# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (September 2007)



## GAP (1 Sep 2007)

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

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

*Articles found September 1, 2007*

Paratroopers Take Fight to Taliban During Operation Destined Strike
By Sgt. Brandon Aird, USA Special to American Forces Press Service
Article Link


WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2007 – The tense paratroopers and Afghan National Army soldiers sat in silence surrounded by darkness. 

 The previous hours were spent huddled together rehearsing the mission, "Destined Strike," which was to be an air-assault into the Taliban's backyard. 

The whoop, whoop, whoop sound of the CH-47 "Chinook" helicopter's rotary wings reverberated in the soldiers' ears drowning out all chance of another sound. Some of the soldiers said last minute prayers while others day dreamed of loved ones back home. Squad leaders made last minute checks in the dark. 

When the Chinook landed all thoughts came to the task at hand. The soldiers jumped off the noisy helicopter onto a quiet, moon-lit mountain above the Chowkay Valley in Kunar province. The mountain is over 7,000 feet above sea level. 

The Taliban's biggest advantage in past fire fights has been their ability to dominate the high ground, but not this time. 

Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team’s 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment and elements of the Afghan National Army’s 2nd Kandak, 201st Corps, conducted Operation Destined Strike August 21-25. The U.S. soldiers were members of the 2nd platoons of the 2nd Battalion’s A, C and D companies. 

"We came here to show the local populace that coalition forces aren't afraid to come into the Chowkay Valley," said Army 1st Lt. Kareem F. Hernandez, Company A 2nd Platoon leader. 

After the initial insertion, the soldiers pulled security and waited for daybreak. During the night, they searched with night vision devices for 15 individuals spotted earlier near their position by an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Once dawn broke, the U.S. and Afghan soldiers put their gear-laden rucksacks on, and broke trail down the mountain to the first farming village. The village and fields were hand cut out of the mountain side. 

Hernandez said he was surprised at the reaction he received from the first villager he encountered. 

"It was the first time in this country I had someone admit he knew who the Taliban were. He showed me where they had been coming through to attack us,” Hernandez said. “I've never had that happen before. They always act like they have no clue what I'm talking about." 
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Most of what is covered here and more is to be found here CANinKandahar

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## GAP (2 Sep 2007)

*Articles found Sept 2 , 2007*

Canada spending $29M on IED detectors  
By MARTIN OUELLET, CP August 29, 2007 
 ottawasun Article Link

ctv Article Link

KANDAHAR -- Now almost powerless against roadside bombs, Canadian soldiers soon will have more protection from specialized vehicles to detect, unearth and neutralize them. 

Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, have become the biggest threat facing Canadian troops in recent months, as Afghan insurgents adapt their tactics. 

Now Canada is buying 16 vehicles from the U.S. Army, with deliveries starting in October, for $29.6 million. 

"They will be the first vehicles of their kind for the Canadian army," said Brig-Gen. Guy Laroche, Canada's commander in Afghanistan. 

Of the 69 Canadian soldiers killed since 2002, more than half -- 38 -- have died as a result of roadside bombs, mines or suicide attacks. 

"As we know, most of the casualties that we've had in the past few months have been essentially due to IEDs, so having equipment like that will be great," Laroche said. 

Canada is buying six Husky vehicles that can detect mines buried under or at the side of roads, while the five Buffalo vehicles on order will dig them up using extended arms and cameras. 

Rounding out the team will be five Cougar vehicles, capable of neutralizing bombs. 

The vehicles are expected to make the situation a bit safer. 
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Afghan police can't hold areas once ally forces leave
Taliban return to area lost last year
Sept. 1, 2007, 9:49PM By DAVID ROHDE New York Times 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Over the past six weeks, the Taliban have driven government forces out of roughly half of a strategic area in southern Afghanistan that U.S. and NATO officials declared a success story last fall in their campaign to clear out insurgents and make way for development programs, Afghan officials say.

A year after Canadian and U.S. forces drove hundreds of Taliban fighters from the Panjwai and Zhare districts southwest of Kandahar, the rebels are back and have adopted new tactics. Carrying out guerrilla attacks after NATO troops partly withdrew in July, they overran isolated police posts and are now operating in areas where they can mount attacks on Kandahar, the south's largest city.


Southern stalemate
The setback is part of a bloody stalemate that has occurred between NATO troops and Taliban fighters across southern Afghanistan this summer. NATO and Afghan army soldiers can push the Taliban out of rural areas, but the Afghan police are too weak to hold the territory after the soldiers withdraw. At the same time, the Taliban are unable to take large towns and have generally mounted fewer suicide bomb attacks in southern cities than last summer. 
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British war on Afghan drugs 'complete failure': vice-president  
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LONDON (AFP) — Britain's battle against the drugs trade in southern Afghanistan has been a total failure, the troubled country's vice-president said Sunday.

The drugs eradication policy is simply too soft and it is time to get tough, Ahmad Zia Massoud wrote in the British weekly newspaper The Sunday Telegraph.

Poppy cultivation was Afghanistan's problem best left for Kabul to sort out, said the younger brother of iconic slain warrior Ahmad Shah Massoud.

"I have no doubt that the efforts of Britain and the international community in fighting the opium trade in Afghanistan are well-intentioned and we are grateful for their support," he wrote.

"But it is now clear that your policy in the south of our country has completely failed.

"Hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent over the last five years, the UK contributing 262 million pounds (528 million dollars), the United States about 1.6 billion dollars.

"Yet United Nations figures show that opium production increased by 34 percent last year and more than doubled in the last two years.

"In Helmand, where the British are based, poppies have spread like a cancer. The province now produces half of Afghanistan's opium."
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British troops hunt the Taliban in Afghanistan  
Last Updated: 12:27pm BST 02/09/2007Page 1 of 3
Article Link

Defence Correspondent Sean Rayment and photographer Justin Sutcliffe join the men of The Royal Anglian Regiment as they scour the Upper Sangin Valley in Afghanistan. 

From the moment we left the compound, the Taliban knew the British were coming.

In the dead of night, spies watched from darkened alleys as the infantry column abandoned the relative safety of Patrol Base Inkerman, one of the most isolated in northern Helmand.

"We know the infidels have left, we are ready for them," one Taliban commander was boasting, Army Intelligence reported.

It was confirmation, if any was needed, that the enemy would stand and fight. In the Sangin Valley they always do.

The troops from the 1st battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, accompanied by The Sunday Telegraph, were heading into the notorious "Green Zone", a fertile 20-mile strip beside the Helmand River where the opium poppy is grown in abundance, and 350 hardened Taliban fighters regard it as their turf.
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Afghan Police Are Set Back as Taliban Adapt 
By DAVID ROHDE September 2, 2007
Article Link

Over the past six weeks, the Taliban have driven government forces out of roughly half of a strategic area in southern Afghanistan that American and NATO officials declared a success story last fall in their campaign to clear out insurgents and make way for development programs, Afghan officials say.

A year after Canadian and American forces drove hundreds of Taliban fighters from the area, the Panjwai and Zhare districts southwest of Kandahar, the rebels are back and have adopted new tactics. Carrying out guerrilla attacks after NATO troops partly withdrew in July, they overran isolated police posts and are now operating in areas where they can mount attacks on Kandahar, the south’s largest city.

The setback is part of a bloody stalemate that has occurred between NATO troops and Taliban fighters across southern Afghanistan this summer. NATO and Afghan Army soldiers can push the Taliban out of rural areas, but the Afghan police are too weak to hold the territory after they withdraw. At the same time, the Taliban are unable to take large towns and have generally mounted fewer suicide bomb attacks in southern cities than they did last summer. 

The Panjwai and Zhare districts, in particular, highlight the changing nature of the fight in the south. The military operation there in September 2006 was the largest conventional battle in the country since 2002. But this year, the Taliban are avoiding set battles with NATO and instead are attacking the police and stepping up their use of roadside bombs, known as improvised explosive devices or I.E.D.’s.
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Alleged Pakistani bomb-makers detained in Afghanistan  
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — Authorities in Afghanistan said Sunday they had detained four Pakistanis on suspicion of helping insurgents build bombs, as new blasts killed three soldiers and wounded a dozen people.

The alleged militants were seized on Friday in the southern city of Kandahar soon after they arrived from Chaman, a town just across the border in Pakistan, intelligence official Abdul Qayoum Katawazi told AFP.

"On a tip-off we captured four Pakistanis who are experts in making suicide-bombing vests and remote-controlled bombs," Katawazi told AFP.

He would not provide further details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Afghan officials say Taliban insurgents are being aided by extremist circles in Pakistan.

Roadside bombs and Iraq-style suicide explosions have become key tactics for the Al-Qaeda-linked rebels, who have intensified their attacks as part of a bloody insurgency they are waging against the government in Kabul.
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Most of what is covered here and more is to be found here CANinKandahar

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## GAP (4 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 4, 2007*

Canadian soldiers sweep Afghan village, hunt for insurgent bomb makers  
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) — Canadian soldiers used the cover of darkness early Monday morning to sweep through an Afghan village where they thought enemy insurgents had regained a foothold.

It was a relatively uneventful mission, much to the relief of military officials.

But the mission was an example of what Canadian soldiers are up against in this sunbaked expanse of sand and rock in southern Afghanistan.

Last year at this time, Canada took the lead in a major NATO offensive called Operation Medusa, driving the Taliban out of strategic positions around Kandahar city and the surrounding area.

It was an offensive that cost a dozen Canadian lives.

NATO secured much of the area and later turned it over to Afghan government forces. Now, however, insurgents have returned to several areas previously won by NATO, and Canadian troops have had to sweep the area again.

"The intent was to disrupt IED makers," Capt. Josee Bilodeau, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Forces, said of Monday's mission. "They found nothing, so it was a success."

Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are the biggest threats for international troops in Afghanistan.

Of the 70 Canadian soldiers who have died in the war in Afghanistan, 38 were killed by roadside bombs, mines or suicide attacks.

Operation Balye Deweh - which means Operation Light Candle in English - began at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning in the area around Patrol Base Wilson, about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar city. By 7:35 a.m. soldiers had swept through the sleepy village of Makuan without encountering any enemy combatants.

But Zhari district, along with the Panjwaii district to the south, have been traditional Taliban strongholds and the insurgents have made a violent return, launching attacks against NATO forces and civilians alike.
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Taliban back in strategic areas around Kandahar
Richard Foot  CanWest News Service  Monday, September 03, 2007
Article Link

OTTAWA -- Taliban insurgents have re-occupied strategically important areas around the city of Kandahar, including ground won by Canadian forces in deadly, hard-fought battles last year, according to a report published Sunday in The New York Times.

"The setback is part of a bloody stalemate that has occurred between NATO troops and Taliban fighters across southern Afghanistan this summer," says the report on the front page of the influential newspaper.

After Canadian troops gained control of Panjwai district last fall, they withdrew from parts of the area and left largely ineffectual Afghan government forces in their place.

This summer, however, insurgents have re-infiltrated the district and overrun police-held bases or checkpoints. In one such attack on Aug. 7, police called for help from Canadian forces but none came for several hours, until after 16 policemen were dead, says the report.
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Justice fails Afghan women   
By  Aunohita Mojumdar in Kabul 
  Article Link

Many female prisoners face rejection by their 
families after their release [File: EPA] 

Afghanistan is building new jails for women. Though there are only 300 female prisoners now, that number is expected to grow.

While there are no signs of a crime wave, one of the reasons for the increase is an unlikely one. 

Lacking in transitional houses for released prisoners, a suggested solution includes using jails as secure places where women can stay until they are reintegrated into society. 

By some strange logic, funding for building jails is much easier to come by. But again, half of the women in jail should not be there at all.

Imprisoned for what are loosely described as "moral crimes", these women would qualify as victims rather than criminals under any interpretation of international human rights laws, including those to which Afghanistan is a signatory.

A report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Afghanistan's female prisoners and their social reintegration drew attention to their dismal condition in a country where women face acute discrimination.

Not only are an estimated half victims themselves, but they are further victimised by the criminal justice process.
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Mortar team to take on Taliban  
September 04, 2007 
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AN army mortar team will soon deploy to Afghanistan as Australian ground forces take up the fight to Taliban insurgents and better protect patrolling troops.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson yesterday confirmed a section of 12 men, all mortar specialists, from the 2nd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment would leave for the Australian base at Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan province. 

The Afghanistan reinforcements come as British forces pulled out of Basra city this week as part of a final phased handover to Iraqi security forces. 

The decision to send mortars followed a request by Australian commanders on the ground for additional firepower to protect the diggers, Dr Nelson said yesterday. 

"After consultation with defence chiefs, the Government has authorised the deployment of a 12-man, 81mm mortar section to Afghanistan to support the RTF (Reconstruction Task Force) operations," Dr Nelson said. 

"The mortars will provide accurate offensive support for RTF operations and will be employed within the existing rules of engagement to Australian troops in Afghanistan." 

The army's M-252 mortar is a highly accurate muzzle-loading high-angle-of-fire weapon, capable of long-range indirect support fire or close-in fire support. 

A crew of five is required to operate the weapon, which can fire high explosive or white phosphorous rounds out to a maximum distance of 5.6km for either target marking or to break up an enemy attack. 

The heightened security tension follows a warning last week by Dr Nelson to Dutch MPs that any decision to remove their troops from Oruzgan - where they have been providing security for the Australians - could lead to an early Australian withdrawal. 

Dr Nelson said yesterday the Dutch were discussing the possibility of finding other NATO partners to replace any troops they withdraw from Tarin Kowt. 
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Canada should pull troops from Afghanistan now & lead push for peace:Layton  
Article Link

TORONTO (CP) — Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton is repeating his call for Canada to safely and securely withdraw its troops from Afghanistan now and take the lead in forging peace talks to end the bloodshed there.

Layton told The Canadian Press on Monday in Toronto where he attended the Labour Day parade that the military mission, which is scheduled to run out in February 2009, isn't accomplishing increased security in Afghanistan.

He said he wants to see Canada take the lead in a comprehensive peace process.

"Canada's voice and reputation as a country that can lead in peace negotiations and discussions should be used here instead of using the approach that emerged from the White House," said Layton.

"That's what should be happening now so that we can work towards a ceasefire so that aid and reconstruction can actually happen, and not be undone shortly after it's been accomplished."
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Tories getting wires crossed, Dion says
CAMPBELL CLARK  From Tuesday's Globe and Mail September 4, 2007 at 4:15 AM EDT
Article Link

OTTAWA — The Conservative government is muddying the debate on Afghanistan to assuage public opinion while hiding its true intentions, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion charged yesterday.

The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is sending signals and hints to suggest that it does not expect to extend the combat-heavy Kandahar mission past 2009, but refuses to make unequivocal official statements to its allies and Canadians, Mr. Dion argued.

The oft-repeated promise of a vote in Parliament on Canada's future on Afghanistan is particularly confusing because the Harper government will not say what the question will be, or even which side it will take, he said.

"How will they vote on their own vote?" Mr. Dion asked in an interview yesterday. "Why don't they say that today?
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Carter assails Bush for abandoning Afghanistan  
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OTTAWA: Former US president Jimmy Carter has criticised George W. Bush for the way he has handled Afghanistan, resulting in resurgence of Taliban militants and record poppy cultivation in the Central Asian country. 

The prevailing situation in Afghanistan is one of the proofs of mistakes that America has made in the last few years," said Carter, who was US president when Russians invaded Afghanistan. He was addressing a presidential campaign meeting in Americus, Georgia,. 

Sharing the stage with Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards at the Georgia Southwestern State University, Carter said instead of facing head on the Taliban and other terrorists with full force, the Bush administration abandoned Afghanistan and moved troop and money to Iraq. This, he said, was a terrible mistake. 

"I fully supported the US invasion of Afghanistan, expecting the government to concentrate there and to remove the Taliban from control of the country and to establish a real democracy in Afghanistan that all the world could have been looking at with pride, Carter remarked. 

"Instead, as you know, we abandoned Afghanistan and moved our troops and our emphasis and our money and everything else over into Iraq, he said. 
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From north to south, NATO faces mounting challenges across Afghanistan  
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MAYMANA, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan police officer leaned over a tray laden with pistachios and cubes of chilled watermelon to make his point to NATO's supreme commander.

"The enemy are attacking with machine guns and rocket launchers, and we can reply only with rifles," complained Col. Sayad Yakub Khan. "We don't have the capacity to respond."

Even in relatively prosperous parts of Afghanistan spared the worst of the violence that has curbed economic development, the mission to reconstruct the war-shattered country faces a raft of problems, nearly six years after the Taliban regime were toppled.

NATO chiefs report progress in combating a resurgent Taliban, yet an ineffective Afghan police force, spiralling drugs production and criticism of the military alliance over rising civilian deaths all present major headaches to the western-backed mission to stabilize the country.

"It's like three-dimensional chess in a dark room, and you have gloves on," is how Gen. John Craddock - the commander of all NATO operations, including the 40,000 allied troops in Afghanistan - described NATO's task during a visit to the country last week.

The discontented Afghan police officer was speaking in northwestern Faryab province, which borders Turkmenistan and is relatively peaceful and prosperous, far from the Taliban's heartlands in the south where NATO units clash daily with the insurgents.

Local officials praise NATO troops for helping open schools, pave roads and boosting the local economy. Yet recent months have seen a resurgence of attacks by insurgents infiltrating from the south. Targets include police posts, alliance troops and local civilians working with international development efforts, officials said.
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Taliban kidnapper killed in clashes: government  Suicide attack, clashes kill more than 15 in Afghanistan
The Associated Press  Tuesday, September 4, 2007 
Article Link

 KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghan security forces killed a Taliban commander they alleged Tuesday to be behind the July kidnappings of 23 South Korean church workers. The Taliban denied the claim.

Up to 27 other insurgents were also slain, officials said, while separate suicide attacks killed three police officers.

The Taliban commander, named as Mullah Mateen, was among 16 militants killed in fighting late Monday and early Tuesday in Ghazni province, where the South Koreans were abducted and all but four of them freed last week, said Ghazni Deputy Gov. Kazim Allayar and a senior police officer. Two male hostages were killed, and two others, both female, were released last month.

The Taliban agreed to free the hostages during direct talks with South Korean government representatives that were widely seen as giving political legitimacy to the insurgent movement at a time of surging violence in the country.

South Korean was forced to publicly reiterate a long-standing commitment to withdraw its 200 troops from the country by year's end and promise to prevent Christian missionaries from traveling to the country.

Ghazni has seen several military operations since the release of the hostages, possibly reflecting a desire by the central government to stamp its authority on the rebellious region following the abductions.
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Pakistani Militants Hold Army Troops Hostage  
By ISMAIL KHAN and CARLOTTA GALL PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept. 3 
Article Link

 Close to 300 Pakistani soldiers and officers have been held captive for four days after they were seized by pro-Taliban militants in a tribal region near the Afghan border without a shot being fired, government officials said Monday.

It was the first time government officials acknowledged that so many men had been captured and that they were being held hostage. The government has asked tribal elders to intercede to seek the release of the soldiers, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the embarrassment the capture has caused the government. 

The militants have demanded that the military withdraw from the restive area of South Waziristan and release 15 of their men from government custody.

The capture of the soldiers on Thursday was a serious setback for the Pakistani military in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. It demonstrated the confidence of the militants in South Waziristan, one of seven Pakistani tribal regions that has been described as a virtual Taliban state, where the government has so little control that the military can move only with the consent of the local militants.
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## GAP (4 Sep 2007)

U.S. Chopper Makes Unscheduled Landing; Taliban Attack Thwarted
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2007 
Article Link

A coalition helicopter made an unscheduled landing in Afghanistan today without injury to its crew or passengers, while Afghan and coalition forces thwarted a Taliban attack near Firebase Anaconda, in Oruzgun province, U.S. officials reported. 
The CH-47 Chinook helicopter landed southeast of Khogyani, in Nangarhar province. The crew decided to land the helicopter as part of safe air operations. No injuries to the crew or passengers were reported. There’s no indication the aircraft was fired on by enemy forces or of enemy activity in the area where the helicopter landed, U.S. officials said. The incident is being investigated. 

Elsewhere, coalition forces held off Taliban insurgents who fired 82 mm mortars that missed Firebase Anaconda, but impacted near the district center, not far from the coalition base. Afghan and U.S. troops used close-air support to repel the enemy. Ten insurgents, including a Taliban commander, were confirmed killed, officials said. 

“The questionable tactics of the extremist Taliban leaders continued today,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. “The indiscriminate firing by the enemies of peace and stability on areas populated with non-combatants highlights their ineptitude and explains why they absorb heavy casualties each time they attack this coalition firebase and its outposts.” 

In other Afghanistan operations today, Afghan and coalition forces detained two men in Paktika province. Afghan and coalition forces also killed several suspected militants and wounded another during operations in Ghazni. Three men were detained. One detainee was wounded and treated on site. “Militants who engage our combined forces are fighting a losing battle,” Belcher said. 
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Six US-hired militiamen killed in Afghanistan 
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ASADABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) — Six Afghan militia fighters hired by US-led forces were killed in a landmine explosion in eastern Afghanistan blamed on Taliban guerillas, officials said Monday.

The six, who were working with coalition forces in the fight against the hardline Islamist movement, were killed late Sunday in Kunar province bordering Pakistan, police commander Abdul Sabour Allahyar said.

"A mine went off under their vehicle," Allahyar said, adding that four other militiamen were wounded in the blast. He blamed the attack on Taliban militants.

Kunar has been hit by a spike in violence which has left nearly 15 civilians dead this week.

In a separate incident in the southern province of Zabul, rebels late Sunday attacked a convoy of civilian trucks supplying foreign military bases, burning at least 16 vehicles, police and witnesses said.

The convoy containing some 50 trucks was travelling from Bagram Airbase, the main US military headquarters just north of Kabul, to the international military airbase in the southern city of Kandahar.
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‘Seoul Offered to Build Hospitals in Afghanistan’  
 2007 17:10 By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter
Article Link

South Korea made a promise to the Taliban to build five hospitals in the southwestern region of Afghanistan bordering with Pakistan, in return for the release of 19 Korean hostages, a report said Monday. 

The report came amid a flurry of local and foreign news reports that Seoul had paid a huge ransom to the Islamic militant group to save the lives of the Christian missionary team kidnapped July 19, while traveling on a bus from Kabul to southern Kandahar. 

Quoting an unidentified government source privy to the hostage crisis, the Munhwa Ilbo newspaper said South Korean negotiators made the verbal promise to build five small hospitals in southern Afghanistan in face-to-face talks with Taliban insurgents. Indonesia guaranteed the deal, it said. 

``That (southern) region is governed by pro-Taliban Pashtun tribes, and leaders of tribes asked for the building of hospitals,'' the source was quoted as saying. ``While most Islamic countries were reluctant to be involved in the deal, Indonesia participated in the Korea-Taliban talks as an observer to guarantee the deal.'' 

The source said Seoul had sent a special envoy to notify the United States of the deal. 

Other government officials, however, dismissed the report.

``It is impossible realistically to build hospitals in a region of conflict in another country. I haven't heard that such a deal was made,'' a government officials said, requesting to remain anonymous.

Despite denials by Korean government officials, Korean and foreign news media have raised suspicion about a ransom paid by Seoul to the Taliban. 

An informed Afghan source told The Korea Times Sunday that the Taliban had received about $2 million with guarantees made by a third country. 

Reuters reported that Seoul paid the Taliban more than $20 million.
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Documents Show Troops Disregarding Rules  
By RYAN LENZ  Article Link


New documents released Tuesday regarding crimes committed by U.S. soldiers against civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan detail a troubling pattern of troops failing to understand and follow the rules that govern interrogations and deadly actions.

The documents, released by the American Civil Liberties Union ahead of a lawsuit, total nearly 10,000 pages of courts-martial summaries, transcripts and military investigative reports about 22 incidents. They show repeated examples of soldiers believing they were within the law when they killed local citizens.

The killings include the drowning of a man soldiers pushed from a bridge into the Tigris River as punishment for breaking curfew, and the suffocation during interrogation of a former Iraqi general believed to be helping insurgents.

In the suffocation, soldiers covered the man's head with a sleeping bag, then wrapped his neck with an electrical cord for a "stress position" they insisted was an approved technique.
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What Went Wrong for the Kidnapped?  
 09-02-2007 18:49 By Emal Pashtunyar Special to Korea Times
Article Link  

KABUL _ As the 19 Church volunteers have reached Seoul after some 43 days of captivity in the insurgency-wracked Afghanistan, the hostage drama has left one prime question unanswered: Did they have enough knowledge about the situation in Afghanistan, the Afghan society and some red zones in this war-battered country?

Any sane person (foreigner), having little knowledge about the situation in Afghanistan, would never venture into the southern zone without taking an escort. 

Furthermore, traveling in a group as large as 23 people with 18 women was the biggest mistake committed by the visitors. 

Afghanistan, especially its southern zone, is considered dangerous even for local Afghans who are working with NGOs or the Afghan government. They travel to the southern zone from Kabul by using different ways and means to avoid harm at the hands of the Taliban on the long route from Kabul to Kandahar, which passes through the troubled provinces of Ghazni, Zabul and Helmand. 

People, who have knowledge of the situation here, either change their transport at several points while traveling from Kabul to Kandahar or from Kandahar to Kabul; or avoid using public transport and hire private vehicles. 

It seems the group of 23 were first-time visitors to Afghanistan and were completely oblivious of the situation here. 
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Volleyball Unites Afghans, Americans
By Staff Sgt. Julie Weckerlein, USAF Special to American Forces Press Service
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FORWARD OPERATING BASE MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan, Sept. 4, 2007 – Afghans and Americans bump, set and spike during weekly rounds of volleyball at this forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan, providing an opportunity for the local citizens to see U.S. airmen and soldiers in a setting different from that outside the wire.  


Air Force and Army provincial reconstruction team members living on and working out of forward operating base Mehtar Lam, located in eastern Afghanistan host a weekly volleyball game for area high school students invited from Laghman province's five districts, Aug. 26, 2007. The volleyball games are designed to give the students a chance to meet and interact with military members in a friendly atmosphere. Photo by Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi, USAF  
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. 

“They get to come here on the base and see us relaxed and in our (physical training) uniforms, a lot different than how we look when we are out on convoy,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Frank Comer, a civil affairs specialist with the Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, who attends every game held in a sand pit here. “They get to see that we, too, enjoy a good game of volleyball.” 

The airmen and soldiers are part of the Laghman PRT, which serves as an administrative unit of international aid to the area via reconstruction projects, humanitarian aid delivery, and security backed by national and coalition forces. The PRT engages with key government, military, village and religious leaders while monitoring important political, military and reconstruction development. Team members also make efforts to provide outreach to the citizens they’re helping. 

Hence, the volleyball games, the brainchild of Army Staff Sgt. James Miller, another civil affairs specialist with the PRT. During the many convoys through various villages, Miller noticed a familiar trend: the youth were playing volleyball. 
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## GAP (4 Sep 2007)

Merkel Says German Afghanistan Aid Will Be Increased (Update1)  
By Andreas Cremer Sept. 4 (Bloomberg)
Article Link

Germany will increase efforts to help rebuild Afghanistan, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech that failed to address concerns in her ruling coalition on future military commitments to fighting Taliban insurgents. 

The Cabinet, meeting in Berlin tomorrow, will discuss ``how to improve civil reconstruction and coordinate differing approaches more effectively,'' Merkel told a congress today of her Christian Democratic Union party in Hanau, near Frankfurt. 

The so-called Afghanistan Concept, which is to be approved by Merkel's 16-member Cabinet of Christian and Social Democrat ministers, pledges to raise financial support for the Afghan civil rebuilding program to 125 million euros ($170 million) next year from 100 million euros, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on condition he not be identified. 

Germany's ruling coalition parties, while united in backing more reconstruction aid, are split over a possible reduction in the more than 3,000 German military personnel stationed in Afghanistan, most of whom serve as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's forces. Lawmakers facing falling public support for the mission because of growing number of civilian abductions and terror attacks, have to vote in October and November on extending troop mandates. 

Social Democrats including Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler have said the government should consider dispatching more staff to train Afghan police and additional troops to protect the trainers. Yet Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, a Christian Democrat, wants to trim the commitment of troops to the U.S.-led anti-terrorism mission Operation Enduring Freedom
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Canada sending more police trainers to Afghanistan  
Article Link

OTTAWA (CP) — Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan and senior government officials have offered a barrage of statistics about the military mission there, hoping to shore up flagging support at home.

Arif Lalani said progress is being made toward building a civil society, and said security is improving in Kandahar province, as well as elsewhere throughout southern Afghanistan.

Speaking at a technical briefing in Ottawa via conference call, Lalani brushed aside reports that Canadian troops are battling to retake ground they fought for last year, saying there is always back and forth in a war.

Senior government officials say Canada will be sending 22 more civilian police officers to help train the Afghan National Police, who've been persistent targets of Taliban militants.

A development official highlighted a planned distribution of food aid to Afghans in the coming days, saying he hopes the media will take note of the event, which will take place within 500 metres of Kandahar Airfield.

But the official could not say whether the food is going to refugees or to the Afghan National Army camp, which is within 500 metres of NATO's principal southern base. 
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Canadian military too focused on Afghanistan: report
Updated Tue. Sep. 4 2007 12:49 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

A new report written by three retired generals says the Canadian military has been too focused on the war in Afghanistan and not enough on other areas. 

The report, leaked to the Ottawa Citizen, reportedly calls for greater balance in the military's focus and distribution of resources.

The Citizen says the report was written for Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier by three retired generals who were to examine the progress of the military's transformation according to Hillier's plans.

CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from Kandahar, Afghanistan, says the report suggests "Canada's military has very much been focused on the Afghan mission, however they have not been so focused on the homefront."

Canada Command was among four new commands created 18 months ago to look at security threats from abroad and to gather intelligence and support local police forces defending against terrorist threats.

However, "Canada Command has not been given the attention, they've been fighting for resources that the Afghan mission has been getting," Chao says. "So this report suggests that there needs to be more of a balance going on here in terms of resources, in terms of focus, and we'll likely see this in the upcoming months." 

An emphasis on recruitment and new equipment was also part of Hillier's initial transformation plan, and along with the Afghan mission, it has also drawn resources away from the military's work at home, the newspaper reports.
More on link


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## GAP (5 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 5, 2007*

Two NATO soldiers dead in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 5, 2007 | 8:08 AM ET  CBC News 
Article Link

Two NATO soldiers were killed and a third was injured while on patrol in southern Afghanistan Wednesday, the alliance said. The soldiers' nationalities were not released.

The three soldiers were members of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, according to a statement released by the alliance. An Afghan interpreter was also injured.

No other details were provided by the alliance, and by policy ISAF will not reveal the nationality the killed soldiers before the relevant national authorities have had a chance to do so.

More than 20 insurgents were killed in air strikes and ground battles Tuesday and Wednesday, the statement also said. It was not clear if these incidents were related to the NATO casualties.

The fighting on Tuesday and Wednesday came after Afghan forces claimed to have killed a Taliban commander involved in the kidnapping of 23 South Korean church workers in central Afghanistan in July.
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Most Canadians back 'poppy for medicine' program: poll
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 4, 2007 | 5:03 PM ET  CBC News 
Article Link

Eight in 10 Canadians support "poppy for medicine" projects in Afghanistan — programs that involve growing poppies for the manufacturing of opium used to make legal medications, an Ipsos Reid poll suggests.

The poll was conducted on behalf of the Senlis Council, a British think tank.

An Afghan police officer stands guard in poppy fields during a poppy eradication campaign east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 11, 2007. Afghanistan produced dramatically more opium in 2006, according to a recent UN report. 
(AP) The plan aims to use the opium produced by Afghan farmers for the production of legal medicines, such as morphine and codeine tablets, which are in short supply, according to the Senlis Group.

Currently, Afghan farmers are cultivating poppies to generate much-needed income. However, they're selling them to produce raw opium, which is being sold to make illegal narcotics such as heroin. A recent UN survey found that opium cultivation in Kandahar is up by 26 per cent from 2006.

Under the plan, the legal cultivation and conversion of poppies would occur within Afghan villages and the entire production process, from seed to medicine tablet, would be controlled by the village in collaboration with the UN and international overseers.
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Ambassador optimistic about Canada's work in Afghanistan
ALAN FREEMAN Globe and Mail Update September 4, 2007 at 6:52 PM EDT
Article Link

OTTAWA — Seventy hand-pumps, 1,000 wells, 100 reservoirs, 650 kilometres of rehabilitated roads. These were just some of the accomplishments Canadian officials listed Tuesday as they briefed journalists on Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

In the first of what are promised to become monthly technical briefings on the Afghan mission, Canada's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Arif Lalani, and three senior officials who would not be named, painted a uniformly optimistic picture of the military and development situation in the country.

“There's been tremendous progress here,” said Mr. Lalani, adding that governance, security, policing and economic development have all improved. “I'm quite confident that we're going to continue to make progress.”

Only when journalists asked about reports that the Taliban have effectively taken back half of the strategic territory in the Panjwai and Zhari districts that Canadian and other NATO troops seized a year ago did the officials concede that everything may not be going to plan.

One official admitted that while the Afghan National Army is improving, “when we look at the national police, there is still work to be done.” He added that the situation can be difficult in isolated locations, and that it is important to make sure that checkpoints are maintained and supported.

In fact, reports from the front say checkpoints that Canadian forces once manned have been abandoned after being passed to the Afghan police.

Mr. Lalani dismissed concerns about the loss of territory, saying, “There is always a back and forth.” Another official responded that “progress is always measured in time.”

Yet another official said it is recognized that the national police are behind the Afghan army in terms of progress.
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Afghanistan plays down Chinese arms concerns
Article Link

* Defence ministry says not aware of any Chinese weapons reaching Taliban

KABUL: Afghanistan’s government played down Tuesday reported concerns about Chinese weapons finding their way to Taliban rebels waging a growing insurgency.

The defence ministry said it did not have evidence of Chinese arms supplied to the Taliban. The president’s office added that if such weapons were in Afghanistan, they were likely coming via groups “known” to support the rebels - a reference to those in neighbouring Pakistan said to aid the insurgents.

The BBC reported Tuesday that Britain had privately complained to Beijing that Chinese-made weapons were being used by the Taliban in Afghanistan, where nearly 7,000 British troops are aiding the fight against the insurgents. The broadcaster said it had been told that on several occasions Chinese arms have been recovered after attacks on British and American troops by Afghan insurgents. It did not name its sources.
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Lawsuit demands US reveal civilian deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan  
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A US civil rights group filed a lawsuit Tuesday demanding the American military release documents about civilians killed by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, accusing the government of trying to hide the human cost of war.

The American Civil Liberties Union's legal move came after a request for documents related to civilian deaths under the country's Freedom of Information laws was rebuffed by the US Navy, the Air Force and Marines. The US Army complied with the ACLU's year-old request.

The group has already released thousands of documents obtained from the army showing compensation claims from families whose loved ones were killed by stray bullets or in traffic accidents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, the ACLU released thousands of additional documents revealing court martial proceedings and military investigations in cases in which US soldiers were accused -- and often acquitted -- of killing civilians intentionally or through negligence.

In its suit filed in federal court in Washington, the ACLU -- citing the public's legal right to information held by the government -- demands the Pentagon release "all records relating to the killing of civilians by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan since January 1, 2005."
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At least 20 insurgents killed in Afghanistan
Article Link
     
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Two NATO soldiers were killed while on patrol in restive southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, while more than 20 suspected insurgents were reported to have died in coalition airstrikes and ground battles, authorities said.

The fighting on Tuesday and Wednesday came after Afghan forces claimed to have killed a Taliban commander involved in the kidnapping of 23 South Korean church workers in central Afghanistan in July.

Taliban-led militants are waging a bloody resistance campaign against the Western-supported government of President Hamid Karzai, which replaced the hard-line Islamic militia after the U.S. invasion in 2001.

The two dead soldiers were from NATO's International Security Assistance Force, the alliance said in a statement. It said another ISAF soldier and an interpreter were injured but gave no more details, including the soldiers' nationalities.

Afghan and coalition soldiers in Shah Wali Kot district, in southern Kandahar province, came under attack while on patrol Tuesday. They fought back before calling in air support, a coalition statement said.
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Germany eyes long-term role in Afghanistan: document  
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BERLIN (AFP) — Germany believes its troops should remain in Afghanistan until the country can take care of its own security needs, according to an internal government document obtained by AFP.

The document was prepared by the defence, foreign, interior and overseas development ministries for the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of a vote in the German parliament in October.

The parliament is expected to approve a renewal of the mandatefed intense pressure from its NATO partners to send troops to southern Afghanistan where the fighting is most heaviest.

Most German troops are serving within the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) force in the relatively peaceful north of the country and help to train the Afghan police force.

Germany has also sent Tornado reconnaissance planes to help US-led forces hunting the Taliban.

In the five years since it deployed in Afghanistan after the Taliban regime was ousted, Germany has lost 25 soldiers, three police officers and four civilians.
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Canada sending more police trainers to Afghanistan  
Article Link

OTTAWA (CP) — Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan and senior government officials have offered a barrage of statistics about the military mission there, hoping to shore up flagging support at home.

Arif Lalani said progress is being made toward building a civil society, and said security is improving in Kandahar province, as well as elsewhere throughout southern Afghanistan.

Speaking at a technical briefing in Ottawa via conference call, Lalani brushed aside reports that Canadian troops are battling to retake ground they fought for last year, saying there is always back and forth in a war.

Senior government officials say Canada will be sending 22 more civilian police officers to help train the Afghan National Police, who've been persistent targets of Taliban militants.

