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Norway closes Kabul embassy after threat
Associated Press
OSLO, Norway - Norway closed its embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday because of "terror threats," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
Gates urges Europe to back U.S. in Afghanistan
By Andrew Gray Sun Feb 10, 8:02 AM ET
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a direct appeal to Europeans on Sunday to support the war in Afghanistan, warning that violence and terrorism could surge worldwide if NATO was defeated there.
Gates Challenges European Military Leaders on Afghanistan
Defense Secretary Says NATO's Stability Is at Stake
By Craig Whitlock Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, February 10, 2008; 7:07 AM
MUNICH, Feb. 10 - Defense Secretary Robert Gates challenged the European military leaders and lawmakers Sunday to revive flagging support for the international mission in Afghanistan, warning that if members of NATO
US says failure in Afghanistan would spur Islamic extremism
by Jonathan Fowler
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned Sunday that failing to stamp out Afghanistan's resurgent Taliban would boost Islamic extremism worldwide and urged Europeans to wake up to the risks.
Poll: Pakistanis Turn Against Bin Laden
By STEPHEN GRAHAM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Sympathy for al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and the Taliban has dropped sharply in Pakistan amid a wave of deadly violence, according to the results of a recent opinion poll.
Thousands protest in Afghan capital for banned pyramid scheme
KABUL (AFP) - Around 3,000 mostly young Afghan men marched through Kabul Sunday to demand the government lift a temporary ban on an international money-making scheme.
All sides must raise their game in Afghanistan: British FM
Sun Feb 10, 12:23 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - The international community and the Afghan government alike must raise their game this year to stop Afghanistan from tearing itself apart, Britain's Foreign Secretary said.
Gates calms tensions with Germany over Afghanistan
By Andrew Gray and Noah Barkin Sat Feb 9, 1:59 PM ET
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought on Saturday to soothe tensions with Germany over NATO's Afghan mission, saying relations would not suffer if Berlin did not provide more troops.
Road paving in southern Afghanistan helps the living, honours the dead
By Stephanie Levitz The Canadian Press February 9, 2008
PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan - Roads are for the living but the Canadian military has begun a massive road-building project that will also honour the dead in one of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan.
Ashdown blames Afghan politics for UN envoy veto
Sun Feb 10, 7:31 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - Domestic Afghan politics were behind President Hamid Karzai's veto of Paddy Ashdown as the new United Nations envoy there, the senior British diplomat said Sunday.
Afghanistan a favourite at Surajkund fair
By Ravi Khandelwal Surajkund (Haryana)
Feb 9 (ANI): Membership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC has helped Afghanistan to expand its trade boundaries at the Surajkund crafts fair, on the outskirts of New Delhi.
Afghanistan backs "bin Laden in Pakistan" charge
By Sayed Salahuddin Reuters - Sunday, February 10 10:05 am
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan said on Sunday it backed a senior U.S. official's assertion that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar were operating from neighbouring Pakistan.
We are here not just as a moral duty
By David Miliband 11:44am GMT 10/02/2008 Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
The recurring questions about Afghanistan are simple: why are we there, and is it feasible to make progress?
Australia kept in dark by NATO
February 11, 2008 Brendan Nicholson The Age
DEFENCE Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has returned from a high-level NATO meeting in Lithuania saying he was shocked to discover that Australia had sent troops to Afghanistan without being given access to key strategy documents.
Ninety Afghan frostbite victims have amputations
Sun Feb 10, 2008 4:05am EST
HERAT, Afghanistan, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Doctors said on Sunday they have amputated the fingers or toes of more than 90 frostbite victims in western Afghanistan as one of the worst winters in living memory engulfs the country.
Attack on Afghan jail leaves 1 attacker dead
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-10 14:02:24
KABUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Unknown armed men in their attempt to set free a comrade from a jail in western Herat province raided Shindand prison but fled away after facing police resistance, a local newspaper reported Sunday.
Helmand’s Opium Habit Here to Stay
The government makes a strong start to its annual eradication effort in Helmand, but farmers predict the enthusiasm will be short-lived.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
By Mohammad Ilyas Dayee and Aziz Ahmad Tassal in Helmand and Jean MacKenzie in Kabul (ARR No. 283, 08-Feb-08)
One of the first signs of spring in Helmand, along with the cheerful chirping of the swallows and the first tender green shoots poking up through the mud, is the start of the anti-poppy campaign.
U.S. seeks Turkey's help in Afghanistan
Feb. 10, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Print story Email to a friend Font size:KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The United States has reportedly asked Turkey to send combat troops to fight Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Afghanistan.
An election call over Afghanistan? Bring it on
Feb 10, 2008 04:30 AM Thomas Walkom Toronto Star, Canada
Stéphane Dion's Liberals wanted to avoid an election focused on Afghanistan. They will not get that chance.
Growing strength of Afghan forces sign of success in Afghanistan: commander
The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Statistics and reports suggesting rising violence and the failure of coalition efforts in Afghanistan don't match with the impact of Canada's efforts in Kandahar, says the commander of overseas military operations.
Learning to Fight a War
Washington Post, United States By David Ignatius Sunday, February 10, 2008
Traveling in Iraq and Afghanistan in late January, I kept encountering two themes that cut across the usual U.S. political debate about these conflicts: The hard-nosed operations of U.S. Special Forces are increasingly effective
U.S. transfers 20 more prisoners to Afghan custody
Sun Feb 10, 8:23 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military has handed over a group of 20 suspected Taliban fighters to Afghan custody under a program to transfer all Afghan prisoners from U.S. detention, the Afghan Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
Afghan President condemns suicide attack in Pakistan
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-10 20:48:00
Special report: Pakistani Situation
KABUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday put the suicide attack on terrorists that left over two dozens people dead in Pakistan and strongly condemned it.
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Norway closes Kabul embassy after threat
Associated Press
OSLO, Norway - Norway closed its embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday because of "terror threats," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
Kristin Melsom said the embassy had been closed until further notice. She would not elaborate on the nature of the threats or how long the embassy would remain closed.
"It is too early to comment on that," she said.
Norway has been singled out at least twice by al-Qaida as a nation that should be targeted because of its deployment in Afghanistan and a previous deployment in Iraq. Norwegian Defense Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen on Friday confirmed that Norway will add 200 extra troops to its 500 soldiers in Afghanistan with the deployment of special forces and helicopters in March.
Al-Qaida has urged Muslims to seek revenge for cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad that appeared in several European publications. Norway, Denmark and France were named as countries that should be targeted.
In a security document dated Jan. 20, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry listed 15 locations — including Norway's embassy — that could be targeted by militants.
"According to detective reports, the enemies plan to launch a series of suicide attacks, explosions and harmful activities in Kabul city," said the report, which was obtained by The Associated Press in Kabul. "(F)or this purpose, the enemies' first plan is to target some more vulnerable infrastructures of Kabul city."
The embassies of Sweden, Belgium, India, Turkey, Finland and Indonesia were also listed. Government offices and three well known Kabul hotels were also said to be possible targets.
The luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul, which was attacked by Taliban militants in January, was among those listed. A Norwegian journalist who was there to cover a visit by the country's foreign minister was killed in that attack.
____
Jason Straziuso in Kabul contributed to this report.
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Gates urges Europe to back U.S. in Afghanistan
By Andrew Gray Sun Feb 10, 8:02 AM ET
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a direct appeal to Europeans on Sunday to support the war in Afghanistan, warning that violence and terrorism could surge worldwide if NATO was defeated there.
While admitting policy mistakes -- and his own role in one of them -- Gates urged the allies to come together in the fight against Islamist militants in Afghanistan and said the credibility of NATO itself was at stake.
"The threat posed by violent Islamic extremism is real -- and it is not going to go away," Gates told an annual gathering of security and military experts in Munich, Germany.
"I am concerned that many people on this continent may not comprehend the magnitude of the direct threat to European security," said Gates, admitting public support for the war in Afghanistan was weak in Europe.
His speech was the latest move in a campaign he has undertaken -- sometimes quietly, sometimes through blunt public statements -- to persuade NATO allies to supply more troops and resources for the mission.
Although France has indicated a willingness to send more troops, Germany has been adamant that it cannot do more.
Gates said NATO could not afford "the luxury" of letting some nations conduct less dangerous missions while others did more fighting and dying -- a remark which appeared aimed at Germany, which confines its forces to the safer north of Afghanistan.
After his speech, several German politicians criticized Gates, with one accusing him of public "finger pointing," but the Pentagon chief said he had not meant to single out specific countries and called Germany "a little overly sensitive."
"This is a problem that the alliance has, not that any individual country has," Gates said. "The finger was never pointed in Germany's direction."
