The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread November 2008

[GAP]

The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread November 2008              

News only - commentary elsewhere, please.
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Articles found November 1, 2008

Canada's strategy in Afghanistan to change
By Bob Weber, THE CANADIAN PRESS
  Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canada’s strategy in Afghanistan will shift this winter, using improved Afghan security forces to seize and hold more territory now under the influence of the insurgents, the commanding officer of Task Force Kandahar said Friday.

“We now have even more capable Afghan national security forces,” said Gen. Denis Thompson. “If you’re going to increase the amount of terrain you control, the ultimate garrison is a policeman.”

Recent operations by the International Security Assistance Force in Kandahar province have focused more on disrupting insurgent operations and supply lines than on extending the range of government control.

That’s about to change, Thompson said.

Five new police substations have been built across the province and eight more are expected to be added in the coming months. Those stations will be staffed by Afghan police with western mentor teams in order to ensure “the ground we control stays in that state,” Thompson said.

“In order to deepen that hold, we need to make sure that there is not only an ISAF and (Afghan army) presence, but that the police that are there are credible and that they’re established in permanent infrastructure.”
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

Wandering Around This Great And Hospitable City, Allegedly "Baghdad At Its Worst."
Chronicles &  Dissent - Terry Glavin, Nov. 1 (photos at link)
http://transmontanus.blogspot.com/2008/11/wandering-around-this-great-city.html

Took the day off. Spent my time strolling around Murad Khane, Kabul's ancient centre, and its adjacent bazaars and neighbourhoods. Packed with people doing their afternoon shopping and errands; strangely, everybody's stock portfolios appear to have have held up here (joke). Lamb and naan for lunch. Met some Sikh spice merchants, Shujah bought a kite, that kind of thing. You can tell I'm some sort of kaffir, so people go out of their way to smile and say hello.

The trick is to vary your routines - I have no routines, check - and don't draw attention to yourself in strange and conspicuous ways - check. Do these thinks, be sensible, and Kabulis will take care of the rest:

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND NOV. 2

Elections 'vital': new NATO chief south Afghanistan
Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Oct. 22
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/netherlands/081022-NATO-chief

The new Dutch commander of international forces in southern Afghanistan says the most important measure of success is not fighting the Taliban but ensuring that next year's general election is free, fair and peaceful. Major General Mart de Kruif will take over as commander of NATO forces on 1 November.

Major General De Kruif will spend a year [emphasis added--previous commands nine months] devoting himself to a range of tasks including stopping the armed insurgency against the central government in Kabul, helping to set up reconstruction projects and ensuring good governance in the region.

He will have about 20,000 military personnel under his command, including US forces in Zabul province, the Dutch in Uruzgan, the Canadians in Kandahar and British forces in Helmand.

Taliban still active
Since 2006, Canada, Great Britain and the Netherlands have been rotating command of the NATO troops in southern Afghanistan. US troops, fighting under the banner of the anti-terrorism operation Enduring Freedom, have been stationed in the region since 2001.

The Taliban are still active in the area although NATO and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have managed to push them out of some places.

In an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide, the new NATO commander in southern Afghanistan says he does not see fighting the Taliban as his chief task. According to Major General De Kruif, his main priority is making sure that the 2009 elections pass off peacefully [emphasis added]...

Outgoing Canadian general says NATO could work better with Afghan tribes
CP, Nov. 1
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jVUs8DG7-h4A7GGXSuN934UffQdQ

Western forces in Afghanistan need to learn how to work better with local people and tribal leaders, said Canada's top general in the country.

"One issue that might be looked at is how we do better outreach with the Afghans and especially with the tribal dynamics," Maj.-Gen. Marc Lessard said Saturday as he prepared to hand over command of all ISAF forces in Afghanistan's six southern provinces.

"It really, really must be explored.

"How we do that, I'm not too sure, but that's definitely a thing we'll look at."

The complex interplay of kinship and tribe is crucial to understanding how power and influence work in Afghanistan, said Lessard.

"The tribes play an important, important role in the lives of daily Afghans. So the issue is how do you better connect the tribes with the government."

He said U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, who recently assumed command of all U.S. forces in Afghanistan not attached to ISAF, might bring some ideas from his experience in Iraq.

"Gen. Petraeus brings a lot of experience from Iraq and any new ideas are extremely welcome in this theatre."

However, Lessard cautioned that Afghanistan's tribal structure is much more complex than that of Iraq. As well, Iraq's central government is much stronger than Afghanistan's.

However, Lessard's remarks were later echoed by American Gen. David McKiernan, who commands all ISAF troops in Afghanistan.

"We will increase trying to work with local communities so that they will use some of their traditional authorities to assist us," he said [emphasis added].

Some tribal elders in rural areas outside the city of Kandahar have recently said the Afghan government has contacted them about forming a local militia to help increase security in their districts. Lessard said that's a risky strategy .

"There could be some short-term gain but I really think it's long-term pain," he said.

"We already have some militias that have not been disbanded in the southern region and they have been creating some problems. I'm not saying no, but I would be very, very leery at arming tribes [emphasis added]."

Overall, Lessard acknowledged that his nine-month term as commander [emphasis added] saw an increase in Taliban violence. But he maintained that the attacks - which ranged from roadside bombs to a spectacular raid on Kandahar's Sarposa prison that freed hundreds of insurgents and criminals - left little lasting impact...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found November 2, 2008

Outgoing Canadian general says tribal dynamics key to mission
JESSICA LEEDER Globe and Mail Update November 1, 2008 at 9:20 AM EST
Article Link

Kandahar, Afghanistan — The Canadian commander in charge of all 23,000 international troops in southern Afghanistan said military strategists may need to borrow lessons from Iraq to learn how to use tribal dynamics to increase security in the coming months.

In a final interview before handing over command of the post he has held for nine months, Major-General Marc Lessard said better outreach to tribes and tribal elders “has to be explored” by his successor, Dutch commander Major General Mart de Kruif.

His comments come as the curtain draws on a particularly difficult fighting season in southern Afghanistan that has left many residents and international observers with the perception insurgents have a renewed foothold here.

Maj.-Gen. Lessard rejected the notion that insurgents have grown stronger, and described them instead they are “extremely, extremely resilient.”
More on link

Commander in Afghanistan quits
Sat Nov 1, 2008 10:02pm GMT
Article Link

LONDON (Reuters) - A commander of the elite special forces in Afghanistan has resigned, a defence source said on Saturday, declining to give further details.

Major Sebastian Morley, a reservist commander with the Special Air Service (SAS), blamed a chronic lack of investment in equipment for the deaths of some of his soldiers, according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

He described the failure to equip his troops with heavy armoured vehicles as "cavalier at best, criminal at worst," the paper reported.

The Ministry of Defence and the government have faced repeated criticism from senior officers and politicians over equipment shortages in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Last month, a coroner said defence chiefs should "hang their heads in shame" over the lack of proper equipment and training that contributed to the death of a British soldier during a rescue in an Afghan minefield.

The Telegraph report said Morley thought his soldiers were needlessly put at risk because they were forced to travel in lightly armoured Land Rovers rather than heavier vehicles.

He blamed "chronic underinvestment" for the deaths in June of four British soldiers killed by a landmine which destroyed their Land Rover in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

One of those killed was Corporal Sarah Bryant, the first British female soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.
More on link

War Museum recreates life in the trenches
Peter Wilson, Canwest News Service Published: Saturday, November 01, 2008
Article Link

It's nightfall as I walk into the shadows and past the lone sentry sheltering inside the eight-foot deep hole. Farther along the sandbagged trench his comrade lies curled up and asleep. Above the noises of odd sniper bullets whistling by, I hear a voice. Someone is complaining about rats. Welcome to the First World War. This bleak view from a Canadian front line battle position is courtesy of the Canadian War Museum.

Two periscopes offer views above the trench line, vintage black-and-white movie footage that shows battle scenes Canadian troops would have witnessed during the 1914-18 carnage that swept Western Europe.

Even though I am walking through an exhibition and just using imagination to create the scene of a 90-year-old battlefield, it's still a little unnerving. I have to remember that just overtop these neat lines of sandbags there are no hard-faced soldiers pointing bayonet-fixed rifles in my direction, just the high-tech sound and light simulations creating my temporary reality.
More on link

Eight soldiers killed in Pakistan suicide attack: official
Article Link

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — At least eight soldiers were killed Sunday in a suicide attack on a security check post in a Pakistani tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

The bomber ploughed his explosives-laden vehicle into a checkpoint in Zalai, 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, which has become a haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.
More on link

2 abducted Bangladeshi NGO officials freed in Afghanistan  
www.chinaview.cn  2008-11-02 15:20:10    
 Article Link

   DHAKA, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Two NGO officials of Bangladesh who were abducted on Oct. 23 in Ghazni city in Afghanistan have been freed unconditionally by their abductors, private news agency UNB reported on Sunday.

   The two abducted officials of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), a leading international NGO headquartered in Bangladesh, arrived at the BRAC office in Kabul on Sunday, Director of BRAC media communication Anwarul Haq told UNB on Sunday.

   Anwarul Haq said the two officials Akhtar Ali and Shajahan Ali will be flown back to Dhaka shortly.

   Earlier, Foreign Advisor of Bangladesh caretaker government Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury urged the Afghan authorities to make all out efforts to rescue the two kidnapped Bangladesh officials.

   The adviser had also appealed to the abductors to release the innocent officials, who were engaged in development works for the Afghan people and not connected with anything else.
More on link

Pilots in Kandahar get long-awaited Chinook helicopters
Article Link
The Canadian Press

Canadian pilots are flying long-awaited transport helicopters over the Afghan battlefield.

The Canadian Air Force has confirmed that the first of six Chinook helicopters to be purchased from the United States are now at the Kandahar Airfield base.

"A small number of Canadian Forces aircrew are in Afghanistan undergoing training on these aircraft," Maj. Dave Sullivan said from Ottawa.

"They are not expected to be operational until early 2009."

Canadian crews must also be trained in the care and maintenance of the Chinooks before the helicopters can be fully worked in to battle planning.

Canada has not yet officially taken delivery of the choppers, which will cost a total of $292 million, although that is expected soon.

The deal was announced last August. Canada is buying six used CH-47D Chinooks from the United States and Canadian pilots began training on the aircraft in the U.S. over the summer.

The Chinooks are capable of carrying heavy payloads or several dozen soldiers. Their presence will reduce the need for military convoys to carry supplies and troops over Afghanistan's treacherous, bomb-laden roads.

A total of 40 out of Canada's 97 combat deaths in Afghanistan were caused by improvised explosive devices, although not all those deaths occurred during convoys.

