October 12, 2001

AFGHAN ALTERNATIVES   PBS Newshour With Jim Lehrer Transcript

America Attacks Easy to Start, Hard to Finish

The end of Pakistan's great game By Kesava Menon

 


Afghan opposition impressed by US military might
Saturday October 13, 9:36 AM
KHWAJA BAHAUDDIN, Afghanistan, Oct 13 (AFP) - Afghan opposition fighters here, impressed by the military might of the United States, are becoming increasingly impatient to launch

Explosions jolt Kabul as US jets resume attacks on Afghanistan
Saturday October 13, 7:54 AM
KABUL, Oct 13 (AFP) - At least four explosions shook Kabul early Saturday as US aircraft resumed raids over Afghanistan's capital after a temporary halt during the Muslim holy day, residents said.

Opposition forces seized provincial capital
Saturday October 13, 4:18 AM
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (AFP) - Opposition forces have seized a provincial capital in central Afghanistan, and Taliban forces in the north are believed to have defected to the Northern Alliance

US air campaign eases, air strikes clear way for opposition forces
Saturday October 13, 6:44 AM
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (AFP) - The US air campaign in Afghanistan eased Friday in a nod to Muslim sensibilities, but US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that US air strikes on Taliban forces

Washington turns to the United Nations for Afghanistan's future
Saturday October 13, 4:34 AM
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (AFP) - The United States, confronted with a tangle of ethnic groups and rival factions in Afghanistan, has turned to the United Nations to help the country turn a page after

Afghan opposition sees no future role for Taliban
By Peter Graff
JABAL-US-SARAJ, Afghanistan, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's opposition Northern Alliance warned on Friday the Taliban would produce "hundreds of other Osamas" if the United States

US holds fire on "pre-planned" Afghan targets
By Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S. forces stopped blasting fixed Taliban and al Qaeda targets on Friday in deference to the Muslim holy day, but kept up pressure on "emerging targets"

U.S. mulls new military ties with Pakistan
By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The Bush administration is considering a possible new military relationship with Pakistan that could include transfers of new arms but does not anticipate a more formal military

Students Want To Help Afghan Children
Friday October 12 09:05 PM EDT
Children across the United States are responding to a plea by President Bush.
He asked every child to send $1 to the White House to be used to help the children of Afghanistan. Children in southeast Wisconsin are doing their part.

Attacks 'on hold' for holy day
BBC News 10/12/01
US forces have suspended attacks on scheduled targets in Afghanistan on Friday because it is the Muslim day of prayer.

Afghan opposition prepares to fight
By the BBC's Kate Clark in the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan
The opposition Northern Alliance in Afghanistan are gearing up for an offensive against the Taleban.

Anti-Taliban Fighters Seize Areas
Friday, October 12, 2001 5:15 PM EDT
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) -- Anti-Taliban fighters in Afghanistan seized strategic points in the country's west-central region to block Taliban supply routes, a spokesman for the fighters

Pakistan to deport at least 60 Afghan protesters
KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities in the port city of Karachi arrested at least 60 Afghans on Friday in violent anti-U.S. protests and have decided to deport

UN's new peacemaker
BBC News
The UN has reappointed Lakhdar Brahimi to be the envoy for Afghanistans at a time when the country is the focus of an international effort to target militants accused

Afghan Taliban said to advance against foes
Saturday October 13, 2:40 AM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban forces recaptured a western district from the opposition Northern Alliance on Friday and also launched attacks

Taliban forces prevent setting up camps for Afghan refugees
Mashhad, Khorasan prov. Oct 10, IRNA -- Officials in Iran's Khorasan province said Wednesday that the Taliban forces prevented the Iranian officials from setting up camps for the Afghan refugees near

Excerpts from President George W. Bush's Press Conference, Oct. 11, 2001:
QUESTION: Mr. President, you've said on repeated occasions that you're not into nation-building. Yet it appears in this case, given the politics of the region, it may play a crucial role in resolving this crisis.

Weary Afghans emerge after U.S. bombs strike dumps
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Weary Afghans emerged on Friday after a fifth night of U.S. air strikes that rocked the cities with giant explosions in an assault the hardline Taliban say has killed

US attacks delay Afghan opposition's meeting in Rome
ROME, Oct 12 (AFP) - The US-led military strikes on Afghanistan have delayed a visit to Rome by a delegation of Afghanistan's opposition Northern Alliance to resume talks with the ex-king

Annan says U.N. willing to play key role in Afghanistan
NEW YORK, Oct. 12 (Kyodo) - U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Friday the United Nations is willing to play a key role in the rebuilding of Afghanistan after an eventual ousting of the Taliban government.

Bin Laden likely in S.Afghanistan-opposition envoy
MADRID, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in last month's attacks on the United States, and the leader of the Taliban are probably both in southern Afghanistan

Former king calls on Afghans to unite - BBC
The exiled former king of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah, has appealed to his countrymen to unite for peace and democracy. Speaking on Italian television

Pakistani official predicts Taliban defections
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 12 (Kyodo) A Pakistani official on Friday predicted major military and political defections in the ranks of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban amid rumors that Taliban Foreign

Annan says U.N. willing to play key role in Afghanistan
NEW YORK, Oct. 12 (Kyodo) - U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Friday the United Nations is willing to play a key role in the rebuilding of Afghanistan after an eventual ousting

Pakistan blames Taliban for 'very serious' situation
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 12 (Kyodo) - Pakistan on Friday described the situation currently facing besieged Afghanistan as ''very serious'' but reminded that country's Taliban authorities they

Spies give Afghan opposition eyewitness view of US bombing in Kabul
CHARIKAR, Afghanistan, Oct 12 (AFP) - Radban, a 25-year-old Kabul shopkeeper, leads a double life, spying for the Afghan opposition under the nose of the Taliban regime.

