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November 23, 2007 

7 police killed in Afghanistan
By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Nov 23, 1:33 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Taliban militants killed seven policemen after overrunning their checkpoints in southern Afghanistan on Friday, a police officer said. A purported Taliban commander said the officers were beheaded.

The officer, Abdul Hakim Jan, said six other officers were missing after the militants attacked police checkpoints in Arghandab district, in Kandahar province.

The attack in the strategic area of Arghandab, 15 miles north of Kandahar city, comes weeks after Afghan and foreign troops forced the Taliban to relinquish control of the town.

The militants had briefly captured the town following the death of pro-government tribal leader Mullah Naqib, who had kept the insurgents out of his region.

During the Friday attack, the militants briefly overran the police checkpoints set up to keep the Taliban fighters away and beheaded seven policemen, said a purported Taliban commander in the area, Mullah Mohammad Nabi.

It was not immediately possible to independently verify the account.

Separately, U.S.-led coalition troops clashed with militants in central Afghanistan on Thursday, leaving several suspected insurgents dead and one coalition member wounded, the coalition said.

The troops were searching compounds in Nawur district in Ghazni province when militants attacked with small arms fire, a coalition statement said.

"Coalition forces returned fire, killing a number of militants," the statement said. "There were no indications of injuries or deaths to civilians not taking part in hostilities."

Two other people were detained for questioning, the statement said.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan in insurgency-related violence in 2007, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Western and Afghan officials.
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Australia soldier killed on eve of national poll
By Rob Taylor Fri Nov 23, 2:59 AM ET
CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian commando was killed by the Taliban militia in Afghanistan on Friday, on the eve of elections at which staunch U.S. ally Prime Minister John Howard will battle for survival after 11 years in power.

The third death of an Australian soldier in recent weeks in Afghanistan comes as Australians, who will vote on Saturday, tire of Howard's security stance in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Australia was one of the first nations to commit troops in late 2001 to the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and later Iraq. Australia has about 1,500 troops in and around Iraq and almost 1,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Howard is committed to keeping troops in both countries, but opposition Labor leader Kevin Rudd has described the Iraq war a disaster and pledged to withdraw combat forces from Iraq, but keep frontline forces in Afghanistan's troubled south alongside Dutch troops.

Rudd, 50, leads Howard in opinion polls, some predicting a landslide victory for Labor on Saturday, and the latest casualty will only add to public unease over Australia's role in the U.S.-led war on terror.

"To all of my fellow Australians can I just say again, this conflict in Afghanistan is difficult, it's dangerous, but it's necessary in order to defeat terrorism," Howard said after the military announcement of the soldier's death.

"It is a just cause and Australia will continue to participate in a very strong and effective way," he said.

Rudd has built a strong lead in the polls with his campaign for a new generation of leadership, promising to sign the Kyoto climate pact and bring home frontline troops from Iraq.

Some of Australia's major newspapers called on Friday for voters to dump Howard and two opinion polls predicted a victory for Labor, but with widely differing margins.

"Rudd right man for new times," said the editorial in Rupert Murdoch's Sydney Daily Telegraph. "We now believe Mr Howard has reached his use-by date, if for no other reason than he almost believes it himself," the influential tabloid said.

An AC Nielsen poll on Friday gave Labor a 14-point lead on preferences, which would see Howard swept from office. But the closely-watched Newspoll to be published on election day put support for the conservatives at 48 percent against 52 percent for Labor, which puts Howard within range of victory.

HOWARD'S LAST PITCH
Howard has campaigned on his economic credentials, with the Australian economy recording 17 years of growth and record low unemployment. He warns a future Labor government would be dominated by former trade unionists and would wreck the economy.

In a last pitch to voters, Howard warned on Friday that Australia would fundamentally change if his government is dumped.

"If you believe that our country is fundamentally heading in the right direction you should not vote for a change of government," Howard said at his final news conference.

"Because if you change the government, you will change the fundamental direction of this country. It always happens."

Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat, has promised an education revolution and to overturn controversial labor laws championed by Howard. A Labor win would also see Rudd forge closer ties with China.

Labor needs to win 16 more seats to win office. Bookmakers have also priced in a Labor win, with a Rudd victory paying A$1.20 for a $1.00 bet, compared to A$4.60 for a Howard victory.

Howard also spent his final day of the campaign distancing himself from fake anti-Muslim leaflets distributed by his supporters in a key Sydney seat.

The leaflets could damage the government's chances of re-election, even in Howard's own seat where migrant voters fear his government harbors xenophobic beliefs underpinning a tough anti-boatpeople policy, which detains illegal arrivals.

"I knew nothing about it. It angered me," Howard said on Friday, referring to the leaflets. "It's no way representative of my views or that of people in the Liberal Party," he said.

Whatever happens on Saturday, the election will be Howard's last. Howard, 68, has promised to retire and hand power to his deputy, Treasurer Peter Costello, in about two years.
($1=A$1.15)
(Editing by Michael Perry and Bill Tarrant)
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British soldiers coach Afghan police on the frontline
by Bronwen Roberts Thu Nov 22, 9:05 PM ET
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AFP) - British soldiers prod tiny packets of white powder lying in the dirt of an outbuilding at a small police station on the barren outskirts of Afghanistan's southern town of Lashkar Gah.

Outside they find discarded syringes, vials, packets of pills and a small tin containing green-brown powder.

The visitors have reason to be suspicious: this is Helmand, which as a province produces the most opium in the world, second only to the entire nation of Afghanistan.

It is an unpromising start to the surprise British visit.

Summoned, the commander of the mudbrick police post says the white powder is something he and his men drink to settle their stomachs. The initially suspicious brown powder turns out to be snuff.

The other items are medicines, including aid for bullet wounds from a Taliban attack a few days back, says commander Agha Wali, whose arm is in a sling.

Lashkar Gah is the capital of the province that has seen some of the worst fighting between the Taliban and the international coalition opposing them.