Canada is the only major country in the ISAF alliance that doesn't have its own helicopter support, forcing its troops to rely on other nations, hitching rides when they are available.

Provision of some kind of helicopter support was one of the conditions under which Parliament extended Canada's combat mission to 2011. Helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft were both recommended by a panel led by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley.

The push to get battlefield helicopters into Kandahar was mired in defence bureaucracy for almost two years. An internal debate pitted the army, eager to reduce soldiers' exposure to deadly roadside bombs, against a frustrated air force that sought a versatile aircraft, useful in more places than just Afghanistan
More on link

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Canadian Forces find, destroy 680 kg of IEDs
Updated Sun. Nov. 2 2008 11:44 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The Canadian Forces in Afghanistan destroyed about 680 kilograms of material that was to be used to make improvised explosive devices, Canadian military officials said Sunday.

The Forces' Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team destroyed about 100 IEDs, which pose one of the biggest threats to the lives of both coalition troops and civilians in the war-torn country.

Military officials say that nearly 90 per cent of IEDs and other bombs in Kandahar City are found and destroyed before they can be detonated. They say local residents are becoming more willing to report explosives when they spot them.

"We've seen a dramatic change in the way we find IEDs and the way local nationals know what's going on," said one member of the EOD team who can't be identified. "So the information is coming our way, so we're more proactive. We can actually be two steps ahead of the bomber."

Assistance from locals not only gets bombs off the streets, officials say, but also shows that trust is growing between Afghans and members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

"IEDs are the largest threat to both Afghan nationals here as well as to Canadian Forces and coalition forces in ISAF," said Major Vance White. "So working with the Kandaharis to build their confidence in not only coalition forces but also their local security forces, it's very important."

The area southwest of Kandahar City, close to where the majority of Canadian forces in Afghanistan are stationed, is well known for insurgent activity, which includes the setting of roadside IEDs.

The devices are responsible for 40 of the 97 Canadian military fatalities in Afghanistan

 

[GAP]

Articles found November 4, 2008

France confirms aid worker abducted in Kabul 
www.chinaview.cn  2008-11-04 10:42:16 
  Article Link

    PARIS, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- A French aid worker was abducted in Afghan capital Kabul on Monday morning, the foreign ministry confirmed.

    French authorities have begun rescue efforts, the ministry said in a press communique

The abducted worker has worked for a non-governmental organization based in France, it said.

    A local Afghan, who happened to be on the spot and tried to prevent the kidnapping, was shot dead by the kidnappers, local media cited the Afghan Interior Ministry as reporting.

    Afghan police have launched large-scale rescue operations around the place where the incident happened, local media reported.

    Kidnappings have been frequent in and around the capital recently. On Oct. 12, a Canadian woman correspondent was kidnapped in Kabul and there is so far no information about her whereabouts.
More on link

Spy chief gunned down in Afghanistan
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The deputy intelligence chief in Afghanistan's Kandahar province has been shot dead, authorities said Tuesday.

Azizullah, who like many Afghans went by one name, was shot at 6 p.m. (0630 GMT) Monday by gunmen on a motorbike in the city of Kandahar, capital of the province of the same name, said Abdul Qayoom Katawazi, head of intelligence in Kandahar.

The province's police chief, Matiullah Qaneh, said Azizullah was killed while going home from his office.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on their Web site.

On Sunday, gunmen in the city of Kandahar, killed a police trainer as he was on his way to work.
end

OBAMA'S AFGHAN COMMITMENT
An Obama presidency may put renewed pressure on Western European NATO members to help Canada in Afghanistan
Mike Blanchfield ,  Canwest News Service Published: Monday, November 03, 2008
Article Link

OTTAWA - They loved him in Berlin, but will they be able to say no if he calls for their sons and daughters to fight, and risk their lives, on Afghanistan's bloodiest battlefields?

With Barack Obama the likely victor in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, many are excited about the new American face he will bring to world affairs.

For Canada, there is no more urgent need than to bolster military resources in Afghanistan, particularly to prod a few reluctant NATO allies into sharing the burden in fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan's violent south.

Obama has raised expectations about a renewed American focus in Afghanistan, suggesting recently that as many as 12,000 additional U.S. troops be deployed in the region.

"I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights," Obama told the Democratic national convention in August.

But implicit in Obama's commitment to refocus on Afghanistan is something else: that he may come calling on America's friends to do more as well.

That could put renewed pressure on Western European NATO members, such as Italy, Spain and Germany, where Obama addressed an adoring throng of 200,000 in Berlin this summer.

An Obama presidency could get Canada the help in Afghanistan that it has been seeking for so long, said Charles Doran, director of the Center of Canadian Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

That's because an Obama administration and the Conservative government of Stephen Harper would find themselves on the same page when it comes to the sharing of the combat burden within NATO.
More on link

40 tons narcotics destroyed, 2 militants killed in S Afghanistan 
  Article Link
www.chinaview.cn  2008-11-04 08:53:15   

    KABUL, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Afghan forces and the U.S.-led Coalition forces dismantled a drug-making facility and destroyed more than 40 metric-tons of hashish in southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Monday, according to Coalition statement on Tuesday.

    "The combined forces were conducting a search of an area in Spin Boldak district known for insurgent activities when the facility was discovered," the statement said.

    It also quoted spokesman of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan Greg Julian as saying "Today's discovery clearly demonstrated the links between the Taliban and drug trafficking."

    "The huge amount of drugs destroyed today will greatly hinder the Taliban's ability to fund their ongoing, hopeless struggle tosubjugate the Afghan people," it added. "No ANSF, Coalition forces or civilian casualties have been reported."

    In another engagement on Monday, Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces also killed two militants in Maywand district of Kandahar province.
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

Military sees Obama as key to victory in Afghanistan
Democrat's popularity abroad will make European nations less reluctant to contribute more troops, generals believe
Globe and Mail, Nov. 4, by Doug Saunders
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081104.wcampafghan04/BNStory/Business/

LONDON — In normally hawkish military and diplomatic circles, it is being called an "Obama boost": a widespread belief that the war in Afghanistan may be winnable only if Barack Obama is elected president tonight.

To a surprising degree, military and government officials in the United States and Europe have pegged their hopes for victory in Afghanistan or a reduction in violence to Mr. Obama's ability to win over skeptical European audiences and persuade them to contribute large numbers of troops to a war that is widely seen to be in serious trouble.

Amid fast-increasing violence and declining public support in Afghanistan, many top U.S., British and Canadian military commanders and government officials involved with the war say in private discussions that they believe the Afghan war will be lost unless a large number of additional soldiers and civil workers - a number that ranges from 60,000 to more than 100,000 - is sent to Afghanistan by the end of next year.

There are currently about 64,000 troops in Afghanistan, including 2,500 Canadian soldiers. To bring about this effective doubling in troops at a time when NATO has had difficulty getting its member countries to contribute even 2,000 additional soldiers, officials are counting on an Obama victory.

"The Europeans are likely to be more accommodating of the next administration to increase their own troop presence," said James Dobbins, who was President George W. Bush's envoy to Afghanistan. "And I think Obama, if he becomes the next president, is greatly more popular in Europe. So I think there's a honeymoon, and he'll have more leverage to increase troops ... the effect is there, and it's not negligible."

Mr. Obama, whose campaign has focused on the war in Afghanistan far more than that of his Republican opponent, John McCain, has pledged to remove all U.S. soldiers from Iraq within 16 months and shift the military focus to Afghanistan.

This would contribute as many as 40,000 soldiers to the Afghan war, though some analysts say that in practice the contingent would be more in the range of 25,000 to 30,000, or about half the required number.

The other half would have to come from North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, including Canada and most European countries, which have been reluctant to contribute more troops.

This is where the military is putting its hopes on Mr. Obama.

A British general said in an off-the-record briefing last month that he believes "a five-figure number" of soldiers can be made available by Western European countries including Britain, but are being held back because of a desire to avoid seeming to support the Bush administration.

An Obama victory, he said, would provide an even greater number of troops.

"I would say that there is a reasonable prospect of Obama getting the Europeans to do more," said Charles Kupchan, a former U.S. National Security Council director who is now a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

"One reason has to do with discomfort with President Bush, the war in Iraq, and U.S. foreign policy during the past eight years. And the discomfort with U.S. policy creates a domestic environment across Europe which makes it harder for European governments to step up to the plate in Afghanistan. Having Obama in the White House will engender goodwill, which will buy European governments more room for manoeuvre, more latitude to act."..

A Quiet Deal With Pakistan
Washington Post, Nov. 4, by David Ignatius
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/03/AR2008110302638.html

Pakistan is publicly complaining about U.S. airstrikes. But the country's new chief of intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, visited Washington last week for talks with America's top military and spy chiefs, and everyone seemed to come away smiling.

They could pat themselves on the back, for starters, for the assassination of Khalid Habib, al-Qaeda's deputy chief of operations. According to Pakistani officials, he was killed on Oct. 16 by a Predator strike in the Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan. Habib, reckoned by some to be the No. 4 leader in al-Qaeda, was involved in recruiting operatives for future terrorist attacks against the United States.

The hit on Habib attests to the growing cooperation -- in secret -- between the United States and Pakistan in the high-stakes war along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, which U.S. intelligence officials regard as the crucial front in the war on terrorism.

The CIA had been gunning for Habib for several years, including a January 2006 Predator attack that produced false reports that he had been killed. The agency has needed better human intelligence on the ground, and improved liaison with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, may help.

Behind the stepped-up Predator missions in recent weeks is a secret understanding between the United States and Pakistan about the use of these drones. Given Pakistani sensitivities about American meddling, this accord has been shielded in the deniable world of intelligence activities. Officially, the Pakistanis oppose any violation of their airspace, and the Pakistani defense minister issued a public protest yesterday about the Predator raids. But that's not the whole story.

The secret accord was set after the September visit to Washington by Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari. It provided new mechanics for coordination of Predator attacks and a jointly approved list of high-value targets. Behind the agreement was a recognition by the Zardari government, and by Pakistan's new military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, that the imminent threat to Pakistan's security comes from Islamic terrorists rather than from arch-rival India.

The approved target list includes, in addition to al-Qaeda operatives, some Afghan warlords who were once sheltered by the ISI, including Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Haqqani family network and Taliban leader Mohammad Omar. Also on the target list is Baitullah Mehsud, often described as the leader of the Pakistani Taliban.

The ground war in the tribal areas is the Pakistanis' responsibility, and they report some recent success. The most aggressive campaign has been in the district of Bajaur, just east of the Afghan province of Kunar. In August, the Pakistani military began attacking al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters there. When troops were stymied by a network of tunnels, the Pakistanis called in their own air attacks...

