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Karzai under foreigners' influence: Afghan paper
By Sayed Salahuddin Sat Feb 16, 8:57 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - President Hamid Karzai is under the influence of foreign powers and troops led by NATO and the U.S. must set a firm date for their departure from Afghanistan, a government-run daily newspaper said on Saturday.
Expelled EU diplomat defends Taliban dialogue: report
Sat Feb 16, 12:47 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - An Irish diplomat who was expelled from Afghanistan for talking to Taliban-linked insurgents defended his actions Saturday, insisting that dialogue could persuade militants to abandon violence.
Canadian military probe launched after Afghan civilian claims injury
By The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The military has launched an investigation into allegations an Afghan civilian was injured early today after a shot was fired by Canadian soldiers.
Iran sends humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
Kabul, Feb 16, IRNA
Iran's embassy in Kabul issued a statement on Saturday to declare that the Islamic Republic of Iran has dispatched humanitarian aid for Afghan people who suffer from freezing cold weather.
Afghan convoy shooting incident triggers probe
Sat. Feb. 16 2008 11:53 AM ET The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The military has launched an investigation into allegations an Afghan civilian was injured Saturday after a shot was fired by Canadian soldiers.
Afghan president leaves for annual U.S.-Islamic world forum in Doha
People's Daily - Feb 16 1:45 AM
Afghan President Hamid Karzai left the Afghan capital Kabul Saturday morning for the fifth annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum, scheduled for Feb. 16-18 in Qatar's capital Doha, said a statement of the Afghan presidential palace released in Kabul.
MoD betrayed troops in Afghanistan, says coroner
Guardian Unlimited, UK
An Oxford coroner criticised the Ministry of Defence yesterday, accusing it of betraying soldiers' trust by sending troops to Afghanistan without basic equipment.
Fear and Resolve in Kabul
Growing Sense of Insecurity Afflicts Afghans and Foreigners Alike
By Pamela Constable Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, February 16, 2008; Page A13
KABUL, Feb. 15 -- With its fortress-like outer walls and posh interior, its sumptuous brunches and post-sauna massages, the Kabul Serena Hotel was a symbol of both progress and privilege -- a haven for foreign visitors in a harsh
Afghanistan: Analysts Mixed On Pakistani Elections' Impact On Regional Security
By Abubakar Siddique RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Czech Republic
There are no signs of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgency abating along the Afghan-Pakistani border. If anything, the run-up to Pakistan's parliamentary vote has seen rising violence in the tribal regions, with scores killed in attacks in the last week alone.
Afghanistan establishes Disease Early Warning System
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-16 22:00:58
KABUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan has established Disease Early Warning System (DEWS) to further improve the country's health sector, said a statement of Afghan Public Health Ministry released here Saturday.
Afghan gov't forces launch clean operation in western province
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-16 17:42:35
KABUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces launched an operation against Taliban insurgents and associated militants in the country's western Farah province on Saturday, said a statement of the Interior Ministry.
Commerce Ministry disallows flour export to Afghanistan
Daily Times, Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Commerce on Friday disallowed wheat flour exports through private sector to Afghanistan and has notified that wheat flour quantity up to maximum 0.6 million tonnes would be exported to Afghanistan
Not in my worst nightmares ...
LEWIS MACKENZIE - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail February 13, 2008
Imagine, in a close election, the Liberal Party led by Stéphane Dion regains power with a slim plurality. Within 24 hours, Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier is issued new Rules of Engagement (ROE) for the Canadian Forces
$192m pledged to Afghan education sector
Mustafa Basharat - Feb 13, 2008 - 19:57
KABUL (PAN): Education Minister Muhammad Hanif Atmar said on Wednesday 11 donor countries and global agencies had pledged $192 million to Afghanistan for the development of its education sector.
Karzai under foreigners' influence: Afghan paper
By Sayed Salahuddin Sat Feb 16, 8:57 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - President Hamid Karzai is under the influence of foreign powers and troops led by NATO and the U.S. must set a firm date for their departure from Afghanistan, a government-run daily newspaper said on Saturday.