The Britons -- from a police mentoring task team -- don't make too much of the powders and bottles but slip them into plastic bags for later inspection.

They also quiz the commander about a messy pile of new uniforms on the dirt floor of the same outhouse.

"If we had a room, we would hang them up," Wali -- who is not in uniform, although his men are -- nonchalantly offers as an excuse, music blaring from the tape deck of his solitary police vehicle near his rough and ready bunch.

The British team, one of two operating in Helmand, needs to find out what the police have, what they need, how capable they are -- and then assess how to help.

"This is only the second time I have seen evidence of drugs," says Major Erik Bengtsson, who has visited two dozen police stations. "They tried to tell us it that it was medicine but I don't believe it for one minute."

The British aim here is to coach the Afghans in survival and basic law enforcement tactics.

"We teach them to stay alive," Bengtsson says at a base of the 37-nation International Security Assistance Force.

"The police are dying at a much higher rate than ANA (Afghan National Army) and ISAF. Sometimes it is because suicide bombers are walking right up to them," he says.

"We teach them how to search people and vehicles, how to spot an IED (improvised explosive device)."

The mentoring also covers more mundane tasks such as how to write a patrol report, preserve evidence and run a police station.

In Afghanistan the police are more fighting soldiers than British bobbies. Around 700 have been killed this year in attacks, the highest toll among the various security forces.

There is new emphasis on building up the police and army which were in a shambles at the end of the Taliban regime in late 2001 and are still understrength and underequipped.

Afghanistan's allies have stepped up sporadic efforts to help: Britain will install more mentoring teams in Helmand; elsewhere police training is being carried out by the European Union and US security group DynCorp.

The Afghan National Police is seen as the least professional of the security forces, accused of setting up checkpoints to extract "baksheesh" or bribes, transporting opium and tipping off the Taliban, among other offences.

"The corruption needs to be stamped out, the drug abuse needs to be stamped out, all the nefarious activities. But there are some good eggs out there," Bengtsson says.

"There is no reason they cannot be dragged up by the bootstraps."

Meanwhile, about 50 kilometres (35 miles) south, in the town of Garmser, five neatly uniformed policemen are at the first session of training by British soldiers, separate from the work of the mentoring team.

A young captain, who has just returned to a heavily barricaded post after an encounter the Taliban, gets the men to strip their rifles and practise their shooting stances.

He needs to assess their professionalism as -- with no Afghan army in town -- the police will have to take part in operations side-by-side with foreign soldiers.

The training will be a "safety net for us so we know their skills and drills are at a level where we would have confidence in them when we go out on patrol with them," says Major Rupert Lewis, another trainer.

Policeman Mohammad Zaman, whose post is inside the fort, recalls when Taliban -- several hundred of them, he says -- overran Garmser town 18 months ago.

"They came from about four or five directions. We resisted them for one and a half days and then we withdrew," he says.

"We had no ammunition, no reinforcement," he says, adding that 16 of his colleagues were killed.

ISAF forces -- then not based in the town -- arrived about four days later and pushed out the attackers from the northern part of Garmser. But his family plot is in the southern part, which is still in Taliban hands.

"I am looking every day for a chance to go back to my farm. I am here to smash the enemy," he says, when asked why he is a policeman.
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NATO Pledges to Reduce Afghan Deaths in Clashes With Taliban
By Michael Heath
Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- NATO pledged to reduce Afghan civilian deaths as it engages in some of the heaviest fighting with Taliban forces since the movement was ousted six years ago.

``We are working hard to keep the hearts and minds of the Afghan people on our side,'' Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer said at news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul yesterday. His remarks were carried by the British Broadcasting Corp.

Karzai has criticized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for deaths of non-combatants. At least 230 Afghan civilians were killed last year during U.S. and NATO operations because of lack of precautions or the use of indiscriminate force, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in an April report.

The Taliban have stepped up their insurgency in Afghanistan's southern and eastern provinces in response to NATO operations. U.S. Brigadier General Joseph Votel said last week attacks on troops with improvised explosive devices increased by 24 percent in the country's south since the start of this year, while suicide bombings rose by about 17 percent.

Scheffer said there was no moral equivalent between civilians killed by the Taliban and those killed by NATO, the BBC reported on its Web site, adding the alliance had altered its tactics.

Human Shields

NATO has also accused Taliban rebels of using villagers as human shields during fighting in the southern and eastern provinces. Reports of civilian deaths are sometimes exaggerated or fabricated and used as ``insurgent propaganda,'' the alliance says.

Militant attacks, including suicide bombings, killed 346 civilians in the first 10 months of this year, while international troops caused 337 deaths, the Associated Press reported, citing its own tally.

Civilian deaths caused by fighting in Afghanistan reached ``alarming'' levels this year, Louise Arbour, the United Nations human commissioner for human rights, said earlier this week.

Such killings ``not only breach international law, but are eroding support among the Afghan community for the government and international military presence,'' she said.

NATO commands more than 35,000 soldiers from 37 nations in Afghanistan, including about 15,000 U.S. personnel. An additional 10,000 American soldiers are carrying out anti- terrorism operations, including the hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The heightened conflict in southern and eastern Afghanistan has prompted calls in some European countries to withdraw their troops. Scheffer said he is working to keep alliance members committed to the South Asian nation.

``We are working hard, and I know I have the president's personal support on this, to see that we further win the hearts and minds in all those nations of the international community providing forces in and for Afghanistan,'' he said yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net
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Afghan President, NATO Chief Reject Think Tank Report
November 22, 2007
KABUL (AFP)--Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the NATO chief led strong criticism Thursday of a European think tank report that said the Taliban were installed in more than half of Afghanistan.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said The Senlis Council report released Wednesday "should not be considered as realistic."

"Of course there are parts of Afghanistan where the going is tough from time to time," he told reporters after talks with Karzai. "We all know that...and we all know that NATO forces are in combat in certain parts of Afghanistan."