U.S. Airstrikes Creating Tension, Pakistan Warns
Washington Post, Nov. 4
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/03/AR2008110300902.html

Pakistan's defense minister cautioned the newly appointed head of the U.S. Central Command on Monday that launching further missile strikes in the country's troubled tribal areas could increase tensions between the two nations.

Pakistani Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar issued the blunt warning to Gen. David H. Petraeus during his first official visit to Pakistan after taking over command last week of U.S. military strategy in a region that includes Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan. Mukhtar, who also called for more coordination between the U.S. and Pakistani militaries, said the recent increase in U.S.-led cross-border strikes had created "bad blood" between the two allies. On Friday, 27 people were killed in two U.S. airstrikes in northwest Pakistan.

The Pakistani Defense Ministry said in a statement released shortly after the meeting that frequent attacks inside Pakistan by U.S. Predator drones "could generate anti-American sentiments" and "create outrage and uproar" among Pakistanis.

Petraeus, who took charge of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on Friday, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard A. Boucher, met with Mukhtar and Pakistan's top military officer, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani. It was part of the first leg of a tour that is expected to soon include a visit to Afghanistan...

The visit comes after sharp diplomatic clashes between American and Pakistani officials over U.S. military action in Pakistani territory in recent months. At least 100 people have been killed in 17 U.S.-led strikes in the tribal areas of North and South Waziristan, including at least 15 in a cross-border ground raid Sept. 3. Pakistani officials protested the strikes, saying they are counterproductive...

...Pakistani officials have begun to arm tribal militias in the largely lawless northwest and encourage them to fight pro-Taliban insurgents. But skepticism remains because the tactic has been tried before with little success.

A similar idea has been proposed in Afghanistan. However, some NATO officials have expressed doubts that the approach would be easily grafted onto the war there. On Saturday, Maj. Gen. Marc Lessard, the outgoing Canadian chief of NATO's command in southern Afghanistan, cautioned that efforts to arm locals against insurgents might be complicated by intricate family and tribal ties unique to the region [emphasis added]. 

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND NOV. 5

Obama election won't affect Afghan troop pullout: Cannon
CP, Nov. 5
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=n110587A

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon says the election of Barack Obama will not affect Canada's decision to pull its troops out of Afghanistan.

The president-elect has promised an influx of U.S. troops into the chaotic central-Asian nation, which he describes as the central front in the global struggle against terrorism.

But every political party in Canada has said this country's 2,500 troops should leave once their current assignment expires in 2011.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made his own view explicitly clear during the recent federal election, when he said it was time to put an end date on Canada's military commitment.

Cannon was asked today whether Obama's arrival in the White House would change that - and he replied with a categorical 'No.'

He told The Canadian Press that Canada's position "will not change with respect to our decision to withdraw our troops in 2011."

The United States already has 36,000 troops in Afghanistan, and Obama has promised to send up to 12,000 more while scaling down operations in Iraq.

Karzai 'demands' Obama end civilian deaths
AP, Nov. 5
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=w110551A

Afghan President Hamid Karzai made an immediate demand of Barack Obama on Wednesday, saying the president-elect must prevent civilian casualties as Afghan villagers alleged that air strikes killed or wounded dozens of women and children in a wedding party.

No Afghan officials could immediately confirm the number of alleged casualties, but Karzai referred to the incident at a news conference held to congratulate Obama on his U.S. presidential election victory.

Karzai said he hopes the election will "bring peace to Afghanistan, life to Afghanistan and prosperity to the Afghan people and the rest of the world." He applauded America for its "courage" in electing Obama.

But he also used the occasion to immediately press Obama to find a way to prevent civilians casualties in operations by foreign forces. He then said air strikes had caused deaths in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.

"Our demand is that there will be no civilian casualties in Afghanistan. We cannot win the fight against terrorism with air strikes," Karzai said. "This is my first demand of the new president of the United States - to put an end to civilian casualties."

The U.S. military said it had no immediate information on the incident. Canadian ground troops operate in the region, but it was known if Canada's military had any involvement.

The alleged air strikes come only three months after the Afghan government found that a U.S. operation killed some 90 civilians in western Afghanistan. A U.S. report said 33 civilians died in that attack.

Another incident with a high number of civilian casualties could severely strain U.S.-Afghan relations.

Two Afghan villagers told The Associated Press on Wednesday that dozens of women and children had been killed or wounded in air strikes Monday in Shah Wali Kot. A local government official, speaking on condition he wasn't identified because revealing the information could cause him problems, said deaths had occurred. He did not have a precise figure.

One villager, Mohammad Zahir, 35, said Taliban militants had fired on a U.S. convoy near the village of Rosi Khan on Monday, and air strikes later hit a wedding party in the village. Wedding parties in Afghanistan are segregated by gender, and Zahir said the airstrike hit the women's party.

Zahir said he personally counted 36 dead bodies. He said two were men and the rest were women and children. He estimated many more dozens of people had been killed and wounded.

The second villager, Mohammad Nabi Khan, said he saw about 50 bodies. He said two of his sons, ages 4 and 11, and his wife's brother were among the dead.

"There's a lot of casualties," he said, speaking at Kandahar's main hospital where he was visiting wounded relatives. "Most of them were women and children. Many are still buried under the rubble of homes."

"What kind of security are the foreign troops providing in Afghanistan?" he asked.

Rosi Khan is a remote village some two hours by road north of Kandahar city, a rural region that is difficult for humanitarian officials and journalists to reach quickly...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[geo]

Army interpreter found guilty of spying for Iran in Afghanistan

Independent, UK
By Kim Sengupta
Thursday, 6 November 2008

Soldier who worked for British commander caught with secret Nato documents

A British soldier who worked as an interpreter for the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan was yesterday found guilty of spying for Iran. Corporal Daniel James was arrested after US intelligence intercepted emails and phone calls he made to a military attaché at the Iranian embassy in Kabul.

James, born in Iran, was caught with confidential documents meant only for Nato's supreme commander based at Mons in Belgium and photographs of Predator spy planes. The 45-year-old Territorial Army corporal, born Esmail Mohammed Beigi Gamasai in Tehran, acted as an interpreter for General Sir David Richards, now the new head of the British Army, and accompanied him on meetings with Afghan and Western dignitaries.

The prosecution at the Old Bailey said he had begun spying for Iran because he felt he was the victim of racism in the Army which had led to his promotion being blocked. He told one soldier: "They will have their comeuppance."

He contacted Colonel Mohammed Hossein Heydari at the Iranian embassy in Kabul. In one of his email messages to him James wrote: "In the north Iran/Iraq border they are setting up a military camp. All the ground forces are there." In another he wrote: "I have a good present for you."

Intelligence officers told the court that James's treachery could have cost the lives of British soldiers, and Mark Dennis QC, for ther prosecution, described his actions as "the height of betrayal". Western officials had accused the Iranians of trying to sabotage Nato operations in the country and helping the insurgency.

James, who moved to Britain at the age of 17, was found guilty of one count under the Official Secrets Act yesterday in relation to the emails and phone calls. The jury is continuing to deliberate on a second charge under the Act regarding a USB memory stick found in his possession allegedly containing classified material as well as a third count of misconduct in public office.

James, a flamboyant character, taught salsa at Nato HQ and once asked General Richards to join one of his classes, an invitation the general said he "respectfully declined". He built up a reputation, the court was told, for being an eccentric and "a bit of a Walter Mitty". But the British Army was acutely short of personnel who spoke the Afghan languages, Pashtu and Dari, and James's linguistic skills and cultural knowledge of the region was thought to have been of great value, the court was told.

James, who worked as a casino croupier in Brighton, was arrested in December 2006 at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on his way back to Afghan-istan after returning from a hurriedly organised trip to Amsterdam, which he is said to have organised after correspondence with Col Heydari. In evidence, James said that he used "black magic" to protect General Richards from the Taliban and he had used the same skills on himself to recover from two strokes and an operation to repair a hole in his heart.

He claimed he had contacted the Iranian embassy to "facilitate energy transaction" between Afghanistan and Iran and improve relations between Tehran and Washington.

The photos of the Predator planes were widely available publicly and the material on the USB stick had been passed on to him by an officer for work-related reasons


From 'Great Game' to Grand Bargain in Afghanistan Daily Star - Lebanon
By Barnett R. Rubin and Ahmed Rashid
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Lebanon

The "Great Game" is no fun anymore. Nineteenth-century British imperialists used that term to describe the British-Russian struggle for mastery in Afghanistan and Central Asia. More than a century later, the game continues. But now, the number of players has exploded, those living on the chessboard have become players, and the intensity of the violence and the threats that it produces affect the entire globe.

Afghanistan has been at war for three decades, and that war is spreading to Pakistan and beyond. A timeout needs to be called so that the players, including President-elect Barack Obama, can negotiate a new bargain for the region.

Securing Afghanistan and its region will require an international presence for many years. Building up Afghanistan's security forces is at most a stopgap measure, as the country cannot sustain forces of the size that it now needs. Only a regional and global agreement to place Afghanistan's stability above other objectives can make long-term stability possible by enabling Afghanistan to survive with security forces that it can afford. Such agreement, however, will require political and diplomatic initiatives both inside and outside of the country.

In Afghanistan, the United States and NATO must make clear that they are at war with Al-Qaeda and those who support its global objectives, but have no objection if either the Afghan or Pakistani government negotiates with insurgents who renounce ties to Osama bin Laden. In exchange for such guarantees, international forces could largely withdraw, leaving a force to secure a political agreement and to train Afghan security forces.

But a political settlement within Afghanistan cannot succeed without a regional grand bargain. The first Great Game was resolved a century ago by making Afghanistan a buffer state in which outsiders did not interfere. Today, however, Afghanistan is the scene not only of the "war on terror," but also of longstanding Afghan-Pakistani disputes, the India-Pakistan conflict, domestic struggles in Pakistan, US-Iranian antagonism, Russian concerns about NATO, Sunni-Shiite rivalry, and struggles over regional energy infrastructure.

These conflicts will continue as long as the US treats stabilizing Afghanistan as subordinate to other goals, accompanied by all the risks entailed by terrorist resurgence and a regional security crisis. This is why Obama must adopt a bold diplomatic initiative that encompasses the entire region and help resolve longstanding disputes between Afghanistan's neighbors. Such an initiative must include a comprehensive regional aid and development package.

In addition, the US must rebalance its regional posture by reducing its dependence on Pakistan's military. Obama will need firmly to support Pakistan's fragile elected government as it tries to gain control over the army and intelligence apparatus and thus reverse decades of support for militants. Dialogue with Iran and Russia over common interests in Afghanistan - both helped the US in 2001 - would place more pressure on Pakistan. At the same time, the US and other powers with a stake in Afghanistan must seek to reduce Indian activities in Afghanistan that Pakistan sees as threatening, or, if those policies are not threatening, assure greater transparency for them.

