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US House Speaker Pelosi meets with Karzai in Kabul
By Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer – Sat Feb 21, 4:40 am ET
KABUL, Afghanistan – The speaker of the U.S. House met with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul Saturday for talks about the ongoing American strategic review of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, the president's office said.
Taliban bombs made with British electronics: report
Sat Feb 21, 1:37 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – Some roadside bombs used by the Taliban in Afghanistan include electronic parts that originally came from Britain and were supplied by British Muslims, the Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.
Obama administration keeps Bush view on Afghanistan detainees
By Terry Frieden
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Obama administration told a federal court late Friday it will maintain the Bush administration's position that battlefield detainees held without charges by the United States in Afghanistan
Danish defence minister says Afghanistan getting worse
Fri Feb 20, 4:27 pm ET
COPENHAGEN (AFP) – Denmark's Defence Minister Soeren Gade said Friday that security is worsening in Afghanistan and Denmark will not send more troops there.
India sidesteps US invite for trilateral meet on Afghanistan-Pak
21 Feb 2009, 1703 hrs IST, Indrani Bagchi , TNN The Times of India
NEW DELHI: India has sidestepped a US invitation for a ringside seat at a trilateral US-Pakistan-Afghanistan conference scheduled for next week in Washington.
This will be Richard Holbrooke's first exercise in the US'
Gates: U.S. fighting 'tough test' to oust Taliban
(CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged Friday that the United States is facing a "very tough test" in fighting to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Pakistani Taliban agree "permanent ceasefire" in Swat
By Junaid Khan
MINGORA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Taliban fighters and Pakistani officials have agreed to a "permanent ceasefire" in the northwestern Swat valley, a senior government official said on Saturday.
A New Afghanistan Nightmare
Middle East Online - Feb 21 1:54 AM
By pressing a military solution in Afghanistan, Obama is not only summoning another failed US imperial experiment – as that in Iraq – but insists on adding his country’s name to those of Britain and Russia
FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, Feb 21
21 Feb 2009 08:12:57 GMT
Feb 21 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 0800 GMT on Saturday:
Obama Widens Missile Strikes Inside Pakistan
New York Times By MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID E. SANGER February 21, 2009
WASHINGTON - With two missile strikes over the past week, the Obama administration has expanded the covert war run by the Central Intelligence Agency inside Pakistan, attacking a militant network seeking to topple the Pakistani government.
The missile strikes on training camps run by Baitullah Mehsud represent a broadening of the American campaign inside Pakistan, which has been largely carried out by drone aircraft. Under President Bush
Gates Sees Need for at Least $83 Billion More in 2009 for Wars
Bloomberg By Tony Capaccio Feb. 20, 2009
The Pentagon needs at least $83 billion more for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of this fiscal year, Pentagon officials told the White House.
Afghan arrested for alleged lies about terror ties
Associated Press By GILLIAN FLACCUS and AMY TAXIN February 20th, 2009
SANTA ANA, Calif - The brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard was arrested Friday on charges that he lied about ties to terrorist groups on citizenship and passport papers, authorities said.
No jail time for man in Afghan pop star's death
The Canadian Press February 21, 2009
New Westminster, B.C. -- A man found guilty of manslaughter in the death of an Afghan pop star in Vancouver won't be going to jail.
Witness: Afghan man's hands in pockets when shot
Associated Press - February 20, 2009 7:05 PM ET
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - An interpreter who worked with a Fort Bragg-based Special Forces team in Afghanistan says he saw the team sergeant shoot an Afghan man who made no sudden gestures.
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US House Speaker Pelosi meets with Karzai in Kabul
By Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer – Sat Feb 21, 4:40 am ET
KABUL, Afghanistan – The speaker of the U.S. House met with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul Saturday for talks about the ongoing American strategic review of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, the president's office said.
Nancy Pelosi arrived in Afghanistan on Friday to meet with Afghan officials and U.S. and NATO military leaders, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a U.S. military spokeswoman.
Pelosi, D-Calif., also met with U.S. troops during her two-day visit.
President Barack Obama announced this last week a surge of 17,000 additional forces to bolster the record 38,000 U.S. troops already in the country. Commanders say the troops are needed to fight a resurgent Taliban that has increased attacks over the last three years. Militants now control wide swaths of rural countryside.
Karzai and Pelosi talked about the U.S. strategy review of the situation in Afghanistan, and Pelosi reiterated America's long-term commitment to Afghanistan's security situation and economic development, Karzai's office said.
