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August 9, 2007 

Afghanistan, Pakistan must work together: Karzai
by Sardar Ahmad Thursday, August 9, 2007
KABUL (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai told hundreds of Afghan and Pakistani tribal leaders that both nations could defeat a resurgent Al-Qaeda and Taliban if they worked together.

Karzai's remarks came as he opened three days of talks on rising Islamist extremism in the absence of his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf, who abruptly pulled out of the meeting the day before.

He was joined by Musharraf's replacement, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, in calls for unity at the meeting, called a "peace jirga," but both leaders also repeated often-traded accusations on the roots of the unrest.

With 700 delegates and elders on hand from tribal areas straddling the rugged border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- an area said to be rife with militants -- Karzai said the two nations shared a common destiny.

"I am confident. I believe... if both Afghanistan and Pakistan put their hands together, we will eliminate in one day oppression against both nations," he said.

"If the problem is from the Afghanistan side, we should seek ways to solve it. If the problem is in Pakistan, we should find solutions for it," he said in Kabul, where thousands of police and soldiers were on patrol for the meeting.

The jirga has been billed as an opportunity for the tribal leaders, most of them men with large turbans and long beards, to thrash out a strategy to deal with the escalating terrorism threat.

Along with elements from Al-Qaeda, the Taliban have been able to regroup since being ousted from power in Kabul by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

Karzai and Musharraf have traded recriminations about the root of the unrest, while the Pakistani leader has been angered by US accusations that his government is not doing enough to counter the militant threat.

The Afghan leader said he had often asked Pakistan: "Why from your soil and administration is this evil coming to us. Why is it bothering us?"

Islamabad had denied involvement, he said, and now it was the task of the the jirga to answer these questions.

"Who are they who bother Pakistan and Afghanistan?" he asked. "Who is training them? By whose money are they being trained?"

Karzai said he did not consider the Taliban-linked violence in Afghanistan to be the work of Afghans, but enemies of the country and Islam.

Aziz said, however, it should not be forgotten that "first and foremost the Taliban are Afghans." And Afghanistan cannot blame others for the lack of reconciliation among its people, he said.

He strongly condemned Al-Qaeda, which he said had to be dealt with firmly and mainly through military means.

"Terrorism, militancy, the violent creed preached by Al-Qaeda, extremism and Talibanisation represent pain, intolerance and backwardness in our societies and a phenomenon that has maligned our great and noble faith, Islam."

"They are not the future of Pakistan or Afghanistan. We must fight these dark forces with determination and resolve," he said.

Nearly 100 Pakistani delegates from tribal areas where Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists are said to be most active have boycotted the meeting, mainly in protest at the Pakistani military presence in their areas.

But one of the Pakistani delegates who did attend, Malik Zarin Khan from Mohmand Agency, said he hoped the meeting would go some way towards halting the spread of Taliban-linked violence.

"This fire, either months later or a year later, will reach us too," he told AFP. "We are hoping this jirga helped solve the problem."

The jirga is being held in a huge tent in the grounds of a college on the outskirts of the Afghan capital.
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Qanuni proposes inter-parliamentary dialogue
S. Mudassir Ali Shah 
KABUL, Aug 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Wolesi Jirga speaker is confident Pakistan and Afghanistan can rein in militant-linked violence if they sincerely pursue a joint campaign against the scourge afflicting the two countries.

Instead of raking up past animosity, he felt, the two countries should look to the future by forging a close and collaborative relationship, Younus Qanuni told a grand gathering of around 650 politicians, tribal elders, intellectuals and journalists here on Thursday.

Neighbours and geography are unalterable; they are permanent, argued the speaker, who stressed confidence-building measures to overcome the Pak-Afghan mistrust. Building bridges of friendship and a paradigm shift, nonetheless, were possible, he hastened to add.

The Tajik leader opined the time had arrived for the brotherly nations to go beyond the blame-game in quest of solutions to their common problems. Recriminations had failed to address longstanding bilateral irritants, but consultations wont, he reasoned.

Qanuni proposed inter-parliamentary dialogue to deal with the lingering crisis of confidence between Kabul as well as strengthen political interaction between the nations with so many bonds and affinities.

Greater economic and trade synergies could also play a crucial role in bringing them closer, he continued, saying: The Wolesi Jirga - robustly hopeful of a positive outcome of the parleys - believes the forum will open a new chapter in Pak-Afghan ties.

Mere sound and fury offered no solution to the problems haunting the two nations faced with a real threat of terrorism, reiterated the ex-education minister, who linked the current crisis to terrorism, poppy cultivation and extremism. The question is: How can we tackle the three challenges?

Unlike the dovish message held out by Qanuni, a former minister launched a broadside against Pakistans premier intelligence outfit for fuelling unrest in Afghanistan. He asked the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) to stop meddling in his country if it wanted peace in Pakistan.

Azizullah Wasefi, agriculture minister in the cabinet of Sardar Daud Khan, acknowledged diplomacy was the best way to defuse tensions but the Pakistani intelligence organisation did not allow that option to be exercised meaningfully.

Speaking in a rather aggressive tone, he recalled his visit to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar to inquire after the illustrious Khudai Khidmatgar Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan. The ISI later grilled me on the purpose of my trip, he complained.

Wasefi saw a sinister conspiracy behind the flames of war devouring Pakhtun-inhabited areas in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He called upon the participants to devise an effective strategy for stopping the wholesale massacre of Pakhtuns.