Mob attacks Pakistan consulate in southwest Iran
TEHRAN (Reuters) - A mob angered by the U.S.-led air strikes on Afghanistan attacked the Pakistani consulate in the southwest Iranian town of Zahedan near the Pakistani border on Friday, witnesses said.

Peshawar news agency gives world eye on Afghanistan By Scott McDonald PESHAWAR (Reuters) - One of the few cracks of light on the mysterious internal dealings of Afghanistan's fundamentalist ruling Taliban comes from a dusty courtyard on a street full

Shocking Pakistan's ISI leak
MANOJ JOSHI - The Times of India October 10, 2001
NEW DELHI: While the Pakistani Inter Services Public Relations claimed that former ISI director-general Lt-Gen Mahmud Ahmad sought retirement after being superseded on Monday, the truth is more shocking.

Afghan Aid Convoys Must Be Doubled, Britain Says
By Paul Majendie
Friday October 12 8:50 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday that aid convoys into Afghanistan must be doubled in the next six weeks as the world races to stave off famine before winter sets in.

Air raids target ground troops
Friday, 12 October, 2001, 12:37 GMT 13:37 UK
Bombing is going on around the clock
American forces are carrying out a sixth day of air strikes in Afghanistan, with reports that they are aiming anti-personnel cluster bombs at concentrations of Taleban soldiers near Kabul.

INTERVIEW-Afghan Ayatollah wants ex-king to return
By Crispian Balmer
ROME, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Laying aside religious and ethnic differences, a senior member of Afghanistan's Shi'ite Muslim minority has called on the country's ex-king to return home and bring peace to his people.

Pakistan denies clash with Taliban militia
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 12 (Kyodo) - Pakistan on Friday denied report that Pakistani troops had exchanged fire overnight with Afghanistan's Taliban militia along the border in northwestern Pakistan.

China using terror war against separatists
BEIJING, Oct. 11, 2001 (UPI) -- China on Thursday began a campaign against Muslim separatists operating in the region near the Afghan border and made it clear that it will push to have them grouped

Will history repeat itself in Afghanistan?
Financial Express - India; Oct 10, 2001
A US official has said: "You cannot win Afghanistan and lose Pakistan." Whatever that means, the fight against the Taliban was bound to bring this predicament in public.

UN's Robinson calls for suspension of air strikes
DUBLIN, Oct 12 (Reuters) - United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson called on Friday for a suspension of air strikes against Afghanistan in order to provide aid to civilians before

Even After Death, 'Lion' Remains King of the Rebels
By Peter Baker and William Branigin Washington Post Foreign Service, Thursday, October 11, 2001
JABAL SARAJ, Afghanistan -- As attention focuses on who will lead Afghanistan if the Taliban falls, an obvious candidate emerges from the opposition that has fought the radical Islamic movement for years

Afghan King Emerges as 'Last Chance'
By Pamela Constable Washington Post Foreign Service, Thursday, October 11, 2001
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct. 10 -- Ask any Afghan over a certain age about the 40-year reign of King Mohammed Zahir Shah, and a look of dreamy nostalgia results. Those were the days of peace and prosperity

Anti-Taliban warlords set the rules for a new round of the Great Game
War against terrorism: Opposition - By Richard Lloyd Parry in Peshawar
Independent / 12 October 2001
Senior Afghan mujahedin, veterans of the war against the Soviet Union, are meeting in Pakistan to plot their own military assault on the Taliban.

US-BRITISH BOMBING RAIDS SEEK TO CRIPPLE, NOT ROUT, TALIBAN FORCES IN KABUL
Ahmed Rashid: 10/09/01 eurasianet.org
US and British bombing runs on the Taliban have so far not targeted Taliban armor and artillery emplacements around Kabul in order to delay an attack on the capital by the opposition Northern Alliance (NA).

U.S. Seeking to Shape Interim Government Before Taliban Falls
By Steven Mufson and Alan Sipress - Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, October 12, 2001
Bush administration officials said yesterday they are concerned that the Taliban movement that rules most of Afghanistan could collapse before an interim government can be established

U.S. seeks post-Taliban coalition
By Ben Barber  - THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The United States is using the lure of foreign aid to piece together a broad coalition to govern Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, a State Department official said yesterday.

U.S. Military Goals Entangled in Afghan Politics
By JOHN F. BURNS - NY Times
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 11 - After five days of American airstrikes on Afghanistan, the goals set by President Bush in committing military power - rooting out Al Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban

Bush, Who Denounced 'Nation-Building,' Must Look to the Future in Afghanistan
By DAVID E. SANGER - NY Times 10/12/01
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 - President Bush has been dragged by events and his allies to a place he never wanted to be: at the center of an exercise in nation-building, constructing a new Afghanistan

Can we really ignore the United Front in Afghanistan?
Analysis by Ahmed Shayeq Qassem (UK)
After weeks of shuttle diplomacy and consultations with several of the world leaders finally the American and the British heads of State have given their forces the go ahead in the struggle against the perpetrators