Afghanistan was to send a high-level delegation headed by Foreign Minister Dadfar Rangeen Spanta to the United States on Sunday "to review the joint strategy and the fight against terrorism," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.
Afghanistan's interior and defense ministers, its national security director and chief of intelligence are on the delegation.
Pakistan is also sending representatives to take part in the review. Spanta and Pakistan's foreign minister are expected to meet together with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Pelosi's visit comes about a week after a trip here by Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Obama has promised to increase the U.S. focus on Afghanistan while drawing down troops in Iraq. Democrats for years have said that former President George W. Bush neglected the Afghan conflict in favor of the Iraq war.
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Taliban bombs made with British electronics: report
Sat Feb 21, 1:37 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – Some roadside bombs used by the Taliban in Afghanistan include electronic parts that originally came from Britain and were supplied by British Muslims, the Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.
According to the newspaper, which did not cite its source, the devices, which were used to activate bombs via remote control, were either sent to sympathisers in neighbouring countries or carried in by volunteers who flew to Pakistan and crossed the border into Afghanistan.
It reported that an explosives officer told Foreign Secretary David Miliband of the findings while the minister was in Afghanistan on a two-day visit this past week.
"We have found electronic components in devices used to target British troops that originally come from Britain," the unnamed officer told Miliband during a briefing.
Miliband subsequently asked how the parts would have reached Afghanistan, the officer replied that they had either been sent there or had been physically carried into the country by Britons.
"The insurgents in Afghanistan have changed their tactics meaning they now use more and more improvised explosive devices than before," a Ministry of Defence spokesman in London said.
"IEDs pose a significant threat to the safety of our forces and we are looking at ways we can improve protection from them."
There are around 8,300 British soldiers in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), many of whom are based in Helmand, where the Taliban is waging a bloody insurgency against Western and Afghan security forces.
Last month, Defence Secretary John Hutton signalled he was considering boosting the number of British troops and equipment there, saying his top priority was protecing the country's soldiers against IEDs used by the Taliban.
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Obama administration keeps Bush view on Afghanistan detainees
By Terry Frieden
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Obama administration told a federal court late Friday it will maintain the Bush administration's position that battlefield detainees held without charges by the United States in Afghanistan are not entitled to constitutional rights to challenge their detention.
"Having considered the matter, the government adheres to its previously articulated position," said a Justice Department document filed in federal court in Washington.
In a controversial 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court last year ruled that detainees held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay had a right under the constitution to challenge their continued detention. However, the court did not say whether it applied to prisoners in other locations abroad, including Afghanistan.
Five prisoners held at Bagram Air Base, backed by human rights groups, have gone to court to claim the same rights as the men detained in Guantanamo Bay.
The new administration, which was given a month by a federal judge to declare whether the government wants to change its position, has now indicated it will continue to argue that it is against its security interests to release enemy combatants in a war zone.
Barbara Olshansky, lead counsel for three of the detainee petitioners, said that the administration's decision was "deeply disappointing."
"We are trying to remain hopeful that the message being conveyed is that the new administration is still working on its position regarding the applicability of the laws of war -- the Geneva Conventions -- and international human rights treaties that apply to everyone in detention there," she said.
The air base at Bagram, located north of the city of Kabul, houses between 600 and 650 detainees. Most were picked up for suspected ties to terrorism.
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Danish defence minister says Afghanistan getting worse
Fri Feb 20, 4:27 pm ET
COPENHAGEN (AFP) – Denmark's Defence Minister Soeren Gade said Friday that security is worsening in Afghanistan and Denmark will not send more troops there.
"We noted a clear deterioration of the security situation in the districts where we operate in 2008," the minister told a press briefing.
Denmark expects "even more roadside bombs in 2009" placed by the Taliban, even if the militant militia will be "under pressure" from the increased international military presence in Afghanistan.
Twenty-one Danish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan over the past seven years, including 12 in 2008. There are now 700 Danish troops in Afghanistan, mainly in the southern province of Helmand, and Gade said 100 nurses and doctors would be sent to help treat the international force.
But he told the briefing that no more combat troops would be sent as Denmark already had a major presence in comparison with its size.
The Danish government has conceded that many of its targets for Afghanistan were not met in 2008, including building new schools and cutting opium production.
Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller highlighted the close cooperation between Denmark and Britain in Afghanistan while a government report noted that "reconciliation" was one of the British policy priorities in the troubled country.
Moeller insisted there could be "no compromise with the Taliban" unless they give up their armed struggle against the Afghan government.
"It is clear that we want a political solution where all groups of the population are involved. But there can be no compromise where it becomes half-Talibanised," said the foreign minister.
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India sidesteps US invite for trilateral meet on Afghanistan-Pak
21 Feb 2009, 1703 hrs IST, Indrani Bagchi , TNN The Times of India
NEW DELHI: India has sidestepped a US invitation for a ringside seat at a trilateral US-Pakistan-Afghanistan conference scheduled for next week in Washington.
This will be Richard Holbrooke's first exercise in the US' attempt to stabilize the Af-Pak region. The conference is part of a more comprehensive strategic review of US policy for the region.
While it has a strong military component, the exercise could also explore the possibility of an eventual deal with some version of the Taliban. The meeting will see high level delegations from Pakistan and Afghanistan led by the two foreign ministers who will participate in the conference.
India will be kept in the loop by the US and Afghanistan, but during Holbrooke's visit, India also made its interests in Afghanistan and its stability very clear. India will officially keep its position of an "interested bystander" watching the unfolding events in this theatre.
India sought and received an assurance from the US that its decisions and policies in this region would not make India a "target". In other words, India doesn't want to be unpleasantly surprised by a set of events that adversely affects Indian interests in Afghanistan.
The US right now is furious with Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai for consistently hitting out at America but is equally wary of the Pakistan government particularly after the ill-advised "peace deal" with the Taliban in Swat Valley.
It's no secret the Obama administration wants Karzai to go. Therefore, the coming elections in Afghanistan, originally scheduled for May but which may now be delayed until August, will be crucial to whether Karzai can manage to hold on. The Obama inauguration saw four invitees from Afghanistan who might be alternative candidates backed by the US — former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, former finance minister Ashraf Ghani, former interior minister Ali Ahmed Jalali and governor of Nangarhar Gul Agha Shirzai. It is widely believed that one of these four men would be supported by the US in the coming elections.
India will not get into domestic Afghan politics but will resist attempts to rope in the Taliban into the governing structure, because that would be tantamount to giving the Pak army carte blanche in exercising its policy.
Ultimately, any attempt at stabilization in the region would necessitate working hard on the Pakistani system, which is where Holbrooke will find his greatest challenge.
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Gates: U.S. fighting 'tough test' to oust Taliban
(CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged Friday that the United States is facing a "very tough test" in fighting to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"But I'm sure we will rise to the occasion the way we have many times before," he told a news conference in Krakow, Poland, where NATO defense ministers are meeting.
Gates said the United States hopes other nations involved in Afghanistan will contribute to the anti-Taliban campaign any way they can.
"If other countries are unable to strengthen their military commitment, but they are willing to make a contribution on the stability side -- on the development, governance side -- those contributions would be very welcome," he said. There is a U.S. review under way to determine the best strategies for success in Afghanistan and how other nations can help, he noted.
This week's meeting is a prelude to the meeting of NATO nations' heads of state in April -- the 60th anniversary of the alliance.
Gates was asked about Friday's signing by Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of a bill that gives the U.S. military 180 days to withdraw from Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, which the United States uses as a route into Afghanistan for troops and supplies.
"I continue to believe that this is not a closed issue, and that there remains the potential at least to reopen this issue with the Kyrgyz and perhaps reach a new agreement," Gates said.
"If we are unable to do that on reasonable terms, then as I have suggested, we are developing alternative methods to get resupply and people into Afghanistan."
Manas Air Base outside Bishkek is the Americans' only base in Central Asia. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, two other Central Asian nations that border Afghanistan, have agreed to allow U.S. cargo to be transported to Afghanistan through their countries, Interfax reported Friday.
Gates said the Obama administration hasn't looked comprehensively at its policies with Russia, but he repeated what Vice President Joe Biden has said -- that the administration feels it's "time to reset" the relationship.
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Pakistani Taliban agree "permanent ceasefire" in Swat
By Junaid Khan
MINGORA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Taliban fighters and Pakistani officials have agreed to a "permanent ceasefire" in the northwestern Swat valley, a senior government official said on Saturday.
Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Radio because he uses illegal FM radio to spread his message, was expected to announce the ceasefire later.
