 |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serving you since 1998 | ||||||||||||
|
|
- 10 Taliban killed in Afghan clash
- Afghan police 'under-equipped'
- Afghan government not delivering, governor says
- Afghan government not delivering, governor says
- Afghanistan warlord calls for revolt
- Dozens of Taliban killed in Afghanistan
- The aftermath
- Dutch NATO soldier wounded in Afghanistan dies
- US intelligence chiefs fret over Pakistan
- Expansion planned for Afghanistan airfield
- U.S. Afghan fighter sues news agency
- UK soldier pleads not guilty to spying
- Is War With Iran Inevitable? Yes.
- Return of Hindu, Sikh refugees to Afghanistan opposed
- IDLO to train ministry officials
- Afghanistan, Pakistan agree on CBMs to improve ties
- IMF says Afghanistan qualifies for interim debt relief
Fri Jul 13, 7:21 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - NATO-led and Afghan troops clashed with Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan on Friday, leaving 10 suspected militants dead, an Afghan army officer said.
A NATO and Afghan army soldier were wounded in a second straight day of clashes in the Gereshk district of Helmand province. On Thursday, 20 other suspected militants were killed in fighting with NATO and Afghan forces, said Maj. Gen. Muhiddin Ghori of the Afghan National Army. He did not release the nationality of the wounded NATO soldier.
In the southern Zabul province, militants attacked a police patrol on the main highway to Kabul, wounding two officers Thursday, said Ghulam Jailani, a highway police commander in Zabul.
Violence has spiked in Afghanistan in the last six weeks. More than 3,200 people, mostly militants, have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according a count by The Associated Press based on numbers from Afghan and Western officials.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghan police 'under-equipped'
By Pam O'Toole BBC News / Friday, 13 July 2007
A senior American army officer in Afghanistan says that only about 40% of the police force is properly equipped.
But he said resources are now in place to solve the problem.
Speaking at the end of his tour of duty, Maj-Gen Robert Durbin said much progress had been made in building the fledgling army and police force.
There are currently around 35,000 operational troops in the Afghan army, with plans for those numbers to double by the end of 2008.
'Incapable'
The 70,000 strong police force is due to increase to 82,000 in the same period of time.
The Afghan army and police have borne the brunt of attacks by Taleban-led insurgents over recent years.
But while the army is relatively well equipped and trained, Maj-Gen Durbin - the outgoing head of the section of the coalition which is training the army and police - said only around 40% of police force is properly equipped.
He attributed this to the fact that until 18 months ago, the international community had provided almost $2bn for reforming Afghanistan's army, but less than a tenth of that had been invested in the police force.
Maj-Gen Durbin said resources were now beginning to come in to properly equip the police.
Last year a US government report concluded the Afghan police were largely incapable of carrying out their law enforcement responsibilities because of corruption, illiteracy, low pay, bad equipment, the insurgency and insufficient training.
Many Afghans said they have lost confidence in the force, alleging that many policemen top-up their pay - which at $70 a month is about a third less than that of an army recruit - with bribes from petty criminals or from drug smugglers.
Afghans have accused the police of rampant corruption and being involved in extortion, kidnapping and robbery.
There are now moves to increase police salaries - and the US has said that reforming the force is now one of its top priorities.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghan government not delivering, governor says
Fri Jul 13, 6:59 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan provincial governor has lashed out against the government of President Hamid Karzai, saying there was a "vacuum of authority" in remote areas that the Taliban or criminals would fill.
In rare public criticism of the Karzai's leadership by a senior official, the governor of Kapisa province, Abdul Sattar Murad, also said Pakistan intelligence officers promoted the Taliban.
"In terms of internal factors, the government cannot deliver, and this is a problem," Murad said in an interview with Newsweek magazine in its latest issue.
"As a governor, I'm not supposed to say this, but I see that we cannot deliver what we are expected to."
Kapisa is northeast of Kabul and has seen a series of attacks by resurgent Taliban in recent months.
Frustration is growing among Afghans with the government over deteriorating security, civilian casualties, corruption, crime, and a perceived lack of economic development.
Karzai has been leading Afghanistan since shortly after U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001.
"What's missing is leadership. Afghanistan (is) at this critical moment of its history, we don't have a leadership that can unite the national leaders, which can see the needs of people and respond to them," the American-educated Murad said.
"All the political parties are now drifting away from national leadership. All over the country, the people are distancing themselves from the government.
"In remote parts of the country there is particularly a vacuum of authority, a vacuum of power. Somebody will have to fill that vacuum. Either the criminals fill that vacuum or the Taliban and al Qaeda do."
He also said the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would increase risks for Afghanistan.
