Afghanistan News January 12, 2006

January 12, 2006

D66 split on Afghanistan threatens Dutch coalition
Expatica 12 January 2006
AMSTERDAM — The executive of junior coalition party D66 believes parliament should hold a substantive debate immediately on the pros and cons of sending 1,200 troops to southern Afghanistan.

Only after that happens should the implications for the three-party coalition government in The Hague be considered, D66 party chairman Frank Dales said in a radio interview on Thursday.

The party's deputy prime minister Laurens Jan Brinkhorst said roughly the same thing on Wednesday evening.

Brinkhorst, who is also Minister of Economic Affairs, expressed irritation at the warning from D66 parliamentarian Bert Bakker that the coalition government will collapse if the cabinet goes ahead with the military mission.

Bakker told magazine Elsevier it was "unthinkable" a mission involving so many risks could garner even slight majority support in the 150-seat parliament.

But, he said, the deployment would not be acceptable to D66's six deputies even if a broad majority, including main opposition party Labour (PvdA), gave its backing.

"Because this support would be based on power politics and be not given on a considered basis. In that case, we would have a cabinet problem because it seems to me to be unthinkable D66 would want to stay in such a cabinet," Bakker said.

The Netherlands is under significant pressure from the US and Nato to provide the troops. There are already 600 Dutch soldiers serving in Afghanistan. Ministers belonging to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrat Party (CDA) and the Liberals (VVD) are in favour of the mission.

D66's cabinet ministers, Brinkhorst and Reform Minister Alexander Pechtold, hoped for a compromise.

Balkenende rallies support for Afghan mission

The government announced an "intention" in December to send the troops rather than a firm decision. The D66 leadership hoped the ball would then be in parliament's court. But MPs of all parties refused to debate the issue until the cabinet takes a decision first.

The cabinet is now faced with a make-or-break meeting on Friday.

Afghanistan: EU Representative Urges Comprehensive Action Against Drugs
Thursday, 12 January 2006
The European Union’s special representative in Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, today warned that drugs remain at the heart of the plethora of risks faced by the country. He said an international conference in London at the end of this month will agree upon a "Compact for Afghanistan," a comprehensive blueprint for action in the field of institutions and security, the economy, and narcotics.

Brussels, 12 January 2006 (RFE/RL) – The assessment of the EU’s long-time representative for Afghanistan, Fransesc Vendrell, of the situation in the country is relatively upbeat.
He said the results of Afghanistan’s credible and "mostly free" elections largely reflect the will of the people, thereby removing a major cause of conflict.

Vendrell also said Afghanistan is a pluralistic society and that although the political situation is fragile, its views across the entire political spectrum are represented in the country’s parliament. And he said there has been progress on human rights and the situation of women -- although the central authorities hold on the country is in places "tenuous" and old customs still hold sway.

However, Vendrell warned, the country’s future is still hostage to the drugs problem. "It is essential to proceed with the fight against narcotics, being aware that it is a long process, but also being aware that it is urgent to ensure that government and institutions in Afghanistan do not become corrupted by the drug production and trade," he said. "Of course, if that were the case, drugs have the potential to undermine what has been achieved in the last four years."

Vendrell said drugs are at the center of a whole plethora of interconnected social ills. And these ills all have a tendency to reinforce each other. "There is bad governance, and therefore, because there is bad governance in many provinces, some of the provincial authorities are corrupted or have links with the drug production and trade," he noted. "The lack of rule-of-law institutions makes it all the more difficult to fight against drugs if you don’t have a proper police and a proper judicial system. The lack of security in the south, but also in other parts of Afghanistan, is the result of a lack of disarmament. And if you have weapons, it’s very easy to become connected with the drug trade."

The sluggish progress of development in many parts of the country is another problem. Vendrell said the pace of reconstruction has not been as fast as the local population would have wished.

