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January 31, 2007 


Afghan donors' conference wraps up
by Guy Jackson
BERLIN (AFP) - A conference aimed at ensuring greater coordination between the civilian and military efforts to secure and rebuild war-scarred   Afghanistan drew to a close.

The two-day meeting, held behind closed doors, was assessing progress made since a conference in London last year when the international community launched a five-year plan, or "compact", to coordinate efforts in Afghanistan.

The international monitoring group Human Rights Watch said in a report on Tuesday that little progress had been made in the past year in providing Afghans with basic needs like security, food and health care.

It said benchmarks for development set at the London conference had been missed and more than 1,000 civilians were killed last year, mostly in attacks by extremist Taliban fighters.

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told the conference his country should have a greater say in spending billions of dollars of aid money.

"Unfortunately, the Afghan government continues to be bypassed by donor countries," he said Wednesday.

"Trusting Afghan institutions will be an important step towards breaking this cycle.

"Terrorists will exploit this situation if the government is unable to provide services to its people."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier argued that "considerable progress" had been made in Afghanistan, but admitted there were "shortfalls" in the reconstruction.

He said it was essential to reform the Afghan security services and said he hoped that training of the police force, already undertaken by German experts, would soon be "Europeanized".

European Union member states are on February 12 expected to formally endorse sending EU-badged police to Afghanistan.

Five years after a US-led coalition invaded the country and toppled the Taliban government, Afghanistan continues to receive significant international aid.

The United States said last week it planned to spend an additional 10.6 billion dollars over two years and keep more than 3,000 troops there for an additional four months. It has already spent around 14 billion dollars.

The EU has also confirmed it will contribute 600 million euros (777 million dollars) over four years, with special efforts being made to bolster the judiciary in order to fight corruption.

The Afghan foreign minister said however he was "concerned" that international donors had spent 1.6 billion dollars on consultants' fees.

The pledges come after warnings that the Taliban is expected to mount a fresh wave of attacks when the weather warms up.

But US officials said ahead of the conference they were optimistic that 2007 would be a "turning point" for Afghanistan.

Richard Boucher, US assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs, told journalists: "I think we look at this year and say that we are better set than last year."

The Afghan army and police was in better shape than last year, he said, but formidable problems remained in coordinating the military and civilian efforts.

Boucher said the importance of opium to the Afghan economy was declining, even though   United Nations figures show the country's production of the drug jumped by nearly 50 percent last year to a record 6,100 tonnes.

"Opium accounted for one-third of the Afghan economy in 2005 and our indications are that its importance is diminishing," Boucher told AFP.

"That is important to Afghanistan but what matters to the rest of the world is how much opium is coming out of Afghanistan and at the moment that is still huge. So we have a long way to go."

The German foreign minister told the conference more must be done to combat drug cultivation in Afghanistan.

"We are concerned that opium production increased drastically over the last 12 months and we cannot allow that to continue," he said.

Afghanistan produces 92 percent of the world's opium, the precursor of heroin.
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Germany calls on Afghanistan to step up responsibility 
www.chinaview.cn 2007-01-31 17:46:01 
BEIJING, Jan. 31 -- The German Foreign Minister has called on Afghanistan to step up and take "ownership" of its challenges, and future. The remarks came at an international conference for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in Berlin.

Speaking at the two-day conference, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on participants to do everything possible to encourage Afghan responsibility.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister, said, "I believe we must do everything -- even more so than in the past -- to encourage Afghan responsibility, 'Afghan Ownership'. In my view, the 2002 Bonn agreement on the reconstruction of Afghanistan remains as important today as it was at the beginning of our discussions."

The Bonn Agreement was endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1154. It set the course for Afghanistan's post-war recovery.

The German foreign minister also urged Afghanistan's neighbors to contribute more to the country's stability.

In the past, Afghanistan and Pakistan have accused each other of not doing enough to prevent insurgents from crossing their common border.

The head of Pakistan's delegation says his country has taken a number of measures to stabilize the border.

Meanwhile, the German government and NATO are discussing the possibility of using half a dozen Tornado reconnaissance jets. They would be used to gather intelligence in less stable parts of Afghanistan.

Germany presently holds the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union. On Monday, EU officials pledged over half a billion euros of aid to Afghanistan. This, in the latest effort to help Afghanistan improve law and order.
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NATO doubts major offensive by Taliban
By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban militants are expected to step up their attacks in   Afghanistan soon, but the militia has lost strength and does not have the capability to launch a "spring offensive," a   NATO spokesman said Wednesday.
 
That just two days after Maj. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, the incoming commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, said he expects Taliban militants to launch more suicide attacks this year than in 2006, when it launched a record number of attacks.

Rodriguez, speaking Monday, added that military leaders expect an increase in all kinds of attacks as the weather gets warmer. The onset of spring melts snows on mountain passes used by insurgents and usually heralds more attacks in the south and east of the country.

NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Richard Nugee said Wednesday, however, that it will be NATO troops who will be launching the real offensive, referring to upcoming military operations but giving no details.

"We do not believe that there will be a spring offensive by the Taliban," Nugee said. "There will be an upward surge in violence as the weather gets better ... I don't think it will amount to an offensive. An offensive is a very symbolic phrase, it means a huge upsurge in a very short amount of time. We just don't think that will happen."

Last year, the Taliban launched a record number of attacks, and some 4,000 people, most of them militants, died in insurgency-related violence, according to a tally by The Associated Press based on reports from Afghan, NATO and U.S.-led coalition officials. Militants also launched a record 139 suicide attacks in 2006, according to the U.S. military.

Nugee said military leaders had seen no evidence that the Taliban were preparing for a spring offensive, and he said NATO forces had been "very successful" at removing key Taliban leaders.

"We believe that they have been degraded and are starting to appear in less good condition than they started last year," said Nugee, the lead spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
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NATO, U.S. neglect "psychological warfare": report
By Mark Trevelyan
LONDON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies must pay more attention to 'psychological warfare' as they battle insurgents in   Iraq and   Afghanistan, an influential think-tank said on Wednesday.
"Insurgents and jihadists have proved adept at conducting successful information campaigns that reach a global audience and foment violence elsewhere," the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said.