"This would send the wrong signal to al Qaeda all over the world. For Iraq, I'm afraid it would be a disaster. For Afghanistan, if that kind of atmosphere prevails, it would be very dangerous," he said.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghan government not delivering, governor says
Fri Jul 13, 6:59 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan provincial governor has lashed out against the government of President Hamid Karzai, saying there was a "vacuum of authority" in remote areas that the Taliban or criminals would fill.
In rare public criticism of the Karzai's leadership by a senior official, the governor of Kapisa province, Abdul Sattar Murad, also said Pakistan intelligence officers promoted the Taliban.
"In terms of internal factors, the government cannot deliver, and this is a problem," Murad said in an interview with Newsweek magazine in its latest issue.
"As a governor, I'm not supposed to say this, but I see that we cannot deliver what we are expected to."
Kapisa is northeast of Kabul and has seen a series of attacks by resurgent Taliban in recent months.
Frustration is growing among Afghans with the government over deteriorating security, civilian casualties, corruption, crime, and a perceived lack of economic development.
Karzai has been leading Afghanistan since shortly after U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001.
"What's missing is leadership. Afghanistan (is) at this critical moment of its history, we don't have a leadership that can unite the national leaders, which can see the needs of people and respond to them," the American-educated Murad said.
"All the political parties are now drifting away from national leadership. All over the country, the people are distancing themselves from the government.
"In remote parts of the country there is particularly a vacuum of authority, a vacuum of power. Somebody will have to fill that vacuum. Either the criminals fill that vacuum or the Taliban and al Qaeda do."
He also said the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would increase risks for Afghanistan.
"This would send the wrong signal to al Qaeda all over the world. For Iraq, I'm afraid it would be a disaster. For Afghanistan, if that kind of atmosphere prevails, it would be very dangerous," he said.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghanistan warlord calls for revolt
via Gulf Times (Qatar) Friday, 13 July, 2007, 02:26 AM Doha Time
KABUL: An Afghan warlord fighting US and Nato forces yesterday condemned the Pakistani army raid on the Lal Masjid and called on Muslims there to revolt against the US-backed government, a spokesman said.
Veteran fighter Gulbuddin Hekmatyar charged that Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf “attacked the mosque to please (US President George W) Bush,” according to Hekmatyar’s spokesman Haroon Zarghon. – AFP
Back to Top
Back to Top
Dozens of Taliban killed in Afghanistan
Deutsche Welle Friday, July 13, 2007
Intense fighting in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of dozens of suspected Taliban militants as well as six Afghan police and a British NATO soldier. The six police were killed when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle which was part of a US convoy travelling through south-eastern Afghanistan. Elsewhere, Afghan and US forces have reported killing at least 36 suspected militants in multiple clashes in Helmand and Uruzgan provinces. Britain's Defence Ministry said that a British soldier was killed and two wounded in fighting in Helmand.
Back to Top
Back to Top
The aftermath
Dr Haider K Nizamani Daily Times (Pakistan) Friday, July 13, 2007
The debriefing of the Lal Masjid operation should go beyond its military operational aspects. Now is an opportune time to take critical stock of policies that have brought the Pakistani polity to this sorry state of affairs
Abdul Rashid Ghazi chose to put his life on line when he couldn’t secure a guarantee that he and his companions would get amnesty and would not be tried. He also wanted safe passage to some unknown location for some reported ‘foreign’ guests.
Six years ago Mullah Umar opted to plunge Afghanistan into vicious war rather than hand over Osama Bin Laden and his associates. The showdown in the Lal Masjid was, of course, a lot more than just a special guest-host relationship. Of the multiple facets of the crisis, three are noteworthy.
Firstly, we need to assess whether the stated agenda of the Lal Masjid brigade permitted a negotiated settlement. Secondly, what connection does the operation have with Pakistan’s Afghan policy? And finally, what shall be the future of Pakistan’s guest terrorists, who have made the country their home-base?
The crisis began when the authorities started their drive against illegal occupation of government land in Islamabad. Some mosques were demolished. This got the Ghazi brothers, hardly known to ordinary Pakistanis before the standoff, going. Burqa-clad and baton-wielding women took over a children’s library. Despite the government’s acceptance of the demand that the mosques be re-built, the Lal Masjid decided to cleanse Islamabad. Poor DVD vendors and beauty salon proprietors were at the receiving end of their wrath. The stated objective of the Lal Masjid top echelon was to bring sharia to Pakistan.