"They have made a commitment that they will observe a permanent ceasefire and we'll do the same," Syed Mohammad Javed, the Commissioner of Malakand, told reporters after meeting with elders in Swat.
Around 1,200 people have been killed and between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled the valley which lies within the Malakand division of North West Frontier Province.
Western governments, and many Pakistanis, have been alarmed by the government's offer to reinstate Islamic sharia law in Malakand if the Taliban agreed to peace.
They fear that a ceasefire could result in another sanctuary in Pakistan where al Qaeda and Taliban militants could move freely, and also worry that Taliban fighters elsewhere in the region will be encouraged by the government's move.
Last Sunday, Islamist militants called a 10-day ceasefire in the valley as a "goodwill gesture" toward the peace talks.
Javed said efforts were being made to persuade the Taliban to allow girls' schools to reopen. Militants had torched around 200 girls' schools in Swat in a campaign against female education. Boys' schools will reopen on Monday.
The ceasefire announcement came a day after Fazlullah met his father-in-law, Maulana Sufi Mohammad, a radical cleric freed by the government to negotiate peace.
IN PRINCIPLE
The deal was agreed in principle on Monday by the government for NWFP and Sufi Mohammad, who then carried back the proposals to Fazlullah. He is said to have forged links with other Pakistani jihadi groups and al Qaeda.
Sufi Mohammad led a revolt in 1994 in an attempt to bring Islamic sharia law back to Swat, and went on to lead an army of thousands of tribesmen in a futile attempt to help Taliban and al Qaeda fighters hold off U.S.-led forces in 2001.
He was arrested after his return to Pakistan and spent six years in jail before the government released him last year.
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told Reuters that Fazlullah would make an announcement on the radio shortly.
"I can't say what he would say but there would be good news for people of Swat," Khan said.
Richard Holbrooke, special U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, expressed unease over developments in Swat on Thursday and said he had been told by President Asif Ali Zardari that the pact being negotiated with the Islamists was an "interim arrangement" to stabilize the Swat region.
Zardari will not sign off on the re-introduction of Islamic law in Malakand unless peace is assured, according to officials.
Holbrooke visited Pakistan last week on his first tour of the region since being appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Pakistani officials said U.S. officials had urged Pakistan to exert more force in Swat, rather than negotiate.
But the army is fighting Taliban insurgencies elsewhere in the northwest, notably the tribal regions of Bajaur and Mohmand, and wants to be supplied with counter-insurgency equipment.
Former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, who survived at least two assassination attempts by Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers in late 2007, said any agreement would be fragile.
"For the time being, Fazlullah might bow to what his father-in-law and teacher says, but later he could sabotage everything by making any excuse," Sherpao said.
(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; editing by Robert Woodward)
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A New Afghanistan Nightmare
Middle East Online - Feb 21 1:54 AM
By pressing a military solution in Afghanistan, Obama is not only summoning another failed US imperial experiment – as that in Iraq – but insists on adding his country’s name to those of Britain and Russia, who had better chances of success, but were squarely defeated, says Ramzy Baroud.
When US envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke met with Afghanistan’s ‘democratically’ installed President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on February 14, he may have just learned of the historic significance of the following day. February 15 commemorates the end of the bloody Russian campaign against Afghanistan (August 1978-February 1989).
But it is unlikely that Holbrooke will absorb the magnitude of that historic lesson. Both he and the new US President Barack Obama are convinced that the missing component for winning the war in Afghanistan is a greater commitment, as in doubling the troops, increasing military spending, and, by way of winning hearts and minds, investing more in developing the country. That combination, the US administration believes, will eventually sway Afghans from supporting the Taliban, tribal militias, Pashtun nationalists and other groups. The latter is waging a guerilla struggle in various parts of the country, mostly in the south, to oust Karzai’s government and foreign occupation forces. While Kabul was considered an “oasis of calm” – by Jonathan Steele’s account – during the Soviet rule, it’s nowhere close to that depiction under the rule of the US and its NATO allies, who had plenty of time, eight long years, to assert their control, but failed.
In fact, just as Holbrooke sat within Karzai’s heavily guarded presidential palace, roadside bombs were detonating across the country, in Khost, in Kandahar and elsewhere. Several police officers were killed, the latest addition to the hundreds of soldiers and officers who die each year as they desperately defend the few symbols of the central government’s authority. Aside from its shaky control over Kabul, and a few provincial capitals, the central government struggles to maintain the little relevance it still holds.