But he added: "The analysis the council makes on the situation in Afghanistan, I simply do not share."

The report called for NATO's International Security Assistance Force to be doubled in size to 80,000, saying a study had found that 54% of Afghan territory had a permanent Taliban presence.

ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Carlos Branco said it was unclear where this figure came from.

"We have shortfalls and more troops would be most welcome," he told AFP. But, "We have not identified a need for 80,000 troops," he said, labelling the report "sensationalist."

Karzai was also dismissive, saying there had been clear progress in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban government in late 2001.

"There are certain areas in southern parts of Afghanistan, especially close to our border with Pakistan, that see attacks from some of the Taliban elements from time to time," he said.

And "there are parts of Afghanistan that fall to the Taliban", he said, but "I do not share the analysis."

Branco said the claim that insurgents controlled vast areas of unchallenged territory and 54% of Afghan territory had a permanent Taliban presence was baseless.

"They control not more than a handful of districts, even less," he said adding these were "very small pockets without territorial continuity."

The insurgents also only moved into areas with limited security presence and had often left before troops arrived to reassert control, he said.

On a statement that "the question now appears not to be whether the Taliban will return to Kabul, but when this will happen," Branco said: "The shops are open, people are on the streets, it is a normal city.

"It does not seem like a city on the eve of being overtaken by the Taliban."

The Senlis Council has been pushing for the legalization of Afghanistan's opium production, which is 93% of that of the whole world, a proposal that the government and the United Nations have flatly rejected.

The think tank has offices in London, Paris, Brussels and Kabul.
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Afghanistan: Slow Gains
By BILL O'REILLY The New York Post
November 23, 2007 -- KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
ON the road from the airport to the Af ghan capital of Kabul, you pass a stone wall adorned with iron rings. The Taliban used these to chain Afghans who'd transgressed. Then the poor souls were publicly stoned to death. Justice, Taliban style.

After 9/11, America quickly defeated the Taliban government, which had aided and abetted Osama bin Laden's terrorist killers. America could have walked away right then, leaving Afghanistan to whatever warlord could achieve power.

But once again America tried to do something noble: The Bush administration poured billions into Afghanistan, where more than half the population is illiterate and life expectancy is just 44 years. Also, America convinced NATO forces to help occupy the country so that an infrastructure could be built and one of the most impoverished peoples on earth might have some hope of a better life.

For our trouble, we're now engaged in a vicious guerrilla war starring the remnants of the Taliban allied with al Qaeda killers. About 25,000 Americans are in the Afghan theater, plus some 26,000 NATO forces. These men and women are protecting the Afghan population as best they can, but chaos abounds.

That's because the neighboring government of Pakistan allows both the Taliban and al Qaeda sanctuary. US and NATO forces aren't allowed to hunt down the bad guys inside Pakistan, who thus have a safe place from which to launch attacks.

The Pakistani border town of Quetta is command control for the Taliban. Every intelligence agency in South Asia knows this. Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf could move against the Taliban and badly damage them. But he doesn't. He takes billions in US aid and allows these thugs a good night's sleep after they murder.

Picture yourself at Bagram Air Force Base, north of Kabul. The air is almost always full of dust because people seeking wood for fuel and grazing animals have destroyed the trees and grass. The terrain is barren and brown. The summers are brutally hot, the winters very cold.

You're halfway around the world, trying to help folks who are frightened and barely have enough to eat. You're fighting the good fight, but you know the ultimate battle will never be won until the terrorist killers are confronted in their lair. No matter how many engagements are won, there will always be more fanatical killers coming across the border. Yet the Western forces soldier on, most in a disciplined, heroic fashion.

Thus, Afghanistan remains one tough neighborhood. But in the last six years much progress has been made. There's a brilliant new hospital, hundreds of new schools and other public works are operating, and the beginnings of an organized society have taken root.

However, there are miles and billions to go before anybody sleeps. The Afghan conflict is far removed from the minds of most people in the world, many of whom couldn't care less or blame America for worldwide terrorism. America and NATO are trying hard in this forlorn backwater, but most of the world is sitting it out. As usual.
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Nato defends Afghanistan tactics
By David Loyn BBC News, Kabul Thursday, 22 November 2007
Nato head Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says its forces are doing all they can to avoid Afghan civilian casualties.

After a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, he said that Nato forces had changed their procedure to reduce the threat to civilians.

The meeting comes amid growing concern in several member countries about the continued commitment to Afghanistan.

The UN too has expressed alarm at the number of civilians killed by international forces in Afghanistan

Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer referred directly to the increasing questions being asked about the Afghan deployment in some Nato member countries, saying there was a need to win hearts and minds back home.

More outspoken

But the issue of hearts of minds in Afghanistan was a more pressing concern for President Karzai.

The two men meet regularly and always talk about civilian casualties but President Karzai has now become much more outspoken under increasing local pressure on this issue. There was a protest rally in Helmand province on Wednesday.

Gen Scheffer said Nato forces had changed their tactics to avoid killing civilians.

"The president [Karzai] and I also realise that civilian casualties are never entirely avoidable. But we have done a lot since we also saw many - too many - civilian casualties in adapting and changing our procedures."

Gen Scheffer appealed for understanding on this issue and said there was no moral equivalent between the civilians killed by the Taleban and those killed by Nato.

He said that Nato needed to do far more to train Afghan forces to be able to take on the fight for themselves.
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Afghanistan's fruitful presence at IITF
The Times of India / November 22, 2007
NEW DELHI: Afghanistan may not conjure up great images in the mind, but at IITF, the country is putting its best foot forward. The result is impressive as its stall in Hall No. 8 is being supported by United States Agency for International Development.

From exotic Afghani melons and pomegranates to jewellery studded with the blue lapis lazuli stone, authentic Afghanistan is on display here.