"But Western militaries have shown insufficient capability in their own attempts to carry out information and psychological operations, its annual report, "The Military Balance," said.

The IISS said it was not enough for Western armies to distribute leaflets telling the local population "we are here to help" or to put out the message that "life is getting better."

"In reality, life may not be getting better and in the eyes of the target audience the military presence could be contributing to the problem," it said.

In Afghanistan, frequent announcements by   NATO forces of how many local fighters they had killed could be counter-productive because, for the Taliban, "death is a form of victory."

"Using 'body count' as a measure of effect has a very different impact within the area of operations than it does with a home audience," the report said.

"The psychological effect at home is one of military success and may generate political support. In the theater of operations the opposite may be true, with every publicly announced kill delivering more willing recruits to the cause."

LACK OF COHERENCE
The IISS said more attention needed to be paid to finding out what really mattered to the local population, and using cultural and psychological understanding to undermine support for insurgent movements.

"Units being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are not being provided with the training to enable them to have a real, positive psychological impact on the population in their area of operations," it said.

The IISS particularly criticized a "lack of coherence" among the NATO countries operating in Afghanistan on how to wage information and psychological (PSYOPS) operations.

It said NATO was facing its sternest challenge there, as the unexpected intensity of the Taliban insurgency exposed an overall shortage of troops and inadequacy of some countries' equipment.

"The success or failure of its operation in Afghanistan is likely to shape the future of NATO," the report said.

The hope for the alliance was for a winter lull in insurgent activity that would bring some improved security and economic progress in the south, where British, Canadian, U.S. and Dutch troops are based.

"However, it is likely that the Taliban, too, see this as a possible turning point and with the majority of NATO member states unwilling to provide more troops to reinforce those already deployed, this winter is a crucial period for the alliance," the IISS said.
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NATO, Pakistan says millions of Afghans must go home
By David Brunnstrom Tue Jan 30, 12:10 PM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -   NATO and Pakistan agreed on Tuesday that three million Afghan refugees in Pakistan posed a security threat and needed to be repatriated.

Talks between Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the 26 NATO countries with more than 32,000 troops in   Afghanistan centered on the need to close the refugee camps that NATO sees as a recruiting ground for extremists, a NATO official said.

"The refugee camps pose a real threat," a NATO official said afterwards. "Certainly NATO wants to see it done."

However, he stressed it was for Afghanistan, Pakistan and the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) to determine the timing and that repatriation needed to be done properly.

"Shifting three million people across the border without the appropriate conditions in place for living, for employment, is not a solution."

Many Afghan refugees have been in Pakistan for years because of a succession of wars or conflicts. Large numbers were born in Pakistan and do not want to go back to Afghanistan.

After the talks NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer avoided public criticism of Pakistan's failure to stop the infiltration of insurgents across its border with Afghanistan.

Aziz said neighboring Afghanistan needed an approach that included security, development and repatriation.

"We want them to be peaceful, we want them to grow and develop," he said. "All sides have to do more and all sides are committed to a strong and stable Afghanistan."

One alliance diplomat said Aziz had assured NATO nations that efforts to stabilize Afghanistan were Pakistan's top foreign policy objective.

"That was something allies wanted to hear and were glad to hear," he said.

Afghanistan has struggled to cope with the return of more than 4.6 million refugees since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001 by a U.S. invasion in response to the September 11 attacks.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UNHCR agree repatriation of the remainder will be voluntary and gradual. Afghanistan would be overwhelmed if Pakistan started forcing back large numbers.

"They simply can't accept too many too quickly," a U.N. official said.

NATO, suffering increasing casualties in Afghanistan, wants Pakistan, an ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, to step up efforts against infiltration by pro-Taliban militants.

(Additional reporting by Robert Birsel in Kabul and Mark John in Brussels)
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Rebuilding and reconciliation
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online / January 30, 2007
KABUL - The Bush administration's decision to ask Congress to approve US$10.6 billion in aid for Afghanistan over the next two years, along with projects launched by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the Pashtun heartlands of southwestern Afghanistan, is part of a new initiative to reactivate old tribal systems to combat warlordism and the Talibanization of society.

Even with all these resources, though, it will be no easy task to return Afghan society to the times when Kabul ruled Afghanistan through an emir of tribes (chief of all tribes).

Afghanistan changed dramatically with the emergence of socialism and Islamists, both of which eroded traditional tribal systems. Warlordism further reduced their efficacy, as did the emergence of the Taliban.

The Taliban's rise not only changed tribal dynamics in Afghanistan, it also caused problems in the neighboring Pakistani Pashtun tribal areas, notably South Waziristan and North Waziristan. Here, the Pakistani army tried to hunt down Taliban and al-Qaeda elements by exploiting tribal structures through Islamabad's appointed political agent.

However, the tribal system in Pakistan, which is far stronger than Afghanistan's, resisted efforts to isolate the Taliban, whose ideology the youth found more appealing than Islamabad's. More than 117 tribal elders, besides dozens of mullahs (clerics) who sided with the government, were "eliminated" and many others either fled to Pakistani cities or agreed to live under Taliban domination in the two Waziristans.

With the Taliban planning a mass uprising for the spring, it might be too late to bring the tribals on the side of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led International Security Assistance Force or the US.

Many pro-Kabul officials Asia Times Online spoke to expressed confidence that with extra money for reconstruction flowing through tribal channels, it will be possible to confront the Taliban's threat.

In the heart of Helmand

A new government has taken up residence in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, where the Taliban-led insurgency has its strategic heart.

Asadullah Wafa, a 66-year-old Kandahari royalist, replaced Engineer Daud, a qualified man but out of tune with the tribals. Wafa is Western-educated, but he is steeped in tribal wisdom gained in previous governorships in Paktia and Kunar provinces. Here, he succeeded in striking ceasefire deals with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan, which had been fighting on the side of the Taliban.

Governor's House is barely a 10-minute drive from the British task force base in Lashkar Gah, but it is on high security alert. Although various research polls claim that 80% of the people of Lashkar Gah support the Hamid Karzai-led government in Kabul, Governor's House has seen several suicide attacks, the most recent being this month.