FALSE SUCCESS
Gates branded Islamist militancy a movement built on false success, saying "about the only thing they have accomplished recently is the deaths of thousands of innocent Muslims while trying to create discord across the Middle East."
"What would happen if the false success they proclaim became real success -- if they triumphed in Iraq or Afghanistan, or managed to topple the government of Pakistan? Or a major Middle Eastern government?" he asked.
"With safe havens in the Middle East, and new tactics honed on the battlefield and transmitted via the Internet, violence and terrorism worldwide could surge," he said.
Gates cited more than a dozen attacks or plots against European targets, including bombings in London and Madrid, and recalled the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
"Imagine if Islamic terrorists had managed to strike your capitals on the same scale as they struck in New York," he said.
"For the United States, the lessons we have learned these past six years -- and in many cases re-learned -- have not been easy ones," Gates said. "We have stumbled along the way, and we are still learning."
Gates said the September 11 attacks were especially poignant as the United States had been heavily involved in Afghanistan in the 1980s only to turn its back on the country after Soviet troops withdrew and it become a safe haven for al Qaeda.
He described the decision to abandon Afghanistan as "a grievous error, for which I was at least partly responsible."
Gates was a senior official in the CIA when it helped mujahideen guerrillas fight the Soviets and later served as U.S. deputy national security adviser and then CIA director.
(Editing by Charles Dick)
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Gates Challenges European Military Leaders on Afghanistan
Defense Secretary Says NATO's Stability Is at Stake
By Craig Whitlock Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, February 10, 2008; 7:07 AM
MUNICH, Feb. 10 - Defense Secretary Robert Gates challenged the European military leaders and lawmakers Sunday to revive flagging support for the international mission in Afghanistan, warning that if members of NATO were no longer willing to shoulder the burdens of war equally, it "would effectively destroy the alliance."
Gates's comments to the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy were the latest attempt by the Pentagon chief to persuade NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, especially in the southern part of the country where the fighting has been fierce and where the Taliban controls wide swaths of territory.
Gates said too many European countries have been content to participate only in less risky peacekeeping and training operations.
"Some allies ought not to have the luxury of opting only for stability and civilian operations, thus forcing other allies to bear a disproportionate share of the fighting and the dying," he said. He repeated comments made in Washington last week that NATO risked becoming a "two-tiered alliance" if certain countries, which he did not name, continued to shy away from combat.
Such remarks have irked some NATO members, who say the Pentagon is unfairly blaming its allies for the inability to win a lasting victory over the Taliban and other insurgents.
Germany, in particular, has taken offense. Berlin recently agreed to send 250 extra soldiers to Afghanistan as part of a "rapid reactionary force," but otherwise has resisted pleas that it extend its operations beyond its duties in the relatively peaceful northern part of the country.
During a question and answer session after Gates' speech, Reinhard Buetikofer, a leader of the Greens party in Germany, criticized the defense secretary for what he called "an attempt at leadership by fingerpointing and scapegoating," noting that Berlin has sent the third largest contingent of foreign troops in Afghanistan and that 26 of its soldiers have died there.
He also shifted the blame for the mission's shortcomings back on Washington. "Who was distracted from Afghanistan in 2003?" he asked Gates, referring to the invasion of Iraq.
In response, Gates said he wasn't trying to single out individual countries and praised Germany for the work it has done in northern Afghanistan. But he didn't let Germany entirely off the hook, either.
"I wasn't pointing at Germany at all," he said. "Germany, frankly, it seems to me has been a little overly sensitive, since Germany was never mentioned. The fact is we've got a number of countries there. And the countries that are not willing to go into combat know who they are."
The German Parliament has placed restrictions on the mission of its 3,200 troops in Afghanistan, with the result that most are not used in active combat.
Other U.S. officials have been more willing to point the finger.
In an interview published Friday by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, a Munich-based newspaper, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns singled out Spain, Italy, France and Germany as NATO members that needed to either provide more troops or loosen restrictions on their ability to fight.
"We need those countries to take their share of the responsibility," he said.
France has been discussing the possibility of sending troops to southern Afghanistan. French Defense Minister Herve Morin met with Gates last week in Washington and later in Vilnius, Lithuania, as part of a NATO ministers' meeting.
But in speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Morin made no commitments and downplayed the idea that the war in Afghanistan could be won on the battlefield alone.
"The solution is not just a military one," he said. "Military action is like the effect of a wave lapping at the sand."
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US says failure in Afghanistan would spur Islamic extremism
by Jonathan Fowler
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned Sunday that failing to stamp out Afghanistan's resurgent Taliban would boost Islamic extremism worldwide and urged Europeans to wake up to the risks.
"Instability and conflict abroad have the potential to spread and strike directly at the hearts of our nations," Gates said in a speech to the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy.
"But I am concerned that many people on this continent may not comprehend the magnitude of the direct threat to European security," he told the forum -- a traditional venue for Washington to flag concerns to European allies.
"For the United States, September 11 was a galvanizing event -- one that opened the American public's eyes to dangers from distant lands."
Afghanistan's Islamic-extremist Taliban, who had provided safe haven to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, were ousted from power in 2001 by a US-led invasion in the wake of the suicide hijack-plane attacks on the United States.
But international forces and the Afghan army have been confronted by a renewed Taliban insurgency, notably in the south of the country which has seen heavy fighting for months.
Gates warned that success for the Taliban would be a huge morale boost for Islamic extremism worldwide, and said a reticent European public should remember this.
"The threat posed by violent Islamic extremism is real -- and it is not going away," he said.
Europeans knew "all too well" about the Madrid bombings that killed 191 people in March 2004 and the attacks in London that left 56 dead in July 2005, he said, but further from the spotlight there had been "multiple smaller attacks" in cities from Glasgow to Istanbul.
"Numerous cells and plots have been disrupted in recent years as well -- many of them seeking large-scale death and destruction."
Gates said loosely organised international Islamic extremism was "built on the illusion of success."
"After all, about the only thing they have accomplished recently is the death of thousands of innocent Muslims while trying to create discord across the Middle East. So far they have failed.
"What would happen if the false success they proclaim became real success? If they triumphed in Iraq or Afghanistan, or managed to topple the government of Pakistan? Or a major Middle Eastern government?"
The task confronting the US and Europe is to fracture and destroy Islamic extremism and deflate its ideology, and that the best opportunity to do that is in Afghanistan, he said.
Gates has been pressing his message over recent days in Europe, notably at talks in Lithuania with fellow defence ministers from the 26-nation NATO, where he sought to convince European allies to send reinforcements to Afghanistan.
NATO's UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan has grown from 16,000 to 43,000 troops -- around one-third of them American and one-fifth British -- within the space of two years, but commanders have been calling for more soldiers.
"We are not losing. We are just not winning fast enough," noted supreme NATO commander, US General Bantz Craddock, on the sidelines of the conference.
"We are short on boots on the ground.... I am convinced that if we had what we need we would see more progress," he added, putting ISAF's requirements at "three battalions", or around 1,500-3,000 troops.
With the public in many European countries increasingly against involvement, many governments are wary of unpopular new deployments, particularly in the volatile south.
"We must not -- we cannot -- become a two-tiered alliance of those who are willing to fight and those who are not," warned Gates.
Questioned on recent strong remarks that riled several NATO allies, notably Germany, which with 3,200 soldiers deployed in relatively stable northern Afghanistan provides ISAF's third-largest contingent, Gates was diplomatic.
"I haven't singled out a single ountry. No individual country has failed to fulfill its commitments," he said.
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Poll: Pakistanis Turn Against Bin Laden
By STEPHEN GRAHAM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Sympathy for al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and the Taliban has dropped sharply in Pakistan amid a wave of deadly violence, according to the results of a recent opinion poll.
The survey, conducted last month for the U.S.-based Terror Free Tomorrow organization, also identified the party of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as the country's most popular ahead of Feb. 18 elections, and said most Pakistanis want President Pervez Musharraf to quit.
The poll suggests Pakistanis are looking to peaceful opposition groups after months of political turmoil and a wave of suicide attacks.
In the latest bloodshed, a bomber blew himself up at an opposition rally in the northwestern town of Charsadda on Saturday, killing 27 people and injuring 50.
According to the poll results only 24 percent of Pakistanis approved of bin Laden when the survey was conducted last month, compared with 46 percent during a similar survey in August.
Backing for al-Qaida, whose senior leaders are believed to be hiding along the Pakistani-Afghan border, fell to 18 percent from 33 percent.
Support for the Taliban, whose Pakistani offshoots have seized control of much of the lawless border area and have been engaged in a growing war against security forces, dropped by half to 19 percent from 38 percent, the results said.
