their commitment to Afghanistan at the summit.
"I think there is a very strong belief that this country is extremely important to 
the security of the world," Nugee said. "And therefore NATO will do its bit and 
keep going here."  One topic high on the agenda will be troop strength. The 
43,000 total international soldiers in Afghanistan are more than 2 1/2 times 
the number here in 2003, but NATO's top commander this week urged 
nations to boost troop levels, saying he was about 15 percent short of 
requirements ....

*Canada must speak out at NATO summit*  
Veronica M. Kitchen, Toronto Star, 24 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

Next week, the leaders from the 26 member countries of the North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization will meet in Riga, Latvia to discuss the future of the alliance.
Canada needs to pay attention; relations with our NATO allies are more important 
than ever, and yet reaching consensus on NATO's future may be harder than ever.
The Riga summit will be dominated by discussion of the International Security 
Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan. NATO currently has 31,000 
soldiers deployed in Afghanistan on a mission far removed, by geography and 
by mandate, from its Cold War endeavours.  Those countries — Canada, the 
Netherlands, Britain, and the United States — losing soldiers in the unstable 
south are rightly frustrated by their allies' persistent refusal to deploy their 
soldiers to these more dangerous combat zones ....



*More help asked from Germany*  
Raf Casert, Associated Press, via LA Daily News, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday he was 
counting on Germany to operate in any volatile part of Afghanistan in case 
of need, not just in the more peaceful northern sector.  Chancellor Angela 
Merkel had made clear Wednesday that Berlin did not plan to deploy 
troops to volatile southern Afghanistan.  "I believe that in emergency 
situations, be it in the north, west, south or east, that all NATO member 
states help one another. That is also relevant for Germany," de Hoop 
Scheffer said after meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter 
Balkenende.  "I am convinced the German chancellor agrees with 
me," he said ....



*Screening of soldiers uncovers illegal use of drugs*  
Gloria Galloway, Globe & Mail, 24 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

Canadian troops being sent to Afghanistan in February are being tested for 
illegal drug use -- and about 5 per cent are failing.  The 2,300 Canadian 
Forces personnel, most of them from CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick, 
are the first group to be checked for illicit drugs since the Chief of the Defence 
Staff, General Rick Hillier, announced last November that the inspections 
would take place.  Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium 
and the military does not want to send people who already have problems 
into that environment. More than that, it needs troops who are in full control 
of their faculties.  But it took some time to get the testing program up and 
running and two deployments have left for the war zone without being 
checked for drug use since Gen. Hillier's Safety Sensitive Drug Testing 
Directive was issued.  Commander Denise LaViolette, a military spokesman, 
said yesterday that the testing of the next group to be sent to Afghanistan 
began in September and, as of mid-November, 1,396 people -- both 
reservists and regular troops -- had gone through the program. The rest 
will get their tests in the coming weeks.  Of the tests completed so far, 
95 per cent were negative, Cdr. LaViolette said ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (24 Nov 2006)

*A soldier's life, outside the wire* 
U of C prof lives with Canadian soldiers in Southern Afghanistan  
Sarah Malik, Gauntlet News (University of Alberta), 23 Nov 06
Article Link

It isn't very often there are soldiers sitting at the front of a university classroom. But, 
for Dr. Anne Irwin's presentation on Canadian soldiers' lives 'outside the Wire,' there
they were, swiveling in their seats, still slightly sunburnt from their tour in Afghanistan, 
their berets respectfully set aside.  An anthropology professor at the University of 
Calgary and the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute chair in civil-military 
relations, Irwin presented her observations on the lives of Canadian soldiers while 
she was embedded with them on their missions in Kandahar, Afghanistan. She 
spoke at the U of C Thur., Nov. 9.  "The story I am going to tell today is not the 
story of the drama and excitement, but of the daily grind of wondering when you 
are next going to get a chance to change your socks or to sleep for more than a 
couple of hours," she said. Irwin detailed the daily lives of a select group of 
Canadian soldiers who spend most of their time in the dangerous, Taliban-infested 
areas outside the wire of KAF ....



*Pak not doing enough to stop Taliban, says Canada's FM*  
DailyIndia.com, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay has said that Pakistan was not 
doing enough to fight terrorism, and that it must do more to stop the flow of Taliban 
fighters crossing the Pak-Afghan border.  The minister said this while appearing as 
part of committee hearings seeking an update on Canada's military mission in 
Afghanistan.  Quoting media reports, MacKay told the Canadian Parliament's 
Defence Committee that nearly 30,000 Pukhtuns freely criss-crossed the 
international border each day.  "Pakistan must seek out and arrest senior 
Taliban officials, improve border security, sign and ratify United Nations 
conventions on terrorism, bring in stronger money-laundering laws and prevent 
the exploitation by insurgents of refugee camps in Afghanistan," the Dawn quoted 
the minister as telling the defence committee ....



*A resister without a war* 
Is he a conscientious objector if he was never bound for combat? 
Michael Friscolanti, Macleans, 23 Nov 06
Article Link

Francisco Juarez is the newest voice of Canada's anti-war movement, and understandably 
so. A former navy seaman turned army reservist, the 35-year-old famously quit the military 
because he couldn't stomach the thought of deploying to Afghanistan. Free to speak his mind, 
Juarez now spends much of his time travelling the country, telling crowds large and small why 
the rest of Canada's troops don't belong in Kandahar, either. Journalists have dubbed him 
the "first Afghan war resister" -- a title he happily accepts. "My ethics guide me," Juarez says, 
"and I followed them."  Peace activists couldn't buy a better spokesman, a real-life soldier who 
saw the light at the end of the propaganda tunnel. "If we send Canadian Forces members to 
work and possibly die in another part of the world, we owe them a debate," Juarez says. 
"There needs to be a broader discussion within our society about what we are doing, and 
I think the Prime Minister needs to be a bit more honest about the objectives." But others 
-- including officials at the Department of National Defence -- believe it is Juarez, not Stephen 
Harper, who needs to start telling the truth. "From my point of view, he doesn't have any 
credibility," says Commander Denise Laviolette, a spokeswoman for the chief of military 
personnel. "He wasn't resisting anything because he wasn't even in line to go."....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Cost of Afghan mission keeps rising in federal tally*  
CBC.ca, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

Ottawa has earmarked an extra $515 million for Canada's military mission in Afghanistan 
in the next bookkeeping year, keeping it on track, by one outside estimate, to reach a cost 
of about $9 billion by the end of the current Canadian commitment in 2009.  The figures 
do not count human costs, including the deaths of 42 Canadian soldiers and a diplomat since 
2002.  Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's fall fiscal update, released on Thursday, lists a total of 
$721 million in military costs beyond those projected in the May federal budget.  Of that sum, 
$206 million is to be spent in the current fiscal year — which ends next March 31 — and 
$515 million in 2007-08.  The $206 million figure appears to reflect spending announced 
in the government's supplementary estimates in October, when more than $200 million was 
set aside to bolster the Afghanistan force, partly by sending Leopard C2 tanks to give it 
extra firepower ....  



*AP Interview: NATO chief says all allies will provide emergency support in Afghanistan*  
Associated Press, via International Herald Tribune, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO's secretary general said all 26 member nations will allow their troops in Afghanistan 
to provide emergency support to allied units anywhere in the country, despite criticism that 
some are refusing to authorize commanders to send their soldiers into more dangerous regions.
"In case of emergency, every single ally will come to the assistance and help of every other ally,"
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told The Associated Press. "I'm confident that is the case, because I am
confident that all 26 allies have exactly the same interpretation of what solidarity means."  A 
NATO summit next Tuesday and Wednesday in Riga, Latvia is expected to focus on the 
alliance's mission in Afghanistan.  Although all the allies have troops in the 32,800-strong 
force, Britain, Canada, the United States and others in the front line of the battle in the 
Taliban's southern heartland have complained that Germany, Italy, Spain and France 
are keeping their troops in the more peaceful north and west ....

*Afghanistan rages while NATO deals in caveats*  
David Common, CBC.ca, 24 Nov 06
Article Link 

....  In democratic societies, politicians are, of course, very careful about their military 
commitments, especially when elections are in the offing. Insurgent forces in Afghanistan 
know this. They will and are using it to their advantage, hoping to break the will of NATO
nations.  Ultimately, those populations must decide whether the investment is worth it, 
whether a foreign influence can create stability. And politicians are the salespeople.  To 
protect themselves, those western politicians have draped many of their militaries in 
Afghanistan with caveats, basically rules on what their forces can and cannot do.  
Germany, for instance, limits its soldiers to operations in the relatively calm north. Others 
won't let their aircraft fly at night, or be used for anything besides humanitarian aid delivery. 
Some won't let soldiers from other nations ride in their vehicles ....  As the commander 
on the ground, it means you have fewer resources to be able to deal with specific 
problems. The most cited example was the great surge of violence in the south of 
Afghanistan this fall, which Canadian and British soldiers had to confront alone since 
other forces could not shift to the south, due to their caveats.  Not surprisingly, NATO 
is trying to get rid of these caveats. Gen Jones says they are targeting about 50 of them. 
And the alliance isn't alone. Canadian officials say they have lobbied every NATO nation 
to eliminate their caveats or provide more troops. So far, only Poland has agreed to send 
in extra soldiers, though that deployment was already expected.  Privately, NATO officials 
say it will likely be months before any country might consider lifting its caveats.  But, Jones 
adds, the alliance's mission to Kosovo suffered the same problem and eventually everyone 
eliminated their caveats and completed the task at hand ....


*Germany won't lift caveats on Afghan force*  
United Press International, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday said Germany will not allow its 2,700 troops 
in Afghanistan to be deployed elsewhere in the country.  U.S. diplomatic and military officials 
are pressing NATO allies and 11 other countries who contribute more than 34,000 troops to 
the Afghan International Security and Assistance Force to lift some 50 individual 
national caveats on their use.  Germany is the main offender: It limits its troops only to 
support the German provincial reconstruction team in the north. Meanwhile, NATO 
allies Canada and the Netherlands have been engaged in pitched fighting in southern 
Afghanistan against a resurgent Taliban, with British and American troops coming to their 
aid as reinforcements.  Merkel addressed the German parliament this week, saying that 
moving German troops out of the north would put stability there at risk. Some 40 percent 
of the Afghan population live in the German-secured area ....


*Are the Germans Stationed in Afghanistan Cowards?*  
Susanne Koelbl, Der Spiegel (DEU), 24 Nov 06
Article Link

Southern Afghanistan is far from having been pacified -- a bloody war with the Taliban 
has erupted there. German troops have picked a relatively comfortable spot for 
themselves in the north of the country. Because they have avoided deadly fighting, 
they have been labeled "cowards" by the Americans and Brits. But are they?  David 
Byers peers forth cautiously at the world from behind his narrow, steel-rimmed glasses. 
He's combed his short brown hair so it fits neatly under his beret. His mouth is fixed in 
a serious expression, and Byers looks as if he has a lot of questions on his mind. His 
visage is part of a photo of his batallion, the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
Private Byers was 22 years old when he was first sent into the field -- in southern 
Afghanistan, more than 16,000 kilometers (9,942 miles) from his hometown of Espanola 
in southern Canada. His mission was to help bring democracy and political stability to the 
land of the Hindu Kush mountains -- a land where war has raged since before his birth ....



* U.S.-led troops kill 7 Taliban in Afghan battle* 
Reuters, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

U.S.-led coalition troops clashed with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan on Friday, 
killing seven of the militants, the U.S. military said.  Afghanistan has this year seen 
the most intense violence since U.S.-led forces drove the Taliban's radical Islamic 
government from power in 2001.  The level of violence has taken Afghanistan's allies 
by surprise but the fighting has eased off in recent weeks.  One soldier from the 
U.S.-led coalition force was wounded in the battle on Friday in Kandahar province 
in the south which involved artillery, mortars and close air support, the U.S. military 
said in a statement.  There were no casualties among civilians, it said. No Taliban 
official could be reached for comment.  Afghanistan's separate NATO force said 
one of its soldiers was killed and one wounded when militants fired a rocket at a 
NATO patrol in Ghazni province, to the southwest of the capital, Kabul, on 
Thursday. It did not give their nationalities ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (25 Nov 2006)

*Canada to upgrade armoured fleet* 
40 tracked vehicles being shipped to Afghanistan 
CanWest news service reporter, Calgary Herald, 25 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

The Canadian Forces will ship more armoured vehicles to
Afghanistan to help ease the wear and tear on the military's combat
fleet in Kandahar.  About 40 tracked M113 armoured personnel 
carriers will be shipped early in the New Year, a move that will 
give commanders another type of vehicle to use when the wheeled 
LAV-3, as well as Bison armoured carriers, are undergoing 
maintenance, said army spokesman Capt. Sylvain Chalifour.
In addition, some of the Bisons now in Afghanistan will have 
to be returned to Canada for refit work, so the M113s will 
make up for that shortfall, he said.  There are already several 
M113s in Kandahar, Chalifour added.  Afghanistan's terrain 
is exceptionally hard on vehicles and equipment of all types, 
according to military officials ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*NATO force tells Afghans to avoid its convoys*  
Reuters, 25 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghanistan's NATO force warned Afghans to keep clear of its convoys on 
Saturday after several incidents in which troops fired at civilians in the mistaken 
belief they were under attack by suicide bombers.  Violence has surged in 
Afghanistan this year to its worst level since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban 
in 2001. As well as hundreds of attacks and ambushes, suicide bombers have 
struck more than 80 times, mostly at foreign and government troops.  In the 
latest incident of mistaken fire, NATO soldiers shot at a van that had been 
seen "driving suspiciously" near a convoy on the outskirts of Kabul on 
Wednesday. The van crashed and an Afghan doctor was killed.  NATO 
said on Saturday large red signs had been fitted to its vehicles across the 
country bearing keep-clear warnings in Afghanistan's two official 
languages -- Dari and Pashto.  "Locals are asked to obey these signs 
by maintaining a safe distance when near ISAF vehicles, and to also 
obey any hand signals and verbal warnings given by ISAF troops," the 
force said ....



*Merkel stresses Germany's commitment to NATO success in Afghanistan*  
Associated Press, via International Herald Tribune, 25 Nov 06
Article Link

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that Germany is committed to making 
NATO's mission in Afghanistan a success, stressing the significance of Berlin's 
deployment in the country's north and of civilian rebuilding.  A NATO summit 
on Tuesday and Wednesday is expected to focus on Afghanistan. Britain, 
Canada and others in the front line of the battle in the Taliban's southern 
heartland have complained that Germany, Italy, Spain and France are 
keeping their troops in the more peaceful north and west.  Merkel predicted 
in her weekly video podcast that the summit in Riga, Latvia, will send "a signal 
of unity, because NATO wants and we also want the mission in Afghanistan to 
be a success."  She stressed that Germany will play its part in a "joint strategy."....



*Violent power struggle may be just the thing to unite Afghanistan*  
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), 25 Nov 06
Article Link

Money, violence, barely contained chaos and an unbridled struggle for 
power - it has all the elements of a classic battle. But this is sport, not war: a 
new season of buzkashi, Afghanistan's wild national game, has just begun.
Some say the game, a heart-stopping contest where hundreds of horse riders 
wrestle over a decapitated animal carcass, is the key to understanding 
Afghanistan. It certainly has some striking similarities to the country's turbulent 
politics: too many players, too few rules and regular confusion about who is in 
control. But can it help cement much-needed national unity?  The first players 
of the season trotted out for a pre-season tryout behind Kabul airport. With 
their woollen hats, thick-heeled boots and leathery faces, the riders resembled 
a winter version of Mad Max. Whips between their teeth, they thundered up 
and down the mucky pitch. Horses clashed, lurched and reared; riders lunged 
towards the prize calf carcass, sorely battered as the afternoon wore on ....



*  NATO patrol escapes suicide attack in Kabul *  
Agence France Presse, via Hindustan Times, 25 Nov 06
Article Link

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-filled car close to a NATO and 
police patrol near the Afghan capital on Saturday, wounding at least two 
Afghan passers-by, police said.  NATO's International Security Assistance 
Force could not immediately confirm the attack in the province of Logar, which 
came hours after a bomb hit an army vehicle in Kabul but caused no casualties.
The suicide attack shattered the passenger car carrying the bomb but did not 
affect the patrolling troops, a local police commander, Abdul Majid Latifi, said.
Two passers-by were injured, he said. The blast was in Charkh district about 
70 kilometres south of Kabul ....



*Meet Teddy Zaremba: he's battling the Taliban and his own misfortune*  
Lee Greenberg, Can West news service, Ottawa Citizen, 25 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan - Meet Bombardier Teddy Zaremba _
a hulking artillery soldier who was once mistaken for a bear during
a military training exercise. He's the Unluckiest Guy in NATO.
Although more than 40 Canadian soldiers have died in the war-torn
country since early 2002 _ making Zaremba's misfortune seem trivial
_ that is what his section mates call him, anyway.  And Zaremba's 
inclined to agree with them.  "If I'm not cursed, I've definitely got 
the worst luck ever," he says. "If something bad's going to happen, 
it's going to happen to me.''  Since embarking on a cursed six-month 
stretch in Afghanistan, he has fallen down a flight of stairs, tripped 
over a tent wire, broken his $500 camera and been given the only 
ration pack known to come with a hole in the bottom.  On his second 
day in the field, the Regina-born, Calgary-raised Zaremba slammed 
his fingers in the hatch of an armoured vehicle while fleeing what he 
mistakenly believed was a mortar attack.  Commanders had merely 
called for a "stand to", or a heightened state of alert, not panic ....



*Got the low down, sand in your army boots blues?* 
Music store sends 2,600 harmonicas to Canadian troops 
Canadian Press, via Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 25 Nov 06
Article Link

Christmas may already be blue for Canadian troops separated from 
family and friends while posted in Afghanistan this year.  But, they can 
give musical voice to their feelings when 2,600 Delta Blues harmonicas, 
one for each soldier, land as gifts from a Halifax-based musical instrument 
retailer.  Todd Thompson, marketing director for Musicstop, says the idea 
to help rouse soldiers spirits came to him as he was driving home from work 
and thinking about the bad news that usually comes out of the war zone.  
Thompson says he doesn’t quite know why but somewhere in the back of 
his mind soldiers and harmonicas just seemed to fit.  "I don’t know if it was 
a movie it came out of or what," he said in a telephone interview.  "It seems 
to be the right sort of instrument. They’re handy. They’re portable. You 
don’t have to plug them in, and everybody can play a tune on them to some 
degree."  Thompson credits Coast Music in Montreal for helping track 
down so many harmonicas on such short notice ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (26 Nov 2006)

*Donkey mascot enjoying better life with Canadian engineers*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, via Canada.com, 25 Nov 06
Article Link

A little white donkey has become the apple of the eye . . . for Canadian engineers in Panjwaii. Excuse the clumsy attempt at rhyming but Tina, officially known as Regulator-1 in military jargon, has troops here at this remote Canadian camp wrapped around her delicate little finger - make that hoof.  Tina was purportedly purchased from a local farmer who had beaten her, to help carry supplies such as sandbags to the top of a mountain where an observation post is being built. But her workload has been non-existent, and now Tina has received some interesting news.  "She is pregnant," confirmed medic Cpl. Shannon Fretter of Springhill, N.S.  "The veterinarians in KAF (Kandahar Air Field) pretty much gave us the pregnancy stuff and one of the master corporals has been giving her some examinations and apparently she is pregnant." ....