This objective requires more than "pressuring" Pakistan. The Pakistani security establishment believes that it faces a US-Indian-Afghan alliance aimed at undermining Pakistani influence in Afghanistan and even dismembering the Pakistani state. Civilian leaders evaluate Pakistan's national interests differently, but they, too, cannot be indifferent to Pakistan's chronic sense of insecurity.

Pakistan does not have border agreements with either India, with whom it disputes the incorporation of Kashmir, or Afghanistan, which has never explicitly recognized the Durand Line, the frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan also claims that the Northern Alliance, part of the anti-Taliban resistance in Afghanistan, is working with India from within Afghanistan's security services. And the US-India nuclear deal effectively recognizes India's legitimacy as a nuclear power while continuing to treat Pakistan, with its record of proliferation, as a pariah.

Pressure will not work if Pakistan's leaders believe that their country's survival is at stake. Instead, the new US administration should help to create a broad multilateral framework for the region, one aimed at building a genuine consensus on the goal of achieving Afghan stability by addressing the legitimate sources of Pakistan's insecurity while strengthening opposition to disruptive Pakistani behavior.

A first step could be establishing a contact group for the region, authorized by the United Nations Security Council. This contact group could promote dialogue between India and Pakistan about their respective interests in Afghanistan and about finding a solution to the Kashmir dispute; seek a long-term political strategy from the Pakistani government for the future of the tribal agencies; move Afghanistan and Pakistan toward discussions on frontier issues, and promote a regional plan for economic development and integration. China, the largest investor in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, could help finance projects of common interest.

A successful initiative will require exploratory talks and an evolving road map. Today, such suggestions may seem audacious, naive, or impossible; but, without such audacity, there is little hope for Afghanistan, Pakistan, or the region as a whole.


Canada won't rethink 2011 Afghanistan pullout after Obama win: Cannon

CBC News
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The election of a new U.S. president who has vowed to deploy thousands more troops into Afghanistan won't cause Canada to reconsider its decision to pull out of the country by 2011, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Wednesday.

The United States already has 36,000 troops in Afghanistan, and Barack Obama promised during his campaign for the presidency to send up to 12,000 more while scaling down operations in Iraq.

But Cannon said Obama's election would have no impact on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to withdraw Canadian forces from the country.

"We welcome the renewed focus on Afghanistan on behalf of the president-elect," Cannon said. "The U.S. interest won't change our opinion or intention to withdraw our forces in 2011."

Cannon, who took over the Foreign Affairs portfolio from retiring Conservative MP David Emerson, also insisted that Canadian soldiers would not be redeployed away from the volatile Kandahar province to safer parts of the country after the date.

Harper made his own view explicitly clear during the recent federal election, when he said it was time to put an end date on Canada's military commitment.

Karzai urges halting air strikes Obama, the Democratic candidate, had been opposed to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 from the beginning, saying it distracted the focus and critically needed military resources away from the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Following Obama's election victory Tuesday night, Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded that the newly-elected leader change U.S. tactics to reduce the number of civilian casualties, particularly from air strikes in recent months.

It came as villagers said U.S. warplanes killed 37 people — nearly all of them women and children — during a cat-and-mouse hunt for militants.

"We cannot win the fight against terrorism with air strikes," President Hamid Karzai said. "This is my first demand of the new president of the United States — to put an end to civilian casualties."

The alleged strikes came only three months after the Afghan government concluded that a U.S. operation killed some 90 civilians in western Afghanistan. After initially denying any civilians had died in that attack, a U.S. report ultimately concluded that 33 were killed.

Canada has about 2,500 troops stationed in Afghanistan, mostly in Kandahar. Since 2002, 98 Canadians have died in Afghanistan.

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND NOV. 6

Taliban spurred air strike on civilians, official says
Globe and Mail, Nov. 6
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081106.AFGHANISTAN06//TPStory/Front

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Taliban insurgents in a remote village northeast of Kandahar provoked an attack by coalition troops that devastated a wedding party on Monday and resulted in dozens of civilian deaths, the top politician in Kandahar has told The Globe and Mail.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, chairman of Kandahar's provincial council, said he and his brother, President Hamid Karzai, were told by villagers during a teleconference yesterday that between 300 and 350 Taliban fighters invaded Wech Baghtu, a mountain village in the district of Shah Wali Kowt, 60 kilometres northeast of Kandahar city, during the lead-up to a wedding ceremony. Inside the village, insurgents stationed themselves on rooftops, including those of homes that were holding wedding events.

From there they began firing rocket-propelled grenades at a convoy of four military vehicles, Ahmed Karzai said he and his brother were told. The troops retaliated on a massive scale, killing and injuring dozens of villagers, including several family members of the bride and groom.

The precise number of casualties has yet to be determined, but figures reported by witnesses and district leaders range from 38 to 90 dead.

As of yesterday about 50 victims, most of them women, had checked into Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar with serious injuries, including burns and severed limbs. Some with more severe injuries were taken to Quetta, Pakistan, district elders said.

It remains unclear from reports gathered from survivors whether troops launched an air strike or a mortar attack on the village. Women who were helping the bride plait her hair before the wedding told a Globe researcher they remembered hearing shooting, but they blacked out when bombs struck the mud-walled home.

When the women awoke, they said, they were with the bride in hospital.

While none of the coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan has taken responsibility for the attack, the U.S. military and the Afghan Ministry of the Interior announced a joint investigation into the incident.

"Though the facts are unclear at this point, we take very seriously our responsibility to protect the people of Afghanistan and to avoid circumstances where non-combatant civilians are placed at risk, said Commander Jeff Bender, a spokesman for the U.S. military.

"If innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologize and express our condolences to the families and the people of Afghanistan. We have dispatched coalition personnel to the site to quickly assess the situation and take actions as appropriate."

Although Canadian troops are responsible for Kandahar province, the Canadian Forces is adamant about its lack of involvement in the attack [emphasis added], which came to light late Tuesday after victims began arriving at Mirwais Hospital.

Major Jay Janzen, a spokesman for the Canadian military, said troops do occasionally patrol the district centre of Shah Wali Kowt, but rarely venture the 20 kilometres north to the village that was attacked...

Airstrikes in Afghanistan increase 31%
USA Today, Nov. 5
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-11-05-afghanstrikes_N.htm

Air missions to back U.S. troops on the ground have increased by 31% in Afghanistan this year, as fighting in the country spreads.

The growing reliance on air power raises the risk of injuring civilians and their property and reflects a shortage of ground forces needed to protect civilians and root out insurgents, ground commanders and military experts say.

"If we got more boots on the ground, we would not have to rely as much on" airstrikes, said Army Brig. Gen. Michael Tucker, deputy commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Ground commanders in Afghanistan have asked for an additional three combat brigades and an array of support forces, which could amount to about 20,000 more troops.

The air missions, called close air support, are airstrikes requested by ground forces engaged with the enemy.

Insurgents pounce on reports of civilian casualties, often exaggerating or fictionalizing the number of injured or killed in an effort to turn public opinion against the coalition, officials say.

"Insurgent propaganda is specifically targeting air power because of its effectiveness," said Col. Albert Elton, a planner at the Air Force Special Operations Command.

Communications intercepts have overheard insurgents discussing the hyping of casualty reports, Tucker said.

An insurgent commander in August told colleagues that an allied airstrike had killed seven people, according to an intercepted conversation. "Make sure you tell the reporters it was at least 70," the commander ordered, Tucker said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has emphasized the need to immediately compensate any victims of coalition strikes and quickly investigate the circumstances.

Airstrikes have grown more precise, but they still pose a risk of civilian casualties and property damage.

"Close air support is a last resort," Tucker said in a telephone interview from Afghanistan.

Allied aircraft have flown 13,802 such missions through September, up from 10,538 for the same period last year, according to the Combined Air and Space Operations Center, which coordinates the air wars over Iraq and Afghanistan.

Such missions are requested by ground forces generally to target enemy positions. However, some strikes are canceled and pilots return to base without using munitions.

Aircraft dropped about 2,983 bombs this year, up from 2,764 during the same period last year.

"Air power is far more precise than it use to be, but is still not as precise as a soldier on the ground," said John Nagl, a retired Army officer and counterinsurgency expert.

Getting additional ground forces to Afghanistan will take time. The Pentagon has said the ability to move reinforcements to Afghanistan will depend on how fast forces can leave Iraq, where security is improving.

There are about 60,000 allied forces in Afghanistan, including 32,000 Americans. That's far fewer than the 150,000 U.S. forces in Iraq, a smaller country in size and population.

Air power will remain important in Afghanistan regardless of the number of ground troops there, mostly because of the country's steep, rugged terrain. By contrast, most fighting in Iraq was in large cities where airstrikes are difficult.

In Afghanistan, ground forces operate in small units, often outside the range of artillery and other firepower. Aircraft can deliver firepower quickly when coalition forces come under attack.

"I guarantee guys on the ground are appreciative of having that at their disposal," said Sam Brennan, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"When you're spread kind of thin, sometimes the cavalry has wings," Tucker said.

Combat Brigade Is Cut 6 Weeks Early in Iraq
Reduction in Violence Speeds Departure
Washington Post, Nov. 6
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110504143.html

Gen. David H. Petraeus has decided to reduce the number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq from 15 to 14 about six weeks earlier than planned, as a result of dramatically lower violence there, Pentagon officials said yesterday.

"The hope is they can come home before Christmas," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said of the decision.

The plan accelerates the withdrawal from Iraq of a 101st Airborne Division brigade of 3,500 to 4,000 troops that will not be replaced. Another brigade from the 10th Mountain Division that was scheduled to go to Iraq in its place will instead deploy to Afghanistan, as announced earlier this fall.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has stated that further increases in U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan -- where American commanders say they need three more brigades and thousands of support forces to combat a growing insurgency -- will be contingent upon further withdrawals from Iraq next year [emphasis added].

Underpinning the decision to speed the brigade's return is a continuing drop in attacks and troop casualties in Iraq, officials said. October had fewer than 1,000 "security incidents" nationwide in Iraq, the lowest monthly number since January 2004, Morrell said...

Customs seize right-hand drive cars
Traders complain vehicles have been impounded for more than a year
Quqnoos.com, Nov. 6
http://quqnoos.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1962&Itemid=73

CAR dealers attempting to import right-hand drive vehicles into the country have had the cars seized by customs officials on the Afghan-Iran border.

Dealers say the Finance Ministry granted them permission to import right-hand drive vehicles, a law that was later overturned by the traffic department making it illegal to import them.

