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Russia backs US ops in Afghanistan
March 16, 2009
KABUL (AFP) – Russia supports US operations in Afghanistan and is ready to contribute to stabilising the country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published Monday during his visit to Kabul.
Afghanistan: Summit on security underway amid Taliban resurgence
Rome, 16 March (AKI) - The future security of Afghanistan was the main focus of a top level diplomatic conference in Rome on Monday, organised by the Italian government and key players involved in the country.
Taliban Says No Peace Talks With Leader
March 16, 2009
KABUL (Reuters) -- The Taliban has rejected reports its leader Mullah Omar was willing to hold peace talks aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, saying it would continue attacks until all foreign forces withdrew from the country.
Taliban threaten to kill aid workers as spies
CNN, By Paula Newton - 03/15/2009 - KABUL
A top Taliban commander has issued a new threat to foreign aid workers, saying that under the insurgent group's new "constitution" they will execute them as spies or hold them in exchange for the release of Taliban fighters.
Suicide bomber kills 11 in southern Afghanistan
Mon Mar 16, 5:34 am ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed 11 people, including nine police officers, in southern Afghanistan on Monday, a day after one of the deadliest attacks against foreign troops in recent weeks, officials said.
Qashqavi: Iran ready to help improve security in Afghanistan
Tehran Times - 16 March 2009 - TEHRAN
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi says Iran is ready to support G8 efforts to improve security and economic development of Afghanistan and share experience with the Group to counter extremist movements there.
INTERVIEW-Afghanistan holds mineral treasure-minister
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL, March 16 (Reuters) - Afghanistan sits on one of the largest mineral deposits in the region, the country's mines minister said, urging foreign firms to invest in oil, gas and iron ore sectors.
Ex-Afghan President hails talks with Iran on Kabul
TEHRAN, Mar. 16 (ISNA)-The Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani welcomed talks with Iran regarding his country and said regional countries can play more influential role in settlement of issues in the area.
Kandahar villagers blame U.S. troops for deaths
March 16, 2009 - THE CANADIAN PRESS
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – For the second time in as many months, angry Afghans have paraded through the streets of Kandahar the blood-splattered bodies of civilians allegedly killed by NATO forces.
Afghanistan holds mineral treasure: minister
Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:28am EDT - By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan sits on one of the largest mineral deposits in the region, the country's mines minister said, urging foreign firms to invest in oil, gas and iron ore sectors. A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Turkish FM: Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral summit to be held soon
ANKARA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Monday a Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral summit will be held soon, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
Why Afghanistan needs democracy
BY KHORSHIED SAMAD, SPECIAL TO THE WINDSOR STAR, MARCH 16, 2009
In the midst of deliberations about the strategy and scope of the Afghan mission in the U.S. and elsewhere, when the country is preparing to take part in another historic election this year, some analysts are trying to
The other Afghan surge
Statesman Journal -By Robert J. Walker - March 16, 2009
Despite President Obama's decision last month to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, many experts warn that a military "surge" will not bring about a quick victory.
'Osama In Pakistan's Hindu Kush Range'
RTTNews - 16 March 2009
The United States is reported to have tracked down the world's most wanted Islamist terrorist, Osama bin Laden, to the reputedly impenetrable Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan's scenic Chitral region, media reports say.
Afghanistan: Battle lines drawn over contraception
FARAH, 15 March 2009 (IRIN) - There are indications that some Taliban groups fervently oppose the use of contraceptives and may start using the issue as a pretext to launch further attacks on health centres, experts say.
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Russia backs US ops in Afghanistan
March 16, 2009
KABUL (AFP) – Russia supports US operations in Afghanistan and is ready to contribute to stabilising the country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published Monday during his visit to Kabul.
Lavrov however criticised "indiscriminate" Western air raids in the war-torn country in comments published in an Afghan government newspaper, a transcript of which was distributed by the foreign ministry in Moscow.
"At this stage the presence in Afghanistan of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), uniting basically the US military contingent and NATO allies, is a factor restraining terrorism and in this regard is in Afghanistan's interests," Lavrov said according to the transcript.
"On this basis Russia decided to allow the use of its territory for over-land transit of non-military supplies to ISAF," he said.
Earlier this month, Russia allowed a first shipment of US equipment bound for Afghanistan to cross its territory in support of Western operations here.
The minister visited Afghanistan 20 years after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union following a bitter resistance to its 10-year occupation which left about 1.5 million people dead and many more in exile.
He added that "together with the United States, we are examining the possibility of carrying out in Afghanistan projects in the energy and transport sphere."