*Afghanistan resorts to militias to fight the insurgency*
Associated Press, via International Herald Tribune, 25 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghanistan is training thousands of men affiliated with local militias in hopes of giving the country's security forces a boost in their fight against a growing insurgency. But some fear that Taliban militants and common criminals have infiltrated the program.  The training of the local militia members could give Afghanistan up to 11,000 on-call policemen who officials could tap to boost ranks during times of need.  But the quality of the recruits and their effectiveness in the police force is being questioned by some.  "There are criminals and drug users among them," said Col. Mohammed Hussain Andiwall, a senior police official in Kandahar province who coordinates between the Ministry of Interior and foreign experts training the auxiliary police force ....



*Nato runs critically short of combat troops to keep Taliban at bay *  
Kim Sengupta, The Independent (UK), 26 Nov 06
Article Link

Tony Blair and other Nato leaders gathering in the Latvian capital, Riga, this week will almost certainly fail to secure the additional troops being sought to keep the Taliban at bay in Afghanistan, according to sources here.  Although it took over responsibility for the whole country just a few weeks ago, Nato's mission remains at least 15 per cent undermanned, with a significant shortage of combat troops and a desperate lack of helicopters. A succession of Nato meetings has failed to secure reinforcements, and all the indications are that the alliance's Riga summit, presented as one of the most crucial in its post-Cold War history, will not be any more successful.  Commanders have repeatedly sought at least 1,000 fighting troops to form a quick reaction force which could deal with upsurges of violence, but many in the 37-nation mission have insisted on constraints which effectively keep them away from the front line ....


*France may join Afghan front line*
Nicola Smith, Times Online (UK), 26 Nov 06
Article Link

FRENCH and German troops who have been kept away from the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan could be used as emergency reinforcements for British, American and Canadian soldiers bearing the brunt of the war against the Taliban.  A Nato summit this week in Riga, the capital of Latvia, is expected to agree greater flexibility for commanders to call on coalition allies for frontline support.  British officers have described how military police and engineers have had to fend off Taliban attacks while well trained coalition troops remain far away in Kabul and the relatively peaceful north.  Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato’s secretary-general, is urging all nations to lift the restrictions imposed on where their troops can be stationed. There has been a sharp disparity within Nato between European allies that have sought to minimise their casualties and concentrate on reconstruction, and Britain, Canada and the United States, which are committed to defeating the Taliban ....


*Bush readies Afghan push at NATO*
Agence France Presse, via Khaleej Times (UAE), 26 Nov 06
Article Link

President George W. Bush heads to the NATO summit in Latvia looking to press European allies for more support as the Afghan war reaches a pivotal point, and US-occupied Iraq slides into chaos.  Bush, stung by the drubbing of his Republican Party in congressional elections, will also push for a new network of “global partners” for NATO, including Australia, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and Finland.  “For us, the number one issue is Afghanistan,” said US undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns ahead of the November 28-29 summit in Riga.  US officials say they are satisfied with the progress of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, despite intensifying battles with Taleban fighters.  They are asking for more European support in reconstruction aspects of the mission, and want combat risks shared more equally among the alliance as up to now some nations have imposed conditions on where their troops can fight ....


*Flaws in Afghan mission among key challenges facing leaders at Latvian summit *  
Pak Tribune (PAK), 26 Nov 06
Article Link 

The western military alliance is facing a credibility crisis - struggling to rustle up troops as its first major combat test, in Afghanistan, rests on a knife-edge.  According to article published in Guardian limited, founded to confront a country and empire that no longer exist and an ideology that is largely moribund, even its name, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, is incongruous, given the eastward lurch of its centre of gravity.  As leaders of the 26 member states gather in the Latvian capital, Riga, next week, the question that will haunt them, one they may be too frightened to ask, will linger uncomfortably: what is Nato for? ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*'Barber of Kandahar' finds himself in firefight*
CTV.ca, 25 Nov 06
Article Link

Claude Goulet -- barber by trade, in Afghanistan by choice -- found himself in a close shave of his own.  Goulet hails from Kapuskasing in northern Ontario. Six months ago, he agreed to do a stint in Afghanistan cutting hair for Canadian soldiers.  Part of the job includes "house calls" to the forward operating bases in Kandahar province.  During such a trip earlier this week, Goulet got trapped in the middle of a Taliban attack in the troubled Panjwaii district.  "It was exciting, I'll guarantee you that, something I never thought I'd experience in my lifetime," he told CTV News.  His digital camera captured the sounds of a Taliban mortar flying overhead, Canadian soldiers firing back and then American air support coming in to pound the insurgents.  "Ahh, that was a big one!" he could be heard saying ....



*Fresh claims of Afghan shortages *  
BBC Online, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

The government is facing fresh claims that British troops in Afghanistan are facing shortages of vital equipment. Sgt Stephen Brown of the Royal Marines has complained his men do not have enough ammunition and equipment, and have to use inappropriate vehicles.  He told reporters in Helmand Province: "Countless times we have put in requests for what we need extra, and it has not arrived."  But the MoD and senior officers insist there is enough equipment for the job ....


*Afghan marines lack ammo, claims Arbroath sergeant*
Andrew Jarret, Evening Telegraph & Post (UK), 24 Nov 06
Article Link

British troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan are short of essential equipment, according to a marine with Arbroath’s 45 Commando Group .... Royal Marine Sergeant Stephen Brown said his men were lacking ammunition and needed better-armoured vehicles.  Repeated requests for extra kit have not been met, he is reported to have told journalists in Lashkar Gar.  Sgt Brown commands the unit which included Gary Wright (21), who was killed by a suicide bomber while on patrol in Helmand last month.  According to Sgt Brown, his troops are short of Wimiks — stripped down and heavily armed Land Rovers.  He apparently did not suggest such a vehicle would have saved Marine Wright’s life, but insisted it could have prevented injuries to Dundee Sergeant Gary Ellis (35), also caught up in the incident ....


*Troops poorly equipped to fight Taliban-sergeant *  
Pak Tribune (PAK), 26 Nov 06
Article Link

BRITISH TROOPS fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan are short of essential equipment, according to an officer with Arbroath's 45 Commando Group.  Royal Marine Sergeant Stephen Brown said his men were lacking ammunition and needed better armoured vehicles.  Repeated requests for extra kit have not been met, he is reported to have told journalists in Lashkar Gar.  Sgt Brown commands the unit which included Gary Wright (21), who was killed by a suicide bomber while on patrol in Helmand last month.  According to Sgt Brown, his troops are short of "Wimiks"-stripped down and heavily armed Land Rovers ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (26 Nov 2006)

*Afghan fund set up*
Edmonton Garrison leads way to help war's neediest
Max Maudie, Edmonton Journal, 26 Nov 06
Article Link

The Edmonton Garrison has set up a fund to fast-track money to the neediest people in war-torn Afghanistan.  Garrison spokesman Capt. Louis Marselje said scores of people have been asking openly what the delay is on aid for the nation.  "The people said, 'where do we get the funding from? What's (the Canadian International Development Agency) doing? What's the UN doing? What's NATO doing?' The Canadian PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) said it's nice to talk, but let's get on with it.  "We set this fund up so we can get funding now, rather than to wait for the big players in the world to make up their minds what we're going to get."  The donated money goes straight to the Kandahar-based PRT, to fund things like security and justice, social services, health, education, telecommunications, and irrigation, said Marselje.  Marselje said the Garrison maintains control of the money and the PRT will request it as it's needed.  "They consult with their Afghan counterparts (who) will let them know what the priorities are," said Marselje  (....)  To donate money, send a cheque or money order (no cash) payable to Garrison Fund (Material Assistance to Afghanistan), Trust Fund # 25100,124.  Marselje said that information must be written on the cheque or money order.  Send the donation to Public Affairs Officer, Edmonton Garrison; PO BOX 10500, Stn. Forces; Edmonton, AB; T5J 4J5; re: PRT NPF Accounts. 



*AUSTRALIAN COMMANDOS RECEIVE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY*
Australian Government Department of Defence news release, CPA 316/06, 26 Nov 06
News Release

The Governor-General His Excellency MAJ GEN Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, joined with Prime Minister of Australia the Hon John Howard, MP, the Hon Dr. Brendan Nelson, MP and the Chief of the Defence Force ACM Angus Houston AO, AFC, to welcome home Eastern Australia-based members of the Afghanistan Special Forces Task Group (SFTG) in a ceremony at Tobruk Lines, Holsworthy Barracks today. 

The soldiers, predominantly from the Sydney-based Fourth Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (Commando) (4RAR(Cdo)), formed part of the 200-personnel strong SFTG operating in Southern Afghanistan since late last year.  

During the ceremony the Governor-General and Prime Minister praised the professionalism and courage of the SFTG who were involved in some of the most ferocious fighting since the Vietnam War during their 12-month deployment to Afghanistan.

The dangers faced by the SFTG were highlighted by the presentation of Australia’s first Star of Gallantry and a Medal for Gallantry to 4RAR(Cdo) members by the Governor-General. 

Commando Sergeant “A” and Commando Corporal “B” were decorated for gallantry in recognition of their outstanding actions, leadership and bravery in Afghanistan. 

During the awards presentation the Governor-General praised the actions of the two soldiers and described them as being “in the highest traditions of the Special Operations Command-Australia, the Australian Army and the Australian Defence Force.”

The Governor-General also announced the awarding of a Unit Citation for Gallantry to combat elements of the SFTG, whilst the Task Group as a whole has been awarded the Meritorious Unit Citation. These awards will be formally presented at a later date ....


*Courage under fire earns commandos top honours*
Sydney Morning Herald, 27 Nov 06
Article Link

IN FEROCIOUS fighting, Commando Sergeant A, under direct fire from insurgents, led a rescue mission to save Canadian soldiers as they came under siege in southern Afghanistan.  He did it with "absolute disregard for his own safety".  Corporal B helped clear a hostile area of militia to enable another coalition unit to evacuate, killing several insurgents in the process.  He did this despite being wounded in the foot by a fragment from a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades.  Sergeant A was awarded the Star of Gallantry, the first soldier to receive the medal, which was introduced in 1991 and ranks behind only the Victoria Cross in Australian military honours. Corporal B was awarded the Medal for Gallantry.  The two commandos, both with the Sydney-based Fourth Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (Commando), served for 12 months with the Special Forces Task Group in Afghanistan. They were presented with their medals by the Governor-General, Major-General Michael Jeffery, at a ceremony at Holsworthy Barracks yesterday. They cannot be named for security reasons ....



*PRT troops visit orphanages*
CF Combat Camera web site, 22 Nov 06
[http://tinyurl.com/yfmy6r|Photo]  - More Photos

Visit to the Shaheed Abdul Ahad Khan Orphanage in Kandahar City to drop off items donated by the Assistance to Afghanistan Fund.  PRT medical technician Cpl Ashley Brace, speaking through an interpreter, instructs an orphanage worker on care for a child who injured her foot playing, after he finished cleaning and redressing the injury.  The PRT delivered a washing machine, winter coats, hats and mittens, drinking glasses, teapots and school supplies as well as treats.  The PRT consists of Canadian Forces members, a civilian police contingent led by the RCMP, representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency. The PRT conducts coordinated interdepartmental operations to promote good governance and assist the Government of Afghanistan to extend its authority in the province of Kandahar, to facilitate the development of a stable, secure and self-sustaining environment for the Afghan people..



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Canadian official says we're helping train 'bad guys'*
Associated Press, via Edmonton Sun, 26 Nov 06
Article Link

Taliban militants and common criminals may have infiltrated an Afghan program that trains thousands of men affiliated with local militias to fight the country's growing insurgency.  The formation of the Afghanistan National Auxiliary Police reflects the growing questions about the ability of the existing security force to beat resurgent Taliban rebels and other militants challenging government authority in parts of the country.  But though the training of the local militia members could give Afghanistan up to 11,000 on-call policemen to increase the ranks of security forces during times of need, some question the quality of the recruits and their effectiveness.  "There are criminals and drug users among them," said Col. Mohammed Hussain Andiwall, a senior police official in Kandahar province who co-ordinates between the Ministry of Interior and foreign experts training the auxiliary police force.  Ross Davies, a Canadian police officer involved in the training of the auxiliary force in Kandahar province, said that despite a vetting process conducted by Afghan authorities, police trainers still "do not know really who these people are ....  We know that we are probably training some of the bad guys," he said, using an expression reserved mainly for the insurgents ....



*Angel in fatigues*
City nurse has an eye-opening experience in her role as military reservist
Nadia Moharib, Calgary Sun, 26 Nov 06
Article Link

Tara Sawchuk is one of three nurses from Foothills hospital who works with the Canadian Forces Reserves and served in Afghanistan. The 38-year-old spent three months treating civilians and soldiers, and in the process, had an experience she will never forget. In February, the ER nurse returns to the military hospital at the Kandahar airfield. 
- - - 
She could barely sleep.  It was Lt. Tara Sawchuk's first nap before her first shift as a reserve nursing officer on the Canadian Forces base in Kandahar.   It was dusty, noisy, uncomfortable and she still had jetlag.  And the anticipation of a rocket attack weighed heavily on her mind as she tried to get to sleep in the stifling heat.  "I was waiting because I knew it was going to come," she said.  And when it did, Sawchuk said it felt "like somebody slugged me in the chest."  "I jumped up and grabbed my boots and shirt thinking I was late for work," she recalled ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (26 Nov 2006)

_- edited 261814EST Nov to add top item - _ 

*Canadian troops say fear not a factor in their day-to-day jobs in Afghanistan*
Bill Graveland,  Canadian Press, via Canada.com, 26 Nov 06
Article Link

The fear factor. 

Fear comes in many forms and it would be foolish to suggest that it isn't part of the equation for Canadian troops battling the Taliban here on a daily basis. But for the most part, these men and women are not afraid of injury or death.  Instead, the very real fear is failing to accomplish their mission and fear for those back at home in Canada.  Suicide bombings, friends and colleagues dying, mortars and rocket attacks and bullets whizzing overhead are taken in stride by soldiers stationed in the Panjwaii District of Kandahar province.   Despite the risk to life and limb, stories of bravery under fire are common in this war-torn region all the way from fighting men to medics to those driving resupply trucks on convoys.  One of the most horrific attacks involved a suicide bomber riding a bicycle that claimed the lives of four Canadian soldiers on Sept. 18. The troops had been handing out candy to children when the suicide bomber shattered the peace that day ....



*Nato urges end of right to opt out of Afghanistan combat*
Michael Evans,Times Online (UK), 27 Nov 06
Article Link

Germany, France, Spain and Italy will come under pressure this week to surrender the “red cards” that allow them to keep their troops away from the most dangerous areas of operations in Afghanistan.  The issue of national caveats, under which Nato governments can opt out of certain operations when they choose, is expected to dominate the alliance heads of government summit, in the Latvian capital, Riga, which starts tomorrow (Tuesday)....


*Editorial:  NATO needs a big think*
Christian Science Monitor, 27 Nov 06
Article Link

.... Afghanistan is at a critical juncture. It could go the way of Iraq if it does not receive the political, military, and rebuilding support it needs. In ad hoc fashion, NATO's heads of state will this week have to commit to greater support. But they must also agree finally to face the big questions about their mission. Afghanistan demands it, as does NATO's viability.


*NATO’s failure in Afghanistan, coalition ineffectiveness in Iraq manifest foreign forces cannot handle regional problems  * 
Kiran Chaube, India Today online, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO’s failure in Afghanistan is clear now. It just cannot cope up with the ground reality. While the Talibans are not really gaining, the NATO is getting fed up with doing the dirty work. The Afghan Government soldiers actually doing far better now that NATO forces with their super exotic armaments ....


*FACTBOX-Restrictions on NATO troops in Afghanistan*
Reuters (UK), 26 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO commanders in Afghanistan say the battle against Taliban insurgents is being held back by restrictions placed by alliance nations on what their troops can do on the ground.  A NATO summit starting in Riga on Tuesday will aim to do away with many such restrictions, known as "caveats". Following are examples of limits that apply to some of the 37 national contingents within the 32,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), according to NATO sources ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*The EU’s turn in Afghanistan*
Robert E. Hunter, Jordan Times, 27 Nov 06
Article Link

....All NATO allies and EU members want the US to remain committed to Europe’s future, to take the lead elsewhere in meeting security needs on which all agree, and to admit Europe into its strategic confidence. That now requires supporting the EU’s deep involvement in Afghanistan as its key contribution to repairing and reforming the Atlantic Alliance.



*Makeshift 'Rorke's Drift' unit of medics and engineers holds out Taliban*
MATTHEW HICKLEY, Daily Mail (UK), 26 Nov 06
Article Link

When a key strategic town in Afghanistan's Helmand Province fell to the Taliban, British commanders ordered that it must be retaken as a top priority. But with the UK's main fighting units locked in bloody battles further north, it was left to a ragtag band of 12 British soldiers, including TA reservists and medics, to lead a force of barely-trained Afghan soldiers and police across Taliban-held the desert. They hoped to retake the town of Garmisir within 24 hours. In fact they faced an astonishing 14 day close-quarter battle - isolated, heavily outnumbered and fighting for their lives in an action reminiscent of Rorke's Drift ....



*Items from Afghanistan's museum in exile to head home*
CBC.ca, 26 Nov 06
Article Link

The collection at the Afghanistan Museum in Exile, created in Switzerland in 1999, will be sent back to Kabul now that the situation in the city has been deemed stable.  The museum's officials decided to let the collection go after UNESCO, the United Nation's cultural agency, determined the Afghan capital is safe enough, according to The Art Newspaper, an international publication that covers the visual art world.  The museum is in the village of Bubendorf, 20 kilometres outside of Basel. Swiss scholar Paul Bucherer-Dietschi established the museum to house artifacts from the war-torn country.  Bucherer-Dietschi is the director of the Swiss Afghanistan Institute in Bubendorf, which safeguards historical papers about Afghanistan ....



*Afghan Drug Boom Fuels Child Addiction Rates * 
Doctors estimate that there are more than 2,000 drug-addicted children in the western city of Herat alone
Sadeq Behnam & Sudabah Afzali, Afghan Recovery Report, ARR No. 235, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

Idris, 16, sells cigarettes for a living. Walking along the road in Herat with a wooden box hanging from his neck, he confesses that he had moved onto stronger substances.  “I didn’t want to become addicted, but I started smoking since I was selling cigarettes,” he said. “Then I tried hashish with other kids. Now I can’t work unless I smoke hash two or three times a day.”  Idris is an orphan who lost his family in fighting when the Taleban were attacking the forces of local leader Ismail Khan back in the Nineties. Homeless, he sells cigarettes during the day and sleeps in city parks at night.  There are many young people like him in Afghanistan, where families have been torn apart over decades of war ....