The cars have been impounded by Herat’s customs officials for the past year.

Haji Ghafar Durani, a merchant, said: "We have the president’s permission and the cabinet’s and finance ministry’s approval to import right-hand cars into the country.

"We have sold hundreds of such cars and we have also exported them back to other countries."

The Finance Ministry said traders could import the vehicles for spare parts as long as they were then exported back to their home countries and were not used in Afghanistan.

But the ministry now says the traffic department passed a new law making it illegal to import right-hand drive cars.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, Aziz Shams, said: "The ministry after the new law by the traffic department can not allow the right-hand drive cars to be accepted in the custom offices, and this has turned into a big problem now."

Shir Jan, a businessman, said: "We have lost millions of Afghanis because of this. Customs are holding onto goods that belong to about 80 merchants in Herat, and the government must solve our problem."  (via Moby Media Updates)
http://mobygroup.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=8&Itemid=50

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found November 7, 2008

Afghan aid to insurgents alleged in attack on U.S. troops
By M. Karim Faiez and Laura King November 7, 2008
Article Link

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Istanbul, Turkey -- A U.S. military report released Thursday says at least two local Afghan officials were believed to have colluded in a July attack by insurgents on a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan that killed nine U.S. soldiers.

It was the largest loss of American troops' lives in a single land battle since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001. The intense, hours-long assault by an estimated 200 Taliban fighters, during which the lightly manned outpost was nearly overrun, also left 27 U.S. soldiers and four Afghan troops injured.
More on link

Australian input into US war strategy
Daniel Flitton November 8, 2008
Article Link

AUSTRALIA has scored a key role overhauling US strategy in Afghanistan before Barack Obama moves into the White House.

Top American General David Petraeus has ordered the classified review to look at war plans in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

About 100 military specialists, known as the Joint Strategic Assessment Team, will help with the wide-ranging assessment and are expected to report in February.

The Age believes that four Australians have joined the team, with at least two analysts drawn from the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

The task is expected to include on-the-ground inspections in Afghanistan following a spike in Taliban attacks over recent months.

Work will also be carried out in the Middle East from the major US base in Qatar.

Sources have also told The Age that the incoming deputy commander of the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan, British Royal Marines Major-General Jim Dutton, visited Canberra this week for high-level talks with Australian counterparts.
More on link

Ottawa postpones awarding controversial combat medal
Linda Nguyen ,  Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Article Link

OTTAWA - The Department of Defence has quietly postponed an awards ceremony scheduled for next week to honour Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan with a Sacrifice Medal, following public complaints that the qualifications for the medals are unfair.

The new medal, unveiled last August by the Governor General's office, was to be awarded to families of soldiers killed or seriously injured during combat in Afghanistan.

But more than a dozen soldiers killed in Afghanistan do not qualify for the medal under the current criteria. They are soldiers who died as a result of vehicle rollovers, accidental shootings or other non-combat mishaps - including one soldier who died falling down a well during a night patrol.

"I've had calls from right across Canada from people, from retired generals, retired lieutenant-colonels and they said they were certainly making calls to Ottawa on our behalf also," said Ben Walsh of Regina. He's been urging the government to change the medal rules since learning his son, Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh - killed in Afghanistan in August 2006 as the result of an accidental shooting by a fellow soldier - won't be eligible.

"Canadians are upset about this," he said. "Canadians are behind our family and other families and they do want to see all these soldiers get a medal."

An online petition supporting a review of the criteria had gathered more than 4,600 signatures as of Wednesday.

As a result, the department requested last week a postponement of the awards ceremony, according to the Governor General's office.
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

Afghanistan, Pakistan and world order
Conference of Defence Associations' media update, Nov. 7
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1226083618

Mark
Ottawa

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Canadian journalist safe after Afghan abduction
Updated Sat. Nov. 8 2008 4:05 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A CBC journalist abducted by Afghan kidnappers was released without a ransom Saturday after a nearly month-long abduction.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper declined to reveal the circumstances around the release of Mellissa Fung, who was kidnapped on Oct. 12, but he was clear that "no ransom was paid by anyone in this case."

Harper added that he spoke to Fung by phone and said she seemed to be in "remarkably good spirits.

"A short while ago I was pleased to speak with Mellissa myself to convey our great joy and best wishes on behalf of all Canadians," he said.

Fung, who has reported on the plight of refugees in Afghanistan, had been returning from a camp for displaced people in the western slums of Kabul on Oct. 12 when gunmen took her by force.

Fung was on her second reporting assignment to Afghanistan when she was captured.

"Ms. Fung was preparing to report on the plight of Afghan refugees and displaced persons when she was seized," said Harper.

"I commended her for her commitment as a journalist to deepening Canadians' understanding of the challenges and hardships faced by our Afghan friends and partners."

It's believed Fung's captors were criminals, not Taliban insurgents.

Because of safety concerns for the reporter, Canadian media had agreed to a news blackout on Fung's abduction.

Harper said the blackout may have been crucial to Fung's survival.

"I would like to thank members of the press who, understanding the grave risk to Ms. Fung's life, have deferred publishing this story," he said.

CTV's chief parliamentary correspondent Craig Oliver said that it's not unusual for media to agree to a blackout "so the negotiators can work free of pressure and make the kind of deals they need to make".

A statement from the CBC said Fung is now safe at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul.

"Mellissa will undergo a full medical evaluation, but early indications are that she is well," the CBC said in a statement Saturday.

"When she is ready, Ms. Fung will be re-united with her family, for which arrangements are underway."

Adam Khan Serat, spokesperson for the provincial governor in Afghanistan's Wardak province, told The Associated Press tribal elders and local council members helped secure her freedom.

Serat also said there was no ransom involved.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Joint ISAF and ANA Operation disrupts insurgents in Zhari District
NATO news release, 8 Nov 08
News release link

A joint ISAF and Afghan operation aimed at disrupting an insurgent cell responsible for planting IEDs and staging ambushes against ISAF and Afghan forces was successfully completed October 27th in the Zhari District.  The two-day operation, known as Operation ARTASH was launched in the area around Howz-e-Medad. ISAF and Afghan National Army troops worked hand-in-hand, with the support of other coalition assets, to seize several compounds that were suspected to be used by insurgents as a staging ground for their activities.  Under cover of darkness, Canadian armoured vehicles from Mike Company began blazing a trail into the location while ANA and ISAF soldiers from November Company and the Operational Mentoring Liaison Team (OMLT) discretely approached from a different direction ....


Canadian raid to free abducted journalist planned, aborted: security source
Canadian Press, 8 Nov 08
Article link - Army.ca Discussion Thread

Three days after CBC reporter Mellissa Fung was kidnapped, Canadian intelligence agents and elite commandos were confident they knew where she was being held and planned a rescue.  But as so often happens in clandestine operations, the plan to free the Canadian journalist in a lightning raid went awry, a senior intelligence source told The Canadian Press.  U.S. Special Forces conducted their own, separate hostage rescue in roughly the same area west of the Afghan capital on the night of Oct. 15, as a Canadian commando team was laying its plans to go after Fung.  "It stirred up a real hornet's nest and we thought afterwards that they had probably moved her," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.  The disclosure provided a rare glimpse behind the scenes at the extraordinary efforts the Canadian military, intelligence officers and diplomats on the ground went to in order to rescue Fung ....


Mapping 'White' Afghans aim to end civilian deaths
Tom Blackwell ,  Canwest News Service, 8 Nov 08
Article link

The Canadian government has created a new unit to help fight southern Afghanistan's relentless insurgency and rebuild its shattered society. But none of the group's five members will be wielding assault rifles or handing out development dollars.  With a mysterious-sounding name and a shadowy profile, the "white situational awareness team" has been tasked with deciphering the sometimes impenetrable Pashtun culture of the region.  Drawing on information from Canadian civilians and troops operating in Kandahar, local cultural advisers and NATO allies, the team is trying to map out the movers and shakers of the province and how they relate to each other.  Meanwhile, an American infantry unit operating under Canadian command has its own "human terrain" team that includes a retired Soviet general who fought in Afghanistan 20 years ago.  Any force battling an insurgency needs to win the support and trust of the people - but first it has to understand them, said Maj. Jay Janzen, a spokesman for the Canadian Forces here ....


Mentoring the Afghan National Police
NATO news release, 8 Nov 08
News release link

On the frontier of Zhari District, a partnership between ISAF forces and the Afghan National Police can be found at several Police Sub Stations (PSS). This partnership is a crucial step toward strengthening the Afghan police, mentoring them and enabling their ability to provide essential policing services to the people of Afghanistan.  In late October, a three-member Combat Camera team had the opportunity to visit a PSS in Zhari and witness first-hand the work ISAF Forces do training, mentoring and providing expert advice to the ANP. After conducting two presence patrols and attending training sessions, it became clear that the work being done here was of utmost importance, demonstrating that the ANP are becoming increasingly able to provide autonomous policing services within their community ....


Canada buys wheat seeds to give Afghan farmers alternative to poppies
Ethan Baron ,  Canwest News Service, 8 Nov 08
Article link

Canada is providing $1.2 million to buy wheat seeds and fertilizer for thousands of Afghan farmers, but the Taliban warn they may attack any foreigners who attempt to distribute the seeds.  The money will pay for 293 tonnes of wheat seed, to supply more than 5,000 farmers with 50 kilograms each, and plant a total of 2,000 hectares of land.  "We look forward to working with the governor of Kandahar to sow these seeds of peace," said Elissa Golberg, Representative of Canada in Kandahar, head of Canadian development operations in Kandahar province ....


Remembrance Day in Kandahar deeply felt, links past and present
Canadian Press, 8 Nov 08
Article link

It'll be the pictures - 97 of them, engraved in sombre black stone on the small square in the Canadian section of Kandahar Airfield - that'll get Cpl. Orson Martinez.  "I've had a lot of friends that have died over here," said Martinez, a Canadian soldier stationed in Afghanistan. When he gathers at the square with his comrades Tuesday to mark Remembrance Day, those friends will be staring back.  "I'm going to be looking at my buddies' pictures up on the wall there. I always think of my friends who have passed away and I always think of their kids or their wives or whoever they left behind."  The fighting in this tragic country has brought the idea of military sacrifice home to a whole new generation of Canadians. But few will feel the pain as deeply as the men and women in the theatre where those most recent sacrifices have taken place.  "Emotion," said combat engineer Henri St. Laurent ....

More on links

 

[geo]

Canadians fight Taliban inch by inch

Pioneer Press, Minnesota - Nation
Post Article Launched: 11/09/2008
ZHARI, Afghanistan

Small force under big pressure to make gains on tough turf

The company of Canadian soldiers set off from the small base in southern Afghanistan a few hours before dawn. Combat boots crunching along the wide plains of the Kandahar desert, they moved slowly in a long line into the moonless black ahead.