In his speech, Prof. Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf quoted a number of verses from the Quran and sayings of the Prophet of Islam (SAW) in support of his clarion call for peace. Fighting did bring untold suffering but could not settle disputes, he continued.

The then president advised the two nations to take their cue from European countries move towards the introduction of a single currency and abolition of visa restrictions for travellers. They were weighing proposals to redefine their borders, he said, regretting the Pakistanis and Afghans were still living with bombs and landmines.

Parliamentarian Muhammad Mohaqiq said Pashtuns, Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras welcomed the visiting team with equal warmth. Pak-Afghan friendship was a good omen for the region, as indeed the whole world, he observed.

The ex-minister wondered why the neighbours remained poles apart in a world that had shrunk into a global village. He pleaded for soft borders and enhanced people-to-people contact to remove misunderstandings, conflicts and frictions.
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Hekmatyar conditionally backs Regional Peace Jirga
Reported by Javed Hamim Translated & edited by S. Mudassir Ali Shah 
KABUL, Aug 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Former Afghan prime minister Gulbadin Hekmatyar has offered conditional support for the Afghanistan-Pakistan peace forum that began at the heavily-guarded Polytechnic University here on Thursday.

The Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) would back the grand peace jirga if it demanded a withdrawal of foreign forces from the conflict-torn Central Asian country, a spokesman for the most wanted fugitive told Pajhwok Afghan News by phone from an undisclosed location.

Haroon Zarghun quoted the underground HIA chief as saying: We will swing behind the grand tribal council, should it summon the courage to seek foreign troops pullout from Afghanistan, an end to outside meddling and give the Afghans a fair chance to chose a system for themselves and elect their leadership.

But a cursory look at the selection of delegates suggested the jirga would not nerve itself made such bold demand, believed the spokesman, who said a negotiated settlement of disputes was good enough if ground realities were dispassionately considered.

The participants neither included trustworthy people nor representatives from real parties to the conflict, Hekmatyar alleged, claiming ongoing process was not a traditional Afghan jirga that could find a solution to problems.

In fact, he said, it was a gathering of delegates or a joint governmental commission hand-picked by Presidents Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Hamid Karzai, the ex-jihadi leader observed. Karzai and Musharraf may have high expectations of the jirga, but the Afghans pin no hopes on it.

A similar tribal council arranged in North Waziristan, near the Pak-Afghan frontier, had failed to produce results because neither Washington nor Islamabad respected the decisions taken by the elders, recalled Eng. Hekmatyar. Strongly averse to the initiative, he continued, the Americans pounded mosques and civilian houses.

He went on to ask: How can mujahideen (holy warriors) accept the outcome of a jirga stacked with government touts and elements who always assailed them?

As the event got under way two hours behind schedule, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Farooq Wardak welcomed more 650 participants to the grand tribal council. Soldiers were out in force guarding the Russian-built Polytechnic University and streets and roads outside.

The minister, delivering his welcome address in Pashto language that is spoken on either side of the border, cited terrorists as a common enemy of the estranged neighbours. The forum would discuss ways and means of grappling with the challenge, he said.

Before Pakistani and Afghan anthems were played at 11.15am, Haji Qari Barkatullah Saleem recited verses from the Holy Quran. All participants rose from their seats when the anthems were played.

A number of former Afghan warlords including Abdul Rashid Dostum were in attendance at the four-day jirga, which will transact a seven-point agenda.
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Mujaddedi launches blistering attack on Pakistan
S. Mudassir Ali Shah/Daud Khan 
KABUL, Aug 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Former Afghan president and National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) head Sibghatullah Mujaddedi launched a blistering attack on Pakistan for providing terrorists safe havens on its soil and abetting miscreants foment trouble in the conflict-battered country.

He was speaking during the post-lunch second session of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Peace Jirga, attended by 650 delegates from both sides, at the heavily-guarded Polytechnic University. Pakistans Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao presided over the proceedings.

Terrorists arent sneaking into Afghanistan from China, Iran, Tajikistan or Uzbekistan. We shouldnt close our eyes to the fact that they have been entering our country from Pakistan, said the elderly NRC chief, who made an impassioned appeal for joint efforts to stop militants in their tracks.

The terrorists were not being infiltrated by the government, but certain other groups opposed to peace and cordiality between Islamabad and Kabul, explained the Upper House chairman, who did not name the organisations behind the mischief.

Pakistan should send a mission to Afghanistan to identify militant hideouts, he proposed, promising Kabul would wipe out any terrorist training found in the country. By the same token, he posited, Islamabad should agree to a similar fact-minding team from Kabul.

With regard to a boycott of the grand tribal gathering by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) leaders Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Maulana Samiul Haq, the Senate chairman remarked they should have been in attendance to prove they were genuinely desirous of peace in the region.

Suggesting the deliberations would go on regardless of their pullout, the ex-jihadi leader said in a light vein: Dawn will break whether or not the cock crows. He tended to ask the rightwing politicians to walk the talk regarding their interest in peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Deeply anguished by a string of bomb explosions on both sides of the frontier in recent months, Mujaddedi insisted there is no room in Islam for suicide attacks and brainless violence against civilians. The acts of devious individuals were defaming the great religion and the two countries, he pointed out.