----------



## GAP (27 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 27 November 2006*

Two Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Updated Mon. Nov. 27 2006 12:52 PM ET CTV.ca News
Article Link

Two Canadian soldiers are dead following a suicide bomber's attack on a military convoy in southern Afghanistan, officials confirmed Monday. 

"I have to announce that two Canadian soldiers were killed just outside Kandahar City," said the Commander of Canadian Forces in Southern Afghanistan Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant on Monday. 

"At about 8:30 this morning a suicide bomber attacked a Canadian convoy, detonating his vehicle and killing two Canadian soldiers." 

Grant said the attack took place about one kilometre outside Kandahar City. 

"The two soldiers that were killed were the only ones that were injured and there were no civilian casualties," said Grant, disputing reports that an Afghan civilian had died. 

The two Canadians killed are reported to be the crew commander and driver of a Bison armoured personnel carrier. 

CTV's Steve Chao in Kandahar has learned that both soldiers were members of the Royal Canadian Regiment based in Petawawa, Ont. Their names are being held at the request of the families. 

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families back home and with the members of the battlegroup who have lost some very close friends," said Grant. 

The soldiers had been helping with reconstruction projects outside Kandahar where heavy clashes had taken place over the past several months. 

Chao said the suicide bomber pulled alongside the Canadian convoy in a vehicle and detonated his explosives. The bomber was reported to have been driving a small minivan. 

Haji Abdullah, a mechanic in Kandahar City, told The Canadian Press he heard a "powerful bomb explosion." 

"The atmosphere was very tense. Everybody was running here and there and screaming," he said. 
More on link

U.S. Units Securing, Rebuilding Afghanistan in Small Steps
By Kathleen T. Rhem American Forces Press Service
Article Link

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Nov. 24, 2006 – Bringing stability to provinces in Afghanistan and bringing areas under control of the national government is a two-step process that’s progressing steadily in small steps. 
U.S. forces operating under NATO’s International Security Assistance Force at nine forward operating bases in Regional Command East and two in Regional Command South fall into two main categories: provincial reconstruction teams and maneuver units. 

“Maneuver will go in, and we’ll take an area controlled by the Taliban or insurgent forces,” Army Sgt. Maj. Bryan Gran, the operations sergeant major for Task Force Iron Graze here, said yesterday. “We’ll take it from ‘red’ -- meaning controlled by the enemy -- and we’ll conduct operations in order to get rid of the enemy to make it more hospitable for the PRT to operate in. 

“We get rid of the bad guys, then the (U.S. Agency for International Development) and the engineers and all those people that are going to work on the infrastructure will come in,” he added. 

Gran said it’s important for an area to be relatively secure before infrastructure improvements can begin. “We don’t want to go out and build stuff when the enemy is just going to burn it down,” he said. 
More On Link

 Britain will never win in Afghanistan: Pakistan's NWFP governor
Islamabad, IRNA Pakistan-UK Monday November 27, 2006
Article Link

The British will never win in Afghanistan by military means and should open negotiations with the Taliban, NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai said. 

According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, in an interview given to Sunday Times reporter Christina Lamb, the governor said: "Bring 50,000 more troops and fight for 10 to 15 years more and you won't resolve it. The British with their history in Afghanistan should have known that better than anyone else." 
He said NATO was ignoring the realities on the ground. 

The reason Taliban numbers had swelled was because moderates were joining the militants, he added. 

"It is no longer an insurgency but a war of Pashtun resistance exactly on the model of the first Anglo-Afghan war," he said. 

"Then too (in 1839-42) initially there were celebrations. The British built their cantonment and brought their wives and sweethearts from Delhi and didn't realize that in the meantime the Afghans were getting organized to rise up. This is exactly what Afghans are doing today and what they did against the Soviets," said Aurakzai. 

"The British should have known better. No country in the world has a better understanding of the Afghan psyche, and very little has changed there in the past couple of centuries," he added. 

Rather than fighting, he said, the only answer was to talk to the Taliban. 

Over the past few months, he has negotiated a series of peace deals in Pakistan's tribal areas. 

Pakistan had 80,000 troops in border areas, more than twice as many as NATO, and had lost about 750 soldiers, more than the entire coalition, he added. 
More on link

Afghanistan overshadows summit as NATO grapples with new strategy  
By Shada Islam and Leon Mangasarian Nov 27, 2006, 
Article Link

Riga - The worsening military solution in Afghanistan overshads a NATO summit opening Tuesday originally called to endorse a new counter-terrorism doctrine for the 26-nation alliance. 

The upsurge in fighting in Afghanistan, where NATO has deployed over 30,000 troops, has deeply unsettled alliance leaders. 

The situation is especially volatile in southern Afghanistan, where another two NATO soldiers were killed Monday in a suicide bomb attack. 

'Afghanistan has made great strides...but a lot still needs to be done,' said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, speaking in the Latvian capital. 'In the south, it is tough', he added. 

Scheffer is expected to press leaders to end deployment restrictions or caveats on their national forces in Afghanistan. 

Mainly Canadian, British, Dutch and US troops in southern Afghanistan have been killed in intense combat with resurgent Taliban forces which were driven out of power in Afghanistan in 2001. 

The pressure to drop caveats is especially strong on Germany, which has deployed 2,700 troops in mainly peaceful northern Afghanistan, but refuses to send combat forces to the south. 

The NATO chief said he expected a compromise, with leaders agreeing to lift some caveats in case of emergencies. 

The alliance is also due to consider US calls for stronger links with Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. But this is rejected by France which fears such partnerships could be viewed as turning NATO into a global policeman. 
More on link

Afghanistan a more pressing issue than Iraq, says former US dep sec'y of state
The Associated PressPublished: November 27, 2006
Article Link

SINGAPORE: Afghanistan is a more immediately pressing issue than Iraq because of the potential of spillover into neighboring countries, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Monday.

"I would argue that the stakes in Afghanistan are much larger in the near term than they are in Iraq," Armitage said, predicting that Iraq's troubles would remain internal for some time.

"But if Afghanistan is not a success, (Pakistani leader) Pervez Musharraf and Pakistan will not be successful in moving to invite moderation."

And in that scenario, Armitage said, Pakistan's hard-line Muslims could gain control of the nation's nuclear weapons and missiles, which would in turn affect neighboring India.
More on link

Dutch deny differences with NATO allies over south Afghanistan
Nov 27, 2006
Article Link

The Hague - The Dutch Defence Ministry denied Monday there were any real differences in approach to the ISAF mission in southern Afghanistan between the Dutch forces and their NATO allies, as NATO heads met in Riga. 

But a defence ministry spokesman in The Hague acknowledged 'nuanced differences' between the Dutch in Uruzgan Province and the British and Canadians in Helmand and Kandahar Provinces respectively. 

'There are no real differences in policy. All coalition partners are working to the ISAF mandate and with the same mission, but at some points there are nuanced differences,' a ministry spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 

'We are all set for the same task and pursue the same goals,' he said, denying that NATO allies were putting pressure on the Dutch to take a more active role in pursuing the Taliban. 

In an interview published Monday, Dutch Major-General Ton van Loon, currently head of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, denied reports that the Dutch troops were reluctant to engage the Taliban. 

'If the need arises, the Dutch boys are just as able to fight as the others,' Van Loon told the Volkskrant. 
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Bombings kill 18 in Afghanistan
Suicide blast at eatery is deadliest in weeks
By Carlotta Gall, New York Times News Service. Published November 27, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber walked into a packed restaurant in southeastern Afghanistan on Sunday and set off his explosives, killing 15 other people and wounding 25, Afghan officials said.

A second suicide bomber struck a NATO military convoy Monday in southern Afghanistan, killing three, police said.

The attacks, after a few weeks of relative quiet, raised fears that insurgents were resuming their campaign of suicide bombings.

Most of those killed were civilians in the restaurant, which was in the central bazaar of Urgun, a small town in the mountainous Paktika province, which borders Pakistan.

A police official said he suspected that the bomber's intended targets had been a local official and the chief of a militia that works with U.S. forces in the province. Both men were wounded but survived, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.
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Afghanistan Combat Will Define NATO's Future at Summit in Riga  
By Mark Deen and Caroline Alexander
Article Link

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- NATO, the alliance formed to keep the Soviets out of Western Europe, will this week struggle over a future that is being defined a continent away on the battlefields of Afghanistan. 

As casualties inflicted by Taliban insurgents mount, British lawmakers say allies, especially Germany, should do more fighting to carry their weight in the organization's biggest engagement ever. Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to raise the issue when North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders meet in Riga, Latvia, tomorrow. 

``In NATO, being a good ally used to be about showing up to fights with limited fatalities like in Bosnia and Kosovo,'' said Bastian Giegerich, an analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. ``Afghanistan has changed that. Now it's about sharing risk and the perception is that some people aren't doing that.'' 

At the summit, NATO's first in a former Soviet republic, President George W. Bush will join Blair in urging allies to add troops and ease restrictions on their use. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she'll resist such pressure while French President Jacques Chirac counters suggestions the Atlantic alliance sign up members in the Pacific such as Australia and New Zealand. 

The Afghanistan debate is focused on what NATO leaders call ``caveats'' or restrictions on how and where national forces can operate. The caveats hamper the alliance commander's ability to react quickly to fighting on the ground. 
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Taliban say 2 Pakistani journalists released in Afghanistan  
November 27, 2006          
Article Link

The Taliban said they had freed two Pakistani journalists Sunday morning, who were abducted days ago in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan. 

The journalists were released in an area in the province near Afghan-Pakistani border, a Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif told Xinhua from an undisclosed place by telephone. 

Hanif said the two journalists, whose names are Salim Shahzad and Qamar Yousufzai, were captured by the Taliban in Baghran district days ago. 

He said the journalists were arrested because they entered Taliban region without permission and without press documents. 

After an investigation, the Taliban found they were really Pakistani journalist and decided to free them, Hanif said, adding they had been treated as "guests" during their captive. 

Shahzad, who works for The Star newspaper in Pakistan, and Yousufzai for several media outlets, were kidnapped by Taliban militants on Nov. 21, media reports said. 

Militants in this volatile country have kidnapped or attacked foreign journalists from time to time. 

Some militants abducted an Italian press-photographer in Helmand on Oct. 14 but released him on Nov. 3. 

Moreover, some unknown gunmen killed two German journalists in Baghlan province of northern Afghanistan on Oct. 6. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

A strong, prosperous Afghanistan in the interest of Pakistan: Shaukat Aziz  
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minster Shaukat Aziz has reiterated Pakistan wants peace in Afghanistan and will continue to play its role on this count adding a strong and prosperous Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan. 
Article Link

" Pakistan wants a robust and prosperous Afghanistan. This is major plank of our policy. A destabilized Afghanistan is not a good omen for Pakistan as such situation adds to the difficulties of neighbouring countries", he said this while addressing 4th Altaf Gauhar memorial lecture and later talking to the journalists in prime minister secretariat Monday. 

Foreign diplomats, director general ISPR, Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan and other dignitaries also attended the lecture. 

Leading journalist Bryn Kalafli delivered lecture on situation of Afghanistan and peace and stability in Afghanistan. 

Prime Minister held Pakistan has played its role for peace and tranquility in Afghanistan. However, challenges are still there. Pakistan provided assistance of $250 millions for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan. " We inaugurated Torkham-Jalalabad road. 

Afghanistan is the largest narcotics producing country and it is source of livelihood of the people there, he remarked. The international community will have to come forward to provide alternative resources. The need is there that work is done on war footing to generate employment opportunities in Afghanistan. All the stake holders will have to be involved in the process for establishment of peace there. Reconstruction process has to be carried out there so that Afghan refuges return to their homes in a respectful manner. " We have devised a strategy with Afghan government in this connection. 
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AFGHANISTAN: Health crisis brewing in isolated Nuristan province
27 Nov 2006 18:35:23 GMT Source: IRIN
Article Link

 KABUL, 27 November (IRIN) - The lack of a general hospital in the isolated eastern province of Nuristan means that some 300,000 people are at risk of contracting a range of preventable diseases, with many women continuing to lose their lives due to preventable pregnancy-related conditions, local officials and tribal elders said on Monday.

"Despite billions of dollars of international aid coming to the country during the past five years, unfortunately the residents of Nuristan [province] are still deprived of a hospital to treat their women and children," provincial governor Mohammad Tamim Nuristani, told IRIN.

"We have a small clinic in the capital but we don't have a surgical or even a dental ward there. There is not even a 10-bed health facility in the rest of the province for our patients," Nuristani asserted.

Health facilities are few and far between in impoverished Afghanistan with just 1,100 clinics and 100 hospitals serving a population of 30 million people.

Rugged terrain, bad roads, lack of communications and insecurity are the main problems contributing to health problems in Nuristan. At the same time, humanitarian aid is lacking as many national and international NGOs have stopped aid work there due to poor security, officials say.
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Coalition forces detain 3 men in E. Afghanistan  
November 27, 2006          
Article Link

The U.S. coalition troops arrested three men in an operation searching terrorists on Sunday in Khost province of eastern Afghanistan, a coalition statement said. 

The forces detained the three men in the morning in a compound near Khost city, the provincial capital, it said. 

"Coalition forces, acting on credible information, entered the compound in search of members of a terrorist network operating in Khost province," it added. 

A peaceful surrender of the persons within the compound was requested and no shots were fired, the statement said, adding the safety of the Afghan women and children inside was ensured. 

Khost, a mountainous region, has been a stronghold of Taliban and other militants, who attack government and foreign troops frequently. 

About 10,000 coalition soldiers, the bulk of which are Americans, are deployed in Afghanistan, mainly in eastern provinces, to hunt down insurgents there. 

Source: Xinhua 
End


Nato urged to plan Afghanistan exit strategy as violence soars  
By Stephen Castle in Brussels and Kim Sengupta in Kabul  27 November 2006 
Article Link

Nato's fragile unity over Afghanistan has begun to crack ahead of an important summit - with one public call to discuss an exit strategy from the Allied forces' bloody confrontation with the Taliban. 

While heads of government are to make a show of unity over Afghanistan at tomorrow's alliance summit in Riga, Belgium's Defence Minister has questioned the future of Nato's most important mission.

And heads of the alliance's 26 nations are unlikely to agree to send reinforcements to Afghanistan - dealing a blow to Tony Blair's hopes that others will take up more of the increasingly heavy burden.

In the bloodiest day of violence to grip the country in many weeks, a series of fierce clashes between Nato forces and Taliban fighters and a suicide bombing left 76 people dead and more than 45 injured yesterday, many of them children.

Though Belgium only makes a small military contribution to the Nato mission, the Minister's comments will alarm senior figures at the alliance's headquarters where there is already concern that France is getting cold feet about its role in Afghanistan. Paris has remained publicly committed to the mission but Nato sources are concerned about the possibility of an eventual French withdrawal. They are pressing for an enhanced UN profile in Afghanistan to reassure the French who are suspicious about an expanded role for Nato because of Washington's hold over the alliance.

André Flahaut, the Belgian Defence Minister, brought anxieties about the Afghan mission into the open when he suggested that, at the Riga summit, "we finally reflect on an exit strategy". Five years after the start of Western involvement in Afghanistan, Mr Flahaut calls into question its prospects of success.

In an interview with Le Vif-L'Express magazine, Mr Flahaut argued: "The situation is deteriorating and, over time, Nato forces risk appearing like an army of occupation." Discussions of an exit strategy are the last thing the Nato top brass wants to hear because it is hoping to use this week to reinforce a message of unity on Afghanistan.

The summit in Riga - the first to be held on ex-Soviet territory - will be attended by, among others, George Bush, Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair.

The rising violence in Afghanistan could be seen yesterday, with Nato reporting the loss of one soldier and 57 insurgents killed during four separate attacks in the south. Local people said at least 12 civilians died during an air strike.

Just hours after the fighting in Oruzgan province, a suicide bomber destroyed a restaurant in the Orgun district of Paktika. The blast is believed to have been aimed at an Afghan military commander but among the 25 dead and 20 injured were a number of children.

With 37 countries, including a host of non-Nato nations, contributing to the operation in Afghanistan a total of about 32,000 troops have been assembled .

In Riga, Nato is hoping for progress on one of the main problems facing commanders in the field: restrictions placed by national capitals on the use of their troops. 

Nato's fragile unity over Afghanistan has begun to crack ahead of an important summit - with one public call to discuss an exit strategy from the Allied forces' bloody confrontation with the Taliban. 

While heads of government are to make a show of unity over Afghanistan at tomorrow's alliance summit in Riga, Belgium's Defence Minister has questioned the future of Nato's most important mission.

And heads of the alliance's 26 nations are unlikely to agree to send reinforcements to Afghanistan - dealing a blow to Tony Blair's hopes that others will take up more of the increasingly heavy burden.

In the bloodiest day of violence to grip the country in many weeks, a series of fierce clashes between Nato forces and Taliban fighters and a suicide bombing left 76 people dead and more than 45 injured yesterday, many of them children.

Though Belgium only makes a small military contribution to the Nato mission, the Minister's comments will alarm senior figures at the alliance's headquarters where there is already concern that France is getting cold feet about its role in Afghanistan. Paris has remained publicly committed to the mission but Nato sources are concerned about the possibility of an eventual French withdrawal. They are pressing for an enhanced UN profile in Afghanistan to reassure the French who are suspicious about an expanded role for Nato because of Washington's hold over the alliance
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Afghanistan's fledgling army joins fight
Sun, Nov. 26, 2006  FISNIK ABRASHI Associated Press

PANJWAYI, Afghanistan - Bandoliers draped over their chests and rocket-propelled grenades slung on their backs, Afghan soldiers venture slowly out of their base of mud huts and green tents for a patrol with Canadian troops through this restive southern town.

Such operations are at the heart of efforts by the United States and NATO to bolster Afghanistan's security forces and open the way for the departure of Western troops.

"They are our exit strategy," said Maj. Francoise Bisillon, who is part of the Canadian team that lives with, trains and mentors Afghan soldiers in Panjwayi.

Their short morning patrol might not seem like dangerous work, but the area is NATO's front line against Taliban militants. Clashes erupt in nearby fields almost every day.

This year alone, 34 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Kandahar province, most of them in insurgent attacks near the Argandab River, a fertile valley of orchards and vineyards that is a green oasis in an expanse of brown desert and barren mountains.

Close-quarter fighting over the summer in the province's Panjwayi, Pashmul and Zhari areas killed hundreds of militants, but dozens of civilians also died - deaths that have soured relations between locals and Western troops.

Few children wave as the patrol passes through the town, and local men sipping tea in front of shops offer only a steely gaze.

Despite the summer offensive designed to root out the Taliban, militants remain active in this area, firing rockets and mortars one minute and mingling with civilians the next.

Relying on local soldiers who know the terrain and can tell a farmer from a militant is vital to NATO's two-pronged approach in the south: restoring security by driving off the militants while kick-starting long-promised economic development to improve the lives of poor villagers in hopes of bolstering loyalty for Afghanistan's government.

"They are good fighters and they know the ground," Warrant Officer Daniel Parenteau, 38, said of the Afghan soldiers leading the foot patrol past farm fields and into town.
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Items from Afghanistan's museum in exile to head home
Last Updated: Sunday, November 26, 2006 | 1:52 PM ET  CBC Arts 
Article Link

The collection at the Afghanistan Museum in Exile, created in Switzerland in 1999, will be sent back to Kabul now that the situation in the city has been deemed stable.