Less than three thousand people in the world’s sixth most populous country, with a population of 160 million, were demanding a change in the fundamentals of the social system. They neither had the democratic and populist mandate to effect such a change nor did they have the required military power to coercively impose such a system. They were emboldened by the mix of inaction of the men in uniform and the tacit support of some politicians. In the process they went on the rampage, kidnapping people and generally making a nuisance of themselves. They crossed the red line when they kidnapped some Chinese nationals and brought them to the mosque.
The images of the Chinese high-level diplomats scurrying around to ensure the release of their nationals was just a symptom of what must have been going on behind closed doors between Chinese ambassador and his contacts in the Pakistani establishment. From General Pervez Musharraf’s address on July 12 it is clear that this was the tipping point.
The curtain finally dropped on the tussle between an un-elected and not-so-popular coterie of mullahs holed up in the centre of the capital and the armed forces, which exceed half a million in numbers and have overwhelming fire and manpower at their disposal.
Ceding to the maximalist demands of the Lal Masjid was simply out of the question in the long run. The outcome of the military action only reflects who had the ultimate power to prevail.
Whereas a negotiated solution was almost impossible, the stiff resistance that the military’s Special Services Group (SSG) faced shouldn’t come as a big surprise to informed citizens of Pakistan. Although the government has not provided verifiable identities of all the militants who have made Islamabad their abode, it would not be far off the mark to assume that some of them were known to our intelligence agencies because of past linkages.
The linkage with Afghanistan is obvious. For years the Pakistani establishment used Islamist proxies in that country and also in Indian-held Kashmir. Afghanistan also provided an excellent training ground. Most of these militants teamed up with the Taliban. Some key features of Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy and Islamic militancy at home became intertwined. One is not sure if Operation Sunrise is enough to cut the Gordian knot.
Islamabad is understandably unhappy with those who are in power in Kabul. Much of the Kabul administration in turn detests Pakistan because of its confirmed past and alleged present links with the Taliban. An amorphous Taliban are partly Islamabad’s signal to the coalition forces that there will be no stability in Afghanistan without taking Pakistani interests into consideration. If Pakistan continues to provide sanctuary to the Taliban elements from Afghanistan it is only logical that similar forces in Pakistan will forge closer links with Taliban-style Islam. Dealings with obscurantist forces across the Durand Line and championing ‘enlightened moderation’ at home inevitably leads to North Waziristans and Lal Masjids.
Add trans-national militants to the picture and we have an explosive mix. The privatised proxy war fought by militarily well-trained and ideologically charged jihadis did not end with the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to noted scholar Mahmud Mamdani, “the most subversive effect of the privatised jihad was on the madrassas, many of which were turned into the politico-military training schools”.
From General Musharraf’s address it is clear that the demand for amnesty and safe passage for Ghazi and his men, including the foreigners, scuttled the negotiations. The Zia administration had used the Cold War to open Pakistan up to mobile militants, mainly from the Arab countries. Islamabad’s jaundiced support for the Taliban in the 1990s extended their stay to the extent that they were joined in by fellow militants from Central Asian countries. In the meantime they have forged closer ideological, military and familial relationships with their counterparts in Pakistan. They are holed up in several corners of the country in shady establishments which claim to be mosques.
Pakistani intelligence agencies cannot hide behind the ruse of lack of information and allow other Lal Masjids to sprout up in the country. The government will have to be pro-active. This is perhaps why General Musharraf said categorically in his speech that no other Lal Masjids and Jamias Hafsa would be tolerated.
The debriefing of the Lal Masjid operation should go beyond its military operational aspects. Now is an opportune time to take critical stock of policies that have brought the Pakistani polity to this sorry state of affairs.
The writer teaches at the Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Canada.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Dutch NATO soldier wounded in Afghanistan dies
Fri Jul 13, 5:53 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - A Dutch soldier wounded in a suicide attack on a NATO convoy in Afghanistan died of his wounds a day later at a military hospital in the Netherlands, NATO said on Friday.
The 24 year-old was wounded with seven other NATO troopers in the attack in southern Uruzgan province on Wednesday, which also took the lives of 17 civilians, a dozen of them schoolboys.
"A soldier who was serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) died at Central Military Hospital in Utrecht, the Netherlands," said a military press statement.
He was transported to his home country with three colleagues who also suffered injuries in the same attack.
The death brings the number of Dutch soldiers killed in Afghanistan to nine since the beginning of the ISAF mission, said the Dutch defence ministry.
The three are in stable condition, added the ministry.
A total of 111 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year. In 2006 191 foreign troopers were killed in the Taliban-led insurgency against the Afghan government and its western backers.
There have been more than 70 suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year, compared with about 140 in all of 2006. Most are aimed at the security forces but civilians are usually the primary victims.
The violence has intensified this summer with major battles across the country. About 3,000 people have been killed in 2007, most of them rebels, according to statistics compiled by AFP.