A development official highlighted a planned distribution of food aid to Afghans in the coming days, saying he hopes the media will take note of the event, which will take place within 500 metres of Kandahar Airfield.

But the official could not say whether the food is going to refugees or to the Afghan National Army camp, which is within 500 metres of NATO's principal southern base. 
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## GAP (5 Sep 2007)

*The stink of our failure*
By CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD  Wednesday, September 5, 2007 – Page A1 
Article Link

KANADAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- I left Kandahar yesterday for the fourth time in 18 months. For the first time, I left filled with shame.

On the micro level, it was because a story that unfolded before a trusty colleague of mine, Steve Chao of CTV, was fresh in my mind. Mr. Chao was at Patrol Base Wilson, a Canadian base in the Taliban heartland of Zhari district, last weekend, and was interviewing a local Afghan National Police chief when, off in the distance, came the telltale smoke of a roadside bomb.

A U.S. private security truck escorting a tanker had been blown up, and its men and the ANP travelling with them were now under fire. The police chief, Colonel Gulam Rasool Aka, impeccably starched and dressed and to all appearances a good policemen (there are more of these than you would think), was on the phone to his guys taking fire. As Mr. Chao watched, a Canadian came out of a command post to ask what was going on. Col. Aka told him and asked if the Canadians could help; the man said, "Keep me informed," and disappeared back into the CP.

For all the problems that bedevil the ANP, and they are legion, not being able to rely on their Canadian allies traditionally has not been one of them.

Now, on this day at least it was, and though there may be good reason why and there's no doubt the Canadians cannot ride to the rescue of the alternately beleaguered and inept ANP every time, it still grated because I remember a time, last year, when Canadians were everyone's go-to boys.

But in a broader way, I left with the stink of failure in my nose.

The Canadian mission in Afghanistan is not failing, though its progress is measured some days in millimetres (my late father had a far better term for such a fine unit) and it is far from perfect.

Like those of the other donor nations whose dollars flood this place, Canada's effort in this country has suffered from a surfeit of good will and a lack of hard-nosed resolve to make funds contingent upon action on the internal corruption that is rife in Afghanistan and the fledgling government of President Hamid Karzai.

Rather, what stuck in my nostrils was a failure of nerve: Canada, I fear, has lost its collective stomach for this exercise. It's too tough, too hard, too damn slow, and the cost - 70 lives down and, as an Ottawa-datelined story I read yesterday jauntily noted, "and counting" - is too great.

The signs are everywhere.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has pledged to quickly bring a motion to the House of Commons formally setting February, 2009, as the day Canada's combat role will end here. The NDP's Jack Layton is still demanding Canadian troops withdraw now, and has added the twist that Canada should take the lead in "peace talks" here.

Since the only group at war with Canada in Afghanistan is the Taliban and the warlords and narco-criminals who are their allies of convenience, I guess Mr. Layton means peace talks with them. Presumably, as the pundits are saying, Mr. Layton considers the Taliban's recent negotiations with South Korea - why, only two of those foolish but innocent hostages were murdered after all - is evidence of their new respectability.

And more tellingly, those in Ottawa skilled at reading the tea leaves of the Stephen Harper government suggest that the Conservatives have lost their appetite for this particular battle.

I hope they are wrong, but in light of what new Defence Minister Peter MacKay was last weekend telling CTV's Question Period, it's hard to remain optimistic. Mr. MacKay said that Canada's NATO allies have been reminded they "cannot count on our troops" after February of 2009, though he was quick to reassure Canadians that "the aid work and the diplomatic effort and presence will extend well beyond that."

Well, that is just a glorious crock.

The critics of this mission like to say there has never been an honest debate about it in Parliament, the suggestion that if only there had been, fighting troops would never have been sent here because the Canadian people always prefer to see their soldiers in peaceable roles. That may or may not be true, but that's certainly what public-opinion polls indicate and it's what Canadian politicians appear to mostly believe.

But if you thought the previous debates were a farce, the coming one may make them look full and forthright.

The truth is that in the south, including Kandahar province, which is the Canadian area of operations, there is barely an aid effort now, and that's with Canadian troops here in force.

That's not because Canadian soldiers haven't tried, or are overarmed mouth-breathers unable to grasp the delicate nuance of reconstruction and development work, the bleating of some NGOs notwithstanding. Soldiers are damned capable, better in my mind than the earnest folks at the aid agencies who claim to know best how to deliver help. And the troops have made a genuine difference in myriad small ways, which is how development really happens on the ground.

But the real aim here is to build the capacity of Afghans - in government, in its institutions such as the army and police and in politicians and district leaders - and that is painfully slow and barely visible work, especially when the good folks keep getting killed off and beheaded by those with whom Mr. Layton would conduct negotiations.

And it can't be done on any real scale until there's what everyone here calls security, by which they really mean someone has to regularly kick the snot out of the Taliban and their allies until they are reduced, as appears to be happening in Kandahar province, to suicide and roadside bombings and fleeting attacks, and eventually fewer of those, too.

That takes soldiers, and soldiers who are willing to fight, and suffer losses, and occasionally emerge with bloody noses. Canadian soldiers, including, most remarkably, the families of those who have died here, remain willing and committed. The Brits and Americans aside, none of Canada's NATO allies have shown much eagerness to step up to the plate, nor has anyone else.

So the truth of it is, if Parliament decides that, as Mr. MacKay put it, "our current configuration," meaning combat troops, will end in early 2009, no one should draw comfort from the promise that "the aid work" will continue merrily on. It won't. Neither is it likely another country will step up to fill the vacuum left by departing Canadian soldiers, and even if one does, they won't be as good at the hard work - of killing and being killed, as well as talking and building - as Canadians are. And Afghanistan will slide deeper into the chaos that as always is on a low boil, burbling within.

That's why I left Kandahar yesterday feeling ashamed. Where failure itself is often honourable, failing to stay the course is not, and that's what's in the air.

cblatchford@globeandmail.com


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## GAP (6 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 6, 2007*

Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan under fire for allegedly failing to support local police and army outposts 
Article Link

An small controversy may be brewing in Afghanistan after a New York Times report set off a called into question Canada's effectiveness at co-operating with  Afghanistan's armed forces in our mission to bring stability and security to the troubled country. CanWest News Service reporter Mike Blanchfield sums up the hubbub here:

After Sunday's New York Times gave an account of the Aug. 7 incident, Kandahar's provincial police chief Syed Aqa Saqib paid a special visit to Brigadier-General Guy Laroche, the Canadian commander in Afghanistan, because he "feels horribly" that the published report portrayed him as blaming Canadian troops for the deaths of 16 of his officers, said a senior military spokesman.

"The provincial police chief has already been in to see Gen. Laroche because he's obviously concerned about how the article portrayed his comments," said Lieutenant-Colonel Jamie Robertson, a senior Defence Department spokesman.

"He went in to see him about it because it's not accurate at all."

Now, the New York Times story, by David Rhode, here, is a big feature about how the Taliban has regrouped and become resurgent in Southern Afghanistan, areas the Canadian and U.S. forces had cleared as of last year. It's not exactly an untold story, still the section Mr. Saqib would like to back off of is actually a pretty large part of the argument that it's the failure of communication and support between the NATO forces and the Afghan National Police and Army that's failing to contain the new Taliban tactics:

A year after Canadian and American forces drove hundreds of Taliban fighters from the area, the Panjwai and Zhare districts southwest of Kandahar, the rebels are back and have adopted new tactics. Carrying out guerrilla attacks after NATO troops partly withdrew in July, they overran isolated police posts and are now operating in areas where they can mount attacks on Kandahar, the south’s largest city. 

The seesaw nature of the conflict is evident here in Kandahar, where the local governor cites a slight drop in suicide bombings in the provincial capital as a sign of progress. But police officials and villagers bitterly complain that Canadian forces abandoned Panjwai and Zhare.

Syed Aqa Saqib, Kandahar’s provincial police chief, said Canadian and Afghan Army forces began withdrawing from four checkpoints and two small bases in Panjwai in early July. The withdrawals coincided with the rotation of Canadian military units serving in Kandahar in August, he said.

The pullback left two Afghan police posts in Panjwai largely unprotected, he said. On Aug. 7, the Taliban attacked the posts simultaneously. For several hours, the police held them off and called for help from Canadian forces, he said, but none arrived. Sixteen policemen were killed.

“The Canadians didn’t support them,” Mr. Saqib said. “Then, we went to collect our dead.”

General Laroche, the Canadian commander, said an Afghan Army unit was immediately sent to aid the police but it returned and asked for Canadian assistance, citing fears of roadside bombs. Canadian troops then arrived as quickly as they could. 

Richard Johnson, who sketch-blogged from Kandahar for the National Post for two months this summer, had this first-hand account of what those missions to support local Afghan authorities look like. Written back in July, it featured a patrol into an outpost that had been defended with a high cost in Afghan lives. 
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Roadside bomb kills two British soldiers in Afghanistan
Richard Norton-Taylor and Lee GlendinningThursday September 6, 2007 The Guardian 
Article Link

Two British soldiers were killed yesterday by an improvised bomb in southern Afghanistan. A third British soldier and a civilian interpreter serving with Nato forces were also wounded in the attack, in which 20 suspected insurgents died.
The Ministry of Defence said the men were taking part in a routine patrol in Helmand province when their vehicle was hit at around 9.15am local time.

The soldiers were from the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) and were patrolling eight miles north of Lashkar Gah when their vehicle was caught in an explosion. Both soldiers were pronounced dead at the scene. The third soldier and the interpreter were evacuated by helicopter to Camp Bastion for treatment.

The Ministry of Defence said last night that the families of the soldiers had been informed but there would be a 24-hour period of grace before any further information was released.

Lt Col Bridget Rose, a spokeswoman for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), said it was a "profoundly regrettable incident" and their thoughts were with the family and friends of those who had died.
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Plot designed to increase pressure for Afghanistan pullout  
By Judy Dempsey Wednesday, September 5, 2007 
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BERLIN: The alleged plot by Islamist militants to carry out "massive bomb attacks" against U.S. and German installations was designed in part to increase pressure for a pullout of German troops from Afghanistan, security experts said Wednesday.

Even though most of Germany's 3,200 troops are based in a relatively peaceful region in the north of Afghanistan - not in the south where NATO military forces are trying to contain an insurgency led by Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other forces - it has not been immune to attacks on its troops or threats against targets in Germany.

"It is not entirely a coincidence that the foiled attacks today are part of a strategy by Al Qaeda," said Thomas Ruttig, an expert on security issues and Afghanistan at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin.

"They want to try to influence the political debate here about the role of the German troops," he said.

Ruttig added that the timing of the plot had been linked to the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and the coming debate in the Bundestag, or German Parliament, about whether to extend the mandate for troops serving in Afghanistan.
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Over 40 Taliban killed in Afghanistan
Thu Sep 6, 2007 11:51AM BST
Article Link

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces killed more than 40 insurgents in a 12-hour battle in a restive southern province, taking the guerrilla death toll to nearly 200 in a fortnight, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

Suspected Islamist Taliban insurgents ambushed a coalition patrol in villages in Kandahar province's Shah Wali Kot district with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, the U.S. military said in a statement.

 Kandahar has been the site of repeated clashes in recent months.

"The extremist fighters were visually observed firing on the patrol from compounds located within the villages," the statement said.

"Throughout the engagement, insurgents reinforced their positions with an estimated 150 additional fighters. Coalition aircraft destroyed the positively identified enemy firing positions with precision guided munitions."

The Taliban said they were unaware of any ground fighting in the Shah Wali Kot district on Wednesday, but said they had downed an American helicopter in the area.

"The chopper is completely burnt and everyone on board is dead," Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said by telephone from an undisclosed location. "Whenever we blow up the Americans they claim such things to confuse the people
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South Koreans Turn Anger at Hostages  
By JAE-SOON CHANG – 5 days ago 
Article Link

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's relief at the release of 19 countrymen held hostage by the Taliban gave way Friday to anger at the victims themselves, members of a Christian church who are being criticized for ignoring warnings against travel to Afghanistan.

Critics said the group's actions forced their government into negotiations with the Islamic militants that damaged the nation's international reputation.

A day after the last hostages were let go, some of the church workers apologized for the trouble caused by their captivity, and a few collapsed when told the militants had slain two male colleagues. One said she secretly kept a diary on the lining of her pants.

With the crisis over, South Koreans turned their focus to what went wrong, who is to blame and what lessons can be drawn from the six-week ordeal. Public anger toward the hostages had been expressed in one form or another from the beginning, and it was rising on Friday.

Scathing comments, written with the cloak of anonymity, flooded Internet message boards. Newspapers published critical editorials.

Most noticeable was the feeling the hostages themselves and the church that sent them to Afghanistan were to blame because they did not heed repeated government warnings to stay away from the volatile Central Asian country. One advisory cited an intelligence report that insurgents were targeting Koreans.
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Germany to focus on reconstruction in Afghanistan
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
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The German government sought on Wednesday to regain the initiative over its troubled involvement in Afghanistan by increasing aid and promising an even sharper focus on reconstruction work in the warn-torn country.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet pledged to raise development assistance for Afghanistan next year to €125m from €100m this year, and redoubled efforts to encourage greater "Afghan ownership" of reconstruction projects in the country.

The decisions – packaged in a revised government strategy - were seen by analysts as an effort to counter growing political and public opposition to aspects of Germany's military involvement in Afghanistan.
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Harper wants to use APEC as forum on Afghanistan
 TheStar.com - September 06, 2007 Tonda MacCharles OTTAWA BUREAU
Article Link

Eyes wider international military, development efforts in the region

OTTAWA–With Canada poised to debate what role Canadian troops in Afghanistan should have beyond the mission's February 2009 deadline, Prime Minster Stephen Harper is looking to broaden international military and development efforts in the region at the summit of 21 Asia Pacific leaders this weekend.

"Whether it's at APEC or another forum, there are many ways in which other countries can participate," said a Canadian official, speaking on background. 

"Sometimes it's through the provision of additional combat troops. Sometimes it's through medical support, logistical support. Sometimes it's in things like co-ordinating our approach to other governments, like Pakistan."

Australian host Prime Minister John Howard has shifted energy, security and climate change to the top of this year's agenda.

Also top of mind, says Howard, are issues of global security at meetings that include the leaders of Russia, China, South Korea, Japan, the U.S. and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. 

Harper was to arrive this afternoon for the summit in Sydney.

Details of which bilateral meetings Harper would hold were not released but one senior official said the PM would use the summit as a way "to advance issues of importance fundamental to our collective efforts in Afghanistan."

The Afghanistan file is politically explosive for Harper's minority government, with Canadian casualties rising, Afghan security forces reported to be losing ground to Taliban-backed insurgents, and the fears about Taliban kidnappings of international aid workers.

Rookie Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier last week chided the South Korean government for directly negotiating the release of Christian Korean aid workers who'd been seized as hostages by the Taliban. 

"We do not negotiate with terrorists, for any reason. Such negotiations, even if unsuccessful, only lead to further acts of terrorism," said Bernier, who will attend the summit.
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## GAP (6 Sep 2007)

Laroche says Taliban fighting strength sapped
Updated Thu. Sep. 6 2007 5:19 PM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

PATROL BASE WILSON, Afghanistan -- More than five years after international forces rolled into Afghanistan, there is much debate about whether or not they're losing ground to a resurgent Taliban. 

For Brig-Gen. Guy Laroche, Canada's top commander in Afghanistan, the answer is a firm No. 

As his military convoy bumps over a road where Canada lost its first soldier to a roadside bomb, Laroche sweeps his arm toward the far-off mountains. 

"There used to be 300 Taliban in this area,'' he said. "Now, they don't have the numbers for a face-to-face fight.'' 

As his crew keeps a close watch on every bump in the road and every person they pass, Laroche suggests the deadly bombing campaign of the Taliban is their last gasp. 

"We'll never completely get rid of the Taliban,'' he said. "This is their home.'' 

But he said the insurgent force has been severely damaged and left unable to mount an effective fighting force. He suggested that's why the Taliban have resorted to the improvised explosive devices -- including suicide bombings -- that have taken the lives of 38 Canadian soldiers. 


Despite the bombs, stability is being restored. 


"Now you see families and children who've come back,'' Laroche said as a group of waving small children ran alongside the convoy. "A year ago you didn't see that.'' 


Meanwhile in Kandahar City, Afghan authorities paraded four suspected Taliban detainees for the media Thursday, claiming the Pakistani natives were would-be suicide bombers. 


Although the four deny any plan to blow themselves up, they admitted they easily crossed the border into Afghanistan with jihad -- holy war -- on their mind. 

"When Americans captured Afghanistan, we saw they were beating people, killing people, and from that time we had this idea of jihad,'' one of the young men, 24-year-old Mohammed Shohaib, said through an interpreter. 

Shohaib said they received 12 days of training in Pakistan, including suicide bombing. Despite the urging of an Afghan official, however, Shohaib said they had no plans to carry out suicide missions. 

"We came here to fight with guns, with weapons, not to blow ourselves up,'' he said.


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## GAP (7 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 7, 2007*

Powerful 'grab Afghanistan land'  
Thursday September 06, 2007 (2040 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: The Afghan urban development minister says land is being appropriated illegally by powerful individuals at a rate of two sq km (0.8 sq miles) a day. 

Former military commanders, members of parliament and senior officials are seizing land and then selling it on illegally, says Yousaf Pashthun. 

There is a "land mafia" which has stolen 5,000 sq km of land this year.  It is another indication of the extent of corruption and the absence of the rule of law in Afghanistan. 

One man, who lives in the northern town of Mazar-i Sharif, told the BBC how an estate that had been in his family for 80 years was taken over by local strongmen. 

They drew up false papers, divided the land up into plots and sold it off for private housing, he says. 

Although the original owner has taken the case to court, he is not optimistic since the people who stole his land are wealthy and powerful. 

The illegal seizure of government-owned land is also making it difficult for the authorities to carry out development schemes and building projects. 
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12 Mine Clearing Workers Missing in Afghanistan 
By VOA News  06 September 2007  
Article Link

Twelve mine clearing workers are missing in eastern Afghanistan.

Authorities said Thursday that the workers of a local demining company disappeared while traveling through Paktia province. 

The Reuters news agency quotes a Paktia official as saying insurgents abducted the 12 deminers.

In southern Afghanistan, NATO said two soldiers were killed and several others wounded by two separate bomb attacks Thursday. It gave no other details. 
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Canadians let down by NATO in Afghanistan: general
Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service Published: Thursday, September 06, 2007
Article Link

OTTAWA -- Canadian soldiers and their allies in southern Afghanistan face added risks because some NATO countries are not supplying enough troops and equipment, the head of the alliance's military committee said Thursday.

Gen. Ray Henault, formerly Canada's defence chief, also said some NATO members are making it tougher on their comrades in the south by restricting where their troops can operate. With other countries not deploying soldiers to the front lines in Kandahar and its neighbouring southern provinces, Canada and its Dutch, British and U.S. allies are left to face the toughest fighting and heaviest casualties alone. 

"Shortfalls do create additional risks and we try to reduce those as much as possible," Gen. Henault said shortly after he arrived with the 26 chiefs of defence of the alliance for three days of meetings here and in Victoria, "and we also encourage nations to reduce their limitations on troop movements [through] what we call 'caveats.'" 
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Canadian general says Taliban fighting strength sapped despite deadly bombs  
Article Link

PATROL BASE WILSON, Afghanistan (CP) — More than five years after international forces rolled into Afghanistan, there is much debate about whether or not they're losing ground to a resurgent Taliban.

For Brig-Gen. Guy Laroche, Canada's top commander in Afghanistan, the answer is a firm No.

As his military convoy bumps over a road where Canada lost its first soldier to a roadside bomb, Laroche sweeps his arm toward the far-off mountains.

"There used to be 300 Taliban in this area," he said. "Now, they don't have the numbers for a face-to-face fight."

As his crew keeps a close watch on every bump in the road and every person they pass, Laroche suggests the deadly bombing campaign of the Taliban is their last gasp.

"We'll never completely get rid of the Taliban," he said. "This is their home."
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US Army's strategy in Afghanistan: better anthropology
Counterinsurgency efforts focus on better grasping and meeting local needs.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor  September 7, 2007 edition
Article Link

Page 1 of 3

Reporter Scott Peterson talks about a new US Army tactic in its counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan.Shabak Valley, Afghanistan - Evidence of how far the US Army's counterinsurgency strategy has evolved can be found in the work of a uniformed anthropologist toting a gun in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Part of a Human Terrain Team (HHT) – the first ever deployed – she speaks to hundreds of Afghan men and women to learn how they think and what they need. 

One discovery that may help limit Taliban recruits in this rough-hewn valley: The area has a preponderance of widows – and their sons, who have to provide care, are forced to stay closer to home, where few jobs can be found. Now, the HHT is identifying ways to tap the textiles and blankets traded through here to create jobs for the women – and free their sons to get work themselves. 

"In most circumstances, I am 'third' gender," says Tracy, who can give only her first name. She says that she is not seen as either an Afghan woman or a Western one – because of her uniform. "It has enhanced any ability to talk to [Afghans]. There is a curiosity." 

Such insight is the grist of what US forces here see as a smarter counterisurgency. "We're not here just to kill the enemy – we are so far past the kinetic fight," says Lt. Col. Dave Woods, commander of the 4th Squadron 73rd Cavalry. "It is the nonkinetic piece [that matters], to identify their problems, to seed the future here." Nearly six years after US troops toppled the Taliban, the battle is for a presence that will elicit confidence in the Afghan government and its growing security forces. "Operation Khyber," which started Aug. 22, aims for a more effective counterinsurgency – using fewer bullets and more local empowerment. 

US commanders have doubled US troop strength in eastern Afghanistan in the past year. They are also fielding the HHT – a "graduate-level counterinsurgency" unit, as one officer puts it – to fine-tune aid and to undermine the intimidating grip of militants in the region. 
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Mammoth task to teach Afghanistan to read and write  
Article Link 

KABUL (AFP) — Mahjan, a 40-year-old Afghan woman, says her husband did not want their daughters to leave the house to go to school.

"So, while he was at work, I opened the courtyard of the house to a literacy class so that they, my neighbours and myself can learn to read and write," she says proudly.

For two hours a day for a year, Mahjan and her two teenage daughters have sat on the small patio behind high, old walls in central Kabul with about 20 other students.

They are among the teachers and pupils trying to eat away at Afghanistan's enormous illiteracy rate, which the United Nations' children's group UNICEF puts at 71 percent, with 86 percent of women illiterate.

Thirty years of war in this mountainous country of extreme climatic conditions and a ruined infrastructure has kept Afghanistan on the margins of the world.

This was at no time more evident than during 1996 and 2001, when the country was under the power of the ultra-conservative Taliban, which barred girls and women from going to school.
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Europeans Oppose Attack on Iran, Tire of Afghan War, Poll Says  
By James G. Neuger Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) 
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Europeans are overwhelmingly against a potential U.S. military attack to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and are tiring of the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, a survey showed. 

Americans are more willing to contemplate the use of force against Iran and remain in favor of the Afghan war, according to a poll released today by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Italian foundation Compagnia di San Paolo. 

``Europeans are very skittish about the possibility of even maintaining the option of using military force,'' John K. Glenn, director of foreign policy at the German Marshall Fund, said in an interview from Washington. 

While blaming President George W. Bush and the Iraq war for much of the foreign-policy discord between the U.S. and Europe, the survey's authors concluded that the gulf is likely to persist after Bush leaves the White House in 2009. 
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General says troop shortage is hindering Afghanistan gains
 TheStar.com September 07, 2007  Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa Bureau
Article Link

Top NATO officer, a Canadian, says `gaps' are being debated as alliance meets in Ottawa

OTTAWA–A shortage of NATO and Afghan forces on the ground in Afghanistan is hampering efforts to win and hold ground from insurgents, NATO's top military commander says.

Gen. Ray Henault, a Canadian who heads the alliance's military committee, acknowledged the troubles Canadians have faced recently in Kandahar region, where troops are fighting and dying to capture terrain they fought over just a year ago.

"There is every interest in our case to make sure that we consolidate our gains," Henault said.

"We are aware of instances where we have not had sufficient troops in a particular region ... to maintain those gains." 

But as top military commanders from the 26 NATO nations prepare to meet in Ottawa and Victoria this week, Henault hinted at the ongoing backroom tensions – and the charge by countries like Canada that they are bearing a disproportionate share of the danger in Kandahar.
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## GAP (9 Sep 2007)

*Articles found Sept 9, 2007*

2 Canadian soldiers hurt in major Afghanistan offensive
Last Updated: Sunday, September 9, 2007 | 10:16 AM ET 
CBC News 
Article Link

Two Canadian soldiers received minor injuries after a tank struck a roadside bomb Sunday in the second day of a major offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, a military official said.

The incident happened during the second day of Operation Khar Khowhai, or Keeping Goodwill, an offensive being carried out by hundreds of Canadian troops in the Zhari district, west of the city of Kandahar.

Capt. Josée Bilodeau said a Leopard tank that pushes a roller ahead of it to clear roads of bombs struck the device and was slightly damaged.

The soldiers who were walking not far from the vehicle were struck by shrapnel, Bilodeau said.

They received treatment at the Kandahar base and were expected to return to work on Monday, Bilodeau said. She didn't give any further details about the identities of the soldiers.
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No rush on Afghan mission extension vote: Harper
Updated Sun. Sep. 9 2007 7:55 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said there will be no parliamentary vote on Canada's role in Afghanistan unless an opposition party supports his desire to extend the mission after February 2009.

Harper told reporters after the APEC Summit in Sydney, Australia that there is no rush for a debate or vote.

He wants Canada to "finish the job" in Afghanistan.

Canadian troops have been in Afghanistan since late 2001 and began their current assignment in insurgent-ridden Kandahar province in February 2006.

The Liberal Opposition -- which sent Canadian troops to Afghanistan while in government -- wants to introduce a motion early in the fall session of Parliament that will seek a vote to confirm Canada's military mission will end as scheduled.

The Canadian mission had originally been scheduled to end in February 2007, but in May 2006, Parliament voted 149-145 to extend it for another two years.
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Military calls latest Afghan operation a success
Updated Sun. Sep. 9 2007 11:16 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Canadian military officials are calling an operation in the Zhari district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province a success, with no major casualties.

Operation Keeping Goodwill involved most of the Canadian battle group, with Afghan troops in the lead and American air power overhead.

The operation lasted about 36 hours. The mission was designed to reassert control over the volatile district, where major clashes have been fought in the past against Taliban insurgents.

"They took hold of this land, but the Afghan police as well as the Afghan army were unable to hold this ground, and the Taliban simply reinfiltrated," CTV's Steve Chao told Question Period on Sunday.

"There's also an understanding that this is what you face in a counterinsurgency. One commander gave this analogy that it's like punching at flies."

Canada wants to hold the ground by training the Afghan police how to keep the area secure, he said, noting there have been problems of corruption within the Afghan police and defections to the Taliban
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Henault says Afghanistan important, but not make-or-break for NATO  
Last Updated: Sunday, September 9, 2007 | 7:51 AM PT  The Canadian Press 
Article Link

NATO's future as a military alliance does not hinge on a successful mission in war-torn Afghanistan, says the Canadian chairman of the organization's high-ranking military committee.

Gen. Ray Henault, a former Canadian chief of defence staff, said on Saturday that success in Afghanistan is NATO's top priority, but it's not holding the organization's future in the balance.

Henault made the comments after NATO meetings in Victoria in response to questions from reporters who suggested defence critics and analysts are saying NATO's future as one of the world's major military organizations hinges on the success of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), an international force of about 30,000 troops in Afghanistan.

"I would say to you that Afghanistan is, as I've already mentioned, a very important part of how we do business and job one, but from our perspective, it's not the make-or-break that perhaps is envisioned by people," Henault said.
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2 British Soldiers Killed Afghanistan  
Article Link

LONDON (AP) — Two British soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack Saturday in southern Afghanistan and a number of other troops were wounded, Britain's Ministry of Defense said.

Two of the wounded soldiers were in serious condition, the ministry said in a statement.

The soldiers were part of an operation to disrupt Taliban activity south of Garmsir in Helmand province, when their patrol was attacked, the ministry said.

"Sadly the two soldiers were killed during the subsequent heavy fire-fight to repel the enemy and a number of Taliban were also killed," the statement said.

British troops have been engaged in fierce, and increasingly bloody, fighting against the resurgent Taliban in Helmand for the past few months
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Most Afghanistan Suicide Bombers Trained in Pakistan (Update1) 
By Ed Johnson
Article Link

Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- More than 80 percent of suicide bombers staging attacks in Afghanistan are trained, recruited or sheltered in neighboring Pakistan, the United Nations said in a report published today. 

Only about half are Afghan nationals, with the remainder coming from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Arab countries, according to the report, which analyzes suicide attacks in the country since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001. 

Suicide bombings are rising and won't fall ``as long as anti-government elements can rely upon Pakistani territory for the recruitment and training of operatives, for fundraising and safe havens,'' said the report. 

Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents are waging a guerrilla war in Afghanistan against the government of President Hamid Karzai, who has blamed Pakistan for failing to stop rebels crossing the mountainous border between the two countries. U.S. intelligence officials said in a report published in July that al-Qaeda has established a haven in Pakistan's tribal regions. 
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Australia 'needs Holland' in Afghanistan
September 9, 2007 - 12:24PM
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Australian troops could not remain in Afghanistan in their current position if the Dutch withdrew their forces and no partner nation could be found to replace them, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said.

Dr Nelson's warning came as defence released video footage of fighting between Australian troops and Taliban insurgents last month.

He said Australia currently had some 700 soldiers operating in Oruzgan province, in south-central Afghanistan, in partnership with the Dutch who had about 1,700 troops.

But the Netherlands is currently debating whether to continue that deployment beyond August next year.

Australian troops are engaged in engineering and reconstruction activities in that area, as are the Dutch. Australia also has a 300-member special forces task group operating in the area.
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## GAP (10 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 10, 2007*

Harper wants to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan; against 'rush' into vote
Mike De Souza CanWest News Service Sunday, September 09, 2007
Article Link

SYDNEY, Australia -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he doesn't want Parliament to vote on keeping Canada's military troops in Afghanistan until he's certain that the Commons will approve a plan allowing the armed forces to stay until they "finish the job" of restoring peace and security to the war-torn country.

"This mission ends in February 2009 unless Parliament decides otherwise, so there's no necessity to rush into a vote," Harper said on Sunday after concluding a weekend summit of Pacific Rim leaders. "My view is that we should continue with what we are working on now, which is a focus on increased training of Afghan security forces so they can take care of their country's own security problems. I don't know how quickly we'll be able to finish that."

Harper, who is expected to talk about Canada's military mission and the war against terrorism on Tuesday -- the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on America - in a special address to the Australian Parliament, scolded opposition parties for exploiting the issue for political reasons.

"My obvious preference would be that Canada finish the job before it leave," he said. "At the same time, I want to make sure that when we have men and women in uniform, in the field, (and) in a dangerous position that they have the support of their Parliament. I don't think their mission should be a political football in this Parliament, and I think it's irresponsible that it is a political football. So we're not going to put people in that place again."
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Two British Soldiers Killed by Taliban in Afghanistan Battle  
By Kitty Donaldson Sept. 9 (Bloomberg)
Article Link

Two British soldiers were killed in combat with Taliban forces in Afghanistan yesterday, bringing the total number of U.K. casualties to 78 since the start of the conflict in 2001. 

The soldiers were taking part in a pre-planned operation to ``disrupt Taliban activity'' south of Garmsir, southern Helmand province, according to a statement on the defense ministry's Web site. ``Sadly the two soldiers were killed during the subsequent heavy firefight to repel the enemy and a number of Taliban were also killed.'' 

The two soldiers from the Mercian Regiment have yet to be publicly named, but their next of kin have been informed. A number of other soldiers were also injured in the incident, with two in a serious condition. 
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US lobbies Japan over support in Afghanistan
By Andrew Ward in Sydney Published: September 9 2007 17:12 
Article Link

George W. Bush has urged Japan to continue its support for US military operations in Afghanistan, amid concern in Washington that opposition parties could force an end to Tokyo’s participation.

During talks at the regional Apec summit in Sydney, Mr Bush told Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, that Japanese tanker ships had an “absolutely essential” role in refuelling coalition vessels in the Indian Ocean.

Jim Jeffrey, US deputy national security adviser, said the US would be “very, very concerned” if Japanese support disappeared, and urged Mr Abe’s opponents to “rethink their position”.

Japanese involvement in the Indian Ocean is authorised by an anti-terror law that expires on November 1. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which gained control of Japan’s upper house in July, has vowed to block government efforts to extend it.

“The president urged that the Japanese find a way to continue this very, very important support for our forces,” said Mr Jeffrey. Mr Abe on Sunday suggested he would resign if he could not persuade parliament to agree to the extension. 
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Two Canadian Soldiers Injured After Roadside Bomb Explodes In Afghanistan
Sunday September 9, 2007 CityNews.ca Staff
Article Link

A roadside bomb exploded next to a tank in Afghanistan on Sunday, slightly wounding two Canadian soldiers who were walking alongside. 

The incident happened during the second day of Operation Keeping Goodwill, a new combat offensive launched by troops in the Zhari District, west of Kandahar City.

In a disturbing example of just what these Improvised Explosive Devices are capable of, a Leopard 1 tank with a roller attached to the front struck the bomb and was slightly damaged. 

Two soldiers who were on foot on either side of the vehicle were slightly injured, says Capt. Josee Bilodeau.

"Two of them were injured by some shrapnel," says Bilodeau.
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Canadian soldiers, journalist unhurt, but shaken by IED blast in Afghanistan  
Article Link

ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan (CP) — After choking on the dust in the relentless Afghan heat for the better part of two days, everyone was happy to say goodbye to Ghundy Ghar.

The remote Canadian outpost in the Zhari district of Afghanistan is the reason soldiers have to be tough. A few tarp-covered shelters and three inches of fine dust everywhere, life at Ghundy Ghar is not easy.

The day before, the Van Doo's 3rd Battalion battle group had pushed through on two roads leading to the base, on a mission to help secure an area considered Taliban country.

I spent the night on a cot under the stars, not far from the back of an armoured LAV, my flak jacket and helmet ready to go at the first sound of rocket fire.

The night before, in Masum Ghar, another Canadian forward operating base, a rocket rang in shortly after we pulled in for the night.

Luckily, the rocket wasn't loaded with explosives and the biggest bang was the sound of metal crashing into the rocks behind me.
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EURASIA INSIGHT 
AFGHANISTAN: ’BUSH BAZAAR’ OFFERS A TASTE OF WESTERN LIFE  
Ron Synovitz and Freshta Jalalzai  Monday, September 10, 2007  A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL 
Article Link

Each day at dawn, 35-year-old Kaka Ajmal travels to a fenced plot of land near Kabul’s presidential palace to set up a small shop under a tarpaulin.

Like other sellers there, Ajmal stores his goods during the night at a warehouse that is watched over by armed security guards. In the morning, he moves it to his stall.

Before the sun has time to warm the ground, dozens of similar traders have transformed the area into what Kabul residents call "Bush Bazaar."

Named after the U.S. president, the market is where Afghans can buy cheaply priced supplies that apparently have been gleaned from foreign military bases.

It is an unplanned economic effect of the foreign military presence in Afghanistan.

The Bush Bazaar is in central Kabul on a road leading to the military bases for most countries in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
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Fighting for Afghanistan's Kajaki Dam 
Article Link

TANGYE, Afghanistan (AFP) — Only two shops are open in the once-bustling Tangye bazaar in southern Afghanistan -- one that makes bread and a radio repair place run by a beefy man called Rambo.

The rest of the several hundred small stalls are shuttered or trashed, weathered goods spilled onto the pavement and into the dusty streets of what has become a ghost town.

The surrounding settlements are also deserted, abandoned by residents 18 months ago when fighting between British troops and the extremist Taliban turned the area into a battlefield.

At the heart of this fight is the jewel of this desert region -- a massive reservoir of turquoise-green water called the Kajaki Dam that lies just upstream from Tangye.

British forces, after a hard slog, pushed the Taliban out to a radius of about four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the bazaar.

Inside this secured bubble there is some stability -- enough to allow the district governor to cross the bridge over the Helmand River into Tangye but not enough to encourage families to return from their desert refuges.
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Afghan police open fire during speech by President Hamid Karzai  
Article Link

KABUL (AP) — Sensing unrest outside a packed stadium, Afghanistan's president abruptly cut short a speech Sunday as police fired shots into the air in an attempt to restrain a crowd trying to enter, officials said.

Shortly after being rushed off the podium, President Hamid Karzai said security in Afghanistan was deteriorating and renewed a call for negotiations with Taliban militants.

The sound of gunfire rang out as Karzai abruptly ended his speech at Kabul's central sports stadium, sending a murmur through the crowd inside and prompting some in the audience to start to flee.

Officials told the crowd to remain calm, and said someone had thrown stones against a metal door.

But Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a Defence Ministry spokesman, said police fired into the air to prevent a restless crowd outside the stadium from entering. Azimi said the 15,000-person stadium was already full. No injuries were reported.

Karzai had been speaking at a memorial ceremony for anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massood, who was killed in an al-Qaida suicide bombing two days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

In his speech, Karzai told the stadium crowd that countries around the world were trying to help Afghanistan govern itself.