But he went on however to criticise civilian deaths caused by Western air strikes.
"Repeated instances of deaths among the civil population as a result of foreign military operations are a cause for serious concern," Lavrov said.
"In this respect we consider an agreement reached between NATO and the Afghan defence ministry to coordinate anti-terrorist activities an important step towards preventing further indiscriminate strikes," he added.
After talks with his Afghan counterpart Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, Lavrov told reporters that help to Afghanistan would not only come from deploying more troops.
"Therefore, we support the Afghan leadership stand in wanting more support in reconstruction efforts," he said through a translator.
The United States, Afghanistan's main Western partner, is planning to deploy around 17,000 more troops this summer and has called on other allies to also step up their contributions as the insurgency deepens.
There are already about 75,000 foreign soldiers in the country, most of them Americans and Europeans and none from Russia.
The ministers signed an agreement to increase bilateral efforts to fight drug-trafficking in the region. Afghanistan supplies the bulk of the world's illicit drugs that are smuggled to many countries, including Russia.
Lavrov was due to meet President Hamid Karzai later, the Afghan government said. They were to discuss possible Russian arms supplies to the country, Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency reported from Kabul, citing diplomats.
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Afghanistan: Summit on security underway amid Taliban resurgence
Rome, 16 March (AKI) - The future security of Afghanistan was the main focus of a top level diplomatic conference in Rome on Monday, organised by the Italian government and key players involved in the country.
The embassies of Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Afghanistan joined the Italian ministry of foreign affairs to discuss key issues and solutions for the troubled country amid a resurgence of violence by the Taliban and other militants.
The conference entitled 'Towards a new Afghanistan' was expected to focus on human rights and the country's reconstruction as well as minorities and the rights of women.
Canada's Ambassador to Italy, Alex Himelfarb, and Australia's Ambassador to Italy, Amanda Vanstone, were to join Dutch Ambassador Egbert Jacobs and Fatima Zaher, first secretary from the embassy of Afghanistan to discuss the issues.
Sergio Mercuri, the Italian foreign ministry's special envoy for Afghanistan, and Senator Emma Bonino, vice-president of the Italian Senate were also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference was being held as the Obama administration is about to send extra troops to Afghanistan to tackle a surge in violence and deteriorating security. The US has devoted tremendous military resources as the main troop contributor to Afghanistan, accounting for some 24,900 of the 56,400 foreign ISAF troops.
A report by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based thinktank, last week warned that jihadi extremists would never be defeated in Afghanistan unless the United States administration led by president Barack Obama overhauled its political, economic and military policies in the country.
The report entitled, 'Afghanistan: New US Administration, New Directions, reviewed the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan after seven years of US-led intervention and highlighted what should be done to create stability and security.
"The Afghanistan crisis is the outcome of decades of internal conflict", said Crisis Group president Gareth Evans.
"No short-term solution will resolve the crisis overnight. Time and patience are needed to build the infrastructure and institutions to stabilise the Afghan state and root out or neutralise jihadi influence."
The report said the Taliban dominated the south, east and centre of Afghanistan and was increasing its presence in the west and also carried out terror attacks in major population centres.
But while it aimed to demoralise the Afghan population and wear down the international community the report said the Taliban does not have widespread support.
The Crisis Group said the challenge was to restore faith in government institutions and strengthen efforts to enable the Afghan government to expand its reach and legitimacy through the provision of security, rule of law and public services to its citizens.
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Taliban Says No Peace Talks With Leader
March 16, 2009
KABUL (Reuters) -- The Taliban has rejected reports its leader Mullah Omar was willing to hold peace talks aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, saying it would continue attacks until all foreign forces withdrew from the country.
"If you wait for 3,000 years, our position is that the Taliban will not enter into any kind of talks in the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan," Taliban spokesman Qari Yusof Ahmadi told the Pakistan-based AIP news agency.
More than seven years after U.S.-led and Afghan forces removed the Taliban from power, violence in Afghanistan is at its highest levels with Taliban-led insurgents launching increased attacks on foreign and Afghan forces.
Ahmadi's comments came a day after Britain's "Sunday Times" newspaper reported Omar, the leader of the hardline Islamists, had given his approval for and had sent representatives to attend Saudi-sponsored peace talks.
Omar had given a "green light" for talks to go ahead, the "Times" quoted a former friend of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Anas, as saying. But Taliban spokesman Ahmadi rejected the claims.