"Sir, you will be seated in the back and we will lock the doors. If our car comes under attack, you will not unlock the doors. Under no circumstances will you leave the car, and don't panic." This was my briefing from a specially trained security man, dressed in civilian clothes, before I set out from the British base to Governor's House in a high-powered, four-wheel-drive, bullet-proof vehicle.

"We are here to do the panicking for you. If you suffer injuries during an attack, don't worry, we have the best treatment facilities. There are bottles of water on the seat," the official concluded. He also checked that I was not diabetic or suffering from high blood pressure.

Joining me on the back seat of the car was an adviser to the governor, Thomas Tugendhat, who had made the arrangements for me to meet the governor. As we drew up to his offices, British security officials from an accompanying vehicle took up positions around us, and only then were our doors opened.

I had already been informed that I would not be able to speak to people outside the offices, as it was too dangerous, but I could talk to those inside. The governor's secretariat is manned by local Helmand people, but all security officials are non-Pashtuns of Dari-speaking stock. As we entered, I noticed damage to the building caused by the suicide attack, which claimed only the life of the explosive-laden attacker.

We were 30 minutes early for our appointment with the governor, so I was left waiting with my escort, Major Andrew Bird, an Australian. Bird is a smoker, like me, but he could not smoke in the room and he could not go out and leave me alone.

"Saleem, do you want to smoke?" Bird asked, saying we could go out together.

"Journalist wants to smoke. Secure the area," ordered a British security man in the room who had heard our conversation.

As I was about to walk into the courtyard, Andrew grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Please, stay behind me. Remember, buddy, if you get shot I am demoted to a lieutenant."

As we smoked we exchanged notes on the situation in southwestern Afghanistan, and it was quite apparent how nervous the British security guards were.

Finally, Tugendhat came to take me to see the governor. Outside his office, people from the Sangeen, Nawzad and Musa Qala districts of the province were sitting, members of newly formed tribal councils. They were talking about prolonging ceasefire deals with the Taliban.

"We don't have any problems with the Taliban. The Taliban are the sons of the soil. They are Afghans. You could see I had people here from Nawzad and Sangeen; they are all pro-Taliban. We talk to each other and are sincere in finding solutions for the betterment of Afghanistan," Governor Wafa said.

"The problem is the ISI's [Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence]Taliban. Those who get money from the ISI and fight with their own people. I don't consider them Afghans," Wafa said.

"I term the present insurgency unleashed on the people of Afghanistan a war imposed by Pakistan. But the history of Afghanistan is witness that foreign invaders have never been successful in Afghanistan and are always defeated. So, too, will Pakistan," Wafa said.

Wafa is optimistic that through his tribal councils he will make a difference and will persuade the masses to cooperate in opening up schools and eliminating poppy fields. He said a new phase of reconstruction in the province through the Afghan government will change the province's dynamics.

Wafa was somewhat unnerved when I mentioned that suicide attacks in the province had not stopped, and I referred to the one on his offices just days earlier. "I cannot comment on that," said.

The governor and his tribal councils are now versed in the latest strategy of the foreign coalition to make an enduring effort by engaging Afghans in so many reconstruction projects that their hearts and minds will be won over. Nevertheless, the biggest problem is how actually to engage the people in the projects.

Barry Kavanagh is a development adviser for the British Department for International Development, which assists provincial reconstruction teams in Helmand.

"Yes, there is a general complaint here in southwestern Afghanistan that northern Afghanistan has received a lot in comparison to the south in terms of reconstruction projects. But the fact is that the north is secure and the south is not.

"Even Afghan officials are scared for their lives working in this region. No NGO [non-governmental organization] is ready to visit Helmand province, which is the reason coalition countries do not launch projects in southwestern Afghanistan," said Kavanagh.

"However, now we have chalked out a strategy under which we ask Afghans to set targets and priorities. We will only arrange the money, like we recently earmarked a development budget of 20 million pounds sterling [US$39 million] for Helmand province. This will be given to the federal Ministry of Finance, which will then pass it on to the Ministry of Rural Affairs. It will then come to the provincial government, which will consult with the tribal councils and then award the contracts to Afghan contractors. They will only employ Afghan youths to execute the project.

"Since the money belongs to British taxpayers, we will make sure through supervision that the money is used for the projects and does not go into the [wrong] pockets," Kavanagh maintained.

According to Kavanagh, such projects have only been in operation for a month, so it will take some time for them to have an "enduring effect".

"Most of our focus is on capacity-building and engaging Afghans, and of course this is not an easy task. You cannot build capacity in days in a region which has been ruined in the last 30 years and all the brains have been drained abroad. It will take at least 20 years to build real capacity," Kavanagh said.

Squadron Leader Elizabeth Hyde is the officer in charge of civil military cooperation, an interface in southwestern Afghanistan. Hyde is enthusiastic because in the past few months the security situation has improved after the implementation of ceasefire agreements between occupation forces and the Taliban.

"We have selected 50 girls for the midwifery program. Generally, people do not allow their girls to be trained for such programs in which they are required to go out from their homes, but we finally managed to at least start our program with 50 girls," said Hyde. The program has also been pursuing teachers who have been scared off by the Taliban to return to their schools.

The biggest problem is the gulf between the foreign aid missions and the local people. The tribal councils make things happen, but in the past they are known to have pocketed much money. NGOs would also normally help, but there aren't any in Helmand province because of the security situation.

The initiative in Helmand is just months old. To re-establish tribal networks effectively as a bottom-up means to rebuild the province - both socially and physically - could take years.

This might be too long. The Taliban are certainly using the breathing space they have negotiated to beef up their resources in preparation for their spring offensive. The tribes will be caught in a tug-of-war between joining the Taliban's mass revolt and the lure of massive infrastructure projects.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.
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U.S official says Karzai remarks about talks with Taliban 'misconstrued'
The Associated Press 01/30/2007
Recent remarks by Afghan President Hamid Karzai about negotiations with the Taliban and other groups battling his government were "misconstrued" in media reports, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan said Tuesday.

"He made a very brief comment which has been interpreted differently in different headlines, and I think it's being misconstrued," said Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann, who was in Berlin for an Afghan reconstruction conference.

Karzai, addressing worshippers gathered at a mosque to mark a Shiite Muslim holiday, said Monday that "while we are fighting for our honor and dignity against an enemy who wants our destruction and wants us to bleed, once again we want to open a way for negotiations."