He said that to secure Afghanistan’s future, a comprehensive approach to all these problems is needed. And Vendrell said this will be the aim of an "Afghanistan compact" to be adopted by leaders of the international community at a conference in London on 31 January.

This will be a predominantly political meeting, with some new pledges, he said, depending on budgetary cycles. For example, the United States is expected to offer "substantial" funds for one year, while the EU is preparing a longer-term offer. The conference will focus on three main areas: security, the rule of law, human rights, and governance; economic development; and counternarcotics.

Vendrell said the conference shows it is not all bad news for Afghanistan. "The good news is that at this stage of the process, at this stage of postconflict situations, in other countries the international community would be looking for the way out, thus ensuring that a few years later the country would be back to square one," Vendrell said. "Now, that that is not the case, fortunately not in Afghanistan, there is continued commitment by the international community."

He said there is some good news in the fight against drugs, too. Poppy cultivation acreage dropped by 21 percent last year, although production decreased only by 2.5 percent. This is mostly due to the efforts made in one major province, Nangarhar, where poppy cultivation areas contracted by 96 percent.

However, Vendrell noted that alternative livelihoods will take years to create and require large investments into roads and other infrastructure. He warned the "there will be disappointment" among those farmers who chose not to plant poppies last year.

The EU envoy said the rule of law is still weak in Afgahanistan. He said the judiciary must be overhauled and a "competent" supreme court created. The civil service needs reform, as does governance at the provincial level. There is an urgent need to reform the police and, Vendrell said, EU countries should follow a U.S. idea to send in a large number of instructors.

Meanwhile, the security situation remains fragile. Vendrell said a Taliban insurgency continues in the south, while tribal rivalries abound. He said Western countries need to assign their forces to areas where security is most difficult, not just the relatively safe north. But, he noted, in the EU only Great Britain and the Netherlands are willing to send troops to the south of the country.

In the Netherlands, however, the issue is highly contentious and the parliament will vote on 25 January whether to approve the government’s decision to commit 1,400 troops.

"I have to say that if the Netherlands found it impossible to send forces to the south, this would be a heavy blow for Europe’s prestige in Afghanistan," Vendrell said. "It would be less of a blow for Afghanistan itself because I suspect that other arrangements would need to be made -- be it by Americans, be it by some other European countries -- to fill up the void."
Vendrell noted that a very large number of illegal armed groups remains in existence in Afghanistan, possibly totaling 100,000 men.

Bulgaria Leads International SEE Brigade to Afghanistan
Sofia News Agency, Bulgaria 12 January 2006, Thursday.
Bulgaria will lead the international "South-Eastern Europe" brigade on its first peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense announced Thursday.

Up to 30 Bulgarian soldiers would take part in the brigade, the Council of Ministers had decided on December 1, 2005.

The brigade's main task would be to help the Afghani government and the rest of the organizations in the country in preserving stability, safety and free movement in its assigned territory including Kabul and the vicinities.

Colonel Neyko Nenov will lead the troops that will leave January 16 from Romania.

345 Dead in Stampede on Last Day of Hajj
By SALAH NASRAWI Associated Press Writer Jan 12 10:54 AM US/Eastern MINA, Saudi Arabia
Thousands of Muslim pilgrims rushing to complete a symbolic stoning ritual during the hajj tripped over luggage Thursday, causing a crush in which at least 345 people were killed, the Interior Ministry said.

The stampede occurred as tens of thousands of pilgrims headed toward al-Jamarat, a series of three pillars representing the devil that the faithful pelt with stones to purge themselves of sin.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said 345 people were killed. Dr. Abbasi, a Red Crecent doctor at the scene, put the number of injured at 1,000.