No one said a word as they picked their way across an old cemetery. The soldiers strained to hear any sound of approaching insurgents above the slap of funeral flags in the crisp autumn wind. Someone at the head of the line motioned them forward. A few dozen yards later, they stopped again.

The soldiers' target, a Taliban bomb-supply compound, was only a little more than two miles away. But it took the contingent of 200-plus troops about three hours to march from the cemetery to the insurgent stronghold. That is the way the war is being fought in southern Afghanistan: inch by inch.

The pace is frustratingly slow for many of the 2,500 Canadian troops fighting to break the Taliban's hold on Kandahar. The insurgents move swiftly under cover through much of the province. But for the Canadians, every tactical wiggle in Kandahar involves days of planning and dozens — sometimes hundreds — of soldiers.

Since taking charge of security there in 2005, Canadian forces have mounted several major offensives aimed at driving the Taliban out of Zhari and the neighboring district of Panjwai, in the western part of the province. Yet Taliban fighters maintain a stranglehold on much of the

area. Skirmishes with the Taliban in the province this year alone account for about a quarter of Canadian casualties in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. The Canadian force is less than a tenth the size of the 33,000-member U.S. force. Nonetheless, the Canadians are responsible for maintaining security in one of the most historically fractious parts of the country.

Meanwhile, they are also struggling to find their footing in their first large-scale combat operation since the Korean War.

"We've had to play a bit of catch-up when it comes to getting into a big fight. We've traditionally been seen as peacekeepers," said Capt. Shawn Dumbreck, who leads one of several Canadian platoons in western Kandahar. "When the conflict started, our fighting skills were obviously there, but there was a steep learning curve to really get into the combat mission."

In Zhari, a mix of rocky desert and fertile farmland, the Taliban fighters wage their war largely from the deep gravel culverts lining Highway 1, Kandahar's main transit route. Roadside bombs along the highway account for about half of the 97 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001. This year, the Canadian death toll has reached a record high, with 23 troops killed through September, many of them in Zhari and Panjwai. As a result, the soldiers go to great lengths to avoid possible booby traps.

"Frankly, it slows us down, because if I'm not confident a road has been swept, then the soldiers will head straight into the desert and drive across country," said Brig. Gen. Denis Thompson, the top Canadian commander in Kandahar. "It takes forever to get from A to B because you can't travel on a road."

One well-placed bomb in a culvert along the highway can easily result in multiple casualties. And multiple casualties over time increase pressure on Canadian politicians to end involvement in a war that is widely unpopular in their country. Like many of the 39 nations that make up the coalition forces in Afghanistan, Canada has faced repeated demands from the United States to shore up the flagging Western military mission. But Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has vowed to pull the majority of Canadian troops out of Afghanistan by 2011.

With the Canadian casualty count mounting in areas near Highway 1, the pressure to bring the restive province under control has never been higher.

But control of Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban, has proved elusive. In June, Taliban insurgents attacked the province's main prison, near Kandahar city, freeing an estimated 1,200 inmates. About 400 of those who fled the prison were thought to be Taliban fighters. Four days later, Canadian and Afghan troops mounted a counteroffensive after locals reported seeing dozens of armed insurgents massing in Arghandab, a valley district near Zhari and Panjwai. Since then, nine Canadian soldiers have been killed in insurgent attacks — all in Zhari and Panjwai.

"The bottom line in Zhari and Panjwai is that we own about a third of those districts. The other two-thirds aren't owned by the Taliban, but I call them contested," Thompson said. "If you're out there, you're going to get into a scrap. There are firefights, and there's combat every day in Zhari and Panjwai



Don't touch defence spending

Ottawa Citizen, Canada
Published: Saturday, November 08, 2008

In tough times it's tempting to slash military budgets -- but that spending is a key to cross-border trade and prosperity at home

The federal government is looking for ways to scrape up some new money to help bolster the Canadian economy and keep at least a few Canadians employed.

The forestry industry and the auto industry have been shedding jobs at a staggering rate. Both have asked for a billion dollars from Ottawa. Whether or not the feds cough it up, they are going to have to do plenty of financial stimulation if they hope to staunch job losses.

Unfortunately, the Harper government has already squandered $12 billion a year to shrink the GST from seven to five per cent. It was a political gesture that appalled economists and left most Canadians yawning. It also left the government's financial cupboard decidedly bare.

So where will the government try to cut spending -- and where will it subsequently invest to help create jobs?

My fear is that this government will emulate its predecessors, both Liberal and Conservative, and try to steal from the Canadian military budget to raise funds.

This would be a huge mistake. If the Harper government wants to create jobs, it would be far better off to invest more in the Canadian Forces.

A Conservative government under Brian Mulroney and Liberal governments under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin combined to eviscerate the Canadian military in the name of reducing the national debt. That's a worthy cause, but starving the military is counter-productive to Canada's survival as a prosperous, sovereign nation.

The current government has talked as though it takes the security of Canadians seriously, but it hasn't come through. Early commitments to recruit and grow appear to have been abandoned.

Canadians seem sanguine that their military is robust because we have soldiers engaged on the battlefront in Afghanistan. But hiding behind the muscular Afghanistan image is a military without the people or resources to defend Canadians and better their lives.

Yes, Canada has proven that it can keep 1,000 fighting troops in the field at any given time, but that's miniscule if we intend to protect and advance Canadians' interests. Even the modest Afghanistan deployment has all but hamstrung efforts to grow and modernize the Canadian Forces, which this government had promised to do.

And by honouring that promise, the government could go a long way toward solving the jobs crisis it is currently faced with. Everyone knows that exports create jobs. Everyone also knows that Americans are by far our most important customers, but we're having trouble selling to them lately.

It's not just because the U.S. economy is sagging or that the Canadian dollar has been overvalued. U.S.-Canadian border crossings are clogged. One suspects that many American politicians are thrilled that the thickening of the border reduces Canada's attractiveness as an investment location for firms that want to serve American as well as Canadian markets. After all, if the borders are a problem, why not locate in the U.S. instead?

Those clogged borders are non-tariff barriers to trade. What to do? It's going to be a chore to convince a Democratic administration with a protectionist mantra that it is in both countries' interests to make those border crossings workable again.

In tough times it's tempting to slash military budgets -- but that spending is a key to cross-border trade and prosperity at home

Colin Kenny, Citizen Special
Published: Saturday, November 08, 2008

 

[MarkOttawa]

UK cautious over Afghan 'surge'
The head of the UK armed forces says a surge in Afghanistan is not a "panacea" and a reduction in "operational tempo" for UK troops is crucial.
BBC, Nov. 9
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7718464.stm

The Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, told the BBC this meant no "one-for-one" transfer of troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband also said the UK did not want to shoulder an "unfair burden".

The Tories said the rest of Nato had to play its part in Afghanistan.

In an interview with BBC One's Andrew Marr Show, Sir Jock said: "Our top priority is to deliver success, military success in both theatres (Iraq and Afghanistan), but equally I've said for a very long time that the British armed forces are stretched.

"We're doing more than we are structured or resourced to do in the long term. We can do it for a short period but we can't continue doing it ad infinitum.

"So we also have to get ourselves back into balance; it's crucial that we reduce the operational tempo for our armed forces, so it cannot be, even if the situation demanded it, it cannot be just a one for one transfer from Iraq to Afghanistan, we have to reduce that tempo."

"I am a little nervous when people use the word 'surge' as if this were some sort of panacea," he said.

"What we are quite clear about is that we need more military force in Afghanistan... everybody needs to do their share, we are very clear on that."

On the same programme Mr Miliband said a troop surge - which US President-elect Barack Obama favours - would need to be combined with a "civilian surge" focusing on politics and economics [emphasis added]...

Obama offers new hope in Afghanistan
Independent on Sunday, Nov. 9 (check links at right side)
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-obama-offers-new-hope-in-afghanistan-1003450.html

...
The most pressing of the foreign policy burdens on his shoulders is, paradoxically, not Iraq but Afghanistan. His opposition to the invasion of Iraq was important in defining his position against those of George Bush, Hillary Clinton and John McCain, and in testifying to the quality of his judgement. But the issue declined in salience during the election campaign, partly because the government of Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad gained in confidence and converged with the Obama line on early withdrawal. It may imply too much coherence to describe this as an exit strategy, but plainly the US engagement in Iraq is about to enter the winding-down phase.

In Afghanistan, on the other hand, the road ahead is less clear. This newspaper shares the view that president-elect Obama has expressed throughout his campaign: that the US-British coalition should reduce troop numbers in Iraq to focus on the war that is worth fighting in Afghanistan.

This is far from an easy option.

As Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, is honest enough to argue below, this requires a surge in troop numbers in the short term. It will fall primarily to the US and Britain to provide those additional soldiers, given the failure of fellow Nato nations to come good on their promises to help rebuild Afghanistan.

The Independent on Sunday has never agreed with the crude anti-American argument that both Iraq and Afghanistan are wars of modern imperialism and that western troops should pull out come what may. The cause in Afghanistan was just and was indeed almost universally supported at the time in 2001 when the Taliban, harbourers of terrorists, were toppled. Since then, the international coalition has faced a choice: forget all about it and let the country slip back into warlordist theocracy, or think through what it would take to build a stable polity consistent with basic human rights – and do it.

As Mr Clegg points out, the worst option is to do nothing, because at the moment we have too few troops fighting an enemy that cannot be defeated by military means alone. Their task is, in the vivid phrase typical of the Army, that of "mowing the grass": once the Taliban are suppressed in one area and the international force moves on, they grow back.

So, more troops are needed, but we need a "civilian surge" too, to quote David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary. We need a political process – or, rather, a set of interlocking political processes – to render security objectives militarily achievable and sustainable. Put simply, the international forces in Afghanistan need to know what they are trying to achieve. As Will Pike, an officer who served on the Afghanistan desk at the Ministry of Defence, says in our interview today: "No real thought is going into what we are doing and why."

We owe it to our armed forces to clarify these aims under the terms of the Military Covenant – the moral contract between the British people and their service personnel. Today of all days, as we remember those that have given their lives for their fellow citizens, we have to be straight with servicemen and women about our war aims.

That means building up the capability of the Kabul government's military forces; it means co-opting some of the more purely nationalist elements of the Taliban insurgency; and it means dealing with the sources of instability from outside the country, namely Pakistan and Iran. If there were a clear political strategy leading to Afghans taking control of their own destiny, US, British and other Nato forces could be asked with a clear conscience to support it.