Also, in a sharp rebuke to Musharraf — who seized power in a 1999 coup and whose standing has slumped since he tried to fire Pakistan's chief justice last March — 70 percent of voters think he should quit immediately.
Terror Free Tomorrow is a bipartisan group seeking to reduce support for international terrorism.
Its advisory board includes likely Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman who helped lead a study of White House Iraq policy last year. The group's president, Ken Ballen, says the advisory board plays no role in individual polls.
The survey, based on interviews with 1,157 people across Pakistan from Jan. 19-29, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Only one percent of Pakistani voters would cast their ballots in favor of al-Qaida if it was running in parliamentary elections, the survey results said, adding that the Taliban would get 3 percent.
In contrast the moderate and secular Pakistan People's Party, led by Bhutto until her death in a suicide attack on Dec. 27, polled 36.7 percent.
The party of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, scored 25.3 percent, pushing the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q into third place with just 12 percent.
Despite Musharraf's counter-terror alliance with Washington and calls for Pakistan to plot a course of "enlightened moderation," Pakistanis remain distrustful of the president and his authorities, especially the shadowy intelligence agencies.
Opposition parties accuse authorities of trying to rig the elections to prevent the formation of a hostile parliament which could impeach Musharraf, who imposed a state of emergency last year to safeguard his re-election.
The poll found that 58 percent of respondent voters suspected Musharraf, allied politicians or government agencies were responsible for Bhutto's death. Only 7 percent thought al-Qaida or the Taliban were behind her slaying.
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Thousands protest in Afghan capital for banned pyramid scheme
KABUL (AFP) - Around 3,000 mostly young Afghan men marched through Kabul Sunday to demand the government lift a temporary ban on an international money-making scheme.
The protesters marched to the gates of the palace of President Hamid Karzai, where they read out a resolution demanding the government lift a temporary order on the Afghan version of the Internet-based QuestNet pyramid scheme.
The scheme, in which people encourage others to buy a product over the Internet to become a member, started in Afghanistan two years ago with 600 members and now has about 21,000, head of the Afghan Quest Union, Najmudin Fayaz, told reporters.
"We are here to ask for our rights," Fayaz said. "We have been active here for two years and have been given a licence for our business."
Kabul issued the scheme a licence two years ago but withdrew it last week, saying it needed to draw up an operating law, leaders of the demonstration said.
"If you cannot provide us jobs, don't take our jobs," read one of the banners held up by the demonstrators, many of whom wore Western dress.
"Fight corruption, drugs, and warlords -- not IT and information technology," said another, referring to the scheme's use of the Internet.
One of the participants, Karim Wasal, said it had rescued him from poverty and helped "make my dreams come true."
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world after three decades of war.
There is high unemployment -- although the government releases no figures -- and the development of industry is held back by insecurity, including linked to an extremist insurgency, and the lack of basic infrastructure like electricity.
The QuestNet website (www.quest.net) says the scheme, also known as GoldQuest, was set up in 1998 and has a presence in 160 countries.
Critics say it is a scam in which few people make any money.
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All sides must raise their game in Afghanistan: British FM
Sun Feb 10, 12:23 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - The international community and the Afghan government alike must raise their game this year to stop Afghanistan from tearing itself apart, Britain's Foreign Secretary said.
International efforts in the country needed to move to a new phase -- and there would be "no military solution" to Afghanistan's problems, David Miliband wrote in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
"The military can only provide the space for the reconstruction and development, without which progress will be temporary," he said.
"Our strategy in Afghanistan must combine the immediate military focus on fighting the Taliban with the economic development and clean government that is the best defence against insurgency."
He said the Afghan police force needed to be strengthened and better trained, while the government needed to build up the capacity of local institutions.
Young Afghans needed better opportunities to learn and make a living to avoid being sucked into the drugs trade, said Miliband, who visited Afghanistan last week with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Miliband called for closer ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying their fortunes were closely bound together.
"Unless there is a joint plan for addressing the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other insurgents, the two countries risk shunting the problem back and forth across the border. Both sides must put their shared interest in fighting the terrorist insurgency above historical differences," he wrote.
"Both the Afghan government and the international community have a mutual interest and a mutual responsibility to raise their games over the next year.
"For the Afghan government the responsibility is to deliver strong leadership that unites the country, roots out corruption and builds a partnership with its neighbours to promote stability.
"For the United Nations, NATO and the European Union, there is the responsibility to ensure the scale of our efforts matches the severity of the challenge and deliver a more coherent and comprehensive approach."
Britain and the United States have been calling not only for reinforcements in Afghanistan, but also for their freer use around the country, sharing the burden of front-line fighting against the Taliban insurgency.
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Gates calms tensions with Germany over Afghanistan
By Andrew Gray and Noah Barkin Sat Feb 9, 1:59 PM ET
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought on Saturday to soothe tensions with Germany over NATO's Afghan mission, saying relations would not suffer if Berlin did not provide more troops.
Germany reiterated it had no plans to boost troop levels or shift them to other parts of Afghanistan despite U.S. pressure, denying a magazine report to the contrary.
Gates has pressed Berlin and other allies to provide more troops and other resources for the 43,000-strong NATO force battling Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
The pressure has caused problems for the German government, as it tries to maintain good relations with Washington but faces broad opposition to the Afghan mission among voters.
"Any additional numbers from any country are most appreciated," Gates told reporters at a security conference in the southern German city of Munich.
"Maybe some will be able to help. It certainly will not be seen as a negative in our bilateral relations if some are not able to do more."
Earlier, Germany's Der Spiegel weekly said the government was planning to expand the number of soldiers it can send to Afghanistan by 1,000 to 4,500 and broaden their base of operations from the north to the west.
The magazine said Merkel planned to make the proposal at a NATO summit in April in order to deflect pressure from Washington to send German forces to the south.
But a government spokesman said: "There are no such considerations in the Chancellery."
"IRRITATED" BY LETTER
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told ARD television he had been "irritated" by the tone of a letter Gates sent to Berlin and other allies last month asking them to do more in Afghanistan.
But he said he had been reassured after talks with the Pentagon chief in Munich.
Gates sent the letters after deciding to send 3,200 marines to Afghanistan in March and April.
Washington has pressed not only for more troops but also for more members of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to go to the violent south, where U.S., British, Dutch and Canadian troops are doing the bulk of the fighting.
Gates said the Iraq war had shown that it was important to have sufficient forces to fight insurgents. Washington sent an extra 30,000 troops to Iraq last year and violence there declined substantially.
"What we have seen in Iraq is that numbers do matter," he said.
"As soon as the ISAF forces leave, sometimes the Taliban come back so we need to have enough troops there (so) that once these areas are cleared we can hold them so economic development and civil development can proceed," he said.
A parliamentary mandate which expires in mid-October sets an upper limit of 3,500 German forces in Afghanistan.
German officials said the government was considering extending the mandate by 15 to 18 months instead of the usual one-year period in order to keep the issue out of the next federal election, due in the autumn of 2009.
The Afghanistan deployment is highly controversial within Germany, where many people remain averse to foreign military operations over 60 years after the end of World War Two.
Merkel's awkward "grand coalition" of conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD) was able to renew the mandate last year, but only after a fierce debate in parliament and within some parts of the SPD.
(Reporting by Noah Barkin, Sabine Siebold, Kerstin Gehmlich, Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Richard Meares)
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Road paving in southern Afghanistan helps the living, honours the dead
By Stephanie Levitz The Canadian Press February 9, 2008
PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan - Roads are for the living but the Canadian military has begun a massive road-building project that will also honour the dead in one of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan.
The $4.5 million project to pave 6.5 kilometres of road that a local elder called the "Spine of the Panjwaii" is a two-year undertaking that will give jobs to more than 400 Afghans.
It also demonstrates the Canadian military's efforts to stabilize the region west of Kandahar city.
Years of war, roadside bombs and the punishing extremes of weather have laid siege to the main route passing through Panjwaii district, the heartland of Kandahar province and birthplace of the Taliban.
Chunks of pavement are interspersed with gravel and sand, perfect hiding spots for the dozens of IEDs - improvised explosive devices - that have been sown along the road in the last two years.
"There's not a day where we don't hear about an IED on that road or find an IED on that road," said a Canadian soldier who works with the Afghan military.
The harsh terrain makes it difficult for villagers in the district to bring their produce to market or get to work or go to the three schools that serve the population. It's especially bad in the rainy season when the sandy ground turns to mud.
"With the road, the people of Panjwaii will be able to come back, to start business again," said Haji Baran Shah, the district leader in Panjwaii.