"These reports are baseless. Our position remains unchanged. We will conduct jihad and continue resistance as long as foreign forces are present in Afghanistan," Ahmadi told AIP.
There are some 70,000 foreign troops, including 38,000 U.S. soldiers, stationed in Afghanistan. The United States is due to send 17,000 more troops to tackle a strengthening insurgency mainly in the south and east of the country.
Since the weekend, nine foreign soldiers have been killed in a series of Taliban raids, the deadliest week for foreign forces in recent months.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said this month the West was not winning the war, while some Western politicians and military officers agree the war cannot be won by military means alone.
President Barack Obama has said he is open to the idea of reaching out to more moderate elements of the Taliban, after what he called the success of working with Islamist fundamentalists in Iraq, who had been alienated by the tactics of Al-Qaeda.
But the International Crisis Group in a report last week warned the new Obama administration any talks with the militants should be approached with "great caution," saying previous peace agreements in both Afghanistan and Pakistan had collapsed.
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Taliban threaten to kill aid workers as spies
CNN, By Paula Newton - 03/15/2009 - KABUL
A top Taliban commander has issued a new threat to foreign aid workers, saying that under the insurgent group's new "constitution" they will execute them as spies or hold them in exchange for the release of Taliban fighters.
In an exclusive telephone interview Friday night with CNN, Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi said the Taliban intelligence wing was actively gathering information on foreign aid workers. "If we get someone, that is how we will deal with it under our new constitution," he said.
He added that he was telling "Afghan brothers not to work with NGOs." In the 15-minute interview, arranged by an intermediary for CNN, Hanafi repeated the Taliban's pledge to keep girls out of public schools.
"Our law is still the same old law which was in place during our rule in Afghanistan," he said. "Mullah Mohammad Omar was our leader and he is still our head and leader and so we will follow the same law as before."
"In my opinion," he added, "Taliban aren't allowing girls to go to schools because Taliban want women to preserve their respect by staying in their homes, not to work as laborers for others."
Dozens of crimes across the country, especially acid attacks, have marred the opening of the new school year in Afghanistan. Afghan girls have been burned and scared randomly with acid as punishment for going to school. More than 600 schools did not open this year because of security issues, according to the Afghanistan Education Ministry.
The schools that did open, however, remain defiant. Young women admitted to CNN being fearful but also said they are determined to get an education and better their lives. It is a sentiment echoed by their principal, a 35-year veteran of Afghanistan's girls schools.
"I am asking those who close schools and throw acid on girls to let the children of this country go to school because it's crime to close the schools, a crime against the children of this country," said Safia Hayat, principal of the Zarghona Girls School in Kabul.
Hanafi, meanwhile, went on to discuss possible reconciliation talks with the Afghan government. "I don't think there can be any discussion of peace until the the foreigners leave Afghanistan," he said referring to the presence of coalition troops.
While he seemed to confirm that some reconciliation talks were ongoing, Hanafi also said he wondered what kind of peace was possible as long as Afghans are still dying in NATO bombardments.
Hanafi described himself as a commander in the southern province of Helmand, but announced a new Taliban offensive in the north was about to begin and that he would be playing a key role there.
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Suicide bomber kills 11 in southern Afghanistan
Mon Mar 16, 5:34 am ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed 11 people, including nine police officers, in southern Afghanistan on Monday, a day after one of the deadliest attacks against foreign troops in recent weeks, officials said.
Violence has increased since last year in Afghanistan where the Taliban, ousted in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, have made a comeback in their campaign to drive out foreign troops. Afghan and foreign security forces are frequently targeted.
Since the weekend, nine foreign soldiers have been killed in a series of separate Taliban raids, the deadliest week for foreign forces in recent months. Four NATO-led soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack on Sunday.
The latest bomber was on foot and detonated explosives attached to his body in a group of officers outside the main police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand, on Monday, a local police official said.
Two civilians were also killed, the interior ministry in Kabul said in a statement. Another 29 people, many of them police, were wounded.
A would-be suicide bomber armed with a grenade killed a police officer guarding a compound in a separate attack in western Farah province on Monday, an official said.
The bomber was shot dead by other police as he tried to enter the compound and blow himself up, the official said.
Some 70,000 foreign soldiers under the command of NATO and the U.S. military, along with tens of thousands of Afghans in government forces, are struggling to defeat a resurgent Taliban.
The new U.S. administration plans to send an extra 17,000 soldiers this year to stabilize the country, which some Western politicians and analysts fear may slide back into anarchy.