In Afghanistan, as elsewhere in the world, we do not expect the impossible of president-elect Obama. Nothing can be guaranteed about the motives and tractability of the regimes in Iran, North Korea and Sudan, or, for example, of rebel leaders in the Congo. The least that can be said is that Mr Obama starts with a clean slate. But his emphasis on dialogue, his focus on a war worth fighting – rather than one that the world thinks was a mistake – and his thoughtfulness suggest that, if all the rough places are not made plain, then at least the prospects for the world are better than they were before.

Deep in Taliban Territory, a Push for Electricity
NY Times, Nov. 9, by Carlotta Gall
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/world/asia/09kajaki.html?scp=1&sq=kajaki&st=cse

KAJAKI DAM, Afghanistan — Five shipping containers marked with the Afghan flag, some of them still wrapped in plastic, now sit in the construction camp at Kajaki Dam, Afghanistan’s biggest hydroelectric project.

They hold the United States government’s largest single gift to Afghanistan of the past seven years: massive pieces of a new 200-ton hydroelectric turbine that, when installed, will double the electricity supply to the towns and districts of southern Afghanistan.

The $180 million project, which includes distribution lines and substations, is intended to reach 1.8 million people and provide jobs and economic renewal to the most troubled and violent part of the country.

The governor of Helmand Province, Gulab Mangal, paid a brief visit by helicopter to the dam in his province in October to emphasize its importance. Speaking to reporters over the roar of the water, he said that even if the immediate benefits were not apparent, future generations would appreciate the assistance coming into Afghanistan. “The children of Afghanistan will not forget the work done for this power station,” he said.

The Chinese-made turbine remains in its packing cases, and it will not be installed and working for perhaps a year. But its arrival in this isolated camp, deep inside Taliban territory, was one of the great feats of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan this year.

It has been a rare instance of a fulfilled promise in the effort to build up Afghanistan’s infrastructure. But even with the step forward, the improvements to the dam, in an inaccessible area of northern Helmand Province, are still being held hostage by the Taliban’s growing ability to mount offensives in recent years. The overall power project has been repeatedly delayed because of the difficulty of security and logistics. And the rest of the original $500 million proposal to augment the capacity of the dam itself has not been approved, cast in doubt by the Taliban’s gains.

“In the case of the Kajaki Dam or others, the security situation impedes the delivery of the service,” the American ambassador to Afghanistan, William B. Wood, told reporters in Washington in June. “The reason that there isn’t more light at night and more warmth in winter for south Afghanistan is because the Taliban has not let us do everything, work as effectively as we’d like to on the Kajaki Dam.”..

As the summer fighting dragged on, it became clear that 19,000 foreign troops deployed in the southern provinces, alongside thousands more Afghan soldiers and police officers, were in a stalemate with the insurgents, as one senior NATO commander put it. It looked as if Usaid’s project to develop the Kajaki Dam would be put on hold for yet another year.

Then in late August, NATO exercised some muscle. More than 4,000 British, American, Canadian, Danish, Australian and Afghan troops combined forces [emphasis added] to cut and secure a road through 100 miles of hostile territory to move the equipment and turbine parts that were too heavy to be airlifted up to Kajaki.

The cargo convoy, which included 100 vehicles and carried the turbine in seven containers weighing up to 30 tons each, took five days to struggle through the mountains, amid a strict news blackout. Heavy fighting took place in villages south of the dam, including aerial bombardment, but the convoy took a different route and arrived in early September without damage.

The huge operation was criticized in the British news media, which questioned the exposure of British soldiers to such high risk to save an American government assistance project.

Yet for the Afghans employed here, and the frustrated residents of cities like Kandahar, who have lived with barely a few hours of electricity a day for the past seven years, NATO was belatedly meeting its commitment to bring development to southern Afghanistan...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[The Bread Guy]

Diary from the hot zone
Soldier's Hamilton parents are proud
Hamilton Spectator, 8 Nov 08
Article link
Ryan Crawford was 16 when he bounced into his west Mountain home announcing plans to join the Canadian army reserves. Recruitment officers visiting his high school, St. Thomas More, had just filled him in on the possibilities.  It didn't go over well with his parents, Donna and Jeff Crawford, who have little sense of the military.  Ryan and younger sister Jessica grew up playing in the yards of a new Mountain suburb bordered by fields on one side and rows of new housing on the other. He played hub hockey as a child, caught frogs for fun and was enveloped in a busy household with two working parents and a menagerie of rescued pets ....


For a wounded soldier, the battle has just begun
After Afghanistan, Major Mark Campbell is forced to fight the military for the things he needs to adjust to life with no legs
KATHERINE O'NEILL, Globe & Mail, 10 Nov 08
Article link (.pdf attached in case link doesn't work)
It was the day Major Mark Campbell's world turned orange.  "All I saw was orange. That's it. Everything was orange," the 43-year-old recalls about the first chaotic moments after he knelt on a land mine during an operation in southern Afghanistan on June 2.  The explosion, which wounded three other soldiers from the Edmonton-based 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and an Afghan interpreter, left a small crater. The force of the blast sent Major Campbell flying. He landed on his back with a thud, covered in dirt, dust and blood.  When he looked down, both his legs had been blown off. He reached for a tourniquet in his flak jacket and applied it to his left stump before "excruciating" pain washed over his body ....


U.S. Afghan efforts won't affect 2011 deadline: Cannon
CTV.ca, 9 Nov 08
Article link
President-elect Barack Obama's pledge to boost U.S. military operations in Afghanistan "will not change Canada's position" on a troop pullout in 2011, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Sunday.  Cannon said Canada will start to withdraw soldiers from the war-torn country on schedule, as promised by Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the federal election.  "While we welcome the Americans' renewed interest in Afghanistan, particularly president-elect Obama's position during the campaign, we nonetheless want to make it perfectly clear that the U.S. position will not change Canada's position as defined in our parliamentary resolution," Cannon said in an interview on CTV's Question Period ....

Minister says Canada won't extend Afghan commitment
Reuters, 10 Nov 08
Article link
Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said on Sunday that a stepped-up emphasis by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on fighting terrorism in Afghanistan won't change Canada's plans to pull its military out of that country in 2011.  "While we welcome of course the Americans' renewed interest in Afghanistan, particularly President-elect Obama's position during the campaign ... the U.S. position will not change Canada's position as defined in our parliamentary resolution," Cannon said in an interview with CTV.  "We will be pulling out our military forces in 2011 and that is quite clear." ....


Canadian artist finds poetry on the battlefront
Jim Gibson ,  Canwest News Service, 9 Nov 08
Article link
When Suzanne Steele was writing a poem for Remembrance Day, she wanted to know the colour of the dust in Afghanistan. She found the answer, but the connections she made in her quest for that tiny piece of information are taking her on a unique journey to military bases in Canada and Afghanistan.  She is believed to be the first poet to join the Canadian Forces Artists Program. Like the painters and photographers who preceded her, she travels with the troops, writing about their lives in poems that already number more than 50.  Last month, the Vancouver Island poet spent some dusty days at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in eastern Alberta where the infantry prepare for Afghanistan ....


Mellissa Fung relives her month in captivity in video released by government
Canadian Press, 9 Nov 08
Article link
Chained, blindfolded and imprisoned in a tiny hole in a remote mountain area - that was Mellissa Fung's world for the month she spent in the hands of kidnappers in Afghanistan.  The CBC television reporter was kidnapped while visiting a refugee camp near Kabul on Oct. 12. She was finally set free Saturday.  A video containing a debrief of Fung by Afghan security officials was released by the government of President Hamid Karzai on Sunday. Fung, wearing a head scarf and a traditional Punjabi outfit, looked tired and a bit gaunt but was apparently in good health.   "They kept me blindfolded - not the whole time," she said calmly. "The first three weeks they had somebody with me the whole time watching me. So they didn't chain me. The last week they left me and they chained me." ....


U.S. social scientist recovering from fire attack in Afghanistan
LEE HILL KAVANAUGH The Kansas City Star, 9 Nov 08
Article link
A civilian who helps bridge the cultural divide between U.S. combat units and communities in Afghanistan is recovering after she was doused with liquid and set on fire last week.  The woman, Paula Lloyd, is a social scientist with the Human Terrain System who lived four and a half months in the Kansas City area while training at Fort Leavenworth. The attack, which was claimed by the Taliban in news reports, came Wednesday in the southern village of Maywand, near Kandahar.  Lloyd suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body before a team member submerged her in a nearby water source. She was flown to the burn unit of the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, where her condition today was stable but guarded.  The program manager for the Human Terrain System, retired Army Colonel Steve Fondacaro, was with Lloyd and her family at the hospital today. Many members of HTS are sad and concerned for her, he said ....

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[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND NOV. 10

G.I.’s in Remote Post Have Weary Job, Drawing Fire (long article)
NY Times, Nov. 9
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/world/asia/10outpost.html?ref=todayspaper

COMBAT OUTPOST LOWELL, Afghanistan — The small stone castle, sandbagged and bristling with weapons and American soldiers, rises from a rock spur beside the Landai River. Mountains lean overhead.

Once a hunting lodge for Mohammad Zahir Shah, Afghanistan’s last king, the castle is home for a year for an American cavalry troop, an Afghan infantry company, a Navy corpsman and two American marines. In the deadly contest for Afghanistan’s borderlands, it plays what might seem a singularly unattractive role. The position lies exposed near the bottom of a natural amphitheater deep within territory out of government control.

Insurgents hide in caves surrounding it and in villages nearby, operating unhindered almost to the castle’s concertina wire and lobbing mortar shells toward it at will. The steep slopes facing the walls are littered with shattered boulders and trees blown to splinters by the artillery and airstrikes with which the soldiers have fought back.

The Americans’ mission is to disrupt the Taliban and foreign fighters on supply paths from Pakistan’s tribal areas. Col. John Spiszer, the commanding officer for the larger task force in the region, distilled how the mission often worked. The American presence, he said, is a Taliban magnet, drawing insurgents from more populated areas and enhancing security elsewhere.

First Lt. Daniel Wright, the executive officer of the American cavalry unit — Apache Troop of the Sixth Battalion, Fourth Cavalry — put things in foxhole terms.

“Basically,” he said, “we’re the bullet sponge.”

That analogy is a measure of the profound and enduring difficulties in the war in Afghanistan, which this year became more deadly for Americans than the Iraq conflict. President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to refocus the Pentagon on winning this war, now in its eighth year.

In roughly four months, Apache Troop has taken fire on at least 70 days. The attacks have come by rocket, mortar, machine gun and rifle fire. The troop’s patrols have been ambushed. Its observation posts have been hit by rocket fire...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Canadian engineers teach demolition to Afghan unit
Updated Mon. Nov. 10 2008 1:07 PM ET

The Associated Press

CAMP HERO, Afghanistan -- In a country where danger constantly lurks underfoot and around every corner, members of the Afghan National Army are getting a crash course from Canadian soldiers in the delicate art of handling high explosives.