The museum's officials decided to let the collection go after UNESCO, the United Nation's cultural agency, determined the Afghan capital is safe enough, according to The Art Newspaper, an international publication that covers the visual art world.

The museum is in the village of Bubendorf, 20 kilometres outside of Basel. Swiss scholar Paul Bucherer-Dietschi established the museum to house artifacts from the war-torn country.

Bucherer-Dietschi is the director of the Swiss Afghanistan Institute in Bubendorf, which safeguards historical papers about Afghanistan.

At the start of the museum's creation, Bucherer-Dietschi had been arranging to relocate the collection at the Kabul Museum through UNESCO. But it proved to be too difficult under the Taliban regime.
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Nato urges end of right to opt out of Afghanistan combat
Michael Evans, Defence Editor November 27, 2006 
Article Link  

Germany, France, Spain and Italy will come under pressure this week to surrender the “red cards” that allow them to keep their troops away from the most dangerous areas of operations in Afghanistan. 
The issue of national caveats, under which Nato governments can opt out of certain operations when they choose, is expected to dominate the alliance heads of government summit, in the Latvian capital, Riga, which starts tomorrow. 

Some senior diplomats and military officials say that the credibility of the alliance in its most important mission overseas is at stake. About 90 per cent of the casualties suffered by troops serving with Nato’s International Security Assistance Force have involved just four countries: the US, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. 

An American soldier and 55 insurgents were killed over the weekend in a clash with Taleban fighters in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan. 

Alliance sources said yesterday that there remained considerable resentment over the negative response by certain member states to appeals for more troops during Operation Medusa, in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, in the summer. It was a mainly Canadian mission but it involved troops from the US, Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark. 
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Suicide attacks are acquiring deadly foothold in Afghanistan Suicide attacks increasing in Afghanistan  
Weapon of choice for Taliban militants has killed hundreds
Rahman Nullah, Chronicle Foreign Service Sunday, November 26, 2006 
Article Link

(11-26) 04:00 PST Spin Boldak, Afghanistan -- For the past several months, Mullah Ezatullah has been training a half dozen would-be fedayeen, or "men of sacrifice," in a remote camp in the art of blowing themselves up. 

"They are now ready to destroy the enemies of Islam and free Afghanistan from foreign invaders," said Ezatullah, who like many Afghans goes by one name. 

Last year, suicide attacks were rare occurrences in Afghanistan. But they have grown deadlier and more frequent. NATO said that as of the middle of November, 97 suicide attacks have killed 217 people in the country this year. In September and October alone, nearly 100 people were killed in such attacks, including 18 outside the governor's compound in Helmand province, 16 near the U.S. Embassy and 12 outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul. 

Gen. Abdul Manan Farahie, chief of the Interior Ministry's anti-terrorism department, has told reporters that most suicide attacks are planned in Pakistan and carried out by men who have little training. 

"The Afghans doing the suicide attack, they were in the madrassas (religious schools) for five, six, seven months. They had no contact with their families, and they are under the psychological control of the mullahs," Farahie told the Associated Press. "If they had contact with their families, they would say, 'Don't do this.' " 
More on link





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## The Bread Guy (27 Nov 2006)

_- edited 272146EST Nov to add Der Spiegel article - _ 

*Blast in Afghanistan kills two Canadians*
Reuters (UK), 271842EST Nov 06
Article Link

A suicide bomber killed two Canadian soldiers in an attack on an alliance convoy in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar on Monday.  Canadians form the bulk of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the province.  Civilians said the bomber plowed into the convoy in a car. NATO forces sealed off the site of the attack on a road where several government buildings are located, they said.  Flames and smoke rose from one of the vehicles and a NATO helicopter hovered overhead, the witnesses said.  The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and military chief Mullah Dadullah said suicide bombers had infiltrated every city and would strike again.  "Our squad of would-be suicide bombers has become much bigger after new inductions and they are waiting for their targets to hit," he told Reuters from a secret location.  "We have chalked out plans very carefully so that foreign troops could suffer maximum losses in our attacks." ....



*Brewery employees to donate week's beer rations to Canadian troops in Afghanistan *  
Canadian Press, 27 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian troops in Afghanistan can expect a little extra holiday cheer under the Christmas tree this season.  Or rather, holiday beer. Employees at Steam Whistle Brewery have decided to donate one week's worth of staff beer rations to soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. The company has vowed to match those donations .... 



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Nato searches for heavyweight fixer to break deadlock*
Michael Evans, Times Online (UK), 28 Nov 06
Article Link

Nato leaders want a highpowered “international fixer” to be appointed for Afghanistan to help to force through political reforms and anti-drug policies, sources said on the eve of the alliance’s summit in Riga.  As two more Canadian soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan yesterday, bringing Canada’s fatalities to 34 this year, the sources said it was vital that Nato’s military and reconstruction efforts were backed up by a heavyweight political initiative. “We need someone of real standing who can go to President Karzai in Kabul and to President Musharraf in Pakistan and knock heads together,” a senior diplomatic source said.  Nato leaders will discuss the appointment of a High Representative, similar to the role played by Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon in Bosnia. “We would like a real heavyweight like Paddy Ashdown,” the source said ....



*AFGHANISTAN OVERSHADOWS NATO MEETING*
Allies Deeply Divided on Eve of Summit
Der Speigel, 27 Nov 06
Article Link

As western leaders prepare to gather in Riga for the NATO summit, the alliance is deeply divided on Afghanistan. While the Americans and British want a military solution, the Germans are lobbying for their brand of development aid backed by armed troops.  
The United States president was connected by secure video line to the situation room of the German chancellery. Only a handful of senior staff were allowed to attend as George W. Bush and Angela Merkel discussed the state of the world.  The situation in Iraq, the nuclear dispute with Iran, the crisis in Lebanon -- they left out none of the issues that Western leaders are grappling with. Finally the chancellor turned to the most sensitive issue on her mind.  Yes, the situation in Afghanistan was difficult, but the German army was doing an important job in the north. That's where 40 percent of the Afghan population lives. With almost 3,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan, she reminded the president, Germany was one of the biggest troop contributors and was making a major contribution to civil reconstruction and had already trained 16,000 police officers ....


*NATO strives to mend rift over its future role*
France and U.S. are at odds at summit
Judy Dempsey, International Herald Tribune, 27 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO was struggling Monday to resolve differences between the United States and France over the future role of the military alliance at a time when it is facing a crucial test in Afghanistan.  Diplomats attending the summit meeting in Riga - the first time a former Communist country that was once ruled directly by the Kremlin is playing host to such a meeting - said Washington and Paris represented competing camps that were trying to define NATO's role on the global stage.  Nicholas Burns, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, and a former ambassador to NATO, said last week that he wanted the alliance to forge a special relationship with countries that are already helping the 26-nation alliance in Afghanistan where it is facing a sharp surge in violence by Taliban fighters and warlords ....


*Dutch deny differences with NATO allies over south Afghanistan*
Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa (DEU), Nov 27, 2006
Article Link

The Dutch Defence Ministry denied Monday there were any real differences in approach to the ISAF mission in southern Afghanistan between the Dutch forces and their NATO allies, as NATO heads met in Riga.  But a defence ministry spokesman in The Hague acknowledged 'nuanced differences' between the Dutch in Uruzgan Province and the British and Canadians in Helmand and Kandahar Provinces respectively.   'There are no real differences in policy. All coalition partners are working to the ISAF mandate and with the same mission, but at some points there are nuanced differences,' a ministry spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa ....


*The NATO Riga Summit: Time for Backbone in the Alliance*
Nile Gardiner, Ph.D., Heritage Foundation WebMemo #1261, 27 Nov 06
Article Link

....  Many major European Union countries are deploying militarily neutered forces in Afghanistan, commanded by lackluster political leaders petrified of the public reaction to troop casualties, and refusing to redeploy their soldiers to the south for military operations against the Taliban. This is a sorry spectacle that makes a mockery of Europe’s professed commitment to the war on terrorism. NATO is a war-fighting alliance, not a glorified peacekeeping group ....


*Weakened Bush to meet NATO allies on Afghanistan*
Paul Taylor, Reuters (UK), 27 Nov 06
Article Link

U.S. President George W. Bush, weakened by election setbacks at home and worsening violence in Iraq, meets his NATO allies on Tuesday to seek ways to overcome another major security challenge -- in Afghanistan.  As Bush flew into the Baltic state of Estonia on his way to a NATO summit in neighbouring Latvia, his top security adviser denied growing talk that Iraq had plunged into a civil war, but acknowledged that sectarian violence had entered "a new phase".  White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said NATO leaders would affirm their determination to prevail over Islamist militants in Afghanistan, the most remote and complex military mission in the 26-nation alliance's history ....


NATO Leaders Promote Values, Focus on Afghanistan
Key U.S. senator tells conference dinner Afghanistan is “test case” for NATO
Vince Crawley, US Information Service, 27 Nov 06
Article Link

As NATO’s 26 heads of state prepare to gather for their first summit in a former Soviet republic, leaders stressed that the alliance is based on common values and remains committed to stabilizing Afghanistan and promoting a democratic way of life.  “Since its creation in 1949, NATO has defended key values" shared by its member states, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters November 27 in Riga.  When a journalist asked whether NATO leaders were aware of memorials in and around Riga commemorating tens of thousands of Holocaust victims murdered during World War II, de Hoop Scheffer said the military alliance was founded in part to prevent such atrocities in the future.  “I think quite honestly that the values that NATO has always defended -- and is defending as we speak … prevent these kinds of unspeakable atrocities from taking place again,” he said ....



*Afghanistan: NATO must ensure justice for victims of civilian deaths and torture*
Amnesty International news release, AI Index: ASA 11/021/2006 (Public), via Reliefweb.net, 27 Nov 06
News Release

NATO leaders must set up a joint body, together with partners in Afghanistan, to pursue justice for civilians whose human rights may have been violated by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan, said Amnesty International ahead of the NATO summit in Riga, Latvia on 28/29 November.  Amnesty International is concerned that the legal basis for the presence of ISAF in the country places it outside Afghan law and beyond the effective reach of justice in members' own countries.  "ISAF has a crucial role to play in securing the rule of law in Afghanistan. We urge NATO leaders to ensure that ISAF does not fall short of international humanitarian and human rights law in pursuing this aim," said Tim Parritt, Deputy Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty International ....


*NATO Riga Summit: Let aid agencies do their job in Afghanistan*
Norwegian Refugee Council news release #1946-2006, via Reliefweb.net, 27 Nov 06
News Release

Upon the convening of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) Riga Summit in Latvia(28 – 29 November 2006) the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has called upon Member States to dramatically revamp NATO’s security strategy in Afghanistan. According to NRC and other aid agencies across the country, NATO should play a significant but circumscribed role in Afghanistanin accordance with the organisation’s mandate and comparative advantage.  “NATO should do what it does best – support the security sector and keep the peace – so that aid agencies can do what we do best – deliver protection and assistance to civilians in need,” said Ann Kristin Brunborg, NRC’s Regional Resident Representative responsible for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran ....



*Waziristan accord not a ‘get out of jail free’ card for Bin Laden*
Daily Times (PAK), 28 Nov 06
Article Link

Brian Cloughley, a British expert on Pakistan and Afghanistan affairs, said on Monday that the peace treaty in South Waziristan Agency did not provide a ‘get out of jail free’ card to anyone including Osama bin Laden.  Speaking at the fourth Altaf Gohar Memorial Lecture, he said the agreement had received criticism within Pakistan and abroad, but it was premature to say whether the initiative would work or not. The lecture titled, “Some Major Developments Affecting Afghanistan and Pakistan”, was presided over by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.  Cloughley said the agreement permitted foreign residents to remain in those tribal areas. “These people, probably some hundreds, were absorbed in various tribes at the end of the US anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan and are equal members of the tribes.”  He said drug production and stationing of foreign troops in Afghanistan were the two major concerns for Pakistan.  He said the International Security Assistance Force’s mission did not include reference to drug control and the mission of the NATO force remained equally unclear ....



*U.S. Military Operations Evolve as Afghan Army Becomes More Capable*
Kathleen T. Rhem, American Forces Press Service, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

FORWAD OPERATING BASE GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Nov. 24, 2006 – U.S. military operations and missions have changed since the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom and will continue to change as the Afghan National Army becomes a more capable and respected force.  “Every operation we do, we do with the ANA,” Army Sgt. Maj. Bryan Gran, operations sergeant major for Task Force Iron Graze here, said in a Thanksgiving Day interview. “If a squad of our guys goes out, a platoon of their guys goes out; if a platoon of our guys goes out, a company of their guys goes out.”   Task Force Iron Graze comprises the 102nd Infantry Battalion, of the Connecticut Army National Guard. The unit falls under the 10th Mountain Division here and works in concert with Afghan army units throughout the 28,000-square-kilometer Ghazni province.  “We will not go into a compound by ourselves,” Gran said. “We do not kick down doors any more; those days are over.” ....


*U.S. Soldiers Work With Afghan Army to Fortify, Instill Discipline*
Kathleen T. Rhem, American Forces Press Service, 24 Nov 06
Article Link

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Nov. 24, 2006 – As winter tightens its grip on Afghanistan -- higher elevations already are snow-covered -- U.S. forces are striving to fortify their Afghan National Army counterpart units and instill professional discipline to keep the Afghan soldiers on duty year-round.  “Traditionally, they all go home in winter,” Army Sgt. Maj. Bryan Gran, operations sergeant major for Task Force Iron Graze here, said in a Thanksgiving Day interview. “We’ve got to try to get them away from that. And the way to do that is we’ve got to provide them with suitable living quarters so that they can stay.”   Task Force Iron Graze comprises the 102nd Infantry Battalion, of the Connecticut Army National Guard. The unit falls under the 10th Mountain Division here and works in concert with Afghan army units throughout the 28,000-square-kilometer Ghazni province ....



*Free, Quality Education for Every Afghan Child *  
Oxfam Briefing Paper 93, 27 Nov 06
Report Summary/Links - News Release

Half of the children in Afghanistan still do not go to school despite a 500 per cent increase in enrolments in the last six years. With the establishment of democracy, the main symbol of national regeneration lay in the dream of educating every child – boy and girl. However, there remain many obstacles to achieving this dream.  Household contributions to education are steep and deter new entrants. Those in schools are faced with inadequate educational materials, textbooks, and teachers. Budget allocation and spending in the education sector by various stakeholders remain largely unco-ordinated and opaque. This briefing paper outlines some of the key concerns, and proposes a plan for not only increased funding, but also reforming budget allocation and planning within the Ministry of Education and amongst other actors in the education sector ....


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## The Bread Guy (28 Nov 2006)

*Our soldiers aren't trying to 'kill everybody'*
Christie Blatchford, Globe & Mail, 28 Nov 06
Column Link - Permalink

Over the course of my time in Afghanistan and in dozens more interviews with the returned members of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and others back at home, I know the young men and women (and let's put aside the gender correctness for the moment, the majority of our troops are men) who wear the Maple Leaf well, and the one bloody thing I am sure of is that they are not indiscriminate killers.  In truth, they are precisely the opposite. They are highly discriminating killers ....  Indeed, the combination of their careful training, the decisions of their commanders and the detailed rules of engagement that govern them has sometimes seen Canadians, and our allies in combat there, choose a course of action that sees them suffer casualties rather than the easier one, which might cause civilian deaths ....



*NATO's steps to an Afghan win: defence, development, diplomacy*
CAN PM Stephen Harper & NLD PM Jan Peter Balkenende, Globe & Mail, 28 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

.... we need to ensure security in the five southern Afghan provinces. This is where Canada has just transferred command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force to the Netherlands. There is still hard work to be done there with boots on the ground. We are confident that allies understand the importance of standing together and ensuring that ISAF has the forces, resources and flexibility for success in these provinces ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Nato Afghan mission 'achievable' *  
BBC Online, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

Afghanistan is "mission possible", the head of Nato has said in an effort to encourage hesitant members of the pact to boost their commitment to the area.  Despite a strengthening Taleban, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer insisted the alliance could succeed in its Afghan mission and even start pulling out by 2008 ....


*NATO eyes Afghan handover in 2008*
CNN, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO's military operation in Afghanistan will succeed, the alliance's chief said Tuesday, urging member countries not to lose heart despite a strengthening Taliban insurgency and unexpectedly high casualties.  Speaking to a forum before a two-day summit, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer insisted the alliance will prevail in its first mission outside Europe. He also expressed hoped that by 2008, Afghan forces could begin taking over security tasks.  "I would hope that by 2008, we'll have made considerable progress ... (with) effective and trusted Afghan security forces gradually taking control," he said.  Although De Hoop Scheffer predicted that by 2008, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization also will be able to reduce its presence in Kosovo, where about 17,000 peacekeepers are deployed, he said he could not yet envisage drawing down in Afghanistan.  "Our exit strategy will depend on Afghanistan having its own security forces," he said, adding that NATO would launch a training program for the Afghan army ....


*NATO chief sees handover to Afghan troops in 2008*
Reuters (UK), 28 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO forces should be able to hand over responsibility to Afghanistan's security forces gradually in 2008, the alliance's secretary-general said on Tuesday.  Jaap de Hoop Scheffer gave a glimpse of NATO's exit strategy from its most dangerous combat mission in a speech to a security conference hours before the start of a summit of alliance leaders in Latvia.  "I would hope that by 2008, we will have made considerable progress ... and effective and trusted Afghan security forces gradually taking control," he told the Riga Conference, appealing to allies to provide more troops with fewer national restrictions on their use in the meantime.  But De Hoop Scheffer said that at present any talk of withdrawals in Afghanistan was premature.  He noted the 32,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force could only consider pulling out troops when Afghan security forces were able to take over ....


*Bush pleads for more NATO troops for Afghanistan*
Paul Taylor, Reuters (UK), 28 Nov 06
Article Link

President Bush appealed to NATO allies on Tuesday to provide more troops with fewer national restrictions for the alliance's most dangerous mission in Afghanistan, hours before a summit of allied leaders.  "To succeed in Afghanistan, NATO allies must provide the forces NATO military commanders require," Bush told a joint news conference with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in Tallinn on his way to the NATO meeting in neighboring Latvia.  "Like Estonia, member nations must accept difficult assignments if we expect to be successful," he said in a veiled reference to numerous so-called national caveats that restrict where, when and how allies' troops can be used.  NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a security conference in Riga it was unacceptable that allied forces in southern Afghanistan, the main battleground with resurgent Taliban fighters, were 20 percent below the required strength.  "Just as we need combat forces that can also handle reconstruction, we can ill afford reconstruction armies that cannot handle combat," he told the Riga Conference ....


----------



## GAP (28 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 28 November 2006*

Canadian soldier injured in suicide attack
Canadian Press
Article Link

Kandahar — A Canadian soldier has been slightly injured in a suicide bomb attack in the Panjwaii District of Kandahar Province Tuesday.

The afternoon attack on a Bison armoured personnel carrier occurred just south of the Arghandab River.