The erstwhile professor, recalling a suicide bombing targetting him, thanked God for protecting him. Soon after the March 12 incident, he lashed out at the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for masterminding the suicide attack that killed two civilians.
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Low expectations at Pak-Afghan jirga
By Iqbal Khattak – Daily Times (Pakistan)
KABUL: A 360-strong Pakistan delegation arrived here in the Afghan capital Wednesday for the three-day Afghan-Pak Peace Jirga starting today (Thursday). amidst hopes for a joint strategic alliance between the two bickering neighbours against terrorism.

“The maximum achievement (of the jirga) would be that we discuss all controversial issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan and we decide to continue (dialogue) till we reach a conclusion agreeable to both sides,” Pakistan delegation member Khalid Aziz told Daily Times.

He said the “minimum achievement” would be that the jirga improve bilateral relations between the two counties and set up a framework to discuss security matters further.

Delegates from both sides appeared divided over the final outcome of the jirga, and also on their feelings towards Pakistan.

“No matter how much you want to hide from us, we can see who is helping terrorism in Afghanistan and where it is coming from. It is coming from Pakistan,” said Afghan delegate Haji Naeem Kochey from Logar province, as Uzbek and Tajik delegates nodded their heads in agreement.

Many delegates said a dramatic outcome should not be expected, but the three-day meeting of elders, technocrats, clerics, journalists and government officials was a good start.

“We will lay a foundation for the elimination of terrorism in the region,” Haji Naeem told Daily Times. “We have to find a way for peace,” added Khair Muhammad, another Afghan delegate.

Pakistani MNA Mehmood Khan Achakzai of the Pukhtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party suggested that the Taliban should be invited to talks. “If Maulana Fazlur Rehman can be leader of the opposition in Pakistan, why can’t Mullah Omar be opposition leader in Afghanistan?”

Mufti Hanifullah, a tribal cleric from Bajaur who said he was under threat from militants in South Waziristan, echoed sentiments that the Taliban should be involved in the talks. “How can you expect a jirga to be successful when the second party to the conflict is left out?”

He added that peace in Afghanistan would be difficult to achieve as long as foreign forces remained in this country.

Asfandyar Wali Khan of the Awami National Party called the holding of the jirga “a good beginning” but did not have great expectations. “We have to know the ground reality before deciding,” he said.

Afghan and International Assistance Security Force personnel guarded the Pearl-Continental and Serena Hotels where the Pakistani delegates are staying.

Afghan and Pakistani sources told Daily Times that the jirga would conclude with agreement that there was no military solution to the current conflict in Afghanistan and it would “set in motion a process to generate a new dynamic for opening negotiations with all estranged and marginalised Afghan groups who are engaged in resisting the present dispensation”.

Another 50-member peace and conciliation jirga would be authorised by this jirga and the government of Afghanistan to open dialogue with the Taliban on how best and how soon the violence in the country could be ended. It will comprise 25 members from each country and they will all be tribesmen, with no government officials.
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Afghanistan miffed over Musharraf no-show
by Sardar Ahmad Wed Aug 8, 1:46 PM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan on Wednesday expressed disappointment at Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's decision not to attend what it called a "historic" meeting to address the rising Taliban threat.

Musharraf pulled out of the "peace jirga", bringing together elders from troubled tribal areas on the rugged common border to discuss anti-terror strategies, because of "engagements in the capital," his foreign ministry said.

Afghanistan said it would welcome Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in his place at the three-day meeting set to begin Thursday.

But the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Musharraf has agreed to attend when the meeting was proposed at a three-way summit with US President George W. Bush last year.

"Based on agreements made earlier, we expected President Musharraf in Kabul to attend and address the representatives of Afghanistan and Pakistan at this important and historic event," Karzai's spokesman Homayun Hamidzada told AFP.

Karzai had emphasised the importance of Musharraf's "personal attendance in the jirga," during their phone conversation, he said -- suggesting the Afghan leader had tried to convince his Pakistani counterpart to change his mind.

Nonetheless, Afghanistan is "doing everything we can to bring peace, stability and prosperity to both Afghanistan and Pakistan," the spokesman added.

The Afghan foreign ministry said Musharraf's failure to attend would have "no effect" on the meeting, which will bring hundreds of delegates from the two countries to Kabul.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack indicated that the Pakistani military ruler could be persuaded to reconsider, saying: "We'll see if President Musharraf is able to attend some portion of the meeting."

The "peace jirga" -- modelled on a traditional tribal gathering called in times of crisis -- is the first among the two nations and comes with both increasingly under attack from Taliban militants and their Al-Qaeda allies.

It is being held in a massive white tent at a polytechnic in the west of Kabul where Afghanistan held its last jirga -- the 2003 meeting that drew up the country's first post-Taliban constitution.

The hardline militia has called for a boycott and tribal leaders from two of Pakistan's most Taliban-influenced tribal areas -- North and South Waziristan said they would not attend.

Security in the heavily barricaded city was even tighter ahead of the assembly.

Nearly 2,500 police had been deployed in Kabul for a week to secure the location of the jirga and delegates' accommodation, interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told reporters.

Key streets in the scruffy capital were decked out with the national flags of Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as ones made up especially for the jirga showing two hands shaking and doves of peace.

Relations between Karzai and Musharraf are already frosty over the Taliban, which was driven from government by a US-led coalition in 2001 after having being helped to government by Pakistan in 1996.