One of the most striking sights in the Afghanistan pavilion are the large bright melons. These musk melons, the traders promise, are the sweetest someone can ever find. At Rs 40 per kg, they are precious, but the trader assures that the fruit is so wholesome that an entire family will have a hard time finishing the melon.

Hand woven Afghani wool carpets have a certain earthiness which makes them different from the exquisite Persian ones. However, they are not less expensive. "Some of the carpets are made from German wool, while others are indigenous. The good ones cost Rs 10,000 and more. They take at least a month to be completed," said an Afghani carpet exhibitor.

With the lapis lazuli jewellery, a little patience while looking can suddenly reveal excellent craftsmanship. Hard bargain here is also easy since most Afghanis understand English as well as Hindi.

Adjoining the Afghanistan pavilion are the khadi and herbal stalls. Khadi here is not what is used to be. Its expensive and exquisite, and blended with silk. Many khadi garments are painted with natural pigments that are the result of work put in by the Forest Research Institute. Handmade paper, pottery, herbal shampoos and soaps, all these stalls had eager buyers leaving with large shopping bags.
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Taliban recaptures district in W Afghanistan 
www.chinaview.cn  2007-11-23 22:57:42
KABUL, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Taliban insurgents recaptured Gulistan district of western Afghan Farah province Friday, provincial governor Mohaidin Baloch said.

While confirming the news with Xinhua, the governor said the government forces have moved out of the district to prevent war with the militants and the ensuing civilian casualties and property damage.

The past several weeks have witnessed the repeatedly change of control over Gulistan between the local government and the militants.

Rising militancy-related violent incidents have killed over 5,800 people so far this year in the war-torn Afghanistan.

The Taliban, removed from power by the U.S. invasion in late 2001, has waged insurgency against Afghan administration and the international troops deployed in the country.
Editor: Yan Liang 
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Coalition forces disrupt foreign fighter facilitators in Afghanistan 
www.chinaview.cn  2007-11-23 14:03:30
KABUL, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led Coalition forces have conducted an operation to disrupt foreign-fighter facilitation operations in central Afghan Ghazni province, killing several militants, the Coalition said in a statement issued Friday.
"The Coalition forces conducted a search of compounds in Nawa district of Ghazni province, where foreign-fighter facilitators were purported to be supporting extremist activities," the statement said.

During the action taken on Thursday in Nawa district of Ghazni, two suspected militants, intelligence sources indicated as having links to foreign-fighter facilitation operations, were detained, it added.

One soldier was injured in the operation, the Coalition forces said, adding that there were no indications of injuries or deaths to civilians.

Rising militancy-related violent incidents have killed over 5,800 people so far this year in the war-torn Afghanistan.
Editor: Du Guodong 
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Too few development dollars actually spent in Afghanistan
Andrew Mayeda and Mike Blanchfield CanWest News Service Thursday, November 22, 2007
KABUL -- Six years after the fall of the Taliban, the reconstruction of Afghanistan is a booming business for the private sector, but much of the work is still going to big foreign firms, say Afghan officials and development workers.

The building boom is no more evident than in Afghanistan's capital, where a five-star hotel, western-style mall and revamped U.S. Embassy have sprouted up in recent years.

"Construction is one of the motors of the economy," said Afghan Economy Minister Mohammad Jalil Shams. "Four years ago, Kabul was nothing like it is now."

Reconstruction is also moving forward in the more secure regions of the country, such as the areas around Herat in the west and Mazar-e-Sharif in the north.

But much of the rebuilding is funded by foreign aid agencies, which often award contracts to a select pool of multinational companies based outside Afghanistan.

"The biggest amount, let's say about two-thirds or even three-quarters, is going through the foreign budgets," Shams explained in an interview. "They, of course, choose their contractors."

Major donor nations, including Canada, spent about $1.36 billion in official development assistance to Afghanistan over a one-year period ending March 2006.

But only $424 million, or about 31 per cent, had a "local impact," according to a study released this spring. Peace Dividend Trust, an Ottawa non-profit agency, conducted the study for the Afghan Ministry of Finance. Local impact is defined as the proportion of aid money spent locally on goods and services.

Even Canada, where the Conservative government frequently trumpets the importance of development alongside security, has spent only 43 per cent of its development money with Afghan companies.

Compared with the U.S. and Germany, Canada generated much more local impact through its development aid, but was well behind the leader, Britain, which had a local impact of about 60 per cent.

"CIDA takes a lot of heat, but this is one area where they're actually very progressive," said Scott Gilmore, executive director of Peace Dividend, referring to the Canadian International Development Agency.

Canada has committed to spending $1.2 billion in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2011, making it the single largest recipient of Canadian aid. Last fiscal year, CIDA shelled out over $139 million in development assistance to Afghanistan.

"You can hire someone in Virginia, or you can hire someone locally," said Gilmore.
"When you hire locally, it has so many positive multiplier effects on the economy."

Afghan firms are often hired as subcontractors on such work, but the "vast majority of funds are used to pay for international staff and the procurement of international materials," states the report.

"It's the path of least resistance," said Gilmore. "It's often easier for the procurement officer to pick up the Dubai yellow pages than it is to find an Afghan company to do the job."

Germany and the United States relied most on international contracts. In fact, nearly half the aid money spent by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) went to five big U.S. firms.

Peace Dividend declined to identify the firms, due to confidentiality agreements with the countries that provided data. But the big U.S. names in Afghanistan's reconstruction industry are well known: firms such as Bechtel, Louis Berger Group and BearingPoint.

A 2003 study by the Center for Public Integrity also found that most companies awarded the biggest contracts in Afghanistan or Iraq employed former high-ranking U.S. officials or had close ties to the government.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has since found that almost all war-zone reconstruction contracts are tendered competitively.

Even so, multinational firms tend to have a natural advantage, said Omar Zakhilwal, president of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency, which registers companies that set up shop in Afghanistan.