The remarks are the first of their kind in an Afghan paper about Karzai and foreign troops in Afghanistan, where there is frustration over growing insecurity and rampant corruption.
"...It should be said that the Afghan nation reacts seriously, despite its difficulties, when the national interests of their country are exposed to foreign danger and have never accepted and nor will accept a protege government," Anis said.
"If the world does not pay attention to this matter, soon the fire of Afghanistan will burn the region and a situation will emerge that will be unimaginable for anyone."
Karzai has been running Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces and allied Afghan factions overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. The 51-year-old won the presidential election in 2004 but is under pressure because of a steady increase in violence and the weakness of his government.
Anis said Karzai's government was a protectorate and the nation must discuss the issue of national sovereignty with "the foreigners" before next year's presidential election.
"For the appointment of each high-ranking employee, Mr. Karzai has to propose individuals and then (announce their appointment) after the approval of foreigners," Anis said.
The paper did not elaborate further and did not identify the foreigners. Britain and the United States are the key players in Afghanistan which has been ravaged by decades of foreign intervention and civil war.
Karzai's press office said the president was on an official trip to the Gulf and it could not comment on the Anis report.
AUTHORITY UNDERMINED
The government expelled two British nationals who worked as senior employees for the U.N. and EU in December because it said their activities were undermining its authority. Last month Karzai rejected the appointment of British politician Paddy Ashdown as the U.N.'s special envoy to Afghanistan.
The Afghan defense ministry said recently it wanted to take over from the U.S. military and NATO as the leading force in the war against Taliban insurgents.
Afghanistan's army relies on Western powers for arms and funding. More than 50,000 foreign troops under the command of NATO and the U.S. military are stationed in Afghanistan.
Karzai has repeatedly urged Western allies to provide more funds and resources to the Afghan security forces, rather than send more troops.
Anis said the training and equipping of Afghan forces had been very slow since the Taliban's removal and this should not be used as an excuse for foreign troops to remain.
"...The long-term presence of foreign military troops in Afghanistan with the justification 'that the Afghan government's military forces are not able to defend the government's authority', is in no way defensible," it said.
"These forces should come up with a precise projection about the continuation of their presence in Afghanistan so that society and the government know when to complete the priorities of government-building."
(Editing by Robert Woodward)
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Expelled EU diplomat defends Taliban dialogue: report
Sat Feb 16, 12:47 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - An Irish diplomat who was expelled from Afghanistan for talking to Taliban-linked insurgents defended his actions Saturday, insisting that dialogue could persuade militants to abandon violence.
"There is a critical difference between what is discreet and what is covert," Michael Semple, who was the second most senior European Union official in Afghanistan, told British newspaper The Guardian in an interview.
"What we were doing was simply discreet because that was what was required. But it was totally in line with official policy to bring people in from the cold."
Semple was expelled late last year with Briton Mervyn Patterson, a UN political adviser, for threatening national security by contacting the Taliban in the volatile southern province of Helmand.
A February 4 Financial Times report from Kabul said discovery of the contact -- and a secret British plan to train former Taliban fighters who wanted to switch sides -- had worsened relations between Kabul and London.
Britain has denied being "engaged" with the Taliban and Semple told The Guardian that they had not opened any such channel with Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban.
"We were victims of local politics initially and being seen to take on the foreigners -- in this case us -- is seen as very popular in many places in Afghanistan," he added.
A local political leader feared for his power base if ex-Taliban and former insurgents were brought into the peace process led by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said Semple.
But he said he firmly believed that "with good management you could break two-thirds of the insurgents away from" what he called "those irreconcilables" -- hardline militants totally against any accommodation with coalition forces.
"There are many people who served with the Taliban regime who are now well-placed inside the Karzai regime or else are pillars of Afghan society," he added, drawing parallels with efforts to engage Sunni insurgents in Iraq.
"Our mandate was to support the government's reconciliation process -- that's what we were doing in Helmand before Christmas. There is no purely military solution to the current insurgency.
"There isn't a serious actor in Afghanistan who says the only way forward is to fight your way out."
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Canadian military probe launched after Afghan civilian claims injury
By The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The military has launched an investigation into allegations an Afghan civilian was injured early today after a shot was fired by Canadian soldiers.