U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government after it refused to hand over al Qaeda leaders wanted by Washington for masterminding the September 11 attacks on the United States.
With the surge of violence and rising casualties among their troops, some Western nations are reluctant to send their soldiers into areas where the al Qaeda-backed group is most active.
(Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Paul Tait)
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Qashqavi: Iran ready to help improve security in Afghanistan
Tehran Times - 16 March 2009 - TEHRAN
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi says Iran is ready to support G8 efforts to improve security and economic development of Afghanistan and share experience with the Group to counter extremist movements there.
On Italy's invitation to Iran for participation in a G-8 meeting on Afghanistan in the city of Trieste on June 27, Qashqavi told the Italy-based daily Europe, “Our reaction to offer of Italy, which now holds the G8 chairmanship and wants Iran's help to solve Afghan problems, is positive.”
The daily said Iran is willing to play key role in connection with Afghanistan but it does not seem that the country will be ready to undertake more commitments with regards to its priorities towards the west, including peaceful nuclear program and spiritual support for such Islamic resistance movements as Hamas and Hizbollah.
On Tuesday, visiting Presidents from Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, had sought a positive response from Tehran on Iran's participation in international diplomacy to resolve the Afghan crisis.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has been invited to attend a conference on Afghanistan on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in Italy in June. The invitation followed Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini's telephone conversation with Mottaki.
In a visit to Herat, eastern Afghanistan, on February 18, Frattini said Italy considers Iran to be an “interlocutor” in the process of stabilizing Afghanistan. Some European officials consider Iran as the best route for transferring aid to their troops in Afghanistan.
U.S. has also announced that it is exploring other routes as the Kyrgyzstan parliament voted Thursday to close a U.S. air base that the Pentagon had hoped to use to expand NATO operations in Afghanistan and reduce the need to ship supplies through a dangerous corridor in Pakistan.
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INTERVIEW-Afghanistan holds mineral treasure-minister
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL, March 16 (Reuters) - Afghanistan sits on one of the largest mineral deposits in the region, the country's mines minister said, urging foreign firms to invest in oil, gas and iron ore sectors.
A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) had shown that the war-torn nation may hold far higher amounts of minerals than previously thought, Mohammad Ibrahim Adel said.
"In the field of minerals, Afghanistan is the richest country in the region, much more, hundreds of times more. Except for diamond, you have all the other minerals that you find in nature, in Afghanistan," Adel told Reuters in an interview late on Sunday.
Based on the USGS survey, he said, Afghanistan's north is estimated to hold between 600 to 700 billion cubic meters of natural gas and the country has some 25 million tonnes of oil in four basins.
"We are a people who don't have money, food or clothes. But we are sleeping on gold," he said. The country's iron deposits were estimated at between five to six billion tonnes, he added.
Adel will travel next week to Dubai, Britain, the United States and Singapore to drum up foreign interest in the country's oil, gas and iron ore sectors.
Security has deteriorated in Afghanistan in recent years as a resurgent Taliban fight against foreign forces, but Adel said it would not deter foreign investors.
China's top integrated copper producer, Jiangxi Copper Co and China Metallurgical Group Corp, were interested in going ahead with the exploration of the vast Aynak Copper Mine, south of Kabul, he said.
The two companies won the contract through a tender last year to develop the Aynak Copper Mine, as Chinese companies accelerate a search for minerals abroad to feed the world's fastest-growing major economy
The Afghan government had launched an operation to rid the area of landmines, Adel said.
Afghanistan, which relies Western cash and support, will be a self sufficient nation if its natural resources were developed, he said.
"If we can allocate money for the exploration, for oil and natural resources, I think after five to 10 years, Afghanistan would be in a very good position,".
Exploiting the country's mineral resources will also provide jobs for ordinary Afghans and discourage them from joining the Taliban-led insurgents, he said.
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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Ex-Afghan President hails talks with Iran on Kabul
TEHRAN, Mar. 16 (ISNA)-The Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani welcomed talks with Iran regarding his country and said regional countries can play more influential role in settlement of issues in the area.
In an interview with Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Rabbani said Iran did well in all stages in Afghanistan and added it has seriously pursued resolving issues of Kabul.
Regional countries which have better understanding about roots of regional crises can have more constructive roles in dealing with the matters of the region, he said.
Iran's presence in any session on Afghanistan could prove influential and useful, Rabbani continued.
Also regarding a question on whether Iran is invited for Afghanistan's upcoming conference in Netherlands, he said "I have been informed through media that Iran is invited for the meeting."