This deems most of the country a battleground between Afghani militias, seen by a growing number of Afghans as a legitimate resistance force against an illegitimate occupation; that being US and NATO forces.
Unlike the unpopular war in Iraq, Afghanistan was widely viewed in the US as a moral war, based on the logic that since al-Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks, and since the group is hosted by an equally militant Taliban government, both groups must pay. So far, the people of Afghanistan have paid many times over the price expected. Thousands were killed, and an entire generation was scarred by a new civil war, and yet a new foreign military occupation.
While mainstream news consumers are inundated with official commentary and occasional news reports on the challenges awaiting the US in Afghanistan, to secure democracy, freedom and ‘national interests,’ media reports continue to reduce the battle over Afghanistan as one that is concerned with fighting local corruption, instilling human rights and ensuring gender equality.
Little is said of the pertinent reasons behind the war, as such seemingly tedious rhetoric of great games to control the Eurasian landmass - which dates back to the 19th century’s rivalry between British and Russian empires - is more suited for academic discussions that are by no means newsworthy.
But it is perhaps relevant to note that desperate attempts at controlling Afghanistan have failed miserably in the past. If Holbrooke wishes to dig deeper into history, he should learn that the British Empire, which controlled India at the time, was also defeated in Afghanistan in 1842, and again in 1878. Soviet leaders looked for a quick victory as they occupied Kabul in December 1979, only to find themselves engaged in a most bloody war that cost them 15,000 deaths (it goes without saying that the hundreds of thousands of Afghani deaths often go unreported) and an unmitigated defeat.
But, then again, Holbrooke must’ve known of the details of the latter period, for after all, it was his country that armed and financially sustained the mujahideen forces in Afghanistan fearing that the Soviets’ ultimate objective, during the Cold War was challenging US dominance in the region, and eventually the Middle East. Considering the strategically disastrous toppling of the Shah of Iran to the US, the world-leading superpower could take no chances.
But since then, Afghanistan has grown in significance from a politically strategic landmass, due to its proximity to warm-waters and regional powers, to an energy strategic landmass, inevitable to the exploitation of Caspian oil.
“I cannot think of a time when we have had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian," said former vice-president Dick Cheney in a speech to oil moguls in 1998. In the same year, John Maresca, vice president of international relations of Unocal Corporation commented before a House committee in February 2008 on ways to transfer Caspian basin oil (estimated between 110 to 243bn barrels of crude, worth up to $4 trillion): “(One) option is to build a pipeline south from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed for American companies because of US sanctions legislation. The only other possible route is across Afghanistan.”
Military success in Afghanistan is simply not possible, for numerous logistical, historical and practical reasons. But failure will also come at a price, at least for those who will directly benefit from subduing the rebellious nation.
Former president Bush and his entourage of allies failed to turn Afghanistan into a US-styled democracy, easily exploitable for strategic and economic use. By pressing a military solution in Afghanistan, Obama is not only summoning another failed US imperial experiment – as that in Iraq – but insists on adding his country’s name to those of Britain and Russia, who had better chances of success, but were squarely defeated.
“It's like fighting sand. No force in the world can get the better of the Afghans,” Oleg Kubanov, a former Russian officer in Afghanistan told Reuters. “It's their holy land; it doesn't matter to them if you're Russian, American. We're all soldiers to them.”
It would be timely if Holbrooke takes a few hours from his hectic schedule in the region to brush up on Afghanistan’s history, for he surely needs it.
Ramzy Baroud is a Palestinian-American author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in numerous newspapers and journals worldwide, including the Washington Post, Japan Times, Al Ahram Weekly and Lemonde Diplomatique. His latest book is The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, London). Read more about him on his website: RamzyBaroud.net.
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FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, Feb 21
21 Feb 2009 08:12:57 GMT
Feb 21 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 0800 GMT on Saturday:
URUZGAN - Three soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition were killed by an improvised explosive device on Friday during a combat reconnaissance patrol in Uruzgan province, some 300 km (190 miles), southwest of Kabul, the U.S. military said.