The incident happened after a car came too close to a convoy leaving the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team base.
Soldiers had warned the car to stop and fired a warning shot.
No one was reported injured at the scene, but hours later Canadians were informed by Afghan forces that a bystander claimed to have been hurt.
Coalition troops run regular advertising campaigns aimed at keeping Afghans away from military vehicles.
Last week, a passenger in a car that failed to stop for a convoy was injured after Canadian troops opened fire.
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Iran sends humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
Kabul, Feb 16, IRNA
Iran's embassy in Kabul issued a statement on Saturday to declare that the Islamic Republic of Iran has dispatched humanitarian aid for Afghan people who suffer from freezing cold weather.
The statement read that the relief aid consisted of six load-full trucks of fuel, rice, blankets and tents which were sent to the victims of cold weather.
The relief aid was dispatched upon the request of Afghan government from international organizations.
Heavy snow and freezing cold weather in the past two months claimed lives of 900 people and 316,000 heads of tamed animals and even destroyed 1000 residential houses.
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Afghan convoy shooting incident triggers probe
Sat. Feb. 16 2008 11:53 AM ET The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The military has launched an investigation into allegations an Afghan civilian was injured Saturday after a shot was fired by Canadian soldiers.
The incident happened after a car came too close to a convoy leaving the Kandahar Provinicial Reconstruction Team base early in the morning.
The military said soldiers vocally warned the car to stop and fired a warning shot.
The vehicle came to a halt and a military spokesman said soldiers assessed the scene.
"Nobody was injured at that time,'' said Capt. Sylvain Chalifour.
Later Saturday, Afghan police informed the Canadian authorities that a bystander at the scene was claiming he had been injured.
Chalifour said the military was investigating the allegations.
Coalition troops run regular advertising campaigns aimed at keeping Afghans away from military vehicles.
Military convoys also carry big red warning signs with images and writing warning people to stay back.
It's the second time in the last week that a convoy from the PRT base has been involved in a shooting incident.
Last week, Canadian soldiers fired at the vehicle itself and a passenger in the car was injured.
An investigation was launched into that incident, as well as one in January.
Bystanders alleged at that time they were inured after Canadian soldiers fired on a car that refused to stop for a convoy.
Chalifour said the military is doing all it can to prevent these kinds of incidents.
"We definitely take proactive action to ensure that these type of incidents don't happen,'' he said.
"But you have to understand that we are constantly on the roads.''
Kandahar city is a major throughway for military convoys leaving the main base and travelling through the province.
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Afghan president leaves for annual U.S.-Islamic world forum in Doha
People's Daily - Feb 16 1:45 AM
Afghan President Hamid Karzai left the Afghan capital Kabul Saturday morning for the fifth annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum, scheduled for Feb. 16-18 in Qatar's capital Doha, said a statement of the Afghan presidential palace released in Kabul.
During his stay to Doha, Karzai would hold talks with Qatari leaders and exchange views on matters pertaining mutual interests including enhancing bilateral ties, it added, however giving no more information.
The conference, a designed gathering of key leaders in fields of politics, business, media, academia, and civil society from across the Muslim world and the United States, seeks to address the critical issues dividing the United States and the Muslim world, according to the forum's official website.
Source:Xinhua
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MoD betrayed troops in Afghanistan, says coroner
Guardian Unlimited, UK
An Oxford coroner criticised the Ministry of Defence yesterday, accusing it of betraying soldiers' trust by sending troops to Afghanistan without basic equipment.
Andrew Walker castigated the MoD at the end of an inquest into the death of Captain James Philippson, 29, who was killed in June 2006 during a gunbattle with the Taliban in which British troops were described as "totally outgunned".
An army board of inquiry into Philippson's death concluded that British soldiers deployed to southern Afghanistan were ill-prepared, badly-led, under-manned, and lacked "mission essential" equipment because of "political machinations" by ministers.
The board described the operation in which Philippson was killed as an "ill-prepared rush".
Had his unit been given more essential equipment, notably night-vision goggles and light machine guns, "then it is less likely that Captain Philippson would have been killed," the board said.