The meeting scheduled to convene in the Hague, will host Afghanistan's neighbors including Iran and those states which deployed their troops in the country.
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Kandahar villagers blame U.S. troops for deaths
March 16, 2009 - THE CANADIAN PRESS
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – For the second time in as many months, angry Afghans have paraded through the streets of Kandahar the blood-splattered bodies of civilians allegedly killed by NATO forces.
The latest protest, involving people from the village named China, happened Monday and was quickly shut down by the Afghan Uniformed Police. The villagers claimed that U.S. troops in Maywand, the western-most district of Kandahar, conducted a raid Saturday night in which five people were killed and two others went missing.
American special forces along with Afghan commandos were operating in the area, but a statement from the U.S. military said only insurgents had been killed. A spokeswoman for the Canadian army said no Canadian troops were involved in the incident last weekend in Maywand.
Three corpses of bearded men were displayed in the open back of white Toyota pickup trucks at a traffic circle in a suburb of Kandahar. "I think foreigners came to Afghanistan to kill innocent people, not to kill Taliban," said Haji Mohammed, one the village elders.
He stood on the open tailgate of one of trucks and beckoned passersby to look at two of the men who were laid out side by side in one vehicle.
More than 100 people took part in the demonstration before the provincial police chief, Col. Matiullah Qateh, accused the villagers – from a region known for being a Taliban stronghold – of being in league with the militants. "You are Taliban," he shouted. "Go home."
Local journalists witnessing the event were forced at gunpoint to leave the area, and the crowd dispersed soon afterward.
The protesters said the men belonged to the Noorzai tribe, a group in Afghanistan that has occasionally aligned itself with the Taliban. There were fears among Afghan officials Monday night that the killings would whip up anti-American sentiment as the United States prepares to send 17,000 additional troops into the country.
Last month, people living in Salehan, a village for the handicapped just outside Kandahar city, accused Canadian troops of leaving behind an explosive that killed three children. But an investigation determined that the bomb likely belonged to the Taliban.
The accident had prompted an angry anti-Canadian demonstration at which the bodies of two of the boys were displayed outside Kandahar's provincial council office.
A statement from the U.S. command in Afghanistan said Saturday's operation, conducted with Afghan commandos, was aimed at disrupting foreign fighters and a weapons distribution network in the district.
"When the combined force arrived at the targeted location, they called out for all non-combatants to peacefully exit the buildings," said the statement.
"Five militants who manoeuvred on the force were killed during the operation. Several buildings were cleared without incident and three suspected militants were detained."
There were 19 women and 38 children in the compounds at the time, but none of them were injured, the statement said.
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Afghanistan holds mineral treasure: minister
Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:28am EDT - By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan sits on one of the largest mineral deposits in the region, the country's mines minister said, urging foreign firms to invest in oil, gas and iron ore sectors. A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) had shown that the war-torn nation may hold far higher amounts of minerals than previously thought, Mohammad Ibrahim Adel said.
"In the field of minerals, Afghanistan is the richest country in the region, much more, hundreds of times more. Except for diamond, you have all the other minerals that you find in nature, in Afghanistan," Adel told Reuters in an interview late on Sunday.
Based on the USGS survey, he said, Afghanistan's north is estimated to hold between 600 to 700 billion cubic meters of natural gas and the country has some 25 million tonnes of oil in four basins.
"We are a people who don't have money, food or clothes. But we are sleeping on gold," he said. The country's iron deposits were estimated at between five to six billion tonnes, he added.
Adel will travel next week to Dubai, Britain, the United States and Singapore to drum up foreign interest in the country's oil, gas and iron ore sectors.
Security has deteriorated in Afghanistan in recent years as a resurgent Taliban fight against foreign forces, but Adel said it would not deter foreign investors.
China's top integrated copper producer, Jiangxi Copper Co (0358.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and China Metallurgical Group Corp, were interested in going ahead with the exploration of the vast Aynak Copper Mine, south of Kabul, he said.
The two companies won the contract through a tender last year to develop the Aynak Copper Mine, as Chinese companies accelerate a search for minerals abroad to feed the world's fastest-growing major economy
The Afghan government had launched an operation to rid the area of landmines, Adel said. Afghanistan, which relies Western cash and support, will be a self sufficient nation if its natural resources were developed, he said.
"If we can allocate money for the exploration, for oil and natural resources, I think after five to 10 years, Afghanistan would be in a very good position,." Exploiting the country's mineral resources will also provide jobs for ordinary Afghans and discourage them from joining the Taliban-led insurgents, he said.