Back to Top
Back to Top
US intelligence chiefs fret over Pakistan
by Jitendra Joshi Thu Jul 12, 11:22 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US intelligence chiefs urged Pakistan to wage a more vigorous pursuit of terrorism, warning that its lawless region bordering Afghanistan has become a sanctuary for Al-Qaeda and Taliban diehards.
But despite its own intelligence community's misgivings, the US administration of George W. Bush is standing by President Pervez Musharraf as Pakistan's military ruler faces one of his gravest crises yet.
"Musharraf is a strong ally in the war against these extremists. I like him and I appreciate him," President Bush said Tuesday after Pakistani forces stormed a pro-Taliban mosque sheltering scores of women and children.
In an audiotape posted on the Internet, Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri urged Pakistanis to revolt against Musharraf following the assault on the Red Mosque in Islamabad, which left at least 82 people dead.
The threat coincided with a new US intelligence report suggesting Al-Qaeda is gaining strength and has established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan for training and plotting attacks, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The intelligence assessment, which is due to be discussed at a White House meeting on Thursday, concludes the group has rebuilt itself despite extensive US efforts to destroy the network, the paper wrote.
Appearing before Congress Wednesday, top US intelligence officials fretted that more aggressive action against extremists sheltering inside Pakistan's anarchic northwest could spark a broader anti-Musharraf uprising.
"It is not too great an exaggeration to say there is some risk of turning the problem in northwest Pakistan into the problem of all of Pakistan," argued Thomas Fingar, deputy director of national intelligence.
The United States remains fearful of undermining a key "war on terror" ally even as criticism mounts that it is getting little in return for huge sums lavished on the Musharraf regime since the September 11 attacks of 2001.
A secret US operation in early 2005 to capture senior Al-Qaeda members in Pakistan's tribal areas was aborted at the last minute after top officials decided it was too risky and could jeopardize relations with Islamabad, the New York Times reported this week.
Fingar was pressed on why bin Laden was still at large and Afghanistan's Taliban were resurgent despite estimated funding of 10 billion dollars extended by Washington for Pakistani counter-terrorism operations.
"The answer has to be yes, that provision of assistance should be properly tied to expected outcomes," he told a hearing of the House of Representatives armed services committee on global security threats.
"And the outcomes for which people have committed, they should be held accountable for."
John Kringen, the CIA's director of intelligence, said Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists appear "fairly well settled into the safe haven" of northwest Pakistan, benefiting from more training, money and communications.
Kringen expressed particular regret over Musharraf's peace deal last September with tribal elders in North Waziristan.
The Waziristan region is a hotbed of pro-Taliban militants supporting the bloody insurgency in Afghanistan against the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.
"We would agree that the peace deal in Waziristan has not been helpful in terms of the anti-terrorist effort," the Central Intelligence Agency official said.
Musharraf's rationale for the controversial peace pact was to halt cross-border attacks and enlist tribal help to expel Al-Qaeda fighters.
"From our assessment, we have not seen developments going in that direction but actually in a negative direction," Kringen said.
Fingar said that Musharraf looks weaker after massive pro-democracy protests sparked by his suspension in March of Pakistan's chief justice.
"With tribal opposition to the US military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq widespread and elections expected later this year, the situation will become even more challenging -- for President Musharraf and for the US," he warned.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Expansion planned for Afghanistan airfield
By Mark St.Clair, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Friday, July 13, 2007
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — Strategically located near the largest city in the northern portion of Regional Command-East, Jalalabad Airfield, which encompasses Forward Operating Base Fenty, is growing almost faster than its size will allow.
First built to house a battalion-sized element, the base is now home to the headquarters of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Some 1,300 American troops and civilians — as well as Afghan security forces and local workers — are living and working on the airfield. Additionally, more than 120 Afghan guards help the 173rd pull security around the base’s perimeter.
Encompassing 383 acres, the airfield is split in half by the runway, and the vast majority of personnel live on the smaller south side.
Because long-term plans include moving all the U.S. forces to the south of the runway, and having the Afghanistan National Army Air Corps operate an air base on the north side, a 109-acre expansion has been planned on the south side.
“Our biggest concern right now is, without the expansion, things are going to remain tight,” said Maj. David Seed, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team’s Support Battalion executive officer, who is filling the position of “FOB mayor” while deployed.
Obtaining the new land, which is occupied by locals, takes time and involves higher military authorities than those at Jalalabad Airfield, as well as the Afghanistan Interior and Transportation departments.
Seed said he’s hopeful a decision on the additional acreage will be made during the 173rd’s rotation.