Karzai, who took power after the Taliban fell and won a five-year term in 2004 elections, has made similar offers of talks before that have been rebuffed by militant leaders.

No one from Karzai's office could be reached Tuesday to elaborate on Neumann's insistence the comment was misconstrued.

The government also has a reconciliation program that encourages militants to lay down arms and join the government.

Neumann said it would be wrong to think there is any room for negotiations on Afghanistan's democratic course, as agreed to at a conference in Bonn, Germany, after the hardline Taliban was removed from power.

"I think it is misconstrued that there is any openness on his part or on our part to renegotiating the democratic principles agreed to at Bonn. It is not about giving up power or changing power arrangements to a group that is fundamentally hostile to the whole process of democracy and liberalization.

"It is a question of making clear they have an alternative should they choose to use it of coming into the political process."

Karzai's remarks came at a time when U.S., NATO and other Western officials are warning of the likelihood of a Taliban spring offensive, following the bloodiest year since the regime was removed from power in 2001 in a U.S.-led war.

The Taliban last year launched a record number of attacks, and some 4,000 people, most of them militants, died in insurgency-related violence, according to a tally by The Associated Press based on reports from Afghan, NATO and coalition officials
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Afghan TV Debates Challenges Facing Media in Afghanistan
Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 09:04 CST RedNova
Afghan cultural experts debated challenges facing the media in Afghanistan in a regular weekly discussion feature, the "Gozaresh-e Shashonim" ("The 6:30 Report"), aired on Afghan independent Tolo TV on 29 January.

The presenter began the programme by listing some of the challenges facing the media and journalists.

Sediqollah Tawhidi, an Afghan journalist, said the government should help the media and journalists to do their job effectively and to overcome the challenges facing them. He said: "The Taleban want journalists to cover all their operations against the Afghan army and the coalition forces, otherwise they will get death threats. This is something worrying. They can kill us as they did with the teachers and students."

The presenter said that the government could also jeopardize the future of freedom of speech in the country. He added that although the Taleban did not believe in the principles of freedom of speech and pose a serious threat to it in the regions under their control, unlike the government they did not have an influence on the media law, could not impose restrictions on media activities and cannot control the independent media outlets.

Sayed Fazel Sangcharaki, an Afghan journalist, said that such treatment of journalists would cause tension. He added: "The government, in particular the Information and Culture Ministry, should deal with such issues sensibly and they should not allow any illegal actions against journalists and the media."

Mohammad Halim Tanwir, the Information and Culture Ministry adviser in charge of media affairs, underlined the important role of the ministry in media activities and said that any government department should consult the ministry prior to reacting to the media outlets.

Sediqollah Tawhidi: "There are some circles inside the government who try to create such an atmosphere. I would like to suggest to them that this is not the way to solve problems in Afghanistan, it can complicate the crisis. When you silence a voice, there will be reactions and dissatisfaction will increase. It can be easily seen in governments which are run by dictatorships. Such activities will seriously harm the government and the people."

Najib Roshan, the former director-general of the National Radio and Television Department of Afghanistan, said that problems appeared soon after the appointment of Abdol Karim Khorram as the information and culture minister. He said: "I realized that he had a well-organized plan and my resignation was part of his plan. The government's recent attitude demonstrates the fact that there is a leaning towards the Taleban and [Hezb-e Eslami leader Golboddin] Hekmatyar which is a matter of concern to the people of Afghanistan and the world community."

The presenter concluded the programme by saying that the Afghan government is afraid of expansion of media freedom and is creating challenges in this regard.
Source: BBC Monitoring Media
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Mushahid calls for Pak-US parliamentary dialogue on Afghanistan
Wednesday, 31 January 2007  Assciated Press of Pakistan
WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (APP): Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed has invited a US congressional delegation to visit Pakistan and meet with members of the parliament to discuss Pakistan-US relations and Afghanistan. Mushahid, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told a gathering of Pakistani American community on Tuesday that he met with co-chairs of Congressional Pakistan caucus, Dan Burton and Sheila Jackson-Lee and called for Pakistan-US parliamentary dialogue.

He said the US congressional delegation will visit Pakistan in near future and expressed the hope that the parliamentary dialogue would help promote understanding.

He said Pakistan has contributed vitally to making the world a safer place to live in. In this context, he underscored the country's consistent actions against terrorists in the region.

He referred to recent suicide attacks in Pakistan and observed that the country has been a victim of terrorism and has no interest at all in promoting extremists whose thinking runs counter to the government's efforts and resolve to steer the country as a progressive and democratic Islamic country.

On confronting the challenge of terrorism, he said the menace should be tackled through collective efforts. He said Pakistan should not be blamed for policy failures in Afghanistan. Pakistan, he underlined, is part of the solution. He added blaming each other will not help and concerted efforts are required to defeat extremism.

Commenting on some provisions pertaining to US cooperation with Pakistan as contained in a proposed legislation, recently cleared by the House of Representative, he said these send a wrong signal to Pakistani people and the Parliament. He called for distinguishing between friends and foes and said Pakistan has played a pivotal role in fighting the menace of terrorism over several years. Senator Mushahid said such a piece of legislation will evoke negative memories of Pressler Amendment.

About Pakistan's efforts to enforce security on its border with Afghanistan, he said the country has deployed more than 80,000 troops in the tribal region and closed four Afghan refugees camps near the border as part of efforts to check any illegal crossings. He pointed out that hundreds of Pakistani soldiers have laid down their lives in the fight against terrorism.

Mushahid said the year 2007 is very important for the country as it will have general elections, which he added, would be held in a free, fair and transparent manner. He said democracy is taking roots in the country and assemblies will complete their term.

“Pakistan is the freest democracy in the Muslim world,” he said, adding that it has an independent electronic media with news channels even in local languages. He said the government's policies and freedom of the electronic media have fostered and raised the level of tolerance in the country as all political parties freely express their views on various issues in TV programmes.

On achievements of the government, he said, it has turned around the national economy and its benefits have begun reaching out to the common people.

Mushahid said the government has empowered women in Pakistan and they are now taking part in mainstream national life. He said the the parliament enacted the Women’s Protection Act to reverse 27 years of injustice.