The Royal Artillery officer died from a single gunshot wound in the head as his patrol was ordered to recover an unmanned aerial vehicle near their base at Sangin in Helmand province.
"They [the soldiers] were defeated not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment," Walker said, after recording a narrative verdict in which he said Philippson was unlawfully killed.
He added: "To send soldiers into a combat zone without basic equipment is unforgivable, inexcusable, and a breach of trust between the soldiers and those who govern them."
The Oxford inquest heard that before Philippson's death soldiers complained repeatedly about a lack of proper equipment - mainly standard night vision kits and weapons.
The coroner asked Major Johnny Bristow, Philippson's commanding officer, whether the men would have been a match for their attackers had they been supplied with Minimi light machine guns and under-slung grenade launchers. "It would have made a hell of a difference," he said. Bristow said there were three or four night vision kits between as many as 30 men.
Anthony Philippson, the dead captain's father, said after the inquest: "I do hold the MoD responsible for James's death but it is not just the MoD, it goes much deeper than that. The Treasury and the then chancellor, Gordon Brown, will be really to blame for what happened. The MoD was starved of cash by the chancellor."
The board of inquiry's report said: "The MoD and the Treasury were unwilling to commit funds to urgent operational requirements enhancements prior to any formal political announcement."
It adds: "As a result many key items of equipment arrived in theatre late and some even failed to meet the deployment at all."
Troops were short not only of night-vision goggles but also of armoured vehicles, heavy machine guns, ballistic matting to add protection to Land Rovers, and body armour.
The board did not shy away from pointing the finger directly at ministers. "Critically," it said, "the secretary of state, [then John Reid] had delayed announcing the Helmand deployment because he wanted to ensure that the campaign could be won, that the 3,150 manning cap was not exceeded, and that Britain's Nato allies were also contributing." The board's report continues: "The immediate consequence was that the two-month delay effectively froze the [urgent operational requirement] process and resulted in the [Helmand Task Force] deploying without much of the mission essential equipment that it had requested."
It says that many soldiers in Philippson's unit were surprised to discover themselves fighting alongside the Afghan national army as they had been led to assume that they had been deployed only in a training role.
The MoD said last night: "It was deeply regrettable that a failure to follow the correct staff procedures between a requesting unit and Headquarters Helmand Task Force resulted in a 25-day delay in providing night-vision goggles for [Philippson's unit]." It said the goggles were now standard issue for infantry in such operations.
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Fear and Resolve in Kabul
Growing Sense of Insecurity Afflicts Afghans and Foreigners Alike
By Pamela Constable Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, February 16, 2008; Page A13
KABUL, Feb. 15 -- With its fortress-like outer walls and posh interior, its sumptuous brunches and post-sauna massages, the Kabul Serena Hotel was a symbol of both progress and privilege -- a haven for foreign visitors in a harsh, unfamiliar environment and an inaccessible tower for most poor Afghans.
Today, a month after a team of suicide bombers penetrated the Serena, killing seven people, the five-star hotel has become a symbol of something else: the deepening perception of lawlessness and insecurity in and beyond the capital that both Afghans and expatriates say has left them more fearful than at any time since the overthrow of Taliban rule in 2001.
Several restaurants catering to Western aid workers, diplomats and others have been closed or sold, while those that remain open are mostly empty, nearly all embassies and international agencies having placed their non-Afghan employees under lockdown orders since the Serena attack.
Security barricades and roadblocks have been erected throughout the capital, further shielding government and international compounds but also angering the public as traffic jams thicken and traditional sidewalk bazaars, where thousands of poor Afghans buy and sell used clothing and cheap supplies, are pushed out of the city center.
Business owners, trying to fend off panic, have taken extraordinary security measures, hiring teams of commando-trained guards and installing multiple barriers. The owners of one artsy bistro, the Kabul Cafe, dragged a massive shipping container across its front gate, through which guests must now pass en route to the cappuccino bar and WiFi zone.
"This is a war, and we cannot give in, or they will have won," said Sher Dil Qaderi, who returned from two decades abroad to open the cafe. "Everyone is trying to sell, but I refuse to leave. These criminals and terrorists want to stop investment and scare foreigners into leaving," he added. "We have to prove we are not scared."