NIMROZ - Afghan police guarding a World Food Programme convoy killed three insurgents and wounded two more after they were ambushed in the Khash Rud district of Nimroz province, some 675 km (420 miles) southwest of Kabul, the Interior Ministry said. GHAZNI - Two road construction workers were killed in a mine explosion in Ghazni province, some 130 km (80 miles) southwest of Kabul, the Defence Ministry said. (Compiled by Jon Hemming; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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Obama Widens Missile Strikes Inside Pakistan
New York Times By MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID E. SANGER February 21, 2009
WASHINGTON - With two missile strikes over the past week, the Obama administration has expanded the covert war run by the Central Intelligence Agency inside Pakistan, attacking a militant network seeking to topple the Pakistani government.
The missile strikes on training camps run by Baitullah Mehsud represent a broadening of the American campaign inside Pakistan, which has been largely carried out by drone aircraft. Under President Bush, the United States frequently attacked militants from Al Qaeda and the Taliban involved in cross-border attacks into Afghanistan, but had stopped short of raids aimed at Mr. Mehsud and his followers, who have played less of a direct role in attacks on American troops.
The strikes are another sign that President Obama is continuing, and in some cases extending, Bush administration policy in using American spy agencies against terrorism suspects in Pakistan, as he had promised to do during his presidential campaign. At the same time, Mr. Obama has begun to scale back some of the Bush policies on the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects, which he has criticized as counterproductive.
Mr. Mehsud was identified early last year by both American and Pakistani officials as the man who had orchestrated the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister and the wife of Pakistan's current president, Asif Ali Zardari. Mr. Bush included Mr. Mehsud's name in a classified list of militant leaders whom the C.I.A. and American commandos were authorized to capture or kill.
It is unclear why the Obama administration decided to carry out the attacks, which American and Pakistani officials said occurred last Saturday and again on Monday, hitting camps run by Mr. Mehsud's network. The Saturday strike was aimed specifically at Mr. Mehsud, but he was not killed, according to Pakistani and American officials.
The Monday strike, officials say, was aimed at a camp run by Hakeem Ullah Mehsud, a top aide to the militant. By striking at the Mehsud network, the United States may be seeking to demonstrate to Mr. Zardari that the new administration is willing to go after the insurgents of greatest concern to the Pakistani leader.
But American officials may also be prompted by growing concern that the militant attacks are increasingly putting the civilian government of Pakistan, a nation with nuclear weapons, at risk.
For months, Pakistani military and intelligence officials have complained about Washington's refusal to strike at Baitullah Mehsud, even while C.I.A. drones struck at Qaeda figures and leaders of the network run by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a militant leader believed responsible for a campaign of violence against American troops in Afghanistan.
According to one senior Pakistani official, Pakistan's intelligence service on two occasions in recent months gave the United States detailed intelligence about Mr. Mehsud's whereabouts, but said the United States had not acted on the information. Bush administration officials had charged that it was the Pakistanis who were reluctant to take on Mr. Mehsud and his network.
The strikes came after a visit to Islamabad last week by Richard C. Holbrooke, the American envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In a telephone interview on Friday, Mr. Holbrooke declined to talk about the attacks on Mr. Mehsud. The White House also declined to speak about Mr. Mehsud or the decisions that led up to the new strikes. A C.I.A. spokesman also declined to comment.
Senior Pakistani officials are scheduled to arrive in Washington next week at a time of rising tension over a declared truce between the Pakistani government and militants in the Swat region.
While the administration has not publicly criticized the Pakistanis, several American officials said in interviews in recent days that they believe appeasing the militants would only weaken Pakistan's civilian government. Mr. Holbrooke said in the interview that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others would make clear in private, and in detail, why they were so concerned about what was happening in Swat, the need to send more Pakistani forces to the west, and why the deteriorating situation in the tribal areas added to instability in Afghanistan and threats to American forces.
Past efforts to cut deals with the insurgents failed, and many administration officials believe that they ultimately weakened the Pakistani government.
But Obama administration officials face the same intractable problems that the Bush administration did in trying to prod Pakistan toward a different course. Pakistan still deploys the overwhelming majority of its troops along the Indian border, not the border with Afghanistan, and its intelligence agencies maintain shadowy links to the Taliban even as they take American funds to fight them.
Under standard policy for covert operations, the C.I.A. strikes inside Pakistan have not been publicly acknowledged either by the Obama administration or the Bush administration. Using Predators and the more heavily armed Reaper drones, the C.I.A. has carried out more than 30 strikes since last September, according to American and Pakistani officials.