"They win the big contracts, because they have a better presentation, they have a better understanding of the contracting process," he said.
Ottawa Citizen
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Politicians Argue Over Language of Schooling in Kabul
A plan for Pashto-language schools in Kabul reveals deep rifts in Afghan society.
Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) By Wahidullah Amani in Kabul (ARR No. 274, 21-Nov-07)
National unity has always been a difficult concept in Afghanistan, a country with a bewildering array of ethnic and tribal groups, and language often serves as the lightening rod for controversy. The issue recently resurfaced with a government plan to dramatically increase the number of Pashto-language schools in Kabul, the predominantly Dari-speaking capital.

While some politicians applauded the education ministry’s initiative, it has prompted a strong backlash from others.

During a roundtable discussion on Tolo TV, Kabul member of parliament Najibullah Kabuli went as far as calling the initiative a “crime”, and accused Education Minister Hanif Atmar of seeking to sow disunity among schoolchildren.

Education ministry spokesman Zahoor Afghan defended the proposal, pointing to Article 43 of the Afghan constitution which requires the state to provide classes in local languages in the areas where they are spoken.

“The real criminals are those who robbed and killed people and then forced their way into parliament using the power of the gun,” he told IWPR, before adding that Pashtun parents in Kabul were asking for opportunities for their children to study in their own tongue.

Another Kabul parliamentarian, Malalai Shinwari, supports the proposal.

“This is the children’s right, and I hope the government will give them this right,” she said. “A child can learn better in its own language than in any other.”

Aqel Khan, a year ten pupil at the Rahman Babahi High School, said he couldn’t agree more. Before transferring to a Pashto-language school, he attended classes where Dari was the teaching medium.

“When lectures were given in Dari, I couldn’t understand them,” he said. “Here I can learn and remember things easily, as I am studying in my native language.”

Shinwari accused opponents of the plan of acting out of political motives.

“They are fanatically opposed to Pashto and want to impose their own language on others,” she claimed.

But Sayed Shafiq, a legislator from Herat, a Dari-speaking area, said he fears separating children according to language will deepen the divisions in Afghan society.

“When one pupil goes to one class and a second to another, it creates disunity,” he said. “And from my point of view, it is a blow to Afghanistan’s image.”

At an October 31 press conference, Education Minister Atmar told reporters that providing classes in different languages is not new to Afghanistan.

“This issue has not resulted in disunity over the past 70 years, so why would it do so now?” he asked.

Dari and Pashto are by far the most widespread languages in Afghanistan, and very roughly speaking prevail in the north and south, respectively. Kabul parliamentary Fawzia Nasiryar pointed out that many other languages are spoken throughout Afghanistan, for instance Uzbek and Turkmen. If Kabul’s Pashtuns have access to education in their language, other linguistic minorities should be granted the same right, she argued.

“This action by the education minister is a tribal action,” she claimed. “If it isn’t tribal, why hasn’t he built schools for other languages? The minister is taking such action only for the sake of his tribe.”

Ministry spokesman Afghan defended the cabinet’s decision to create separate schools for Pashtuns, who are by far the largest group in Kabul using a language other than Dari in daily life.

There are about 200,000 Pashtun students in the city, according to ministry statistics. Of those, only 20,000 actually study in Pashto. Just five out of Kabul’s 175 schools are Pashto-only, while nine more provide classes in both Pashto and Dari.

Herat parliamentarian Ahmad Behzad applauded the initiative. “Both Dari and Pashto are our formal languages,” he pointed out. “People from all over Afghanistan live in the capital. Some pupils are unable to study in Dari, yet education in one’s native language is one of the pillars of the constitution.”

The education ministry’s contentious new plan is not the first time language and ethnicity have sparked controversy. During the 2003 Loya Jirga or national assembly, Pashtun and Dari-speaking Tajik representatives clashed over which language should have primacy in the constitution. Eventually both Dari and Pashto were recognised.

The language used for Afghanistan’s national anthem further inflamed tensions. The words are currently in Pashto, but some politicians have threatened not to stand when it is being played.

Wahidullah Amani is IWPR’s lead trainer and reporter in Kabul.
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The general has no uniform
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online / November 22, 2007
KARACHI - Since seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1999, Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf has promised more than once that he would shed his uniform. Now he is set to finally keep his word, likely as early as next week.

Attorney General Malik Abdul Qayyum said on Tuesday that Musharraf will resign as chief of army staff once the Supreme Court validates his victory in the presidential election of October 6. He will then be formally sworn in as a civilian president and prepare for national elections scheduled for January 8.

The October presidential election had been challenged in court, leading to hundreds of members of the judiciary being removed and the imposition of emergency rule. The new members of the Supreme Court - appointed by Musharraf - have now dismissed all petitions against the result.

The government has freed more than 3,000 people jailed since the November 3 emergency declaration and plans to release 2,000 others soon, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

There is, however, a disturbing irony in the course of events leading up to Musharraf's reinvention as a civilian president. While the United States is finally satisfied that Musharraf has followed Washington's dotted lines in the "war on terror", history will record that over the past few years the region has seen the emergence of the neo-Taliban not only in Afghanistan but in Pakistan as well.

In this context, Musharraf's visit to Saudi Arabia this week is an attempt to relay though King Abdullah to the George W Bush administration that what is good for the US is not necessarily good for Pakistan, that is, Bush's attempts to dictate the course of national politics have in fact had counterproductive results.

Thus, while Bush this week lauded Musharraf as having "done more for democracy in Pakistan than any modern leader has", it is pertinent to consider the downside in earning such praise.

A war path fraught with danger

Washington tightened the noose around Islamabad early this year with tough demands that Pakistan stop cross-border infiltration of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The US established benchmarks on progress in this regard, which were pegged to the continued delivery of American military and economic aid to Pakistan, worth billions of dollars. From April, high-level US officials visited Pakistan on a regular basis to keep up the pressure for the implementation of political and military programs that would block the rise of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Washington pointed out that the Taliban's "precious assets" were pouring out from the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad to join the militancy in the North and South Waziristan tribal areas and beyond.