The parliamentary committees have been made effective and their reports are made available on the Internet, he said. 

Senator Mushahid Hussain said the government has enhanced education budget manifold over the past few years and the country is establishing international standard universities in collaboration with advanced countries to lay foundations for the country's fast-paced and long-term progress.
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Afghan women losing ground because of a lack of security, MPs told
Tue Jan 30, 1:57 PM By Jennifer Ditchburn
OTTAWA (CP) - Rina Amiri recalls her delight when she was greeted by 100 Afghan women gathered in a village school, all anxious to speak to the humanitarian worker about how they could help improve their community life.

But five years later, that school has closed because of security concerns, along with nearly 200 others across the country.

The schoolgirls who were featured by the media in their classrooms after the fall of the Taliban have now largely drifted away, with only 35 per cent now getting any sort of education.

"You cannot improve the situation of women without improving the security situation as a whole," Amiri, of the Open Society Institute, told the Commons defence committee on Tuesday.

That view was echoed by other witnesses, who supported the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, but said that rebuilding civil society and humanitarian assistance should be emphasized rather than military operations.

"Women and children must be protected as a matter of highest priority," said Ariane Brunet of Rights and Democracy.

Said Adeena Niazi of the Afghan Women's Organization: "I believe one of the reasons for insecurity is how easy it has been for the Taliban to recruit people because of economic reasons.

Niazi painted a grim picture of the status of Afghan women outside of the capital Kabul.

Women and girls are routinely kidnapped, confined, forced into unwanted marriages, raped, sexually abused and even killed for reasons of family "honour."

Forty per cent of mothers die in childbirth or from post-natal complications.

Brunet said the dizzying number of soldiers in Afghanistan, ranging from international forces to militias and the bands of local warlords, has exacerbated women's problems, leading to a "brutalization" and "militarization" of society.

And she notes that women's rights are often held up by hardliners as evidence of an attempt to westernize the country. Afghan President Hamid Karzai responded to that pressure by reinstating the feared department of vice and virtue to monitor adherence to traditional rules.

But she said the West shouldn't give up on Afghanistan.

Brunet said it will take time to strengthen public institutions and give people who have traditionally had little connection to the state a sense of citizenry and a recognition of civic rights.

"Canadians have strongly indicated their support for women in Afghanistan. They should continue their support not with more money or more military but with more time," Brunet said.

Amiri underlined that the situation for women in Afghanistan is not deteriorating on all fronts. She noted that 27 per cent of representatives in the Afghan parliament are women, and they have an equal voice in the political process.

"The improvements made in the political realm are unprecedented," Amiri said. "I do think these are significant gains and not merely symbolic."
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Taliban commander killed in Zabul
QALAT, Jan 29 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Security officials in the southern province of Zabul claimed killing a senior Taliban commander and his bodyguard in a clash.

Provincial chief of security Ghulam Rabbani told Pajhwok Afghan News commander Qari Raziq was killed last night in a clash with security forces in Mizan district.

Raziq was on way from a party to his base when ambushed by security forces, he said. The commander was killed along with one fighter, while the security forces remained unhurt.

Commander of the Attal 205 Army Corps Rahmatullah Raufi said weapons had also been seized by the security personnel. Taliban are yet to issue comments on the government's claim.
Saeed Zabuli
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ACC hires foreign coach for national cricket team
KABUL, Jan 30 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has appointed a foreign coach for the national cricket team, officials said on Tuesday.

Chief of the Afghanistan Cricket Federation Shahzada Masood told Pajhwok Afghan News a Pakistani national and former cricketer Farrukh Zaman had been appointed as coach for the national cricket team.

He said most of the cricketers were presently doing net practice in Peshawar due to the snow and cold weather in Kabul. He said the new coach was also with them. He would formally resume his duty in Kabul in April this year, Masood added.

Meanwhile, the cricket federation has announced names of the new captain and players for the eight-nation cricket tournament scheduled to be held in Kuwait next month.

Nauroz Mangal will lead the team. Names of other players are: Karim Sadiq (vice captain), Hasti Gul Abid, Samiullah Shinwari, Hamid Hasan, Noor Ali, Haji Ahmad Shah, Daulat Ahmadzai, Raees Ahmadzai, Nabi Ahmadzai, Khan Mohammad and Sajid.
Javid Hamim
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Life of the Parties
Wall Street Journal 01/30/2007 By Ann Marlowe
In Afghanistan, many of the problems coming home to roost now are the result of too little American intervention rather than too much. That does not mean too little American aid. In any case, private enterprise is doing very well, thank you: Afghans are a practical people with good capitalist instincts. They can pull themselves out of poverty given the right laws and the rule of law -- as well as the institutions that go to make up a functional civil society.

Of these institutions, one that is most crucial is political parties. Even one-party states have them, and with reason. They bring people together across ethnic and class lines, and often serve as a counterweight to clan ties and religious affiliation. Moreover, they lead citizens to think in national terms, rather than to vote reflexively along ethnic lines. Finally, political parties could be an essential weapon in our counterinsurgency in the border provinces.

But Afghanistan -- thanks to some dubious decisions by the Afghan government, and our acquiescence -- is the land parties forgot. This is even more of a pity because of the dearth of other institutions. Afghanistan is poor not just in per capita income -- about $350 a year, double what it was three years earlier -- but in structures that link unrelated people. All sorts of organizations Americans take for granted simply don't exist. There are no groups like PTAs, children's sport leagues, alumni associations and country clubs. Nor are there those that constitute "special interest politics," such as trade unions, manufacturers' associations, or lobbyists for economic or ethical concerns. Afghanistan is kept poor by the lack of trust among unrelated citizens and the absence of a sense of common interest. All it has are family and ethnic loyalties -- wonderful in many ways for those nurtured within strong families, but not so wonderful for economic growth and civil society.

With very little pulling Afghans together, greed and extremism are more potent forces than in more densely networked societies. The absence of norms of good civic behavior allows some of the Afghan elite to take advantage of their inherited positions to loot their homeland. The corruption of many of Hamid Karzai's associates is undermining efforts to build the Afghan state. How can anyone expect ordinary Afghans to work for the national interest when their country is being robbed blind?