"We should use this to complete our desire. What is that desire? Afghanistan standing on its own feet, to feed itself and to secure itself," he said, as shouts and skirmishes could be heard in the background.
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Gitmo Panels Struggle to Assess Facts  
By ANDREW O. SELSKY and BEN FOX 
Article Link

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — After years of indefinite confinement, many detainees at Guantanamo Bay say they feel they may never receive justice, according to transcripts of hearings obtained by The Associated Press. Fewer than one in five of detainees allowed a hearing last year even bothered to show up for it.

The frustrated words of men, some of whom admit to fighting with the Taliban but swear they would go peacefully home if released, illustrate the seething tension at a prison where hundreds are held without charges. The transcripts also underscore that the U.S. allegations against the men are often as difficult to substantiate as they are for the detainees to refute.

Sometimes the allegations alarmed even the panels of military officers charged with determining whether a detainee should be freed.

Rahmatullah Sangaryar stood accused of "planning biological and poison attacks on United States and coalition forces in Kandahar, Afghanistan" and of possessing anthrax powder and a liquid poison.

The Afghan detainee said he was captured only with muddy clothes, possessed no anthrax and never planned such an attack. The officer in charge of the panel seemed to grope for a response.

"Do you know of anyone who would accuse you of such an act? This is so serious," the unidentified officer exclaimed. "I am trying to understand why it is here in front of me, this allegation against you."
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Fighters 'free' Pakistani troops    
  Article Link

The fighters want the military to be withdrawn from the area and a dozen of their members freed [AFP] 

Pro-Taliban fighters have freed more than 260 Pakistani troops who were kidnapped nearly two weeks ago in the tribal region on the border with Afghanistan. 

A local intelligence official said the soldiers were handed over to members of a jirga, or tribal council on Monday.

The soldiers were released in Ladha, a village in the South Waziristan tribal area, where they had been abducted by militants on August 30. 

Pakistan’s army spokesman said he could not immediately confirm the releases.

However, the freed soldiers were meant to be handed over later on Monday to government officials in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, a region where al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters are said to operate. 

It was not clear where there were any conditions to the soldiers’ release. 
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## GAP (11 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 11, 2007*

Harper vows continued support for Afghanistan
Tue Sep 11, 2007 2:09 AM EDT By James Grubel
Article Link

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper, under fire at home for a troop commitment to Afghanistan that has cost 70 lives, said on Tuesday he would not abandon the country.

"This cause is global and necessary," Harper said in a speech to Australia's parliament on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"Because as 9-11 showed, if we abandon our fellow human beings to lives of poverty, brutality and ignorance, in today's global village, their misery will eventually and inevitably become our own," said Harper.

Canadians are divided over support for the country's 2,500 troops in Afghanistan and Harper's minority conservative government has said it would not extend the mission beyond February 2009 without a mandate from parliament.

Harper said he hoped Canadians would support their troops remaining in Afghanistan until Afghan forces could look after their own security, rather than aim for an arbitrary deadline to withdraw.

"Canada went into Afghanistan for very real reasons of national security and international security," Harper told a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

"We should work towards that objective, rather than a particular arbitrary time," he said, adding the right thing for Canada to do would be to ensure it did not abandon the people of Afghanistan.
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Suicide attack in Afghanistan, two drivers killed  
Article Link 

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — A suicide car bomb exploded Tuesday near a convoy of trucks supplying NATO military bases in southern Afghanistan, killing at least two drivers, police said.

The attack in Helmand province came a day after another suicide blast killed nearly 30 people in the same area Monday in one of the deadliest attacks since the Taliban launched an insurgency nearly six years ago.

"There was a suicide car bombing against a supply convoy on the highway," Helmand police chief Mohammad Hussain Andiwal told AFP. 

The bodies of two drivers had been pulled from the wreckage and seven other civilians were wounded, he said.

The attacker had exploded a bomb-laden passenger car near the convoy, which was supplying NATO military bases in the region. The blast set alight four trucks, Andiwal said.

In Monday's attack, a suicide bomber slammed a bomb-packed rickshaw into a police convoy in the town of Gereshk. Twenty-nine people were killed, half of them civilians and several more of them policemen.
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Dutch PM visits troops in Afghanistan, meets with Karzai
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST  Sep. 11, 2007 
Article Link

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende made a surprise visit to Dutch troops in Afghanistan on Tuesday, and was to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the government said. 

Balkenende's Cabinet will decide within a few weeks whether to extend Dutch participation in the NATO mission in Afghanistan as the two-year mandate of its 2,000-strong force is set to end in August of next year. 

The visit was intended to let Balkenende see the military situation and reconstruction programs before the Cabinet makes its decision, which must then be approved by parliament.
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Embattled Japanese PM takes a political gamble  
By Hisane Masaki 
Article Link

TOKYO - Taking what is widely seen as a highly risky political gamble, embattled Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has apparently staked his job on extending the nation's domestically unpopular support of US-led anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, which consists mainly of providing a navy oiler to refuel coalition warships in the Indian Ocean. 

The 52-year-old prime minister's bombshell remark, made on the eve of the opening of a key two-month parliamentary session, has
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Iran says 'US weak points' spotted in Iraq, Afghanistan  
11/09/2007 10:47 TEHRAN, Sept 11 (AFP)
Article Link

The new head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Washington on Tuesday that Tehran has identified "US weak points" in Iraq and Afghanistan and would give a decisive response to any attack, state broadcasting reported.

"The Revolutionary Guards have identified all the weak points of the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan and based on this have consolidated the defensive capabilities of the country," General Mohammad Ali Jaafari said.

"And if the enemy wants to take any impudent action the Islamic republic will for sure give a decisive and teeth-breaking response," he said.

The United States has never ruled out military action against Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme which Iran insists is peaceful but Washington says is aimed at making nuclear weapons.
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28 killed, 60 wounded in suicide attack in southern Afghanistan  
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber on a motorized rickshaw detonated explosives Monday in a marketplace in southern Afghanistan, killing 28 people in one of the deadliest bombings since the fall of the Taliban. Children selling chewing gum and cigarettes were among the victims of the blast.

The attacker was apparently targeting a police commander when he detonated his bomb near a taxi stand around 6:30 p.m. in the town of Gereshk in Helmand province, the world's largest poppy-growing region and site of the country's worst violence this year.

Gereshk district chief Abdul Manaf Khan said 28 people were killed, including 13 police officers and 15 civilians. The provincial chief of public health, Enayatullah Ghafari, said the hospital recorded 26 deaths and 60 wounded, though he said some of the dead probably weren't brought to the hospital and the death toll was likely higher.

NATO said 13 people were taken to a NATO-Afghan base for treatment and 45 people to the Gereshk hospital.

Taliban militants have set off a record number of suicide blasts this year - more than 100 through the end of August - but few are as deadly as the Helmand attack. The Taliban typically aim their attacks at international and Afghan military and police forces.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said the attacker was driving a 
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MacKay and Afghanistan ambassador say NATO must succeed or risk 9/11 repeat  
Article Link

ST. ANDREWS, N.B. (CP) — On the eve of the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada cautioned Monday that the world risks more attacks if peace and stability aren't restored in Afghanistan.

MacKay and Ambassador Omar Samad said the price of failure is too high for nations like Canada to consider abandoning Afghanistan before it is ready to defend itself against the forces of terrorism.

"Let's not forget that on 9/11, terrorism came to our shores on this continent," MacKay said following a private address in this New Brunswick resort town to a meeting of ambassadors to Canada.

"So we have to be vigilant and very responsible in continuing to play a role" in Afghanistan.

Samad said Canadians only have to remember what Afghanistan was like when it was abandoned and forgotten by the world in the 1990s.

"It fell into the hands of international terrorists, drug dealers, warlords and al-Qaida," he said. "Do we want Afghanistan to revert and once again become a failed state and become a threat not only to its own people, but to the region and to the world at large?"
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Iraqi Insurgents Threaten to Kill German Hostage, Monitors Say  
By Michael Heath Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) 
Article Link

Iraqi insurgents threatened to kill a German hostage unless the government in Berlin withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, according to a U.S.-based group that monitors extremist Web sites. 

A videotape posted yesterday by the Arrows of Righteousness group sets ``a new deadline of 10 days'' for Germany to pull its forces out of Afghanistan or it will kill 20-year-old Sinan Krause, the Intelcenter said in an e-mailed statement. The group freed Krause's mother, Hannelore, in July. 

The mother and son were abducted Feb. 6 outside their Baghdad home. Their kidnappers threatened in two previous videos to kill them unless Germany withdraws from Afghanistan. 

Germany's 3,000 soldiers in northern Afghanistan are part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization force working to stabilize the country under President Hamid Karzai. 

Chancellor Angela Merkel said in July that Germany won't be blackmailed into withdrawing from Afghanistan. Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, campaigned against the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. 
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Militants threaten to kill hostage
Article Link

CNN) -- Iraqi militants holding a German man hostage demanded Germany's withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan within 10 days to ensure his safety.

The video from the obscure group Swords of Righteousness appeared Monday on the Internet with a threat to kill Sinan Krause if Berlin doesn't comply. The group said it would slit his throat.

Krause and his mother, Hannelore, both appear in the video. They both disappeared in Iraq on February 6, but the group released her in July after 155 days in captivity.

In early March, the group made the same demand, but the deadline passed without incident.

CNN could not independently confirm the video's authenticity.

The same group also appears to have been involved in the kidnapping of four Christian peace activists nearly two years ago. Three of the hostages were released; one was killed.

Germany has about 3,000 troops in northern Afghanistan, a relatively peaceful part of the war-torn country
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Taliban Commander Detained During Afghan Operations
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2007
Article Link

Afghan national police advised by coalition forces detained a Taliban district commander in an operation designed to disrupt insurgent activities in Ghazni province early this morning. 
Maulawi Ahmad Jan is known to be extensively involved in coordinating insurgent activities in the province. He has directed bombings and ambush attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the region. 

During a search of the commanderâ€™s compound, Afghan police discovered a weapons and ammunition cache. 

â€œWith Ahmad Jan now detained, Ghazni will be a less dangerous place,â€ said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. â€œInformation gained as a result of Ahmad Janâ€™s capture will undoubtedly result in further interdiction of Taliban fighters and leaders in the area.â€ 
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## GAP (11 Sep 2007)

Canada will not step in to replace Dutch troops
Brendan Nicholson September 12, 2007
Article Link

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in Canberra yesterday that while he would be pleased to see Australian and Canadian troops working together, Canada had no plans to replace the Dutch.

Prime Minister John Howard said he and Mr Harper discussed the involvement of their countries in Afghanistan but no joint operations were planned.

"But we have a lot of respect for the Canadians, and they do for us, and it would not surprise that in the course of discussing things we looked at co-operation," he said.

Australia has close to 1000 military personnel in Oruzgan province in southern Afghanistan and they work closely with a big Dutch force that provides air support from attack helicopters and strong logistical back-up.
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Nearly 200 soldiers kept home from Afghanistan over drug use: report  
Tuesday September 11, 2007 (1931 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Nearly 200 Canadian soldiers slated for deployment to Afghanistan have been kept home because they tested positive for drug use, documents show.

Since the military began mandatory drug testing of troops headed for Afghanistan last September, 195 of the 6,800 tested failed the drug test.  CBC News obtained the information through the Access to Information Act.

Of those who failed, the majority tested positive for marijuana, while other tests showed harder drugs, such as cocaine, methamphetamine and amphetamines.

The documents also show dozens of soldiers provided diluted urine samples, something the military views as an attempt to cheat the system.

"It's a particular concern because we are in Afghanistan, they are in a combat situation and they have to make split-second decisions, life or death, and we need them to be able to do that without the influence of illicit drugs," said Canadian Armed Forces Brig.-Gen. Ian Poulter.
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NATO faces fracture in Afghanistan
A Dutch-Canadian withdrawal would be a serious setback for an alliance that will flourish or fade in Afghanistan.
Commentary by Ruben Vroegop for ISN Security Watch (11/09/07)
  Article Link

Two of NATO's medium powers often lauded for fighting above their weight may soon deliver a knock-out blow to the troubled mission in Afghanistan.

The Dutch and the Canadian governments, faced with slumping approval ratings for their participation, may opt for a troop withdrawal that could have serious consequences for the mission itself, the alliance as a whole and their own international political leverage.

Three interrelated factors have fanned the flames for a military withdrawal in both the Netherlands and Canada. First of all, while both countries have rightfully earned praise for their performance in Afghanistan, Canada especially has suffered disproportionately heavy casualties.

Secondly, as a result of exposure to the graphic media coverage on the conflict, domestic opinion is understandably ever more opposed to making sacrifices while alliance members are seen dragging their heels.

A third point is that western democracies in general share a decreasing tolerance level for suffering casualties in remote areas.

The caveats set by national governments that effectively restrict NATO from optimizing troop deployments are an apt manifestation of military limitation in a post-heroic age. In addition, the persistent "peacekeeping" myth that many Canadians still hold on to as a marker of national identity increasingly clashes with the televised repatriation of combat casualties, thereby further weakening public support.

Should domestic factors trigger a Dutch-Canadian withdrawal, four ensuing consequences will have to be addressed by the alliance.
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## GAP (11 Sep 2007)

Why Canada has to finish the job in Afghanistan
10 Sept 2007
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is right. We need to finish the job in Afghanistan. But, to be able to do that, the Canadian people need to be told the truth -- that we gave our "word" to finish the job -- not just to February 2009 when our current military commitment ends, but to the end of 2011 when our diplomatic and advisory commitment ends.

If we pull out from the Afghanistan mission before then, as the opposition leaders would have us do, we would be leaving a country and its men, women and children, to certain hopelessness and destruction. And, for that possibility, we can place the blame at the feet of our defeatist and hypocritical opposition leaders.

Remember, it was the Liberals who sent our military to Afghanistan in the first place and it was the Liberals who made a long-term commitment to the U.S., the U.N. and NATO. Yet, day after day we hear Jack Layton, Stephane Dion and Gilles Duceppe talk about bringing the soldiers home. As a result, many Canadians have the impression that we shouldn't be there, that it is simply a matter of choice for us to leave. But, what about our word as a country? Does it not mean anything anymore -- that as soon as things get tough or uncomfortable, we cut and run?

Let's review how we got involved in Afghanistan in the first place. Here is a time line (from CTV)  in brief:

September 11, 2001 -- Terrorists who trained in Afghanistan attacked the U.S. 
October 7, 2001 -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien orders the Canadian military to help the U.S. launch attacks in Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. 
October 8, 2001 -- Defence Minister Art Eggleton pledges 2000 troops in the U.S. led campaign. 
January 14, 2002 -- Canadian soldiers arrive in Kabul, Afghanistan. 
January 25, 2002 -- After the fall of the Taliban, Canada re-establishes diplomatic ties with Kabul. 
February 12, 2003 -- Defence Minister John McCallum announces Canada part of UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). 
February 9, 2004 -- Canada takes command of NATO in Kabul. 
June 29, 2005 -- Canadian soldiers begin deploying to Kandahar. 
July 29, 2005 -- Prime Minister Paul Martin says Kandahar mission right thing to do. 
January 23, 2006 -- Conservatives form minority government who support completing the commitment already made by the former Liberal government. 
February 24, 2006 -- Canadian troops start takeover from Americans on the front lines of Kandahar province -- previously agreed to by the Liberal caucus.
Now, over and above the fact that it was the Liberals under both Jean Chretien and Paul Martin who agreed to go to Afghanistan in the first place, Canada is a signatory to the Afghanistan Compact, an agreement that was signed in January 2006 with the United Nations and 60 nations from all parts of the world -- including Canada -- and was for five years to the end of 2011.

Therefore, since that compact was signed by Canada towards the end of the last federal election, it means that the Liberal government of Paul Martin was in complete agreement to the hoped for outcomes. Which is why Canada cannot simply cut and run and why the Canadian people must be told, loud and clear, why we must finish the job in Afghanistan. Because we gave our word that we would do so -- word that came from both Liberal and Conservative politicians and diplomats.

We need to remember that! We also need to remember that this is the country of Vimy Ridge and all the guts and courage that represents.
End of article


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## GAP (11 Sep 2007)

How can Canada running from its responsibilities in Afghanistan?
 Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Article Link

As much as this blog is about economics, it is a vehicle for me rant about issues burning so fierce that I feel a need to seek public criticism.

Now: the Federal Liberals and the Conservatives said that they want to pull Canadian troops out of Afghanistan in February 2009. I am both disappointed and baffled by this development. Both parties weighted the costs and benefit of us entering into Afghanistan just a few years ago: our safety was (is) at risk, our values were (are) at stake, and the answer was (is?) clear. And now is the situation so different that it is almost time to go? This, our political debate, has not gone unnoticed in the world.

This week, I read an article in last Friday's Globe and Mail . Give it a read. I was moved by the praise of Canadian history, our values, and our influence on the world stage. As the article continued, however, it pointed to the fact that Canadian troops are doing most of the heavy lifting: working in the most unstable regions of Afghanistan and that other counties would not put their own troops in areas where Canadians are fighting.

After read a bit more, I was overwhelmed by the following thoughts: (1) Yes! It is terrible that we have lost lives in Afghanistan; (2) Yes! We need more help in the south from other countries and we need better equipment. Yes! Some things do need to change; but is having Canadians in Afghanistan is one of them? 

With that, a series of questions fly at me: How can we pull-out of a country that we helped dismantle? Whether you supported the mission or not, don't we now have a responsibility to stay? If we underestimated the cost of battle, does it free us from the consequences of our actions? Maybe I have this wrong, but wasn't the reason Afghanistan became a training group for terrorist in the first place was because people came in, dismantled the place, and then just pulled-out?
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New CFB Squadron ready for Afghanistan mission 
Tuesday, September 11, 2007  Stephen Petrick 
Article Link

The old saying that an army marches on its stomach is a nice way to remember that for every troop on the front line, there are always several more behind them cooking meals, handling laundry and doing all the valuable logistic duties that make a mission possible. 

With that in mind, CFB Kingston felt compelled to formally honour its newest squadron, a 75-person crew that will head to Afghanistan in February to make sure the Canadian Forces Kandahar camp runs smoothly. 

The RC (S) Sigs Squadron, as it will be called, will be made up of military men and women of different ranks, who will handle all types of duties ranging from tech support to security to laundry. 


They will work jointly with troops from Britain and the Netherlands, under the watch of Major General J. G. M. Lessard. 

He greeted the troops at a standoff parade at Alpha Drill Hall recently, thanked them for their participation in the mission and told them to be proud of their country’s role in rebuilding Afghanistan. 

And if any troops were nervous about embarking on a nine-month mission in a country where 79 Canadians have been killed since 2002 – 26 this year alone – none were showing it openly. 

“When you sign the line there’s a little part of you that knows you have to make that commitment,” said Major Robyn Hulan, the officer commanding the squadron. “Everybody shares the enthusiasm for going.” 
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## GAP (12 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 12, 2007*

Canadian troops in Afghanistan too busy to mark Sept. 11 anniversary  
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) — Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan did not stop Tuesday to mark the 6th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A moment of silence in this war-torn land is hard to come by. Rather, some of Canada's troops were concerned about insurgents bent on celebrating the devastating attack with a deadly mission of their own, just as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan was about to begin.

"Perhaps it means more as far as risk goes," said Pte. Brian Belanger, 23, a soldier from Valcartier, Que.

"Today is a celebration for the Taliban, who might attack a convoy."

However, military officials were hopeful the date wouldn't bring any increase in violence in what has already been one of the most violent years since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

Lt.-Col. Claude Fournier, chief of operations for the Canadian military in Afghanistan, said Sept. 11, 2001, is of greater significance to al-Qaida than the Taliban.

"Afghanistan is more a Taliban country than it is al-Qaida country, so the reality is we don't encounter many al-Qaida fighters," he said.
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Afghanistan investigating Taliban offer of talks, presidential spokesman says  
The Associated Press Tuesday, September 11, 2007 
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 KABUL, Afghanistan: The Afghan government is investigating a Taliban statement that the militant group might be willing to hold talks with the administration, the president's spokesman said.

"The Afghan government, especially the president himself, has announced several times that the reconciliation doors are open," Humayun Hamidzada, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, said Tuesday. "We heard the Taliban announcement through the media. We are investigating it."

Karzai repeated Sunday the government's stance that it is willing to hold talks with the hard-line fundamentalists. The next day, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the militants would consider negotiations if a formal offer was made.

Taliban fighters sincerely interested in talks to find a "solution for peace" would not be arrested if they came forward, Hamidzada said.

He also said the government had not received a formal offer for talks from the Taliban, and that if one were made, "we will decide about it at that time."

Meanwhile, U.S.-led coalition troops and Afghan forces spotted a group of about 20 Taliban fighters who appeared to be preparing to launch an ambush in southern Zabul province on Tuesday, and ensuing airstrikes killed about 10 of them, the U.S.-led coalition said.

The coalition said more than 245 Taliban fighters have been killed in Zabul and Kandahar provinces since a joint coalition-Afghan operation began in late August.
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Islamic militants tied to bomb plot
German officials say group took responsibility
By David McHugh, Associated Press  |  September 12, 2007
Article Link

BERLIN - An Islamic militant group is claiming responsibility for a foiled bomb plot that targeted the US military facility at Ramstein and sought to force Germany to close an air base that supports German troops in Afghanistan, the government said yesterday.

The Interior Ministry, which is responsible for police and internal security, said the Web announcement by the Islamic Jihad Union was being treated as genuine by security officers. Three purported members were arrested Sept. 4 on suspicion of planning bombings in Germany.

The ministry said the attacks were aimed at pressing Germany to close its air base in Termez, Uzbekistan. The base near the Uzbek-Afghan border provides logistical support for some 3,000 German soldiers serving in the international security force in Afghanistan.

German officials previously said the bombings targeted bars and discotheques frequented by Americans as well as airports, but said they weren't sure of the exact targets.

"In an Internet appearance, the Islamic Jihad Union has taken responsibility for the foiled attacks in Germany and addresses the arrests of Sept. 4, 2007," the ministry statement said. "The attacks planned according to this for the end of 2007 were directed against the US air base at Ramstein as well as US and Uzbek consular facilities in Germany."

The group is described by police and prosecutors as an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a militant movement that had origins in that Central Asian country. The Islamic Jihad Union has been designated a terrorist organization by the State Department, and German prosecutors say it is characterized by a "profound hatred of US citizens."
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Harper eyeing bigger Australian role in Afghanistan
 TheStar.com - September 12, 2007 Tonda MacCharles Ottawa Bureau
Article Link

Receives encouraging signals as Howard recognizes `heavy burden' Canada is carrying in Kandahar

CANBERRA, Australia–Canada has received encouraging signals from leaders here on the future of Australia's military commitment in Afghanistan. 

The comments came as Prime Minister Stephen Harper ended his visit on a friendly note, and headed home to try to forge a consensus among opposition leaders about extending Canada's military mission beyond February 2009.

In light of that deadline, Australian Prime Minister John Howard was asked by Canadian reporters whether there's a role for Australia – a non-NATO country – in the dangerous southern part of Afghanistan that could help Canada.

"We have a lot of respect for the Canadians, and what they do for us, and it would not surprise that if in the course of discussing things, we looked at the sort of situation that you had in mind," Howard said at a joint news conference with Harper after their hour-long private meeting. 

Howard acknowledged the "heavy burden" Canada is carrying in Kandahar province and said Canada and Australia "will continue to talk about our efforts in Afghanistan." He did not rule out some future role, though no "definitive" discussions on a "joint operation or a joint way forward" were held.

Australian Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd, who is surging ahead of Howard in the polls with the country on the brink of a federal election, also pledged support.

Rudd, leader of the Labour party, has said he would re-direct soldiers from Iraq by mid-2008 back into Afghanistan, and left no doubt about his plans to carry through with that if elected.

"Six years on we remain resolute in our commitment to that engagement in Afghanistan and to our common objective of securing the destruction of Osama bin Laden," Rudd told Harper at a luncheon.

Howard's and Rudd's remarks came the same day U.S. Gen. David Petraeus reported that U.S. forces may be able to begin withdrawing some of their numbers, now that Iraqis are shouldering more of the security load. 
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Al-Qaeda fights back at Afghan peace bid
By Syed Saleem Shahzad 
Article Link

KARACHI - Similar to US General David Petraeus' plan of reconciliation with the Iraqi tribal-based national resistance and alienation of al-Qaeda, Washington has a two-pronged approach of political settlement with "reconcilable" insurgents and all-out war on radical extremists in the theater of Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

This initiative was given a fillip this week by both the government in Kabul and the Taliban, while al-Qaeda, which stands to lose the
most, is already on the offensive - as in Osama bin Laden's latest video - in a bid to re-energize itself to maintain its support in the Afghan struggle. 

A Taliban spokesman on Tuesday responded that they were prepared for talks with Kabul after President Hamid Karzai offered on Sunday to stage negotiations. "Peace cannot be achieved without dialogue," Karzai said. 

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi was quoted in the media as saying, "For the sake of national interests ... we are fully ready for talks with the government." He added that the Taliban had a "limited" number of conditions, but he did not explain further. 
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Struggle over bid to extend Japan's role in Afghanistan
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to continue logistical support to coalition forces.
By Tom A. Peter from the September 12, 2007 edition
Article Link

Six years after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Japan's role in Afghanistan is roiling the already struggling administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. On Sunday, Mr. Abe threatened to resign unless the National Diet, Japan's legislative body, agrees to continue Japanese operations in support of US troops. 

Since nearly the beginning of the US-led war in Afghanistan, Japan has participated by offering refueling assistance in the Indian Ocean as well as other logistical support. In a March 2007 report by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government laid out the nation's accomplishments in Afghanistan. 

Japan held the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan in January 2002 (Tokyo Conference). Since then, using approximately US$1.2 billion Official Development Assistance and the Maritime Self-Defense Force's support to Maritime Interdiction Operation (operation to prevent flow of terrorists and arms) in the Indian Ocean as well as other types of aid to the country, Japan has coherently given support to the nation-building of Afghanistan. Japan also held the First and Second Tokyo Conference on Consolidation of Peace in Afghanistan in February 2003 and July 2006. 

The maintenance of stability in Afghanistan supports peace and stability in the world as well as the Middle East and Central Asia, further contributing to the eradication and prevention of terrorism in the international community. As a responsible member of the international community, Japan will positively work for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. 
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What the increasingly confident Taliban want in exchange for peace  
GRAEME SMITH From Wednesday's Globe and Mail September 12, 2007 at 1:38 AM EDT
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The Taliban and their allies say they are ready to accept President Hamid Karzai's invitation to peace talks, but with tough conditions that show the insurgents' rising confidence about bargaining with the embattled Afghan government.

The Taliban's demands include an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops and a rewrite of the Afghan constitution, according to interviews The Globe and Mail has conducted with key figures who would be integral to any political settlement.

Hope for negotiations surfaced after Mr. Karzai said on Sunday that he wants to talk with the insurgents - a statement he has made with increasing frequency as the violence rises. But this time, the Taliban took the unusual step of answering the President, issuing a statement on Monday saying they are prepared to meet with him.

Kabul is investigating the Taliban's invitation, a presidential spokesman said yesterday, adding that insurgents who want to negotiate will not be arrested.
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## GAP (12 Sep 2007)

Where are the other 19 Leopard 2 tanks?
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 
Article Link

I read in the news that our old Leopard C2 tanks were unreliable and that the temperature inside of them, while operated in the course of Afghanistan's summer months, could reach as high as 65 degrees Celsius. Some of the tanks crews would sometimes faint because of the heat. These two problems, plus the need for better IED protection, prompted DND to quickly buy used Leopard 2s from the Dutch. Even when they don’t have air conditioning, these more modern tanks have an electrically driven turret instead of heat producing hydraulic turrets installed on the old Leopard C2s, which considerably reduces the temperature inside the tanks. To speed things up, these newer tanks were purchased without any form of bidding process, because they were needed for the war, and if possible before the summer heat. Then we heard that the Leopards purchased from the Dutch needed some upgrades and wouldn’t be sent to Afghanistan before late 2008, a few months before our mission there ends in February 2009 (unless of course Parliament votes for another extension to the mission, something that becomes less and less likely as time goes by).

Since our new second hand tanks, bought from the Dutch, could not be deployed soon enough (despite the single source purchase), Canada decided to lease or borrow 20 more Leopard 2s from the Germans, tanks that could be sent right away, in time for them to be used during the hot months of summer.

Then on August 16th 2007, in the middle of the summer, the first of those German tanks arrived in Kandahar, aboard a leased An-124. That did not look good at all for two reasons:
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Why the CF-18 is Basically Useless
12 September 2007
Article Link 

Canada runs a fleet of grey fighting birds called CF-18s ... a sort of baby version of the F-18s currently flying from American aircraft carrier decks. The Canuck birds are pretty, expensive, sleek, but almost useless ... unable to do much more than perform stunts at Canadian air shows. It all comes down to electronics and modern weaponry ... something they don't have ... thanks once again to that most spurious political class of person ... the Canadian Liberal. look:  David Akin takes a closer lookrl=][/url]

Wouldn't it be great if Canada's fighter planes -- the CF-18 -- could be deployed to Afghanistan where they might be able to play a supporting role to the 2,500-odd Canadian troops there? You're right, it would. But, sadly, Canada's CF-18s are shut out of any theatre of war where our allies are are operating because Canada's fighter jets simply don't have the right gear.
End of Article

Taliban Threatens New Operation In Southern Afghanistan 
September 12, 2007 
Article Link

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusef Ahmadi says militants will soon launch an operation in southern Afghanistan led by Mullah Bradar -- a senior Taliban commander who was earlier reported to have been killed.

Ahmadi told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that the planned offensive in Helmand Province is called Operation Nasrat -- Arabic for "triumph."

Mullah Bradar is thought to be a close relative of supreme Taliban leader Mullah Omar. The Afghan Defense Ministry said in late August that it had killed Mullah Bradar during a joint operation with NATO forces in Helmand Province.

But Counterterrorism Police Chief Abdul Manan Farahi said on September 8 that Bradar's death was not confirmed, and that the Defense Ministry's report may have been mistaken.

Ahmadi's announcement of the operation comes just days after he issued a statement saying the Taliban would be willing to consider negotiations with the Afghan government -- if Kabul made a formal offer. Ahmadi released that statement after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on September 9 that his government is willing to hold talks with the Taliban.

Karzai's spokesman, Humayun Hamidzada, says authorities in Kabul are investigating Ahmadi's statement and the possibility of negotiations.

Hamidzada said Taliban fighters who are sincerely interested in talks to find a "solution for peace" would not be arrested if they came forward.

But he also said the government has not received a formal offer for talks from the Taliban, and that if one were made, Kabul would decide about it "at that time."
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## GAP (13 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 13, 2007*

*Harper must come clean on mission*
 TheStar.com - September 13, 2007 James Travers Ottawa 
Article Link

Usually clever Stephen Harper is occasionally too clever by half. At those moments the Prime Minister's best policy thinking trips over his worst political instincts and national interest, along with public confidence in his leadership, suffers.

That happened last year when Harper decided against building a parliamentary consensus on extending the Afghanistan mission in favour of driving a wedge between Liberals. Now the spectre of a repeat is rising in the foreplay leading up to next month's throne speech and, perhaps, a late fall election.

For the moment, the Prime Minister is keeping options open with fluid musing about what, if any, role Canada will play in Afghanistan when the current Kandahar mission ends. Ranging freely across the spectrum from staying to finish the job to an orderly retreat, the Conservative position is as confused and confusing as the Liberal response.

But sooner rather than later Ottawa must reveal its post-February 2009 intentions to its allies. And that means Harper faces two decisions: One reframing Canada's commitment to Afghanistan, NATO and the United Nations, another on the wisdom of forcing an election over something as contentious, and uncontrollable, as war.

History makes the second more tempting to forecast than the first. The last time Harper chose between policy consensus and political conflict he threatened an early election if the opposition didn't support keeping troops longer in Afghanistan's violent south.

That confrontation wasn't necessary or prudent. Then interim Liberal leader Bill Graham, a former foreign and defence minister who firmly believed in the mission, was an available partner for a bipartisan agreement. But Harper opted for short-term political advantage that in the longer term perched the Afghanistan albatross squarely on his shoulders.

Once a responsibility inherited from Liberals, the war became Harper's own. Now, with a fall campaign possible, he must neutralize casualties as a ballot-box issue or find a way to torque the mission to Conservative advantage.

Either way, a prime time for Harper to show his hand is Oct. 16, when the government will start a new parliamentary session with fresh and refreshed priorities. Each one will be parsed; none will be as painstakingly decoded as the Tory Afghanistan message.
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Afghanistan can count on German support: Merkel
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Article Link

BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday pledged Germany’s full support for peacekeeping in Afghanistan despite opposition from a majority of Germans to one part of the mission.

“I warn against the suggestion that we could leave Operation Enduring Freedom,” Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament. “As long as the danger persists, the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) stabilisation mission must continue to be supported by Operation Enduring Freedom.”

While there is broad support to keep about 3,000 German troops in the ISAF force led by NATO, opinion polls show that Germans want their forces to withdraw from the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom. About 200 troops from Germany’s elite KSK unit have a mandate to operate within Operation Enduring Freedom, although they are not currently carrying out missions.

The German parliament is expected this month to approve the extension of the ISAF mission. A new mandate for six German Tornado reconnaissance jets operating in Afghanistan is also expected to be easily passed. But the third mandate, concerning Operation Enduring Freedom, looks set for a rough ride from both the opposition and the Social Democrats, who are partners in Merkel’s coalition government. Merkel said: “We need to prolong all three mandates.”

Meanwhile, the NATO military force in Afghanistan said Wednesday it would not take part the eradication of opium poppy fields, despite calls by UN and the Afghan government for its troops to get involved. The ISAF said however it was supporting the US-backed government in its war on drugs by providing training to Afghan security forces, and sharing information and logistics.
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45 Taliban killed on first day of Ramadan, U.S. coalition says  
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Airstrikes and Afghan army gunfire killed more than 45 suspected Taliban fighters in a clash in a southern province just as the holy month of Ramadan began, the U.S.-led coalition said.

The battle in the southern province of Uruzgan on Wednesday began when insurgents attacked a joint Afghan army and U.S.-led coalition patrol with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire, the coalition said in a statement late Wednesday.

Afghan soldiers "cleared" Taliban fighters from firing positions within the village of Aduzay, while attack aircraft destroyed some fighting positions, it said.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force on Wednesday said insurgents increased attacks during Ramadan last year and that they could do the same this year.

"On the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, the enemies of Afghanistan have shown they will shun peaceful coexistence in favour of attacking government forces," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman. "Fortunately for the citizens of Afghanistan, the ANA (Afghan National Army) is improving their tactics."
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Council approves "Support our troops" stickers on all municipal vehicles
Jake Rupert, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Article Link

After making it clear they aren't endorsing Canada's role in the war in Afghanistan, city council voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to put "Support our troops" stickers on all municipal vehicles.

By a similar margin, council voted to back the police chief on his plan to put the same stickers on all the force's vehicles. 

The moves were put forward in a motion by Rideau-Goulbourn Councillor Glenn Brooks, who was backed by Cumberland Councillor Rob Jellett, the vast majority of councillors and the mayor
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Canada’s liberals are, in fact, dumb bombs
Posted by Joel Johannesen Wednesday, September 12, 2007 
Article Link

Proving that Canada is far from serious about this war on terror and its own defence and national security, Canada still doesn’t have already years-old, latest generation laser-guided “smart-bomb” technology for its now already aging CF-18 fighter jets, which would enable them to fire ammunition at enemies with pinpoint accuracy and deadly force—something even third-world Iran boasts it can do.  Liberals are in favor of that.  

Why are they in favor of that?  Well for one thing, it’s their fault.  They did this.  But also, as a result of their perfidy, Canada can’t send its fleet of CF-18s to aid our relatively huge effort in Afghanistan—a mission which the liberal-left in Canada hates—to help protect our Canadian troops’ lives and advance our noble mission’s goals there, without that technology.  Readers know I’ve been demanding they do just that since the Liberals begrudgingly started the mission in 2001 following the latest declaration of war against us by Islamist terrorists, on September 11, 2001—and it’s a decision they apparently weren’t any more serious about than their sacred Kyoto Accord with its hilarious targets they had no plan to nor intention of meeting.  

Liberals, who were busy improperly deploying all of the nations’ resources and attention enacting emergency gay “marriage” legislation and redefining the definition of “family” and “marriage” at any cost whatsoever, even while Islamist terrorism was festering in front of their faces and a real war was going on, are still unaware or unwilling to admit or unwilling to come to grips with the fact that Islamist terrorists turned several passenger aircraft into “smart bombs” on that memorable day in 2001.  Note that the terrorists employed this “smart bomb” technology without any squabbling over contracts.  
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Canadian soldiers brace for bombings in Afghanistan as Ramadan begins
Last Updated: Thursday, September 13, 2007 | 8:20 AM ET CBC News 
Article Link

Canadian soldiers were on alert for an increase in suicide bombings in Afghanistan on Thursday, as the holy month of Ramadan began.

Lt.-Col. Claude Fournier, chief of operations for the Canadian military in Afghanistan, said while most Muslims in the wartorn country will likely spend the holiday with their loved ones, a few may see it as an opportunity to sacrifice themselves in a suicide bombing.

Some believe such an act during Ramadan will send them directly into heaven, the CBC's David Common said from the Canadian military base in Kandahar.

"In that sense, there is concern that there might be an upsurge in the number of suicide bombings," he said.
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## GAP (13 Sep 2007)

Last Afghanistan de-miners freed   
   Article Link

Gunmen in Afghanistan have now released all 13 members of an Afghan mine clearing team they kidnapped in the eastern province of Paktia. 
The head of the de-mining group said the last three men were freed on Thursday morning. 