Pakistan is now an ally in the US-led "war on terror" but Afghan and Western officials have accused it of not doing enough to crack down on Taliban and Al-Qaeda sanctuaries in its tribal areas, a charge Pakistan denies.

The violence has meanwhile mounted steadily, with regular Taliban suicide bombings, roadside blasts and other deadly attacks on both side of the border -- some in the heart of Kabul and Islamabad.

"At this particular time when both countries are facing such insecurity challenges, it would be disappointing that the leaders of the two countries could not sit together at this vital peace initiative," a Western diplomat said in Kabul after Musharraf's announcement.

Faheem Dashty, the chief editor for the leading newspaper Kabul Weekly, said the political turmoil in Pakistan made Musharraf's absence from his country "dangerous".

"If this jirga is going to have any results, I think Mr. Aziz's presence will fill the absence of Musharraf," he added.
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Rice calls Musharraf as Pakistan weighs state of emergency
Wednesday, August 8, 2007 | The Associated Press
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke at length late Wednesday with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf as the key U.S. anti-terrorism ally weighed imposing a state of emergency due to security concerns in the nuclear-armed nation.

Rice spoke by phone to Musharraf in a call that took place in the early hours of Thursday in Pakistan, where officials said an emergency declaration was being considered and that the president would soon meet with his cabinet to discuss the option, a senior State Department official said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, refused to discuss the substance of the 17-minute conversation that began shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday Pakistan time.
The call came after Pakistan's minister of state for information said Islamabad might impose a state of emergency due to "external and internal threats" and deteriorating law and order in the volatile northwest, near the border with Afghanistan. A Musharraf aide said the president would meet his cabinet later Thursday.

Pakistani television networks reported that a declaration of an emergency was imminent, although senior officials said no final decision had been made.

Musharraf is under growing U.S. pressure to crack down on militants at the Afghan border because of fears that al-Qaeda has regrouped there, and the matter has spilled over into the campaign for the 2008 U.S. presidential elections.

But some believe the possible declaration of a state of emergency may be tied to domestic politics. Musharraf's popularity has dwindled and his standing has been badly shaken by a failed bid to oust the country's chief justice — an independent-minded judge likely to rule on expected legal challenges to the president's bid to seek a new five-year presidential term this fall.

Earlier, Musharraf abruptly cancelled his planned attendance at the Thursday opening of a peace meeting in Afghanistan that is to bring more than 600 Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders together with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who had been touting the gathering as a sign of progress earlier this week.

Rice's call to Musharraf followed comments by State Department spokesman Sean McCormack who said the U.S. understood Musharraf's abrupt decision to skip the meeting.

"President Musharraf certainly wouldn't stay back in Islamabad if he didn't believe he had good and compelling reasons to stay back," McCormack told a regular briefing. "Certainly we would understand that."
Just hours before those remarks, McCormack had told reporters the United States hoped Musharraf would be able to attend at least some of the meeting, if not the opening, and that U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson had been in touch with Pakistani officials to determine how Islamabad would be represented.

The U.S. administration, which had brokered the meeting, was initially surprised by Musharraf's cancellation, particularly after Karzai repeatedly expressed satisfaction about the meeting at a joint news conference with U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday at the Camp David, Md., presidential retreat.

The idea for the peace meeting was hatched in September 2006 during a meeting between Bush, Karzai and Musharraf in Washington as a way to stem rising cross-border violence.
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‘UK worried over Taliban’s advance’
Dawn (Pakistan)
LONDON, Aug 8: UK ministers believe that if Afghanistan falls into the hands of the Taliban, Pakistan may also fall, with dire consequences for British security. According to a report in the Guardian, Britain has been pressing for greater cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, but recognises that the border means little to local tribes.

Britain still believes its counter-insurgency techniques are working, and the fact that the Pakistan and Afghan government will hold a joint parliament (Jirga) this week shows there is a mood to cooperate.The British Foreign Office has decided that Afghanistan, and not Iraq, is the frontline in its battle to defeat terrorism, even if it may take decades to improve the country -- as well as far greater international coordination than at present.

The UK military also wants to concentrate its forces in Helmand province, an area described by Tony Blair as the crucible in which the battle for the 21st century will be fought.

The decision by Foreign Secretary David Miliband to go to Kabul was intended as a symbol that the UK regards Afghanistan and Pakistan as vital to fighting terrorism.

The Foreign Office does not seem to favour a radical change in policy in battling against opium production in Helmand, saying greater security will gradually lead farmers to sow alternative and currently less profitable crops.
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British Criticize U.S. Air Attacks in Afghan Region
By CARLOTTA GALL,  August 9, 2007 The New York Times
SANGIN, Afghanistan — A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American Special Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people.

Other British officers here in Helmand Province, speaking on condition of anonymity, criticized American Special Forces for causing most of the civilian deaths and injuries in their area. They also expressed concerns that the Americans’ extensive use of air power was turning the people against the foreign presence as British forces were trying to solidify recent gains against the Taliban.

An American military spokesman denied that the request for American forces to leave was ever made, either formally or otherwise, or that they had caused most of the casualties. But the episode underlines differences of opinion among NATO and American military forces in Afghanistan on tactics for fighting Taliban insurgents, and concerns among soldiers about the consequences of the high level of civilians being killed in fighting.