Lieutenant Commander Kris Phillips said the suicide bomb attack was “completely ineffective” and the injured soldier received only flash burns.

The attack came a day after two Canadian soldiers, Sergeant Major Bobby Girouard and Chief Warrant Officer Albert Storm were killed in a suicide bomb attack near Kandahar
More on link

Afghans to use herbicide on nation's poppy crop  
U.S. efforts to quell country's opium boom 'will make the situation worse,' official says 
GRAEME SMITH From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

TIRIN KOT, AFGHANISTAN — The United States has persuaded Afghanistan to spray herbicide on poppy fields in an effort to slow the country's opium boom, according to a senior Western diplomat.

A security review will be conducted before the plan goes ahead, the diplomat said. But already rumours of chemical eradication are spreading in southern Afghanistan, where many say it would spark a revolt among farmers and put Canadian soldiers at risk.

Afghanistan has not previously tried chemical spraying, as President Hamid Karzai expressed deep misgivings about the effects of herbicides on villagers and legitimate crops.

But U.S. politicians are now encouraging a more aggressive drug policy in Afghanistan, after estimates show this year's opium crop was 59 per cent bigger than the previous year's harvest.
More on link


Patrolling with Canadians in Panjwaii
Extreme caution the order of the day 
By Bill Graveland Photos by Bill Graveland/Canadian Press
Article Link

CP reporter Bill Graveland is embedded with Canadian soldiers on the front lines in Afghanistan. Here is his account of a day with the troops on patrol. 

PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) — It was just too good to pass up — a chance to go out on foot patrol with Canadian and Afghan troops in this tiny village in the middle of a war zone. 
After two weeks in Afghanistan at the relatively safe Canadian base at Kandahar airfield, I was thankful for a chance to get “outside the wire” as the military puts it and see our troops in action. 

I was already at the small Canadian camp near the village of Panjwaii, the site of suicide bombings and intense fighting with the Taliban earlier this year, when the opportunity presented itself. 

The day got off to a rocky start though when there was a loud bang and explosion from a suspected Taliban rocket, which landed within the camp. It was believed to have been fired from as far as eight kilometres away. 

It blew a hole in the ground with plenty of smoke but failed to hit anything. 

“No collateral damage to speak of. Just a rock pile took a beating,” Warrant Officer Jean Blain of Montreal assured me.   
Canadian gunners filed several volleys in return. 
 More on link


Canadian medics just as hardcore as combat troops in Afghanistan
Friday Nov24 2006 BILL GRAVELAND
Article Link 

PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) - Don't let the blonde hair, blue eyes and dazzling white smile fool you. Cpl. Shannon Fretter of Springhill, N.S. is as hardcore as any grizzled fighting man in the Canadian Forces.
Fretter, a medic who has been stationed with troops during the heaviest fighting in Panjwaii district, was on her way to Kandahar Air Field on Friday for a couple of days of downtime. "I just want to smell like a girl again," she lamented, pulling at a strand of hair sticking out from beneath her toque.

Fretter, 32, is a mother of five and has a husband waiting at home in Petawawa, Ont. She has become a popular subject for members of the Afghan National Army, who are forever begging her to pose for pictures with them.

"It's the blonde hair and blue eyes. They don't get to see it that much here. The boys keep teasing me that they're lining the grape huts with my picture just like they do with their porn for their vehicles," she giggled.

"They think it's cool that I have a gun and I stand there with my rifle and do action poses. I've had at least 200 photos so I'm a pinup girl for the Canadian army," Fretter said.

But look behind the aesthetics and you find someone who has been in the heat of action and watched close friends die.   
"I've never hated anyone in my life until my buddies started dying and there's nothing in the world that can bring them back," Fretter said thoughtfully. But the words sound little like those of a medic.

"There is the satisfaction that these people are not going to be able to do it again. We're pushing them back as far as we can every time we get a chance to go out there. The Americans call it hunting," she added. "I look at it this way - the more we get of them the less they get of their own people."
More on link

Suicide car bomber kills policeman in western Afghanistan  
The Associated Press 
Article Link

A suicide car bomber exploded his vehicle next to a counterterrorism police truck that had been chasing him in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing one police officer and injuring another, an official said.

Police tried to stop and search the suicide bomber's car and gave chase when he didn't stop, said Noor Khan Nekzad, spokesman for the provincial police chief of Herat province.

One policeman was killed and the province's deputy counterterrorism chief was wounded in the explosion, 10 kilometers (5 miles) south of Herat city, said Nekzad. The bomber also died.

A remote control bomb, meanwhile, exploded next to a police convoy Monday night in the Shindand district of Herat province, injuring three police, said Sayed Sarajuddin, the district police chief.
End

Oregon General Rees Credits Soldiers for Improvements in AfghanistanTim King, Salem-News.com Nov-27-2006 22:44  
Article Link

Generals visit Forward Operating Base near Uzbekestan to acknowledge efforts of troops

(KABUL, Afghanistan) - My senses were assaulted by the most amazing scenes in Afghanistan this week, when I had an opportunity to visit a forward operating base in the northern part of the country. The purpose was a visit from a number of National Guard generals from different states including Oregon's General Raymond Rees. 

The trip from Camp Phoenix in Kabul involved rides in an armored Suburban, a KC-130 aircraft and a fully up armored Humvee combat vehicle. The trip further compounded my belief that the American mission in Afghanistan is centered more closely around humanitarian work than combat. General Rees says the U.S. mission is gaining ground.

"Soldiers are doing a fantastic job, I've seen a real improvement in everything that is going on. I was here ten months ago in the January timeframe and clearly things are much improved over what I saw then." The longest part of the trip was made in a KC-130 transport plane from the Michigan National Guard. Flying high over the northern regions of Afghanistan, the plane delivered us to the air facility at Mazaur e Shariff, a base occupied and protected by a number of coalition military groups including the U.S. French Special Forces. This is the place where the first American was killed after U.S. forces landed in Afghanistan.  The last leg of the journey to the combat base at Metz was made in a Humvee. The roadways place the Americans in a close proximity to the people of Afghanistan.

This is one of the smoothest roads I've traveled so far in Afghanistan. The purpose of this convoy is to get generals out to visit bases they haven't seen yet, forward operating bases, and to have a chance to say thank you for the efforts of these soldiers.
More on Link

Clashes break out in Afghanistan
7.41, Mon Nov 27 2006
Article Link

NATO forces have killed 55 Taliban fighters and one of their own soldiers died in fierce clashes in southern Afghanistan.

Troops from the defence alliance called in close air support after they came under attack in the southern province of Uruzgan.

The nationality of the soldier killed was not disclosed, but Dutch troops form the bulk of NATO presence in Uruzgan, a remote, rugged province, where support for the Taliban is strong.

A statement issued from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters in Kabul said: "Initial battle damage assessment indicates that approximately 50 insurgents were killed in the attack.

"Regrettably, an ISAF soldier was also killed during the same incident."

The deaths come after a suicide bomber also killed seven Afghans at a restaurant in the Urgun district of southeastern Paktika province.

All of the victims were civilians, but several provincial officials, including the district chief, were among the wounded according to Paktika's governor Mohammad Akram Khpelwak.
More on Link

Drug industry threatens to derail Afghanistan's State building says UN/World Bank report
By Finfacts Team Nov 28, 2006, 
Article Link

Efforts to combat opium production in Afghanistan have been marred by corruption and have failed to prevent the consolidation of the drugs trade in the hands of fewer powerful players with strong political connections, says a report released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Bank.

According to the report, entitled Afghanistan's Drug Industry: Structure, Functioning, Dynamics, and Implications for Counter-Narcotics Policy, efforts to combat opium have achieved only limited success and have lacked sustainability. 

Strong enforcement efforts against farmers are often ineffective in remote areas with limited resources, assets, and markets. The impact of eradication of opium poppy fields, and of reductions in cultivation resulting from the threat of eradication, tends to be felt most by poor farmers and rural wage labourers, who lack political support, are unable to pay bribes and cannot otherwise protect themselves.

The report says that, far from leading to sustained declines in total national cultivation, success in reducing cultivation in one province often leads to increases elsewhere, or cultivation in the province itself rebounds in the following year (as occurred in Helmand province after 2003).

Corruption in the eradication process has also had negative side-effects. Wealthier opium producers pay bribes to avoid having their crops eradicated, greatly reducing the effectiveness of counter-narcotics measures and gravely undermining the credibility of the government and its local representatives.

"History teaches us that it will take a generation to render Afghanistan opium-free," said Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of UNODC. "But we need concrete results now, for example by doubling the number of opium-free provinces from the current six in 2007. I therefore propose that development support to farmers, the arrest of corrupt officials and eradication measures be concentrated in half a dozen provinces with low cultivation in 2006 so as to free them from the scourge of opium. Those driving the drug industry must be brought to justice and officials who support it sacked." 
More on Link


Rookie cager feels honored to represent Afghanistan at Doha Asiad  
November 28, 2006          
Article Link

Afghan athletes all feel honored to represent their country at the Asian Games, said a young basketball player Monday after attending the South Asian delegation's flag raising ceremony in the Athletes' Village of Doha. 

"We are here not expecting to win medals, but to represent our country," said Ali Noorzad who did not become a national player until the Afghan basketball team called up a batch of youngsters to a training camp in the United States in preparations for the Doha Asiad. 

It's the first time that the war-destroyed country sends a basketball team for Asian Games competitions after long being apart from the Olympic sports family, and none of the team members intended to go getting some astonishing results from the Doha competitions. 

"We came from different parts of the country, we were doing preparations for the Asian Games for just one week, and it's really challenges for us to play against all those strong teams of Asia," said Noorzad, referring to the harsh situation inside his country, which could hardly offer regular training bases for the athletes and teams. 

"It's also the first time for most of us to represent our country at an Asian Games. We'll do as good as we can," he added. 

The Afghan delegation grouped 86 members including 51 athletes to take part in 11 sports here at the Doha Asiad, which is to be officially unveiled on Dec. 1. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Chirac proposes forming contact group on Afghanistan   
www.chinaview.cn 2006-11-28 04:41:53  
Article Link

     PARIS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- French President Jacques Chirac proposed forming a contact group on Afghanistan to ensure that a global strategy guides NATO action in the country, French presidential office said on Monday. 

    Chirac made the remarks during the telephone conversation with his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush. 

    The two leaders also talked about the situation in the Middle East and "notably the Israeli-Palestinian situation and international action toward Lebanon," said the spokesman. 

    Bush left Washington on Monday for an international tour that first takes him to Estonia, Latvia and finally to Jordan, where he will meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. 
Editor: Mu Xuequan  
More on Link


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## The Bread Guy (28 Nov 2006)

*Two Canadian soldiers killed by suicide bomber   *  
CEFCOM/COMFEC news release #NR–06.032, 28 Nov 06
News release 

Two Canadian soldiers were killed on November 27 at approximately 8:35 am (Kandahar time) when their Bison Light Armoured Vehicle was attacked by a suicide bomber driving a car laden with explosives. The incident occurred on Highway 4 between Kandahar Airfield and Kandahar City. There were no other Canadian casualties.

Killed in the attack were:

Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group; and 
Corporal Albert Storm, also of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group based in Petawawa, On. 

Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Cpl Storm will be greatly missed by all the members of joint Task Force Afghanistan. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten and this event will not prevent us from continuing our operations in Kandahar.

Canadian troops in Afghanistan are serving alongside soldiers and civilians from 36 countries under the NATO-led, UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). A key part of Canada’s ‘whole of government’ assistance to Afghanistan is helping to establish the security necessary to promote development.

-30-


*Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada on the occasion of the death of two Canadian soldiers*
Governor General of Canada web page, 28 Nov 06
Statement

"I was deeply saddened to learn, from Ghana where I am currently conducting a State visit, of the death of two of our soldiers in Afghanistan. Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard and Corporal Albert Storm were the victims of a car bomb suicide attack while they were driving in an armoured vehicle, south of Kandahar. 

I have the deepest respect for the commitment of the members of our Forces who are deploying major efforts to counter oppression and to ensure that women, children and men can thrive in a safe environment. 

On behalf of all Canadians, I wish to extend my sincere condolences to the families and friends of Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard and Corporal Albert Storm. I also share the sadness of their colleagues in the Canadian Forces who are grieving the loss of two of their own, but who remain determined to meet all dangers head-on to make sure that justice and freedom will prevail."

-30-


*Statement by the Prime Minister on the deaths of Robert Girouard and Albert Storm*
Prime Minister of Canada web page, 28 Nov 06
Statement

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the deaths of Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard and Corporal Albert Storm:

“It is with deep sorrow that I extend my condolences, and those of the entire Government of Canada and all Canadians, to the families and friends of Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Corporal Storm, who were killed yesterday in Afghanistan.

“The resolve and courage demonstrated by Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Corporal Storm represent Canadian values and beliefs in the finest tradition.  They will be missed by the Canadian Forces family, and their loss is also Canada's loss.  We stand united in pride and pledge to remember their sacrifice. We thank Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Corporal Storm for their commitment and contribution in serving our country and in helping the Afghan people.

“Canada will not be deterred from the mission to assist the Afghan people achieve greater stability and security.  Our progress is gradual but we are determined to achieve irreversible success. Yesterday morning I spoke with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and he expressed his condolences on the loss of our two soldiers.  He noted that Canada is making a difference in Afghanistan, particularly in the south, and he expressed that Canada as part of the NATO alliance is making the world a safer place by making Afghanistan a safer place.

“I know that Canadians stand proudly behind our Canadian Forces as they carry out this mission.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Corporal Storm on this sad day.”


*Statement by the Minister of National Defence on the Deaths of Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard and Corporal Albert Storm*
Department of National Defence web page, 28 Nov 06
Statement

The Honourable Gordon O'Connor, Minister of National Defence, issued the following statement today on the deaths of Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard and Corporal Albert Storm:

“Two professional, dedicated Canadian soldiers, Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard and Corporal Albert Storm, made the ultimate sacrifice yesterday in Afghanistan. Our hearts and thoughts go out to their families and friends during this difficult time.  

Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Corporal Storm were killed when their armoured vehicle was attacked by a suicide bomber as they traveled on the highway to the Panjwayi area of Afghanistan.  Chief Warrant Officer Girouard was a very senior Non-Commissioned Officer and a proven leader.  Corporal Storm was a brave, dedicated and professional soldier.  Both served valiantly against an enemy that uses arbitrary attacks to thwart any progress for the Afghan people to achieve their freedom and stability.  

There are risks involved in this selfless work.  However, the sacrifice of these soldiers will not be forgotten and this event will not deter us from helping Afghans reclaim their lives and build a free and democratic society.”

-30-



*Two members of RCR die at hands of suicide bomber*
Army.gc.ca, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

Two Canadian soldiers were killed on November 27 when their Bison light armoured vehicle was attacked by a suicide bomber driving a car laden with explosives. The incident occurred on Highway 4 between Kandahar Airfield and Kandahar City.  The Taliban have claimed responsibility. In addition to the two Canadian deaths, one Afghan civilian was also killed in the blast.  Killed in the attack were Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st  Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group, and Corporal Albert Storm, also of 1 RCR Battle Group. The 1 RCR is based in Petawawa, Ontario.  CWO Bobby Girouard, 46, was from Bathurst, New Brunswick, and a 29-year military veteran. He was married and the father of three.  Cpl Storm, 36, was a native of Fort Erie, Ontario, and a decorated soldier who had served in trouble spots around the globe. He was the father of two and was just three years from retirement ....



*Taliban attacks continue as country enters a deep freeze*
Lee Greenberg, CanWest News Service, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian troops in Afghanistan's lawless south came under attack on Tuesday for a second day in a row.  The Canadian convoy was attacked by a car bomb just after noon as they traveled in the Panjwaii-Zhari region, south of the Arghandab river, officials said.  One soldier was lightly injured in the attack, which a military spokesman called "highly ineffective."  About half an hour after the attack, soldiers defending a key position along Route Summit shot and killed a man after he approached their position in an "erratic, agitated" way, Lt.-Cmdr. Kris Phillips said.  Tuesday's incidents follow a suicide attack that killed two Canadian soldiers one day earlier ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Kandahar Tim's not costing us*
Taxpayers not subsidizing coffee outlet for soldiers in Afghanistan: Company
Tony Ricciuto, Niagara Falls Review, 25 Nov 06
Article Link

Taxpayers aren't getting creamed after all for the cost to open a Tim Hortons outlet in Afghanistan, where Canadian soldiers are serving.  Canadians will not be stuck paying millions of dollars a year for troops to enjoy a cup of Tim Hortons coffee while serving in Afghanistan.  A recent news report stated it cost Canadian taxpayers close to $4 million to set up a Tim Hortons outlet in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan. The report added it will continue to cost about $5 million each year.  In interviews, however, officials at Tim Hortons head office in Oakville and the Department of National Defence in Ottawa say the report was wrong. They said startup costs and future expenses should be covered by profits earned by the Afghanistan outlet.  "It has been very confusing, because it was incorrectly reported," said Nick Javor, senior vice-president of corporate affairs for Tim Hortons.  The news item that originated with CanWest News Service, he added, also aired on Global National TV.  The Afghanistan venture was not a normal business transaction, Javor said. Rather than Tim Hortons contacting the military about opening an outlet in Kandahar, it was the soldiers who made it known to their superiors they would like to have a Tim Hortons outlet ....



*Reluctant NATO allies offer minor concessions to help Canada's Afghan mission*
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

A  handful of European NATO countries offered minor concessions on Afghanistan Tuesday, suggesting they'll allow their troops to reinforce the bloodied Canadian contingent in Kandahar in emergency circumstances.  But the definition of "emergency" remained unclear as quibbling alliance leaders headed into a working dinner Tuesday night at their summit in the former Soviet republic of Latvia.  Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay cautioned the discussion among NATO members was not over, and he was hopeful the high-level talks would produce some relief for Canada's forces in Afghanistan.  But he also made it clear that the removal of so-called national caveats - restrictions that prevent some countries from taking part in fighting Taliban insurgents - was not enough and more troops were needed.  "Clearly we want more robust capacity in the south to face the Taliban," MacKay told reporters ....


*NATO nations pledge emergency Afghan forces*
Paul Taylor and Mark John, Reuters (UK), 28 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO countries signalled at a summit in Latvia on Tuesday they could free up more troops to battle Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan by easing restrictions on their forces in emergencies, officials said.  U.S. President George W. Bush had called before the meeting on allies to provide more soldiers with fewer national limits for the most dangerous ground mission in NATO's 57-year history.  France, Germany, Italy and Spain, who sparked a row by refusing calls in September to send troops to the Taliban's heartland in south Afghanistan, promised to send help to trouble zones outside their areas in exceptional cases, officials said.  "The President (Jacques Chirac) confirmed the possibility, on a case-by-case basis and on request, to send French troops outside their zone if necessary," French officials said after talks in the Latvian capital Riga.  Madrid's pledge was yet more guarded, with a Spanish official saying Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had offered use of Spanish helicopters in exceptional circumstances to help evacuate wounded NATO solders, and not for combat ....