Elders estimate that as many as 50 Afghans have died along the road in the last six months.
In the middle of January, five Afghans were killed and three were injured when a roadside bomb likely meant for a Canadian convoy hit a taxi.
"I lost my heart, my son. Who is responsible for that?," said Juma Gul, whose son Abdul Samad, 33, was among the dead. "Who will feed our family any more?"
More than 100 other Afghans are buried in cemeteries that flank a turn in the highway that winds past the major mosque in the district.
A paved road will help people reach this holy and sacred place. In the course of the road construction, walls will be built to help protect the graves.
The road will also help pay tribute to two Canadians who lost their lives.
"Just over there, we lost two guys," said Warrant Officer Nicolas Cote with the Civil Military Co-operation Team.
He was pointing to the spot where Cpl. Nicolas Raymond Beauchamp, 28, of the 5th Field Ambulance in Valcartier, Que., and Pte. Michel Levesque, 25, of Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment, were killed when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle Nov. 17. An Afghan interpreter also died and three Canadians were injured.
"That we can come back here and rebuild this spot, well, it's an important thing," Cote said.
Recent statistics released by NATO suggest the road is among the most dangerous in Afghanistan - in the 10 per cent of districts that have 12 "IED events" per month for every 10,000 inhabitants.
The Canadian International Development Agency and the military spend thousands of dollars on infrastructure projects like road building in Afghanistan. CIDA estimates its funding has helped rehabilitate 210 kilometres of road in Kandahar.
The current road-paving project is being financed by the military and only came through after Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier saw the conditions of the route himself and gave Capt. Michel Larocque, the head of the CIMIC in the area, the go-ahead.
"It wasn't just about a tactical need," said Larocque.
"It was about information operations - showing the Afghan people they can count on us to do the right things in the their area."
Though it is being welcomed by the people of Panjwaii, the road is also causing anxiety.
Threatening "night letters" have been sent to people applying for jobs along the route, warning them away from working on a project conducted by Canadians.
Fatima, 35, was hoping her two older sons would get jobs paving the road and then use the skills learned for future employment.
"Then I got this letter telling me my sons and I would be killed for working on this road," she said through an interpreter.
"But what else can we do? I need them to work because we need the money."
Local leaders have encouraged people to expose those who are sending the letters. Larocque went as far as inviting them to explain themselves to a public gathering of the community - called a shura.
Meanwhile, round-the-clock security will be provided for the road's construction, 800 metres at a time. Afghan police and military and massive search lights will be used to deter anyone from planting explosives to hold up construction.
"These kind of projects are preventing people from going to the Taliban side," said Haji Mahmoud, who is overseeing the hiring of people from Panjwaii to work on the road.
"Now they have a job to do and they won't fight."
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Ashdown blames Afghan politics for UN envoy veto
Sun Feb 10, 7:31 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - Domestic Afghan politics were behind President Hamid Karzai's veto of Paddy Ashdown as the new United Nations envoy there, the senior British diplomat said Sunday.
Ashdown said Kabul's objections to his candidacy -- and Karzai's recent criticisms of British and US military tactics -- were "almost certainly" to do with internal Afghan politics.
"President Karzai, a man whom I respect and I wish him well and I wish his government well, is a politician," the former British political party leader and international envoy to Bosnia-Hercegovina, told BBC television.
"He's lining up, hopefully, as he would see it, to win the presidential elections likely to be in 2009.
"I suppose he must have calculated that beating up on Britain -- an ex-imperial power -- beating up on the United States, was not going to do him any harm in a proud Afghanistan amongst the (ethnic) Pashtun vote."
Ashdown said he had not wanted the job when he was first approached by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in October and made it clear the role needed the active support of the Afghan government.
It was not about having the power he had in Bosnia because Afghanistan is a sovereign state, but instead concerned co-ordinating the international community, he said.
He said he had spoken to Karzai and understood the conditions were in place, until he fell out of favour.
According to a Financial Times report on February 4, Karzai and his government's fury at a secret British plan to train former Taliban militants was behind the expulsion of two senior UN and EU diplomats late last year.
The Afghan leader has also said the security situation had worsened in the volatile southern province of Helmand, despite the efforts of the 7,800 British troops who are mainly based there, prompting criticism in London.
Ashdown told the BBC that the British ambassador to Kabul had told him that "Britain is being used to get at you", prompting him to withdraw his candidacy for the post in the wider interest of bringing security to Afghanistan.
Describing Afghanistan as a "failed state", he said it was more important now to work out how to defeat the militants and most importantly, keep public opinion there on side or else face a long, more difficult task.
The former British military officer said: "I remember in Belfast in 1969 when I was a young soldier, we were welcomed by the Catholics with cups of tea and sandwiches.
"It took us a year to lose their support and 35 years to gain it back again."
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Afghanistan a favourite at Surajkund fair
By Ravi Khandelwal Surajkund (Haryana)
Feb 9 (ANI): Membership of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC has helped Afghanistan to expand its trade boundaries at the Surajkund crafts fair, on the outskirts of New Delhi.
The SAARC member countries showcased their craftwork at the fair and Afghanistan’s participation was noteworthy.
Surajkund fair was started in 1987 as a novel scheme to highlight Indian handicrafts, art and culture. Now it has become a mega-hit.
In recent years, the fair has expanded its scope by inviting craftsmen and promoters from the SAARC-member countries.
The endeavor to promote economic integration, free trade and cultural links has proved to be fruitful for war-ravaged Afghanistan.
The carpet traders of Afghanistan can now reach out to Indian clients.
Afghanistan has problems of exporting and importing. But, with the grace of God things will change soon. The Afghanistan Government is trying hard to cope with the situation. We are treated as guests by the Indian Government and we thank the Government and the people of India for that, Azeem Ahmad Azmil, a carpet trader from Afghanistan said.
Afghanistan’s first appearance at Surajkund this year also gave a chance to Indian customers to buy carpets, silver jewellery, Lapis arts and paintings.
It is believed that the expansion of trade will help Afghanistan’s craftsmen to get over the trauma and anxiety caused by the Taliban rule.
A trader of silver jewellery, gems and Lapis paintings in Kabul finds SAARC helpful in reaching out to a bigger market.
Afghanistan jewellery includes Lapis Lazuli, Tourmaline and Ruby. The Gemstone sterling silver jewellery is completely handmade which makes it unique, Tahir Mokhtar, an exhibitor from Kabul said.
For the entire duration of the fair the Afghanistan stall attracted crowds and trade inquiries from Indian buyers and traders.
The Afghans, who lived in darkness and fear for many years can now see the colors of freedom. With the help of fairs like Surajkund they can make their dreams come true.
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Afghanistan backs "bin Laden in Pakistan" charge
By Sayed Salahuddin Reuters - Sunday, February 10 10:05 am
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan said on Sunday it backed a senior U.S. official's assertion that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar were operating from neighbouring Pakistan.
Afghanistan has long said al Qaeda and Taliban leaders receive safe refuge in parts of Pakistan's lawless tribal regions, souring relations between the neighbours. But since a large tribal council last August, the two countries agreed to work more closely to fight the joint militant threat and ties have improved.
The U.S. official said Bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri and other network members were operating out of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, bordering Afghanistan.
Mullah Omar and other ousted Afghan Taliban leaders, meanwhile, were directing insurgent operations in Afghanistan from the Pakistani city of Quetta, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Pakistan has rejected the charge, but a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed it.
"We are glad that finally a high-ranking American official confirmed this matter," said spokesman Humayun Hamidzada.
"The government of Afghanistan has said for years the administration centres, havens and regrouping bases of the enemies of Afghanistan and Taliban are outside Afghanistan."
INSURGENCY RELAUNCHED
U.S.-led and Afghan troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001 after its leaders refused to hand over bin Laden in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Many militant leaders are believed to have fled to Pakistan, but Taliban rebels regrouped and relaunched their insurgency two years ago with a wave of guerrilla attacks and suicide bombs. More than 6,000 were killed in Afghanistan last year alone.
Hamidzada said the problem had to be dealt with at source.
"The government of Afghanistan in the past has repeatedly said the roots of terrorism, its original sources and bases should be dealt with," he said.
"Certainly, the war in Afghanistan should continue, but the war should be taken to the source of terrorism where it is. We are not naming any country."
The assertion by the U.S. official about the presence of militants' leaders in Pakistan comes after the killing in January of top al Qaeda commander Abul Laith al-Libi in a suspected U.S. missile attack in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan.
It also coincides with an increase of attacks, including suicide bombings, by militants in Pakistan.
A Taliban spokesman said Mullah Omar was leading the insurgency from within Afghanistan and said the U.S. official was preparing the ground for a military operation in Pakistan.