A precise tally of civilian deaths is difficult to pin down, but one reliable count puts the number killed in Helmand this year at close to 300 civilians, the vast majority of them caused by foreign and Afghan forces, rather than the Taliban.

“Everyone is concerned about civilian casualties,” the senior British commander said. “Of course it is counterproductive if civilians get injured, but we’ve got to pick up the pack of cards that we have got. Other people have been operating in our area before us.”

After months of heavy fighting that began in early 2006, the British commanders say they are finally making headway in securing important areas such as this town, and are now in the difficult position of trying to win back support among local people whose lives have been devastated by aerial bombing.

American Special Forces have been active in Helmand since United States forces first entered Afghanistan in late 2001, and for several years they maintained a small base outside the town of Gereshk. But the foreign troop presence was never more than a few hundred men.

British forces arrived in the spring of 2006 and now have command of the province with some 6,000 troops deployed, with small units of Estonians and Danish troops. American Special Forces have continued to assist in fighting insurgents, operating as advisers to Afghan national security forces.

It is these American teams that are coming under criticism. They tend to work in small units that rely heavily on air cover because they are vulnerable to large groups of insurgents. Such Special Forces teams have often called in airstrikes in Helmand and other places where civilians have subsequently been found to have suffered casualties.

In just two cases, airstrikes killed 31 nomads west of Kandahar in November last year and another 57 villagers, half of them women and children, in western Afghanistan in April. In both cases, United States Special Forces were responsible for calling in the airstrikes.

The chief British press officer in Helmand, Col. Charles Mayo, defended the American Special Forces and said they were essential to NATO’s efforts to clear out heavily entrenched Taliban insurgents.

An American military spokesman said United States Special Forces would continue to operate in Helmand for the foreseeable future. He denied that their tactics had caused greater civilian deaths and blamed the Taliban for fighting from civilian compounds.

“U.S. Special Forces have a tremendous reputation not only in combat operations but also in training and advising the Afghan National Security Forces,” Lt. Col. David Accetta, a spokesman for American forces in Afghanistan, said in an e-mail response from Bagram air base.

United States Special Forces had also provided development and medical assistance, which, with the combat missions, “can be said to have ‘turned the tide’ in Helmand,” he said.

But the senior British commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity during an interview in July, said that in Sangin, which has been calm recently, there was no longer a need for United States Special Forces. “There aren’t large bodies of Taliban to fight anymore; we are dealing with small groups and we are trying to kick-start reconstruction and development,” he said.

Orders had just come down from the NATO force’s headquarters in Kabul, which is led by Gen. Dan K. McNeill of the United States, re-emphasizing the need to avoid civilian deaths, he said.

“The phrase is: ‘It may be legal but is it appropriate?’ No one is saying it is illegal to use air power, but is there any other way of doing it if there is a risk of collateral damage?” he said.

For months, frequent reports of civilian casualties have trickled out of Helmand, scene of some of the fiercest battles of the recent war. But there has rarely been independent confirmation of the reports because the province has been too dangerous for journalists to visit.

Yet there is no doubt there have been civilian casualties, and British and Afghan officials acknowledged that they had seen some of them.

Villagers brought the bodies of 21 civilians killed in airstrikes May 8 on the village of Sarwan Qala to show the authorities in Sangin, they said. United States Special Forces were battling the Taliban on that occasion and called in the strikes, the United States military said in a statement at the time.

Three days later the nearby village of Sra Ghar was hit. British soldiers at a base called Robinson just south of Sangin said they had received 18 civilians around that time who were wounded in an American operation and flew them out to NATO hospitals for treatment.

On a rare visit to Helmand in mid-July, a journalist encountered children who were still suffering wounds sustained in that bombing raid or another around that time. Their father, Mohammadullah, brought them to the gate of the British Army base seeking help.

His son, Bashir Ahmed, 2, listless and stick thin, seemed close to death. The boy and his sister Muzlifa, 7, bore terrible shrapnel scars. NATO doctors had removed shrapnel from the boy’s abdomen at the time of the raid and had warned his father that he might not survive, but two months later he was still hanging on.

The father said the bombing raid killed six members of the family and wounded five. His wife lost an arm, and the children’s grandmother was killed, he said.

Altogether, he said, 20 people were killed in the airstrikes after Taliban fighters came through the village. He figured that the planes had bombed them mistakenly, because the Taliban were fighting United States forces well below the village at the time.

He said that he opposed the Taliban, but that after the bombing raid the villagers were so angered that most of the men who survived went off to join the insurgents. Whether people would support the foreign troops “depends on the behavior of ISAF,” Mohammadullah said, referring to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. “If they treat the civilians well, they will win.”

It is in fact the possibility of the population turning against them, or the unpopularity of the campaign back home, that most concerns the military, one NATO military official said. “We know we can beat the Taliban on the ground,” the official said. “The issue is the population.”

A civilian NATO from Kabul added, “The problem is Afghans are waking up and thinking: ‘Why are they doing this?’ ”

Maj. Dominic Biddick, commander of a company of British soldiers in Sangin, is making a big effort to ease the anger and pain as his men patrol the villages. He has a $5,000 good-will fund and hands out cash to victims he comes across, like the farmer whose two sons were shot in the fields during a recent operation. And he has $10,000 a month to spend on community assistance programs. “If you are genuinely caring, you can win friends,” he said.