*Spain announces no more troops to be sent to Afghanistan*
Typically Spanish web page, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

Spain has announced that it will only permit its troops based in Afghanistan to move out of their area of deployment in cases of emergency.  Defence Minister, José Antonio Alonso, also announced in the Latvian capital of Riga on Tuesday that the Spanish government will not be sending any more troops to Afghanistan. Alonso is in Latvia with the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, on a summit of NATO leaders.  The Minister was responding to a statement made by US President, George Bush, shortly after his arrival in Riga that all NATO allies are obliged to offer assistance in case of attack on any other members in Afghanistan, in accordance with the principles on which NATO was founded in 1949 ....


*NATO pushs for more troops in Afghanistan*
William J. Kole, Associated Press, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO pressed its allies at a summit today to deploy more troops to Afghanistan's volatile south, but Germany resisted any permanently expanded presence and Canada complained of bearing the brunt of an increasingly bloody mission.  Despite the strengthening Taliban insurgency and unexpectedly high casualties, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that by 2008, he hopes Afghan forces can begin taking over security tasks.  President Bush called the Afghanistan mission - which has mobilized 32,800 troops- NATO's No. 1 operation. Defeating Taliban forces, he said, "will require the full commitment of our alliance."  "The commanders on the ground must have the resources and flexibility they need to do their jobs," Bush said, crediting the alliance for helping Afghanistan go from "a totalitarian nightmare" to stability and steadily growing prosperity.  But German Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear that her country would not permanently expand its 2,900-strong force, though she said German forces could be deployed in the south in an emergency. Canada's foreign minister warned that public support will fade if other countries don't relax restrictions on use of their troops and help Canadian forces in the south ....


*NATO chief lashes allies over Afghan troop commitments*
Agence France Presse, 28  Nov 06
Article Link

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has hit out at alliance countries for failing to provide reinforcements in insurgency-hit Afghanistan, as world leaders gathered for a summit in Latvia.  In neighbouring Estonia, US President George W. Bush also urged his NATO counterparts to step up, saying they must "accept difficult assignments" like the increasingly fraught alliance mission in southern Afghanistan.  NATO has been taken by surprise this year by a resurgent Taliban militia, ousted by a US-led coalition in 2001, whose rebellion has claimed some 3,700 lives, four times more than last year, according to an official report.  "It is not acceptable that our mission in the south still lacks 20 percent of its requirements," Scheffer said ahead of the meeting Tuesday, which starts with evening dinner talks on Afghanistan -- NATO's most ambitious operation ....



*Bush berates hesitant Nato allies *  
BBC Online, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

US President George W Bush has berated Nato members reluctant to send troops to Afghan hotspots, demanding they must accept "difficult assignments". 
Speaking just before a Nato meeting in Latvia, Mr Bush said members must provide the forces the alliance needs.  Several Nato nations have caveats that keep their troops out of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan, where Taleban forces are strengthening.  The two-day summit began with a working dinner focused on Afghanistan.  The difficulties of the Afghan mission are set to dominate the agenda in Riga ....



*Drug Industry Threatens to Derail Afghanistan's State Building*
Counter-narcotics efforts have deepened corruption and hurt the poorest, says new report
UN Office on Drugs & Crime/World Bank news release, 28 Nov 06
News release - Report (2.82MB .pdf)

Efforts to combat opium production in Afghanistan have been marred by corruption and have failed to prevent the consolidation of the drugs trade in the hands of fewer powerful players with strong political connections, says a report released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Bank.  According to the report, entitled Afghanistan's Drug Industry: Structure, Functioning, Dynamics, and Implications for Counter-Narcotics Policy, efforts to combat opium have achieved only limited success and have lacked sustainability.  Strong enforcement efforts against farmers are often ineffective in remote areas with limited resources, assets, and markets.  The impact of eradication of opium poppy fields, and of reductions in cultivation resulting from the threat of eradication, tends to be felt most by poor farmers and rural wage labourers, who lack political support, are unable to pay bribes and cannot otherwise protect themselves.  The report says that, far from leading to sustained declines in total national cultivation, success in reducing cultivation in one province often leads to increases elsewhere, or cultivation in the province itself rebounds in the following year (as occurred in Helmand province after 2003).  Corruption in the eradication process has also had negative side-effects.  Wealthier opium producers pay bribes to avoid having their crops eradicated, greatly reducing the effectiveness of counter-narcotics measures and  gravely undermining the credibility of the government and its local representatives.  "History teaches us that it will take a generation to render Afghanistan opium-free," said Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of UNODC.  "But we need concrete results now, for example by doubling the number of opium-free provinces from the current six in 2007.  I therefore propose that development support to farmers, the arrest of corrupt officials and eradication measures be concentrated in half a dozen provinces with low cultivation in 2006 so as to free them from the scourge of opium.  Those driving the drug industry must be brought to justice and officials who support it sacked." ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (29 Nov 2006)

*Canadian soldier lightly hurt in suicide attack*
Canadian Press, via CTV.ca, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

A Canadian soldier has been slightly injured in a suicide bomb attack in the Panjwaii District of Kandahar Province Tuesday.  The afternoon attack on a Bison armoured personnel carrier occurred just south of the Arghandab River.  Lt. Cmdr. Kris Phillips said the suicide bomb attack was "completely ineffective'' and the injured soldier received only flash burns.  The attack came a day after two Canadian soldiers, Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard and Cpl. Albert Storm, were killed in a suicide bomb attack near Kandahar ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Statement from Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Bill Graham on the deaths of Corporal Albert Storm and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard*
Liberal Party of Canada web page, 28 Nov 06
Statement

On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary caucus, I would like to express my most sincere sorrow at the news of the deaths of Corporal Albert Storm and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard Monday morning in Khandahar. We send our deepest sympathies to their family, friends and comrades as they cope with this terrible tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all.  I speak not only for our party but for all Canadians when I say that we are forever grateful for the sacrifices that Cpl. Storm, CWO Girouard and our other brave men and women in uniform have made on behalf of Canada.  We are immensely proud of the extraordinary men and women who risk their lives to protect our cherished values and our way of life. Every day, they put their lives on the line to help build a safe and secure world. Their dedication to creating a better, more peaceful life for Canadians and people the world over is second to none.  We remain steadfast in our support of all Canadian Forces members as they undertake this important mission to help bring peace, security, hope and opportunity to the people of Afghanistan and the world. 


*Statement by Jack Layton on the death of two Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan*
New Democratic Party web page, 28 Nov 06
Statement

“New Democrats across the country are deeply saddened by the loss of two brave Canadian soldiers, killed on Monday while serving our country in Afghanistan.  “The loss of Cpl. Albert Storm, from Fort Erie, Ont, and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, from Bathurst, N.B, is a tragic reminder of the constant danger our women and men in uniform face during their service to all Canadians. We commend their bravery, determination, selflessness and courage.  “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the two men who have been lost, with all members of the Canadian Forces serving at home and abroad, as well as with the broader military community of CFB Petawawa where the two soldiers were based.  “On behalf of all New Democrats, I extend our deepest and most sincere condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Cpl. Albert Storm and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard.”


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## GAP (29 Nov 2006)

*Articles found 29 Nov 2006*

Canadian-led offensive may have killed 1,500 Taliban fighters
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 CBC News 
Article link

The U.S. general who heads all NATO military forces says a two-week campaign that cost five Canadian lives in southern Afghanistan may have wiped out half of the "hard-core" Taliban fighters in the country.

The Canadian-led push, Operation Medusa, ended on Sept. 15 when Taliban forces stopped fighting and slipped away, Gen. James L. Jones said on Wednesday.

The Taliban "suffered a tactical defeat in the area where they chose to stand and fight" and got "a very powerful message … that they have no chance of winning militarily," he told reporters at the Pentagon.

NATO estimates that "somewhere in the neighbourhood of around 1,000" Taliban fighters were killed, and the number could be higher, he said. "If you said 1,500 it wouldn't surprise me."

Half of Taliban force may be dead
More on link

NATO allies offer grudging help in Afghanistan
Updated Tue. Nov. 28 2006 11:18 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Some European NATO countries have made grudging concessions with respects to backing up Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

They say they will do so under "emergency" circumstances, but the definition of emergency remains unclear.

The leaders are continuing discussion on the issue as they conduct a closed-door, working dinner Tuesday night at the NATO summit in Riga, Latvia.

The Canadian Press cited an unnamed official as saying Prime Minister Stephen Harper told his fellow leaders that Afghanistan was "the priority" for NATO.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay told reporters earlier the discussion wasn't over, and he hoped the talks would produce some help for Canada's troops in Afghanistan.

However, he also said merely removing restrictions on some of the other nations' troops serving there wasn't enough. More troops are needed.

"Clearly we want more robust capacity in the south to face the Taliban," MacKay said. "Lifting caveats is part of the equation. Lifting caveats will allow for more mobility."

France and Italy have indicated they are ready to easy restrictions on their troops.

"The Europeans have relied on their American allies for too long. They have to shoulder their share of the burden,'' President Jacques Chirac said in a statement.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country's 2,900-strong force won't be expanded. However, she did pledge to make them available in crisis situations.

U.S. Gen. James Jones, NATO's supreme commander, said the members have removed about 15 per cent of the restrictions.

Canada's vocal position on the issue has reportedly irritated some European countries.

"The feeling we get from listening to you is that you're all alone in the south,'' one northern European official, who asked not to be named, told The Canadian Press.

Before the summit began, U.S. President George Bush appealed to NATO allies on Tuesday to provide more troops with fewer national restrictions.

"To succeed in Afghanistan, NATO allies must provide the forces NATO military commanders require," Bush told a joint news conference with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in Tallinn on his way to the NATO meeting in neighbouring Latvia.

"Like Estonia, member nations must accept difficult assignments if we expect to be successful," he said.

Bush was apparently making a veiled reference to the restrictions.

Later in Riga, Bush also enlisted renewed commitments from NATO allies that have deployed 32,000 troops to Afghanistan.

He said NATO commanders must have the resources and flexibility to do the job.
More on link


Suicide bomber kills 2 Afghans
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 CBC News 
Article Link

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday and killed two civilians, a NATO official said.

No soldiers were injured and no military vehicles were damaged in the attack, said Maj. Luke Knittig, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
(Allauddin Khan/Associated Press) The attack came as the convoy headed away from Kandahar City toward the volatile Panjwaii district, where NATO troops have had tough battles with Taliban fighters.

Knittig said the bomber detonated his explosives beside the convoy.

It's the third day in a row that suicide bombers have targeted NATO soldiers in the Kandahar area. An attack on Monday killed two Canadian soldiers.

Brig. Richard Nugee, an ISAF official, told the Associated Press that Taliban militants have stepped up the number of attacks in the past week, possibly trying to get attention while NATO leaders meet this week

More on link

DoD Identifies Army Casualty
November 28, 2006 
Article Link

The Department of Defense announced today the death of one soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Cpl. Nathan J. Goodiron, 25, of Mandaree, N.D., died Nov. 23 in Qarabagh, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. He was assigned to National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery, Grand Forks, N.D.

And

DoD Identifies Army Casualty
November 28, 2006 
Article Link

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. 

2nd Lt. Scott B. Lundell, 35, of Hurricane, Utah, died Nov. 25 in Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades while on patrol during combat operations. He was assigned to I Corps Artillery, Utah National Guard, Camp Williams, Utah.
End

Afghan living conditions had stunned slain soldier
29-year veteran from N.B. 'didn't think that there was such a place in the world'
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 | 1:37 PM AT  CBC News 
Article Link

A soldier from New Brunswick who died Monday in Afghanistan served 29 years in places such as Kosovo but was stunned by the poverty, violence and desperation he saw on his latest mission, his father says.

Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Girouard — who was raised in Bathurst, N.B., and stationed with the Royal Canadian Regiment stationed at CFB Petawawa in Ontario — was killed when a suicide bomber struck his personnel carrier in the Panjwaii district in Afghanistan's south. The attack also killed Cpl. Albert Storm of the same regiment.

On Tuesday, every flag in Bathurst was flying at half mast as the town remembered Girouard as a dedicated father of three children and a committed soldier. Although Girouard's wife and daughter remain in Pembroke, Ont., his parents and other family members still live in Bathurst.
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The Current Situation in Iraq and Afghanistan
General Michael V. Hayden Director, Central Intelligence Agency
Statement for the Record before the Senate Armed Services Committee 
15 November 2006
Article link

Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee: 

The overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and of Saddam Husayn in Iraq as well as our determined pursuit of al-Qa'ida worldwide have inaugurated a new era of risk and opportunity for the United States in its engagement with much of the Muslim world. We are now face-to-face with whole societies which are in profound and volatile transitions and whose fate will directly affect the security of the United States . With US forces deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and with the United States leading the global response to the threat of terrorism, we are now actors to an unprecedented degree in supporting states—especially Iraq and Afghanistan—which are attempting to create and sustain a stable new order. 
More on link

ArmorGroup wins Afghanistan deal 
Wed 29 Nov 2006
Article Link 

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Security specialist ArmorGroup is to provide security services to the UK government in Kabul and the highly dangerous provinces of Kandahar and Helmand in Afghanistan. 

The contract announced today is worth around $30m a year and will run for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three. 

It is due to start on 1 January 2007 and, as a result, will have no impact on this year's revenues or profits. 

The contract will see guards, made up of former Gurkha soldiers and Afghans, protect sites such as the British Embassy and British Council compound in Kabul. 

In addition, the group’s mobile security services unit will protect UK government employees as they move around Afghanistan.
End

Living symbols of reform in Afghanistan
Female lawmakers work for, and embody, change.
By Alissa J. Rubin, Times Staff Writer November 29, 2006 
Article Link

AMONG the crowd of 800 turbaned elders who gathered in a vast tent, one person stood out: a slender woman in a white head scarf.

She took the podium only briefly, but when she did, most conversation came to a standstill. And though many of the bearded, tradition-bound elders are uncomfortable talking to a woman in public, several dozen clustered around her afterward to ask questions.

Her name is Zahera Sharif, and she is the only woman among the four members of Afghanistan's parliament from Khowst province. In a conservative area where it is possible to drive through towns without seeing a single woman on the street, she is a rarity.

As a member of parliament, she represents an institution that Western observers and experts in Afghanistan say is the country's best shot at building a stable democracy after years of war and religious extremism.

Among the 248 members of parliament's lower house, there are elders such as those Sharif met here. But there are also former exiles in Western-style business suits. All of the country's ethnic groups have a place: Uzbeks sit next to Tajiks; Pashtuns with Hazaras. There are onetime Taliban as well as their former Northern Alliance enemies. A quarter of the parliament members are women; not one wears a burka.

Some of those who gather in the low-slung building on the western edge of Kabul use old militia ties to get things done. Others take the floor to criticize the warlords. Or, like Sharif, they forgo the debate and focus instead on meeting the needs of their constituents.

"For the first time after 30 years of war, we've brought some major figures, who in the past would only talk to each other with a gun, under one roof," said Younis Qanooni, the speaker of parliament.
More on link

India for use of force against extremism in Afghanistan   
Article Link

United Nations, Nov 29: Rejecting suggestions for making a deal with the Taliban, India has said the long-term solution to problems in Afghanistan lies in a judicious mixture of using force against extremist elements and providing credible and sustained development opportunities. 

"What is needed is to eliminate the bases of extremists' support," India's ambassador to UN Nirupam Sen told the United Nations General Assembly yesterday without naming any country and called for interdiction of sources that provide terrorist groups with arms and finances. 

He rejected suggestions for making a deal with the Taliban and warned that such a course would bring neither peace nor security. 

"The swamp of terrorist insurgency cannot be drained till the stream feeding the swamp dries up or is at least reduced to a trickle," he remarked. 

An important regional and international duty that devolves upon the international community is to "firmly and decisively" act to eliminate not only the agencies of terror themselves, but to stop their backers and prevent incitement of terror, he told the delegates discussing situation in Afghanistan. 

Stressing that much more needs to be done to reverse the deteriorating security situation, Sen has called for intensification of regional and international efforts to deal with the problem of resurgent Taliban, an al Qaeda insurrection and their nexus with the drug traffickers. 
More on link


In Afghanistan, yesterday's warlords are today's bureaucrats
By David Zucchino Los Angeles Times Wednesday, November 29, 2006 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — For an hour, Ismail Khan, the minister of energy and water, listened as his employees complained about their department's dismal image: People called them lazy, corrupt and inefficient. Customers accused them of demanding bribes.

Khan sat on a stage in the meeting hall and glowered.

"Baseless lies!" he spat out.

That was the end of it.

Khan runs his ministry the way he once ruled over western Afghanistan as supreme warlord from his headquarters in Herat. His word is law.

But Khan the warlord, still wearing his white robes and black-and-white headdress, is now also Khan the public servant. He works in an office adorned with old maps of Kabul's power grid. And he is accountable to the public for his failures on what even his critics acknowledge is an impossible mission.

Afghans expected progress after U.S. forces, aided by Northern Alliance warlords such as Khan, toppled the Taliban five years ago.

But electric service is still unreliable, despite millions of dollars in aid and U.S. promises of a modern Afghanistan. Khan's ministry is barely able to provide two hours of electricity per day to Kabul, and none for 90 percent of the rest of this ruined nation.
More on link

Afghanistan: mobilisation of troops tough job for Nato
By Our Special Correspondent  LONDON, Nov 28
Article Link

Nato is finding it increasingly difficult to mobilise enough troops from member countries to effectively tackle the resurgent Taliban. This seemed to have led Nato leaders to look for a high-powered international fixer to be appointed for Afghanistan to help to force through political reforms and anti-drug policies, sources said on the eve of the alliance’s summit in Riga.

We need someone of real standing who can go to President Karzai in Kabul and to President Musharraf in Pakistan and knock heads together, a senior diplomatic source said.
More on link

Tighter security for Spanish troops in Afghanistan
29 November 2006
Article Link

RIGA — Madrid will allow the 700 troops it has deployed in Afghanistan to venture outside their designated zone only in cases of emergency.

Spanish defence minister Jose Antonio Alonso made the announcement at a press conference at a NATO conference in  Riga which he is attending with Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Alonso said that Spain will not increase its troop strength in the western Afghan province of Badghis, and it will continue to carry out civil reconstruction efforts there and to help the local population in other ways.

He said that the mission of the U.N.-authorized, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan was the reconstruction of the country.
More on link

Sweden may send more soldiers to Afghanistan  
November 29, 2006          
Article Link

Sweden is considering sending more forces to the ISAF (International Security Force for Afghanistan) mission in Afghanistan, Radio Sweden reported on Tuesday. 

The Swedish military wants to immediately increase the current force in northern Afghanistan from 250 to 275, and in the longer term it hopes to send a further 100 soldiers, the radio said. 

Swedish Defense Minister Mikael Odenberg said he is considering the proposal, weighing the needs for an overall strategy for Swedish peacekeeping missions abroad, according to the public broadcaster. 

The Swedes are serving in the NATO-led force of 31,000, as part of the Partner for Peace program. 

Source: Xinhua 
End 

If Afghanistan mission fails, NATO fails, Blair warns
The Associated PressPublished: November 28, 2006
Article Link

RIGA, Latvia: NATO's credibility and the world's safety depend on the alliance's successful completion of its mission in Afghanistan, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday.