An operational plan was handed over to Islamabad and it was implemented on July 3 when the Lal Masjid was stormed, leading to the deaths of scores of militants. The army was redeployed in the tribal areas and strong contingents of military and paramilitary troops were sent into the Swat Valley in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Washington was adamant that Pakistan stick to the plan and made it clear that if Musharraf wavered, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces from Afghanistan would take matters into their own hands and pursue targets deep inside Pakistan.

On the political front, Musharraf was forced to strike a deal with former premier Benazir Bhutto. All corruption cases against her were withdrawn and she was allowed to return to Pakistan after years of self-exile to promote an anti-religious alliance.

From July, the White House has had no complaints over Islamabad's commitment in both letter and spirit. The Lal Masjid was "sanitized" and the Waziristans were bombed in October on the basis of intelligence shared with NATO.

A grand jirga (council) was organized in Kabul to explore ways of engaging the Taliban in peace dialogue, followed by talks directly with the Taliban in Quetta, Pakistan.

For the first time in years, the US was not having to urge Pakistan to "do more", yet paradoxically the situation on the ground was spiraling out of control.

Between July and November, NATO's casualties have been the worst since US-led forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to oust the Taliban. A late Taliban offensive has seen them recover large swathes of territory. For the first time, they are united under one leadership with clear objectives.

At the same time, NWFP has virtually been lost. It has always been a tribal hotspot, but while the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s radicalized NWFP to some extent, Islamabad's writ was never challenged. Indeed, in the nation's 60-year history, Pakistan has always successfully suppressed armed rebellions in the province. Now, for the first time, Pakistan's authority over NWFP has all but ended.

As a result, the Taliban's cross-border activities have increased an estimated 10-fold compared to previous years and the previously calm - but still very scenic - Swat Valley has fallen into the hands of radical clerics.

These indeed are the unintended consequences or blowback of the "war on terror" that Pakistan has prosecuted at the behest of the US. Similarly, the political road map involving Bhutto lies in tatters. Bhutto will now have no dealings with Musharraf and has already accused parties backing him of trying to rig the ballots ahead of January's polls - even hinting that she and other opposition parties might boycott the elections.

As Musharraf hangs up his uniform for the last time, these are the realities he faces - Pakistan's burning tribal areas and a volatile political arena centered on an embittered opposition.

But at least Bush is happy.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.
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War-crimes allegations 'un-Canadian,' MacKay says
CAMPBELL CLARK - From Thursday's Globe and Mail November 22, 2007
OTTAWA — Defence Minister Peter MacKay called his Liberal critics "un-Canadian" yesterday for accusing the government of allowing the transfer of juveniles taken prisoner in Afghanistan into the hands of "torturers."

Mr. MacKay insisted that Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre was making "scurrilous allegations" against soldiers, while Mr. Coderre bristled that the Defence Minister had attacked his patriotism for raising questions about the government's conduct.

The exchange came when Mr. Coderre demanded that Ottawa stop transferring juvenile detainees to Afghan authorities because of allegations of abuses, arguing that the practice violates international human-rights treaties.

"Why are we transferring minors to Afghan prisons, instead of rehabilitating them? How many youths have we transferred to these torturers?" Mr. Coderre asked.

When Mr. MacKay responded that juvenile prisoners are jailed separately and that members of the Canadian Forces meet international standards, Mr. Coderre accused the minister of hiding behind the troops when the policy for detention is the responsibility of the government, not of soldiers.

Mr. MacKay replied: "What is immensely clear is that the bombast and the blast coming from the member for Bourassa does nothing to demonstrate that his party or that member support the troops.

"These scurrilous allegations that somehow Canadian soldiers are complicit in war crimes is beyond contempt. It is reprehensible. It is un-Canadian for that member to make those kind of allegations in this place."

Outside the Commons, Mr. Coderre likened being called un-Canadian to U.S. citizens being dubbed un-American for opposing the war in Iraq.

He said that Mr. MacKay obviously has not read the documents the government was forced to release last week in a Federal Court case, which indicate Canada has transferred juvenile prisoners to Afghan jails.

One of the documents noted that the warden of the notorious Sarpoza prison in Kandahar, where many prisoners handed over by Canadians were held, had been fired after charges that he raped juvenile detainees.
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Thanksgiving and a Mission Unite Diverse Forces
By C. J. CHIVERS The New York Times November 23, 2007
FORWARD OPERATING BASE AIRBORNE, Afghanistan, Nov. 22 — The soldiers filed into the dining tent in the soft light before evening, carrying heaps of food for a Thanksgiving gathering as polyglot as anywhere.

At one plywood table was a Special Forces staff sergeant who was born in Turkey. “No names, please,” he said. At another was Capt. Walter P. De La Vega of the Army, who trains and supervises the Afghan security forces in Wardak Province. He was born in Peru and reared in New Jersey.

Sgt. Kevin J. Quinones, an acoustic guitar player in camouflage, was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. When he strummed and sang “America the Beautiful,” the soldiers set aside their food and stood.

A cook who prepared the turkey, Specialist Yevgeny Goussev, was born in Moscow and received a work visa to the United States in 2002. He was a reserve artillery lieutenant in the Russian Army, although he said his commission was probably voided when he enlisted in the United States Army last year.

Specialist Goussev became a United States citizen this month. He said he understood what this American holiday meant. “Thanksgiving is to share with other people, and not expecting anything in return,” he said.

When Thanksgiving arrived at Forward Operating Base Airborne, it came to a small and isolated world, a rectangle of concertina wire and barricades on a hillside 8,400 feet above sea level.

Its inner compound, guarded by bunkers, is about 300 yards long by 175 hundred yards wide. The enclosure houses tents, armored vehicles, several latrines and mortar pits, a helicopter landing zone and not much else.