Capt. Catherine Fisher, a civil affairs officer in Sangin, said that over six weeks ending in July she had received requests from 75 families who had lost relatives or property in recent fighting.

But while some of the victims and local people blame the Taliban for bringing violence to Helmand, hostility and bitterness toward the foreign forces remains.

“The Americans are killing and destroying a village just in pursuit of one person,” said Mahmadullah, 24, referring to Osama bin Laden. “So now we have understood that the Americans are a curse on us, and they are here just to destroy Afghanistan. They can tell the difference between men and women, children and animals, but they are just killing everyone.”

A trained mullah from the village of Kutaizi, half an hour from Sangin, Mahmadullah reacted with sarcasm to the idea that reconstruction and assistance could change the minds of the people.

“First they kill me, and then they rebuild my house?” he said. “What is the point when I am dead and my son is dead? This is not of any worth to us.”
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A last chance
By Karl F. Inderfurth, The Boston Globe - Wednesday, August 8, 2007
When President Bush hosted President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan at Camp David earlier this week, it was their ninth meeting since U.S.-led military forces ousted the Taliban from power in late 2001. It may also prove to be their most fateful. Time is running out to get things right in Afghanistan.

The battle for Afghan "hearts and minds" is in danger of being lost because of rising civilian casualties and war damage. The Karzai government is losing the support of Afghans due to widespread corruption, the failure to provide needed social services, and its inability to control large parts of its own territory. A U.S. National Intelligence Estimate says Al Qaeda has established a new safe haven on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Meanwhile, international support for "staying the course" in Afghanistan is slipping. The Taliban surge in suicide bombings, hostage taking and killing of foreigners is taking its toll.
Bush said that the two leaders talked about their security strategy. In the weeks ahead, that strategy should focus on two overriding priorities - what can be done to enhance the Afghan president's ability to govern at home and what steps can be taken to reinvigorate the international community's commitment to a stable and secure Afghanistan over the long term.

A July report by the British House of Commons Defense Committee provides valuable guidance on both of these objectives. Entitled "UK operations in Afghanistan," it contains 39 conclusions and recommendations based on the British experience in that country, including in the volatile southern province of Helmand where Taliban resistance is the fiercest.

A refrain throughout the report is that Afghan reconstruction and development (jobs, roads, water, and electricity), rather than military power alone, is the key to winning over Afghans and achieving a successful outcome. Among the report's key recommendations - and ones the United States should support - are:

First, coordination of the international effort in Afghanistan - involving a 37-nation coalition, scores of international agencies and non-governmental organizations, and billions of dollars in aid - is a huge task and not going well, setting back the reconstruction effort. The UN needs to appoint a high-profile and authoritative individual to coordinate resources, ensure coherence and work closely with the Karzai government.
Second, violence is increasing and spreading to previously more peaceful provinces and the capital, Kabul. Also increasing are the numbers of civilians killed and injured as a result of NATO and U.S. military activity, undercutting support for the foreign presence in Afghanistan and fueling the insurgency. All efforts must be made to minimize civilian casualties.

Third, NATO is falling short on its planned military requirements for Afghanistan. The reluctance of some NATO members to provide troops for the Afghan mission is "undermining NATO's credibility" and its operations. A strategy is needed to persuade these NATO governments to address this deficit.

Fourth, the international community should put greater emphasis on training the Afghan National Police - seen as the weakest link in the country's security reform program - and address corruption in the judicial system. A recent conference in Rome pledged $360 million to train judges and build new prisons and courts. Karzai told the conference an urgent problem is low salaries, a major contributor to corruption of the system.

Fifth, the effort to redirect Afghanistan's "narco-state" economy lacks clarity and coherence. International disagreements over the appropriate means of poppy eradication must be addressed along with more active development of alternative livelihood schemes.

Finally, Afghanistan's relations with Pakistan and Iran are vital to its future. Iran's effort to check the flow of narcotics across its border with Afghanistan is welcomed (as Karzai also did at Camp David), but concern is expressed about reports that "explosives originating from Iran have been used by insurgents in Afghanistan." In response, engagement with Iran is recommended: "This underlines the urgent necessity for the West, particularly the U.S. and the UK, to foster constructive dialogue with as many parts of the Iranian government and its offshoots as possible."

One senior British official says the next 18 months are critical for Afghanistan: "If we do not make progress in that time, we could be in deep trouble." This period coincides with Bush's remaining term in office. Afghanistan's future and Bush's presidential legacy are, as they have been since 9/11, inextricably linked.

Karl F. Inderfurth, assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs from 1997 to 2001, is a professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. This article first appeared in The Boston Globe.
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Korean aid groups to pull out of Afghanistan
GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AP) — South Korea's ambassador told tribal elders from eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday that Korean aid organizations would pull out of the country in a month, an apparent effort to help free 21 hostages being held by Taliban militants, a news report said.

The governor of the region where the hostages are being held, meanwhile, said South Korean officials and Taliban militants were close to agreeing on a location for a face-to-face meeting.

Gov. Marajudin Pathan also said he thought the Taliban's demand of a release of prisoners was a dead issue, but that a ransom payment might solve the hostage crisis.

The South Korean ambassador Kang Sung-zu told Pashtun tribal leaders from Nangarhar province that Korea wouldn't let any more of its citizens or aid organizations travel to Afghanistan, and that aid organizations currently in the country would have to leave within a month, the Afghan TV station Tolo reported.