The attacks have killed a number of senior Qaeda figures, including Abu Jihad al-Masri and Usama al-Kini, who is believed to have helped plan the 1998 American Embassy bombings in East Africa and last year's bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
American Special Operations troops based in Afghanistan have also carried out a number of operations into Pakistan's tribal areas since early September, when a commando raid that killed a number of militants was publicly condemned by Pakistani officials. According to a senior American military official, the commando missions since September have been primarily to gather intelligence.
The meetings hosted by the Obama administration next week will include senior officials from both Pakistan and Afghanistan; Mrs. Clinton is to hold a rare joint meeting on Thursday with foreign ministers from the two countries. Also, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Pakistani Army chief, will meet with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Lt. Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the head of Pakistan's military spy service, will accompany General Kayani.
Bomber Kills More Than 30
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The police on Friday blamed a suicide bomber for a powerful explosion that killed more than 30 people and wounded at least 50 in the Pakistani city of Dera Ismail Khan, according to residents and Pakistani television reports.
The bombing, aimed at the funeral of a Shiite man who had been shot, set off chaos in the city of a million people on the edge of Pakistan's tribal areas. Mobs attacked security forces, ransacked shops and surrounded hospitals said the mayor, Abdur Rauf.
Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Gates Sees Need for at Least $83 Billion More in 2009 for Wars
Bloomberg By Tony Capaccio Feb. 20, 2009
The Pentagon needs at least $83 billion more for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of this fiscal year, Pentagon officials told the White House.
This figure includes $7.3 billion to pay for adding troops in Afghanistan, Pentagon officials wrote to the Office of Management and Budget on Feb. 3. The U.S. will add about 17,000 to its force of 38,000, President Barack Obama announced this week.
The $83 billion is $13.3 billion more than Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in late December was needed. That estimate of $69.7 billion didn't include the cost of sending more troops to Afghanistan, he said then.
Congress already has approved $65.9 billion in emergency wartime spending for fiscal 2009, which ends Sept. 30. The latest request would bring the amount to about $149 billion.
That is less than the $176 billion Congress approved for fiscal 2008 and the $171 billion for fiscal 2007, according to the Congress Research Service. The Pentagon, in its letter, told OMB it “believes that $130 billion to $140 billion will be required in fiscal 2010.”
“Final decisions on these numbers require greater clarity on the pace of force flows into Afghanistan and out of Iraq,” it said.
The U.S. commander in Iraq, Army General David McKiernan, said Feb. 18 that the 17,000 extra soldiers and Marines “will get us what we need” through the summer months and the Afghan elections now scheduled for Aug. 20.
That number will give him “roughly two-thirds” of the additional 30,000 troops he requested to beat back a renewed Taliban insurgency, he told reporters at the Pentagon.
Request Coming ‘Soon'
The second fiscal 2009 request will be submitted to Congress “soon” after the White House releases the broad outline of its fiscal 2010 budget on Feb. 26, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today.
The $7.3 billion extra for combat operations in Afghanistan would include the cost of new construction to accommodate the added troops and would fund the repair or replacement of war-worn equipment in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pentagon spokesman Navy Commander Darryn James referred questions about the supplemental to OMB. OMB spokesman Tom Gavin had no immediate comment.
Gates, in a letter to lawmakers Dec. 31, said the second supplemental spending request would include $3.6 billion to increase, train and equip the Afghan National Army.
It also would include $600 million to buy four additional Lockheed Martin Corp. F-22 fighters and $7.5 billion to replace Boeing Co. AH-64 Apache attack and CH-47 transport helicopters, AM General Corp. Hummer vehicles and trailers and tractors built by various contractors, he wrote.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net.
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Afghan arrested for alleged lies about terror ties
Associated Press By GILLIAN FLACCUS and AMY TAXIN February 20th, 2009
SANTA ANA, Calif - The brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard was arrested Friday on charges that he lied about ties to terrorist groups on citizenship and passport papers, authorities said.
An anti-terrorism task force comprised of federal and local law enforcement agents arrested Ahmadullah Sais Niazi, 34, at his home in Tustin early Friday, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Niazi has lived in the U.S. since 1998 and became a citizen in 2004.
A grand jury indictment unsealed Friday charged Niazi with perjury, procurement of naturalization unlawfully, passport fraud and making a false statement. He could face up to 35 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
According to search warrant affidavits, Niazi's sister, Hafiza, is married to Amin al-Haq, who prosecutors say is a high-ranking al-Qaida member. Al-Haq was named a "specially designated global terrorist" by the United Nations Security Council and U.S. officials in 2001, according to the indictment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deirdre Eliot said al-Haq was believed to have been bin-Laden's bodyguard around and after Sept. 11, 2001, prompting the terrorist designations.