Warrant Officer Wade Osmond makes crude hand gestures to a young Afghan recruit who's learning the basics of the trade at Camp Hero, the Afghan National Army base just beyond the confines of Kandahar Airfield.


"Tell him to prepare his M-16 igniter. Just tell him - remember, you can squeeze this together to make it easier to come apart," Osmond, of 2 Combat Engineer Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont., says to an interpreter.


"This soldier has done it once before already, so this is reconfirmation of his training so he already understands exactly what I'm saying to him. You're going to pull - remember, on the word 'fire,' it's 1, 2, 3 on fire."


Three recruits at a time learn how to set a charge on a half-kilogram of C-4 plastic explosive, all under the watchful tutelage of their Canadian trainers, including Osmond and Chief Warrant Officer Craig Grant.


A series of three loud explosions, accompanied by a mushroom-shaped cloud of dust, brings cheers and laughs from the participants.


Blowing stuff up is fun, after all.


The Afghan engineers were taking part in a basic demolitions range designed to allow them to better support their fellow Afghan National Army soldiers, said Capt. Jeff Allen, who oversees the training.


"It's part of a three-week skills camp that we're doing with the ANA sappers to bring their technical proficiency up to a level in which they can be more useful in deployed operations," Allen said.


"Basic demolitions won't give them the skills to use demolitions as an effective tool such as breaching or explosive digging, but it will also give them the knowledge and recognition of components and the safety that goes along with it."


There are 45,000 soldiers in the Afghan National Army. The Canadian team is mentoring 3,000 of them, and the United States and the Netherlands are also involved in training - a vital element of NATO's exit strategy for Afghanistan.


Mentoring in the past has involved combat troops, police and auxiliary police. Now it is the engineers' turn.


No one questions the bravery of the Afghan soldiers, Osmond said. It's their skills that need refinement.


"These soldiers are braver than you could imagine," he said. "To see them go down a road with a mine detector, (which) they weren't sure they could use at that time, takes a lot of courage."


Nonetheless, there have been challenges, not the least of which has been the fact most of the Afghan soldiers are poorly educated.


"I can translate the information, but they're not necessarily going to be able to read," Osmond said.


"One of the other hurdles is they can't read a measuring tape, which is important to this but also important to the rest of the training we are doing, which is construction."


Confidence, however, is one thing the 30 trainees didn't seem to lack.


"It's easy," Naseer Ahmad, 21, said with a smile. Working with explosives doesn't bother or frightens him, he added.


"Why would I come in here if I was afraid?"


That bravado can be an issue, Allen acknowledged.


"They're surprisingly confident - sometimes too confident," he chuckled. "We don't have to be shy about saying, 'Hey, you guys are weak in this area,' but we don't talk down to these guys. These guys have been fighting since they were kids."


The mentoring is part of the NATO goal of training the Afghan security forces to the point that they can look after their own country.


"It's coming along really well," Allen said.


"If these guys can enable their fellow Afghan National Army guys to move around the battlefield and defeat the enemy, then they're an enabler - they're a bonus."

 

[The Bread Guy]

Canadian engineers teach demolition basics to new Afghan National Army unit
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 10 Nov 08
Article link
In a country where danger constantly lurks underfoot and around every corner, members of the Afghan National Army are getting a crash course from Canadian soldiers in the delicate art of handling high explosives.  Warrant Officer Wade Osmond makes crude hand gestures to a young Afghan recruit who's learning the basics of the trade at Camp Hero, the Afghan National Army base just beyond the confines of Kandahar Airfield.  "Tell him to prepare his M-16 igniter. Just tell him - remember, you can squeeze this together to make it easier to come apart," Osmond, of 2 Combat Engineer Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont., says to an interpreter.  "This soldier has done it once before already, so this is reconfirmation of his training so he already understands exactly what I'm saying to him. You're going to pull - remember, on the word 'fire,' it's 1, 2, 3 on fire." ....


'Dear Canadian Soldier...'
Afghan girl sends letter to thank Canadian soldiers for fighting to 'bring peace' to her homeland
Jamie Hall, Canwest News Service, 10 Nov 08
Article link
Eleven-year-old Lina Ghulam Sakhi dreams of becoming a lawyer or a teacher, professions unheard of for women during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, the country of her birth.  Lina was two years old when her family fled the oppressive regime in search of a safe place for her parents to raise their six children.  Now living in Edmonton, Lina wrote a letter thanking Canadian soldiers who are in Afghanistan.
The Grade 6 student was chosen to read her "Dear Canadian Soldier" letter aloud at James Gibbons Elementary School on Monday morning during a special Remembrance Day assembly.  "I'm from Afghanistan and I'm so happy that you are trying to bring peace there," she wrote.  "It must be hard not seeing your family and friends for a long time but they must be proud of you for helping the Afghani people there by building roads and hospitals and by simply just being there to support them and fight for them.  "I hope that some day Afghanistan will be a peaceful country and you guys will be the ones to thank." ....


Forces to improve services for wounded
KATHERINE O'NEILL, Globe and Mail, 11 Nov 08
Article link
The Canadian Forces plans to open special support centres at bases across the country to better meet the needs of ill and wounded soldiers, a growing and often frustrated group in the military.  At least 300 service people have been wounded since the Afghanistan mission began in 2002. About 400 have suffered non-battle related injuries, such as stress disorders.  Not since the Korean War have the Canadian Forces and federal government had to deal with so many injured soldiers. However, many have encountered red tape and lengthy delays in getting necessary services and items such as wheelchair stairlifts for their homes.  Lieutenant Isabelle Riché, a military spokeswoman in Ottawa, said the centres will help improve the delivery of "standardized, high quality, consistent care and administrative support for all ill and injured CF personnel." However, few details, including when the centres will begin operating, were available yesterday ....


Canucks Hop on 'Human Terrain' Bandwagon
By Nathan Hodge, Danger Room web log, 11 Nov 08
Article link
Canadian forces operating in Afghanistan's contested Kandahar Province have employed "white situational awareness teams" to help troops navigate the complex tribal landscape of southern Afghanistan. Tom Blackwell of Canwest News Service has the scoop ....  This should sound really familiar to DANGER ROOM readers: This is "human terrain mapping" by another name. In fact, I've heard the term "white situational awareness" used to describe Cultural Operations Research- Human Terrain Systems, the U.S. Army's formal program to embed social scientists with combat brigades in Afghanistan and Iraq, pictured here. Collecting information on the "white" (i.e., local civilian) population is not classed as intelligence, at least in the legal sense of the word (the FAQ section on the Army's Human Terrain System website states: "HTTs do not proactively seek or collect actionable intelligence from the local civilian population ....


Combat resupply from tank blankets to breakdowns
Cpl Curtis Romkey, B Squadron, Lord Strathcona´s Horse (Royal Canadians), CF Feature, 10 Nov 08
Article link
It was May, somewhere around the 18th. The temperature in Kandahar Province had been on the rise daily. We needed some reprieve from the sun.  Troopers Blaine, Churchill, and Partington arrived at our FOB (Forward Operating Base) as part of the TAV (Technical Assistance Visit) team tasked to install the new Barracuda kits onto the Leopard 2A6Ms.  The Barracuda kits include a tan thermal blanket that covers the entire tank to keep the inside a few degrees cooler. The kit even comes with a lovely little parasol to keep the crew commanders and loaders in the shade ....


Canadians deny prisoners swapped for journalist
Afghans say their intelligence agency found CBC reporter Mellissa Fung, but how they obtained her freedom remains unclear
CAMPBELL CLARK AND JESSICA LEEDER, Globe & Mail, 11 Nov 08
Article link
Canadian and Afghan leaders rejected reports that Taliban prisoners had been swapped for the release of Canadian journalist Mellissa Fung, with officials from Ottawa to Kandahar issuing a string of denials.  Authorities in both countries have been close-lipped about the circumstances that led to the release of Ms. Fung almost a month after she was abducted outside Kabul on Oct. 12.  But yesterday, Afghan and Canadian leaders moved quickly to deny reports that Taliban or other prisoners had been traded for the release of the 35-year-old Canadian journalist.  "There have been continued reports about ransoms or money being paid. That was not done in this case. Likewise, there's been no release or exchange of political prisoners," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters after meeting provincial premiers in Ottawa yesterday.  "This matter is being handled according to the laws of the government of Canada and the government of Afghanistan. And that's all I'll say in that regard." ....

No 'political prisoners' released or traded for Fung: Harper
Varying accounts of Fung's release abound
CBC.ca, 10 Nov 08
Article link
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has denied that prisoners were exchanged in order to secure the release of abducted CBC journalist Mellissa Fung, who was held captive for a month by a criminal gang in Afghanistan.  "There has been no release or exchange of political prisoners," Harper told a news conference in Ottawa on Monday.  "This matter is being handled according to the laws of the government of Canada and the government of Afghanistan, and that's all I'll say in that regard."  Harper also repeated earlier assertions that "continued reports" of a ransom payment to her captors were untrue.  Chief of defence staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk, speaking to the Empire Club in Toronto on Monday, was similarly cryptic.  "This is a testament to the good co-operation between the Afghan government authorities and the government of Canada, who have worked together as a team in this regard," said Natynczyk.  He went on to say her release was "a very positive outcome, but I can't say much more about that."....

Harper, ambassador deny prisoner exchange led to Fung's freedom
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 10 Nov 08
Article link
A chorus of prominent Canadian and Afghan voices, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan, rejected reports Monday that CBC reporter Mellissa Fung's freedom was the result of a prisoner exchange.  Fung - who was freed Saturday after 28 days in a tiny Afghan cave, often blindfolded and chained - was not let go as a result of a swap of prisoners or a ransom payment of any form, the prime minister said.  "There have been continued reports about ransoms or money being paid; that was not done in this case," Harper told a news conference in Ottawa.  "Likewise, there's been no release or exchange of political prisoners." ....


Avoiding alcohol's temptations in 'overwhelming' war zone
JESSICA LEEDER, Globe & Mail, 11 Nov 08
Article link
Once each week, in a fluorescent-lit room in a stout building near the heart of Kandahar Air Field, a multinational mix of troops and civilians gather to take on a battle that can't be fought with conventional weapons.  Sitting around a table, or on overstuffed furniture, they talk about bad days, frustrating bosses and how it is that a fellow soldier can become a drunk on a dry base in a mostly dry country.  Called Sober in the Sand, the group is this base's own chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous. For many who spend much of the year living abroad in Afghanistan, their weekly meetings have become a lifeline to staying sober far from the supports of home ....

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