Fewer than 200 people live here, a mix of Afghan interpreters and Afghan Army soldiers, an American Special Forces team, five French mountain infantrymen, a Foreign Legionnaire and dozens of paratroopers from Company D, Second Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry, a unit from the 82nd Airborne Division.

The base is near Highway 1, the road linking Kabul, the capital, to Kandahar in the south, and faces two valleys, Jalrez and Nerkh, that are crowded with Taliban fighters.

It has existed for only a few months, but the soldiers plan to make it permanent, a stepping-off point to help secure the highway and eventually to push the Taliban from the valleys. When its residents are not on patrols, they are rushing to finish building it before the season’s advancing chill.

Capt. Aaron W. White, the commander of Company D, was born in West Virginia. Observing the tradition of the better American ground units, he did not eat until all of his paratroopers had passed through the food line, ensuring that there was enough for them before allowing himself a meal.

He watched the soldiers walk by, forming Thanksgiving tables populated by young men of widely disparate backgrounds, clad in green. “It’s amazing how you can throw all different kinds of people together, and they forget about everything and get it done,” he said.

“They do a great job, too, man.”

Whatever the soldiers’ backgrounds, one thing unmistakably binds them: the work they face on the other side of the concertina wire.

Since beginning to build a firebase here, the soldiers have been hit by rockets and mortar fire, and ambushed several times. Almost all the patrols up the Jalrez and Nerkh Valleys have dealt with Taliban fighters, who use hidden firing positions dug in orchards and along roads. Nearly 40 Americans based here have been wounded since September.

After all the turkey had been eaten, a huge soldier appeared for dinner. He was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 260 pounds.

He introduced himself: Staff Sgt. Gerald R. White, 29, of Sistersville, W.Va. He was an artilleryman serving his third combat tour, this one as a noncommissioned officer who coordinates and directs fire from artillery, mortars and helicopter gunships.

As he prepared to fill his plate with the leftovers, the setting sun illuminated a fresh purple scar on the back of his neck.

Then came his story. He was wounded when a three-vehicle patrol was ambushed on Sept. 15 in Jalrez.

His vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade; shrapnel tore open his buttocks and his neck. The ambush blossomed. More and more of the rockets flew toward the broken vehicles and wounded soldiers, he said. Machine-gun fire smacked their windows and doors.

Rockets struck the second vehicle’s turret alone three times, he said. Ten other soldiers had been wounded by the time reinforcements arrived and pushed the Taliban off.

Sergeant White spent four weeks recuperating at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul. He returned to his tiny base without having been home to see his wife and three children, who are at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina.

Now he pulled something from his left breast pocket. It was a miniature metal placard of a Purple Heart. “I will never quit,” its engraving read.

Many of the soldiers here Thursday said that Thanksgiving meant football and beer. Sergeant White, scarred and as large as a fullback, spoke of his children, ages 11, 5 and 3.

“My little one, he’s my hero,” he said. “He was on his deathbed. He was born six weeks premature, and he had internal bleeding. He took three blood transfusions, but by the time he was 9 months old he was fine.”

“His name is Gerald,” he said. “Gerald Jr.”

He added: “I’m proud of all three of them. I wish I could be there today. It’s a special moment. But I’ll make it up to them once I get home.”

After eating, Sergeant White returned to his post. A Polish patrol was heading north up Highway 1. Intelligence reports said that the Taliban’s spotters on the highway were organizing an ambush.

He paced beside the radios as darkness fell, listening for the Poles, ready to call down fire.
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Indian and British diplomats meet Fazl
Dawn (Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal secretary general Maulana Fazlur Rahman said on Wednesday that the international community could not remain unconcerned over the situation arising out of the imposition of emergency in Pakistan.

He was talking to media personnel after meeting Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal who had called on him at his residence.

During the meeting, Maulana Fazl expressed concern over political instability in the country and is reported to have shared his desire for early return of normality by ensuring a level-playing field to all political parties in the coming elections.

Earlier, the British political counsellor met the MMA leader and discussed with him the political situation in the country.

When asked about the possibility of an election boycott by the opposition, the Maulana said: “My party is in favour of participating in the polls, but final decision will be taken by the MMA supreme council in its next meeting”.

Answering a question about the possibility of expanding the anti-Musharraf alliance by adopting a flexible approach towards the Pakistan People’s Party, he said Benazir Bhutto had gone too far in distancing the PPP from religious parties.
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Pak-Afghan border to be guarded with new system
KABUL, Nov 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghanistan will install electronic Sensor system on a number of spots on the border areas of the country to avoid cross-movement of the anti-social elements, security officials said on Wednesday.

Brig Gen Said Amanullah Saddat deputy chief of the border police in the Interior Ministry told Pajhwok Afghan News preliminary works for installation of the electronic machines had been completed.

Speaking during a certificate distribution for 27 Rapid-Action Forces graduates for the eastern Nangarhar province, he said the project would cost $45m to be provided by United States.

Though it was not know when the project would be functional but Sadat said that cross border movement was the attention of both Kabul and Islamabad due to the increasing terrorist activities.

A day earlier, Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak while talking during the cabinet ministers meeting in Kabul had informed about a tripartite agreement between Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO Forces for setting up joint base for coordination against terrorism in the porous border regions of the two countries.

Three bases would be established in the Afghanistan territory and as many in the Pakistani soil, he had asserted.

Cabinet ministers also agreed with the decision terming it as a positive step for improving security in the region.

Afghanistan and Pakistan share 2500 kilometer long border.
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Wolesi Jirga to deliberate on security issue
KABUL, Nov 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Heads of the parliamentary commissions from the two houses of the nascent parliament will sit together next week to find solutions for insecurity in the country.

The MPs with majority votes on Wednesday agreed to form a joint moot between the heads of commissions of the lower house and upper house of the parliament to try to devise an effective plan for lasting security in the country.

Despite the fact that majority of legislators were not happy with government for undermining their decisions and legislation issues, the peoples representatives agreed to put all differences aside and prioritize efforts for improving security in the country.