The alliance needs to reaffirm its commitment to the country — "and do so with confidence" — or risk placing its members at risk, Blair said.

"The important thing is that we recognize that this operation in Afghanistan is of crucial importance to our own security," he told reporters during a brief stop in Copenhagen, Denmark, before flying to Riga on Tuesday evening.

"NATO's credibility is at stake here. If we do not succeed in Afghanistan, the whole world will be less secure."
More on link





More on link


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## The Bread Guy (30 Nov 2006)

*RCR mourns loss of two soldiers *  
Stephen Uhler, Pembroke Daily Observer, 29 Nov 06
Article Link

The Royal Canadian Regiment lost two of its finest members in Afghanistan Monday, but the unit is determined to soldier on.  Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46, and Corporal Albert Storm, 36, were killed after a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden vehicle into a Canadian convoy and detonated it.  In a press conference Tuesday, Col. Denis Thompson, commander of 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, said the events of Monday weigh heavily on the minds of the greater Petawawa community, but this grim news has only strengthened their resolve.  "I can confidently say that support for our deployed troops remains unwavering," he said. While the regiment and the battle group in Afghanistan is hurting, this only makes them more determined to carry on with their mission.  "There is a great sense of loss, but a greater sense of purpose," Col. Thompson said ....


*Soldier killed in suicide attack Monday had ties to Meaford training centre *  
Scott Dunn, Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin, 27 Nov 06
Article Link

A pivotal player in Canada’s military mission to Afghanistan is one of two victims of a suicide bombing In Kandahar Monday.  Chief Warrant Officer and Regimental Sgt. Major Bob Girouard, of the First Royal Canadian Regiment based in Petawawa, lived in Owen Sound for about five years and was stationed at Land Forces Central Area Training Centre Meaford before his transfer to Petawawa.   The RSM is the senior non-commissioned officer in any unit and plays a critical role in implementing military strategy. 
Indeed, all tactical matters - the planning and execution of specific military tasks - are his responsibility ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



_*NATO Riga Summit Highlights*_

Riga Summit Declaration, 29 Nov 06

....  Contributing to peace and stability in Afghanistan is NATO’s key priority.  In cooperation with Afghan National Security Forces and in coordination with other international actors, we will continue to support the Afghan authorities in meeting their responsibilities to provide security, stability and reconstruction across Afghanistan through the UN-mandated NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), respecting international law and making every effort to avoid harm to the civilian population.  *We reaffirm the strong solidarity of our Alliance, and pledge to ensure that ISAF has the forces, resources, and flexibility needed to ensure the mission’s continued success * ....


Comprehensive Political Guidance, Endorsed by NATO Heads of State and Government, 29 Nov 06

This Comprehensive Political Guidance provides a framework and political direction for NATOs continuing transformation, setting out, for the next 10 to 15 years, the priorities for all Alliance capability issues, planning disciplines and intelligence. This guidance, to be reviewed periodically, also aims to increase their coherence through an effective management mechanism ....


*Canadian soldiers to receive NATO reinforcement*
CTV.ca, 29 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian soldiers battling Taliban militants will be receiving reinforcements from NATO countries, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday after talks at the summit in Latvia.  "We do have important additional contributions from our partners in the south, from the Netherlands, Denmark, United Kingdom, Estonia, Romania," said Harper said at a news conference in the Latvian capital of Riga.  "These are our key partners in the south. They also happen to be for the most part the countries who have agreed to contribute even more forces."  But Harper told reporters he wasn't certain if any additional NATO soldiers would be sent to reinforce Canadian troops in the volatile Kandahar region ....


*Limited success convincing NATO to help in southern Afghanistan*
Matthew Fisher, CanWest News Service, 29 Nov 06
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s quest for more NATO help for Canadian soldiers in war-torn southern Afghanistan had only limited success, it seems, here at a two-day NATO meeting.  Alliance members have agreed that if NATO troops in Afghanistan find themselves in an emergency situation, the NATO commander could send troops from other NATO countries to their aid. However, helping out allies in distress has always been part of the NATO charter.  An undisclosed number of the more than 100 caveats that had prevented troops from some NATO countries from participating in combat operations or moving troops outside specific geographic areas were also eliminated.  But on the crucial demand by Canada, Britain, the U.S. and Holland that troops from others in the 26-country alliance join them and four smaller NATO members in the battle in Afghanistan’s bloody south, there was very little movement and none by those nations with large armies such as Germany, Spain and Italy, whose troops are now deployed in relatively calm parts of the country ....


*NATO adds little to Taliban fight*
The West Australian, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO nations yesterday cautiously promised to do more to fight Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan by easing restrictions on their forces in emergencies, officials said.  At the NATO summit in the Latvian capital, Riga, US President George Bush called for allies to provide more soldiers with fewer national limits for the most dangerous mission in NATO’s 57-year history.  France, Germany, Italy and Spain, who sparked a row by refusing calls in September to send troops to the Taliban heartland in south Afghanistan, promised to send help to trouble zones outside their areas in exceptional cases, officials said ....


*Twisting and Turning over German Troops*
Matthias Gebauer, Der Spiegel, 29 Nov 06
Article Link

Angela Merkel is resisting pressure from NATO: She refuses to station German troops in the south of Afghanistan. But she has agreed to let German troops conduct "emergency rescue missions" there. It sounds harmless, but it could have significant consequences for the troops.  If German diplomats are telling the truth, Tuesday evening's trip to the Riga opera house was a thoroughly pleasant affair. The heads of state of all 26 NATO countries were meeting in Latvia's capital. The summit's thorniest issue -- NATO's military mission in Afghanistan -- was negotiated during a working dinner. But there were no disagreements, at least according to German reports. "There were no accusations, no polemics. It was a very responsible discussion," German government sources said the following day ....


*NATO needs more soldiers in Afghanistan, former general says*
CBC Online, 29 Nov 06
Article Link

A retired Canadian major-general, Lewis MacKenzie, says NATO needs many more soldiers in Afghanistan to keep up the pressure on the Taliban militants.  The NATO commander "needs 30,000 more troops. He needs to double his force," MacKenzie told CBC Newsworld on Wednesday. NATO has about 32,000 soldiers in the country.  The more than 2,000 Canadians who have been fighting the Taliban around Kandahar in southern Afghanistan need more support so they can take advantage of their victories, MacKenzie said.  "We've got to dig in and protect the area we've taken from the bad guys. Our guys are kind of pinned to the ground and can't exploit success." ....



*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, Institute for war and peace reporting, 28 Nov06
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.  “American money is haram [unlawful in Islam],” said Abdul Jalil, an elder in one village. “We could not use it to improve our lives. So we decided to give it to the Taleban. The most important thing we could do with this money was help the Taleban to pursue the jihad.” ....


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## The Bread Guy (30 Nov 2006)

*Two more soldiers sent home after suicide attack in Kandahar *  
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

It is something soldiers dread but wouldn't miss for the world - a chance to say goodbye to fallen comrades.  The flag-draped coffins of Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Girouard, 46, of Bathurst, N.B., his battalion's regimental sergeant major, and Cpl. Albert Storm, 36, of Fort Erie, Ont., were brought across the tarmac at Kandahar Airfield in a makeshift hearse, a light armoured vehicle, in the dawn's early light.  The weather is cold now in the Afghan desert with winter fast approaching. Rows of soldiers wearing the uniforms of Canadian, U.S., Dutch and British soldiers stood at rapt attention and saluted as the latest two victims of the war were loaded into the belly of a C-130 Hercules on their way home as a lone bagpiper played a mournful tune. The flag of the Royal Canadian Regiment was fluttering in the breeze ....



*Roadside bomb hits NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan, no injuries*
Canadian Press, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

A roadside bomb hit a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan on Thursday but caused no injuries to the troops, an alliance official said.  The blast happened on the main highway between the cities of Kandahar and Herat, said Capt. Andre Salloum, a spokesman for the NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan. A second explosive device was found at the site and defused, Salloum said ....



*NATO finds handful of troops for Afghanistan; scraps limits on existing force *  
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 29 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan will eventually see a handful of fresh reinforcements and can count on its long-standing allies for help under emergency circumstances, NATO leaders declared Wednesday.  In the culmination of a bitter debate which has divided the decades-old military alliance, France, Spain, Italy and Germany said they intended to remove their so-called national caveats - restrictions that prevent them from fighting Taliban militants. But for the moment, Canadian soldiers patrolling the desert expanse and cramped, muddy village laneways will notice little difference, Canada's top military commander cautioned.  "In the short term, the effect on the ground won't change," said Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier.  "In the mid-term this will give the commander of (the International Assistance Stabilization Force) better flexibility to be able to reinforce a specific area for a specific time."   
For example, if there was to be a spike in Taliban activity, help would arrive quicker, but Hillier threw in an important qualifier.  "We've never doubted that if we needed help in a serious manner, to contain a Taliban surge, we had absolute confidence it would come," he told reporters on the flight back to Canada Wednesday night ....


*PM gets little help at NATO*
Minor additions to force in Afghanistan 'baby steps,' Canadian defence chief says
Paul Koring (With a report from Alex Dobrota in Ottawa), Globe & Mail, 30 Nov 06
Article Link - Permalink

Embattled Canadian soldiers fighting the Taliban in Kandahar won't be reinforced after NATO leaders failed yesterday to offer additional combat troops.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who came to Riga looking to prod some major European allies into fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with Canadians and other countries deployed in southern Afghanistan, goes home almost empty-handed.  "Our desire is to see more engagement by everyone," Mr. Harper said, although he insisted some progress "had been made on Canadian objectives."  For Canadians and others bearing the brunt of the fighting and dying in southern Afghanistan, no help can be expected in the short term, said Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff General Rick Hillier.  "There were some small baby steps," he said, referring to minor force additions, adding that he had expected no more at the summit but remained hopeful of more in the mid-term. There was "lots of talk about various countries offering up some more troops," he said on the plane bringing Mr. Harper and his entourage back to Ottawa ....


*Canadians still will do `heavy lifting' in Afghanistan, Hillier says*
Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

Canadian troops can expect little relief in southern Afghanistan after a quibbling NATO alliance wrapped up a summit with only a modest pledge of new soldiers for a mission Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls "undermanned."  Harper departed the gathering here of NATO's political leaders appealing for "more engagement by everyone."  NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said yesterday that "real progress" had been achieved even as he cautioned that the military mission in Afghanistan was "winnable ... but not yet won."  Still, the outcome of the summit was a setback to Canada's strategy to win the hearts and minds of embattled Afghan residents in the Kandahar region. More troops would have allowed Canadian forces to exploit the gains made during their September offensive against insurgents and speed badly needed reconstruction efforts, said Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff.  "That's where additional troops would have been absolutely invaluable to allow you to take full advantage of a tactical win and turn it into something long-lasting," Hillier said during the flight back to Ottawa.  He said the summit pronouncements will mean little for Canadian forces in the Kandahar region in the short-term ....


*Taliban scoff at NATO troop increase*
Reuters (UK), 30 Nov 06
Article Link

NATO's plans to send more soldiers to Afghanistan to quell a resurgent Taliban would simply give the rebels more targets, a guerrilla commander said on Thursday.  "Increasing or expanding NATO troops in Afghanistan is not a worry for the Taliban, instead it will make targets for the Taliban mujahideen much easier," Commander Mullah Obaidullah told Reuters, adding the hardline Islamists could fight for 20 years.  "After five years of continuous fighting against foreign troops, the Taliban have become a strong military power and the Taliban are able to fight and defeat the strongest army."  After months of requests for more troops from NATO commanders on the ground, a summit of alliance leaders this week agreed to a small increase in troop numbers and to ease some restrictions on how and where their forces can be deployed ....


*Editorial:  Canada can't fight alone*
Ottawa Citizen, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

....  Canada has sent troops to one of the most dangerous places on the planet, on the assumption that our supposed allies would be there to back us up. If they aren't, and Afghanistan fails, NATO's credibility as an instrument of global security will be deeply diminished.


*EDITORIAL: NATO can't cut and run*
Toronto Sun, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

....  Canadian soldiers are now in harm's way, doing what must be done in Afghanistan if it is not to fall back into the hands of the religious fanatics and terrorists who first plotted 9/11 from within that country.   Canada has earned the right -- through the sacrifices made by its sons and daughters in Afghanistan -- to have its concerns taking seriously at the NATO table.   And if they are not being taken seriously, then Harper should bring our troops home. Now. 



*Disembowelled, then torn apart: The price of daring to teach girls *  
Kim Sengupta. The Independent (UK), 29 Nov 06
Article Link

The gunmen came at night to drag Mohammed Halim away from his home, in front of his crying children and his wife begging for mercy.  The 46-year-old schoolteacher tried to reassure his family that he would return safely. But his life was over, he was part-disembowelled and then torn apart with his arms and legs tied to motorbikes, the remains put on display as a warning to others against defying Taliban orders to stop educating girls.  Mr Halim was one of four teachers killed in rapid succession by the Islamists at Ghazni, a strategic point on the routes from Kabul to the south and east which has become the scene of fierce clashes between the Taliban and US and Afghan forces ....



*An Afghan bomber's tale sheds light on motives*
Paul Holmes, Reuters, 29 Nov 06
Article Link

Mumtaz Ahmad spent more than three years at a madrasa in Pakistan learning the Koran, then pursued his pious desire to become a Qari' -- one who recites the Muslim holy book -- at a similar Islamic religious school in Kabul.  His extended family's mud-brick home in the village of Mahiger is just 2 km (one mile) down dirt tracks from the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan at Bagram, 60 km (37 miles) north of Kabul.  Two of his 10 brothers are stationed at the base as soldiers in the Afghan army and a cousin earns a living there as a labourer for the Americans, according to relatives.  The money comes in handy, said Ahmad's uncle, Sayed Agha, a wizened man of 60. He said the base had brought work to many of Mahiger's simple farming families since U.S.-led forces overthrew the radical Islamist Taliban five years ago.  Now, Ahmad languishes in an Afghan intelligence service jail after police caught him three weeks ago planting a roadside bomb on the Shomali Plain near Bagram in an act he says was driven by a belief that killing foreign troops was his Islamic duty ....


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## MarkOttawa (30 Nov 2006)

Germany dodges call for troops
Harper's plea for Afghanistan reinforcements largely ignored (full text subscriber only)
Matthew Fisher,  _Ottawa Citizen_, November 30, 2006


> ...
> Canada's anger before the summit has mostly been directed at Germany.
> 
> The reason may be partially explained by a story published yesterday on Der Spiegel's website.
> ...



_Der Spiegel_ story (Nov. 27)
"One Couldn't Help but Feel like a Lousy Comrade"
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,451014,00.html



> Official public complaints about Germany's role in Afghanistan are a recent phenomenon. Under the official level, however, Germany's allies have made pressing requests for additional Bundeswehr assistance during combat operations on several occasions. It's a situation that has left some German soldiers feeling like bad comrades...



Mark
Ottawa


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## Edward Campbell (30 Nov 2006)

MarkOttawa said:
			
		

> Germany dodges call for troops
> Harper's plea for Afghanistan reinforcements largely ignored (full text subscriber only)
> Matthew Fisher,  _Ottawa Citizen_, November 30, 2006
> ...
> ...




Here is the full _Ottawa Citizen_ article, reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act:



> Germany dodges call for troops
> *Harper's plea for Afghanistan reinforcements largely ignored*
> 
> Matthew Fisher, The Ottawa Citizen
> ...


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## The Bread Guy (30 Nov 2006)

- edited 302139EST Nov 06, adding LCOL Lavoie reaction to RSM death story - 

*Media Advisory:  Fallen Soldiers Returning Home*
CF news release, MA 06-28 - November 30, 2006
Article Link

Our fallen soldiers, Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard and Cpl. Albert Storm, members of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (1 RCR), based at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, are scheduled to return home to Canada tomorrow.

Where: 8 Wing Trenton, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario.

When: Friday, December 1, 6 p.m.

What: At the wishes of the families, media are invited to view the arrival, though no interviews will be given.

Present to pay their respects will be The Minister of National Defence, Gordon O’Connor, and other dignitaries.

Both were killed when their Bison Light Armoured Vehicle was attacked by a suicide bomber driving a car laden with explosives along Highway 4 between Kandahar Airfield and Kandahar City, at approximately 8:35 a.m. (Afghanistan time), November 27, 2006.

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*Canadian commander mourns loss of 'best friend' in Afghan suicide bombing *  
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

It's rare when a commanding officer of a battle group allows himself to show emotion. 

Lt.-Col. Omer Lavoie, 40, of Marathon, Ont., is responsible for 1,200 soldiers in the Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group in Afghanistan. He's also mourning the death of Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Girouard, 46, of Bathurst, N.B., his battalion's regimental sergeant major, who along with Cpl. Albert Storm of Fort Erie, Ont, were killed by a suicide bomber Monday.  "(Girouard) is my best friend in the battle group. I am like everyone else and still human so there is a degree there of anger that has to be dealt with," said Lavoie who served with Girouard for about 18 months.  "He's the senior non-commissioned officer. He is the man the soldiers aspire to be like," Lavoie said of his "right-hand man."  Lavoie, who described himself as "battle-hardened," said the attack by a Taliban suicide bomber wasn't an attempt to provoke the Canadians into doing something foolhardy.  "Pure and simple terrorism. They pick a target clearly without regard to civilian casualties, and this was an area where there were a lot of civilians with a market right across the road," said Lavoie ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Ignatieff says he sees no reason to renew Afghan mission for Cdn soldiers *  
Dene Moore, Canadian Press, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

Liberal leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff says he sees no reason to renew the mission of Canadian troops in Afghanistan beyond 2009.  When asked about the war by youth delegates at the party's leadership convention, Ignatieff said he supports the extension of the Canadian deployment over the next few years. Ignatieff backed the Conservatives' decision earlier this year to extend the mission but said Thursday, "I see no reason to renew it.  We will have done seven years of work for which I have the utmost respect," said Ignatieff, who will be hoping to attract additional delegate support after being criticized in some circles for endorsing the mission extension.  He said Canadians have to understand what the soldiers are doing.  "The mission is not chasing terrorists around the Hindu Kush (an Afghan mountain range)," Ignatieff said.  "The mission is a good Canadian mission, that is to support and defend a democratically elected government, the first democratically elected government Afghanistan has ever seen." ....


*Ignatieff wants young Canadians to go to Afghanistan to support democracy*
Canadian Press, via Canoe.ca, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

Liberal leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff says he'd like to send young Canadians to Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and other world hot spots.  Ignatieff says he went abroad as a young man and lived in dangerous countries and now he wants younger Canadians youth to have the same chance to go overseas and make a difference. The Liberal leadership frontrunner, who spent the better part of three decades outside Canada, also says he supports the war in Afghanistan, which he calls a "good Canadian mission."   Ignatieff says Canada has done several years of hard work in the country already and more help is needed to support democracy in the struggling nation ....