The U.N. feared that strong political parties could revive the civil war, but it is more accurate to say that the absence of overt party politics has allowed the worst covert organizations to flourish. Some 34 former or current members of Hezb-e-Islami, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's violent fundamentalist party, won seats in Afghanistan 's parliamentary elections last September. Perhaps half of parliament's lower house are fundamentalists. And in an environment where legitimate businesses lack an open voice in the legislative process through trade organizations and lobbyists, guess which illegal business is rumored to be financing many MPs? (U.S. and NATO experts are discussing previously unthinkable ideas like buying and destroying the opium crop, since the feeble interdiction programs are not working and the opium money is financing, indeed in some places creating, the insurgency.)

Without competing, coherent ideologies, the Taliban can eat away at the elected government. If it's a choice between Mr. Karzai and associates -- people, not a party -- and a group that claims to fight corruption, who is the average villager going to trust?

There is another factor involved in the seeming revival of the Taliban, and it's not ideology. Afghans are not particularly ideological. The Taliban are popular only within a narrow geographic and ethnic band which mirrors their Hotak Ghilzai tribal membership. As two innovative scholars of Pashtun society, Thomas Johnson and Chris Mason, argue, the districts where the Taliban has gained support are exactly those which are Ghilzai, a powerful tribe that lost out to the Durrani tribe 300 years ago and has tried to bounce back ever since. This is about power, not ideology: The Ghilzai provided the leaders both to Afghanistan 's communist movement and the jihadis who opposed them. Now they are attacking NATO troops because we support a Durrani-dominated government. (Mr. Karzai and the royal family are Durranis, and so are most of his Pashtun associates and Afghanistan 's power elite.)

Most Afghans can at least see the benefit of civil society and the rule of law. Anyone who is not a member of the largest ethnic bloc, the Pashtuns -- 40% of the population -- has more to gain from strengthening the central government and the concept of Afghan nationhood. (Not incidentally, the relatively prosperous north and west are Tajik, Hazara, Turkmen and Uzbek, with few Pashtuns.) That's 60% of the population, plus progressive Pashtuns and Pashtuns from marginalized tribes. The Ghilzais must be co-opted, too, in order to weaken the insurgency. This must be done cautiously, of course, as they are no more interested in sharing power than are the Durranis.

There are no insuperable barriers to pushing and pulling Afghans toward a functioning democracy and civil society. The problem is that the U.S. and the U.N. have saddled Afghanistan with a voting and parliamentary system that does exactly the opposite, offering no alternative to voting by ethnicity and failing to make it worthwhile for ethnic groups to form coalitions. Elections were set up by the U.N. using a voting system ("Single Non-Transferable Vote," or SNTV) where each citizen chooses just one candidate from a long list of contenders to represent his district. (In Kabul , for instance, 387 candidates were on the ballot, but each voter chose one.)

Under these circumstances, Afghans have voted ethnically. In the October 2004 presidential election, "no candidate received significant support outside of their particular ethno-linguistic group," as Thomas Johnson of the Naval Postgraduate School has pointed out. Worse yet, Pashtuns and Tajiks -- the two most numerous ethnic groups -- are not only overwhelmingly likely to vote for candidates from their own groups, but against candidates from a perceived rival group. The Pashtun Mr. Karzai did not receive a majority of the vote of any ethnic group save his own. He still won 55.4% of the vote, with the other major candidates gaining 16.3%, 11.7% and 10%.

When the September 2005 parliamentary elections were set up, no political party affiliations were allowed on the ballots; instead, candidates had a randomly picked symbol next to their names and photos (helpful to the many illiterate voters). The prohibition of party politics was largely at Mr. Karzai's urging. As the best-known politician in Afghanistan , it was to his advantage to avoid giving potential opponents the buoying effect of a party affiliation, and to have a rubber-stamp parliament of unknowns. However, while parliament is often ineffectual, it has neither expedited the policies of his cabinet nor been able to present alternatives. Instead, it has been a vibrant but disorganized forum in which neophyte politicians struggle to understand the way legislation is enacted and religious fundamentalists try to block anything that smacks of secularism.

"Parliament came five years too soon," an American advisor to a cabinet minister told me. "It's slowing down approval processes and creating a forum for debate that has yet to prove useful." Given low levels of education and business experience in Afghanistan , even among elites, it's not surprising many MPs have difficulty understanding a budget, much less proposing improvements to it. But having parties in place would have allowed the more capable members to instruct the less prepared.

The absence of political parties was also shortsighted for Mr. Karzai himself, making his effectiveness depend on personal popularity. He was at his zenith when the system was designed; now he is grudgingly accepted as the least of the possible evils by a resigned electorate. Mr. Karzai would be better off with a party organization behind him: In the U.S. even an unpopular president can get things done because party discipline supports him. And a successor to an unpopular president can be groomed within a party even as challengers from competing parties ready their bids. Instead, the Afghan situation is that of a barely competent president with no more competent successor.

Prof. Johnson also points out that most Afghan voters are not represented by a candidate they voted for. Due to a combination of SNTV voting and a 50% turnout, only about 18% of eligible voters in Afghanistan are represented by a candidate they voted for; 64% chose a candidate who lost. Prof. Johnson notes that "many candidates won virtually by chance," with the top finishers in some provinces gathering only a few percent of the votes cast. This might be tolerable in a mature democracy, but is not what one wants in a country with scant trust in the electoral system and little sense of national identity. The next parliamentary elections aren't until 2010, so there is time to set up a better voting system. SNTV should be replaced, requirements stiffened for obtaining a place on the ballot to avoid such farces as choosing among 387 candidates, and runoffs considered.

An Afghan-American member of parliament, Daoud Sultanzoy, has advanced another good idea: take representation down to the district level. Currently, the people of each of Afghanistan 's 34 provinces vote for members of parliament from their province, and the highest vote-getters become representatives of that province according to its population. But representatives are not linked with particular districts as they are in the U.S, though some provinces are the size of whole European countries and differ widely in population, terrain and economy. Nor are there mayoral elections for small towns in Afghanistan , so there is no one to represent the national government on a local level.