Other projects on Fenty are under construction, including a new tactical operations center for the 173rd, better and more billeting for the soldiers and contractors, and new facilities for the local medical company and forward surgical team.
Brick and mortar housing is planned, since many of the soldiers on Fenty still live in tents and others are housed in plywood buildings with a life span of three to five years.
Because the unit scheduled to replace the 173rd next summer is aviation-heavy, Seed said, one of the main projects working now is expanding the rotary wing aviation area adjacent to the runway. Plans also are under way for repairing and upgrading the runway itself.
“What we’re doing is certainly in line with building the economy of the local area,” said Maj. Pat Kinsman, an engineer officer who works in 173rd’s Maneuver Enhancement Cell.
“We’re trying to incorporate the local Afghan construction companies with the build-out of Fenty.”
Back to Top
Back to Top
U.S. Afghan fighter sues news agency
By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 12, 12:55 PM ET
NEW YORK - A U.S. citizen once convicted of running a private jail in Afghanistan for terror suspects and torturing them has sued The Associated Press, alleging it engaged in defamation, libel and slander.
Jack Idema, a former Green Beret from Fayetteville, N.C., filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan seeking at least $110,000 and other unspecified damages.
Idema, who listed a current address in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was convicted of charges including torture and operating a private jail and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Afghanistan in September 2004. He was later pardoned by Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and left that country in June.
In his lawsuit, Idema accused the AP of ignoring truths about his work in Afghanistan to generate a "hot salient and torrid story of abuse in Afghanistan" to compete with a CBS story about allegations of torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
He also accused the AP of reneging on promises not to publish photographs and videotaped images provided by Idema or his lawyers unless it obtained publishing rights from his licensing agent, Polaris Images.
Dave Tomlin, AP associate general counsel, said: "The whole lawsuit is nonsense. The claims that reflect on the integrity and professionalism of AP staff are especially outrageous."
According to the lawsuit, Idema had fought with the Northern Alliance against the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and remained with the forces until June 2002, when he returned to the United States. He was not a member of the U.S. military at that time.
In April 2004, Idema was back in Afghanistan, working closely with U.S. and Afghan military and intelligence activities, the lawsuit said. He was arrested a few months later.
The U.S. military has said it accepted a prisoner from Idema before realizing he was an impostor and releasing the prisoner without charge. NATO peacekeepers have said they were duped into helping Idema on three raids.
Back to Top
Back to Top
UK soldier pleads not guilty to spying
Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:46PM BST By Peter Graff
LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier who worked as an interpreter for NATO's commander in Afghanistan pleaded not guilty on Friday to passing secrets to Iran in Britain's first spy trial since the Cold War.
Corporal Daniel James, 44, worked as an interpreter for British general David Richards, who commanded the 30,000-strong NATO force in Afghanistan until earlier this year. James has an Iranian mother and took British citizenship in the 1980s.
He is accused of passing secrets to an "enemy" -- Iran -- and is the first person charged with spying under the Official Secrets Act since 1984, when an MI5 officer was jailed for giving secrets to the Soviets.
Appearing on a videolink from jail, James told the Old Bailey he was not guilty of three separate charges -- that he engaged in wrongful conduct, passed secrets and possessed material to pass on.
"Your honour, I am a serving soldier. I wish to be court martialled by the army. I do not recognise this court," he said after entering his final not guilty plea. "I am an innocent man."
His indictment says he "for purposes prejudicial to the safety or the interest of the state, communicated to another person information calculated to be, or that might be, or is intended to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy."
The United States and Britain have accused Iran of meddling in the war in Afghanistan, where the two countries are the biggest members of a NATO force fighting Taliban guerrillas in the south.
The mainly Shi'ite government of Iran is not seen as sympathetic to the Sunni Taliban movement, but the Western allies say Iran would like to see its foes bogged down by fighting there.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Is War With Iran Inevitable? Yes.
by Justin Raimondo antiwar.com Friday, July 13, 2007
We didn’t just invade Iraq – when we launched "Operation Iraqi Freedom" the American people not only signed on to an occupation that resembles, in many respects, Israel’s occupation of Palestine, we also bought into a serial war strategy, the first of which was Gulf War I. Gulf War II landed us in our present predicament. Gulf War III – involving, at a minimum, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon – is about to break out, and no one seems willing to stand against it.