"This is false. Mullah Omar is not in Quetta but present in Afghanistan and commanding the Taliban," Qari Muhammad Yousuf told the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press.
"The claims that Mullah Omar is in Quetta or any other place are aimed at finding a pretext for conducting an operation in the concerned area."
(Editing by Alex Richardson)
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We are here not just as a moral duty
By David Miliband 11:44am GMT 10/02/2008 Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
The recurring questions about Afghanistan are simple: why are we there, and is it feasible to make progress?
During my visit to Kabul and Kandahar last week with Condoleezza Rice, an Afghan academic gave us a compelling answer: "If the international community leaves Afghanistan, within a week you will see our country tear itself apart.
"But if people begin to believe that you are here for the long term, they will have the confidence to stand up to the Taliban."
As we move into a new phase in our work in Afghanistan, his words are a reminder that we are here not just out of moral duty but national interest, and that by making long-term commitments we can make a practical difference to the country, and to our own security.
It is easy to become fatalistic when confronted with the insecurities, fears and deprivations faced by Afghans. Theirs is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 174 out of 178 in the Human Development Index. Parts of Afghanistan, such as the southern province of Helmand, have historically been ungoverned spaces. The long border with Pakistan remains contested. Afghanistan supplies 90 per cent of the world's heroin. On top of that, the Taliban's links to al-Qaeda made Afghanistan an incubator for international terrorism in the 1990s.
Despite the winter lull - it was -18C in Kabul the week before I arrived - the briefings on suicide bombings, the danger of rocket attacks, Afghan fears of kidnapping and corruption, and the continuing engagement with Taliban forces in Helmand all showed me the continued bravery and determination of our troops, aid workers and diplomats. But their bravery and determination are born of a belief that they are making a difference.
Since I last visited Afghanistan, in the summer, the Taliban offensive has been driven back. In Musa Qaleh, it was the Afghan Army that led the way back into town, and it is the Afghan Directorate of Local Governance that is coordinating efforts to rebuild the town. Two-thirds of the Afghan people have access to health care, compared with one in 10 just five years ago. The economy has trebled in size. Nearly 5.5 million Afghan children are in school, more than a third of them girls. Some five million refugees have returned home.
There is rightly a debate about troop commitments from around the world. Last week, I met soldiers from the United Kingdom and the United States, but also from the Netherlands and Croatia. Altogether, 38 countries have committed to Afghanistan. Britain has decided to maintain its commitment of 7,700 troops, but the sizeable Canadian commitment will be maintained only with greater commitment from elsewhere - and in the next few months, that needs to be secured.
However, if we are to continue to make progress, we need to move to a new phase in our work. There is no military solution to Afghanistan. The military can only provide the space for the reconstruction and development, without which progress will be temporary.
As the Prime Minister set out in December, our strategy in Afghanistan must combine the immediate military focus on fighting the Taliban with the economic development and clean government that is the best defence against insurgency.
During my visit, I was struck by four areas which could make the difference between success and failure.
advertisementFirst, in 2008 we need to see the same progress in building the Afghan police as we saw last year in the Afghan army.
The army, built from scratch, is now around 45,000-strong and heading eventually for 80,000 trained men or more. It is winning the respect of Afghan people.
But people live in fear not just from the Taliban and terrorist attack, but also from criminality. From extortion and roadside ambushes to corruption and kidnapping, the ineffectiveness of the Afghan police in enforcing the rule of law does the most corrosive damage to the trust of Afghans in their government.
The Afghan government needs to crack down on police corruption, not just to build the country but also to build confidence among the people. But the international community, particularly the European Union, can do more to provide training and mentoring. We need to increase the numbers of experts, focus on frontline policing tasks and skills beyond just supporting headquarters, and we must ensure that the different countries who provide police training do so in a coordinated and effective way.
Second, the Afghan Government must build the capacity of local as well as national institutions. Central government can feel remote from the daily concerns of Afghans. Local governance can provide a way of resolving competing interests and claims on resources in a peaceful way.
That is why the newly created Afghan Directorate of Local Governance carries such hopes, and why we are supporting the creation of almost 20,000 community development councils. With funding from national government, they plan, manage and monitor their own development projects, such as rural roads, wells and schools.
Third, Afghanistan is one of the youngest countries in the world: nearly two-thirds of its population are under 24. Some 40 per cent of Afghans are unemployed.
Providing opportunities to learn, and to make a living, is critical to preventing young people becoming radicalised or being drawn into the drug economy. That is why the Department for International Development is putting three times as much investment into Afghanistan than into countries with similar levels of national income.
Without development, there can be no long-term security. Fourth, with the fortunes of Afghanistan and Pakistan so bound together, we need the elections in Pakistan later this month to herald a deeper cooperation between two nations.
Unless there is a joint plan for addressing the Taliban, al?Qaeda and other insurgents, the two countries risk shunting the problem back and forth across the border. Both sides must put their shared interest in fighting the terrorist insurgency above historical differences.
Both the Afghan government and the international community have a mutual interest and a mutual responsibility to raise their games over the next year. In public and in private, President Karzai set out his commitment to lead progress.
For the Afghan government the responsibility is to deliver strong leadership that unites the country, roots out corruption and builds a partnership with its neighbours to promote stability. For the United Nations, Nato and the European Union, there is the responsibility to ensure the scale of our efforts matches the severity of the challenge and deliver a more coherent and comprehensive approach.
The appointment of a new, strong representative of the UN secretary general to coordinate the international effort will be an important moment in that drive.
Britain's history in Afghanistan can induce cynicism or fatalism. We have been driven out by the Afghans before. President Karzai took me last week to point out the hill on which British troops fought in the second Afghan War in the 19th century. His presidential palace is situated on the site of the British encampment. But this time we are in Afghanistan on the side of the Afghans. They are resilient people: now they are being tested again. And we can help them - in their interest and in ours.
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Australia kept in dark by NATO
February 11, 2008 Brendan Nicholson The Age
DEFENCE Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has returned from a high-level NATO meeting in Lithuania saying he was shocked to discover that Australia had sent troops to Afghanistan without being given access to key strategy documents.
He told The Age last night he was amazed when he found out NATO had prepared a comprehensive document on how the war should be fought but that Australia would not have access to it.
Mr Fitzgibbon said he was also astounded to discover that no Australian defence minister had ever attended the crucial meetings of NATO defence ministers.
Even though Australia is not one of the US-Europe military alliance's 26 members, it is fighting in Afghanistan with the International Security Assistance Force under a NATO umbrella.
"The former government was sending our kids to war on an unconditional, ask-no-questions basis. I'm amazed by that," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
He said he found it extraordinary that the previous government committed troops without access to all available information including the prospects for success in the campaign.
"It amazes me. Australian men and women are making a significant contribution of 1000 personnel, including 300 special forces. That is a high-value commitment.
"We've lost four young Australians and NATO has not reciprocated by providing us with strategy documents.
"I believe I fixed the problem. I did tell them that situation was not sustainable."
Mr Fitzgibbon was then invited to attend the high-level NATO meeting and he was promised a copy of the strategy document. He will also attend the next meeting in Budapest in April.
"We will be better informed and more involved in the process than we have been before," he said.
Mr Fitzgibbon said that while he told NATO its members should send many more troops to Afghanistan and some member nations should remove restrictions on their involvement so that they could do more of the fighting, he saw no justification for sending more Australian troops there.
He said Australia wanted a much broader approach in Afghanistan that would improve governance, train more Afghan troops and deal with heroin production.
An East Timor MP has accused Australian troops of acting in a threatening manner when they stumbled upon fugitive rebel Alfredo Reinado and a gang of his men.
Adriano Nascimento and two fellow MPs were meeting Reinado on Wednesday when International Stabilisation Force troops came across the group during a routine patrol.
The rebels fired up to eight warning shots, but no casualties were reported. In a statement issued shortly after the incident, force spokesman Brigadier-General James Baker said the soldiers did not return fire but withdrew from the area near the village of Lauala.
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Ninety Afghan frostbite victims have amputations
Sun Feb 10, 2008 4:05am EST
HERAT, Afghanistan, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Doctors said on Sunday they have amputated the fingers or toes of more than 90 frostbite victims in western Afghanistan as one of the worst winters in living memory engulfs the country.
The freezing weather has killed more than 750 people and nearly 230,000 cattle since winter set in mid-December last year. The western provinces of Herat and Badghis have been particularly badly hit.
"The victims of frostbite are increasing every day and most of them have to have their fingers or toes amputated," Dr. Barakatullah Mohammadi told Reuters at a hospital in Herat.