Afghanistan has been facing a violent rural insurgency by revived Taliban forces for the past two years, but the recent increase in suicide bombings in the capital, coupled with a sharp rise in organized crime and the deteriorating security and political situation in next-door Pakistan, has left people here feeling almost as vulnerable as they did during the civil war of the early 1990s.
Private investment, which had gradually climbed to about $1 billion by 2006, has now plummeted to half that level, according to the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency. The organization cited lack of security and crime as the major reasons for the drop, followed by corruption and bureaucratic obstacles.
In addition to foreigners, Afghans in the capital are also coming under threat, especially those associated with international groups. Employees of foreign aid organizations or news agencies have received warnings to quit. Last week, several such Afghans who previously had been willing to be identified asked not to be named now. Others said they had sent their families to Pakistan as a safety precaution.
Wealthy Afghan businessmen have also been targeted in a rash of kidnappings for ransom. Often the perpetrators are armed men in security uniforms, who hustle victims into sport-utility vehicles with no license plates. In most cases no one is arrested, but Kabul residents talk knowingly of a network of mafia bosses, former anti-Soviet militia commanders and corrupt security officials behind the rise of criminal gangs.
"We are all afraid now," said one Afghan who works for an international agency. "I have lived here all my life, and now for the first time I am thinking of sending my children out of the country. I have seen a lot of war and violence, and I don't want them to experience that."
People here complain bitterly that a culture of impunity prevents the government from moving against powerful thugs with private armies and international connections, even as it has cracked down on the booming but poorly regulated private security industry, suspending licenses and confiscating weapons.
In one highly publicized incident last month, a former militia leader, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, allegedly broke into the Kabul residence of a former aide while drunk and brutally assaulted the man and his family. Police surrounded Dostum's home but were later called off after the ethnic Uzbek strongman, a key figure in the power-sharing negotiations that established the U.N.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai in 2002, reportedly complained to friendly diplomats.
Karzai, in an interview last week in his heavily guarded palace, expressed anger and frustration at the ability of well-connected criminals to defy the law. "This culture of impunity has to stop," he said. "I can live with undue influence, because it is part of this arrangement we have. But we cannot tolerate and protect criminals, or the whole arrangement will lose its moral existence. We are running out of options."
The president also expressed chagrin at the Serena attack, saying it could easily have been prevented if local security forces had been doing a better job. "It was entirely our fault. We were too relaxed," he said.
Several local businessmen praised the national intelligence police for their recent efforts to prevent further attacks, and agents with walkie-talkies are now a constant presence on the streets of the capital.
Karzai asserted, however, that the hotel bombing was an isolated, high-profile incident that did not accurately reflect the security situation across the country. He took issue with descriptions of Afghanistan as losing the battle with insurgents and drug traffickers, noting that a recent delegation from rural Paktia province, once plagued by the Taliban, had asked him for better roads and a new university, not protection.
U.N. officials here echoed Karzai's assessment. They said that despite the perception of rising danger, the actual number of violent incidents had remained steady over the past 18 months.
"Security has not deteriorated to the level some might think," said Dan McNaughton, spokesman for the U.N. assistance mission. "The Serena was a symbol, but nothing has really changed." Even if U.N. workers must forgo nights on the town during this period of higher alert, he added, "we are still providing aid and services and maintaining our commitment to Afghanistan. We are not here to go to parties."
Outside the capital, attacks by insurgents have continued despite the unusually harsh winter. The governor of the southern province of Kandahar narrowly survived a roadside bomb attack Monday, and an American woman who worked for a rural assistance agency in Kandahar was kidnapped outside her compound last month. There has been no news of her whereabouts or the identity of her abductors.
Afghans are also worried by recent developments beyond their borders. One is a dispute among NATO members, who have about 40,000 troops operating in Afghanistan. The United States and Britain, which provide the bulk of combat troops, want other members to contribute more to the fight against Taliban insurgents, but some are resisting for legal, political or financial reasons.