The ambassador also said that if the 21 hostages are released and if the Afghan government can provide a security guarantee, then Korean aid organizations might one day return to the country.

The Pashtun tribal leaders who traveled to the South Korean Embassy in Kabul come from the same ethnic tribe that the majority of Taliban fighters are from. A person who answered the phone at South Korea's embassy said he couldn't comment. The embassy spokesman did not answer his phone late Wednesday.

The 23 South Koreans were abducted July 19 in Qarabagh as they traveled by bus from Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar. Two of the captives have since been executed by the Taliban.

Pathan, the local governor, said medicines donated by an Afghan doctor and the Korean government have helped the hostages, and that two captives who were extremely ill have recovered. He said the captives are being held in four groups in Ghazni province — three in Qarabagh district and one in Andar district.

He said that Korean and Taliban officials had to find a solution to the crisis in the face-to-face meeting because there would be no other negotiating avenues. He said a location agreement was expected within the next two days.

Taliban militants, meanwhile, clashed with police in the same district where the Koreans were abducted, police said. Four militants were killed and six wounded.

The militants withdrew after exchanging fire for about an hour with police at a checkpoint in Qarabagh district on Tuesday, said Mohammad Zaman, the deputy provincial police chief. He said no police were hurt in the clash.

There was no immediate indication that Tuesday's clash was linked to the hostage crisis.

There has not yet been a breakthrough in negotiations almost three weeks into the hostage ordeal. The captives — volunteers from a church group who planned to do health work in Afghanistan — include 16 women and five men.

"We are trying to secure their release through negotiations," said Zemarai Bashary, the spokesman for Interior Ministry.

Authorities are putting pressure on the elders, tribal leaders and clerics of the area to convince the Taliban to free the captives, Bashary said. "If that is not enough, we will see what sort of plan could be effective in the future," he said.

The Taliban are demanding that Afghan authorities and the U.S. military release a number of militant prisoners in return for freeing the South Koreans. Afghan authorities have so far refused any exchange, fearing it could lead to more kidnappings, despite South Korea urging "flexibility" in the case.

"If you make deals you create opportunities for the enemy of Afghanistan to take more foreign hostages," Bashary said.

Marajudin Pathan, the governor of Ghazni province, said that South Korean officials and the Taliban would agree late Tuesday on a meeting place for their first face-to-face talks. However, South Korean officials and Taliban on Wednesday denied that any agreement on the venue was reached.

The Taliban have said they are ready for face-to-face talks even in government-controlled territory, provided that the United Nations guarantees their delegation's safety.

The Taliban have said they have separated the captives into smaller groups. Afghan authorities believe they are being held in different parts of Ghazni. Remote areas of the province are known to be in Taliban hands.
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Afghanistan at Odds With U.S. on Plan to Curb Opium
Janine Zacharia
Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Afghanistan is at odds with a U.S. strategy to stem opium production that is funding the Taliban and other militants opposed to President Hamid Karzai's rule, according to a top Afghan diplomat.

While the Bush administration is seeking to expand efforts to destroy opium poppy plants, Afghanistan wants to emphasize long-term crop substitution.

``We think it's better to put more resources on preventing cultivation because once it's cultivated, it's too late,'' Said Jawad, Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.S., said in an interview yesterday. ``You eradicate it, you lose the support of the people.''

The debate over how to counter Afghanistan's burgeoning output of opium, the raw material for heroin sold on European streets, is likely to sharpen tomorrow with the release of a U.S. drug-fighting strategy.

``Right now the approach of the United States is more emphasis on eradication,'' Jawad said. ``But not only us, your friends the British do not agree with that either, and say no, that's not the right approach.''

Jawad stressed that rather than ``punishing extensively the farmers, we have to go after traffickers.''

President George W. Bush and Karzai discussed the problem when they met Aug. 6 at Camp David in Maryland.

`Watching, Measuring'

Bush, with Karzai at his side, said the Afghan leader understands that farmers must be given the incentive to ``grow crops other than poppy and that he knows full well the United States is watching, measuring and trying to help eradicate poppy cultivation.''

William Wood, the new U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said in late June that ``there is not yet a consensus regarding eradication.'' He lamented last year's results -- about 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) or 10 percent of the total Afghan crop eliminated. Wood was ambassador to Colombia while the U.S. mounted a major effort there to shrink cocaine production.

``As a result, we are exploring new techniques that we will coordinate with the government of Afghanistan and the international community,'' Wood said in a statement posted on the U.S. Embassy's Web site.

In Colombia, the U.S. funded the spraying of herbicides on coca fields by crop dusters protected by helicopter-backed military forces. The Colombians also use the more labor-intensive approach of pulling up plants by their roots.

The anti-drug effort, known as Plan Colombia, is aimed at curbing the flow of drug money to guerrillas and strengthening the authority of the elected government.

Raising the Stakes

Ambassador Thomas Schweich, U.S. counter-narcotics coordinator in Afghanistan, told a conference in Washington two weeks ago that eradication would be pursued in places where alternatives to opium poppies are available. He said research shows that about a quarter of the poppy crop needs to be destroyed in such areas to deter farmers from planting it the next year.