*Analysis: Nato strikes deal – but where are the reserves?*
Michael Evans, The Times (UK), 29 Nov 06
Article Link

The Nato summit in the Latvian capital has been dominated by Afghanistan, underlining the changed and changing role the 26-nation alliance is now playing in the world.  Yet the old traditional methods of doing business are still as evident as they were during the Cold War days: summits expose all the idiosyncrasies and internal bickerings that make this military and political organisation complex, difficult to manage and often tiresome.  All the leaders agreed that the mission in Afghanistan must succeed. The credibility of the alliance was at stake, Tony Blair reiterated today. So why was it so difficult to persuade each member state of the importance of helping each other out in Afghanistan and providing all the required military capabilities?  Nato now has 32,000 troops in Afghanistan - a huge operation - but until last night over dinner there were 50 separate national caveats in existence, under which individual alliance countries reserved the right to limit their troops geographically and operationally.  Today it emerged that some of these caveats have now been lifted.   This means that countries like France, Germany, Spain and Italy, all of whom have a significant presence in Afghanistan but are located in more benign areas than the British, Canadian, Dutch and American soldiers are, will now be prepared to leave their locations to provide reinforcements elsewhere when required in an emergency ....


*Polish troops to defend democracy in Afghanistan*
Polonia Radio online (POL), 30 Nov 06
Article Link

Defense minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said that Poland gained in rank at the just concluded NATO summit in Riga, due to the nation’s willingness to be involved in the mission in Afghanistan.  The main reason for this has been the decision to increase the Polish contingent for operations in Afghanistan. Presently there are only some one hundred Polish soldiers in Afghanistan, but plans have been approved for deploying over one thousand troops more at the start of next year.  Countering reservations concerning the large number Poland is sending, Minister Sikorski quoted the example of Canada, which has half the population size of Poland, but has a greater military contingent in Afghanistan ....



*British forces to be pulled out of Bosnia for Afghan mission *  
Pak Tribune (PAK), 1 Dec 06
Article Link

Britain hopes to withdraw its 700 peacekeepers from Bosnia early next year to help ease the shortage of troops for front-line duty in Afghanistan.  Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram flew to the Balkans to assess the security situation before a decision on future force levels, due to be taken by Christmas.  His visit coincided with a warning from Prime Minister Tony Blair, at Nato's Latvian summit in Riga, that the alliance needs to do more to underpin "critical" combat operations in Afghanistan.  Blair gave a guarded welcome to a relaxation of national rules of engagement to allow French, German, Spanish, and Italian troops to reinforce the UK, Canadian and American units fighting Taliban insurgents in Helmand province in an emergency ....



*US, NATO attacked Afghanistan to achieve their targets: FO *  
Pak Tribune (PAK), 1 Dec 06
Article Link

United States of America and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) attacked Afghanistan not for benefit of Pakistan but for their personal gains, said Tasneem Aslam spokesperson of the foreign office here on Thursday.  In an interview to the state run television network, the foreign office spokesperson said that Pakistan never wanted an operation at such scale in Afghanistan because it could open the flood gate of refugees once again to Pakistan.  She said Pakistan inherited Afghan crisis as a result of Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan. The Western states used their resources and technology to crush Russians in Afghanistan in 80s and as a result 3 million Afghan refuges arrived in Pakistan. We welcomed them and did every bit to come up as a good host ....


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## MarkOttawa (30 Nov 2006)

Do forgive a comment.

Polish troops to defend democracy in Afghanistan



> Minister Sikorski quoted the example of Canada, which has half the population size of Poland, but has a greater military contingent in Afghanistan ...



Poland: 38,536,869 (July 2006 est.)
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/pl.html

Canada: 32,623,490 	
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060927/d060927a.htm

So over twice the contribution, roughly, per capita.  But then we never went through what they did in WW I  and WW II.

Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (1 Dec 2006)

*Canada’s fair share*
Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 1 Dec 06
Article Link

NATO leaders met this week in Riga, Latvia, to try to patch up growing internal disagreements over the alliance’s Afghanistan commitment.  Mission partly accomplished.  The most pressing problem was the sense, especially in Canada, that some countries – such as ours – have borne a disproportionate burden in terms of the more dangerous military assignments. More than 40 Canadians have died in clashes with the Taliban in the volatile southern regions near Kandahar, while soldiers of nations like Germany, Italy and France have been stationed in more peaceful northern zones of the Middle Eastern country. Truly galling, however, has been those NATO members’ refusal to allow their troops to be sent into combat situations to aid fellow NATO soldiers, even in emergencies ....


*NATO's wavering gives Taliban hope*
Toronto Star, 1 Dec 06
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper took an urgent message to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit this week: Canada needs military backup to suppress the Taliban in Afghanistan's explosive Kandahar region and to deliver aid; our troops cannot do it alone.  And what was NATO's reply? Little more than a Euroshrug that insults the 45 Canadians who have died there upholding Afghanistan's elected government, fighting the Taliban and denying terrorists sanctuary ....


*Time is on the Taliban's side*
Jason Motlagh, Asia Times online, 2 Dec 06
Article Link

US President George W Bush failed to achieve twin objectives of fewer restrictions and more troops for Afghanistan at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Riga this week, shifting focus back to Iraq, where he refuses to draw down military forces. The implicit message to Taliban insurgents and their backers: time can erode an already faltering alliance in the long run.  NATO, in its first-ever mission outside Europe, now has about 32,000 troops in Afghanistan battling an unexpectedly robust  Taliban across the southern and eastern back country. To the dismay of the United States, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands - member states that have borne the brunt of the fighting - other countries have put caveats on how and where their troops can be operate as militants continue to make headway ....


*NATO summit in Riga: Sharp conflicts over Afghanistan*
By Peter Schwarz. World Socialist Web Site, 1 Dec 06
Article Link

The NATO summit, which took place in the Latvian capital of Riga on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, was marked by bitter divisions between the US on the one side and France, Germany, Italy and Spain on the other.  Ostensibly the differences at the summit centred on the demand by the US that Europe make more troops available for deployment in Afghanistan and start sending its troops into the conflict-ridden south and the east of the country. However, more fundamental questions were at stake concerning the future role of NATO and the increasing clash of interests between the US and Europe.  Washington wants to transform NATO from a transatlantic into a global military alliance, to include countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Israel and South Africa, which would then function as a repository for troops that the US could deploy for its global military campaigns. As the German weekly Die Zeit ironically noted, this “new NATO” would be a “like a permanent pool of coalitions of the willing under American leadership.” ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*UK troops switch tactics in Afghan Desert of Death*
Peter Graff. Reuters (UK), 1 Dec 06
Article Link

Day breaks without a sound in the Desert of Death.  No bird chirps, no cock crows as the British Royal Marines clamber out of the holes they have dug to sleep in.  Soon, with a few tiny stoves, they are boiling up tea as the sun rises over a ridge where the Taliban still have their grip on towns and villages along the Helmand River.  More than half a year since British forces first entered Afghanistan's wildest province, the troops are modifying their tactics, placing less emphasis on holding the centres of district towns and more on mobility. Units now operate out of small armoured vehicles, bedding down in the desert under the stars ....


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## The Bread Guy (2 Dec 2006)

*Suicide bomber robs regiment of its soul * 
When Robert Girouard was killed, his unit lost more than its Chief Warrant Officer  
Christie Blatchford, Globe & Mail, 2 Dec 06
Article Link - Permalink

As Chief Warrant Officer Robert (Bobby) Girouard and Corporal Albert Storm came home to Canada last night, their flag-draped caskets arriving at CFB Trenton in a light rain, there was nothing to tell the non-military observer what a profound loss he was witnessing.  While the army properly grieves every fallen soldier equally, regardless of rank, the death of CWO Girouard was felt keenly not only on a personal level, but also as an enormous symbolic blow.  The 46-year-old husband and father of three wasn't just the senior non-commissioned officer of the 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment, he was also the unit's Regimental Sergeant Major, the first of about 25 RSMs in the battalion's storied 123-year history to be killed by enemy action.  He and 36-year-old Cpl. Storm, a native of Fort Erie, Ont., and a father of two, died Monday when their Bison armoured personnel carrier was struck by a suicide bomber just west of the main base at Kandahar Air Field.  The RSM is not a rank, but an appointment -- one steeped in military lore and best expressed in the old saying that if a regiment is commanded by the lieutenant-colonel, it "belongs" to the RSM.  Equal parts mother hen, stern father figure and kindly mentor, the RSM is variously described as the soul of a regiment, the keeper of its institutional memory and fierce guardian of its traditions, and a figure so important that every soldier from the most junior private to the most senior officer listens to him "as if unto God," as one soldier said yesterday ....



*Bodies of two Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan return home*
Canadian Press, via Canada.com, 2 Dec 06
Article Link

Two Canadian soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan this week arrived home Friday evening.  Flag-draped caskets containing the bodies of Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Girouard, 46, of Bathurst, N.B., and Cpl. Albert Storm, 36, of Fort Erie, Ont, were unloaded from a military plane at CFB Trenton. The remains of the two soldiers were flown back to Canadian soil following a ramp ceremony at Kandahar Airfield on Thursday.  Girouard and Storm, both members of the Royal Canadian Regiment based in Petawawa, Ont., were in a Bison armoured personnel carrier when a suicide bomber in a car drove alongside and detonated his explosives.  The Bison had left the Kandahar air base just minutes earlier.  It was the first deadly strike against Canadian troops in Afghanistan in six weeks, shattering a period of relative calm.  Since 2002, 44 Canadian soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Afghan Government Minister visits Canada*
Canadian International Development Agency news release # 2006-38, 30 Nov 06
Article Link

His Excellency Ehsan Zia, Minister for Rural Rehabilitation and Development for the Government of Afghanistan, is visiting Canada from November 30 to December 8 at the invitation of the Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages. The visit includes stops in Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, where Minister Zia will meet with members of the academic community, federal and provincial government officials, business leaders, media, and members of the public.  "I am pleased that Minister Zia has accepted my invitation to visit Canada and to share with Canadians the positive work his ministry is doing to improve the lives of rural Afghans," said Minister Verner. "Canada is committed to supporting the Afghan government in its efforts to achieve long-term, sustainable development for all of its citizens."  "Canadians are providing much needed and appreciated support to the people of Afghanistan by delivering both security and development. Your continuing support is having a direct and positive impact on the lives of ordinary Afghans," said Minister Zia. "With assistance from countries such as Canada, my country is becoming more secure and increasingly productive as we rebuild rural infrastructure and improve the business climate."  The Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, which has a presence in all of the country's 34 provinces, oversees national programs that promote development and focus on delivering services to the rural areas of the country where 80 percent of the population live.  Canada's total allocation of development assistance to Afghanistan over the 2001 to 2011 period is nearly $1 billion. 



*Afghan, NATO forces unearth suicide cell  * 
The Hindu (IND), 2 Dec 06
Article Link

Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have uncovered a suicide cell in Afghanistan's restive Helmand province, a press release of the multi-national force received Saturday said.  Early Thursday, in a planned operation in Sangin district of Helmand province, Afghan and ISAF forces seized two suicide vests, several rocket-propelled grenades and a cache of equipment and weapons that were ready to be used in future attacks, the press releases added.  Two suspected Taliban fighters were captured and a number of insurgents were killed, while one ISAF soldier received a minor injury during the operation which included close air and helicopter support ....



*10 Taliban killed in raid*
Gulf Times (Qatar), 2 Dec 06
Article Link

Nato and Afghan troops killed 10 Taliban rebels and captured two suspected militant leaders in a raid on an alleged suicide bomb cell in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said yesterday.  Separately, six Taliban were killed and two other insurgents arrested after a three-hour gun battle with Afghan police.  One Nato soldier was lightly wounded in the operation against the suicide cell carried out early Thursday in the troubled Sangin district of Helmand province, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.  The identity of the suspected commanders captured in the raid was not revealed ....



*Methar Lam PRT donates further supplies*
ISAF news release # 2006-313, 29 Nov 06  
Article Link

On Sunday, the Methar Lam Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) delivered winter supplies to a local village in the Methar Lam district of Laghman Province.  The village elders coordinated the distribution of food and clothing for the people of Chandalam village. The two deliveries also included supplies for the community’s handicapped residents and for the local women’s centre.  Following the distribution of supplies, the PRT travelled to the village of Kardah in the Ali Shang district to conduct a site assessment for a future flood protection wall, essential to protecting the village from flash floods.  During the visit, radios, comic books and toys were handed out to the village children.  “PRTs continue to stay in tune with local needs in order to help all segments of the local population,” said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, spokesperson for ISAF’s eastern command.  “The local leadership is doing tremendous work identifying and addressing people with the greatest need for the coming winter.”



*Torched school set to blaze path of education*
ISAF news release # 2006-318, 30 Nov 06  
Article Link

The Jaghato District School in Ghazni province, damaged by a fire earlier in the year, is ready for classes to begin with help from a $23,500 U.S. military sponsored reconstruction project.  The project began in July after suspected insurgents set the school on fire. Smoke, fire and water damaged all teaching materials, furniture and school supplies, as well as the roof and many windows and doors. They were repaired and the classrooms and hallways were cleaned and repainted. A two-meter high perimeter wall was also added to provide better security. Major improvements and repairs have also been made to the new lavatory, which is now more hygienic and can fully support the capacity of the school.  The school is open, initially, for limited classes and will soon be back in full session. 



*Snowfall begins as WFP races food supplies in Afghanistan*
Kuwait News Agency, 2 Dec 06
Article Link

The World Food Programme (WFP) is racing its food delivery operations as Afghanistan's central capital Kabul and the surrounding provinces received the first snowfall of the winter season on Saturday. The snowfall began some 20 days ahead of routine this season, which lashes the northern and western parts of the country each year. The current year is unique as far as the WFP's operations are concerned because the agency is also busy in delivering food aid to the flood-affected areas. The WFP will provide food and medicine supplies to areas that will be cut off from the rest parts of the country due to heavy snows while some more aid will be needed in provinces and districts hit by the recent fighting between Taliban and the NATO and Afghan forces. According to the WFP, 21,000 metric tons of food, including wheat, beans, oil and salt, needed to be distributed to 600,000 vulnerable people in more than 16 provinces of the impoverished country ....



*ESTIMATED POPPY CULTIVATION IN AFGHANISTAN*
Office of National Drug Control Policy news release, 1 Dec 06
Article Link

The annual U.S. Government estimate for opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is complete and shows that approximately 172,600 hectares of poppy were cultivated during the crop season in 2006—an increase of 61 percent over the 2005 (107,400) level, but below the record poppy crop of 2004.  The increase in poppy planting was primarily focused in two of Afghanistan's provinces, Helmand and Oruzgan, up 132 percent from last year's cultivation estimate. Cultivation in the remaining 31 provinces was up by 18 percent. Current cultivation levels equate to a potential production of 5,644 metric tons of opium, a 26 percent increase in potential opium production over 2005 estimates (4,475 metric tons). Favorable growing conditions contributed to the increase in potential production. These estimates are based on a scientific sample survey of Afghan agricultural regions conducted with specialized U.S. Government satellite imaging systems ....


*Despite NATO, Afghan opium cultivation grows 61 percent*
Maxim Kniazkov, Agence France Presse, 2 Dec 06
Article Link

Opium poppy cultivation shot up a whopping 61 percent in Afghanistan this year in a setback for US and NATO efforts to clamp down on the country's illegal drug industry, according to new figures released by the White House.  The anticipated record crop is seen as another boost for the resurgent Taliban as the Islamic guerrilla movement is often accused by US officials of using proceeds from drug sales to buy weapons and attract new recruits.  The annual US government estimate for Afghan opium poppy cultivation shows that approximately 172,600 hectares (426,503 acres) of poppy were cultivated throughout the country this year, an increase of 61 percent over 2005, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said Friday.  Two southern Afghan provinces -- Helmand and Oruzgan where the Taliban has been the most active -- are responsible for the bulk of the increase. Poppy planting there was up 132 percent from last year, compared to an 18-percent increase in the remaining 31 provinces ....


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## cplcaldwell (6 Dec 2006)

From yahoo.ca news

*General says Canadians ill-informed over Afghan debate, defends mission   
Tue Dec 5, 5:38 PM

By Murray Brewster*

OTTAWA (CP) - The debate over Canada's role in Afghanistan has been ill-informed and bereft of facts, says the former commander of Canadian troops there. 

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, who returned from the war-torn country last month, says he's having a hard time getting used to the chill in the air - both in terms of the weather and the public discourse involving the mission. 

"It would be nice to have a debate with all of the facts on the table," Fraser said Tuesday in a speech to the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies. 

"I'll tell you right now, the story Canadians are receiving is like an iceberg. They're only seeing one-third of it." 

In part, the soft-spoken general blamed the media for focusing on the casualty count, rather than the more nuanced narratives of nation-building. 

"What was reported this past summer was my operations in Sangin and Helmand; what I did to fight the Taliban," he said. 

"No one reported the fact that I spent $20 million building roads, schools, wells and training and mentoring an Afghan corp commander." 

In fact, there has been media coverage of reconstruction efforts, but access and information is often difficult to get. 

Fraser's criticism follows similar comments by Prime Minister Stephen Harper who has said several times that the good work Canadians soldiers are doing often goes unreported. 

What the Conservative government does not say is that civilian members of government agencies, such as the Canadian International Development Agency and the Foreign Affairs Department, are routinely barred from speaking with journalists on the ground about redevelopment projects. 

Last spring, Fraser's own principal political advisor at Kandahar Airfield - a Foreign Affairs staffer - was not allowed to be quoted on the record by the embedded media. 

Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh blamed the information vacuum on the Conservatives and their policy of muzzling ministers and officials. 

"I have the utmost respect for Gen. Fraser, the work he's done, and I understand his frustration," said Dosanjh. "But it's really up to the government to provide information. And they have not been providing that information." 

Opposition MPs and senators - especially parliamentary defence committees - have "fought tooth and nail" to be briefed on the latest goings on in Afghanistan, he said. 

Speaking to NATO parliamentarians last month about anemic support for the mission, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor conceded the government hadn't gone a good job engaging the public on the question of why the country was in Afghanistan. 

Fraser, who was in charge of all coalition and NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, ended his overseas tour Nov. 1 and turned over responsibility to a Dutch general. 

During his time on the ground, Canadians were involved in the heaviest fighting they've seen since the Korean War. A series of conventional and guerrilla-type battles as well as accidents claimed the lives of 36 soldiers and wounded over 200 others. 

Public opinion polls reflected a deep skepticism for the mission when troops were first deployed to the unstable southern region last winter. The results in subsequent surveys have ebbed and flowed, depending upon the state of fighting and the number of casualties. 

Without naming NDP Leader Jack Layton, who's called for Canadian troops to be brought home, Fraser took aim at critics and said it is important the Conservative government stay the course. 

"Those people over there in Afghanistan asked for us to be there. They want us to be there. They continue to want to be there." 

However, Dosanjh said it's not the job of the military to promote the mission - that's up to the government. 

Fraser, who is on a speaking tour, said Canada's history of diversity and racial tolerance means it has a lot offer the fractious tribal country. 

"When I met the governor, Assadullah Khalid, in Kandahar he led with a pistol eight months ago," he said. 

"Today he picked the phone and picks up a pen. He leads by example. Ladies and gentlemen, that is huge progress." 

_Shared under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act, RSC._


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