Another source of concern is the tense situation in Pakistan, where radical Islamic militias have been wreaking havoc during the run-up to parliamentary elections Monday. The assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto after a rally Dec. 27 has been followed by suicide bombings, kidnappings and threats of further violence at the polls.
In Kabul, there is now a palpable fear that another bomb may explode or another victim may be snatched off the street. The Serena Hotel has reopened, but it is surrounded by more guards, more barricades and a wide police cordon, all sapping the once-teeming area of its spirit.
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Afghanistan: Analysts Mixed On Pakistani Elections' Impact On Regional Security
By Abubakar Siddique RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Czech Republic
There are no signs of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgency abating along the Afghan-Pakistani border. If anything, the run-up to Pakistan's parliamentary vote has seen rising violence in the tribal regions, with scores killed in attacks in the last week alone.
That's a big concern across the border in Afghanistan, where some worry that flawed elections in Pakistan on February 18 might exacerbate a security situation already on razor's edge.
Publicly, the Taliban in Pakistan has announced a preelection cease-fire with the military. Yet a roadside bombing on February 13 killed two people and injured many more in the restive Swat district in northwest Pakistan. In the last week alone, at least 24 people have been killed in attacks.
But will the parliamentary elections make security better or worse?
Larry Robinson, a former U.S. diplomat in Islamabad, is a Washington-based South Asia analyst. He tells RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan a democratically elected Pakistani government could deal a major blow to the insurgency plaguing both Islamabad and neighboring Afghanistan.
"Over time, only that kind of [elected] government is going to have the broadly accepted credibility to tackle these very serious [security] problems that Pakistan and Afghanistan face," Robinson says. "But I think in the near term, the only serious impact, one way or the other, from the elections would be if the election is viewed as not having been credible and there is a widespread unrest and turmoil in Pakistan that will have a debilitating affect."
Fallout From Unfair Elections Feared
Analysts argue that Islamist militants in the short term will be the only victors should the election process prove to have been flawed. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf denies there will be irregularities in the process, but international observers say that the polls are unlikely to be free or fair.
If that's the case, Pakistan could descend into further chaos, analysts say. And instability in Pakistan would have negative repercussions for Kabul -- not only for Afghan security but for its economy, too.
The southern Pakistani seaport of Karachi is a major conduit for landlocked Afghanistan's exports and imports. While inflation and a record winter cold have already pushed many impoverished Afghans to the edge, instability in Pakistan would herald a new wave of inflation in food prices as Kabul imports essential commodities from its neighbor.
But Afghans are focused on the political fallout of the elections.
Ahmed Saidi, an Afghan analyst, says that violence and intimidation have overshadowed the Pakistani election process and that low voter turnout is expected to result in a split mandate for the various parties. That, in turn, might spell more instability in Pakistan and the region.
"After the Pakistani elections, I do not believe that any single political party will be able to form a government," he tells Radio Free Afghanistan. "These elections will not be free and fair and will in turn attract a lot of criticism [from all sides]."
But some observers are not so pessimistic. For example, they point to polls that suggest that the country's Islamist parties are expected to suffer heavy losses in the polls. That could help the government quell a Taliban insurgency long supported by Islamist parties such as Jamiat-e Ulema-e Islam (JUI).
Marvin Weinbaum, a South Asia expert at Washington's Middle East Institute, says that defeat by the Islamist parties could augur well for stability in Afghanistan because the winning parties could include the two main forces most likely to frown on the Taliban: the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) of late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and the Awami National Party, a secular Pashtun party.
"If the JUI party, if it finds itself having to give up the control of the Northwest Frontier Province -- this could conceivably, if there were, say, an alliance between the PPP and the Awami National Party, this would be a combination which would look much less favorably [and] sympathetically at the insurgency in Afghanistan," Weinbaum says. "JUI has looked really quite sympathetically at those who are challenging the Kabul government. So this could really make quite a difference."
Does Elected Government In Pakistan Matter?
But Afghans are not quite so optimistic about a major postelection breakthrough in their relations with Pakistan, which they suspect harbors and even supports Taliban militants.