"The victims are men, women and children, some of them are in a critical condition," he said. Some 40 people were hospitalised on Saturday, he said, and most of them needed amputation.
Abdul Rahman had to have the toes of his left foot cut off.
"I was caught in a blizzard for seven hours before someone rescued me," he said. "There are many people in my village who are frostbitten but cannot afford to come to the hospital."
Many key roads linking outlying districts with provincial capitals have been blocked due to the heavy snowfall, hindering deliveries of supplies. The harsh winter has pushed up prices of food and fuel.
The World Food Programme last month appealed for additional food assistance for 2.55 million Afghans until the next harvest in June. (Reporting by Sharafuddin Sharafyar; Writing by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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Attack on Afghan jail leaves 1 attacker dead
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-10 14:02:24
KABUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Unknown armed men in their attempt to set free a comrade from a jail in western Herat province raided Shindand prison but fled away after facing police resistance, a local newspaper reported Sunday.
"A group of armed persons attacked a prison in Shindand district Friday night and police returned fire resultantly one attacker was killed and another sustained injuries forcing them to flee," Arman-e-Millie reported.
However, it did not identify the attackers. Often Taliban and al-Qaida make such attempt to ensure the release of their comrades.
A Taliban operative ensured his release from Kabul prison about one month ago and joined the militants in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province.
Editor: Wang Hongjiang
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Helmand’s Opium Habit Here to Stay
The government makes a strong start to its annual eradication effort in Helmand, but farmers predict the enthusiasm will be short-lived.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
By Mohammad Ilyas Dayee and Aziz Ahmad Tassal in Helmand and Jean MacKenzie in Kabul (ARR No. 283, 08-Feb-08)
One of the first signs of spring in Helmand, along with the cheerful chirping of the swallows and the first tender green shoots poking up through the mud, is the start of the anti-poppy campaign.
This year, just like last year and the year before, the government is making all the right noises. This time it is serious, this time there will be no corruption, this time it really will destroy the poppy fields without mercy.
But almost before the words had dissipated in the still-frozen air, Helmand’s farmers were trying to make deals with local law enforcement officials. The message these farmers are sending out to reporters was that it is business as usual in the world’s opium production centre. This year’s crop is safe.
The 2008 eradication campaign began at the end of January, with tractors rolling onto farms in the village of Bolan village, just two kilometres from the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
This is rich poppy-growing country – oddly enough, since most of the land in Bolan belongs to the government. Farmers have moved in here and appropriated plots of land on which they carefully tend their illegal crop.
The governor of Helmand, Assadullah Wafa, oversaw the proceedings, his face impassive, his signature karakul cap protecting his white head against the cold.
“I will not tolerate the reputation that Helmand has been given by the international community,” he said. “I am very pleased that we are taking practical steps to cut down on poppy. Last year there was fraud during the campaign, with government officials and police taking bribes. But this year we will get rid of this black mark against our name. These poppy farms will be eliminated.”
Wafa may be fighting a losing battle. Helmand is the undisputed leader in opium production, supplying almost half of the world’s raw material for heroin.
In 2007, more than 102,000 hectares were planted with poppy and according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, which released its latest survey last week, the situation is roughly the same this year.
Much of this land lies within Taleban-controlled areas, where government forces cannot patrol, let alone embark on eradication.
Wafa, who has been outspoken in his criticism of the foreign presence and its failings, placed the blame for the campaign’s limited reach squarely on the NATO forces, which he accused of not being supportive of his eradication efforts.
“I told them I was ready to carry out the [eradication] campaign in Taleban-controlled areas, if they would conduct military operations there. But they said that they wouldn’t assist us if we conducted the campaign there. They haven’t permitted us to do eradication in Musa Qala, Baghni or Baghran.”
Wafa went on to suggest that such obstructions were the reason why many people in Helmand say the eradication campaign is selective and unfair. “I understand people who say that the poppy is not eliminated fairly,” he said. “Why should poppy be eradicated in some areas and not in others?”
Helmand’s British-led Provincial Reconstruction Team, one of the joint civilian and military forces designed to bring security and development to rural Afghanistan, released a statement to put the record straight about who is responsible for what.
It said, “The poppy eradication is government-of-Afghanistan-led. There are two programmes for poppy eradication - governor-led eradication [which is] the responsibility of the governor of Helmand, and government-led eradication… co-ordinated by Kabul. The Afghan Ministry of Counter-Narcotics targets certain areas so that eradication does not hit the poor unfairly but also includes those richer opium growers with political connections.”
According to Wafa, the Afghan interior ministry had pledged to secure troops from the national army to help with the eradication campaign, while additional police should be arriving from Kabul within weeks.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, will also provide assistance, although no foreign troops will actually be involved in eradication, according to British sources.
“The ISAF forces are trying to win the hearts and minds of the population through development projects organised by the Provincial Reconstruction Teams – usually rebuilding productive assets,” said a report released last week by the World Bank and the UK’s Department for International Development.
“They certainly do not want to associate themselves with eradication of the poppy crop, which can have negative repercussions.”
Wafa complained that so far, the provincial government had found itself on its own.
“We called on the international community to assist us, but it did not do so,” he said. “So we had to begin the campaign ourselves, with our very modest resources. It is our religious obligation. I told the international community that if they wanted Helmand cleared of poppy, they should give us three million dollars. But they gave us only 20,000 dollars. That’s nothing. But even if we have to spend our own salaries, we will continue this campaign.”
Such resolve will be no comfort to those farmers whose fields were being ploughed under in Bolan.
One of them, Sakhidad, his face black with anger, watched as the tractors destroyed his crop.
“This tractor is poking a hole in my heart,” the elderly man told IWPR. “This action by the government is completely illegitimate. I swear I have nothing else - my family depends on this farm.”
Faqir Askar, the local police chief, was unmoved. He himself was astride one of the tractors, in a friendly competition with other drivers to see who could complete their work the fastest. Thick smoke poured out of exhaust pipes as the machines moved up and down the rows of young growth.
“I know people cultivate poppy because they are poor,” said Askar. “But why do they keep on with it? The government has repeatedly told them to stop growing poppy, but still they plant it. I am very pleased to be destroying their farms.”
The crowd watching the display was bitter. Most voiced the opinion that within a few days, things would get back to normal - farmers in other parts of Helmand would scrape together their money, hand a wad of cash to the local constabulary, and their fields would be left untouched. The only ones paying a high price by losing their crops were an unlucky few in Bolan, selected as the showcase.
“We weren’t even given a chance to get rid of them [officials] by bribing them,” moaned Anwar Aka, a landowner in Bolan. “Last year, too, police and government officials came and destroyed our farms, but poppy farms in other districts remained intact. Most people saved their farms by bribing police.”
Ahmad Jan, a young man shivering in the cold, was watching the destruction of his plantation.
“Are we crazy or is it the government?” he asked. “We have told the government again and again that we’ve got nothing to eat, and we are so poor. If poppy is not allowed, what are we to do?”
“Two months ago my father was about to engage my sister to an older man who already has one wife. My sister was crying, but my father was forced to do it because we are poor. I told him, ‘No, wait a bit. We will get the poppy harvest and we will manage somehow.’ But now my father will have to let this man marry my sister.”
In Afghanistan, especially in Pashtun tribal areas like Helmand, men pay a hefty bride price to marry a girl. It is not uncommon for a man to give his daughter out of financial need or to settle a debt.
Ashraf, another resident of Bolan, is in a similar predicament.
“I have been a farmer since I was born,” he told IWPR. “Never has the government helped me. When funds are given in the name of alternative livelihoods, the government just embezzles the money. The farmers get nothing. I swear I will have to sell my young daughters.”
Along with eradication, the international community has promoted alternative livelihood schemes where farmers would be encouraged and subsidised to grow other crops like wheat or cotton.
However, Ghulam Nabi, the provincial director of agriculture, told IWPR that such schemes were not the answer.
“What can we give farmers that will make them more money than poppy?’ he said. “We are not going to get them to stop poppy cultivation by giving them a sack of wheat. The only way of getting rid of poppy is to destroy their farms.”
Governor Wafa also pronounced himself a sceptic on the alternative livelihoods issue.
“There is no other way than the present campaign,” he told IWPR. “I oppose the alternative livelihood programmes the foreigners propose. What do they matter? Where are they? There are no signs of such a programme, there is just theft and looting. To tell you the truth, I have never even seen their office, nor has anyone told me about any such programme.”
The United States reportedly pours close to one billion dollars a year into a complex counternarcotics strategy aimed at revamping the country’s judicial system, as well as promoting alternative livelihood programmes.