Indeed, the third Gulf War has already begun, and all that remains is for the aerial phase of it to commence. The presence of three U.S. carriers in the Gulf is a prelude to a much larger operation, and, as if on cue, accusations of Iranian interference in Iraq have escalated, with the US military now echoing earlier assertions by Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney that the Iranians stood behind the Iraqi insurgency. We are, of course, never allowed to see the "evidence" for this claim, and, in the long, anguishing reappraisal of the "intelligence" that rationalizes a strike at Tehran the real paucity of concrete facts backing up these statements will doubtless come out. In the meantime, however, we are supposed to accept the veracity of the charges on faith: foreign policy is this administration’s most successful faith-based program, at least in terms of getting politicians of both parties, the media, and the general public to willingly suspend their disbelief until well after the shooting starts.
The political build-up to the actual fireworks reached a crescendo of hypocritical cant in the Senate the other day, with the passage of an amendment – 97 to nada – deploring alleged Iranian perfidy in Iraq, including purported attacks on U.S. soldiers. This, while we hold their diplomats hostage in a bizarrely inverted replay of the 1970s Iranian hostage crisis that brought down Jimmy Carter. Perhaps the regime-changers in Washington are hoping the same fate awaits Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. If so, they are bound to be disappointed: such provocations only enhance the authority of Iranian hard-liners, and make the prospect of conflict with the U.S. more likely. On the other hand, maybe that’s exactly the point …
The bipartisan band is striking up a war tune, as "antiwar" Senator Carl Levin co-sponsors with Joe Lieberman the Iran Amendment to the defense appropriations bill, joining with Republican Senators McCain, Kyl, and Graham in a rousing chorus of rattling sabers. The amendment accuses Iran of murdering American soldiers, and of committing other acts of war: it is, in effect, a declaration of war, and Senator Lieberman was quite clear about this on the Senate floor the other day.
I find it fascinating that al Qaeda is taking the same line, these days, as Lieberman, Levin, and the Lobby. In a statement released just as the Senate was passing the Iran amendment, Osama’s boys in Iraq warned Tehran to get out of town:
"The leader of an al-Qaeda umbrella group in Iraq threatened to wage war against Iran unless it stops supporting Shiites in Iraq within two months, according to a new audiotape. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who leads the Islamic State in Iraq, said his Sunni fighters have been preparing for four years to wage a battle against Shiite-dominated Iran.
"’We are giving the Persians, and especially the rulers of Iran, a two month period to end all kinds of support for the Iraqi Shiite government and to stop direct and indirect intervention ... otherwise a severe war is waiting for you,’ he said in the 50-minute audiotape.
"In the recording, al-Baghdadi also gave Sunnis and Arab countries doing business in Iran or with Iranians a two-month deadline to cease their ties. ‘We advise and warn every Sunni businessman inside Iran or in Arab countries especially in the Gulf not to take partnership with any Shiite Iranian businessman — this is part of the two-month period,’ he said."
This perfectly illustrates what Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA’s bin Laden unit, means when he describes the US as OBL’s "one indispensable ally." Critics of the Iraq war note that US intervention has swelled the ranks of bin Laden’s legions, but, in light of this, can we bring ourselves to wonder if, perhaps, instead of an unintended consequence of U.S. policy, this one was fully intended from the start? Seymour Hersh calls Washington’s tilt toward the Sunnis "The Redirection," but the reality is that we didn't direct our full power at bin Laden and made only a feeble effort to destroy al Qaeda. Our initial half-hearted efforts in that direction were soon diverted to invading and occupying Iraq. Having established a Mesopotamian beachhead, U.S. forces are now using Iraq as a launching pad for the next phase in our serial war strategy – the invasion of Iran.
It may be that the American people are opposed to another war in the Middle East: that may even be the last thing on their minds. Yet our elected "representatives" could care less about popular opinion, or else they would have gotten us out of Iraq last year. The Lobby is plumbing for war with Iran, and the tom-toms are beating out their message of fear, intimidation, and vaunting – the prelude to another symphony of "shock and awe."
One would think that our presidential front-runners would be more sensitive to the popular anti-interventionist zeitgeist, but no – not a single "major" candidate dissents from the "let’s-hit-Iran" Washington consensus, including Hillary, Obama, and Edwards, and of course all the Republicans but Ron Paul want to nuke Tehran. Politically, the stage is set for the third Gulf war.
Widespread predictions that Bush will launch "Operation Iranian Freedom" before leaving office may be mere speculation, and yet all the signs point to the likelihood of a U.S. attack on Iran fairly soon. As we have seen, the U.S. is already making the requisite military preparations, and the propaganda war was begun long ago. Ahmeninejad makes a fine Saddam-figure, even better than the original, and, this time, they have their "weapons of mass destruction" narrative fully developed in advance. With the passage of the Lieberman-Levin amendment, the US Congress is giving Bush the green light for war. It’s all systems go.
