Articles found March 30, 2012
Meet the Taliban transvestites: Rebels are captured dressed in drag
Article Link
By Graham Smith 29 March 2012
U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan have assigned 'guardian angels' - troops who watch over their comrades even as they sleep - as part of a series of increased security measures to protect troops against possible rogue attacks.
The added protections are part of a directive issued in recent weeks by Marine General John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to guard against insider threats.
And they come in the wake of a spike in attacks on U.S. and coalition forces by Afghans, including the point-blank shooting deaths of two U.S. advisers in Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior.
The lengths the Taliban are prepared to go to in order to gain access to coalition forces was illustrated yesterday when local police arrested seven men dressed in women's clothing in Mehterlam, Laghman province, east of Kabul.
Tensions have increased in recent weeks, most noticeably after Staff Sergeant Robert Bales wandered off a U.S. military base in southern Afghanistan and allegedly killed eight Afghan adults and nine children.
Some of the security changes have been subtle, others not so much.
In several Afghan ministries, Americans are now allowed to carry weapons. And they have been instructed to rearrange their office desks there to face the door, so they can see who is coming in, said a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
More on link
Final Afghan report quietly released
Article Link
Canada achieved 33 of its 44 objectives, but PM admits work 'remains to be done'
By Jeff Davis, Ottawa Citizen March 30, 2012
The federal government quietly released on Thursday the final report on Canada's mission in Afghanistan, a document which shows mixed results on Canada's "signature" development projects.
Unlike the 13 previous quarterly reports, this one includes a reflective foreword penned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself.
"This provides an occasion for all Canadians to pause and reflect on what Canada has achieved in supporting international security and the dreams and aspirations of the Afghan people between 2008 and 2011, and on the work that remains to be done," Harper wrote.
NDP defence critic Jack Harris described the report - particularly the timing of its release on budget day - as "largely self-serving."
"It's written in a mission-accomplished style, but everybody knows Afghanistan is very much a work in progress with an uncertain future," he said. "It basically says this is all over, when, in fact, we still have 950 troops still in Afghanistan with a great expenditure of Canadian dollars, with questionable results frankly."
More on link
Bin Laden 'fathered four children' while on the run
Article Link
30 March 2012
Osama Bin Laden fathered four children while on the run, the wife who bore them has told Pakistani officials.
Amal Abdulfattah, from Yemen, was Bin Laden's youngest wife. She was arrested after the US raid on his compound near the Pakistani capital in 2011.
She said two of her children were delivered in state hospitals, but she stayed there just "two or three hours".
Bin Laden, 54, orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington in which nearly 3,000 people died.
He evaded the forces of the US and its allies for almost a decade, despite a $25m (£15m) bounty on his head.
Family 'scattered'
According to a report of the interrogation carried out by Pakistani investigators, Ms Abdulfattah, who came from a family with 17 children, married Bin Laden because "she had a desire to marry a Mujahideen", or holy warrior.
Along with three other wives found living at the residence, she was charged with entering and living illegally in the country.
The report recommends that the 30-year-old and her children be immediately deported.
More on link
Meet the Taliban transvestites: Rebels are captured dressed in drag
Article Link
By Graham Smith 29 March 2012
U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan have assigned 'guardian angels' - troops who watch over their comrades even as they sleep - as part of a series of increased security measures to protect troops against possible rogue attacks.
The added protections are part of a directive issued in recent weeks by Marine General John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to guard against insider threats.
And they come in the wake of a spike in attacks on U.S. and coalition forces by Afghans, including the point-blank shooting deaths of two U.S. advisers in Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior.
The lengths the Taliban are prepared to go to in order to gain access to coalition forces was illustrated yesterday when local police arrested seven men dressed in women's clothing in Mehterlam, Laghman province, east of Kabul.
Tensions have increased in recent weeks, most noticeably after Staff Sergeant Robert Bales wandered off a U.S. military base in southern Afghanistan and allegedly killed eight Afghan adults and nine children.
Some of the security changes have been subtle, others not so much.
In several Afghan ministries, Americans are now allowed to carry weapons. And they have been instructed to rearrange their office desks there to face the door, so they can see who is coming in, said a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
More on link
Final Afghan report quietly released
Article Link
Canada achieved 33 of its 44 objectives, but PM admits work 'remains to be done'
By Jeff Davis, Ottawa Citizen March 30, 2012
The federal government quietly released on Thursday the final report on Canada's mission in Afghanistan, a document which shows mixed results on Canada's "signature" development projects.
Unlike the 13 previous quarterly reports, this one includes a reflective foreword penned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself.
"This provides an occasion for all Canadians to pause and reflect on what Canada has achieved in supporting international security and the dreams and aspirations of the Afghan people between 2008 and 2011, and on the work that remains to be done," Harper wrote.
NDP defence critic Jack Harris described the report - particularly the timing of its release on budget day - as "largely self-serving."
"It's written in a mission-accomplished style, but everybody knows Afghanistan is very much a work in progress with an uncertain future," he said. "It basically says this is all over, when, in fact, we still have 950 troops still in Afghanistan with a great expenditure of Canadian dollars, with questionable results frankly."
More on link
Bin Laden 'fathered four children' while on the run
Article Link
30 March 2012
Osama Bin Laden fathered four children while on the run, the wife who bore them has told Pakistani officials.
Amal Abdulfattah, from Yemen, was Bin Laden's youngest wife. She was arrested after the US raid on his compound near the Pakistani capital in 2011.
She said two of her children were delivered in state hospitals, but she stayed there just "two or three hours".
Bin Laden, 54, orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington in which nearly 3,000 people died.
He evaded the forces of the US and its allies for almost a decade, despite a $25m (£15m) bounty on his head.
Family 'scattered'
According to a report of the interrogation carried out by Pakistani investigators, Ms Abdulfattah, who came from a family with 17 children, married Bin Laden because "she had a desire to marry a Mujahideen", or holy warrior.
Along with three other wives found living at the residence, she was charged with entering and living illegally in the country.
The report recommends that the 30-year-old and her children be immediately deported.
More on link