The other 10 had been freed on Monday. Police say no ransom was paid. 

It is not clear who the kidnappers were. The Taleban denied having anything to do with the abduction. 

Thursday's release was negotiated by local elders. 

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kabul says Afghans are kidnapped far more often than foreigners, sometimes by criminal gangs and sometimes by insurgents. 
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## GAP (13 Sep 2007)

Supporting our troops - in Quebec
September 13, 2007
Article Link

It's nice to see a Quebec businessman take out a full page ad in the local paper supporting our troops and their mission in Afghanistan.

"Be proud of our Canadian Military" - indeed we are.
end

Veterans' graves to receive same care as fallen soldiers  
Dave Rogers, CanWest News Service Published: Thursday, September 13, 2007
Article Link

OTTAWA — Canada’s expanded National Military Cemetery at Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery is finally keeping a 90-year-old government pledge to honour all those who have served in the military by including the graves of veterans.

Speaking at a ceremony on Thursday marking the expansion, Jason Kenney, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, said the inclusion of veterans’ graves was the fulfillment of a promise made by Sir Robert Borden during the First World War.

“In dedicating the newly-enlarged military cemetery we are keeping a promise made by Sir Robert Borden,” Kenney said. “In 1917, Sir Robert pledged that the Dominion would consider it our first duty to honour services rendered to the country and Empire.

“Like all Canadians, Borden was deeply moved by the sacrifices made not only by the men who served and died in Flanders and in France under the flags of our Empire and our Dominion but also those who returned home. No one, he said will have just cause to reproach the government for having broken faith with those who fought and died for Canada.”

The National Military Cemetery created in 2001 has been expanded to include the Beechwood veterans’ cemetery that opened in 1955 and Commonwealth war graves. Under the arrangement, veterans’ graves will have flowers and will receive the same care as the graves in the military cemetery.

The cemetery is a partnership that includes Beechwood Cemetery, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada.

The three sections of Beechwood Cemetery designated for veterans have been annexed into Canada’s National Military Cemetery. Former members of the Canadian Forces, the Merchant Navy, veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War can be buried there.

Before 2001 Canada didn’t have a National Military Cemetery. Canadian war dead and those who died while serving in the military were usually buried in military cemeteries overseas.
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South Koreans: Taliban pressured Islam conversion
ANYANG, South Korea (AP) 
Article Link

The 21 South Koreans held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan said Wednesday that the insurgents used bayonets and beatings to pressure some of them to convert to Islam, but that a few were relatively well treated by their captors.

Lee Sung-eun weeps as she and other South Koreans recall their captivity iin Afghanistan.

 "We were beaten by them many times, being forced to convert to Islam," Je Chang-hee told a news conference with 20 other fellow ex-hostages at a hospital south of Seoul, where the Christian volunteers have been receiving medical treatment since they returned home 10 days ago.

"They kicked us and beat us with guns and tree branches. Sometimes, they aimed their bayonet-topped rifles at our necks," Je said, adding that he had been held in a mountain cave with three other hostages. Je said he and the others pretended to recite Islamic conversion prayers by muttering some Korean words.

Twenty-three South Koreans were originally seized July 19 from a bus heading to the southern city of Kandahar. Two male hostages were killed during the standoff, while two women were released in mid-August.

The rest were eventually released late last month after direct negotiations between the South Korean government and the Taliban, the militant Islamic fundamentalist movement that controlled Afghanistan prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 and has been fighting the current Western-backed government
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## GAP (15 Sep 2007)

*Articles found Sept 15, 2007*

Seriously, folksThanks to our military success, Canada's gaining world's respect  
By PETER WORTHINGTON September 14, 2007 
Article Link

For as long as most Canadians have been alive, a succession of federal governments has sought to have Canada taken seriously as an influence on the world stage. 

Frustratingly, this has largely been an unrequited yearning. 

Nations of the developed world regarded Canada fondly, but patronizingly, more or less ignoring what we said. 

We were "nice" people without clout who wanted to be loved -- except when we played hockey, then we were brutes. 

After 9/11 (starting with the previous Martin government) Canada, began to have impact in international matters -- thanks almost entirely to our revitalized military in Afghanistan, doing both fighting and reconstruction. 

Sadly, for purely political purposes, Prime Minister Stephen Harper now seems eager to pull back from the thankless task of imposing peace. Maybe a safer, more passive role. He says early 2009 is the date for withdrawal -- by which time no one expects Afghanistan to be pacified. 

Why this sudden change of mandate? It's surely not because our troops are unwilling to stay the course, or because Canadians want out. 

No, it's because there's a political perception that Quebecers will not vote for a government that is resolved to stay in Afghanistan for as long as fighting soldiers are needed. 

Harper so lusts for a majority government that he seems willing to trim our mandate in Afghanistan in hopes of winning Quebec votes. Like previous Tory parties, he bows to polls and listens to faint-hearts who fear a "conservative" agenda turns off voters. 

We now have the unprecedented situation where Germany is "begging" (according to a Globe and Mail headline) Canada to continue in Afghanistan beyond 2009, with NATO echoing this theme. 

Again, why is this? 

Simple. It's because the Canadian army has been so damn good at its job that its continued presence is seen as essential if the volatile Kandahar region is to have a chance at achieving peace and security. 

Germany sees this clearly -- perhaps because Germany has chickened out of the heavy peacemaking process, and won't let its troops near the danger zones. 

If Canada cuts and runs (and that's precisely what Harper is suggesting, prodded by the Dion Liberals and hopeless NDP) then others won't be far behind. 

Pulling out too soon means every casualty and death incurred will be meaningless. Canada will again retreat into military torpor where few take us seriously, and our word is no longer our bond. 

All because of conventional political timidity that (I think) does Quebecers a disservice and betrays our soldiers. 

No one relishes casualties, or coffins unloaded at Trenton. But our staunchest citizens have been families of the fallen, who recognize that their loved ones volunteered, took pride in their job and realized they were fighting on behalf of people who had nothing. 

CASUALTIES LIGHT 

Although every death is a family tragedy, in global terms Canada's casualties have been relatively light. 

And we are winning in Afghanistan -- witness the Taliban resorting to roadside bombs. 

If the Taliban win the subversive war that they lose on every encounter on the battlefield, what does that say of our resolve? 

If the PM trusted the Canadian people, stayed the course and showed courage, confidence and leadership, maybe he'd be rewarded with the majority he seems to want more than standing up for principles. 

In Afghanistan, for the first time since Suez, 1956, Canada, is being taken seriously by those who matter, thanks to our military. 

Don't blow it. 
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Test Taliban `peace' bid
 TheStar.com - September 14, 2007 
Article Link

Are the Taliban serious about launching peace talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's elected government, as a flurry of news reports suggested in the past week? Not yet, they aren't.

While Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi did spur hopes on Sunday by claiming his group is "fully ready for talks," by Tuesday he had added an impossible rider: 50,000 American, Canadian and other United Nations-sanctioned troops must leave the country before Taliban leader Mullah Omar and his men come to the table. 

That isn't talking peace; it's demanding capitulation

That said, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has every reason to wish Karzai well as he presses not only people such as Omar but also Pushtun leaders and leaders of Taliban splinter groups to join talks designed to at least damp down the fighting. Karzai claims 5,000 fighters have put down their weapons and that elements of the Taliban want to break with Al Qaeda, lending credibility to the policy of engaging insurgents rather than dismissing them all as terrorists. 

Canada's 2,500 troops stand to gain even if Karzai succeeds only partially, because serious talks would smooth Canada's possible pullout from Kandahar in February 2009. 

Brokering any deal with the insurgents will be difficult. Apart from demanding that foreign troops leave, the Taliban also seek a role in the government, and want the Islamist constitution rewritten to reflect their narrow vision of religion. Given their repressive 1996-2001 rule and ties with Al Qaeda, a Taliban comeback raises real concerns. But ultimately, these are matters for the Afghan people to decide. 

While Karzai beats the bushes for foes who are willing to talk, Canada and its allies should encourage Afghans from all factions to join in, and press Pakistan to deny the insurgents sanctuary.

At the same time, Harper must make it clear that our troops are in Afghanistan at the request of a freely elected government to bring some stability to this strife-torn nation. Canada should not take its marching orders from the people who gave Al Qaeda shelter after the 9/11 attacks. The Taliban and their allies should understand that. 
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Surgeon wants troops to stay put
By JOHN MINER, SUN MEDIA
Article Link

Afghanistan doctors and nurses are in danger from forces who want to topple government.

A London surgeon has returned home from Afghanistan convinced it would be a disaster for the people there if Canada pulled its soldiers out. 

"I don't think people understand that, what a terrible loss it will be to those people if we withdraw," Vivian McAlister said yesterday. 

A 52-year-old general surgeon, McAlister worked during July and August at the NATO hospital in Kandahar, operating on both coalition soldiers and Afghanistan people injured by bullets and bomb blasts. 

McAlister said he has been deeply affected by what he found there. 

Afghanistan doctors and nurses are being targeted by the forces who want to undermine the government, the same tactic the Khmer Rouge used to destroy Cambodia, he said. 

The result is there are areas of Afghanistan where there's no medical care. Both the Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres have been forced to withdraw. 

"It is not safe, nor is it effective, for unsupported medical volunteers to try to help in health-care reconstruction," McAlister said. 

The medical care provided can only be done under the protection, he said. 

McAlister said he was safe at the Kandahar base and never ventured outside where he would be at risk. 

The real heroes there are the medics and soldiers who risk their lives outside the base, he said. 

During his stay there, about 90 per cent of the people cared for at the hospital were Afghans, with the rest coalition soldiers. Only a few were Canadian. 
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Canadian Forces Regain Part of Strategic Area in Southern Afghanistan  
By DAVID ROHDE Published: September 15, 2007 KABUL, Afghanistan,
Article Link

 Canadian forces this week regained control of roughly half of a strategic area outside of the southern city of Kandahar that fell to the Taliban in August, according to Afghan and Canadian officials.

Four Afghan police officers died and two Canadian soldiers were wounded in an offensive that unfolded Sunday and Monday in the Zhare district, officials said. Seven hundred Canadian troops, backed by airstrikes and Leopard tanks, met little resistance from Taliban fighters.

“The Taliban tried to avoid combat,” said Capt. Sylvain Chalifour, a spokesman for the Canadian forces, who are serving with NATO. “Every time, they could flee away, they did.”

The fighting fit the pattern that has emerged in southern Afghanistan this summer, according to Canadian officials. 

The Taliban generally have avoided direct clashes with heavily armed NATO forces and instead attacked lightly armed Afghan police forces or carried out suicide and roadside bomb attacks.
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Italy to send more troops in Afghanistan 
Friday September 14, 2007 (1558 PST)
Article Link

ROME: Italy will send two hundred and fifty more troops to Afghanistan. 

According to an Italian daily, the Italian Defence Minister told Parliament that the troops will be sent to December as demanded by the country’s forces high command in Afghanistan
end

Afghanistan, Tajikistan to build hydro power plant  
Monday August 06, 2007 (1043 PST)
Article Link

DUSANBE: The press service of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon says Tajikistan and Afghanistan will jointly build a 1,000-megawatt hydro-power plant on the Pyandzh river. 
The announcement came after talks between Rahmon and Afghan Energy Minister Ismail Khan, who arrived in Tajikistan two day backs. 

The project is expected to be funded by the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the World Bank, and donor nations involved in Afghanistan's reconstruction
end

Soldiers honoured - Edmonton Garrison medal ceremony held  
By RENATO GANDIA, SUN MEDIA September 14, 2007 
Article Link

Whenever the death of a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan hit the news, Rosalie Fedalizo and her family were glued to the television expecting the worst but hoping her son Cpl. Carl Fedalizo was safe. 
At an Edmonton Garrison medal ceremony Friday that honoured 90 soldiers of A Squadron of Lord Strathcona’s Horse, the proud mother could not take her eyes off her 21-year-old son as he gallantly paraded with the other veterans. 

“I’m glad he’s back and safe,” said the mother, as tears rolled on her face. “We’re happy to see him and that nothing had happened to him.” 

The Fedalizo family drove from Vancouver to Edmonton to witness the ceremony after the soldiers’ almost seven-months-long tour of duty in Afghanistan. 

The veterans returned early this week. 

“You know what you have achieved,” Brig.-Gen. Mark Skidmore, commander of Land Force Western Area, told the soldiers after he pinned medals of valour to each of them. “I suspect the Taliban also know what you’ve achieved.” 

Skidmore said while other Canadians questioned the Armed Forces’ mission in Afghanistan, what can’t be doubted is the soldiers’ commitment to Canada. 
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Aussie troops injured fighting Taliban  
Friday September 14, 2007 (1557 PST)
Article Link

 KABUL: Three Australian soldiers have been injured in an intense firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan and one of the men has returned home.

The two other injured soldiers remained in Afghanistan after receiving first aid at the scene of the fight earlier this month.

"The evacuated soldier received specialist medical care ... but due to the nature of his injury and the recovery period required, he has been returned to Australia for further treatment," defence spokesman Andrew Nikolic said.
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Conditions rougher at some UK bases than in Afghanistan, say MPs  
Friday September 14, 2007 (1557 PST)
Article Link

 LONDON: The state of some UK barracks means that British troops endure worse living conditions at home than on operations in Afghanistan, according to a report today by MPs. 

The Commons defence committee says repairs take too long, standards of service are "unacceptably poor", and the situation is exacerbated by "an alarming lack of recognition at senior levels that these problems are more than minor difficulties". Unless significant improvements are made soon, service men and women will be forced to live in sub-standard accommodation "for many years to come", the cross-party committee says.
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Gunmen free last three kidnapped Afghan deminers  
Thursday September 13, 2007 (1925 PST)
Article Link

 KABUL: Gunmen have freed the last three of 13 Afghan deminers abducted last week, their 
employer said on Thursday, but it was not immediately clear who was behind the abduction. The deminers belonging to Afghan Technical Consultants were abducted while traveling in a convoy in the southeastern province of Paktia a week ago. The Taliban, who have been behind a series of abductions of foreign nationals and Afghans in recent months, have denied any involvement.

"The last three kidnapped deminers were set free by the gunmen on Thursday morning. No ransom was paid," demining consultancy head Kefayatullah Eblagh told Reuters. 

"We are very thankful to tribal elders who got them freed. "The mass-kidnapping came days after the Taliban vowed to abduct and kill foreign nationals from countries that have troops in Afghanistan, and after the insurgents' high-profile kidnapping of 23 South Korean missionaries.
More on link


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## GAP (16 Sep 2007)

*Articles found Sept 16, 2007*

Homecoming Afghanistan veteran, 19, returns to cheers
By Hannah Sutherland Staff Reporter Sep 15 2007
Article Link

When Cpl. Owen McIntyre pulled into the driveway of his South Surrey home, he looked up at his house for the first time in more than six months. 

Upon opening the front door, dozens of friends and family expecting his arrival, screamed and rushed over to him in excitement – and relief. 

The 19-year-old had returned from a half-year tour in Afghanistan with the Third Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (3PPCLI). 

“It was a huge relief – finally,” mother Mary Courtenay said. “Every night when I went to bed and closed my eyes, it was so hard because I didn’t know where my son was. It was a long six months.” 

Best friend Justin McTavish would grow nervous every time the news reported stories from Afghanistan. 

“It’s been hard,” McTavish said. “But Owen’s the type of guy if anyone’s going to do it, Owen’s going to do it.” 


McIntyre was the only one of his friends to join the army after graduating from Elgin Park Secondary, Class of ‘05, but it was something he always wanted to do, and therefore, a natural path. 

“I’ve always been the kid growing up watching action movies,” he said. “I just wanted to see if I could do it.” 

After working part-time as a reservist with the Royal Westminster Regiment in New Westminster, he volunteered to train full-time with the 3PPCLI in April 2006 knowing he would be sent to Afghanistan the following February. 

“I couldn’t believe it,” Courntenay said about her son’s decision. “It was very hard to accept. But, you had to respect that this is what he wanted to do.” 

McIntyre trained for 10 months straight. 

When he wasn’t on the base in Edmonton, he was embarking on two-week exercises. He went all over Canada during these trips, including Gagetown, N.B. and Shilo, Man., where he would simulate battle and other scenarios. McIntyre would sometimes live in the bush, with a thin plastic cover for shelter, a rucksack and army rations. He would also engage in live-fire exercises. 
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Iranian weapons intercepted in Afghanistan: report 
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AFP) — NATO troops deployed in Afghanistan have intercepted an Iranian arms shipment destined for the Taliban in what appears to be an escalating flow of weaponry between the two former enemies, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Citing unnamed officials from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, the newspaper said the shipment seized on September 6 included armor-piercing bombs, which have been especially deadly when used as roadside bombs against foreign troops in Iraq. 

The NATO-led force interdicted two smaller shipments of similar weapons from Iran into southern Helmand province April 11 and May 3, the report said. 

"It's not the fact that it's qualitatively different, but this was a large shipment which got people's attention," the paper quotes a US official as saying.

This time, the arms were shipped into the western province of Farah, indicating an attempt to find routes less likely to be discovered, The Post said. 

A senior Iranian official called the allegation baseless, according to the report. 

"We have no interest in instability in Iraq or Afghanistan," the paper quotes the Iranian official as saying. "We have good neighborly relations with the heads of state, who have praised Iran recently. Why should we send weapons to the opposition?" 

Iran, a predominantly Shiite Muslim country, has long opposed the Taliban, a Sunni Muslim group with different ideas about society, government and religion, the report said. 
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12 militants killed in S. Afghanistan  
September 16, 2007 
Article Link

Afghan police and the U.S.-led coalition forces killed 12 Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan on Saturday afternoon, a coalition statement said.

The joint forces were attacked by a large group of Taliban rebels in Sangin district of Helmand province, the statement said, adding the forces fought back and called in close air support.

"A dozen enemy fighters were killed in the engagement," the statement said.

Helmand has been a hotbed of Taliban militants, who attack government targets and foreign troops frequently.

Due to rising Taliban violence, over 4,500 persons, most of whom were Taliban militants, have been killed in Afghanistan this year. 

Source: Xinhua 
end

Bangladesh man kidnapped in Afghanistan  
Article Link

KABUL (AFP) — A Bangladeshi development worker was kidnapped in Afghanistan by unknown men in a brazen daytime attack on his office, officials said Sunday -- the latest in a string of abductions of foreigners.

Six men on Saturday burst into the man's office close to the town of Pul-i-Alam, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Kabul, and "forcefully took him away," a Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) official said.

Another Bangladeshi employee from the same group was shot dead in the mountainous northeast of the country five days ago. He was working on a microfinancing project, as was the abducted man.

It was not clear who was behind the kidnapping, said the head of the non-governmental organisation's Afghan mission, Gunendu Roy.

"We could not contact him because he left his mobile on the table. No one has contacted us," he told AFP. 

The insurgent Taliban movement, which has taken hostage several foreign nationals this year -- including 23 South Korean aid workers in July -- could not immediately be reached for comment on the latest kidnapping.
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3 alleged Taliban kidnappers killed
Sept. 16, 2007, 1:38AM © 2007 The Associated Press 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan police killed three Taliban commanders allegedly involved in the abduction of 23 South Koreans two months ago, the Interior Ministry said.

The police operation took place Friday in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province, where insurgents seized the 23 South Koreans on July 19, the Interior Ministry said.

"The commanders who were killed during this operation were directly involved in the kidnapping case of the Korean hostages," the ministry said in a statement Saturday. It did not provide any further details or the identities of the slain Taliban.

There have been several military operations in Ghazni since the release of the last of the captives on Aug. 30, possibly reflecting the Afghan government's desire to assert authority over the rebellious region following the abductions.

Earlier this month, Afghan officials said they killed a Taliban commander called Mullah Mateen, accused of being behind the kidnapping of the South Korean church workers.

Two of the Korean hostages were slain soon after the kidnapping. Two women were released during Taliban negotiations with South Korea, and the remaining 19 were freed after Seoul repeated a long-standing commitment to withdraw its 200 soldiers in Afghanistan by year's end and prevent Christian missionaries from traveling to Afghanistan.

Early Sunday in Garmsir district in the south, Afghan and coalition forces using small-arms fire and airstrikes "killed several suspected militants" during an operation, the coalition said.
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Turning ragtag Afghan warriors into cops
 TheStar.com - September 16, 2007 bruce campion-smith Ottawa bureau chief
Article Link

Canada's new focus is on training willing but inept Afghans to handle the security mission

ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan–The sun has barely crept above the horizon when Capt. Marc-André Langelier assembles his class for morning lessons.

His pupils, Afghan police officers, gather around him, old Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders.

At first glance, they might not look like a crack fighting force. But don't underestimate their capacity to do battle. 

Having fought against the Russians and the Taliban, Langelier says many of the police officers are accomplished fighters, "warriors since they were born." 

But as Canada has painfully learned in recent weeks, it takes more than a fighting spirit to be a good cop; it takes honesty, discipline, organization, all qualities in short supply with the Afghan police today.

So, as Canada looks to eventually turn over responsibility for Afghanistan's security to the country's own police and army, there's a lot riding on lessons like the one Langelier is teaching – the future of Ottawa's mission in Afghanistan. 

Yesterday morning, Langelier was walking the Afghans through the basics of a foot patrol in a dusty field next to a joint Canadian-Afghan base in Zhari district near Sangasar, where Canadians have frequent contact with insurgents.

"In my country, we practise a lot before going out on a mission. That way we'll know how to react when we meet the enemy," he told the Afghans through an interpreter.

But the local police commander seems to take offence at the implication his men need lessons. He replies with a long speech that the officers know all that they need to know.

It's a frustrating two-step between the Afghans and the Canadians, complicated by the use of an interpreter. Langelier quickly turns from soldier to diplomat, assuring the commander that he's not questioning the ability of his officers.

"I'm sure that us working with you we will be able to fight the enemy," said Langelier, of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal 22nd Regiment, based in Valcartier, Que.
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Allies compare technology and tactics (fratricide reduction)
Canadian Press via Sun Media ^ | 2007-09-14 | Murray Brewster
Article Link

OTTAWA (CP) - Most of the countries fighting in Afghanistan are comparing technology and ideas this week in the Nevada and California deserts in the first large-scale multinational effort to reduce friendly fire casualties. 

Canada's contribution to the demonstration involves three CF-18 fighter jets, a contingent of soldiers and fighting vehicles from 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont. It comes just a few weeks after investigations in both Canada and the United States determined better training, equipment and co-ordination could have prevented the accidental strafing of a company of Canadian soldiers last year. 

The split-second mistake, by the pilot of an American A-10 Thunderbolt, left Pte. Mark Graham dead and 30 other members of Charles Company wounded at Ma'sum Ghar, about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar. 

It was the second deadly air-to-ground friendly fire attack in Afghanistan since 2002. Four Canadians were killed and eight wounded after a U.S. F-16 fighter mistook a training exercise at Tarnack Farms for a real attack. 

"We're all very, very motivated to find solutions to the continued scourge of fratricide," said Lt.-Col. Peter Neilsen, who's in charge of the 125 member Canadian team. 

Aside from Canada and the U.S., ground units and aircraft from Australia, France, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Britain are taking part in the trials until Sept. 22. 

There are 37 countries fighting in Afghanistan, each of them with their own communications equipment and procedures for recognizing friend from foe. 
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NYT sums up Canadian Forces action 
Article Link

Today's New York Times has an article by Afghanistan correspondent David Rohde, Canadian Forces Regain Part of Strategic Area in Southern Afghanistan"". It sums up Operation Light Candle, covered on this blog (here) earlier in the week. Excerpts:

Canadian forces this week regained control of roughly half of a strategic area outside of the southern city of Kandahar that fell to the Taliban in August...

Four Afghan police officers died and two Canadian soldiers were wounded in an offensive that unfolded [Sept 9 and 10] in the Zhare district, officials said. Seven hundred Canadian troops, backed by airstrikes and Leopard tanks, met little resistance from Taliban fighters. ...

The Taliban generally have avoided direct clashes with heavily armed NATO forces and instead attacked lightly armed Afghan police forces or carried out suicide and roadside bomb attacks. ...

Taliban forces took back roughly two-thirds of Zhare and one-third of Panjwai after Canadian forces withdrew from the area during a troop rotation in August. The Taliban struck vulnerable police posts and, in recaptured areas, began hanging civilians they declared “spies,” according to Afghan officials. ...

Sayed Aqa Saqib, the Kandahar provincial police chief, said three of the Afghan police officers who died during the operation this week had struck a land mine. He said 150 Taliban had been killed.

Canadian officials ... declined to give an estimate of the number of Taliban killed.
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Life after the war
FIONA ISAACSON
Article Link

Post-Traumatic stress disorder may not be more common in today's soldiers, but it certainly is more commonly diagnosed. Fiona Isaacson, in a special to the Mercury, looks at how Homewood Health Centre is becoming a leader in treating soldiers suffering from PTSD and other 'operational stress injurie

GUELPH

Guelph's Homewood Health Centre is helping Canadian soldiers try to put the past where it belongs.

The Homewood is one of five mental health-care centres where Canadian Forces and Veterans Affairs is referring soldiers for intensive in-patient treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related addiction issues.

In the past year alone, there have been 56 military admissions to its Traumatic Street Recovery program and to its Substance Abuse and Trauma Safety program. Homewood administrators and Canadian Forces officials predict many more will come as the Canadian mission in Afghanistan carries on and the recently enhanced Canadian military mental health screening has a greater impact.
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## GAP (17 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 17, 2007*

If Canada withdraws, Taliban will run rampant, mullah says
GRAEME SMITH  From Monday's Globe and Mail September 17, 2007 at 3:59 AM EDT
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Canada must not be scared away from Kandahar because Afghan forces wouldn't be capable of stopping the Taliban from overwhelming government towns, one of the region's most prominent tribal elders says.

Mullah Naqib is not the first Afghan leader who has pleaded for Canadian troops to stay, but his emotional words are the most pointed example so far of the deep worry among local allies about what will happen after the Canadian commitment expires in 18 months.

"They should not be scared," Mr. Naqib said in an interview.

The elder's opinions carry weight in Kandahar, where he rose to prominence during the fight against Soviet occupation and later served as provincial governor. Mr. Naqib's band of Alokozai tribesmen has been a pillar of support for every regime in Kandahar for the past 15 years, including the Taliban and the current Afghan government.
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Matthew Fisher: French dispatching jet boon to Harper
Matthew Fisher, National Post Published: Sunday, September 16, 2007
Article Link

Will France help Prime Minister Stephen Harper and give fresh impetus to NATO's mission in southern Afghanistan by sending combat troops to fight alongside the Canadian battle group here? 

In a clear signal that a French government is willing for the first time in years to play a part in joint western combat operations, President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered Mirage fighter jets to Kandahar to help protect American, British and Canadian ground forces. The French warplanes are to be operational by the end of the month. 

Because so much has been made of how Sarkozy is keen to improve frail relations with Washington, and as other countries that have had fighter jets at the Kandahar airfield - the Americans, British and Dutch - also have combat troops here, it is not too much of a stretch to imagine France sending an infantry battalion or even a brigade to join the fight. 
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Diggers attacked in southern Afghanistan
September 17, 2007 12:00am
Article Link

AUSTRALIAN troops in southern Afghanistan escaped injury when a roadside bomb was set off near their Bushmaster four-wheel drive.

The soldiers were on a reconnaissance mission on a side road in Tarin Kowt when the device exploded near their vehicle, the Department of Defence said yesterday. 

The attack occurred yesterday on a public road used by locals. 

Australian troops are working with Dutch personnel on reconstruction projects in Tarin Kowt. 

Defence said the attack was the first against members of the reconstruction taskforce since last May.
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NATO airstrikes kill suspected insurgent near Afghan capital of Kabul  
Article Lin

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — NATO and Afghan army troops came under fire east of Kabul and then called in airstrikes, killing at least one suspected insurgent, officials said Monday.

The joint forces were attacked Sunday morning in Surobi district, about 40 kilometres east of the capital, said Maj. Charles Anthony, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

"They had come under attack from insurgents, returned fire, and then called in close air support," Anthony said. "This is clearly going after a Taliban insurgent target, but we just don't have a whole lot of information on what the results were."

One insurgent was killed in the battle and one weapons cache was destroyed, he said. There were no reports of NATO, Afghan army or civilian casualties.

Surobi police chief Gen. Yardil Nizami said the bombardment destroyed one house in the village of Gazbala, killing two men and wounding two others.
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Union questions ‘captive market’ fast-food chains given on military bases
Kathryn May , CanWest News Service Published: Sunday, September 16, 2007 
Article Link

 OTTAWA — Such fast-food outlets as Tim Hortons, Pizza Pizza and Subway are quietly popping up on military bases across the country in sole-source deals that "hand them a captive market," says the Union of National Defence Employees.

It wants to challenge the legality of replacing base restaurants, canteens and cafeterias operated by the Canadian Forces Exchange System — known as CANEX — with food outlets and franchises without seeking bids from other suppliers.

"What bothers us is these private sector companies are selling on Crown property to provide services to a captive market, the military troops and their families, without being publicly tendered. It raises the question of how many small businesses would love to put in a bid for such a captive market or say KFC or McDonald’s for that matter," said UNDE President John MacLennan who intends to ask Auditor-General Sheila Fraser investigate.

"We’re challenging these contracts. How can one arm of a department be exempt from contracting rules, the Federal Accountability Act, and fair competition? At the end of the day, they all answer to the Chief of Defence Staff who is a public servant."

But CANEX, which runs all retail and food services on bases, wings and units, is exempt from the contracting rules that govern National Defence and all other federal departments.
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Amnesty: Don’t hand detainees over  
By CLARE MELLOR Staff Reporter 
Article Link

Red Cross questions why Canada doesn’t build facility to house Afghans 

Amnesty International Canada is still fighting to prevent Canadian Forces members in Afghanistan from turning over individuals they capture to Afghan security forces.

Changes made in May to the Canada-Afghanistan agreement on detainees give Canada full access to monitor the welfare of the transferred detainees, but there are insufficient safeguards to prevent them from being tortured in the first place, says Hilary Homes, an international justice and human rights campaigner with Amnesty International Canada in Ottawa.

"Torture can be inflicted with devastating precision in just a few minutes," she said.

Ms. Homes was speaking in Halifax on Saturday at a conference on international humanitarian law at Dalhousie University. The one-day conference, which included a panel discussion on Canada’s responsibility for detainees in Afghanistan, was organized by the Canadian Red Cross and the Social Activist Law Association.

The detainee issue faded from headlines after the Canadian government announced a change to its agreement with Afghanistan earlier this year. But Amnesty International is not giving up on its quest to stop Canada’s transfer of detainees and is pursuing a case in Federal Court against the Canadian government, Ms. Homes said. 
More on link

Canucks hang onto dangerous district  
By CP September 16, 2007 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Ultimately, it will be up to Afghan forces to maintain security for the Afghan people, says the deputy commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. 

But until they are ready to take on that responsibility, Col. Christian Juneau said yesterday, Canada will maintain its presence in the dangerous Zhari district of Kandahar province. 

After that, Canadian troops may be able to reinforce Afghan forces on occasion "but certainly we're looking at them to provide the security for the population in Zhari-Panjwayi," Juneau said while touring a newly established checkpoint along a road that was, until recently, firmly in the hands of the Taliban. 

Juneau admitted Canadians did have control over the area at one point. Then they were redeployed elsewhere and left the district in the hands of the Afghan army and police. 

"The Afghan security forces were supposed to look after this piece of ground," Juneau said at Checkpoint Miller. 

"I think what we have done is we have over-estimated their capacity at that point in time and when the fighting season came back this spring, the bad guys had the opportunity to regain some of the ground." 

But Juneau suggests that won't happen again. 

"I think we're going to stay until they're ready, whatever it takes, because there's no point in us going out and coming back again next spring." 

Canadian troops will man the checkpoint, as they do other forward operation bases in the district, alongside Afghan national security forces. 
More on link

Iranian-made arms for Taliban found
IAN BRUCE, Defence Correspondent September 17 2007 
Article Link

Nato special forces have intercepted a large shipment of Iranian-made arms destined for Taliban insurgents fighting British troops in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

The haul included a number of deadly "explosively-formed projectiles" used in roadside ambushes and capable of penetrating even tank armour.

The shipment is the third seized this year. Two smaller convoys carrying weapons from Iran were seized in Helmand in April and May.

advertisementA Nato source said yesterday that "Western special forces" had interdicted the arms in Farah province, a vast desert area which is sparsely inhabited and poorly policed.

He added: "The Taliban are obviously trying to vary their routes after losing their last two supply convoys. This interception was intelligence-led.
More on link

More Articles available here
MILNEWS.ca

CANinKandahar


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## GAP (18 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 18, 2007*

Troops caught in Taliban trap  
By RICHARD LATENDRESSE September 18, 2007 
Article Link

I was hoping it would never happen to me. But it did. And I'm alive to tell the tale. 

It was an ambush with the works: machine gun fire, grenade launchers, mortars and smoke bombs, along with back-up fire. And of course, an improvised explosive device, or IED, which sparked the whole thing. 

But the more it sinks in, the more I realize that the fear, the brutality, and the lack of respect for human life in those moments truly epitomize the things I've seen here in Afghanistan over the past few weeks. 

Here's a blow-by-blow of how it went down. 

Canadian soldiers were heading for the tiny villages near enemy lines to explain to the locals that military attacks on the Taliban and extremists are to help villagers. 

Crushing the extremists would help them live in a safer place, with thriving villages and better lives. 

To achieve this improved protection, Canadians were teaming up with a convoy of American militia and Afghan police. The Americans are burdened with the task of training the local police, who are seen as corrupt and incompetent. 

About half-way there, the head of the Afghan police, Colonel Aka, informed us that a few hundred metres ahead of us, the Taliban were waiting. He's in the know, this Aka guy. But that's par for the course in Afghanistan, where people know more about their enemy than they do about their friends. 

In keeping with the Canadian mission here, it was an IED holding us back. On a daily basis, IEDs are the biggest threat to our troops, and today was no different. 
More on link

The Politics of Money
September 18, 2007
Article Link

The Taliban continue trying, and failing, to use groups of gunmen to drive police and soldiers out of southern Afghanistan. For the last month, the Taliban have been losing  several hundred men a week (dead, wounded, captured). The Taliban continue to get nailed when they try to attack soldiers or police patrols with an ambush or attack. Bombers or helicopter gunships quickly show up, and the Taliban are scattered, with heavy casualties. The inability to assert military control has led more tribal leaders to openly back the government. This can be dangerous, if the Taliban are able to keep armed men into the tribal areas. But the Taliban groups are being attacked and shattered with great regularity. This has forced the Taliban to raise the pay rates. While the Afghan police and soldiers make less than half what the Taliban offer (up to $12 a day), the government men are much more likely to live to spend their pay. Each time a band of Taliban (usually 30-50 armed men) get blasted, the survivors go back to their villages to warn potential recruits that the Taliban offer poisoned money, that can quickly get you killed. 

The only tactics the Taliban are having any success at are suicide bombers and roadside bombs. But casualties are low, and most of them Afghan civilians, which just makes the Taliban more unpopular. But the Taliban terrorists are pushing this tactic, and have arranged  with Iran have obtain armor piercing roadside bombs, of the same design provided to Iraqi terrorists. Several of these have been captured by NATO troops in the last few weeks, in arms shipments being smuggled in from Iran. 
More on link

Medical Facilities in Afghanistan
16 Sep 07 
Article Link

The Sunday Telegraph has published an article today, Sunday 16 September 2007, claiming that there are critical shortages of doctors for British troops in Afghanistan and that the 40-bed field hospital at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand, closed its doors twice in the past six months because it ran out of beds.

Camp Bastion field hospital was never closed. Bed occupancy at the various field hospitals is controlled by Regional Command (South) across its Area of Operations and hospitals have overlapping arcs. British casualties are sent to the field hospital at Camp Bastion wherever possible but it is not unusual for UK troops to be treated in other facilities in the RC(S) area. We often treat other International Security Assistance Force, Afghan National Army troops, Afghan National Police or civilians in our facilities as well. 
More on link

Afghans: Taliban Behind Kidnappings Dies  
By AMIR SHAH 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. airstrikes targeting a meeting of Taliban leaders killed a high-ranking commander involved in the kidnappings of 23 South Koreans two months ago, Afghan officials said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, NATO reported that another of its soldiers had died in an explosion in Afghanistan, where violence has soared this year amid a Taliban-led insurgency.

Mullah Abdullah Jan, the Taliban commander of Qara Bagh district in Ghazni province, was among 12 killed in the strike on a mud-brick housing compound overnight in neighboring Giro district, said Ghazni provincial police chief Gen. Ali Shah Ahmadzai.

The U.S.-led coalition said "several" suspected militants were killed and four detained during an operation in Giro that included gunfire and airstrikes, but it could not immediately confirm that Jan was killed.

Jan was the fifth Taliban commander allegedly involved in the abductions who has been reported killed in recent days, and believed to be the highest-ranking one eliminated so far. Jan watched as his fighters stopped and kidnapped a tour bus carrying the South Koreans in July, Ahmadzai said.

Afghanistan's Interior Ministry on Sunday said police had killed three Taliban commanders allegedly involved in the abductions. Another, a Mullah Mateen, was said to be killed in fighting earlier in the month.
More on link

British Soldier Killed In Afghanistan
Updated: 12:25, Tuesday September 18, 2007 
Article Link

A British soldier has been killed and another injured after their vehicle was blown up in southern Afghanistan.