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Turkish FM: Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral summit to be held soon
ANKARA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Monday a Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral summit will be held soon, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
The trilateral meeting would focus on security and intelligence, the report quoted Babacan as saying. In regard to a question on Pakistan, Babacan stressed that Turkey and Pakistan share highly special relations.
"Pakistan, in the past few years, have been facing economic difficulties and problems associated with security," he said.
"We are worried about the definition of Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single region of terrorism and watch closely the domestic politics of Pakistan," the foreign minister said. Touching on Turkey's relations with Iraq, Babacan said the Iraqi government deems Turkey as a balancing force in Iraq.
"Our direct talks with the administration in north of Iraq are not merely related to the fight against terror. We conduct talks with this administration to enable domestic peace in Iraq," Babacan added.
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Why Afghanistan needs democracy
BY KHORSHIED SAMAD, SPECIAL TO THE WINDSOR STAR, MARCH 16, 2009
In the midst of deliberations about the strategy and scope of the Afghan mission in the U.S. and elsewhere, when the country is preparing to take part in another historic election this year, some analysts are trying to put the emphasis purely on the military, while others still hold importance in democracy-building and reconstruction activities.
Meanwhile, every poll and survey continues to show that everyday Afghans, while critical of some aspects of the mission over the past eight years, believe in further developing democratic values and structures as a safeguard against extremism and injustice that are considered universal threats.
Many in the West fail to realize that if the mission focused solely on military gains, or, worse yet, if the window were to close on social-economic development, the Afghan people, especially women, would not only lose the gains achieved over the past few years, but would face an uncertain, grim future.
Increasing U.S. military forces and reinforcing NATO coalition troops are a necessary strategy, especially during an election year, in overcoming the Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency plaguing Southeastern Afghanistan. Last year, according to a recent UN report, 2,100 civilians were killed as the result of fighting and terrorist activity. That is a 40-per-cent increase from the year before, and it includes many innocent women and children, the most vulnerable victims in times of war.
The efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, however, cannot purely be military. That would inevitably wreak more havoc on a people who have already suffered nearly 30 years of war, invasion, civil strife, drought and famine, not to mention six harrowing years of oppression under the Taliban regime, where human rights and civil liberties did not exist, and women were regarded as non-citizens.
The efforts to save Afghanistan from tumbling into failed-state status once again must include "smart" and focused nation-building and reconstruction, allowing for the seeds of democratic values to take hold and flourish as the country renews and rebuilds itself. This is necessary to ensure that a healthy civil society can grow and develop, protecting such ideals as freedom of speech and equal rights for all citizens, which today are upheld in the 2004 Afghan Constitution. Afghans do not want to abandon these accomplishments.
The misconception that democracy is alien to Afghanistan's society is wrong. Afghan women fought for and achieved certain important rights prior to the Taliban. The 1964 Afghan Constitution recognized men and women as equal citizens with equal rights, and the first female politicians ran and won seats in the newly formed parliament that same year. Women were active in all professional fields up until the Taliban takeover.
Afghanistan's new constitution guarantees women equal rights and a quarter of the parliamentary and provincial council seats. Out of the 5,800 registered candidates who participated in the historic parliamentary elections in 2005, 565 were women. Women won 68 of the 249 parliamentary seats, and 26 were named to the 102 seats reserved for the senate. Many women have become more socially and politically involved in their daily lives. Millions of women and girls have returned to work and school.
A joint UN and Inter-Parliamentary Union report released last year revealed that with 27.7 per cent of women MPs in the Lower House and 21.6 per cent in the Upper House Afghanistan ranks 27th in a list of 188 countries giving representation to women in national parliament.
The first political party for women was also formed last year to develop a stronger national political platform for women's rights, and now boasts more than 25,000 members. These are significant developments which could not have occurred without the help of the international community, and without a focus on democracy building, helping to improve standards and access to education, health care, economic opportunities and civic participation.
There is no doubt that there are still significant challenges for Afghan women to overcome, including the highest level of maternal mortality and epidemic illiteracy rates. The volatile security situation and certain archaic norms continue to put pressure on women and limit the roles of women and girls in public life, denying them the full enjoyment of their rights. Human rights violations, including domestic violence, rape, child marriage and honour killings, are still reported.
Without sustainable peace, security, economic opportunities and education providing new avenues and choices for the Afghan people, these disturbing realities will be difficult to reverse down the road.