In Helmand alone, the US invested over 100 million dollars last year to promote legal crops, while the UK contributed 20 million.
But nothing seems to be working. Between 2006 and 2007, Helmand’s poppy crop soared by close to 50 per cent, according to the UNODC.
One resident of Marja district was bitter about his experience with alternative livelihoods. He had eliminated his poppy fields and had turned to cotton, one of the crops being considered by the international community as a substitute for poppy. But the farmer, who would not give his name, said that he had learnt a bitter lesson from trusting official assurances.
“I have learned how government pledges go unfulfilled,” he spat. “The man who has pledged several times to buy our cotton for a high price is still sitting in the governor’s palace. He has never kept his promises. I bring cotton to sell, but all I get is problems. People tell me, ‘no, not today, come back tomorrow’. I have spent the whole price of my crop on transportation.”
Engineer Abdul Manan, head of the department of counter-narcotics for Helmand, told IWPR he was pleased with early progress in this year’s campaign.
“We have already eliminated 250 hectares of poppy, and, God willing, the process will continue,” he said.
Earlier, Manan had told IWPR that the eradication campaign would not force farmers into destitution.
“It’s still early - they can cultivate wheat or other crops,” he said. “We will carry out this campaign in all districts that are under government control.”
The law enforcement agencies have also pledged to get tough on poppy farmers. In addition to destroying farms, they are threatening prosecution for those who defy the law.
Police arrested 500 poppy farmers in December.
“We won’t let them go no matter how many there are,” said Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, Helmand’s police chief. “We have told them not to grow poppy, yet still they do it. We are going to punish them severely.”
But just days after the arrests, most of the farmers were back at work.
“I paid 1,000 afghani [20 US dollars] and they let me go,” said one landowner from Nawa district. “I will never stop growing poppy. The government has not fulfilled its pledges to me or to the rest of the people.”
The local population saw the wave of arrests as just another indication of the government’s fickle approach to counternarcotics.
Many, like Daad Muhammad, a resident of Hazarjuft village in Garmseer, complain that the government’s counter-narcotics effort is inconsistent, biased and corrupt.
“The government is not consistent in what it is doing,” Daad Muhammad told IWPR. “We see that some people collect money and bribe the authorities in one village, so the police then go and arrest people or eradicate crops in some destitute place where there’s no money to bribe them. That just further inflames people’s emotions. If the government would reconstruct our canals and streams, if they would provide us with seeds and fertilisers, we would never grow poppy again.”
Another farmer seemed happy enough to pay off officials and be left alone.
“We really don’t pay any attention to the government,” said this man who did not want to give his name. “We just pay 10,000 afghani [200 US dollars] and they leave our village alone. The government can’t imprison people - they can’t even feed those criminals they have caught. What would they do with these farmers?
“The government is only serious for a few days. Then everything is alright and there’s nothing to worry about.”
A young civil servant delivered a damning verdict on the eradication effort, saying, “The government will achieve nothing with this campaign. It just makes people hate the authorities. Eradicating and prohibiting poppy cultivation is impossible in Helmand.”
The civil servant, who did not want to be named, said the problem of how to end opium production required an international solution and would take years.
“It isn’t going to help if they put me in jail today and you in jail tomorrow,” he said. “People in districts that are not under government control have to cooperate with the Taleban, even if they feel loyal to the government. Eradicating poppy will create a lot of problems - it will just drive people towards the Taleban, and result in the expansion of the conflict.”
Mohammad Ilyas Dayee and Aziz Ahmad Tassal are IWPR staff reporters in Helmand. Jean MacKenzie is IWPR’s Afghanistan Programme Director.
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U.S. seeks Turkey's help in Afghanistan
Feb. 10, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Print story Email to a friend Font size:KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The United States has reportedly asked Turkey to send combat troops to fight Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Afghanistan.
Turkish troops deployed in Afghanistan can only use their weapons if fired upon or threatened. However, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has written a letter to Turkish officials asking them to either send fighting troops or redefine its military role in Afghanistan to be more proactive, the New Anatolian and Ankara reported Sunday.
The New Anatolian cited observers saying U.S. officials want Turkey to reciprocate in Afghanistan for U.S. support in Turkey's ongoing battle against Kurds in northern Iraq.
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An election call over Afghanistan? Bring it on
Feb 10, 2008 04:30 AM Thomas Walkom Toronto Star, Canada
Stéphane Dion's Liberals wanted to avoid an election focused on Afghanistan. They will not get that chance.
The resolution tabled in the Commons two days ago by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's governing Conservatives is blunt and to the point. Subject to conditions that now seem likely to be met, it calls for Canadians troops to stay on fighting in Kandahar until at least the end of 2011.
It essentially says that those who don't support the government are sissies. And it dares the opposition to defy it.
Desperate Liberals insist there is room for compromise. "Is it in the national interest for us to plunge the country into a bitter election on an issue where I think Canadians desperately, right across the partisan divide, want us to pull together?" deputy leader Michael Ignatieff asked on Friday.
What Ignatieff really meant is that he fears his party might lose if Afghanistan becomes an election issue.
And indeed it might, particularly if Dion, Ignatieff and foreign affairs critic Bob Rae continue to send conflicting signals as to what a Liberal government would do.
But no matter how much this resolution is parsed, there is no room for political compromise. Canadian troops will either continue fighting on in Kandahar past February 2009, as Harper demands, or they will not.
The Liberals can shift ground again, thereby cementing in the public mind the image of Dion as indecisive. Or they can take Harper on.
In that sense, it becomes immaterial how the opposition parties end up bringing the government down. The Liberals might prefer to defeat Harper's budget before the Afghan resolution comes to a vote at the end of March. But if they think they can finesse the war this way, they are almost certainly wrong.
Unless the Canadian economy begins to deteriorate more quickly than most analysts predict, budget issues will have to share top billing with Kandahar in a spring election.
And why not? John Manley, the former Liberal foreign minister whose advisory report has become Harper's touchstone on Afghanistan, argues that the war is too important to become an election issue. That's a tried and true elitist position. But when else will we get a chance to pronounce on what is surely the most important foreign adventure the country has been involved in since Korea?
Certainly, there are clear choices. The Conservatives and Liberals are essentially happy with the current NATO strategy for dealing with the Taliban insurgency. But Harper would have Canadians troops stay in Kandahar for almost four more years while Dion insists that they be sent next year to a different part of the country in largely non-combat roles.
Jack Layton's New Democrats have adopted a more fundamental critique. They argue that the entire NATO counter-insurgency strategy is wrong-headed and that Canada should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan until it can persuade the United Nations to recast its intervention along political lines rather than military lines.
So bring on the election. The Conservatives are attempting to paint their opponents as either unpatriotic or weak-kneed. The opposition is trying to portray the government as war-happy. This is the usual barroom rhetoric.
In fact, no major party is arguing, in the words of the resolution, that "Canada should simply abandon the people of Afghanistan." Conversely, none is calling for perpetual war. Rather, all are proposing very different ways for dealing with something we never asked to be part of.
Let's hear what the politicians have to say. Let's decide. Let's get on with it.
Thomas Walkom's column appears Thursday and Sunday.
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Growing strength of Afghan forces sign of success in Afghanistan: commander
The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Statistics and reports suggesting rising violence and the failure of coalition efforts in Afghanistan don't match with the impact of Canada's efforts in Kandahar, says the commander of overseas military operations.
Though the "finish line" is still far away, success in those areas of the volatile southern province where Canadian troops are working is obvious, said Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier, the commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command during an interview on his 20th trip to the country.
More Afghan National Army soldiers are on the ground, the Afghan National police is growing stronger by the day and direct attacks by insurgents are down, Gauthier said.
"We've geographically expanded the security bubble in which we can operate and in which Afghans can live, we've had a serious disruptive effect on the insurgency and we're seeing the results of that," Gauthier said.
"Yes, they're having limited success with IEDs, that's the only thing they can succeed with right now. They can't succeed with attacks on us or attacks on the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police we're working with. That's all positive."
According to statistics released last week by NATO, incidents involving attacks from improvised explosive devices were up 65 per cent in 2007 over 2006, and they predicted more of the same for the coming year.
Even the new leader of Regional Command South, Canadian Maj.-Gen. Marc Lessard, admitted when he took over his post that incidents in the six southern provinces were up 50 per cent.
A number of high-profile reports by the U.S. government and international think tanks have also all suggested the insurgency is regaining the upper hand as NATO efforts falter.
But Gauthier said how he measures success is looking at the select few districts where Canadian forces are at work in Kandahar province.
"You can only do so much with the troops that you have, you've gotta make those tough decisions," Gauthier said.