So hunker down, get ready for the coming storm – prepare yourself for gas prices that will make it impossible to drive without taking out a bank loan – and, most importantly, stay online. Because the first news of the Big War will be headlined right here on Antiwar.com – along with a thorough debunking of the alleged "incident" that sparks it.
It was never possible to contain the war against Iraq’s insurgency to the borders of the state once ruled by Saddam Hussein, and US policymakers could not have failed to realize that early on. The War Party, in any case, was never shy about proclaiming its war aims, first among these being the "democratic" transformation of the entire region. Iran is next: it’s as simple as that.
The Bush Doctrine of exporting "democracy" at gunpoint is being tested in the laboratory of the Middle East. The results, so far, are similar to those experienced by one Dr. Frankenstein, who also – out of hubris – tried to create life out of death, and instead birthed a monster.
In invading Iraq, we created a Shi’ite theocracy, ruled by death squads and radical mullahs: the so-called Shia crescent is the bastard offspring of our own promiscuously interventionist policy. One had only to look at a map and have a nodding acquaintance with the history and ethno-religious composition of the region to see that post-war Iraq would be vulnerable to Iranian influence and even dominance. To offset this disastrous "blowback," we are turning on a dime and aligning ourselves – at least rhetorically – with allies of the barbarians who brought down the World Trade Center and murdered some 3,000 Americans. Forgotten in all this maneuvering and backtracking is the security of the United States and the pursuit of legitimate American interests in the region, none of which are served by our reckless, drunken veering from Shi’ite to Sunni "allies."
At this point, unless the American people wake up in time – which I very much doubt – war with Iran seems all but inevitable. Politically, there is no one of any stature standing up to oppose it, or even to point out that the question of war with Iran is imminent. Ron Paul, alone of all the candidates in both parties, has warned of a Gulf-of-Tonkin-style incident, which could be blown up into a casus belli. It could happen tomorrow. It could happen three months from now. We can’t be sure of when, and yet I am convinced that it is only a matter of time – and not much time, at that – before the third Gulf war begins in earnest, and we enter an entirely new era in the history of this country – and the world. The global conflict the neocons are always eagerly anticipating, and which they call "World War IV," is about to break out – and it ought to make at least the most thoughtful among us just a little bit queasy that, in the coming struggle with Iran, Osama bin Laden is on our side.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Return of Hindu, Sikh refugees to Afghanistan opposed
Lalit K. Jha
NEW YORK, July 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A Washington-based Hindu Human Rights advocacy group has urged the governments of Britain and Germany not to force Afghan Hindu and Sikh refugees to return to Afghanistan.
The third annual report of the Hindu America Foundation HAF -- also urged the US to impress upon British and German Governments to stop involuntary deportation of Hindu refugees from these countries.
The situation in Afghanistan has improved considerably under the government of President Hamid, but conditions are still not conducive enough for Hindu and Sikh minorities to return to their homes, Ramesh Rao of the HAF told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Referring to portions of the report on Afghanistan, Rao alleged Britain and Germany were forcing Afghan Hindu and Sikh refugees to return as, according to them, things had improved. But this is not the reality, he claimed.
There are no facilities to provide restitution and resettlements of Afghan Hindus, were they to return from exile. The resurgence of the Taliban further renders the Hindu population vulnerable, the report argued.
According to the document, Hindu temples destroyed by Taliban have not been rebuilt and several are occupied by Muslim groups leaving nearly no Hindu institutions or places of worship accessible to the minority.
Existing Hindu temples and institutions in Afghanistan must be restored and rehabilitated, the HAF demanded. It said Hindus did not send their children to public schools in Afghanistan for fear of persecution and ridicule.
Back to Top
Back to Top
IDLO to train ministry officials
KABUL, July 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Rome-based International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) will train officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries in legal matters pertaining to the ministry.
The agreement reached between the two sides was inked by Deputy Minister for Commerce and Industries Ziauddin Zia and head of the IDLO Geralyn Busnardo during a ceremony here on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, Zia said officials of the ministry would be trained by foreign experts in three phases - short term, medium term and long term.
He said IDLO was the premier organisation which would train the officials in legal matters relating to the ministry.
Addressing the ceremony, the IDLO head said that his organisation was aimed to reduce poverty by ensuring implementation of the rule of law in Afghanistan.
Officials of the Justice Ministry had also been imparted training by the same organisation, he informed. The government of Italy had granted six million euro for the project, he added.
Established in 1983, IDLO is an inter-governmental development body with its headquarters in Rome and regional offices in Cairo and Sydney, and programme office in Kabul.
Mustafa Basharat
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghanistan, Pakistan agree on CBMs to improve ties
KABUL, July 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed on a number of confidence-building measures during the first-ever meeting of Joint Working Group (JWG) in the Turkish capital of Ankara, the Pakistani Foreign Office announced.