Afghanistan 's biggest problem is not the Taliban, but underdeveloped institutions and a lack of rule of law. It is emphatically not "another Iraq ." Most of Afghanistan is relatively peaceful. Just 192 American troops have been killed in action since fall 2001, and in 2006, 206 Afghan civilians were murdered in suicide bombings. Tragic, yes, but in 2003, the last year for which statistics are available, 16,000 Afghan women died in childbirth -- 44 a day.

As this comparison suggests, we need to foster civil society and robust institutions in order to assure a decent life for Afghanistan's citizens. An essential part of this is nurturing political parties.
Ms. Marlowe is the author of "The Book of Trouble" (Harcourt, 2006), a memoir.
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The new issues: climate change and Afghanistan
The Chronicle Herald, Canada 01/30/2007  By Dan Leger
THIRTY-FOUR years ago this month, in January 1973, Richard Nixon announced an agreement to end the Vietnam War and achieve what he called "peace with honour" in that terrible conflict.

Historians still debate America?s mistakes in that war: its ideological blindness, muddled policy, and lack of clear war aims beyond fighting Communism. Political support for the war collapsed because few Americans could explain how a Communist takeover in an obscure Asian country could affect their vital interests.

Afghanistan is no Vietnam, but there are political and historical parallels. Just like Nixon didn?t get the U.S. into Vietnam but had to get it out, Stephen Harper didn?t get Canada into Afghanistan; the Liberals did. But it might be up to Mr. Harper to get us out.

Last week, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion summoned up images of Nixon, at least to my mind, by saying that Canadian troops should not be withdrawn from Afghanistan "with dishonour," that is, before their mission there is completed. He?s saying: stay the course, but have a plan to get out.

But how do we define when the mission is completed? Is it when progress toward peace and security is "irreversible," as Mr. Harper favours, or something short of that?

Mr. Dion is trying to stake out the middle ground in the minds of Canadians, who polls suggest are increasingly uneasy about Afghanistan. Polls also suggest that many Canadians are unclear about what Canada?s war aims are, even though most of us want to support the troops who are doing their duty so faithfully.

The Liberal leader made it clear that he wants to position his party somewhere between what he called the dishonourable NDP demand for immediate withdrawal and Prime Minister Harper?s "blind" support for the current mission. The Liberals want the Canadian Forces to do more reconstruction work and help build the Afghan economy. Many Canadians want that too.

But it seems pretty clear there can't be reconstruction without security. And there won't be security in Afghanistan if the Taliban and their foreign supporters are allowed to seep back in and take over once again.

It?s also very possible that for the first time in decades, a foreign policy issue will be a major element of an election campaign. In fact, it?s entirely possible that Afghanistan and the environment will turn out to be the two defining issues of the next campaign.

The election won?t be soon. No party has enough support yet to trigger a vote, and there?s no indication that overall satisfaction with the current minority is weakening. Mr. Harper would be smart to recognize that good numbers showing up in polls indicate satisfaction with the current minority situation, not necessarily with his government.

Vastly complicating matters for the Tories after a full year in office is that they now face a political scene revolving around two issues that they?re not known for: foreign policy and the environment. How they manage them could determine whether Mr. Harper ever wins his majority government.

Mr. Harper has forced an extension of Canada?s mission in Afghanistan to 2009, but without stating clearly what the goal is. Is it reconstruction, or is it security? Is it killing the Taliban, or educating the girls the Taliban would rather kill than allow in school?

On the environment, is the Tory policy to laugh off global warming, as Mr. Harper did in December when he sniffed at "so-called greenhouse gases"? Or is the policy now to do something about climate change and Canada?s energy-wasting ways?

Last week, the Globe and Mail published a poll which showed the environment outstripping even health care as the top issue for Canadians. But it wasn?t clear how that would play out in an election.

A "green election" could fracture the Liberal or NDP votes and boost the rising Green party. It could solidify the Conservative vote. But it might also cause fence-sitters who are close to voting Conservative to avoid them altogether.

The fact that Mr. Harper has started to change his tune on green issues suggests the Tories see they are out of step with changing priorities. Canadians don?t care about GST cuts and the gun registry. The Tories need a plan, and it better be green.

The same goes for Afghanistan. When is progress toward peace and security irreversible? It sounds good in a speech, but voters will want more than that before giving Mr. Harper his precious majority and freedom to do what he wants in high office.
 
Dan Leger is director of news content for The Chronicle Herald. The opinions expressed here are his own.
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Musharraf ally urges withdrawing bill that links Pakistan military aid to anti-terror work
The Associated Press 01/30/2007
A close ally of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says U.S. legislation that would link military aid to Pakistan's efforts fighting militants on the border with Afghanistan amounts to "punishing an ally and a friend" and should be withdrawn.

Sen. Mushahid Hussain, chairman of Pakistan's foreign relations committee and a leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, also criticized on Monday what he said was a U.S. policy that insisted on pursuing the war in Iraq before finishing the job in Afghanistan.

Responding to U.S. criticism of Pakistan's efforts against Taliban militants who are said to be using Pakistan as a base for attacks on Afghanistan, Hussain asked: "Why are we being penalized for a failure that is due to wrong policies? Let me tell you that the original sin was committed by Washington."

Hussain said in an interview with The Associated Press that a bill passed this month by the U.S. House of Representatives should be "withdrawn in the interests of Pakistan-American relations, and in the broader interests of the anti-terrorism campaign.

"Pakistan is a pivotal player in that, and you can't cast aspersions or doubts on Pakistan's commitment when we have shown that commitment at great peril" to the lives of many, he said.

The bill would link military aid to a certification from U.S. President George W. Bush that Islamabad is doing its best to counter Taliban operations in Pakistan and secure its long Afghan frontier.

It was part of legislation to implement recommendations for change by a committee that investigated government actions before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The package was sponsored by the House's Democratic leaders.

Afghanistan, Hussain said, "is winnable, provided we all work together, and provided we distinguish between our friends and foes and don't swap roles on that."

The United States and Pakistan became allies in the war against al-Qaida and other terror groups after Pakistan severed support for Afghanistan's then-ruling Taliban militia after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. The Taliban were providing sanctuary for al-Qaida kingpin Osama bin Laden and many of his followers.