"Niazi and his family were upset when Hafiza married Amin al-Haq because of Amin al-Haq's past activities," an FBI agent stated in a search warrant. Niazi did not elaborate on what those activities might have been.
Niazi is also accused of associating with the Taliban and a terrorist organization called Hezb-e-Islami that fights international and U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Niazi appeared in handcuffs in federal court hours after his arrest, dressed in a brown and white sweater and black running pants.
He became agitated when he learned that his private attorney had declared a conflict of interest and would not be present. He initially refused to be represented by a public defender, leading U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Nakazato to order a brief recess.
Before the hearing, Niazi spoke loudly and appeared to be addressing his wife and a group of reporters sitting on the opposite side of the courtroom.
"I need to reveal something to the court, just what exactly is really happening," he said. "These are not my charges, these are all conspiracy."
Nakazato eventually appointed a public defender and postponed the hearing until Tuesday so the attorney could familiarize himself with the case. Niazi will remain in custody until then.
"We'll absolutely move for bail at that point," public defender Chase Scolnick said. "I really don't know much about the case at this point."
According to the indictment, Niazi lied when he wrote on his naturalization papers that he had never been a member of or associated with a terrorist organization.
He allegedly traveled to Pakistan in 2005, where he met with al-Haq. Upon his return from the trip he allegedly told authorities he had been visiting family in Qatar.
The indictment also said Niazi had written on his applications that he had never gone by any other name, but prosecutors contend he used several aliases.
Shakeel Syed, executive director of Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, said he gave a workshop last year at a mosque in Orange County to teach people about their civil rights.
Syed said Niazi approached him afterward and said federal agents had asked him to become an informant at mosques in Orange County.
"He said, `I have been living here as a straightforward guy. My only crime is I was born and brought up in Afghanistan and the feds are coming after me,'" Syed recalled.
U.S. attorney's office spokesman Thom Mrozek would not comment on whether Niazi was asked to be an informant.
Niazi originally came to the U.S. on a tourist visa but became a permanent resident after marrying his wife, Jamilah Amin. She was born in Cambodia and became a U.S. citizen in 1992.
Neighbors on Niazi's quiet suburban street in Tustin said it was the second time in about a year that FBI agents had raided the house.
Julie Galvan, 50, described her neighbors as quiet.
"It's very scary learning about all the things this gentleman is (allegedly) involved in." Galvan said. "How did it get to our neighborhood?"
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said prosecutors will seek to have Niazi's citizenship revoked, something that can be done if it was obtained fraudulently. If that happens, he would be subject to deportation.
Sharon Rummery, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said she could not comment on Niazi's citizenship application because it would violate the federal Privacy Act.
Taxin reported from Tustin. Associated Press writers Thomas Watkins and Raquel Maria Dillon in Los Angeles also contributed to this report.
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No jail time for man in Afghan pop star's death
The Canadian Press February 21, 2009
New Westminster, B.C. -- A man found guilty of manslaughter in the death of an Afghan pop star in Vancouver won't be going to jail.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge in New Westminster has given a two-year conditional sentence to Ahmad Seiar Froogh. The Crown had been seeking a sentence of five to seven years and is considering appealing the judge's decision.
Mr. Froogh was convicted in the death of 36-year-old Afghan singer Nasrat Parsa in May, 2005. He punched Mr. Parsa in the face at a hotel after a concert and Mr. Parsa fell down some stairs, hit his head, and later died in hospital.
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Witness: Afghan man's hands in pockets when shot
Associated Press - February 20, 2009 7:05 PM ET
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - An interpreter who worked with a Fort Bragg-based Special Forces team in Afghanistan says he saw the team sergeant shoot an Afghan man who made no sudden gestures.
The Fayetteville Observer reported the Afghan interpreter testified Friday during the court martial of Master Sgt. Joseph D. Newell. The 38-year-old from Tecumseh, Mich., could face life in prison if convicted of murder. He also is accused of cutting off the man's ear.
Newell's defense attorney said the man lunged at Newell, but the interpreter said the man's hands were in his pockets before he was shot.
The interpreter said Newell asked him to translate a word on the man's cell phone he thought meant "al-Qaida." The interpreter said it meant "Menu." He also said Newell told him not to tell anyone about the incident.
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