QUESTIONS SURROUND CONTINUED U.S. PRESENCE IN AFGHANISTAN
By Akram Gizabi Eurasia Daily Monitor Thursday, January 12, 2006
Since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, Afghans have been wary of the continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan. They remember bitterly the aftermath of the war against the Soviets in the 1980s, when the West -- led by the United States -- left Afghanistan to the mercy of local powers, resulting in the reign of the oppressive Taliban regime. When the Taliban were overthrown, the Afghans, although fiercely independent, welcomed the presence of U.S. troops, which they perhaps naively considered to be liberators. Their fears of being abandoned once again were rekindled when the United States sent troops to Iraq in 2003.

Recent developments have intensified those fears. Last week, Washington signaled that it is reducing its military presence in Afghanistan. U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking on January 4 at the Pentagon, confirmed that American forces in Afghanistan would be reduced from 19,000 to about 16,500 during 2006.

Although the reduction is not significant in absolute numbers, the fact that it coincides with the other news that Washington will reduce U.S. assistance to Afghanistan from $1 billion to $600 million this year creates fear and uncertainty among Afghans. The U.S. seems to be stepping back at a time when the fight against insurgents continues unabated. The most recent attack came in the central province of Uruzgan when the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald E. Neumann was visiting the area. Ten Afghans died and 50 others were wounded (Eurasia Insight, January 1).

The statements about troop drawdowns and reduced economic assistance to Afghanistan could hardly come at a worse time. The new Afghan parliament -- the first in over 30 years -- is not yet fully functional; the drug trade continues; the Afghan national army is still in its early development (only about 27,000 troops are trained so far); disarmament is far from complete; and, worst of all, the insurgency is growing deadlier as suicide bombings increase.

Contrary to recent comments by NATO military commander Gen. David Jones, the realities on the ground in Afghanistan suggest that U.S. forces should stay. Jones insisted that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are not regrouping: "There's a knee-jerk reaction that wants to say: ‘Oh, the Taliban is coming back' or ‘al-Qaeda's coming back.' I don't know of any commander or any estimate that can say that with certainty" (AFP, January 6).

More than 30 people have been killed in more than a dozen suicide attacks in the last three months. Most bombings have been blamed on remnants of the Taliban, who are thought to be copying the tactics of insurgents in Iraq (see EDM, December 8). In 2005 the Taliban increasing became a security threat to the Afghan government. Insurgent attacks claimed the lives of some 1,500 Afghans and 90 Americans troops.

U.S. forces so far have been unable to wipe out the insurgency, capture Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders, or bring a sense of security to the area. They have, however, lent psychological support to Afghans. According to a recent poll a large majority of Afghans view the U.S. presence favorably. Polls by the nonpartisan Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland show "overwhelming popular support for U.S. and international troops in the country and huge opposition to Islamic militants linked to the former Taliban regime" (VOA, January 11).

Afghan popular fears are twofold. First, Afghans believe that NATO is not as strongly committed to fight terrorism in Afghanistan as is the U.S.-led coalition forces because, in their view, that is not a NATO mission. The NATO troops are peacekeeping forces and thus could perform as a fighting force in one part of the country and as a peacekeeping force in another. Besides, most NATO members are "refusing to allow their troops to conduct combat operations aimed at containing the Taliban insurgency"(AFP, January 6).

Second, Afghans fear that if the United States gradually pulls out of the region or reduces its forces to an ineffective fighting level, then the Taliban -- with the help of Pakistan -- will step up their activities and the country will be once again engulfed in turmoil. Already, there are reports that some districts in the volatile south and southwestern provinces are controlled by the government forces by day and the Taliban by night.

Insurgent violence continues to increase. Taliban militants set fire to three schools in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces on January 8. In another case, "Taliban militants beheaded the headmaster of a school in the southern Zabul province last week." According to local reports, the Taliban regularly distribute threatening papers in Kandahar, a former stronghold of the Taliban regime. They call on students and teachers to give up going to school, since they do not want anyone to learn about religions other than Islam (Xinhua, January 9).

News that Washington is cutting its financial aid is also cause for concern. The U.S. decision comes ahead of a conference scheduled in London later this month about aid to Afghanistan, and the donor community usually takes its lead from the United States.