The British are fighting the Taliban in Helmand provinceThe soldier, from 36 Engineer Regiment, was killed in the restive Helmand Province after the vehicle he was travelling in was caught in what is believed to have been a roadside bomb blast.

Another soldier was injured, but his injuries are not life threatening.

The MoD said the dead soldier had been travelling in an Army dump truck in a routine logistics convoy. 

He was flown to a medical facility at Camp Bastion but was pronounced dead on arrival.

The incident happened on Monday afternoon.

An MoD statement said: "It is with immense sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that a soldier from 36 Engineer Regiment has been killed and another injured in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan. 
More on link

NATO 'on top of our game' in Afghanistan: officer
Matthew Fisher, CanWest News Service Published: Monday, September 17, 2007
Article Link

KABUL -- Reports that NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Canadian military are not faring well in their war against the Taliban are wrong, says the Canadian officer who oversees military intelligence in Afghanistan.

In fact, says Brig.-Gen. Jim Ferron, the battlefield successes of Canada and other NATO armies could spur peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

"I don't accept that NATO is on its back foot," Ferron said Monday in his first interview with a Canadian journalist since becoming NATO's chief of intelligence in Afghanistan eight months ago.

If the statistics are properly analyzed, we are on top of our game right now."

The Taliban are by no means subdued, Ferron acknowledged. But, he insisted, "we are taking the conflict to the insurgents and forcing the issue."

Combat operations have successfully targeted the Taliban's middle and high leadership, said the general, who is also director general of military intelligence in Ottawa. 

"It is one of the catalysts that could bring negotiations between the government and moderates in the Taliban."

Canada's battle group in the southern province of Kandahar has played a significant role in creating the circumstances that have caused both the Taliban and Afghan President Hamid Karzai to broach the prospect of peace talks for the first time since the Taliban launched an insurgency campaign after being deposed by U.S. forces in 2001.
More on link

NATO rapid-reaction force hobbled by cuts
Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:02 PM EDT
Article Link

By Mark John
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO's flagship rapid reaction force has fallen below full strength less than a year after its launch because over-stretched allies have withdrawn pledges of military assets, NATO sources said on Monday.

The NATO Response Force (NRF), brainchild of former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was conceived to field troops from a pool of up to 25,000 at a few days' notice and is the flagship of NATO efforts to revamp itself after the Cold War.

It was declared fully operational last November but alliance sources said it had dropped below full strength after nations in past weeks diverted equipment from it for use in a variety of existing military operations on the ground.

There are also divisions within NATO over how the force should be used.

"You will not see a press release but we are working on the basis it is not at FOC (full operational capacity). It does not have the heft to do what it set out to do," said a senior NATO officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Options for NRF are being examined, notably what options need to be looked at to make it more palatable to contribute forces," he said, adding the matter was raised by NATO chiefs of defense who met in the Canadian city of Victoria last week.

The officer did not name any nations but noted contributions pledged by the United States last November had been critical to its launch. Among the equipment now withdrawn were long-range air transport and helicopter assets of which the United States has by far the alliance's biggest stock, he added.

No U.S. official at NATO headquarters was immediately available for comment.

The NRF shortfall is only the latest sign of the growing "over-stretch" on the West's national armies, many of whom are suffering the strain of deploying troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Africa and the breakaway Serb province of Kosovo. 
More on link

Soldiers home safe
Geoffrey Jackson Tuesday September 18, 2007
Article Link

It was a hero’s welcome for two soldiers coming home from Afghanistan on the weekend.
Corporal Dustin Hertlein of Drayton Valley and Corporal Shawn Modde of Nanaimo, British Columbia, were welcomed with cheers and applause at the Drayton Valley Royal Canadian Legion on Saturday, Sept. 15.
The two just recently completed a six-month tour in Afghanistan with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based out of Edmonton.
Friends and family were present, and greeted the two with tears of joy.
“It’s a little weird at first, (with things) being normal again,” said Hertlein. “It feels pretty good.”
Hertlein and Modde weren’t shy about sharing their feelings on progress in the conflict-torn country of Afghanistan.

“It was very frustrating,” said Hertlein. “You don’t see any visual results in the short six months you’re there.”
Modde agreed, saying the soldiers were fighting an “unknown enemy.”
Hertlein explained that the army is like a second family, and losing close friends to attacks was saddening and frustrating.
“Not many people get the reality of losing close, close friends,” said Modde.
However, Hertlein said the task was made a lot easier by the outpouring of support from back home, noting that he received care packages regularly, as well as numerous letters -- some from children and people he didn’t know.
Hertlein said he didn’t know if he’d be going back in the near future. He said his contract is nearly up, and both he and Modde said they were looking forward to some much needed rest.
“Everything over here is sweeter,” said Modde. “You come back here and you appreciate things a lot more.”
More on link

Marystown soldier back from volatile Afghan region  
 BY PAUL HERRIDGE The Southern Gazette
Article Link

Corporal Perry Rideout had an opportunity to spend some time with his family in Marystown last month. He had just returned home to Canada from a six-month deployment in Afghanistan. 

A member of the 4 Engineer Support Regiment at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, he spent about a week and a-half in the community before returning to New Brunswick to start another of his career courses. 

“It’s definitely nice to get home.” 

Cpl. Rideout was among troops from Atlantic Canada, who were part of a rotation of soldiers, sent to the Middle East country early in the year. He spoke with The Southern Gazette last week, describing his most recent tour. 

CLEARING ‘IEDs’ 

After deploying in early February, Cpl. Rideout arrived in Ghundy Ghar in the Zhari District of Kandahar province – some 25 kilometres west of Khandahar City, and one of the most volatile areas in the country. 

He explained the group of fresh soldiers underwent a brief training period, mainly to familiarize themselves with the base there and make sure their weapons were combat-ready. 
More on link

The serpents of Medusa's hair
September 17, 2007
Article Link

The latest epilogue to Operation Medusa: Canadian forces have re-established control in Zhare and Panjwai (in August, Taliban militants overran local authorities when Canadian troops rotated...) However, this week’s victory was hardly decisive -- the Taliban mostly ceded ground, as has been their modus operandi in recent months -- and will retaliate against the lightly armed police force left behind to consolidate NATO’s gains. 

 A spokesman for the Canadian forces argued that incorporated learning and new approaches -- e.g. joint checkpoints -- will ensure that this time is different. Army and police training has advanced, and Canada even forced the resignation of a corrupt police chief in Zhari district. Patience is key, as General Champoux has argued: "This has been a shaping year,'' he said, "I think next year will be a decisive year." 

But we’ve heard this before. The Canadians have a lot of terrain to cover and a low density of force -- is it realistic to expect the ANA and ANP to hold this area on its own? Can this week’s gains be anything more than ephemeral without additional resources or a new approach? 
More on link

A swift shift toward police training
GRAEME SMITH September 18, 2007
Article Link

SANGISAR, AFGHANISTAN -- The night before the launch of Canada's police mentorship program, Captain Marc-André Langelier picked his way through a darkened outpost toward his students.

The young officer from Royal 22nd Regiment had been assigned to teach 10 Afghan police officers how to survive and defend their new checkpoint.

The wooden beams of the guard posts smelled of freshly cut lumber, and the Canadian troops who built the fortification watched carefully for signs of the Taliban they had chased away only days before from this cluster of villages known as Sangisar, about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar city.

Capt. Langelier ducked into the metal shipping container that serves as the local police station, a small box cramped with shadowy men and Kalashnikov rifles, silhouetted in the glow of a penlight dangling on a wall. The Afghans ushered him to a place of honour in the room, on a cushion beside the police commander, and poured him a cup of tea.
More on link

More Articles available here
MILNEWS.ca

CANinKandahar


----------



## The Bread Guy (18 Sep 2007)

*Karzai wants Canadians to stay in Afghanistan despite controversy over war*
Canadian Press, 18 Sept 07
Article link (1) - Article link (2)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is appealing to Canadians to continue to fight terrorism in his country.  Karzai said he is aware of the controversy in Canada about the country's role in the war, but his central Asian nation won't be ready to stand on its own by the time Canada's current combat mandate ends in February 2009.  "The presence of Canada is needed until Afghanistan is able to defend itself and that day is not going to be in 2009," Karzai told Canadian journalists brought to Kabul from the Canadian base at Kandahar Airfield to meet with him Tuesday.  Karzai said that by helping Afghanistan, Canada is making the world a safer place - "Canada included."  Afghanistan cannot afford for Canada to withdraw its roughly 2,500 troops, he said. "Look around and see that the enemy is not yet finished; it is not yet defeated."....


*Karzai begs Canadians not to abandon military mission in Afghanistan*
Matthew Fisher, CanWest News Service, 18 Sept 07
Article link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai made an unusually direct and candid appeal to Canada Tuesday to extend beyond February 2009 its robust military commitment in the southern province of Kandahar, in order to save his country from further bloody turmoil.  "If you leave prematurely, Afghanistan will fall back into anarchy," Karzai warned in a 30-minute interview with 11 Canadian journalists in an opulent marble and wood-panelled room in Gulkhana Palace, where he usually meets with heads of state. "It will be a weak body prone to attack."  ....  Karzai made clear he is "aware of the debate in Canada" over the future role of its troops in Afghanistan after the current mandate expires in early 2009. Indeed, he revealed a keen understanding of the nuances of the controversy, including that support for the Afghan mission is shakiest in Quebec.  "My message to Quebec is that their sons and daughters are accomplishing a very important task, not only for Afghanistan but for Canada as well," Karzai said in a wide-ranging conversation .....


*Karzai urges Canada not to withdraw troops in 2009*
CTV.ca, 18 Sept 07
Article link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on Canada to maintain its military presence in Afghanistan after 2009, saying his country will fall into the hands of terrorists without Canada's help.  Karzai spoke to members of the Canadian media in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on Tuesday.  He told reporters he is aware of the controversy over Canada's military role, but said 2009 is fast approaching and Afghanistan won't be ready to take over security by the deadline.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper has set February 2009 as a deadline for Canada to end its combat role unless consensus can be reached in the House of Commons to extend the mission.  "He was talking about what would happen if Canadian troops were to pull out in February of 2009," said CTV's Steve Chao in Kabul.  "He said that unequivocally it would mean that Afghanistan would fall back into anarchy -- that it would bring back the safe havens to terrorists and terrorists would be able to strike once again into the United States and Canada." ....


*Afghans can't stand on own by 2009, Karzai tells Canadians*
CBC.ca, 18 Sept 07
Article link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a direct appeal Tuesday to Canadians to continue the fight in his country, warning that Afghanistan will fall back into the anarchy that led the Taliban to power if Canada's troops are withdrawn.  The appeal came during an unusual private meeting in Kabul with Canadian journalists brought to the capital from Kandahar.  Karzai said he is aware of the controversy about Canada's continued role, but added Afghanistan would not be able to stand on its own by February 2009, when Canada's current combat mandate ends, the CBC's David Common reported.  "Look around and see that the enemy is not yet finished; it is not yet defeated," Karzai said. "The presence of Canada is needed until Afghanistan is able to defend itself, and that day is not going to be in 2009." ....


*Afghan president pleads for troops to stay*
Bruce Campion-Smith,  Toronto Star, 18 Sept 07
Article link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has made an impassioned plea for Canada to keep its troops in Afghanistan, warning that the job of rebuilding his war-torn nation is far from complete.  In a rare gathering, Karzai met with Canadian journalists Tuesday to deliver a strong message to the Canadian public not to end the military mission in southern Afghanistan that has already claimed the lives of 70 soldiers and one diplomat.  The Afghan president said point-blank that he’s aware of the debate now underway in Canada over the future of the mission.  “The presence of Canada is needed ’til Afghanistan is able to defend itself. That day is not going to be in 2009,” Karzai told reporters during a question-and-answer held at the presidential palace.  In his opening remarks, Karzai was effusive of his praise for Canada’s contributions of troops and cash to help his country “rebuild itself, defend itself and prepare for a better future ....



*Karzai pleads for Canadians to stay in Afghanistan*
GRAEME SMITH, Globe and Mail, 18 Sept 07
Article link - Posted comments

Afghanistan will descend into bloody chaos if Canadian troops and other foreign soldiers are withdrawn too quickly, President Hamid Karzai said today, in a forceful plea for Canadian soldiers to continue fighting after 2009.  Evoking the civil wars that wracked Afghanistan in the early 1990s, killing tens of thousands of people, Mr. Karzai said his country could slip into a similarly dark period if the Canadians withdraw as scheduled in 18 months.  “Afghanistan will fall back into anarchy,” he said. “Anarchy will bring back safe havens to terrorists, among other things, and terrorists will then hurt you back there in Canada and the United States. Simple as that.”  The Afghan leader, normally cautious about giving interviews, made his case during an unprecedented press event in which he invited every Canadian journalist in the country to visit his heavily guarded palace in Kabul ....




*Karzai pleads with Canadians not to desert Afghanistan*
Agence France Presse, 18 Sept 07
Article link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that his country would fall into bloody chaos if foreign troops withdraw too quickly, in an interview with Canadian media published Tuesday.  "Afghanistan will fall back into anarchy," he told the daily Globe and Mail, fearing a withdrawal of Canadian troops in February 2009, their current mandate.  "Anarchy will bring back safe havens to terrorists, among other things, and terrorists will then hurt you back there in Canada and the United States. Simple as that," he said.  "The presence of Canada is needed until Afghanistan is able to defend itself, and that day is not going to be in 2009."  Fierce debate is raging in Canada and other NATO countries about whether to extend the US-led mission to stabilize the country amid an insurgency following the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001 ....


*Karzai pleads with Canada: Don't pull out troops*
Reuters (UK), 18 Sept 07
Article link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai pleaded with Canada on Tuesday not to withdraw its 2,500 troops when their mission ends in early 2009, saying to do so would only help deliver his country back to the Taliban, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported.  Karzai made his comments to a special meeting of all Canadian reporters based in Afghanistan.  "The presence of Canada is needed until Afghanistan is able to defend itself, and that day is not going to be in 2009," a story on the Globe Web site quoted him as saying.  So far 70 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, most of them in roadside bomb explosions near their base in the southern city of Kandahar.  Canada's minority Conservative government says it will not extend the mission unless Parliament approves the idea, something that seems highly unlikely.  "If you leave prematurely, before we can defend ourselves in terms of our own abilities, government, institutions, and all associated factors, Afghanistan will fall back," the Globe quoted Karzai as saying.  Earlier he remarked that "anarchy will bring back safe havens to terrorists, among other things, and terrorists will then hurt you back there in Canada and the United States. Simple as that." ....


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## HItorMiss (19 Sep 2007)

NATO launches new Afghan operation  


KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO forces launched a new military operation Wednesday in Afghanistan's most violent southern province, while the alliance said it was investigating a shipment of weapons intercepted near the border with Iran this month.

About 2,500 Afghan and NATO troops began the operation in the Gereshk region of Helmand province, the site of the fiercest battles this year and the world's largest opium-producing region.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said the troops would conduct military "security and stabilization" operations in the upper Gereshk Valley, but provided no other details.


http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070919/NATO_afghan_070919/20070919?hub=World


PS: I can't figure out the hyper link thing, I probably should have paid attenion the dozen or so times Vern explained it.


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## The Bread Guy (19 Sep 2007)

*Afghan, ISAF forces launch new phase of operation  * 
ISAF news release PR# 2007-643, 19 Sept 07
News release link

Afghan and ISAF Forces have launched a new operation to target and clear Taliban from the area surrounding Gereshk in Helmand Province, in order to provide an enduring security presence in the area. 
Approximately 2,500 soldiers are involved in the operation, codenamed ‘Palk Wahel,’ which began in the earlier today. 

The operation’s mission is to identify Taliban Forces and drive them out of their traditional strongholds in the Upper Gereshk Valley. Earlier phases of this mission concentrated on a number of locations across Helmand Province.

ISAF and the Afghan National Security Forces’ key objective is to create a secure environment for the ordinary people of Helmand and to support the Provincial Government in its efforts to bring vital reconstruction and development projects to the Province. 

During the initial stages of the operation, ISAF soldiers advanced to secure a bridge head and built a crossing over the Helmand River. They also conducted an assault river crossing, clearing and searching compounds, moving through Taliban held areas before ISAF military engineers established a joint forward operating base in the area of Gereshk.

“This operation is designed to protect areas within Helmand Province where we have previously made gains against the Taliban and pushed them further out,” said Lt. Col. Richard Eaton, ISAF spokesperson. “The presence of the Taliban in Helmand Province denies the local population the peace and stability they so desperately want and hampers reconstruction and development projects that are so important to improving their quality of life.”

 The operation is being conducted in consultation with local leaders and Governor Wafa.

“It is crucial that the Taliban are prevented from terrorizing the local people so that they can go about their daily lives without fear of intimidation,” said Eaton.


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## GAP (19 Sep 2007)

HitorMiss said:
			
		

> [PS: I can't figure out the hyper link thing, I probably should have paid attenion the dozen or so times Vern explained it.



Try this


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## GAP (19 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 19, 2007*

Fathers of dead soldiers laud Karzai plea
The Canadian Press September 19, 2007 at 11:07 AM EDT
Article Link

TORONTO — The fathers of two Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan are lauding Afghan President Hamid Karzai for urging Canadians to stay in his country, despite controversy over the war.

Dr. Tim Goddard, whose daughter, Captain Nichola Goddard, died in a Taliban ambush in the Panjwai district, said Mr. Karzai's message is something that Canadians needed to hear.

Dr. Goddard told CTV's Canada AM that the work Canadian soldiers are trying to do is important, and that it is important to everybody in Afghanistan.

Jim Davis, whose son, Corporal Paul Davis, died in the Kandahar area, said he too supports Mr. Karzai's appeal.

Mr. Davis said ordinary Canadians need to know more about the Afghan mission.

He said that calling the situation in Afghanistan a quagmire and then to insisting that the Canadian public is asking for a change in the mission is unfair, because Canadians cannot make that decision without information. 
More on link

British-Led Forces Launch Anti-Taleban Offensive in Southern Afghanistan  
By VOA News 19 September 2007
Article Link  

British-led forces in Afghanistan have launched a new offensive to clear Taleban fighters from their stronghold in the southern province of Helmand. 

NATO officials say 2,500 Afghan and NATO troops are involved in the operation, which began this Wednesday morning in Helmand's Upper Gereshk Valley region.

NATO says the troops built a crossing (bridge) over the Helmand River and established an operating base in the area.

The alliance says the goal of the offensive is to create a secure environment for Afghan authorities to bring reconstruction and development projects to Helmand.

The violence-plagued region in southern Afghanistan produces more than half of the country's opium. The illegal drug trade helps to fund the Taleban insurgency. 

Also Wednesday, Taleban militants killed three Afghan security guards protecting a construction project in the southeastern province of Zabul.
More on link

Employees Want Accused State Auditor Out
By MATTHEW LEE 
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AP) — The labor union representing U.S. diplomats called Wednesday for the State Department's top auditor to step down pending the results of a congressional investigation into whether he blocked fraud probes in Afghanistan and Iraq for political reasons.

The American Foreign Service Association said the accused official, Inspector General Howard J. Krongard, should "surrender day-to-day control" of his office until the "grave allegations of malfeasance," including charges he ignored security lapses at the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, are resolved.

"The worse-case scenario in corruption is when it endangers lives," AFSA President John K. Naland said in a statement. "The worse-case scenario in public service is when the watchdog becomes the suspected violator. Both of these allegations have been leveled against Mr. Krongard.

"As long as he maintains day-to-day control, his office's ability to do its vital job with full credibility will be compromised. He should step down until the allegations are resolved one way or another," Naland said.

The statement was released a day after Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent Krongard a 14-page letter detailing numerous serious accusations against him lodged by seven current and former officials in his office.
More on link

NATO pressurises Dutch to stay in Afghanistanby
 Vanessa Mock in Brussels 19-09-2007
Article Link

NATO is turning up the heat on the Netherlands to keep its troops in Afghanistan. A senior military chief at NATO recently made a formal request to the Dutch government to keep its force in the country.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Wednesday urged that 'no-one should withdraw from Afghanistan'. In an interview with Dutch Newspaper NRC Handelsblad, the Dutchman said he could not imagine that the Dutch would withdraw.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai reiterated this and added: 
"NATO is not an orange tree; the Secretary General can't just shake the tree and troops fall out of the sky. The Dutch are part of NATO, our request [for them to stay] is part of a normal process and we'll have to have that discussion together."

Wading in on the debate 
While these moves are consistent with ongoing calls for the Dutch to stay the course, they could influence the current Cabinet debate on the mission. The cabinet in The Hague is expected to decide by early October on whether or not to extend the mission beyond August next year, when it formally expires. 
More on link

Negotiation the solution': Ex-Taliban leader
 TheStar.com - September 19, 2007 Bruce Campion-Smith OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
Article Link

KABUL–Mullah Abdul Salam Rakiti has a tough message for foreign troops in Afghanistan – the Taliban cannot be beaten with military might alone.

This veteran Afghan fighter should know. He was once a top commander with the Taliban.

Instead, Rakiti says negotiations with the Taliban are the only way to truly end an insurgency that is killing foreign troops and civilians in Afghanistan.

And he urged Canada to rethink its opposition to holding discussions with insurgent leaders.

"If we solve the problems with the Taliban (with) negotiations, believe me, you will have a good economy ... we'll have more schools, we'll have more education," said Rakiti, speaking through an interpreter.

"Which way is the solution? Negotiations or fighting. Negotiation is the solution. Fighting cannot solve the problem.

"In my way, negotiation is good way for the future of Afghanistan, for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, for the stability of Afghanistan and for peace."

Rakiti was detained by U.S. forces for six months after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. His past has drawn condemnation from critics who are angry that this former war fighter now sits in the Afghan parliament representing the district of Zabul.

In recent weeks, President Hamid Karzai has signalled that his government is open to talks with the Taliban, a comment he repeated yesterday to Canadian journalists.

Yesterday, Rakiti expressed support for the idea of talks, even though he admits he's not sure what the Taliban seek to achieve in peace discussions.

"They have a different idea about the future of Afghanistan. They want foreign troops to leave Afghanistan. They want to fight to bring peace in Afghanistan
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Opposition Split on Afghan Alternatives  
 By Lee Berthiaume Embassy, September 19th, 2007
Article Link

While the Bloc Québécois and Liberal Party agree that Canada should notify NATO it will not extend its combat mission in southern Afghanistan beyond February 2009 immediately, they are split on whether an alternative mandate be proposed at the same time or debated and agreed upon at a future date. 

Meanwhile, experts say if Canada is to adopt a new mission–there are several alternatives–it will likely have to tell NATO by the end of 2007 or the alliance may not be able to find a suitable force to take over in Kandahar. 

When Parliament rose in June, Mr. Harper appeared to back off his staunch support for extending the combat mission beyond its February 2009 expiry date, saying he would be seeking consensus on the mission's future in Parliament. 

Since then, the Liberals and Bloc Québécois have called on the government to notify NATO immediately through official channels that Canada's combat mission in the volatile Kandahar region will be over at that time. 

On Sept. 2, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said in an interview on CTV's Question Period that "As far as the signal that has been sent already, our current configuration will end in February 2009, obviously the aid work and the diplomatic effort and presence will extend well beyond that, and the Afghan compact itself goes until 2011." 

But speaking in Sydney, Australia, last week, Mr. Harper told reporters he doesn't want to hold a vote "unless we're able to have a situation where a vote would be successful–where there would be some agreement among at least some of the opposition parties that would carry the day and would give a mandate to our Armed Forces." 

This, it appears, would entail defining a new mandate that would be acceptable to at least one opposition party, whose support would be necessary for the proposal to pass. 

Bloc Québécois Defence critic Claude Bachand said his party's priority is to ensure the mission as it's being carried out now will end in February 2009, and that NATO is given enough time to plan for that eventuality. 
More on link

Terrorist denies Canadian link« Security News Round up - 17th Sept (2)Security News Round up - 18th Sept (2) »Security News Round up - 18th Sept
Article Link

LONDON — A student convicted of terrorism offences in a Glasgow court yesterday may have been planning to join an alleged terror group in Canada, a British newspaper reported security sources saying.

The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday security officials believed Mohammed Siddique had been recruited to a group arrested by Canadian authorities in June 2006 for allegedly planning to bomb targets in Canada, including its Parliament building and several other landmarks.

More

al-Qaida not only terrorist threat facing America

The ongoing debate about U.S. policy in Iraq needs to be pursued — but care should be taken to keep it from distracting us from the overall campaign against terrorists. Fortunately, U.S. leaders and their counterparts elsewhere seem to have remained focused on what is a serious threat throughout the world: Islamic extremism.

Events in Denmark and Germany during in the past weeks have reinforced the need for such vigilance. Danish authorities arrested nine people, accusing them of being Muslim terrorists who planned an attack in that country. Recently, German police said they disrupted a plot to bomb U.S. targets in their country, also by Islamic extremists.
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## MarkOttawa (19 Sep 2007)

MacKay joins Dutch plea for NATO help for Afghan mission
Reuters, Sept. 19
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=c4eea6d2-91eb-4657-9389-22e9f95558a5&k=75809



> AMSTERDAM -- Canada and the Netherlands will urge fellow NATO members to send troops to the troubled southern regions of Afghanistan, Dutch news agency ANP quoted their defence ministers as saying on Wednesday.
> 
> "We are showing a lot of effort and have a great responsibility in the south of Afghanistan. But within NATO the responsibility must be shared better," ANP quoted Dutch Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop as saying after a meeting with Canadian counterpart Peter MacKay.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (20 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 20, 2007*

MacKay twists arms on troop strength
Defence Minister hits the road to drum up support among allies 
ALAN FREEMAN From Thursday's Globe and Mail September 20, 2007 at 4:07 AM EDT
Article Link

OTTAWA — Defence Minister Peter MacKay dived into the thick of NATO's looming crisis over troop strength in Afghanistan yesterday, with a rapid tour of Canada's allies in the Netherlands, Britain and Norway, culminating in a meeting today with U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates in Washington.

The unannounced trip is the first by Mr. MacKay since he took on the Defence portfolio last month, as a new opinion poll showed two-thirds of Canadians are opposed to an extension of the country's combat mission in Kandahar beyond February, 2009.

With politicians in the Netherlands also mulling an end to that country's mission as soon as next summer, Mr. MacKay joined his Dutch counterpart yesterday in calling on their NATO allies to better share the burden in fighting the Taliban by sending more troops.

Both Mr. MacKay and Dutch Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop made it clear they think their partners are not all playing their part. 
More on link

Lessons in Iraq could apply to Afghanistan  
Parallels for Canada to be drawn with warning from U.S. commander about leaving a mission too soon 
PAUL KORING From Wednesday's Globe and Mail September 19, 2007 at 1:50 AM EDT
Article Link

WASHINGTON — Buried deep in the piles of testimony delivered last week as the Bush administration grappled with a timetable to pull troops out of Iraq, was a stark warning that could just as easily apply to Canada's role in Afghanistan.

“There is a real danger in handing over tasks to the Iraqi security forces before their capability and local conditions warrant,” General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, warned members of Congress who want to see U.S. troops pulled out of the front line and spend more time training Iraqi soldiers.

There's a rising chorus – mostly from legislators rather than military types – in both Canada and the United States to shift from combat to training, to let Afghans and Iraqis shoulder more of the burden and do more of the dying to defend their own countries.

“Training and partnering with the Afghan Army is increasingly becoming the CF's [Canadian Forces] primary role in Kandahar,” Gordon O'Connor, the retired general and defence minister since demoted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said this summer.
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Afghan civilian dead, four injured in traffic accident with Canadian convoy Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - An Afghan civilian was killed and two others remained in hospital Thursday following a traffic accident involving a Canadian convoy in Kandahar city.

The accident occurred just before 11 a.m. on Wednesday as a Canadian combat logistic patrol was heading back to the international base at Kandahar Air Field.

The civilian vehicle coming toward the convoy pulled out to pass and lost control as he tried to pull back into his lane in the face of the military vehicles.

The lead vehicle in the Canadian convoy, an RG-31, tried to swerve but was unable to avoid the vehicle, said a military spokesperson.

Five passengers in the civilian vehicle were injured, three seriously.

Canadian soldiers secured the scene and called for a medivac. Three wounded Afghan civilians were taken to a medical facility at the Kandahar military base, where one civilian was later confirmed dead.

The two others remained in hospital Thursday in stable condition.
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Images of misery and joy in Afghanistan
 TheStar.com - September 20, 2007 Vit Wagner Publishing Reporter
Article Link

Canadian photojournalist Lana Slezic's book Forsaken includes nearly 60 images of Afghan women – some disturbing, others beautiful, almost all evocative in one way or another.

None, however, is more heartbreaking than the picture of Gulsuma, an 11-year-old girl who was sold into marriage at the age of 4 for the equivalent of $60. In the photo, Gulsuma stands with her back to the camera, her exposed flesh covered in the many scars accumulated from repeated beatings endured at the hands of her in-laws.

Gulsuma's is not a particularly atypical story. Nor is it necessarily about life under the Taliban, compared with the Afghanistan of today.

"When the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001, we were all fed these huge media reports that Afghan women had been freed and liberated, the burqa had been thrown off, girls were back at school, women were back at work and this whole, heavy blanket of repression had been lifted," Slezic says. "That just isn't the case."

Not that she thinks Canada's Afghan mission is a wasted effort.

"I don't know that the military, whether it's Canadian, American or anyone else, is having any direct impact on the lives of Afghan women, per se," she explains. "But I do believe that if Afghanistan is going to become a peaceful and stable country, it has to be secure. That's absolutely the first priority.

"It's not secure at the moment. And that's why we're there. If we pull out or anyone else pulls out, it is just going to be a disaster. If we are interested in keeping that region of the world stable – or at least contributing to its stability – we have to be there."

It was the disparity between public perception and daily reality in the lives of Afghan women that drove Slezic's commitment to the project that eventually became her first book. Forsaken has been published in five countries, with more to come, its Canadian recent release accompanied by an exhibition of photographs running until Oct. 27 at Toronto Image Works Gallery (80 Spadina Ave.).

Slezic, a Port Credit-raised graduate of Loyalist College who cut her teeth as an intern at the Star, went to Afghanistan in March 2004 on assignment for Canadian Geographic. The parameters of the job involved being embedded with Canadian troops and returning home after six weeks.
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The myth of UN “peacekeepers” and the role of Canada
10 September 2007
Article Link

The following is excerpted  from an article entitled “Myths of Canadian peacekeeping” in Notes on Afghanistan, Spring/Summer 2007, published by the Winnipeg, Canada local chapter of the World People’s Resistance Movement. In addition to its exposure of Canada’s aggressive military role in the world – some of which we have summarized instead of reprinting here – it sheds light on the too-often soft-peddled nature of United Nations “peacekeeping” efforts. (For the full text, go to www.wprmwinnipeg.blogspot.com).
The truth about Canadian peacekeeping has been distorted, lied about and covered-up for many reasons. Since the reality about these missions has been often so distorted, Canadians are led to believe that Canada is a peaceful country that has done no harm in the world. Canada’s real role in peacekeeping has been that of securing strategic areas for its imperialist allies and securing its own economic or political interests.
The United Nations (UN) “peacekeeping” missions are widely thought of as an international effort involving an operational force to promote the ending of armed conflict or the resolution of long-standing disputes. But why then have certain areas of the world been concentrated on for peacekeeping, while others have been completely forgotten? Why has the Canadian Forces been subject to cover-ups over its operations during the 1990s? Why are places like Afghanistan (the subject of the articles in this publication) no better off than they were before Canada’s forces entered its borders?
This document will detail many different peacekeeping missions as well as Canada’s Joint Task Force II. This is of course, not a complete history of Canadian peacekeeping but it is focused on the missions many will call the “great milestones in Canadian history”, as well as those missions many would like to forget.
UNEF & the Suez Canal
Although before 1956 there had been some peacekeeping observation missions, the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in Egypt is said to be the first true peacekeeping mission, and the mission that gave peacekeeping its name.
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Health Workers Begin Polio Vaccination Drive in Afghanistan  
By VOA News  19 September 2007
Article Link  

An Afghan refugee girl receives a polio vaccination in Kabul (file photo) 
Health workers in Afghanistan have launched a program to vaccinate children against polio in regions plagued by insurgent violence.

United Nations and Afghan government personnel began administering vaccines Wednesday to children in parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan.

The three-day polio immunization drive will continue until Friday, September 21, which the U.N. has designated as an International Day of Peace. The U.N. has encouraged Afghan people to mark the day by holding events urging peace. 

The French news agency AFP quotes Roshan Khadivi, a spokesman for the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, as saying vaccination teams hope to reach 1.3 million Afghan children.
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Kidnappings and suicide attacks shake morale of Pakistan's armed force
Jeremy Page and Zahid Hussain September 20, 2007
Article Link

Pakistan’s army has long prided itself on its traditions of duty and discipline, as well as its fighting skills, enhanced by decades of military aid from the Americans. 

But the army’s morale, loyalty and capability are now being seriously questioned after a spate of soldiers’ abductions and increasingly bold attacks on troops fighting Taleban and al-Qaeda militants. 

The latest embarrassment came yesterday when militants kidnapped seven soldiers from their checkpoint in the tribal area of North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan. 

The previous day, Pakistani officials recovered the bodies of 15 commandos killed by militants in the same area, taking the army’s death toll to more than 200 in the last ten weeks. 

Authorities are still trying to secure the release of another 250 soldiers, including nine officers, who were kidnapped three weeks ago in South Waziristan without even firing a shot. The incident raised fears that the Army has been infiltrated by militants. 

Military officials now admit that the militants have almost totally overrun North and South Waziristan, the two largest of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions. And they fear that the militants’ influence is spreading into neighbouring North West Frontier Province, where radical Mullahs are forming armed militias and enforcing strict Sharia. “Militants are gaining strength in the region,” one army official told The Times. 
More on link

Afghanistan: Gunbattle leaves 20 militants, 4 police dead
By ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated Sep 20, 2007 15:02 KABUL, Afghanistan 
Article Link

A gunbattle between police and insurgents left four officers and 20 suspected militants dead as violence from Afghanistan's bloodiest year since the fall of the Taliban spread to the normally quiet northwest, an official said Thursday. 

The militants attacked police in the Murghab district of Badghis province, which borders Iran and Turkmenistan, and a three-hour clash ensued, said provincial Gov. Mohammad Ashraf Nasiri. He said the bodies of 10 militants were left behind on the battlefield but that a total of 20 were killed and nine wounded. Four policemen also were killed, he said. 
end

Afghan Northern Alliance commander says Taliban talks a 'long, complex' process  
The Associated Press Thursday, September 20, 2007 
Article Link

 BAZARAK, Afghanistan: One of Afghanistan's most renowned anti-Taliban commanders predicted Thursday that proposed peace talks would be a "long and complex process" but likely would be snubbed by hard-liners and foreign fighters in the Islamic militia.

The comments by Gen. Bismillah Khan — made during a visit by the most senior U.S. military chief for the region — appeared to reflect a more cautious approach by some in the Afghan military toward a push by President Hamid Karzai to open talks with the Taliban.

"This could be a beginning," Khan said following meetings with Adm. William Fallon, the head of U.S. Central Command. "But it's a long and complex process. It's not something that will have a significant effect in the short term."

Khan, the army chief of general staff, predicted that some Afghan supporters of the Taliban could be drawn into expanded negotiations for reconciliation with Karzai's Western-backed government — which has been offering peace deals to individual fighters for years.

But he said that foreign jihadists and core Afghan supporters would probably never come to the table.

"There are factions in the Taliban that will reject (talks) completely," he said after taking Fallon on a tour of the tomb of slain anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Shah Massood in the Panjshir Valley, about 50 miles northeast of Kabul.
More on link

President Halonen: Afghanistan more risky than before for peacekeepers 
Article Link

President Tarja Halonen says that peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan have become more dangerous than before. 
      "The overall situation gives cause for concern", she said on Wednesday.
      In Halonen’s view, the risks have increased because the security situation has deteriorated.
      "Areas that used to be considered less dangerous, where our crisis management forces are, have become targets of terrorist activities."
      
The President was commenting on the situation in Afghanistan during a visit to the Nuijamaa border crossing with Russia, where she was acquainting herself with the activities of the Border Guard.
      About 100 Finnish soldiers are taking part in the NATO-led peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan. They have been deployed in the Swedish-led crisis management area in Mazar-i-Sharif.
      Finns have been targeted by bomb attacks twice over a period of more than a week. Nobody has been injured in the explosions of roadside bombs.
      Former Chief of Defence General Gustav Hägglund said on Wednesday in a newspaper interview that Finns will continue to have to bear their responsibility in peacekeeping, regardless of the dangers.
More on link

UN Council Extends Mandate for Forces in Afghanistan (Update1)  
By Bill Varner Sept. 19 (Bloomberg)
Article Link

The United Nations authorized U.S. and NATO forces to stay in Afghanistan for another year, before a meeting in New York this weekend intended to improve their coordination and reduce civilian deaths. 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will head the Sept. 23 meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of the U.K., China, France, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, Russia and at least nine other nations. The session will explore ways to enhance UN assistance to Karzai's government. 

``There is an urgent need to coordinate all the forces in Afghanistan,'' said Zahir Tanin, Afghanistan's envoy to the UN. ``Some incidents involving civilian casualties in the last couple of months were partly because of lack of coordination. If one of the elements thinks there's an enemy that should be bombarded, they must consult others to avoid a mistake.'' 
More on link

Quebecers heckle foreign minister over Afghan mission
Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service Published: Wednesday, September 19, 2007  MONTREAL 
Article Link

It was a baptism of fire for Canada’s new foreign minister, Maxime Bernier, with almost a dozen angry protesters shouting him down as he tried to sell his government’s military involvement in Afghanistan.