While a number of MPs pushed for joint session of the two houses, speaker Muhammad Younus Qanoni said the rules do not permit it and added:" only by a presidential decree or at start of the meetings we could hold a joint meeting of all MPs and senators" he, however said:" we can hold a meeting between heads of the commissions of the two houses to discuss ways for finding security solutions."

The heads of the commission would later hold talks with the security organs, he said, calling the current security situation as deplorable in the country, the Wolesi Jirga speaker demanded for improving the situation.

"The situation is not good in the country and we should work hard together with the opposition and executive body to halt a security crisis in Afghanistan "he said.

MPs had presented a draft, prepared for the security improvement in the country to the government last year however few MPs complained that it was yet to be enforced and thus were pessimistic about the new initiative in this regard.
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Govt okays 31 water supply schemes
KABUL, Nov 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Ministry of Energy and Water on Wednesday inked 31 different water supply and distribution projects with different local companies here which will cost $3.8m.

The projects to be executed in one year period will help irrigate 140 hector farmlands.

Speaking on the occasion, Muhammad Ismail Khan minister for Energy and Water said the projects included cleaning and construction of water canals will be implemented in Ghazni, Nangarhar, Faryab, Herat, Samangan, Takhar, Konduz, Baghlan, Zabul, Nimroz, Sar-i-Pul, Bamyan, Kandahar and Logar provinces.

The projects are estimated to benefit 360,000 people, Khan hoped.

Presently there are 169 on-going water supply projects in the country, he added; work on 68 more water supply and distribution projects may begin in the near future.

Water supply system and its use was a key program of the ministry, he said, they were trying hard to reach the goal through construction of water dam in different parts of the country.

Afghanistan has 75 million cubic meter water every year, while only 35% of it is utilized and the rest drain out of the country without being used, the minister concluded.
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No interruption to logistic supply to Afghanistan
NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A top US military official said Tuesday that there has been no significant impact on Americas military operations in Afghanistan or on the logistics supplies to its forces in the country, after emergency was declared in Pakistan.

From a military standpoint, I haven't seen a significant effect. We still have our military-to-military contacts, Admiral Mike Mullen, Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a press briefing organized by the Foreign Press Center.

We continue the contacts, and so from that standpoint, the logistic support in terms of what goes through Pakistan to support our efforts in Afghanistan, we have seen no interruptions there, as well, said the Admiral who visited Afghanistan in October.

Last week a key Pentagon official had said that in view of the turmoil in Pakistan after emergency was declared in the country, it was preparing a contingency plan for its supply routes. As much as 75 per cent of the supplies meant for troops in Afghanistan go through Pakistan.

The Admiral said that civilian casualties were an area of concern for him and addressing this issue is at the top of his priority. I don't think in the long run you can achieve success clearly with those kinds of casualties occurring, he said.

Referring to his visit to Afghanistan last month, Admiral Mullen said the trends in the country, from his perspective, are mixed. I was actually taken back that it was in better shape than I had anticipated personally, that and against my baseline, he said.

Further he conceded the need of additional forces. Clearly there are opportunities for additional forces.

One of the things that Secretary Gates addressed in his trip to Noordwijk at a NATO ministerial meeting about three weeks ago and I addressed last week is the need for all the countries to come forth and meet the commitments, because that can have a significant impact on the security, he said.
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Civilian casualties: Ban for creation of working group
UNITED NATIONS, Nov, 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The UN Secretary-General, who has been in forefront of condemning increasing civilian casualties in conflict prone regions in particular Afghanistan, Tuesday, urged the Security Council to set up a working group on this issue so as to protect civilians in such areas of the world.

Ban made the vociferous appeal at a special Security Council meeting convened to discuss the issue of Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts. Besides the members of the council, a large number of other member nations participated in this day long discussion.

It would not only underline the Councils commitment to this cause, it would give practical meaning to your commitment.  It would ensure more timely and systematic consideration of the protection of civilians in the Councils deliberations.  And it would assist the Council to move decisively towards practical implementation, Ban said in his address to Security Council.

Observing that civilians in particular children and women continue to suffer in conflict prone areas of Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq, Ban said: The protection of civilians is and must remain an absolute priority for the United Nations and, above all, for the Member States with whom rested the primary responsibility for protecting civilians.

The discussion that followed after the presentation by John Holmes, Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and United Nations Emergency Relief Co-coordinator, most of the countries agreed with the urgent need to protect civilians more effectively in conflict prone areas.

The idea of setting up a working group was welcomed by many of the member nations. Russia, however, said this would add up to another bureaucratic set up in the UN.

 Instead of new bureaucratic structures, the United Nations should be ready to act quickly in alignment with international humanitarian law and Security Council decisions, the Russian Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin said.

The British Ambassador, Sir John Sawers, said the Security Council should set standards for protection of civilian casualties during armed conflict. It should ensure effectiveness in United Nations missions and pressure States to meet their obligations towards that end, he said. The French representative, Jean Maurice Ripert, said the Secretary-Generals recommendations should allow the Council to act more effectively.  The Council should always point out that respect for humanitarian law was meant for all, including non-State actors.

Italy, also agreed with the idea of creation of a working group. But it should be used as a tool for an enhanced operational, ground-centered approach.  Focus should be on a framework that included clear mandates in peacekeeping, an effective system of proactive monitoring for humanitarian access and punishment for those who blocked access or committed sexual violence, the Italian Representative, Marcello Spatafora said.

The US representative, Jackie Wolcott, on combating the deliberate targeting of civilians, cited the reports reference to the human toll of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and incidental civilian casualties resulting from military operations. 

However, civilian casualties topped the concerns of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Operation Enduring Freedom, often resulting in the cancellation of operations.  In glaring contrast, terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Iraq deliberately targeted civilians.  It was past time for all Member States to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to armed groups that deliberately targeted civilians, she said.
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