Ajaml Sohail, a leader of the Afghan Liberal Democratic Party, maintains that Pakistan's elected civilian governments historically have had little influence on Islamabad's foreign policy -- especially policies toward key neighbors Afghanistan and India.
"Even when [Pakistan] had so-called elected democratic governments, they worked under military influence," Sohail says. "This was the case in [the 1990s], when we saw that Nawaz Sharif headed an elected government but his policies toward India and Afghanistan were hegemonistic. Similarly, Benazir Bhutto headed a democratic [political] system but the overall control was in the hands of the military and the intelligence [services]."
If more turmoil follows the elections, the security of both Pakistan and Afghanistan looks set to be jeopardized.
Pakistani author and journalist Zahid Hussain says that the elections are not expected to enhance popular support for the war on terror, which many Pakistanis see as an alien battle being fought on their soil. Such perceptions will add to the postelection instability.
Hussain says the insurgency in the Afghan-Pakistani borderlands has turned into a single war, with Pakistan -- not Afghanistan -- becoming its prime victim.
"If you see that last year more than 50 suicide-bombing attacks [took] place and most of them had targeted the [Pakistani] military," Hussain says. "So it shows that its not only the [Northwest] Frontier [Province] and the tribal regions but Islamabad and Rawalpindi had also become the main target of terrorist attacks. So it doesn't bode well for the war on extremism."
As the campaign reaches it climax, Pakistan's political parties appear more concerned with winning power than charting strategies to tackle the gathering storm of extremism.
Afghanistan, not to mention India and the United States, will be watching carefully.
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Afghanistan establishes Disease Early Warning System
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-16 22:00:58
KABUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan has established Disease Early Warning System (DEWS) to further improve the country's health sector, said a statement of Afghan Public Health Ministry released here Saturday.
The system was established in mid December 2006 and so far has formed 126 reporting sites nationwide, it said.
Nearly three decades of war, inadequate housing and poor environmental conditions are blamed for diseases in Afghanistan.
Diarrhea, Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), particularly pneumonia and influenza, meningococcal diseases, viral hepatitis, measles, typhoid, hemorrhagic fever, tuberculosis, cholera and malaria are common among the poor people, according to the health ministry.
DEWS stresses detecting outbreaks of diseases very early and responding to them on time and efficiently, it said.
All sentinel sites report on weekly basis and the reports are transmitted to provincial level and then forwarded to capital Kabul for evaluation, said the statement.
Editor: An Lu
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Afghan gov't forces launch clean operation in western province
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-16 17:42:35
KABUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces launched an operation against Taliban insurgents and associated militants in the country's western Farah province on Saturday, said a statement of the Interior Ministry.
Units of Afghan national army and national police backed by the U.S.-led Coalition forces launched the clean up operation in Khak-e-Safid district of Farah province at 6 a.m. (0130 GMT) Saturday, it said.
However, the statement did not disclose the strength of Afghan and the Coalition forces involved in the newly launched mop-up, but added the details and outcome of the operation will be made public when it is completed.
Like the troubled southern Afghan provinces, Farah has also seen series of militant activities including attacks on police, killing and kidnapping government employees over the past couple of years.
Militants in their latest waves of violence in the western regions kidnapped 21 Afghan and Pakistani labors on Feb. 10 but released them in batches this week due to Farah provincial administration's rescue efforts.
Editor: An Lu
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Commerce Ministry disallows flour export to Afghanistan
Daily Times, Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Commerce on Friday disallowed wheat flour exports through private sector to Afghanistan and has notified that wheat flour quantity up to maximum 0.6 million tonnes would be exported to Afghanistan through official channels. In this regard the ministry has issued a notification
It is worth to mention here that Pakistan normally exports around 0.6 million tonnes of wheat flour to Afghanistan annually. During the wheat flour crisis flourmills were involved in export of wheat flour prepared from subsidised wheat provided by the government subsequently to provide to the local consumers.
The export of wheat flour from Pakistan to Afghanistan crossed well over 0.6 million tonnes and the commodity was being re-exported to Central Asian Republics resulting in shortage of the commodity in the country.
Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet taking serious notice of the situation as first step imposed 35 percent regulatory duty on the export of wheat flour exports and in the second phase it decided to disallow export of wheat flour through private sector. staff report
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Not in my worst nightmares ...