Bernier, however, rolled with the chaotic scene that unfolded before a dinner audience at an upscale downtown hotel ballroom, calling the interruptions “an expression of democracy.”

The aim of Wednesday evening’s speech was to try to persuade fellow Quebecers to stay the course and “finish the job” in Afghanistan, even though opposition parties have called for a withdrawal of troops somewhere between now and February 2009.

Bernier eventually finished his job — but not before almost a dozen young men and women were removed from the dinner after rising individually to fire off a series of verbal volleys.

“Canada cannot, without losing all credibility in the international arena, simply go back on its word and abandon such a crucial mission,” Bernier eventually told the international symposium of Afghanistan experts, academics and diplomats.

“I know that you are proud and responsible people, people of your word,” the cabinet minister from Quebec’s Beauce riding said in the English text of his first address on the issue that is expected to dominate his portfolio. “Quebecers finish the job they have started.”

Bernier said Canada cannot simply abandon the Afghan people to their fate and that to do so would jeopardize gains in development and security that have been made on the ground.
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## MarkOttawa (20 Sep 2007)

Hearing in Killing of Afghan Puts Army War Effort on Trial
_NY Times_, Sept. 20
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/us/20abuse.html?ref=todayspaper



> FORT BRAGG, N.C., Sept. 19 — At the close of a two-day hearing on charges that Special Forces soldiers murdered an Afghan man near his home last October, it is increasingly evident that the Army is also examining itself and how it is fighting the war in Afghanistan.
> 
> A Special Forces colonel presiding over the hearing must determine whether sufficient evidence exists to recommend courts-martial for the two soldiers accused of killing the man, Nawab Buntangyar, who had been identified as an “enemy combatant,” while he walked unarmed outside his home near the Pakistan border.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (21 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 21, 2007*

Ghostly Afghan army
 TheStar.com September 20, 2007 
Article Link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai worries that his country will "fall back into anarchy" if Canada pulls out its troops in 2009. That was his message to a group of Canadian journalists this week. It coincides with a blitz by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government to shore up sagging public support to "finish the job" there.

But why should the departure of 2,300 Canadian troops from Kandahar region after a three-year stint trigger a crisis? Why isn't the Afghan National Army prepared to step in? When, if ever, will it be? If Karzai is so worried, why is it taking so long to build up the army?

And if the stakes are so high, why won't more of our North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners share the risks in Kandahar with us?

These are questions that should be raised in Parliament when Harper brings down the throne speech on Oct. 16. While Canada's $1.2 billion aid program ensures that we will support Afghans over the longer haul, we are being urged to re-enlist for frontline combat duty without having enough information to make a sensible decision.

The Karzai government claims to have 37,000 troops and aims for 70,000 in a year or two. The Americans insist the Afghan army is "a combat-experienced force." And NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has promised that "effective Afghan security forces would be gradually taking control" by next spring, a full year before Canada's mission draws to an end.

So why all the pressure on Canada to hang in there?

Because despite these cheery assessments, the Afghan army is nowhere close to being a credible fighting machine. Five years into its rebuilding drive, the Afghan military can field no more than 20,000 troops at any given time. They are woefully ill-equipped. They rely on the U.S. and NATO for air cover, artillery support, engineering, communications, medical help and logistics. There is a high desertion rate.

Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak says it would take up to 200,000 "well-trained and equipped" troops with "mobility and firepower" to defend the country. That is 10 times the current number. Meanwhile the army can't field one brigade of 2,300 to replace us. 

Perhaps that is why retired U.S. General Barry McCaffrey has estimated it will take until the year 2020, more than a decade, to turn the Afghan military into anything resembling a real army.

Is this what Harper and Karzai have in mind, when they talk of "finishing the job" and averting "anarchy"? Are Canadians being pressed into an open-ended mission, while the Afghans rearm at a leisurely pace and our allies refuse to help? It would be good to know.
end

Veterans awaiting an ombudsman
 TheStar.com September 21, 2007 Sean Bruyea
Article Link

Canada 's hidden tragedy in Afghanistan, seldom reported in detail in the media, is that at least 228 Canadians have been wounded and will likely require some form of long-term assistance for their disability in the future.

This does not include psychological injuries such as post- traumatic stress disorder, which could affect 10 per cent or more of the approximately 20,000 soldiers who have served in Afghanistan since 2002. Nor the more than 200,000 veteran and widow clients already requiring assistance.

So it should come as no surprise that Canadians want to ensure the bureaucracy is indeed caring for our soldiers and their families, including the families of the fallen. 

That is why the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs was created. In February, it released a unanimously endorsed report titled A Helping Hand for Veterans: A Mandate for a Veterans Ombudsman. Admirably forthright and clear in its 22 recommendations, the report calls for an "independent, impartial and effective veterans ombudsman." 

Unfortunately, the transparent and accountable process Canadians have demanded and government has promised in creating the office has been virtually non-existent. 

We do know the veterans ombudsman "will uphold the Veterans Bill of Rights and will review individual and systemic issues arising from it." But that document, which lists six rights already guaranteed in other statutes, omits any statement of equality in the treatment of veterans. And it fails to honour the unique sacrifices Canada's men and women in uniform have made for more than a century. 

Betty Hinton, parliamentary secretary to the minister of veterans affairs, has said the Veterans Bill of Rights "is meant to be a complement. The heavy hammer is the ombudsman."

However, it appears the process to create the veterans ombudsman has abandoned the substantive recommendations contained in the committee's report. The ombudsman's office will not be legislated, nor will it have the necessary robust powers of investigation, such as the power to subpoena documents and witnesses, take testimony under oath or enter any relevant premises as required. 

By contrast, all Canadian provinces except Prince Edward Island have legislated ombudsmen with these important investigative powers. And the Canada Revenue Agency has announced both a Bill of Rights and an ombudsman, neither of which was mentioned in the Conservative election platform. In sharp contrast to the Veterans Bill of Rights, the CRA Bill of Rights has 20 substantive rights, most of them new. 
More on link

Eight soldiers injured in rocket attack
Article Link

MIRANSHAH: Eight soldiers were injured Thursday when suspected pro-Taliban militants fired rockets at a checkpost in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

Troops at the Khajuri checkpost in North Waziristan responded to the attack with artillery fire, but there were no immediate reports about militant casualties, a security official said.

“Eight soldiers were injured, two of them seriously when two rockets hit their post,” he said.

Pakistan has lost around 1,000 troops since pushing forces into the tribal belt to hunt Al-Qaeda-led militants who fled the US-led invasion that toppled Afghanistan’s Taliban regime after the 9/11 attacks.

In a separate incident, suspected militants shot dead a tribesman who they said had spied on their activities in Bajaur, another tribal district on the Afghan border.
More on link

Quitting Afghanistan early a moral betrayal, diplomats say
  Mike Blanchfield CanWest News Service Thursday, September 20, 2007
Article Link

MONTREAL - Countries that pull their troops out of Afghanistan prematurely would be guilty of a moral failure, senior Canadian and United Nations diplomats warned Thursday.

"If we were to withdraw tomorrow, our allies would feel betrayed," Michel de Salaberry, Canada's new senior civilian co-ordinator for Kandahar, said in an interview. "We've said we'd stay until 2009. Morally, we have to live up to that pledge."

Over the longer term, he added: "I think we'll want to stay committed to Afghanistan, but that can take a variety of shapes."

Chris Alexander, Canada's former ambassador to Afghanistan and the current UN deputy there, added early withdrawal would amount to "renouncing on a mandate conferred on (Canada) by the Security Council of the UN."

"In fact," he added, "to refuse fighting the Taliban would mean we are refusing and rejecting our responsibilities, our institutions, ourselves. It would be a worldwide failure and a failure of our souls." 

The tough rhetoric came at a major international conference on the future of Afghanistan, and was a direct response to the growing political opposition among some NATO_countries, including Canada and particularly Quebec, to continued military involvement in the war-torn country.

However, none of the diplomats, academics and military officials assembled here pleaded directly with Canada to stay in Afghanistan after the current commitment expires.

On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier also warned the conference that Canada's international reputation is at risk if it doesn't meet its commitments in Afghanistan. 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said Parliament must reach a "consensus" on keeping Canada's 2,500 troops in Afghanistan beyond its original commitment of February 2009. However, this appears unlikely as the opposition Liberals are calling for an end to combat operations in the volatile southern Afghan region around Kandahar by that date, while the NDP wants the troops brought home now.

The Afghan deployment is now a sensitive issue in Quebec because the Royal 22nd Regiment from Valcartier, Que., sent 2,000 soldiers to Afghanistan last month and has already seen three killed. Polls show that about two-thirds of Quebecers oppose the military mission.

Alexander said Canada's international commitments to Afghanistan must transcend partisan politics. 

"The resolutions authorizing our political mission of the UN, authorizing ISAF, authorizing military action in Afghanistan - military, development, counter-narcotics and otherwise - are all commitments made by the international community, regardless of partisan issues," he told reporters.

"Canada has to see itself, as other countries have to see themselves, as an important member of that group, which collectively has a responsibility."

Martin Howard, NATO's assistant secretary general of operations, said Canada's efforts and sacrifice are hugely appreciated in Afghanistan. But more needs to be done.

"The key word here is long term. The commitment of the international community, NATO amongst it, for the long term is absolutely vital for the Afghanistan's future," he said. "It is not something that can be sorted out in a few months or even a few years."

Meanwhile, in a speech to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion attacked Harper's handling of Afghanistan as an "appalling example of a foreign policy blunder."

"Mr. Harper has given Canada a foreign policy that draws its inspiration from the American right," Dion said.

But one tough critic of the western intervention in Afghanistan made an impassioned plea for the United States and its NATO allies to stay the course in Afghanistan. Barnett Rubin, a political science professor at New York University, argued Thursday that many critics of the international efforts in Afghanistan are influenced by animosity towards an unpopular U.S. President George W. Bush.
More on link

Afghan General Cautious on Peace Talks  
Friday September 21, 2007 7:01 AM By BRIAN MURPHY Associated Press Writers 
Article Link

BAZARAK, Afghanistan (AP) - An anti-Taliban general who fought alongside U.S. forces during the 2001 invasion predicted Thursday that a proposal for peace talks will be snubbed by the Islamic militia's hard-liners and foreign fighters but may entice some insurgent factions. 

Gen. Bismillah Khan, now chief of the Afghan general staff, said efforts to bring about negotiations would be a ``long and complex process.'' 

His comments, made during a visit by the most senior U.S. military chief for the region, appeared to reflect a more cautious view by some in the Afghan military toward a push by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to open talks with the Taliban. 

A battle between police and insurgents, meanwhile, killed 20 suspected militants and four officers as violence spread to the normally quiet northwest. Militant attacks are mostly in the south and east, although this year has seen a few suicide bombings in the north. 

On Friday, Afghan police reported that a bomb attack in the capital Kabul had killed a French soldier and caused many civilian casualties. 
More on link

French soldier, 40 rebels killed in Afghanistan on Peace Day
Article Link

KABUL (AFP) — A suicide attacker killed a French soldier in Kabul and about 40 Taliban rebels were killed elsewhere in Afghanistan on Friday as bloodshed marred the United Nations' International Day of Peace.

An Afghan official said meanwhile that six civilians had been killed earlier in the week in an airstrike by NATO-led forces during a major operation against the Islamic extremist fighters.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, the first inside the heavily barricaded capital in three weeks.

The French military, which has around 1,000 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance force (ISAF), confirmed that its soldiers were struck while on patrol and that one died.

Eight Afghan civilians were injured in the blast, ISAF said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his condolences to all the victims, adding in a statement that he was "more determined than ever to continue the fight against terrorism."

Around 168 international soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year -- the bloodiest since the insurgent Taliban were removed from government in late 2001. A Dutch soldier was killed Thursday in the south.

France has lost 12 troops since deploying to the country.
More on link

Bernier drums up support
 TheStar.com September 20, 2007 Allan Woods OTTAWA BUREAU
Article Link

MONTREAL–Canada risks losing "all credibility" in the eyes of the world if it withdraws from the NATO mission in Afghanistan, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said last night.

Speaking at the opening of a conference looking at the country's involvement in Afghanistan, Bernier said pulling out would amount to Canada going "back on its word" to the Afghan people and to its NATO allies.

When Parliament resumes next month, Afghanistan is expected to dominate discussion.

The Conservative government has promised to let MPs vote before deciding to extend the combat mission and Bernier's speech last night was part of a public relations push to win support for continuing the fight against the Taliban in Kandahar province.

"Canada cannot, without losing all credibility in the international arena ... abandon such a crucial mission," he said in a speech. "We also cannot simply abandon the Afghan people to their fate. To do so would jeopardize all the development work and security building that has been done on the ground."

Canada has about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

Speaking to Quebecers, whose interest has been heightened since the arrival in Kandahar of the francophone Vandoos, Bernier said "Quebecers finish the job they started" and the job in Afghanistan is not yet done.

The speech appears to be part of a two-pronged strategy that has the Conservative government trying to build support within Canada while also pressuring the international community to take some of the burden off Canada's shoulders.

In The Hague yesterday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and his Dutch counterpart, Eimert van Middelkoop, said the NATO military alliance must do a better job of convincing other countries to move into southern Afghanistan. In the Netherlands, as in Canada, there is tremendous pressure on the government to pull its 2,000 troops out of Uruzgan province once the country's mission mandate expires next year. In both cases, critics cite the high casualty rates and varied progress being made on the ground.
More on link

Stéphane Dion is Not an International Leader
September 20, 2007
Article Link

Only days after suffering devastating defeats in three by-elections, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion spoke about Canadian foreign policy today in Montreal. 

This is the same Stéphane Dion who has yet to visit Canadian troops in Afghanistan, voted to kill his own party’s anti-terrorism law, and recently adopted the cause of accused terrorist Omar Khadr. 

Stéphane Dion is clearly out of touch with the concerns of Canadian families and taxpayers. 

While Stéphane Dion is failing in tests on his leadership, Canada’s New Government is getting things done under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper by taking real action on the world stage, including: 

Reaffirming Canada’s Arctic sovereignty by strengthening the Canadian Forces; 
Demonstrating leadership at the APEC Summit in Sydney by promoting a balanced, realistic plan to fight climate change; and
Committing $1.2 billion until 2011 to rebuild Afghanistan, and help Afghan police, judges and prosecutors. 
More on link

American military lawyer rips Canadian hypocrisy on Omar Khadr
Article Link

OTTAWA - Canada has been an international leader on the plight of child soldiers but is now showing "reckless indifference" to one of its own, the American military lawyer for Omar Khadr said Thursday.

In a speech to law students at the University of Ottawa, Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler eviscerated the U.S. military commissions set up to try prisoners of the Afghan conflict. "Omar Khadr is facing a show trial in front of a kangaroo court," said Kuebler, dressed in his blue U.S. officer's uniform

But he spared Canadian governments past and present none of his outrage for refusing any effort to bring Khadr, a Canadian citizen, back to Canada for trial.

Kuebler was appointed by the U.S. military to represent Khadr, a 15-year-old when he was accused of killing an American special forces officer in Afghanistan in 2002. He faces a range of charges, including murder and aiding the enemy, for allegedly throwing a grenade during a firefight.

Khadr, who turned 21 this week, is believed to be the last detainee from a Western nation still being held in Guantanamo, the U.S. prisoner camp on Cuba's southern peninsula.

Countries including Australia, Denmark, France, Germany and Spain have secured the release of their citizens, while Britain has even won the freedom of non-citizen permanent residents.

Khadr's age makes his case doubly perplexing, said Kuebler.

"Every civilized legal system in the world recognizes the distinction between adults and children for purposes of criminal prosecution and punishment," he said. "Not the military commissions. One size fits all."

Evidence before a U.S. civil court suggested Khadr was as young as 10 when his father, known al Qaida operative Ahmad Khadr, recruited and indoctrinated him to the cause, said Kuebler.
More on link

More Articles available here
MILNEWS.ca

CANinKandahar


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## The Bread Guy (22 Sep 2007)

*International Day of Peace marked with polio vaccination drive in Afghanistan*
Roshan Khadivi, UNICEF web page feature, 20 Sept 07
Article link

Warring factions in Afghanistan have promised to honour tomorrow's International Day of Peace by stating their support for 1.3 million children to be vaccinated against polio.  More than 10,000 vaccinators are visiting areas in southern and eastern regions of the country as part of the National Immunization Days organized by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Public 
Health (MoPH) to reach children with polio vaccines from 19-21 September.  Many of the areas being visited by the immunization teams were missed during previous drives due to security concerns. Some of the more volatile districts have not been accessible for two years ....

Interesting description of the intermediary process in the Pak Tribune:


> ....as fighting raged in the most violent southern province of Helmand, government health officials in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah decided to try to help children on both sides of the frontlines and extend their polio vaccination programme to the rebel-held town of Musa Qala. "We approached elders and tribal leaders and went to Pakistan to get a religious ruling from a mullah, but still the Taliban refused to allow us to conduct immunisations," said Dr Enayatullah, Helmand director of public health.  Then they hit on the idea of contacting the only medical professional they knew on the Taliban side - Mullah Ahmad who used to run a 400-bed emergency hospital under the Taliban. He then persuaded the Taliban governor of Musa Qala. "Before we couldn't vaccinate because of just one or two people in charge," Dr. Enayatullah told a meeting with UN workers. "When they changed their minds, it all became possible." ....



Meanwhile, Associated Press leads with how "elders" are letting this happen (albeit quoting a Taliban spokesperson):  [
quote]Afghan elders have given safe passage to thousands of volunteer vaccinators immunizing children against polio in Afghanistan's violent south, a region health workers haven't worked in for months, UNICEF said Saturday.  The vaccinators are working in violent areas of Kandahar and Helmand provinces through the help of Kandahar's governor and local elders, who worked to ensure the health workers could travel safely, said Catherine Mbengue, UNICEF representative in Afghanistan.  "So far we have not had any reports of any incidents contrary to what has happened in each (previous) campaign," said Mbengue, who went with vaccinators door-to-door in Kandahar.  Health workers have been abducted in the past, but Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi has said the militants would allow the workers access in southern Afghanistan for the current campaign.  The vaccinators had not been able to work in parts of Helmand province — the region that has seen the heaviest fighting between the Taliban and international forces — for a year and a half, Mbengue said ....[/quote]


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## GAP (23 Sep 2007)

*Articles found Sept 23, 2007*

NATO not planning for a reduction in Canadian forces in Afghanistan, says top general
Matthew Fisher CanWest News Service Saturday, September 22, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR - Canada's top general in Afghanistan says NATO is making plans based on the assumption that Canada and the Netherlands will extend their combat missions here past their 2008-09 deadlines. 

"We do not plan for a reduction of battalions. It is as simple as that," said Brig.-Gen. Marquis Hainse, deputy commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan's war-torn south. "We have to remind ourselves why we are here in the first place. After 30 years of war, (Afghanistan) was a failed state and a clear breeding ground for terrorists - and all nations know that terrorists do not stop at their borders."

Hainse, who arrived in Kandahar four months ago, was replying to a question about political debates now heating up in the Netherlands and Canada over whether to continue with neighbouring combat missions set to expire in 2008 and 2009.

Four Canadian soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were wounded early Saturday when their armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb as they were travelling to west of Kandahar City.

Two of the Canadians, who were part of a routine supply convoy, were taken by a U.S. Army helicopter to the main Canadian base at Kandahar Airfield, where they were listed in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.

Hainse, who spent his career with the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment, acknowledged the issue of future Canadian military involvement in Afghanistan is particularly contentious in his home province.

"In my experience, the people of Quebec are 120 per cent behind their soldiers, but not necessarily the cause," he said. "This is the disconnect, but we're making progress. They're understanding the mission more. The people of Quebec are rational. They will understand."
More on link
Who Will Replace Canadian Troops In 2009?
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Article Link

The Liberals have mused on a typically low-key and vague notion of Canadian logistical support, lacking a plan or strategy beyond criticizing the mission in its current form. The NDP, meanwhile, is steadfastly showing all the commitment of a NATO partner. As Peter MacKay begins the search for a replacement unit for Kandahar, he's quickly finding more feathers than fur in the NATO list of nations "helping" in Iraq. Countries like Austria, Switzerland, and Poland have sent a handful of pasty-faced soldiers to stretch out and relax in the relatively stable northern region, while Canadian soldiers are left holding the bag in the south.

While the Conservative line is that we are surrendering Afghanistan to terrorism if we withdraw, the conundrum is twofold: the Liberal left has no stomach to continue fighting in Afghanistan, and without parliamentary consensus we cannot expect to keep both our troops there and a conservative minority government. One will have to go. The second point eludes the Liberals and NDP, in that once we leave there will be nobody to replace us.

So as Maxime Bernier rightly pointed out, we cannot afford to lose our international credibility by abandoning the mission [although I don't like to consider a seven-year commitment "abandoning"], but we also cannot afford to lose our national reputation as did the Republicans in the United States, by continuing an unpopular war without the consent of the people, the House, or Congress.

But if Canada is confused about what direction the Cons will take, we are no more educated in the Liberal plan, as pointed out by the Post's Don Martin:
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Heritage Foundation: Leveling With Pakistan on Afghanistan
Friday , September 21, 2007 By Lisa Curtis 
Article Link

In the years since Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush has often asserted his intention to pursue America’s terrorist enemies wherever they may hide.

Well, today we know where the terrorists are. Al Qaeda has retrenched in Pakistani tribal border zones. A recently foiled plot to kill Americans in Germany was traced to camps in Pakistan. A U.N. report indicates that 80 percent of the suicide bombings in Afghanistan originated in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

In short, we have more than enough reason to target the terrorists operating from this region. The question is, how do we do it without destabilizing Pakistan?

The first step to uprooting the terrorists from Pakistan’s tribal areas is to convince Islamabad to change its view of the Taliban’s role in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda has found sanctuary in Pakistan’s border regions because of the support it enjoys from the Taliban, who share a Pashtun identity with the local population of the region.

Remarkably, in a statement made during the closing ceremony of the August peace jirga in Kabul, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said the Taliban is part of Afghan society and can be brought into the political mainstream.

While promoting an inclusive political system that provides adequate representation of Pashtuns is important to stabilizing Afghanistan, Musharraf’s defense of the Taliban is alarming. Advocating a Taliban role affirms extremism as an acceptable ideology and undermines the establishment of pluralistic democracy in Afghanistan.
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Operation Groundhog Day: the final assault on a stubborn enemy  
23 September 2007 09:38
Article Link

'If Operation Palk Wahel fails, many other things will fail.' Raymond Whitaker on the campaign to break Taliban resistance in a key area of southern Afghanistan 

British forces are spearheading an offensive this weekend aimed at driving the Taliban out of a strategically vital area of southern Afghanistan. The battle could also decide whether other Nato members are willing to continue fighting in the country.

Some 2,000 British troops, including Gurkhas, are taking part in Operation Palk Wahel ("sledgehammer blow") in Helmand province, the largest for several months. The assault began on Wednesday with a bridge being thrown across the Helmand river to get at Taliban strongholds close to the Kajaki dam, which could supply hydro-electricity and irrigation water to a large area of southern Afghanistan if it is restored. Another 500 American, Estonian, Czech, Danish and Afghan soldiers have joined the offensive, supported by helicopters, attack aircraft and the first large-scale use of Warrior armoured vehicles.

Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Eaton, the spokesman for Task Force Helmand, told The Independent on Sunday that Palk Wahel continued a series of operations since early summer which aimed to free areas from Taliban interference, supply security and create the conditions for governance and development. But Christopher Langton, an Afghanistan expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said the latest offensive was the most significant.

"With winter approaching, there are only another three to four weeks to secure the area," said Mr Langton, a retired colonel. "The Taliban will do their best to retain a foothold near Kajaki, which is the centre of the whole British strategy. There is a lot riding on this: if the offensive fails, many other things will fail. If it succeeds, many other things will succeed."

The most important outcome, he said, could be the effect on crucial decisions being taken in other Nato countries on whether to continue their missions in Afghanistan. The Dutch cabinet is expected to decide early next month on extending the mission of the country's 1,300 troops in Uruzgan province, only a few miles from Kajaki, when it expires next summer. Australia, which has more than 500 soldiers in the province, has indicated that they would leave if the Dutch pulled out, while Canada, which has 2,500 troops in Kandahar province, bordering Helmand, is also debating its role
More on link

Freedom-of-information flow easier on American side of Canada-U.S. border
Article Link

Canada and the United States share a commitment to freedom, but, when filing freedom of information requests, fact-seekers generally find an easier flow on the U.S. side of the border.

If the U.S. system bogs down, however - as it often does if the question even remotely touches on national security - then be prepared to pay some fat legal fees, with no guarantee of success.

Canada's Access To Information Act dates back to 1983. The United States' Freedom Of Information Act was enacted in 1966. Their common purpose, reflected not only in those federal laws but by similar legislation at provincial and state levels, is to provide a platform for obtaining information controlled by government institutions.

Yet on both sides of the border, sensitive FOI requests can and do languish for years. Also shared in the post-9/11 age, critics say, is a growing sense among access-seekers that, at high levels of government, secrecy rather than forthrightness is the norm.

In July, for example, it emerged that the office of General Rick Hillier, Canada's top soldier, has blocked the release of any documents pertaining to detainees captured in Afghanistan, on grounds the information could endanger Canadian troops.
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Afghanistan: The Not-So-Obvious Problems
Saturday, September 22nd, 2007 @ 20:32 UTC by Joshua Foust
Article Link

One of the pervading myths about Afghanistan under Western occupation is that the northern part of the country — once controlled by the Northern Alliance — is peaceful, settled, and developing. To see this in more detail, Afghanistanica takes us to Taloqan, the capital of Takhar Province, which borders Tajikistan:

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting just published an article on the “peace” in a recent article subtitled “For residents of the northern province of Takhar, there are worse things than the Taliban.” Apparently, the things that are worse than the Taliban are their local armed commanders and their elected representative.

He goes on to quote a news story about how the local governor, Piram Qul, who was elected and enjoys good relations with Kabul, abducts the wives of dissidents, and occasionally murders and rapes their children. It is all a holdover from the local militias and warlords who once ruled the area as a part of the Northern Alliance. When confronted, Qul claimed he was only going after the Taliban and their organizers. Afghanistanica responds:

That’s right, Piram Qul is a brave Mujahid fighting against the Taliban and their local sympathizers, who, inexplicably, are ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks…

I remember a story about some low-rent village mullah who supposedly started his rise to power by killing a local commander who was fond of raping the locals. He started some sort of group. What was it called? Oh yeah, I remember. It was called the “Taliban.”

Indeed, the real Taliban doesn't seem to care much for the North, seeing as to how Taloqan was the closest it ever came to full domination of the country. The corruption on display in the north, however, is a problem throughout the countryFurther south, in the east between Kabul and Pakistan, the Taliban remains as pervasive as ever, and they rely on this corruption to get things done:

So Al-Jazeera embeds a reporter with the 50 Talibs who roam around Kapisa (yup, Kapisa), buy guns from the National Police, and feel the love from the locals…
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Turmoil, attacks limit Pakistan's al-Qaida pursuit
Sept. 22, 2007, 11:26PM By GREG MILLER Los Angeles Times 
Article Link

U.S. intelligence officials fret over potential fate of a key political ally

WASHINGTON — Political turmoil and brazen attacks by Taliban fighters are forcing Pakistan's president to scale back his government's pursuit of al-Qaida, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

The development threatens a pillar of U.S. counterterrorism strategy, which has depended on Pakistan to play a lead role in keeping al-Qaida under pressure in order to reduce its ability to coordinate future strikes.

President Pervez Musharraf, facing a potentially fateful election in October and confronting calls to yield power after years of autocratic rule, appears too vulnerable to continue pursuing counterterrorism operations for the United States, the intelligence officials said.

And the Pakistani military has suffered embarrassing setbacks at the hands of militants in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida figures are believed to be hiding.

Hamstrung government?
As a result, U.S. intelligence officials said, the conditions that have allowed al-Qaida to regain strength are likely to persist, enabling it to continue training foreign fighters and plot new attacks. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (23 Sep 2007)

Regarding Poles in Afstan (over 1,000 with combat role in east):

Poles now operational in Afstan
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2007/07/poles-now-operational-in-afstan.html

Afstan: Poles ready for action
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2007/05/afstan-poles-ready-for-action.html

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (23 Sep 2007)

Germany: Greens won’t back Afghan mission
Article Link

There are interesting issues that arise for Green parties around the world after they get seats. Politics, they say, is the art of compromise – especially once in government. In the German case the Greens want to get back into government…

…
These articles discuss the recent rejection of the membership of their leadership’s support of the NATO Afghanistan mission. The membership decided to go with majority public opinion in this case who want the German “peacekeepers” to come home.

…
In the 90s, many people wondered why the German Greens supported the Kosovo mission, considering the Global Green Party movement supports peace. It is the old trade-off between pragmatism and idealism. One day, Canadian Greens too will have to make these type of agonizing decisions.

Ariel Lade, Foreign Correspondent

German Greens won’t back Afghan mission
Published: Sept. 15, 2007 at 3:47 PM

BERLIN, Sept. 15 (UPI) — Germany’s Green Party voted Saturday to oppose keeping troops in Afghanistan.

The party held a special meeting during which the party voted against a motion to extend Germany’s participation in anti-terrorism operations. The military deployment issue will come before the Bundestag this fall.

Deutsche Welle said a counter proposal that was passed recommended Green Bundestag members vote to reject the extension of the mission.

Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier in the day publicly urged the Greens to support German presence in Afghanistan, calling it necessary to bolstering Germany’s security.
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Italy troops missing in Afghanistan    
Article Link

The Italian troops were working in Herat province when they went missing 

A search is under way in western Afghanistan for two Italian soldiers and their Afghan staff, with the Italian defence ministry saying they may have been seized.

"We believe they have been kidnapped together with two Afghans... The personnel were carrying out liaison activities with local civilian authorities," the ministry said on Sunday.

Afghan police said they were searching across Herat province for two Italian nationals and two Afghans who had not been heard from for nearly 24 hours.

Italy has about 2,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).
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Iranian, Chinese weapons seized in Afghanistan
Article Link

HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) — Afghan authorities said they had seized dozens of Iranian and Chinese-made weapons after a brief battle Saturday with Taliban fighters near the border with Iran.

The weapons found in the western province of Herat included about 40 mines and rocket-propelled grenades, the government's intelligence agency said in a statement.

They were found in a vehicle that Taliban fighters abandoned following an exchange of fire in the province's Ghoryan district on the Iranian border, it said.

"The weapons were seized after Taliban escaped and left one of their vehicles behind with the weapons," it said.

An intelligence official told AFP separately and on condition of anonymity that the arms appeared to have been manufactured in Iran and China.

Some of the rockets showed to reporters carried Persian writing and the coat of arms of Iran, which reads "Allah."
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Afghanistan: UN Hosting Reconstruction Meeting  
September 23, 2007
Article Link

An international meeting is taking place in New York to review the progress of reconstruction in Afghanistan, six years after the fall of the Taliban regime.

Officials from 18 countries are expected to attend, as are representatives of international organizations. 
  
The meeting comes at a time when the country is plagued by a resurgent Taliban guerrilla resistance and soaring opium output. 
  
Organizers say the talks are to focus on ways the international community and the United Nations can help the Afghan government tackle issues of security, good governance, regional cooperation, and drug trafficking. 
  
The meeting is co-hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is due to address the UN General Assembly on September 24. 
  
Joining them at the talks are representatives from the UN Security Council's five permanent member-- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States -- as well as Canada, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Turkey. 
  
Also invited are the Asian Development Bank, the European Union, the European Commission, NATO, and the World Bank. 
  
Development Blueprint

Participants will review progress toward implementing the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year development blueprint launched in January 2006 by Kabul and some 70 foreign partners. 
  
Under the deal, Afghanistan promised to take specific steps in the areas of security, governance, rule of law and human rights, and economic and social development in return for military and economic support. 

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Beheen told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan in New York today that discussions on peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban are not on the agenda. 

Afghan Diary  
But he said, "President [Hamid] Karzai will highlight some key points about security, fight against terrorism, and drug trafficking. Peace negotiations are very important for us. President Karzai will hold separate meetings with President [George W.] Bush, Canadian Prime Minister [Stephen Harper], German Chancellor [Angela Merkel], and French President [Nicolas Sarkozy]."
More on link


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## GAP (24 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 24, 2007*

Two Spanish Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan  
Monday, September 24, 2007
Article Link

 Spain's Defense Ministry says two Spanish soldiers died and at least two others were seriously wounded today after their convoy was hit by an explosion in western Farah Province.

An Iranian interpreter who was traveling with the Spaniards also died.

Meanwhile, two Italian soldiers who were kidnapped in western Afghanistan have been freed in a NATO-led military operation.

The Italian news agency ANSA reports that five kidnappers were killed in the operation. The two soldiers were injured in the operation, one of them seriously, according to reports.

The Italians, with their Afghan driver and translator, went missing on September 22 after entering a police checkpoint in Herat Province.

The fate of the Afghans is not clear.

The Associated Press reports that unidentified gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying police and government employees in the remote northeast of the country, killing 12.
More on link

Two Italians freed in Afghan raid   
  Article Link

Western Afghanistan has been a relatively safe area 
Two Italian soldiers who were kidnapped in western Afghanistan have been released during a military operation, the Italian defence ministry says. 
It said both men were injured and one of them was reported to be in a serious condition. They were being treated at a Nato hospital, a spokesman said. 

The two were seized while travelling in the western province of Herat. 

An Afghan driver and interpreter who were with the soldiers had returned to Herat on Sunday. 

'Critical' 

An Italian embassy source in Kabul told the BBC, "The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) launched an operation in the early hours of the morning to rescue the two soldiers who had been kidnapped on Saturday. 

"Both the soldiers are wounded, one of them is critical," he said. 

It is not clear who abducted the soldiers, the official said. 

The Italian soldiers and their Afghan driver and interpreter had driven through a police checkpoint in the Shindand district of Herat province on Saturday before all contact was lost, Afghan police said. 

The Italian defence ministry said the military personnel were "carrying out liaison activities with local civilian authorities". 

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kabul says western Afghanistan is a relatively safe area, but Shindand district has become more volatile as it borders a province where the militant insurgency has been on the rise. 

Italy has more than 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, many of them based in the west. 
More on link

Options are few for Afghan widows; Canadian program aims to bring change
Article Link

KABUL - Sediqua Mousawey takes shelter from the hot afternoon sun and measures carefully the width of a cabinet. Like any good carpenter, she measures twice and cuts once.

Like her fellow students, all widows like herself, she has studied many times over the western numbers on the tape measure and what they mean.

With a long red scarf covering her head and wearing the traditional shalwar kameez, Mousawey makes an unlikely carpenter. But as the mother of three fatherless children, there are few options for her in Afghanistan.

In a country where many women still cover their faces with burkas and few work outside the home, she relies on a CARE International food distribution program funded by the Canadian International Development Agency to feed her children.

Now, through a related CIDA program, she is learning this most unlikely of trades.

"It's a good career," Mousawey, 31, says through a translator.

Her husband was a shopkeeper killed by the Taliban. Life has not been easy following his death but Mousawey has a quiet confidence that will not be deterred.

"It depends on the person," she says of life on her own in this land of widows. "The person who has patience and makes strong decisions, they can do anything."

Fatima Akbary, 42, agrees.

Also a widow, Akbary learned carpentry in Iran more than a decade ago.

"It's not, traditionally, a woman's career," she admits. But "I decided to support my family."

At her school she has a total of 60 students and she hopes to employ many of them making furniture for sale locally.
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Canada asks for Chinook design changes; military expert worry about delay
Article Link

OTTAWA - Canada's air force wants to upgrade the design of its planned CH-47 Chinook battlefield helicopters and is offering Boeing a limited contract to construct a couple of prototype aircraft, defence sources have told The Canadian Press.

The chief of air staff, Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt, confirmed project staff have asked for changes, but would not discuss the specifics of the negotiations underway with the Chicago-based aircraft giant.

He said he's confident the ongoing talks and the redesign will not affect the delivery date of the 16 medium-lift helicopters, which the army has identified as essential in getting Canadian troops off the bomb-strewn roads of southern Afghanistan.

But air force observers are worried the request, made earlier this year, will knock the project off schedule, pushing the arrival of the aircraft out past 2011.

Much like vehicles coming off the assembly line, helicopters can come with a variety of different features and Watt compared the impending $4.7 billion purchase to buying a pickup truck or SUV.

"We don't want a basic truck," he said in an interview. "Because we have a relatively small fleet without all of the additional bells and whistles and extra capabilities, we want that fleet to be more than a basic truck so it can do those missions in a little more demanding circumstances."

One of the most important upgrades the air force wants to see is better armour and weapons so the choppers can perform casualty evacuation.

Canadian troops wounded in battle in Afghanistan are currently airlifted to hospital in specially outfitted U.S. Blackhawks. The modifications being requested would not upgrade the Chinooks to a full medevac role, which would require the installation of a suite of life-saving equipment, but would allow for the timely airlift of most wounded soldiers.

Watt said there are other design changes meant to allow the Chinooks to operate in bad weather and fly over vast distances - necessary features if the aircraft are to be useful to the army in the Arctic during the summer. The air force also wants the CH-47 to act as a backup search and rescue helicopter for the sometimes troubled Cormorant.