On International Women's Day March 8, we were reminded that Afghanistan has much work ahead, and hopefully with the continued support of the international community its young fragile democracy will flourish so the Afghan people can become truly self-sufficient, living in peace and security, and with hope for the future.
Khorshied Samad is the former correspondent and Kabul bureau chief for Fox News and is married to the Afghanistan ambassador to Canada. She is also the co-curator of the photo exhibition, Voices on the Rise: Afghan Women Making the News, which focuses on the lives of Afghan women.
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The other Afghan surge
Statesman Journal -By Robert J. Walker - March 16, 2009
Despite President Obama's decision last month to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, many experts warn that a military "surge" will not bring about a quick victory.
Some suggest that it could take another 15 to 20 years to achieve stability in one of the world's poorest countries. If so, maybe it's time to look at the other Afghan surge: its population growth.
It's been seven years now since George W. Bush committed American troops to Afghanistan. Since then, Afghanistan's population has jumped by 22 percent, and under current projections, its population will be twice as large in 2026 as it was in 2001. That's because the average Afghan woman has almost seven children, one of the highest fertility rates in the world.
As a consequence, Afghanistan has exceptionally high infant and maternal mortality rates, and the growth of more than half of the children under the age of five is stunted by malnutrition. Forty-five percent of the Afghan population is under the age of 15. One-third of Afghan children, including 70 percent of girls, are not attending school. As a result, two out of five adult males are illiterate.
In the dry and rocky soil of Afghanistan, it's hard to grow crops. Every year, the UN helps to feeds 4-5 million Afghans, but it's not enough. Unable to grow enough food to feed themselves, many Afghan farmers get their food the only way they know how: they grow and sell poppy for cash.
Population growth doesn't bode well for the future of Afghan stability. If history and demography are accurate indicators, many of the young children who beg in the streets of Kabul today will begin bearing children in less than a decade and, if things go poorly, their children may one day be bearing arms for the Taliban.
If 68,000 U.S and foreign troops have difficulty securing Afghanistan today, policy makers should be asking themselves, how difficult will it be to stabilize the country when it has twice that number of people?
Afghanistan is not the only unstable country. There are more than a dozen failing states caught in a spiral of rising population and grinding poverty. Security experts warn that Pakistan, where fertility rates are also very high, could become a failed state. Since the turn of the millennium, Pakistan's population has climbed by almost 27 million, an increase of nearly 20 percent.
Last year, Gen Hayden, the director of the CIA, warned that rapid population growth "in poor, fragile states" is a major threat to global security and "will create a situation that will likely fuel instability and extremism—not just in those areas, but beyond them as well".
One reason why we rarely hear of the "population problem" anymore is that it's considered politically incorrect to worry about the fertility rates of people in poor countries. But one of the major reasons that many countries still struggle with extreme poverty is rapid population growth. Women in many poor countries today still lack knowledge of, and access to, modern methods of contraception, and that often means that many of their children will be malnourished, unable to attend school, and condemned to a life of poverty.
Today, more than 100 million women in developing countries want to space or limit childbearing, but are not using modern methods of birth control, largely because they lack information or access to family planning services. Citing a decline in the real-dollar level of U.S. support for international family planning assistance since 1994, five former directors of USAID's family assistance program recently urged Congress to more than double the existing level of U.S. aid. Such assistance is far less costly than fighting a prolonged war.
If high fertility rates condemn future Afghan generations to severe poverty and instability, don't pity us; pity them. For whatever calamities that we, as Americans, might suffer because of a failing Afghan state, the harm that will befall the Afghan people will likely be far greater. So, for their sakes—and ours—let us commit ourselves to the goal of ensuring that every woman in the world, not just every Afghan woman, has access to family planning information and modern methods of contraception.
Last year, Gen Hayden, the director of the CIA, warned that rapid population growth "in poor, fragile states" is a major threat to global security and "will create a situation that will likely fuel instability and extremism—not just in those areas, but beyond them as well".
One reason why we rarely hear of the "population problem" anymore is that it's considered politically incorrect to worry about the fertility rates of people in poor countries. But one of the major reasons that many countries still struggle with extreme poverty is rapid population growth. Women in many poor countries today still lack knowledge of, and access to, modern methods of contraception, and that often means that many of their children will be malnourished, unable to attend school, and condemned to a life of poverty.
Today, more than 100 million women in developing countries want to space or limit childbearing, but are not using modern methods of birth control, largely because they lack information or access to family planning services. Citing a decline in the real-dollar level of U.S. support for international family planning assistance since 1994, five former directors of USAID's family assistance program recently urged Congress to more than double the existing level of U.S. aid. Such assistance is far less costly than fighting a prolonged war.