"You've got to take Kandahar and bite if off one bite at a time and that's effectively what we've done here."
The bubble of Canadian operations in Kandahar has shrunk over recent months.
Where troops used to be scattered throughout the area, they now concentrate mostly on a handful of districts - Zhari, Panjwai, Spin Boldak, Sha Wali Kot and the Arghandab.
In those areas, development dollars are flowing and people are moving back home, though security is still a threat.
Among other things, the fact that the roads are not secure is still holding up the arrival of a turbine that would bring electricity to the people of Kandahar city, who have been sitting in the dark for the last two months.
But in other areas of the province, like Maywand and even some villages in the Panjwaii, the insurgents remain an active threat.
"You have got to make decisions about where you are going to apply your effort so what do you do?," Gauthier said of the decision by Canadian forces to focus only in a few districts.
"Manley panel, bring another battalion to Kandahar, good. Marines coming in, good, but in the meantime we focus."
Canada's current commitment in Afghanistan is set to expire in one year, but the Conservative government tabled a motion on Friday proposing an extension until 2011, provided NATO countries supplied an additional 1,000 troops for Afghanistan.
Over 3,000 American soldiers are also expected to arrive in the coming months to join the international coalition's work in Kandahar.
Military officials often cite the increased use of IEDs as a sign of a weakened insurgency but the non-stop use of the improvised bombs over the traditionally quiet winter months has produced discomfort among soldiers and commanders alike.
Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, the commander of the current rotation of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, acknowledged recently that the pace of operations hasn't changed much in the field since the summer months.
It will be spring again before the real sign of how well things are improving in Kandahar becomes clear, said Gauthier.
That's when the fighting season will begin anew.
"The measure of success will be where we'll be in May to September as compared to where we were last year," he said.
"And I am confident that we will be better off, the security situation will have improved in those areas."
Gauthier says improvement year over year has been the case since troops first hit the ground in Kandahar in February 2006.
Each fighting season has been stronger than the last, he said.
Gauthier attributes that almost completely to the growing strength of the Afghan National Army and police, both able to hold ground that six months ago was easily swallowed up by insurgent forces.
"There is a finish line somewhere down the road and with what has been accomplished over the last six months we are moving towards that finish line," he said.
"We are."
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Learning to Fight a War
Washington Post, United States By David Ignatius Sunday, February 10, 2008
Traveling in Iraq and Afghanistan in late January, I kept encountering two themes that cut across the usual U.S. political debate about these conflicts: The hard-nosed operations of U.S. Special Forces are increasingly effective, and so are the soft-power tactics of provincial reconstruction teams.
The debate over troop numbers may be missing the point. What's making the real difference isn't how many Americans are on the ground but how they are being used. That's true at both ends of the spectrum -- hard power and soft. And, as commanders learn to use these tools of counterinsurgency effectively, they may also be able to operate with fewer people and a lighter footprint.
Let's start with the Special Forces: U.S. commanders say they are having increasing success targeting al-Qaeda operatives and sectarian militias in Iraq. "We're killing a lot of people" is how one top officer bluntly puts it. Senior commanders describe an enemy who is on the run and can't plan operations easily. But the recent suicide bombings in Baghdad were a reminder that this is still a very potent enemy, even when hobbled.
The Special Forces' success reflects better coordination of intelligence and combat operations. In Iraq, that includes new information from Sunni tribal fighters who were once allies of al-Qaeda but have flipped. In the Rusafa district of Baghdad, to take one example, I heard about a former insurgent named Adil Mashadani, who is now fighting alongside U.S. troops. Thanks partly to this cooperation, 11 of 13 al-Qaeda targets in the district have been captured or killed since November.
The Special Forces are also using some new techniques in tracking and targeting. Commanders won't talk about these new methods except in generalities, but one area of intelligence that's visible to everyone is the collection of biometric data. At a border post on the Iraq-Iran frontier, I saw an Iranian putting a finger to an electronic fingerprint device. At the Torkham Gate crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. officers told me they are monitoring Taliban insurgents using new systems known as BATs (for biometric automated toolset) and HIIDEs (for handheld interagency identity detection).
These intelligence tools are shifting the balance of fear -- making it more dangerous to join al-Qaeda, stay in its safe houses or meet with its operatives.
Special Forces are also bolstering the still shaky Iraqi military as it takes control of provinces in southern Iraq. When 12-man "A-teams" are embedded with local forces, there's often a striking improvement in performance, U.S. officers say. Indeed, there is more demand for these teams than the Special Operations Command is able to meet. The problem, commanders say, is that it takes a long time to train Special Forces warriors. But this is where a surge really would make a difference.
At the opposite end of the military balance are the civil affairs efforts of the provincial reconstruction teams. After a slow start, they are beginning to get some traction. Some examples: In the Rusafa district, I talked with shopkeepers who are reopening their businesses thanks to small loans of up to $5,000 distributed by the local PRT. In Wasit province south of Baghdad, PRT members are working on development projects in the poor marsh areas. In Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the PRT is planning irrigation and power generation projects with the local governor and provincial council.
The enthusiasm of the PRT leaders is infectious. Wade Weems, the PRT leader in Wasit, left a job with the Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly to return to Iraq, where he had served as a Marine. He missed the challenges and satisfactions of Iraq. Shawn Waddoups, a member of the PRT in Jalalabad, says no other job in the State Department would offer him the same freedom or emotional reward.
In describing these successful counterinsurgency efforts, I don't mean to say that everything is rosy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Far from it. Last weekend's suicide bombings shattered the calm of the Rusafa neighborhood that had seemed so secure when I walked the streets a week before. Security in Iraq and Afghanistan is fragile, and chaos is only a car bomb away.
As America looks to 2009 and beyond, it should consider that Iraq and Afghanistan aren't all-or-nothing propositions. The United States is developing unconventional tools for unconventional wars. With this mix of hard and soft power, perhaps there is a way to stabilize these broken societies without the high human and economic cost -- and political backlash -- of a long-term U.S. military occupation.
The writer is co-host ofPostGlobal, an online discussion of international issues. His e-mail address isdavidignatius@washpost.com.
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U.S. transfers 20 more prisoners to Afghan custody
Sun Feb 10, 8:23 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military has handed over a group of 20 suspected Taliban fighters to Afghan custody under a program to transfer all Afghan prisoners from U.S. detention, the Afghan Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
The prisoners were transferred from Bagram detention centre, the hub of U.S.-led military operation to the north of Kabul, and will be kept in Pul-i-Charkhi prison on the outskirts of the capital, it said.
"These prisoners ... were actively involved in terrorist ... operations against government forces and international troops," it said in a statement referring to the foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan under the command of the U.S. military and NATO.
Saturday's transfer was the 15th round of its kind since last year when the U.S. military agreed to hand over all suspected Taliban prisoners after repeated Afghan government requests.
Under the deal, all Afghan detainees kept at the U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo Bay jail in Cuba, will be also transferred to Afghan custody.
The ministry did not say how many Afghan prisoners have been handed over so far and how many are still held in Guantanamo Bay, Bagram and other U.S. detention centers in Afghanistan.
The U.S. military has arrested thousands of suspected Taliban and al Qaeda militants since invading Afghanistan in 2001 and helping topple the Taliban government.
It has released several hundred detainees from Guantanamo Bay and its facilities in Afghanistan since, but an unknown number are still held.
Taliban prisoners have staged at least two revolts in Pul-i-Charkhi before it was refurbished and in the past have complained of being badly treated. Several have managed to escape.
Transferred inmates are set to be tried by a joint Afghan commission. Those acquitted will be freed, according to Afghan officials.
Human rights groups have criticized the U.S. government for holding suspected Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners indefinitely and without trial. Many former prisoners have complained of ill treatment.
(Writing by Sayed Salahuddin, editing by Matthew Jones)
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Afghan President condemns suicide attack in Pakistan
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-10 20:48:00
Special report: Pakistani Situation
KABUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday put the suicide attack on terrorists that left over two dozens people dead in Pakistan and strongly condemned it.
"Terrorists once again by shedding the blood of the innocent who gather for a peaceful rally showed their enmity against the rightful aspirations of the people," a statement released by Afghan Presidential palace said.
According to local reports, a suicide bomber blew himself up ata campaign rally attended by hundreds in Charsadda district, NorthWest Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan Saturday, killing at least 27 persons and injuring more than 50 others.
In the statement, the Afghan leader on behalf of Afghans also expressed sympathy with the families of the victims and the government of Pakistan.
Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have been suffering from militancy and terrorist attacks over the past couple of years as Taliban militants and al-Qaida operatives have been fighting both the neighboring states since the fall of Taliban regime in late 2001.
Editor: An Lu
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