While on a recent trip to Afghanistan, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) argued that Afghanistan needs more help, not less. "The persistent issue I've seen here and also in my trip to Iraq is the lack of robust resources [for] reconstruction and personnel to assist the Afghanis in developing their capacities." Reed continued, "Once again you have to ask yourself, given the discussion of reductions in our military forces and difficulty in getting key experts, whether we're [prepared] for this long haul" (Boston.com, January 8).

Reed's comments sum up Afghans' lingering concerns about how soon the international community will leave them to fend for themselves.

Tajik Authorities Seized 4.6 Tonnes Of Drugs In 2005
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
January 11 2005 -- Tajik authorities said today they had seized 4.6 tonnes of illegal drugs last year, including 3.5 tonnes of heroin from neighbouring Afghanistan.

Tajik drugs squad spokesman Avaz Yuldashev said last year Tajik authorities arrested almost 100 Afghan traffickers trying to bring drugs across the border, a larger number than in previous years. In 2004, 8.1 tonnes of drugs, including 4.8 tonnes of heroin, were seized in Tajikistan, which shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Afghanistan, the world's leading producer of opium.

U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan to get new side armor
Pentagon study found lack of plates cost many lives Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post Thursday, January 12, 2006
Washington -- The Army announced Wednesday that it would soon start producing 230,000 sets of side armor plates and field them over the year to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan after a recently disclosed Pentagon study indicated such plates could have helped prevent scores of troop deaths since 2003.

The Marine Corps has delivered 9,000 sets of the plates to Iraq, a number that will rise to about 30,000 by April, officials said Wednesday. Each set of plates, together with a carrier and soft armor, costs about $450 and weighs about 7 pounds, the officials said.

Army and Marine generals in charge of developing and buying equipment defended the speed with which they were getting the new side armor to troops after a closed-door briefing Wednesday on the matter on Capitol Hill. The generals briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee after lawmakers voiced concern over a classified Pentagon forensic study disclosed last week that for the first time linked gaps in upper torso protection to troop fatalities.

The scrutiny of body armor marks the latest episode in which Congress has pressured the Pentagon to accelerate the distribution of protective equipment to U.S. troops -- from armored humvees and trucks to bulletproof vests. More than 2,200 American troops have died in Iraq since March 2003, including 1,741 in combat, according to Pentagon figures as of Wednesday.

The forensic study of 401 Marines who died in combat in Iraq from March 2003 to June 2005 showed that 21 had died primarily from injuries to the side of their torsos. The study, completed in August 2005 by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, concluded those Marines might have benefited from improved protection, such as that offered by the side plates. The findings, if applied to all U.S. combat casualties, suggest that scores of deaths might have been prevented if the new side plates had been worn.

The Marine Corps agreed to contracts for production of the side plates in mid-September, and production began six weeks later, with distribution starting in November, Col. Shawn Reinwald, director for combat equipment at the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., said in an interview. The Marine Corps commandant decided on the need for side plates in June, he said.

The Army also identified a requirement for the side plates in the past year, when Army truck drivers running convoys in Iraq asked for them, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, the Army's acquisition chief, told reporters. The Army took a design created by a commander in Iraq, minimized the plates' weight and this week determined the optimal size, according to Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, director of force development for the Army. "It's a great success," Speakes said.

The generals said that the side plates were the most recent in a series of body armor upgrades that had improved the likelihood of survival for American troops. But they stressed that added armor had drawbacks because it could limit troops' mobility and raise their body temperatures -- a major consideration given the 130-degree heat in which forces sometimes are fighting.

"We don't want a medieval knight. We are not going to be hoisted onto a horse," said Speakes. "All of this is a very difficult trade-off -- how much is adequate?"

As a result, the new armor will be supplied to all troops, but commanders will decide on a case-by-case basis whether the mission requires them to wear it, Army and Marine officials said.