The Joint Working Group (JWG) has agreed on a number of confidence-building measures (CBMs), including enhancing security cooperation to ease tension and improve mutual understanding, the Foreign Office (FO) said the other day.
The JWG, established under the Ankara Declaration on April 30, met in the Turkish capital on July 6. The group agreed to enhance security cooperation through established mechanisms, especially to deny sanctuary, training and financing to terrorists and elements involved in subversive and anti-state activities in Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The meeting also initiated immediate action on specific intelligence exchanges in this regard.
Officials from Afghanistan and Pakistan have also agreed on the formation of Joint Economic Commission to look into maters, such as transportation, transit and customs.
In a bid to further cement the neighourly ties, the two sides also agreed to promote cooperation for exchange of media programmes as well as early warning against natural disasters.
The meeting decided to encourage people-to-people contacts through official channels, especially through exchange of parliamentarians, journalists and academics. The FO said progress on the conclusions of the Ankara Declaration was reviewed in accordance with the mandate given by the presidents of the three countries during the talks.
The existing mechanisms of cooperation and consultation in such fields as combating extremism, terrorism, drug trafficking and in the fields of economic, cultural and security cooperation were also considered, the FO added.
In this context, the Turkish side suggested a meeting of the three countries foreign ministers on the sidelines of the upcoming 62nd session of the UN General Assembly in September in New York.
The Turkish side also offered to host meetings between the apex bodies of chambers of commerce and industry of Afghanistan and Pakistan on the invitation of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, said the FO statement.
The group agreed to conduct feasibility studies for joint projects identified by the two governments with the assistance of the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency.
Afghanistan Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Kabir Farahi, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and Turkish Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ertugrual Apakan represented their countries at the meeting. The JWG will hold its next meeting in Istanbul before the second summit.
PAN Monitor
Back to Top
Back to Top
IMF says Afghanistan qualifies for interim debt relief
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghanistan has taken the necessary measures to enter the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) and qualify for interim debt relief, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank said on Monday.
The sister institutions said in a joint statement that Afghanistan had thus emerged as the 31st country to reach its decision point under the HIPC and qualified for interim debt relief under the initiative.
The statement added the Afghan government would receive interim debt relief from certain creditors, but in order to qualify for irrevocable debt relief at the completion point, the country had committed to implementing a broad set of reforms.
Afghanistan would also be eligible for assistance under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) upon reaching the HIPC completion point. This will further increase the resources available to the government in order to reduce poverty.
"Despite a difficult security environment and persistent expenditure pressures, Afghanistan continued to make progress by maintaining macroeconomic stability and advancing its structural reform agenda," said Murilo Portugal, deputy managing director of the IMF.
However, he added, external debt position would remain difficult even after the provision of HIPC debt relief and hence the need for continued donor support on highly concessional terms to the impoverished country.
Portugal explained efforts at improved public financial management, external debt management and public expenditure policy would be crucial to achieving debt sustainability over the medium to longer term.
World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan Alastair J. McKechnie said: "Afghan authorities are building a credible track record for implementing economic governance reforms."
HIPC debt relief would support national reformers to sustain and deepen this record while also freeing up resources that will be channeled toward the provision of basic healthcare, education and other essential services, he said.
Under the two-stage HIPC process, a country must establish a track record of policy performance before it receives interim debt relief. Thereafter, it must fulfill additional reforms to receive full debt relief from creditors such as the World Bank and IMF.
The IMF said economic growth in Afghanistan was forecast to increase strongly in 2007-08 due to a rebound in agriculture. Inflation was likely to remain contained at 6 percent, it continued.
According to the statement, the Afghan government would receive interim debt relief from certain creditors, but in order to qualify for irrevocable debt relief at the completion point, the country had committed to implementing a broad set of reforms.
Kabul is particularly expected to maintain macroeconomic stability as evidenced by satisfactory performance under the IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PGRF); prepare and implement a poverty reduction strategy for at least one year.
The Central Asian country will have to implement pivotal reforms in the areas of public financial management, public expenditure policy, external-debt management and other structural and social measures.
As of March 20, 2006, Afghanistan's external debt was estimated at $11.9 billion in nominal terms, equivalent to $1.1 billion in net present value terms. Debt relief under the enhanced HIPC Initiative is estimated at $571.4 million.
Back to Top
Disclaimer:
This news site is mostly a compilation of publicly accessible articles
on the Web in the form of a link or saved news item. The news articles
and commentaries/editorials are protected under international copyright
laws. All credit goes to the original respective source(s).