When the medium-lift helicopter program was announced, former defence minister Gordon O'Connor said he expected delivery of the first aircraft in 2010 or 36 months after a contract was signed.

Yet over a year after the Conservative government invoked an advanced contract award notice, citing national security and Boeing as the only company capable of delivering the required aircraft, it has yet to strike a formal contract.
More on link

Chechens toughest foes Canadians confront in Afghanistan
Matthew Fisher CanWest News Service Sunday, September 23, 2007
Article Link

Trend toward more foreign fighters
  
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The toughest fighters confronting Canada's Van Doos in Afghanistan are not Afghans but guerrillas from the volatile Russian republic of Chechnya.

That is the conclusion of a veteran Canadian infantryman who spends most of his time forward deployed in the Panjwei/Zahri districts establishing relationships with tribal elders and making security assessments.

"The Chechens are hard core. They are the best we face," said the soldier, a Montrealer who works in a secretive cell devoted to what the Canadian battle group calls Information Operations and what other armies sometimes call Information Warfare.

 "There are also lots of fighters coming out of the Pakistani schools. The best training camps are all across the border. Other Islamic forces have been pouring in here. They are helping Afghans with IED's (improvised explosive devices), small unit tactics, any form of violence you can think of.

"We're dealing with all kinds of insurgents. With Chechens, Egyptians, Saudis, Pakistanis, guys from the Yemen. It isn't one group more than the next." Asked whether he had personally encountered foreigners on the battlefield, the sergeant, a veteran of six previous Canadian overseas missions who was only allowed to give his name as Pete, replied with a grin and classic military jargon: "I have not inter-acted verbally with them."

The trend towards more foreign fighters here was confirmed by Brig.- Gen. Marquis Hainse, Canada's top ranking soldier in Afghanistan and deputy commander for NATO in what in its main combat theatre, Sector South.

 "We see an increase in foreign fighters," the general, who has been based in Kandahar since May, said, although he cautioned that there were not huge numbers of them.
More on link

World leaders to UN: Do more in Afghanistan
Updated Sun. Sep. 23 2007 10:50 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

World leaders are calling on the United Nations to take more of a role in Afghanistan, which has seen an increase in terrorist attacks in the last year. 

The call came following a meeting between international foreign ministers, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai. 

Canada was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Bernier. U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also attended the meeting, which brought together 24 members of the so-called Afghanistan Compact, a plan adopted last year by the international community to stabilize Afghanistan. But so far there's been little progress in ending resurgent violence in the country. 

Ban says the UN will be unable to go do more in Afghanistan as long as the country's security situation remains volatile. Growing numbers of attacks by Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are taking their toll on the Karzai government. 
More on link

Canada backs call to step up fight against Afghan drugs
Steven Edwards, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Monday, September 24, 2007
Article Link

UNITED NATIONS - Canada and other countries agreed yesterday to back stepped-up operations to counter drug production in Afghanistan -- a move that some say will lead to Canadian troops being drawn into controversial drug-eradication and interdiction activities.

At a high-level meeting on Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier put Canada's name to a communiqué that expresses "great concern" at the expansion of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

The production of heroin-producing opiates reached a "frighteningly new level" last year, according to a recent UN survey, and Canada is among countries that say profits from the illicit drug trade are funding the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
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Musharraf's push to talk with rebels frustrating exercise
 Sep 24, 2007 04:30 AM Sonya Fatah SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Article Link

Analysts are skeptical Afghan leader's overture will alter Taliban policy

ISLAMABAD–As Canadian policymakers debate the possibility of a negotiated settlement to the Afghanistan conflict, the experience of neighbouring Pakistan in dealing with the Taliban offers a lesson in political realities.

When Afghan President Hamid Karzai summoned Canadian journalists to his palace in Kabul last week, he made a point of stressing the need to talk to the Taliban. Despite contradictory comments by purported Taliban members quoted in the media – such as preconditions that all foreign troops must first depart – Karzai insisted that reliable communication channels are opening up.

But in Pakistan, analysts remain skeptical that Karzai's overtures are anything more than routine rhetoric, or that the Taliban are in a position to speak with one voice at a time when the battlefield remains in a state of flux. 

Indeed, the Pakistani experience in negotiating with Afghan players along the border – diehard Taliban or ethnic Pashtun – has been an exercise in frustration.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been pushing direct negotiations for the past few years but with no concrete results to show for his efforts. A Pakistan-Afghanistan peace jirga (conference) held in Kabul over four days in early August was meant to decrease tensions on either side of the border.
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## GAP (24 Sep 2007)

UK troops uncover Taleban bunkers  
Saturday September 22, 2007 (1551 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: A British-led multi-national force in southern Afghanistan says it has found a network of well-established bunkers at a former Taleban stronghold. 

After days of fierce fighting, the force is now trying to establish control of the ex-Taleban base. It is finding strategically-placed bunker positions, solidly built with overhead protection and sandbag walls. 

Most of the Taleban seem to have left the area but the bunkers indicate they were experienced fighters. 

The positions, which also suggest the Taleban thought they were in the district to stay, are being documented and then destroyed.  The international troops are trying to persuade local villagers to go back to their homes. 
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Czech police leave for Afghan mission  
Monday September 24, 2007 (0949 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: A Czech police team flew from the Prague Ruzyne airport for an EU mission in Afghanistan, Vendula Zikova from the police headquarters said. 
Zikova said that the five-member team will work in the province Kunduz and the town Faizabad as advisors to the border police and investigation experts. 

"They can stage training at the police academy," Zikova added. The police, who are from specialized police teams, are to stay in Afghanistan for one year, according to Czech news agency CTK. 
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Ottawa should consider opening Cdn detention centre in Afghanistan: Red Cross  
Monday September 24, 2007 (0949 PST)
Article Link

HALIFAX: Ottawa should examine whether Canada needs its own detention facility in Afghanistan, a legal adviser with the Canadian Red Cross said. 
"I'm not saying that it's ideal that our country detains, but it should be an option," said Isabelle Daoust during a panel discussion. 

The discussion, which focused on Canada's role regarding the treatment of detainees in the war-torn country, was part of a one-day humanitarian conference at Dalhousie University. 

Daoust, who's based in Ottawa, said the federal government must find a way to ensure the rights of detainees in Afghanistan are being upheld. 

"That's a political decision that needs to be taken by our government," she said in an interview following the panel discussion. 

There have been allegations that some prisoners taken by the Canadian military were abused after being transferred to Aghan jails. 

In response to the claims, Ottawa renegotiated its prisoner transfer agreement with Afghanistan to give Canadian officials access to the detainees once they were transferred to Aghan authorities. 

Amnesty International has launched a court challenge to bar Ottawa from transferring any more prisoners to the Afghan jails. 
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U.S. security firm ambushed in Afghanistan, 3 dead  
Monday September 24, 2007 (2119 PST)
Article Link

HERAT: Three Afghan guards of a U.S. private security firm were killed in an ambush by Taliban insurgents in western Afghanistan and 10 had gone missing, officials said on Monday.

The attack on the convoy in Farah province on Sunday night was followed by a clash between the militants and the guards, officials said.

"The Taliban attacked the convoy, killed three guards of the company and ten of them have gone missing," Farah's police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang told reporters.
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## The Bread Guy (24 Sep 2007)

*Canada has until next April to announce Kandahar decision: MacKay*
Alexander Panetta, Canadian Press, 24 Sept 07
Article link

Despite political pressure for a quick answer, the Conservative government says it has until April to announce whether it will extend Canada's combat mission in southern Afghanistan.  Opposition parties are demanding an announcement in next month's throne speech but Defence Minister Peter MacKay says Canada has until a NATO summit next year in Bucharest, Romania.  That statement drew a scornful response from the opposition and warnings that government foot-dragging could help provoke an election.  The pressure on Canada to decide - coupled with the prospect of an election campaign - suggests Afghanistan is about to become the focus of an even more heated debate.  "There is a NATO meeting in April 2008," MacKay told a news scrum Monday.  "It will be necessary to communicate a final decision before that meeting."  The governing Conservatives are the only party that favours an extension of the current mission.  The Liberals and Bloc Quebecois want an end to the mission once Canada's international commitment concludes in February 2009, and New Democrats want Canadian troops withdrawn even sooner ....



*Canada should back Afghan president's Taliban peace bid: think tank*
Canadian Press, 24 Sept 07
Article link
"Peace in Afghanistan-Made in Canada" report (.pdf) - Alternate download site

Canada is throwing away an opportunity to help Afghan President Hamid Karzai break the Taliban by not actively supporting his repeated peace overtures to moderate insurgents, says an international think-tank.  The Senlis Council, a European-based agency that's conducted extensive research in war-torn southern Afghanistan, says the appeal to less dogmatic Taliban has a good chance of succeeding if NATO countries throw their full support behind it.  Norine MacDonald, a Vancouver lawyer and council president, says separating hard-core Islamic fundamentalists and al-Qaida supporters from moderates would weaken the insurgency and reduce its offensive capacity.  It's time for Canada to take the diplomatic lead and step out from the shadow of U.S. foreign policy, she says.  "We believe there are defining moments in every nation's history when there's an opportunity to demonstrate who we are as a nation and how we conduct ourselves in Afghanistan at this critical moment is one of those times," MacDonald said Monday at the beginning of a day-long conference meant to explore policies that could lead to peace.  This so-called fast-track for peace and stability should also include keeping Canadian troops in Afghanistan past the February 2009 deadline, she said, and opposition to a U.S. demand that opium poppies be eradicated with aerial spraying ....


*British minister says Taliban will need to be involved in Afghanistan's peace process*
Associated Press, 24 Sept 07
Article link

The Taliban will need to be involved in the peace process in Afghanistan at some point and it may not be possible to establish a Western-style legal system there, the defense secretary said Monday.  Des Browne seemed to join other officials, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who have signaled increased interest in negotiating with the Taliban.  Six years after Taliban's fall, fighting in Afghanistan has been intensifying, but the U.N. and NATO have said a growing number of militants want out of the conflict.
«In Afghanistan, at some stage, the Taliban will need to be involved in the peace process because they are not going away any more than I suspect Hamas are going away from Palestine,» Browne said in Bournemouth ....



*Dutch may send more troops to Afghanistan on temporary assignment*
Associated Press, 24 Sept 07
Article link

The Netherlands may send extra soldiers on temporary duty to Afghanistan to reinforce its troops in the southern district of Uruzgan, the defense chief said Monday.  The Dutch had asked NATO for reinforcements in Uruzgan, but were unlikely to get them, and would likely have to fill the gap on its own, Gen. Dick Berlijn said.  More troops were needed in the Deh Rawod district, where a Dutch soldier was killed in combat last week, he said. The soldier, whose body was being flown home Monday, was the 11th fatality since the Netherlands dispatched troops to the area in August 2006.  The national broadcaster NOS put the number of extra troops to be sent at 80.  The Dutch have kept about 1,200 soldiers in the restive province since last year, and the government was expected to decide next month whether to extend its two-year commitment.  Berlijn told reporters in The Hague that the security situation in Afghanistan had worsened. The Taliban is better trained and has grown more professional, he said.
Foreign fighters had joined their ranks, but he declined to say from which countries ....


*Dutch may increase troops to Afghanistan*
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DEU), 24 Sept 07
Article link

The Dutch may send extra troops to the Afghan province of Oruzghan, Dutch chief of staff Dick Berlijn announced during a press briefing Monday afternoon.  Berlijn said NATO is considering to increase the number of troops participating in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) it established in 2001 to bring peace and security to Afghanistan.  Under the move, the Dutch would dispatch more military to the area of Deh Rawod, in the south-east of Oruzghan, he said.  Fighting in the region has surged in recent months due to more effective and focused attacks by the Taliban, Berlijn acknowledged to reporters ....


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## GAP (25 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 25, 2007*

Italian minister: condition of Italian injured in rescue operation in Afghanistan deteriorates 
The Associated Press Tuesday, September 25, 2007 
Article Link

ROME: Premier Romano Prodi defended the decision to stage a risky raid to free two Italian intelligence operatives taken hostage in Afghanistan after the condition of one of the men deteriorated Tuesday.

"We are very worried" about the fate of the operative, Prodi said from New York, speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The intelligence operative has been put on a respirator to help him breathe, Defense Minister Arturo Parisi said in a statement. The man has been in a NATO-run hospital in Afghanistan since being rescued Monday.

The two Italians, who worked for the SISMI intelligence service, disappeared along with their two Afghan colleagues Saturday. They were freed Monday by Italian commandos aided by other NATO forces and aircraft after the kidnappers began to move their hostages.

Italian special forces ambushed the convoy, sparking a gunbattle that killed at least nine of the kidnappers. Both Italians were injured, the other one not seriously.

Prodi — who at home faces growing tension from his radical leftist allies over Italy's continuing involvement in Afghanistan — defended the decision to authorize the rescue operation.
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Lawyers for Canada Guantanamo inmate mull appeal
Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:26 PM EDT
Article Link

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Lawyers for a young Canadian detainee in Guantanamo Bay on Tuesday said they might appeal the decision of a U.S. military court to reinstate terrorism charges against their client.

Omar Khadr, 21, is accused of killing one U.S. soldier with a grenade and wounding another during a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002. Khadr, who was 15 at the time, is the only Canadian inside Guantanamo.

In June, a U.S. judge for a special war crimes tribunal set up for Guantanamo cases dismissed murder and conspiracy charges against Khadr but on Monday the decision was overturned.

"We are considering an appeal," Khadr lawyer Dennis Edney told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

A spokeswoman for the tribunals said that once Khadr has formally been notified of Monday's ruling, his lawyers would have 20 days to petition the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington.

Rights groups say Guantanamo should be shut on the grounds that holding prisoners for years without trial violates international standards.

"Omar Khadr is being forced to be tried under a process that was not suitable or good enough for American detainees ... (or) for British detainees but is good enough for a young man who was arrested when he was 15 years of age," Edney said.
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Elite UK troops rescue Italians in Afghanistan
Richard Norton-Taylor Tuesday September 25, 2007 The Guardian 
Article Link
· Eight kidnappers killed in fierce gunfight 
· Intelligence reports led to use of special forces 

Helicopter-borne British special forces yesterday rescued two Italian soldiers, killing their captors in a gunfight in western Afghanistan, defence sources said.
Troops from the Special Boat Service, the navy's equivalent of the SAS, were called in by Nato after intelligence reports that the Italians were about to be moved from a building east of the town of Farah. The SBS troopers were taken to the area by helicopter, and as Italian commandos stormed the building, the SBS attacked the two trucks in which the captors were about to drive the Italians away.

"The SBS was very much in the forefront of the mission. Most of the firefight was with our guys," a defence source said. "They are very chuffed," he added.

The Italian soldiers were last seen on Saturday at a police checkpoint in Herat province, west of Farah.

Brigadier General Vincent Lafontaine, a French officer with Nato staff in Afghanistan, said intelligence reports soon revealed where they were being held.

"There is a sort of window of opportunity if you achieve reliable intelligence," he said. "It's a success story because it was very quickly solved."
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Iranian General: U.S. Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan Are Within Iran's Firing Range 
Monday, September 24, 2007
Article Link

U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are being monitored by Iran using satellites and other technology and are well within range of Iranian missiles, a top Iranian military official said.

"The Americans should realize that the 200,000 troops they have deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are in Iran’s firing range,” Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in remarks published by Iranian newspapers Monday.

Speaking on the 27th anniversary of the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War, Safavi, the former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, said Iran was now in a strong position to defend itself.

"Iran has now a strong intelligence system and missiles. We are closely watching the foreigners' moves in neighboring countries by highly advanced satellite technology and advanced radars. If they enter our airspace or our territorial waters, they will get a fair response," the Iran Daily quoted Safavi as saying.

Speculation about an attack against Iran has been spurred on by recent comments by French officials who have said a nuclear-armed Iran was unacceptable.
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Canadian exit won't make Afghanistan better off
 TheStar.com September 25, 2007 Richard Gwyn
Article Link

The meeting on Afghanistan organized by the United Nations this week of representatives from 18 countries, produced, as UN meetings usually do, fine words but precious little action.

Those taking part, including Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, agreed on a communiqué that condemned "terrorism ... which hindered the establishment of the rule of law and the provision of basic services to the Afghan people."

There was one reason for paying any attention. This meeting served as a reminder that military intervention in Afghanistan, including Canada's, is sanctioned by the UN.

According to the latest poll by Ipsos-Reid, two in three Canadians polled (68 per cent) want us to pull out when our mission there reaches its agreed deadline of February 2009 but a majority (56 per cent) wants our troops out even earlier.

At a glance, those results seem to make it certain we will be gone from Afghanistan relatively soon.
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N.S. college setting up scholarship for soldier killed in Afghanistan
Article Link

PICTOU, N.S. - The Nova Scotia Community College is setting up a student bursary named after a Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan earlier this year.

The college's campus in Pictou is setting up the Kevin Megeney Memorial Award, a $2,000 bursary that will be given out every year.

Megeney, a 25-year-old reservist from Stellarton, N.S., died on March 6 in an accidental shooting at the NATO base in Kandahar.

The award, funded by a $50,000 anonymous donation, will be given to a full-time student who demonstrates a commitment to community involvement.

The first award will be handed out later this year or early 2008.

Member's of Megeney's family will participate in a ceremony to dedicate the award on Tuesday.

"Even though he's gone, Kevin will keep on making a difference because of the kindness of such a great gift," Megeney's mother, Karen, said in a news release.
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Article Link
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Canada may add IRGC to terror list
Canadian government is going to consider adding the notorious Iranian Rev. Guards to terror list.

This is outstanding and will embolden the people of Iran in their fight against the tyranny and will send a powerful message to the weakened mullahs that the world is united in confronting their vicious ambitions. 

This is also true that IRGC is arming the insurgents in both Iraq and Afghanistan where coalition forces including Canadians troops are being targeted. The Canadian government must also make sure that all Iranian regime agents, including the intel section of IRGC, operating in Canada be detained, deported or prosecuted based on their crimes and their assets be frozen. There are many many of them here who have infiltrated the Iranian-Canadian community and have been spying on dissidents living in this country.
More on link


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## GAP (25 Sep 2007)

Chronicle of a roadside attack
DENE MOORE The Canadian Press September 24, 2007
Article Link

MA'SUM GHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- The logistics convoy, carrying rations and other supplies to two of Canada's forward operating bases in Kandahar province, rolls through the gates and out the relative safety of Kandahar Air Field around 7:30 p.m. Friday.

A short way into the trip, the vehicles are sidelined by a mechanical problem into Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar City. For the next couple of hours soldiers cool their heels at the base of the provincial reconstruction team.

The problem fixed, the convoy rolls out just shy of midnight. The stars are shining far overhead in a big Afghan sky.

A half-hour later, most of the oddball mix of soldiers, civilians, interpreters and journalists are half asleep in the back of the convoy's Bison. It seems it will be a long and boring night but this is Afghanistan, and the sands shift quickly.

12:31 a.m.: A loud boom vibrates the Bison. "We've got contact," yells a voice from the back of the rig. An RG-31 has been hit. One person was thrown through the hatch. Three others, at least, are unconscious inside.

12:47 a.m.: There is one "priority 2" injury, meaning it's serious but not life-threatening.

12:49 a.m.: A second boom hits in front of the Bison. "They found an RPG not far away. Awfully close," says one voice in the dark, referring to a rocket-propelled grenade.

12:57 a.m.: It comes over the radio that there are possible enemies in the area.

1:12 a.m.: The Bison moves down the highway to create a safety cordon while the injured are treated.

1:20 a.m.: The Bison moves again, about 150 metres down the road. 

1:35 a.m.: The radio says it will be 60 minutes for a medivac. The conditions of the injured change constantly as they're assessed and reassessed.

1:37 a.m.: "Everybody inside. Let's go," yells a voice. The hatch of the Bison slams shut with a bang.

2:08 a.m.: We'll be heading to the forward operating base at Ma'sum Ghar for medivac. 

2:29 a.m.: We arrive at the base just as the first of the helicopters heads in to retrieve the injured.

2:50 a.m.: The helicopters are headed for Kandahar, loaded with two Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter injured in the blast. Two other Canadian soldiers are treated for minor wounds in Ma'sum Ghar and released.

Military officials said none of the injuries was life threatening.

Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, have become the weapon of choice for Taliban insurgents as they increasingly turn to guerrilla tactics. A conservative estimate is that one vehicle a week is hit with a roadside bomb. More often, the bombs are discovered and defused by Canadian troops.
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## tomahawk6 (25 Sep 2007)

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/09/ap_afghanistan_070925/

60 Taliban, 1 coalition soldier die in battle
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 25, 2007 16:36:06 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — A daylong battle Tuesday near a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan’s poppy-growing belt killed more than 60 Taliban fighters and one soldier from the U.S.-led coalition, military officials said.

Several dozen insurgents attacked a joint coalition-Afghan patrol near the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province with machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement. Taliban reinforcements flowed in from Musa Qala all day, it said.

The coalition returned artillery fire and called in fighter aircraft, killing more than 60 of the Taliban fighters, the coalition said. One coalition soldier was killed and four were wounded.

The coalition said there were no immediate reports of civilian deaths or injuries.

“The end is near for the Taliban that believe Musa Qala is safe from Islamic Republic of Afghanistan forces,” said Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman. “This combined operation is just one more step to securing the Musa Qala area of the Helmand Province.”

Taliban militants overran Musa Qala in February, four months after British troops left the town following a contentious peace agreement that handed over security responsibilities to Afghan elders. Musa Qala has been in control of Taliban fighters ever since.

Situated in northern Helmand province, Musa Qala and the region around it have seen the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan this year. It is also in the middle of the country’s poppy-growing belt. Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s heroin, made from opium poppy.

More than 4,400 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials.

The head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Karen Tandy, said counternarcotics forces will soon work alongside counterinsurgency troops to try to bust the drug lords that have helped Afghanistan produce a record amount of opium poppy this year.

“The alliance between these high-value drug traffickers and the insurgents clearly has grown, and it is through the relationships and work and partnerships that we have built on the interdiction side together with the military side that is our way forward,” Tandy said during a three-day visit to Afghanistan.

NATO troops, she said, would not “pull plants or spray plants,” but would support interdiction efforts.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, a NATO helicopter overturned while trying to land during a mission to evacuate Afghan police wounded by a roadside bomb in the western province of Badghis. A second helicopter landed and recovered the crew and two wounded police, NATO said. There was no hostile fire during the incident, it said.

In the southern province of Kandahar, a suicide bomber blew himself up next to a convoy of a border security commander, leaving five policemen dead, said district border security commander Abdul Raziq Khan, who was not hurt. Three other police and a civilian were wounded.

In Zhari district of Kandahar, a joint Afghan and coalition forces operation Monday targeted militants suspected of planting roadside bombs and launching rocket attacks against NATO and Afghan forces, leaving six suspected insurgents dead, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Elsewhere, a Canadian soldier, Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, 24, was killed and four others were wounded while on patrol Monday in nearby Panjwayi district of Kandahar, Canadian military officials said.

Canada is a key contributor to the 39,000-strong NATO security force trying to stabilize Afghanistan. Seventy-one Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have now died in the country since 2002, including 24 combat deaths this year.

On Monday, Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said the government would announce by next April whether it plans to extend its combat mission in southern Afghanistan, which is set to expire in February 2009.


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## GAP (26 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 26, 2007*

Suicide Attacker Targets Police Convoy in Southern Afghanistan  
By VOA News 25 September 2007
Article Link

A suicide attack in southern Afghanistan has killed five policemen and wounded at least three others.

Tuesday's bombing in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province near the Pakistani border targeted the convoy of a border police commander, who survived the attack. 

Officials say the attacker was riding a motorcycle when he detonated his explosives outside of the police headquarters. 

In other news, NATO reports a Canadian soldier with its International Security Assistance Force was killed and four others wounded in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar on Monday.

Elsewhere, a head-on collision of two buses killed at least 32 people Monday on the main road linking the capital, Kabul, and Kandahar city. At least 35 other people were injured.
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Rye trains Canadian troops
Posted on 09/25/07 Written by Drew Halfnight 
Article Link

(The Eyeopener) - Lt. Kevin Dulude is administering health care in one of the hottest war zones in the world, and Ryerson had a hand in getting him there.

Dulude is one of 88 Canadian Forces officers to graduate from the Chang School’s Health Services Management (HSM) certificate program, and one of many in Afghanistan. 

“These guys manage clinics, field ambulances and hospitals when they’re overseas,” said Winston Isaac, director of the HSM course. “They’re in Afghanistan, for sure, and they were in Bosnia.”

Since the program’s inception in 2001, CF contingents have been sent to Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Golan Heights and Afghanistan.

“They enjoy going overseas; they come back and say, ‘It was such a great experience,’” Isaac said. 

Dulude and other overseas grads were unavailable for comment.

The HSM-certificate students are flown from their home bases all over the country to get to classes at Canadian Forces Base Borden outside of Barrie. 

Once there, they meet their Ryerson instructors, who travel for an hour and a half to deliver their lectures.
The intensive course takes one full school year to complete.

“If we’re going to train people, we might as well train them in an appropriate manner,” said Lt. Denis Hearn, a recruiting officer with the Canadian Forces Health Services.

The 15 students enrolled in the program this year will take six classes at Borden, plus two online, in subjects ranging from leadership and management to human resources, law and health care systems.

Upon graduation they will join the 5,102 health workers in the CF as health administrators and analysts.
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Ottawa unlikely to seek release of Omar Khadr
 TheStar.com September 26, 2007 Michelle Shephard Staff Reporter
Article Link

Canada will not interfere with the U.S. military trial of Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay, despite increased calls for action.

"Mr. Khadr faces serious charges. Any questions regarding whether Canada plans to ask for the release of Omar Khadr from Guantanamo are premature and speculative as the legal process and appeals process are still ongoing," Neil Hrab, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, said yesterday.

A military appeals court ruled on Monday that Khadr's trial at the U.S. naval detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should resume, overturning a lower court decision that dismissed the charges against the Toronto-born detainee.

"We're surprised Canada's not taking a leading role for one of its citizens," Human Rights Watch's Canadian director Jasmine Herlt said last night.

"It's a travesty of justice to have this kid who has been there for five years with no end in sight."

Khadr, who turned 21 last week, is accused of throwing a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002 that killed a U.S. special forces medic. He was 15, and has spent most of his detention in solitary confinement. 

The case has received little political attention since his capture in July 2002, largely due to the unpopularity in Canada of his family, whose members have admitted links Al Qaeda's top leaders. 

But last week Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to demand Khadr's trial be held in a U.S. civilian court. Failing that, Harper should demand Khadr be sent home to face justice in Canada, Dion said.

The Pentagon has tried for years to bring Khadr to trial on charges that include murder.

Military judge Col. Peter Brownback threw out the charges against Khadr in June after deciding that under the Congress-endorsed rules of the military commission, only "alien unlawful enemy combatants," could be tried. Khadr, and the other 340 detainees still held in Guantanamo, had been declared "enemy combatants" but had not specifically found to be unlawful.
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## GAP (26 Sep 2007)

Canada at work in Afghanistan 
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Article Link

I don't know whether the U.S. Government is doing something like this, but if not, it certainly should. The Canadian government has a website devoted to ways that Canada has aided Afghan civilians, and it can be found here:
 Canadian government website 

We need more emphasis on what it is that the NATO troops are doing in Afghanistan, and the extremely positive contributions that the representatives of the NATO nations are making to a country that was literally in the Dark Ages before 2001.
End


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## GAP (27 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 27, 2007*

Any chopper is better than none
Colin Kenny, Citizen Special
Published: Thursday, September 27, 2007
Article Link

Canadians are surely divided about whether we should have combat troops in Afghanistan. But there is no evidence that Canadians are divided about whether those troops should be provided with every reasonable bit of equipment to bring them home alive.

Which is why I was astounded to see a letter to the editor in the Citizen ("Not same chopper," Sept. 4) under the name of Peter MacKay, minister of national defence, ridiculing my suggestion that we send Griffon helicopters to Afghanistan to help prevent our young soldiers from getting blown to bits by roadside bombs.

When I made this suggestion in an interview with CanWest defence writer David ********, I made it clear that the Griffons are not the ideal solution to the predicament that Canadians are the only forces operating in hot areas without their own helicopter support. The ideal helicopters would be medium-to-heavy lift Chinooks, which can carry three times the number of soldiers and/or ammunition and equipment as the Griffons.

But Canada doesn't have any Chinooks. The current government is committed to ordering them, but for whatever reason no contract seems to have been signed yet and if the normal delivery process is followed they won't be available until 2012. Given that Canada's commitment to keep fighting in Kandahar ends in 2009 that isn't very comforting to the troops risking their lives on exploding roads every day.

Canada did have the bigger Chinook helicopters at one point, but we sold them to the Dutch in the early 1990s as a cost-cutting measure. Mr. MacKay's letter blames the Liberals for that: "Senator Colin Kenny really should be asking why he and his Liberal colleagues chose not to equip the Canadian Forces with appropriate equipment."
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Two foreign Red Cross workers abducted in southern Afghanistan
09.27.07, 3:26 AM ET AFX News Limited
Article Link

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Thomson Financial) - Two foreign employees of the International Red Cross have been abducted in southern Afghanistan by unknown kidnappers, a provincial police chief said today.

The two were kidnapped in Wardak province as they travelled on the main highway between Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar late Wednesday, Mohammad Awaz Mazloom, the police chief for the province, told AFP.

'Two foreign nationals working for the Red Cross were kidnapped in Salar area (of Wardak province) yesterday,' he said. The Red Cross office in Kabul was not immediately available for comment.
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Taliban spokesman arrested in Afghanistan: Ministry
27 Sep 2007, 1200 hrs IST,AFP Article Link

KABUL: The main spokesman for the extremist Taliban movement, Yousuf Ahmadi, has been arrested in southern Afghanistan, the interior ministry said on Thursday. 

Ahmadi was seized with his brother on Wednesday in volatile Helmand province, where the Taliban are in control of several districts, the ministry said in a statement. 

Ahmadi regularly contacted the international and Afghan media from secret locations about Taliban engagements in southern Afghanistan, saying he was speaking on behalf of the extremist movement. 

He was the main port of call for the media during the recent crisis over the Taliban's abduction of 21 South Korean evangelical workers in southern Afghanistan in July. 

Two of the hostages were killed and the rest were released in August. He is the third Taliban spokesman to have been arrested since the hardline Islamic movement began their insurgency after being toppled from government by US-led forces in late 2001. 

Mohammad Hanif, the prime Taliban spokesman for eastern Afghanistan, was arrested in January at an eastern border post with Pakistan. 

The previous Taliban mouthpiece, Abdul Latif Hakimi, was seized in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta in October 2005.  
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Two NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan were Danes: Denmark
Article Link

COPENHAGEN (AFP) — Two NATO soldiers killed when Taliban extremists attacked their base in southern Afghanistan were Danes, the Danish army said on Thursday.

A third Dane was wounded in the arm and leg in the attack Wednesday which lasted several hours, the army said in a statement.

The two dead were identified as Mikkel Keil Soerensen, 24, and Thorbjoern Reese, 22, both part of an infantry reconnaissance troop.

A total of six Danish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.

The Danish contingent currently numbers around 400 and is primarily deployed in the southern Helmand province under British command.

Including the latest deaths, 175 international troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year alone, most of them in combat operations against Taliban militants.

One of those, a soldier from the separate US-led coalition, was killed on Tuesday in southern Afghanistan during one of two major battles with the Taliban that also left nearly 170 militants dead.
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165 suspected Taliban killed in Afghanistan  
The Associated Press Wednesday, September 26, 2007 
Article Link

 KABUL, Afghanistan: U.S.-led forces called in artillery and airstrikes to kill more than 165 insurgents, repelling massive assaults on coalition patrols in two strongholds of Taliban militants and Afghanistan's rampant drug trade, officials said Wednesday.

The battles in Helmand and Uruzgan provinces came shortly before President Hamid Karzai and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush insisted that Afghanistan was making progress.

Nearly six years after American-led forces ousted the Taliban for hosting Osama bin Laden, insurgency-related violence is surging. More than 4,500 people, mostly militants, have died so far this year according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.

The two latest battles came amid a spike in violence during the holy month of Ramadan and as the military makes a last thrust against insurgents before colder weather forces a lull in fighting.

"Heading into the winter season, the (Afghan army) wanted to ensure that the Taliban know there are no safe havens," U.S. military spokesman Maj. Chris Belcher said.

Several dozen insurgents armed with machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades attacked a joint coalition-Afghan patrol near the Taliban-controlled town of Musa Qala in Helmand early Tuesday. Taliban reinforcements continued to join the fray during the day, according to a statement from the U.S.-led coalition.
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Gates Seeks $190 Billion More for Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan  
By Deborah Tate Capitol Hill 26 September 2007
  Article Link

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked Congress to approve nearly $190 billion more in funding for the military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He made his request at Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Wednesday, as VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

Secretary of Defense Gates says the additional money is needed to train more Iraqi and Afghan security forces, buy new armored vehicles that can protect U.S. troops against roadside bombs, refurbish equipment worn down by combat and consolidate U.S. bases in Iraq.

Gates urged quick approval of the money, which is for the new budget year beginning Monday.
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Canada should lead by example, not lectures: PM
Updated Tue. Sep. 25 2007 9:23 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Action - not rhetoric - will determine Canada's success in global affairs, declared Prime Minister Harper during a speech at one of the world's most influential foreign policy think tanks.

Speaking in New York before an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations, the publisher of the internationally renowned journal "Foreign Affairs," Harper said Canada must use its middle power status to lead, not lecture.

"Success demands governments who are willing to assume responsibilities, seek practical, do-able solutions to problems, and who have a voice and influence in global affairs because they lead, not by lecturing, but by example," Harper said.

Harper says another minority government likely
Harper claimed numerous examples of Canada's influence on the world stage, including its roles in Afghanistan and climate change.

Harper cited the fact that Canada has just lost its 71st soldier in Afghanistan to show that there can be little doubt about Canada's contribution to fighting terrorism. 
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Canada should cease combat as NATO test, Liberals say
PAUL WALDIE From Wednesday's Globe and Mail September 26, 2007 at 4:35 AM EDT
Dion says troops must withdraw in 2009 even if no other country will take over 
Article Link

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion says Canada should end its combat role in Afghanistan in 2009 even if no other NATO country is prepared to step in.

"We need to know if NATO works," he told The Globe and Mail's editorial board yesterday. "Because otherwise other countries will be more and more reluctant to take any responsibility, because they will be afraid to be there forever."

Mr. Dion said the Afghan mission is a challenge for NATO because it marks the first time the alliance has ventured beyond its geographic base. He said a strong commitment by Canada to cease combat operations after February, 2009, will be a test of whether NATO is truly a multilateral organization.

If elected prime minister, he would pull Canadian troops out of Kandahar after February, 2009, even if that left the region without a NATO combat force, he said.
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New mine-clearing vehicles being road-tested in Afghanistan
Matthew Fisher, CanWest News Service  Wednesday, September 26, 2007 
Article Link

 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The deadliest war within the war in Afghanistan entered a new era Wednesday as Canadian combat engineers tried out for the first time some high-tech devices designed to stop Taliban improvised explosive devices from killing Canadians.

A South African-made Husky mine detection vehicle, which looks like an awkward road grader with several wheeled extensions trailing behind to detonate buried explosives, was put through its paces on a dusty field near the Kandahar airfield.

“The guys who are going to use it are really eager to get out there because they know that with this they will save the lives of their buddies,” said Capt. David Holsworth of Kingston, Ont., an engineer with the 5th Combat Engineers Regiment of Valcartier, Que. “This is the best piece of kit there is.”

Life-saving innovations are urgently needed. Of the 71 Canadian soldiers who have died in Afghanistan so far, 30 were killed when their vehicles hit home-made bombs buried in or near roads.

The Husky, which has four wheels set far apart with the driver riding high in the middle on an armoured, V-shaped hull, is designed to work in concert with two other huge vehicles. One, called the Buffalo, will be equipped with a long robot arm to defuse, disable or detonate whatever is found hidden in the ground. The second, known as a Cougar, will carry explosives experts, robots and electronic suppression devices.
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Troops salute fallen reservist71st Canuck to die in conflict  
By DENE MOORE September 27, 2007 
Article Link

CP -- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A full Afghan moon was fading in the sky early yesterday morning as members of the Canadian Forces bade goodbye to a fallen comrade. 

Cpl. Nathan Hornburg became the 71st Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan when he was killed in a mortar attack during Operation Honest Soldier on Monday. 

Hornburg was a reservist with the King's Own Calgary Regiment and chose to serve in Afghanistan. 

"Edmund Burke said the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," said Maj. Pierre Bergeron, the military chaplain who eulogized the 24-year-old soldier on the tarmac before his final journey home. "As a reservist, Cpl. Hornburg could have stayed in Canada and continued working as a landscaper. Rather, he chose to serve and do something to make this world a better place." 

Bergeron called it a sad reminder that death is always painful for those who remain and urged hundreds of fellow soldiers who lined the tarmac in the first light of day to pray for those who loved the young soldier. 

He also acknowledged the challenge of the mission ahead. 

"For those of us who remain, we too have chosen to do something," Bergeron said after Hornburg's flag-draped casket was delivered to pallbearers on the tarmac in a LAV armoured vehicle. 