The proposed U.S. legislation notes a "number of critical issues that threaten to disrupt the relationship between the United States and Pakistan, undermine international security and destabilize Pakistan." Those include Pakistan's porous borders, nuclear proliferation, Islamic extremism and slow efforts to move toward democracy.

The bill has yet to be considered by the Senate, but it is already causing "considerable heartburn" among Pakistani officials, according to Robert Hathaway, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Asia Program. "Many people see this as yet one more example of the United States as an unreliable ally," he said.

Hussain also spoke of recent comments critical of Pakistan by John Negroponte, the outgoing National Intelligence Director, and Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Maples said Pakistan's border with Afghanistan "remains a haven for al-Qaida's leadership and other extremists."

U.S. officials, Hussain said, are basing their comments "on the same intelligence that failed to foresee the Indian nuclear tests of May 1998, that has failed to track down Osama bin Laden and that has failed to discover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There is a big gap in the credibility of that intelligence."
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Diplomatic efforts fail to mend Afghan-Pak ties
PTI 01/30/2007 By Anand K Sahay
Afghanistan's sustained diplomatic engagement with several countries, including Saudi Arabia and China, to normalise its relations with Pakistan have shown little results, informed sources have said.

The latest move in this direction was a letter written by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Saudi Arabia's King Fahd.

Karzai briefed visiting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee about this communication when he was here recently.

As a follow-up, the sources said, Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta is expected to visit Riyadh shortly.

In his recent address to a joint session of parliament, Karzai thanked some Islamic countries and neighbours for trying to defuse the situation with Pakistan.

In this context, he referred to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and China.

The Chinese mediation bore fruit at the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation last summer, when Karzai and his Pakistan counterpart Pervez Musharraf had a one-to-one meeting to iron differences.

This led to a meeting of foreign ministers of the two countries in Dubai, thanks to facilitation by the UAE.

Shortly thereafter, Spanta flew to Islamabad to confer with his counterpart, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri.

But it was clear by November that efforts at informal mediation by different parties had yielded no result, for the White House dinner of Karzai and Musharraf with US President George W Bush turned out to be a cool affair, sources said.

In the light of the failure of earlier efforts by others to bring about a rapprochement, Karzai came up with his own initiative at the dinner for national peace jirgas to be held in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This proposal was endorsed by Bush.

Tehran is also understood to have offered to help Afghanistan and Pakistan resolve their differences, though it is not clear what transpired as a result.

Asked about these contacts over the past few months, foreign ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said it was "important to help reduce tensions and to work more positively toward peace".
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The big Afghanistan push comes to shove
The Guardian, UK 01/30/2007 By Simon Tisdall 
Overshadowed by President George Bush's controversial, last-chance bid to salvage American honour in Iraq, the US is mounting a parallel military and reconstruction "surge" in Afghanistan ahead of an anticipated Taliban spring offensive. But Washington is also encountering some familiar Iraq-style obstacles: reluctant allies, meddlesome neighbours, a weak central government and the realisation that time is not on its side.

The US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice underscored the administration's newfound sense of urgency at a hastily convened Nato foreign ministers meeting in Brussels last Friday. "Every one of us must take a hard look at what more we can do to help the Afghan people and to support one another," Ms Rice said.

"We need greater commitments to reconstruction, to development, to fight the poppy economy. We need additional forces on the ground - ready to fight. And we need to provide greater support for the development of Afghan institutions, especially security forces ... If there is to be a spring offensive, it must be our offensive," Ms Rice said. It would be as much a diplomatic and economic campaign as a military assault directed at Islamist extremists.

Reversing a recent trend towards disengagement, the US has pledged an additional $8.6bn (£4.3bn) for police and army training, plus $2bn more for road-building, electricity and counter-narcotics efforts. And some of the 3,200 US Mountain Division troops whose tour has been extended will form the go-anywhere "theatre tactical reserve" long demanded by the Nato force commander, British general David Richards. "It will be used where he best wants to make a difference - his force, his choice where he employs it," said US major-general Benjamin Freakley.

Washington's Afghan surge is a bid to head off a Taliban campaign, backed by al-Qaida, Pakistani and other foreign fighters, that claims to have 4,000 suicide bombers primed to attack - and comes after escalating violence last year. But it also draws on the Iraq experience and a resulting determination not to "lose" Afghanistan too.

Anthony Cordesman, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said Washington had prioritised governance and democracy-building at the expense of development. "The US has grossly under-financed economic aid efforts and left far too much of the country without visible aid activity," he wrote last month.

"The present central government [of president Hamid Karzai] is at least two or three years away from providing the presence and services Afghans desperately need. In Iraq the failure to honestly assess problems in the field, be realistic about needs [and] create effective long-term aid and force development plans may well have brought defeat. The US and its allies cannot afford to lose two wars. If they do not act now, they will."

The American attempt in Brussels to squeeze more help out of the European Nato allies, like a similar US-British effort at last November's Riga summit, appears to have little immediate impact. Lithuania has answered the call. Peer pressure is growing on France, Germany, Italy and Spain, who are accused of falling short in war-fighting and aid.

Ms Rice hinted after the meeting that more European cash and the easing of national caveats on in-country troop deployments might be forthcoming. Talks were held in Berlin yesterday on future EU-wide funding. But there is still no sign of the 6,000 reinforcements Nato is estimated to need.

Real problems with neighbouring Pakistan, where some Taliban forces are based and recruited, and potential ones with Iran if the Washington-Tehran stand-off worsens are further complicating the new big push. Congress is threatening to cut military aid to Islamabad if the president, General Pervez Musharraf, does not get tough with the militants. Continuing difficulties over police training - and sharp disagreement with Mr Karzai over how best to eradicate heroin-related poppy production that bankrolls both the Taliban and warlords in the Helmand war zone - are other significant obstacles.

Whether this latest surge of US interest will decisively improve Afghanistan's longer-term prospects is an open question. Mr Karzai yesterday reiterated his offer of peace talks with the Taliban. But Ms Rice's tone is familiarly unyielding. Re-burying the mistakes made in Iraq, she is once again conjuring dramatic black-and-white choices: "This is a defining moment for Afghanistan, for Nato and for our wider democratic community ... We must stay, we must fight, and we must win."
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