``When they see they got a one in four chance of losing everything, they'll start thinking about taking the alternative that was developed,'' he said, according to a recording of his remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Schweich said other steps, including interdiction of opium and a campaign to inform the public about drug-terrorism ties, would be needed.

Failed Efforts

A U.S. government assessment of its counter-narcotics program in Afghanistan, released on July 31 by the inspectors general of the State and Defense departments, illustrated what a failure the U.S. effort has been to date.

During fiscal year 2006, the U.S. spent more than $420 million combating Afghan narcotics. Still, the number of Afghans involved in cultivation grew to 2.9 million from 2 million in 2005, equivalent to an eighth of the population.

Acreage devoted to poppy cultivation in 2006 was about 59 percent higher than in 2005. In 2006, income generated inside Afghanistan from the narcotics industry represented about 60 percent as much as that from legal economic activities.

``It is self-evident that there is no politically feasible way to outspend economic incentives that drive the narcotics trade,'' the inspectors general said. If the entire poppy crop were converted to heroin, its street value would be $38 billion, they estimated.

Taliban, Traffickers

A State Department report earlier this year described a relationship in which traffickers supply weapons and money to the Taliban in exchange for the protection of drug trade routes and poppy fields.

The consequences are stark for the U.S. efforts to weaken al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the report said.

Without an effective counter-narcotics effort, ``the corrupting influence of the narcotics industry would likely set the stage for Afghanistan's reemergence as a safe haven for international terrorist operations,'' the inspectors general said.

The U.S. has 23,500 troops in Afghanistan and has spent more than $23 billion on reconstruction since the 2001 invasion that toppled the Taliban.
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Obama expresses sympathy for Musharraf
By SCOTT LINDLAW Associated Press Wed Aug 8, 11:52 PM ET
OAKLAND, Calif. - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said Wednesday it's critical for Pakistan to be a constructive ally in fighting al-Qaida, one week after threatening military action to hunt down terrorists if President Pervez Musharraf doesn't act.

Obama and his spokesman offered measured criticism of the Bush administration's actions and policies on Pakistan. The candidate twice declined an opportunity to explain the difference between his proposals and the White House's, but expressed sympathy for Musharraf, who faces a growing militant backlash in his Muslim nation.

"President Musharraf has a very difficult job, and it is important that we are a constructive ally with them in dealing with al-Qaida," the Illinois senator said.

Obama did not repeat the most incendiary line from his foreign policy speech last Wednesday, when he promised: "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."

That pledge set off ripples of resentment in the relationship between Washington and Islamabad, prompting Pakistani officials to warn against U.S. incursions into their country.

Tariq Azim, Pakistan's minister of state for information, said talk from the United States about the possibility of U.S. military action against al-Qaida in Pakistan "has started alarm bells ringing and has upset the Pakistani public."

Azim cited Obama as an example of someone who had made such comments and said Obama's recent remarks were one reason the government was debating whether to declare a state of emergency.

A call to Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs for comment was not immediately returned Wednesday night.

President Bush was vague on Monday when asked whether he would consult with Pakistan before chasing al-Qaida leaders into Pakistan. Last year, he offered a clearer answer, saying he could not send thousands of troops into Pakistan to search for Osama bin Laden without an invitation from the government. "Pakistan's a sovereign nation," Bush said then.

Asked Wednesday whether there was any difference now between his position and the Bush administration, Obama twice sidestepped the question, once saying he did not know Bush's stance and then saying he did not speak for the White House.

Obama repeated his insistence that, "We can't send millions and millions of dollars to Pakistan for military aid, and be a constant ally to them, and yet not see more aggressive action in dealing with al-Qaida."

Bush recently tried to ensure just that, signing into law a measure that ties U.S. aid to Pakistan to progress in combatting militants. Gibbs, Obama's spokesman, said the senator's broader criticism is that Bush "has not asked more of the Pakistanis."

The closest Obama came to directly criticizing the Bush administration on the matter was to cite a report in The New York Times that said then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had called off a raid against al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan in 2005, despite having actionable intelligence.

Gibbs went a step further than the candidate in a subsequent telephone interview, saying that the aborted raid showed "the White House actually doesn't have a policy" on Pakistan.

"The American public needs to understand these issues because part of what's at stake in this next, upcoming foreign policy debate is the need to shift resources out of Iraq, in part to attend to these problems," Obama said. "If the American people don't understand that this is where the real threat is, that we're on the wrong battlefield right now, then we may get confused and elect a president who continues down the wrong road instead of the one that's really going to make a difference in terms of our security."

In Islamabad, Azim said Musharraf's government is not ruling out imposing a state of emergency because of "external and internal threats" to Pakistan and deteriorating law and order in the volatile northwest near the Afghan border. He referred to recent military action against militants in northwestern border areas that he said had resulted in the deaths of many soldiers.

Obama spoke to reporters after spending the morning with a home health care worker, Pauline Beck, as she made her rounds in Oakland. The senator helped clean a house, and said afterward it had reshaped his views on health care and unions.

He also said it was more gratifying work, in some ways, than working the halls of Congress.

"It actually was kind of liberating. When you're in the Senate you spend all your time talking," he said. "When you're cleaning out some cobwebs or you're mopping the floor, and you wring out the mop and you see the dirty mop water, you know that you actually accomplished something."

Obama was the fourth Democratic presidential candidate to participate in a program sponsored by SEIU, the service-workers' union.
___
Associated Press writer Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
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