If high fertility rates condemn future Afghan generations to severe poverty and instability, don't pity us; pity them. For whatever calamities that we, as Americans, might suffer because of a failing Afghan state, the harm that will befall the Afghan people will likely be far greater. So, for their sakes—and ours—let us commit ourselves to the goal of ensuring that every woman in the world, not just every Afghan woman, has access to family planning information and modern methods of contraception.
Robert J. Walker is executive vice president of The Population Institute, a nonprofit organization working to achieve a world population that can live in harmony with the planet.
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'Osama In Pakistan's Hindu Kush Range'
RTTNews - 16 March 2009
The United States is reported to have tracked down the world's most wanted Islamist terrorist, Osama bin Laden, to the reputedly impenetrable Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan's scenic Chitral region, media reports say.
Though the U.S. has made no official comment in this regard, the world's biggest manhunt for bin Laden--the top al-Qaida leader accused of the September 2001 attacks on the U.S.--has narrowed down to Chitral.
A detailed review of the evidence, including recent predator missions, bin Laden's tapes since 9/11 and interviews with three dozen experts on al-Qaida, Pakistan and special operations, point to this mountain range as Osama's likely latest haven, the reports said.
With Islamic militancy taking root in several valleys of Chitral leading to the Afghan border, Pakistan has decreed them off-limits to foreigners, and the region is now regularly under American drone surveillance.
Drones were first spotted overflying Chitral last summer, and were seen again as recently as February 2. The region is so far from U.S.-run airfields that the drone sorties are limited to just a few hours due to fueling problems, the report added.
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Afghanistan: Battle lines drawn over contraception
FARAH, 15 March 2009 (IRIN) - There are indications that some Taliban groups fervently oppose the use of contraceptives and may start using the issue as a pretext to launch further attacks on health centres, experts say.
A meeting in February - attended by IRIN - between Taliban insurgents and dozens of local elders and young men in Balabolok District, Farah Province, southwestern Afghanistan, was devoted to the issue of contraceptives.
A pro-Taliban religious leader spoke for almost an hour against the use of contraceptive drugs, calling them "illicit and non-Islamic".
"Those people who use anti-pregnancy drugs are actually murdering children," said Mawlawi Abdul Baqi, adding that the use of such drugs was against Islamic principles and should be avoided.
IRIN observed that participants at the meeting appeared to be frightened, and frequently nodded to Baqi and a handful of armed insurgents to indicate their assent. "These drugs belong to Kafirs [infidels]," said an insurgent with an AK-47.
There were no women at the meeting and no one mentioned maternal and infant mortality rates: Every hour at least two Afghan women die from pregnancy-related complications, and the infant mortality rate is estimated at 127 per 1,000 live births, according to aid agencies.
"The condom is a bad thing" - Taliban insurgents do not have a unified stance on contraceptives, but leading spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi told IRIN by phone from an unspecified location that the condom was a Western not an Islamic product. "The condom is a bad thing which spreads obscenity among Muslims," he said.
He said the condom should only be used on the advice of a doctor to prevent disease. "Contraceptive injections and pills should only be used in exceptional circumstances. .. In general, contraceptives should not be used to prevent childbirth because Islam favours more Muslim children and asks couples to give birth to as many children as possible," Ahmadi said.
Government advocates contraceptives - Unlike the Taliban, the Afghan government has been advocating the use of contraceptives in an effort to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates, and some progress has been made over the past few years.
"Birth gaps have positive impacts on a mother's health and the practice is in compliance with Sharia [Islamic] law so we will continue to recommend it," Abdullah Fahim, a spokesman for MoPH, told IRIN.
Scholars like Hamdullah Rahmani, a lecturer in Islam at Kabul University, say the Taliban's rigid social policies originate more from "obscurantist traditions" than true Islamic principles. "They [the Taliban] are illiterate and do not know about the real spirit of Islam. they're wrong," Rahmani said.
"A gap of at least two years between pregnancies is entirely in accordance with Islamic laws," said Rahmani. Contraceptive pills and condoms have become increasingly available, especially in urban areas, since the demise of the Taliban in 2002.
Afghanistan has the highest fertility rate in Asia (see: http://www.irinnews .org/Report. aspx?ReportId= 79236). The average Afghan woman gives birth to 6-7 children, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). Rapid population growth (Afghanistan' s population is estimated to reach 56 million by 2050) poses serious social and development challenges, experts warn.
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