LEWIS MACKENZIE - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail February 13, 2008
Imagine, in a close election, the Liberal Party led by Stéphane Dion regains power with a slim plurality. Within 24 hours, Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier is issued new Rules of Engagement (ROE) for the Canadian Forces serving in Afghanistan. These are immediately passed to the Canadian commander in Kandahar and on to the battle group commander. The Lieutenant-Colonel tells his soldiers the ROE are effective immediately, and adds his comments:
Rule 1. You will no longer attempt to eliminate the insurgency threat to the vast majority of the local population in Kandahar province.
"That will be left to soldiers from other countries yet to be identified. You will redirect your efforts to being nice. Your commander will explain how this will be achieved."
Rule 2. You will provide security for the local population and construction projects but you will not engage in combat to do so.
"If you served in Bosnia, you will know how to do this. If not, others will show you how to place yourself in a dangerously exposed position between the attacker and the people you are protecting. That way, the attackers will have to go through you and you will be allowed to fire at them in self-defence. Yes, it sounds ridiculous, but remember, the people who gave us this order must know something we don't.
Rule 3. There will be no more "search and destroy" missions by Canadians.
"You will note the order says no more search and destroy missions. That being the case, I interpret the order to permit us to conduct "search" missions on even days of the month and "destroy" missions on odd days.
To make this easy to remember in the heat of battle - sorry, I meant while observing the enemy ... darn, I meant our nemesis, the Taliban - you will receive colour-coded ammunition. "Search days" will have blue bullets, with 50 per cent of them being blanks spread randomly in your magazines. Our superiors feel this gives the Taliban a more level field on which to fight.
On "destroy days," there will be red bullets and even though you can only fire them for two hours in any 24-hour period, we will at least have some opportunities to disrupt the Taliban's strategic objective, which is to retake Kandahar city.
Rule 4. Don't count on assistance from tanks and artillery or allied air-to-ground fire if you get into difficulty.
"Those weapon systems are much too warlike and really turn off the NDP who are supporting the new government.
It's going to be hard working around this caveat, but I promise to give it some thought and get back to you.
Rule 5. You are precluded from engaging in aggressive combat operations.
"We are serving as one of 11 national military contingents under NATO. The commander's mission is to defeat the insurgency and expand the secure areas in southern Afghanistan. When he tasks us to assist in such operations, I will be the one to give him the bad news that we don't do things like that any more."
Rule 6. As usual, politics, religion and sex will not be discussed during quiet periods. This rule also applies to these Rules of Engagement.
"No comment and stop snickering!"
When soldiers put their lives on the line, they expect the political direction they receive to make sense and be achievable.
During the times I reported to the United Nations as a field commander, I was appalled at the incomprehensibility of some of the orders issued from that organization. Never in my wildest nightmares did I believe a political party in my own country could conceive of options equally bizarre.
Training the Afghan army and protecting development and reconstruction operations without the security provided by pro-active military operations by Canadian soldiers significantly increases the risk to life and limb.
Retired Major-General Lewis MacKenzie was the first commander of UN peacekeeping forces in Sarajevo
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$192m pledged to Afghan education sector
Mustafa Basharat - Feb 13, 2008 - 19:57
KABUL (PAN): Education Minister Muhammad Hanif Atmar said on Wednesday 11 donor countries and global agencies had pledged $192 million to Afghanistan for the development of its education sector.
Addressing a news conference here, Atmar said the pledges were made by representatives of the donor countries and agencies at a two-day workshop held in the capital. The event was attended by representatives from 20 countries and 30 international agencies.
Canada, the US, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Japan, the Netherlands, the World Bank, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO have promised the assistance.
Canada, the United States and the World Bank are the main contributors, according to Atmar, who hoped the funds would help ease 20 percent of problems including a lack of schools, textbooks and capacity-building of teachers and other staff.
Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, France, Italy, Pakistan and the Agha Khan Development Network will also announce their assistance in a months time. Atmar estimated Afghanistans education sector needed one billion dollars over the next four years.
Mustafa Basharat
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