"Courage is not the absence of fear but the determination to do what is right in spite of our fear," Bergeron told the gathered crowd. 
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Troop pullout would jeopardize Afghanistan aid: official
  CanWest News Service; Victoria Times Colonist Thursday, September 27, 2007
Article Link

VICTORIA - Canada's foreign aid workers can't remain in Afghanistan until 2011 if it's too dangerous after a possible pullout by troops in 2009, a foreign affairs official said Wednesday.

The number of civilians in Afghanistan with the Canadian International Development Agency and the Foreign Affairs Department alone have almost doubled in the last year, said David Mulroney, associate deputy minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

But, "We couldn't maintain it without somebody providing that degree of security we have now," said Mulroney, who spoke at the Union Club in Victoria.

The 71st Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan, Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, was killed Monday.

His body is being returned to Canada tonight at CFB Trenton in Ontario.

Afghanistan is the largest recipient of Canada's foreign aid, with $200 million spent last year. The number of CIDA and Foreign Affairs workers almost doubled to 13 from seven, and 20 from nine, respectively, in just the last year.
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Husky vehicles will help protect soldiers
By DENE MOORE The Canadian Press Published Thursday September 27th, 2007 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canadian troops in Afghanistan have a new weapon against deadly roadside bombs. 
Military officials unveiled the first of their new RSD Husky armoured vehicles Wednesday.

The South African-built Huskies are equipped with sophisticated metal and electronic detectors that scan roads and ditches for improvised explosive devices, roadside bombs and landmines.

Roadside bombs have become the deadliest threat facing international troops in Afghanistan.

Twenty-nine of the 71 Canadian soldiers who have died were killed by roadside bombs, 22 of them in the past year. Another 11 Canadian soldiers have died in suicide bombing attacks.

Capt. David Holsworth, of the 5th Combat Engineers Regiment based in Valcartier, Que., said that Canadian troops used to rely on their American counterparts to clear roads with this type of equipment.

However, U.S. Huskies are largely tied up clearing roads for American convoys.

"A lot of the (soldiers who were killed by IEDs) could have been saved if we had had these earlier," Holsworth told reporters at Kandahar Airfield. "It's extremely important."

The Huskies look like road graders, minus the blade and with armour plate.

The vehicle is built to resist the blast from underneath, with the driver seated high away from the bomb beneath.
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More Articles available here
MILNEWS.ca

CANinKandahar


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## tomahawk6 (27 Sep 2007)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Rest_of_World/Taliban_spokesman_arrested_in_Afghanistan_Ministry/articleshow/2407766.cms

KABUL: The main spokesman for the extremist Taliban movement, Yousuf Ahmadi, has been arrested in southern Afghanistan, the interior ministry said on Thursday. 

Ahmadi was seized with his brother on Wednesday in volatile Helmand province, where the Taliban are in control of several districts, the ministry said in a statement. 

Ahmadi regularly contacted the international and Afghan media from secret locations about Taliban engagements in southern Afghanistan, saying he was speaking on behalf of the extremist movement. 

He was the main port of call for the media during the recent crisis over the Taliban's abduction of 21 South Korean evangelical workers in southern Afghanistan in July. 

Two of the hostages were killed and the rest were released in August. He is the third Taliban spokesman to have been arrested since the hardline Islamic movement began their insurgency after being toppled from government by US-led forces in late 2001. 

Mohammad Hanif, the prime Taliban spokesman for eastern Afghanistan, was arrested in January at an eastern border post with Pakistan. 

The previous Taliban mouthpiece, Abdul Latif Hakimi, was seized in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta in October 2005.


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## GAP (28 Sep 2007)

*Articles found September 28, 2007*

Canada won't bribe Afghans after protest over civilian deaths: officer
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A military official says Canada will continue to build ties with Afghans but won't rush in with "bribes" because of a false belief that Canadian soldiers were involved in the deaths of two Afghan civilians.

Angry Afghans closed the main highway out of Kandahar city on Wednesday, blaming international troops, including Canada, for the deaths of a religious scholar and his brother during a raid on a suspected insurgent's home the night before.

Some of the approximately 500 protesters chanted "Death to Canada," along with other nations involved in the war against the Taliban. Most of the anger was directed toward the United States.

Military officials say no Canadian soldiers were involved, but the family of the dead men demanded amends on Thursday.

"My cousins are killed illogically," said Abdul Hai, 25. "They must be given compensation."

Qudratullah, an area elder at age 39, said the family should receive land or money for the deaths.

"There are 18 family members left at the same house, including children and women," said Qudratullah.
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No plans for troops to go
Waiting for Parliament, says official
  Ethan Baron The Province Friday, September 28, 2007
Article Link

Canada is not preparing to pull its troops out of Afghanistan in 17 months, a senior Foreign Affairs official says.

"The government of Canada is not making any preparations for departure," the official, who would not be identified, said in a background session put on by Simon Fraser University at the Wosk Centre in Vancouver yesterday.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in June that an extension of the military mission in Afghanistan would require opposition support in Parliament.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said that consensus would "never exist."

The Foreign Affairs official said there is no reason for departure planning when a decision about prolonging the military mission has not yet been made.

Pressed about the absence of a government plan, in light of the Canadian International Development Agency's commitment to work in Afghanistan until 2011, the official said the army was addressing the post-pullout issue.

"I think we can assume that the Department of National Defence has a number of contingency plans," he said.

"Canadian involvement in Afghanistan will continue to be Canada's top foreign-policy priority for the foreseeable future."

Parliament last year extended the military mission to February 2009.

Canada likely won't accomplish its goals by the pull-out date, the official said.

"We are unlikely to achieve our security, governance, and development objectives . . . by 2009," he said.
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Canadian troops move to counter protest while denying shooting allegations
  Matthew Fisher and Meagan Fitzpatrick CanWest News Service Thursday, September 27, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Van Doo battle group intends "to do a lot of listening" to better understand Afghan concerns following a street protest this week in Zhari District at which Canada was denounced amid allegations that they had entered a home and fatally shot two mullahs - allegations that Canada has denied.

"To a great extent, just giving them a forum can really count," said Lieut. Derrick Farnham, a liaison officer CIMIC, a civilian-military co-operation element with Joint Task Force Afghanistan.
But Farnham said Canada would not get involved in the centuries old "Great Game," of trying to play Afghan factions against each other.

Pointing to a map, Farnham said Zhari was "peculiar" because a line could be drawn with the tribes of the eastern half of Zhari enjoying good relations with the Afghan government and Canadian troops and the tribes of western half mostly opposed to the government and the Canadians. Inevitably, these two groups also had differences with each other.

Because only one group was willing to deal with Canada, Farnham said: "It is quite possible it may harden attitudes" on the other side, but Canada had little choice if only one group wished to establish relations.

"After 30 years of revolt and fighting, to think it is just going to end because we're here is unrealistic," Farnham said. The key, he said, was to take small steps to establish good governance.

A Van Doo officer at Patrol Base Wilson in Zhari District repeated what had been said a day earlier by colleagues in Kandahar, categorically denying that Canadian troops had any part in the alleged raid earlier this week.

Enlisted troops at the same small base were incredulous that such allegations had been made.
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Building trust tricky business 
By RICHARD LATENDRESSE September 28, 2007 
Article Link

Afghanistan -- It takes a while for soldiers to trust a reporter. They're a defensive bunch -- even when it comes to journalists. But I've noticed that after you've been on operations, on patrol or simply sharing a military tent, the guard comes down. 

After a month with Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan, they were willing to talk. And in some cases, willing to share with me that they feel they're wasting their time here. Some of the Canadians talk about how ungrateful -- devious, even -- the locals are, as they smile at NATO forces by day and collaborate with the enemy by night. 

Granted, it's a small number, but those soldiers on the ground are not alone in their pessimism. 

The Afghanistan mission is seen as a failure by 69% of Germans, 66% of Italians and 63% of British and French respondents to an international Angus Reid poll released last month. Of the Canadians sampled, 49% think the operation is futile. 

Before leaving Kandahar, I sat down with the top Canadian soldier in Afghanistan, Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche. I wanted three concrete examples that this mission is a success. 

SAFETY 

He cited improved safety in parts of the region, a better capacity for Afghans to run their own affairs -- in particular, the progress in training Afghan soldiers -- and reconstruction in the country. 

All of that may be true, but it's in very small doses. 

I did chat with locals in villages repopulated under better security. But I came across just as many abandoned villages. 
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 Attacks by Taliban increase, approach Afghanistan capital
Seen capitalizing on public concern, weak government
By John Ward Anderson, Washington Post  |  September 28, 2007
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan - Preying on a weak government and rising public concerns about security, the Taliban are enjoying a military resurgence in Afghanistan and are now staging attacks just outside the capital, according to Western diplomats, private security analysts, and aid workers.

Of particular concern, private security and intelligence analysts said, is the new reach of the Taliban to the provinces ringing Kabul, headquarters for thousands of international security troops. Those troops are seeking to shore up the government of President Hamid Karzai, help stabilize the country, find Osama bin Laden, and rebuild a nation deeply scarred by almost three decades of warfare. So far, they have had only mixed success.

"The Taliban ability to sustain fighting cells north and south of Kabul is an ominous development and a significant lapse in security," said a recent analysis by NightWatch, an intelligence review written by John McCreary, a former top analyst at the US Defense Intelligence Agency.

While the number of attacks around the capital has been small compared with the number of attacks in other areas of the country, McCreary wrote, the data showed that the Taliban this summer "held the psychological initiative. They still lack the ability to threaten the government, but moved closer to achieving it than they have in six years."

Analyses by the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office, a project funded by the European Commission to advise private aid groups about security conditions across the country, found "a significant monthly escalation in conflict" in the first half of the year. Attacks by armed opposition groups increased from 139 in January to 405 in July, according to the project's director, Nic Lee.
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New efforts to free Red Cross workers in Afghanistan
Article Link

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) — Negotiators were in touch Friday with the captors of four Red Cross workers, two of them foreigners, who were held in Afghanistan during a mission to free a German kidnapped by the Taliban.

Contact had been made with the group that seized the men on Wednesday in the province of Wardak, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Kabul, and military action had been ruled out to free the men, an Afghan official told AFP.

"The Red Cross office advised us not use any military action for the safety of the kidnapped people and the issue must be solved via mediation through tribal elders," said the governor of Sayed Abad district where they were taken.

"We are in contact with the kidnappers via tribal elders and influentials," governor Anayatullah Mangal said. Mangal has said previously it was not clear who was holding the four.

The Red Cross workers did not return to Kabul on Wednesday after their mission in Wardak, where the 62-year-old German engineer and five Afghans were captured 10 weeks ago.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not say they have been kidnapped but that they had been detained and were expected to be freed soon.
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The Macleans.ca Interview: Dawn Black
The NDP defence critic on allegations the Canadian military drafted a speech by the Afghan President and the Afghan Ambassador's outrage
Kate Lunau | Sep 27, 2007 | 9:37 am EST
Article Link

Yesterday's allegations that the Canadian military helped draft a speech given in Canadian Parliament by Afghan President Hamid Karzai - in which he praised the Canadian war effort and criticized NDP leader Jack Layton for opposing the mission - inspired an outraged response from the Afghan Ambassador to Canada. The claims are "not only ludicrous but also verge on being insulting," Ambassador Omar Samad said.
But NDP Defence Critic, Dawn Black, says the allegations are based in fact. They come from a document she obtained through an Access to Information request, which she says show the Canadian government was behind Karzai's words - making the speech nothing more than an "elaborately staged political stunt."
In an exclusive interview with Macleans.ca, Black responds to Samad's comments and explains why this issue should be of concern to Canadians. 
Macleans.ca: First of all, tell me about this document. 

Dawn Black: This is a document that was put together by the Department of National Defence. I’ll read to you right from it. It says that the SAT [Strategic Advisory Team] "prepared initial draft of President’s address to Parliament 22 Sep." So that’s clear; that’s what it says.  Then it says, “It was noted that key statistics, messages, themes, as well as overall structure [of the speech], were adopted by the President in his remarks to the joint session.” I mean, I don’t know how much clearer it could be.

M: So why is it a concern that the Canadian military might have had a hand in drafting this speech? 
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## GAP (28 Sep 2007)

Dutch will send 80 more troops to Afghanistan
Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:08pm BST
Article Link

 AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands will send a further 80 soldiers to Afghanistan to support Dutch troops serving in the troubled south of the country as part of a NATO mission, the government said on Friday.

Troops would leave within the next few days and would serve provisionally for two months near the town of Deh Rawod, where a Dutch soldier died earlier this month, and where fighting with insurgents has intensified.

"NATO asked the Netherlands to send extra units to Uruzgan. The government has decided to meet this request," the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The Dutch news agency ANP quoted Wouter Bos, deputy prime minister and finance minister, as saying on Friday: "It is irresponsible to leave troops there without extra assistance."

Between 1,500 and 1,700 Dutch troops are serving in Afghanistan, on a mission due to last until August 2008.

The government has yet to decide whether to keep the troops there beyond that date, as growing casualties increase public pressure to withdraw them.
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Two Lopsided Battles Bloody Taliban in Afghanistan
Article Link

Amid reports of uneven al-Qaeda-Taliban strength in different parts of Afghanistan, two separate battles have resulted in killing approximately 165 Taliban. An ambush on a joint Coalition-Afghan patrol in northern Helmand province resulted in a day-long fight in which Coalition artillery and aerial attacks killed more than 100 enemy, with one Coalition soldier killed and four wounded. In another Taliiban attack in neighboring Uruzgan province, artillery and airstrikes were once again effectively employed, killing 65 of the 80-man enemy attacking force.

But there are growing concerns about NATO-member commitment to the mission in Afghanistan as well as concerns of growing al-Qaeda-Taliban strength in Uruzgan province in particular. Radio Netherlands, with reporters and sources on the ground there, reported that a surge in enemy strength is due primarily to the import of foreign fighters - though few will acknowledge officially - including battle-hardened and experienced Chechens. According to their report, “the presence of fighters from Pakistan and Bosnia is known beyond any doubt - in fact, prisoners have been taken from their ranks and handed over to the Afghan authorities. It is assumed that Chechen fighters are also active in Dihrawud district.”
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Canadians won't pay Afghan cleric 'bribe'
 TheStar.com -September 28, 2007 Bruce Campion-Smith OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan–Canadian officials have moved quickly to assure Afghan officials that their troops played no part in this week's shooting deaths of a local religious leader and his brother.

But military officers say they won't rush to use development projects to appease simmering public anger over the deaths, which prompted some 500 Afghans to block a highway west of here Wednesday.

"We don't want to be in a situation where we're seen as just bribing people who have a grudge against us," said Lieut. Derrick Farnham, a Canadian who works with the civil-military team on reconstruction.

"That's something that's been done in the past and it's been termed the great game in Afghanistan where locals play one side off the other in terms of getting treats and gifts. That's something we want to avoid," he said.

"There's been too long a history in Afghanistan or giving things and doing projects to try and solve problems. That's not the goal at all. It's to re-establish a country and make it work by itself."
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## GAP (29 Sep 2007)

*Articles found Sept 29, 2007*

A Haven of Prosperity in Afghanistan
U.S. Building Effort Blooms in Panjshir
By John Ward Anderson Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, September 29, 2007; Page A11 
Article Link

PARAKH, Afghanistan -- Slashed across the side of a rugged mountain like the sign of Zorro, the Z Road started as a simple $59,000 U.S. project to put a radio tower atop a small peak in the Hindu Kush, so people in the remote Panjshir Valley could for the first time pick up commercial radio from Kabul, about 60 dusty, bone-jolting miles away. 

After road crews conquered the mountain's 270-foot face last November, other forces took over. By the new year, private companies had extended the road to the next hilltop, two-thirds of a mile away and 640 feet higher, for a bank of cellphone towers. Then came another half-mile extension to the next peak for a TV tower, then plans for a wind farm and, last month, a series of switchbacks down the far side of the range to give villages in the next valley their first road to the outside. 

 Discussion PolicyDiscussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.  
This is the way reconstruction in Afghanistan was supposed to be. A little bit of U.S. pump priming, combined with profit motive and human need, would be harnessed by a grateful, liberated population to transform their lives and country. In the process, the people would become loyal allies in the fight against terrorism. 
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Army Bus Blast in Kabul Kills 27
By AMIR SHAH 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber wearing an Afghan army uniform set off a huge explosion Saturday while trying to board a military bus in the capital, killing 27 soldiers, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

The blast, which also injured 29 people, ripped off the roof of the bus and tore out its sides, leaving a charred hull of burnt metal. The attack was reminiscent of the deadliest insurgent attack in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 — when a bomber boarded a police academy bus at Kabul's busiest transportation hub in June and killed 35 people.

Dozens of civilians and police officers picked through the site in search of bodies. The Interior Ministry said 27 soldiers were killed and 29 people wounded.

"For 10 or 15 seconds, it was like an atom bomb — fire, smoke and dust everywhere," said Mohammad Azim, a police officer who witnessed the explosion.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed the militant group was responsible for the blast in a text message to The Associated Press. Mujahid said the bomber was a Kabul resident named Azizullah.

The bus had stopped in front of a movie theater to pick up soldiers when a bomber wearing a military uniform tried to board around 6:45 a.m. local time, army spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.
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Canada defends policy on Afghan clans
GRAEME SMITH  From Friday's Globe and Mail September 28, 2007 at 12:38 AM EDT
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canada will not immediately try to douse the anger that flared up this week in a village near Kandahar city after two religious teachers were killed in their homes, a military officer says, in a case that reveals the way Canadian forces are handling rebellious tribes.

The raid by foreign soldiers that left two mullahs dead on Wednesday was only the latest reason for upset in the village of Senjaray, a suburb of Kandahar city. Almost all of the people who protested in the hours afterward were members of the Alizai tribe, a group that often feels disenfranchised by the new government. They claim they're denied reconstruction projects and shut out of positions of influence in the local administration.

A Canadian official confirmed yesterday that some of the Alizais' complaints have a factual basis. Villages considered hostile to the government are shut out of assistance programs in the hope they will become more compliant, and that policy won't change just because the Alizais are shouting “death to Canada” in the streets, said Lieutenant Derrick Farnham, a civilian-military liaison officer at Canadian headquarters in Kandahar.

“We try very hard not to be reactionary, to go and quell anger and solve it immediately,” Lt. Farnham said. “That's something that has been done in the past, and it's been termed the ‘great game' in Afghanistan, where locals play one side off the other in terms of getting treats and gifts, and that's something we want to avoid.” 
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Ottawa looks at protecting jobs of reservists on active duty or training
Article Link

OROMOCTO, N.B. - Canada's labour minister says no one who wears the country's military uniform should ever have to go directly from the front line to the unemployment line.

Jean-Pierre Blackburn is travelling across the country as the federal government looks for ways to protect the jobs of military reservists who are absent from work while training or on active duty.

The consultation comes after some soldiers lost their jobs while deployed in Afghanistan.

"Canada's New Government is committed to doing everything possible to ensure that the men and women of the Canadian Reserve Force who serve our country are well supported when they return to civilian working life. They deserve it," Blackburn said to a group of reservists at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick on Friday.

"We ask them to serve their country, they risk their lives sometimes, and those people don't have any job protection," he said.

Blackburn said protecting jobs is the right thing to do, but the process will require co-ordination among several government departments and the provinces
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Private firm trains Canadian troops
Forces send soldiers to Blackwater outfit under scrutiny for killings in Iraq
David ********, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Saturday, September 29, 2007
Article Link

The Canadian Forces is using a controversial private security firm to train some of its troops sent to Afghanistan.

Select Canadian soldiers have been sent to Blackwater U.S.A. in North Carolina for specialized training in bodyguard and shooting skills. Other soldiers have taken counter-terrorism evasive-driving courses with the private military company now at the centre of an investigation into the killings of Iraqi civilians and mounting concerns about the aggressive tactics of its workers in the field.

Critics of Blackwater label the firm as a mercenary organization and question why a professional military such as the Canadian Forces can't do its own training in specialized areas.
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One proud trucker
Canadian Forces Army News - 2007-09-28 | Sgt Robert Comeau and Cpl Tom Parker
Article Link

WHITBY, Ontario — Thanks to the initiative of a trucker from Cobourg, drivers who regularly commute along the 401 will now have something to think about on their travels between Montreal and Cobourg. 

In honour of the Year of the Veteran, which was commemorated in 2005, Larry Josie, an independent trucker, had his vehicle emblazoned with vinyl artwork. 

A veteran himself, Mr. Josie found a unique way to support the Canadian troops in Afghanistan. As the owner of a tractor-trailor for the past 18 months, he had been dreaming of giving his vehicle a new look, and began to do some research on the Internet. 

That's when he discovered Sign Design, a company based in Whitby, Ontario. The company emblazes vinyl graphics on vehicles like his. Following a meeting with artist Chris McGregor, Mr Josie's project began to take shape. 

After an exhaustive search of the National Defence and Combat Camera Web sites, a sketch was presented to the trucker in which the artist succeeded in portraying the lives of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. The photo of a CF soldier in Afghanistan served as the inspiration for one of the silhouettes on the rear doors of the truck. In order to accomplish this project, company employee Loretta Janes donated a photo of her son-in-law. 

Even though he disagrees with the war in Afghanistan, Mr. Josie unconditionally supports the Canadian soldiers, their families and friends. 

"If I provide moral support to the soldiers, and can put a smile on their faces, my mission is accomplished," he explained. 
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Afghanistan's Karzai Offers to Talk With Taleban 
By VOA News 29 September 2007
Article Link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he would personally meet Taleban leader Mullah Omar and another top insurgent, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, to bring peace to his country.

Mr. Karzai told reporters in Kabul Saturday that he would even allocate some government posts to the Taleban.

However, he rejected Taleban demands that all foreign troops leave Afghanistan before talks could begin.

Mr. Karzai rejected reports that the United States opposed holding talks with the Taleban, saying his government would make any decision to hold negotiations with insurgents.

Both Omar and Hekmatyar are wanted by the United States.
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4 Red Cross Hostages Free in Afghanistan  
Saturday September 29, 2007 2:01 PM
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Four Red Cross employees who had been kidnapped earlier this week were freed in good health Saturday, Afghan officials said. 

The four men - two from Afghanistan, one from Myanmar and one from Macedonia - were taken captive on Wednesday in central Wardak province while working to secure the release of a German hostage. 

Mohabullah, the police director of criminal investigations of the Sayad Abad district where the four were taken, said the men had been released and were in good health. He said he had no news about the German. 
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## The Bread Guy (29 Sep 2007)

*Afghan govt 'ready to talk' to rebel leaders*
Agence France Presse via the Daily Star (Bangladesh), 30 Sept 07
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai said yesterday he would talk to top insurgent leaders Mullah Mohammad Omar and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, both wanted by the United States, to bring peace to his country.  The president, however, again rejected demands from the Taliban, led by Mullah Omar, and Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami faction that the 50,000 international troops helping Kabul must quit for any negotiations to occur.  "We're ready to talk to all Afghans, any Afghan wanting talks, we're ready," Karzai said when asked if he would negotiate with Mullah Omar and Hekmatyar, both of whom have multi-million-dollar bounties on their heads.  He told reporters that if peace could only be brought to Afghanistan through talks, "we're ready to do it."  This was his most direct invitation yet to leaders of the growing unrest, with previous invitations of talks vague about the whether they were included.  Karzai said he was even ready to give government posts to the Taliban if they renounced violence.  If they asked "'President, give us this or that post in a ministry and we won't fight,' if they ask me for such thing, I would immediately accept," he said ....


*After Afghan bomber kills 30, Karzai offers olive branch*
Kirk Semple, International Herald Tribune, 29 Sept 07
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A suicide bomber wearing an Afghan military uniform detonated his explosive belt near a bus full of Afghan soldiers on their way to work here in the capital Saturday, killing at least 30 people, including two civilians, officials said. The bombing was among the deadliest in Afghanistan this year.  Later in the day, President Hamid Karzai said he was willing to travel to the hideout of the Taliban's leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, to conduct peace negotiations, and that he was prepared to allocate the leadership of some ministries to Taliban officials if they rejected further violence.  The comments appeared to reflect a more conciliatory and open posture toward peace negotiations with the Taliban, and they came a day after Karzai's return from a trip to the United States that included talks at the United Nations and the White House. Earlier this year he forswore direct negotiations with Omar and has apparently never publicly said he was prepared to name Taliban fighters as ministers ....


*Any co-operation with Taliban must come with conditions: MacKay*
Canadian Press, 29 Sept 07
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Defence Minister Peter MacKay says the Taliban will have to renounce violence and accept the NATO mission in Afghanistan if it wants to work with the Afghan government.  Afghan President Hamid Karzai renewed his call Saturday for talks with the Taliban after a deadly suicide bombing in Kabul.  Karzai said he wants to meet with Taliban leader Mullah Omar for peace talks and is willing to consider giving the militants a position in government.  Speaking at an enrolment ceremony for new military personnel in Halifax, MacKay says any co-operation must include the preconditions that Karzai has laid out. Those include the Taliban's renunciation of violence and acceptance of the fact that NATO forces aren't leaving the country any time soon.  MacKay said he's comfortable with anyone who is prepared to move away from activities on the ground that put Canadian soldiers, and others who are part of the NATO mission, at risk ....



*Liberal defence critic goes on unauthorized fact-finding trip to Afghanistan*
Alexander Panetta, Canadian Press, 29 Sept 07
Article link

The Liberal defence critic says he's headed on an unauthorized fact-finding trip to Afghanistan after having his request to visit the troops consistently ignored by the Harper government.  Denis Coderre says he's set to leave for Kabul and Kandahar to visit with development workers, Afghan government officials and Canadian soldiers.  "(Afghanistan) is a major issue for the Canadian people," Coderre said in an interview Saturday.  "I think that for the sake of the debate it's important that I go. Since I couldn't get an answer I decided to go on my own."  The Montreal-area MP says he's made multiple requests with Defence Minister Peter MacKay's office but that they were systematically ignored or rejected. He said he first asked to go when Gordon O'Connor was defence minister but sometimes didn't get his calls returned.  Coderre says that he has the full blessing of his leader, Stephane Dion, and that his boss has also informed the Harper government that Coderre wants to go to Afghanistan ....



*Kidnapped NSP officials swapped for five Taliban*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 28 Sept 07
Article link

Two government officials, kidnapped in the Nimroz province some 20 days back, were freed in exchange for five militants last night, officials said on Friday.  Khashrud district chief Muhammad Hashim Noorzai told Pajhwok Afghan News the National Solidarity Department employees were released at midnight as a result of hectic efforts by tribal elders.  Nimroz police head Brig. Gen. Muhammad Daud Askaryar confirmed the two officials were swapped with five Taliban insurgents. The kidnappers had earlier demanded ransom for freeing the men.  The rebels had been arrested in connection with the kidnap incident, explained Askaryar, who would not give further details of the swap deal.  National Solidarity Programme (NSP) head in Zaranj Abdul Khalil, when approached for comments, said he had spoken to the men by phone. Held captive in the Farah desert, he claimed, both were in good health.



*Biggest blitz by paras since WW2 to crush Taliban*
Michael Smith and Louise Armitstead, Sunday Times, 30 Sept 07
Article link

BRITAIN is to deploy its biggest contingent of paratroopers and special forces since the second world war in a bid to crush the Taliban in Afghanistan.  Ministers are to send 3,000 paratroopers, including the entire Parachute Regiment, to southern Afghanistan in the spring, as well as trebling the number of special forces in the country.  It will be the first time in the regiment’s history that all four para battalions, including its reservists, have fought together on the same battlefield. The number of UK special forces personnel will rise to more than 800 and will include the bulk of the Special Forces Support Group, which is largely comprised of paratroopers.  The deployment comes amid fears that the Taliban are likely to regroup over the winter and retake terrain from weaker Afghan forces unable to hold their positions ....



*German special forces commanders "drunk" in Afghanistan: report*
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 29 Sept 07
Article link

German special forces serving in Afghanistan were commanded by senior officers who were often drunk, Der Spiegel news magazine reported Saturday.  The report spoke of 'serious cases of alcohol abuse by those in charge' of the elite commando unit KSK based in the southern town of Kandahar since December 2001.  Among those regularly intoxicated were the officer in overall charge of the contingent and the company commander, Der Spiegel said in an article released in advance of publication on Sunday.  The news magazine said it based its report on eyewitness accounts as well as 'internal documents' of the German armed forces.  A defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the allegations, saying they were part of a complex of issues currently under investigation by a parliamentary committee ....



*Dont abandon Afghanistan, says Dutch premier*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 28 Sept 07
Article link

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende Thursday urged the international community not to abandon Afghanistan as it required sustained support in coming years.  The international community must not abandon Afghanistan to its fate. The hopes of millions of Afghans rest with us, Balkenende said in his address to the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly.  The Netherlands, which has its troops in Afghanistan, said that lasting peace could be secured only if defence was combined with development and diplomacy ....


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## GAP (29 Sep 2007)

Taliban's deadliest weapons lie in wait
 TheStar.com September 29, 2007 Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa Bureau
Article Link See Picture of "Husky" below

31 of Canada's 71 fallen soldiers in Afghanistan killed by buried bombs

KANDAHAR–Canadian troops are winning the war on the battlefield but risk losing their way on the roads, as the Taliban use buried bombs as their weapon of choice against Canadian convoys.

Surprisingly simple to make, easily buried in the dirt roads and deadly effective, one chilling estimate suggests there are hundreds of these bombs lying in wait for soldiers in Kandahar region.

"It is the major threat here in theatre," said Maj. Max Messier, of the 5th Combat Engineers Regiment, based in Valcartier, Que.

"That's the biggest challenge. We don't know where and how we're going to face it. On a daily basis, we are facing that threat."

Roadside bombs have been the biggest killer of Canadians here – of the 71 soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since 2002, 31 have been killed by buried bombs. And 22 of those deaths have occurred this year.

Perhaps most chilling for the Canadians is just how easy it is to make one of these weapons.

To prove that point, Messier reaches into a cardboard box and pulls out the components of a bomb, some of it taken from devices the Canadians have discovered and defused.

"This they can find everywhere, this is easily made," he said.
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Logistics support in Afghanistan among military's toughest jobs
Matthew Fisher CanWest News Service Saturday, September 29, 2007
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MASUM GHAR, Afghanistan -- Cpl. Johan Sauvageau and Cpl. Charles Hebert have what may be the most dangerous jobs in the Canadian military.

The baby-faced reservists play a deadly game of cat and mouse with Taliban bombers almost every day. As members of 1st Platoon, Force Protection, National Support Element, they are literally part of Task Force Afghanistan's lifeline, escorting food, ammunition and mail as well as rotating troops and repaired vehicles to infantry combing the insurgent heartland to the west of Kandahar City.

To reach these distant outposts, the Canadians must run a deadly gauntlet. More than 40 of the Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan have been struck down by suicide bombers driving cars or trucks packed with jury-rigged explosives or by improvised explosive devices buried in the roads.

"With our job we never know what the menace might be or when it will hit," said Sauvageau, a 22-year old student from Dolbeau, Que., now attached to the Regiment du Saguenay.

"Still, we like the challenge," says the young man, who forsook one of the coldest places in Canada, 330 kilometres northeast of Montreal, to spend half a year riding on point as a gunner in the heat and dust of Afghanistan. "We like the adrenalin. And we like to be out with the guys in situations where we can achieve something in life that we cannot achieve at home."

Since arriving in theatre in June, both Sauvageau and Hebert, a 24-year old medic's assistant and university student from Montreal's Regiment du Maisonneuve, have been on convoys that have come under attack.

Sauvageau had to extract a badly wounded soldier from a vehicle that had been hit by an IED. Hebert was in a convoy where two IED explosions were the first act in a wild ambush in which the Taliban fired rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles.

Fear is always part of the equation. Sauvageau and Hebert have coped with it in different ways.
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On the brink
Tom Hyland September 30, 2007 
Article Link

IN a pebble-strewn river valley enclosed by bare jagged mountains, smiling Afghan boys run alongside the foreign soldiers, as boys often do. The foreigners are US Marines and the boys often ask them for a dollar, a biscuit, a pen. And they ask: "How are you?"

On this day a Marine gives his standard reply to a mate, who records it on video.

"I'm on a field op. I have no f---ing money." As for the biscuit: "Do I look like Little Red Riding Hood, carrying around a load of biscuits? What the f---?"

What about the pen? "What the f--- they want a pen for?"

And how is the Marine doing? "I'm doing bad. That's how I'm doing. I'm in this shit-faced country."

The scene, and what it revealed about the attitudes of US troops, shocked US officers when it was posted on Liveleak.com, a video website, earlier this year.

In the video a Marine says to one of the boys: "You know your country stinks like ass? What you think about that? You think it sucks? You stink like ass, too."

The same Marine gives a group of boys an impromptu English lesson, and they recite after him: "I am an idiot! We beg too f---ing much! F--- this country!"

One one level, the video is harmless. Soldiers grumble, their humour is raw. The Marines are young, tired, not knowing what they are doing so far from home, and the Afghan boys seem not to know that they and their country are being mocked.

But on another level the video is a glimpse of part of what's wrong with a foreign military enterprise that includes 1000 Australians — and maybe more if Kevin Rudd is elected.

The video reveals foreign troops who are ignorant about the country they have been sent to save. They either don't know — or don't care — that the kids ask for dollars, biscuits and pens because their country is one of the world's poorest, where almost half of the children under five don't get enough to eat, and only a third finish primary school.

The Marines are stressed, jaded and want to go home
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Kabul army bus suicide attack kills 30
Article Link

KABUL (AFP) — A suicide bomber wearing an army uniform blew up an Afghan military bus in Kabul Saturday, killing 30 people and wounding 30 more in one of the deadliest attacks of the Taliban's insurgency.

Hours after the devastating blast claimed by the Taliban, President Hamid Karzai called for "stronger vigour" in the fight against terrorism. He also reiterated an offer of talks with the rebels if they renounced violence.

The rush-hour blast was the deadliest in the city since a June explosion on a police bus killed about 35 people in the worst attack in the Taliban-led insurgency launched after the hardliners were driven from government in 2001.

The attacker, who had been carrying a briefcase, detonated his explosives at the entrance of the bus as it picked up army personnel going to work, the defence ministry said.

The force of the explosion blew off the roof and sides of the large bus, which was reduced to mangled metal. Television pictures showed rescuers rushing bloodied bodies from the vehicle. Some of the dead were still in their seats.
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Liberal defence critic goes on unauthorized fact-finding trip to Afghanistan
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OTTAWA - The Liberal defence critic says he's headed on an unauthorized fact-finding trip to Afghanistan after having his request to visit the troops consistently ignored by the Harper government.

Denis Coderre says he's set to leave for Kabul and Kandahar to visit with development workers, Afghan government officials and Canadian soldiers.

"(Afghanistan) is a major issue for the Canadian people," Coderre said in an interview Saturday.

"I think that for the sake of the debate it's important that I go. Since I couldn't get an answer I decided to go on my own."

The Montreal-area MP says he's made multiple requests with Defence Minister Peter MacKay's office but that they were systematically ignored or rejected. He said he first asked to go when Gordon O'Connor was defence minister but sometimes didn't get his calls returned.

Coderre says that he has the full blessing of his leader, Stephane Dion, and that his boss has also informed the Harper government that Coderre wants to go to Afghanistan.
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Canada to UN: Send 'Blair-like' envoy to Afghanistan
YANIV SALAMA-SCHEER, Jerusalem Post correspondent , THE JERUSALEM POST  Sep. 29, 2007 
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Canada will ask the UN to appoint a special envoy to Afghanistan to raise global awareness of international efforts there, modeled on Quartet representative Tony Blair's work in the Middle East. 

Canada currently has 2,500 troops in Afghanistan's Kandahar region. 

Foreign Ministry officials here said the UN should be leading efforts to promote positive awareness of the NATO operation in Afghanistan, as it already does for the Middle East peace process. 

Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier will begin lobbying for the proposal when he addresses the General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, having already raised the issue with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in meetings last week. 

Discussions on the initiative were still in the preliminary stages, officials in Ottawa told The Jerusalem Post, and it was not yet known how much weight Ban and Karzai would throw behind the proposal. However, they had responded "positively" so far, and Ban said he would continue to discuss the issue with Karzai and representatives of other UN member states. 

"The Middle East has Tony Blair, who's doing a very good job, and we believe that at the leadership level in Afghanistan we need someone of a high level and with a clear mandate," Bernier said this week. "The UN mission is already there, and Canada is there under UN mandate, but we believe that the UN itself has to be more active in the coordination process." 

Norway, Spain and the US are also throwing their support behind a heightened UN profile in Afghanistan
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Wounded Vets Also Economic Casualties
By JEFF DONN and KIMBERLY HEFLING
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TEMECULA, Calif. (AP) — He was one of America's first defenders on Sept. 11, 2001, a Marine who pulled burned bodies from the ruins of the Pentagon. He saw more horrors in Kuwait and Iraq.

Today, he can't keep a job, pay his bills, or chase thoughts of suicide from his tortured brain. In a few weeks, he may lose his house, too.

Gamal Awad, the American son of a Sudanese immigrant, exemplifies an emerging group of war veterans: the economic casualties.

More than in past wars, many wounded troops are coming home alive from the Middle East. That's a triumph for military medicine. But they often return hobbled by prolonged physical and mental injuries from homemade bombs and the unremitting anxiety of fighting a hidden enemy along blurred battle lines. Treatment, recovery and retraining often can't be assured quickly or cheaply.

These troops are just starting to seek help in large numbers, more than 185,000 so far. But the cost of their benefits is already testing resources set aside by government and threatening the future of these wounded veterans for decades to come, say economists and veterans' groups.
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