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Top UN official in Afghanistan admits fraud tainted election
Head of mission Kai Eide says fraudulent votes were cast but denies claims by former deputy of attempted cover-up
Jon Boone in Kabul guardian.co.uk, Sunday 11 October 2009 15.45 BST
The most senior United Nations official in Afghanistan today acknowledged that "widespread fraud" had marred Afghanistan's presidential election, but denied allegations from his sacked second-in-command that he had attempted to cover up evidence of cheating.
U.N. mission chief denies Afghan fraud cover-up
By Peter Graff And Akram Walizada – Sun Oct 11, 9:44 am ET
KABUL (Reuters) – The head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan denied accusations on Sunday that he had helped cover up election fraud, and said he still believed a result could be reached that Afghans would find credible.
UN highlights Afghan poll fraud
Sunday, 11 October 2009 BBC News
The senior UN envoy in Afghanistan has given his one of his strongest indications yet of concern over the conduct of the country's election.
SCENARIOS - Possible outcomes of Afghanistan's election
Reuters via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News - Oct 11 8:38 AM
A final result from the first round of Afghanistan's August 20 presidential election is expected this week, after being held up by an investigation into fraud. Skip related content
McCain warns against 'historic' error in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain said any added military deployment in Afghanistan smaller than the 40,000 troops reportedly requested by the top U.S. commander there "would be an error of historic proportions."
McCain Says 40,000 More Troops Needed to Win in Afghanistan
By Jesse Westbrook and Viola Gienger
Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said it will take at least 40,000 additional U.S. troops to win in Afghanistan and cautioned the Obama administration against a “half-measure.”
Afghan official: Foreigners bolstering Taliban
By Rahim Faiez And Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writer – Sun Oct 11, 12:30 am ET
KABUL – Thousands of foreign fighters have poured into Afghanistan to bolster the Taliban insurgency, the country's defense minister said Saturday as he called for more international troops.
Japan's FM makes surprise visit to Afghanistan
Sun Oct 11, 8:32 am ET
TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada held talks with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai during a surprise visit to Kabul Sunday, Okada's ministry said.
US, Afghan troops kill 16 insurgents: NATO
Sun Oct 11, 10:22 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – Afghan and US forces killed 16 insurgents on Sunday in an operation in the east of the country, also arresting a suspected Al-Qaeda fighter, NATO and Afghan police said.
15 Taliban rebels arrested, 50 rifles seized in N Afghanistan
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Security forces during an operation against Taliban insurgents in Kunduz province, north of Afghanistan, have detained over a dozen fighters and seized a large number
Afghan outlook bleak as Taliban grabs territory
By Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer
KABUL – My closest Afghan friend held out his Taliban-era photo. A decade younger, he had a thick black beard that the oppressive regime forced men to grow.
Afghan, international troops target Al-Qaeda hideout, killing over 12
KABUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Afghan and international security forces eliminated more than a dozen militants and detained another during a joint operation targeting Al-Qaeda in Kunar province of eastern Afghanistan on Sunday,
Mine explosion kills police, district chief in E Afghanistan
KHOST, Afghanistan, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- One mine went off unexpectedly during a mine defusing mission in Afghanistan's eastern province of Paktika, killing the chief and police chief of Shah Khil district on Saturday, an official said on Sunday.
US soldier killed by IED in Afghanistan: NATO
Sun Oct 11, 11:13 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – A US soldier deployed in Afghanistan to fight Taliban-linked militants was killed by a remote-controlled bomb, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Sunday.
Taliban spokesman detained in W Afghanistan
KABUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Afghan troops during an operation in Gazara district of western Herat province arrested Taliban spokesman Bashir Qinaat, army spokesperson in the region Abdul Basir Ghori said Sunday.
Taliban influence in N Afghanistan to cripple NATO mission
By Abdul Haleem
KABUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- While NATO has been endeavoring to sweep Taliban insurgents out from their hotbed in southern Afghanistan, the militants by influencing the northern provinces have opened a new front against the western military alliance.
The Case Against a Surge
More troops won't solve Afghanistan.
Published Oct 10, 2009 From the magazine issue dated Oct 19, 2009 Fareed Zakaria
At the heart of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for a major surge in troops is the assumption that we are failing in Afghanistan. But are we really? The United States has had one central objective: to deny Al Qaeda the means
Commandos Free 39 Hostages, Ending Militant Siege in Pakistan
By Ayaz Gul VOA News 11 October 2009
Military officials in Pakistan say the siege near the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad, is over. Commando forces raided a building where militants were holding more than 30 hostages
Did Weapons Fail U.S. Troops During Afghanistan Assault?
Sunday, October 11, 2009 Associated Press via Fox News
WASHINGTON — In the chaos of an early morning assault on a remote U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips' M4 carbine quit firing as militant forces surrounded the base.
Some Canadian troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2011
Sat Oct 10, 1:35 pm ET
OTTAWA (AFP) – Canada will keep some troops in Afghanistan beyond a lawmaker-mandated 2011 deadline for withdrawal to serve in development and reconstruction roles, a government spokesman said Saturday.
India hints at Pakistan link to Kabul embassy blast
Sun Oct 11, 3:58 am ET
NEW DELHI (AFP) – India hinted that a suicide attack on its embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul last week was staged by Pakistani militants who oppose its support of President Hamid Karzai's government.
Pak regrets 'baseless insinuations' on Kabul bombing
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 11 (PTI) Pakistan has expressed regret over "baseless insinuations" linking it to the suicide bombing near the Indian embassy in Afghanistan and said New Delhi should instead "opt for cooperation" to end terrorism.
50 militants join Afghan gov't, 7 others detained in North
KABUL, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Over four dozen Taliban insurgents have laid down arms and joined the government in Kunduz province north of Afghanistan, provincial governor Mohammad Omar said Saturday.
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Top UN official in Afghanistan admits fraud tainted election
Head of mission Kai Eide says fraudulent votes were cast but denies claims by former deputy of attempted cover-up
Jon Boone in Kabul guardian.co.uk, Sunday 11 October 2009 15.45 BST
The most senior United Nations official in Afghanistan today acknowledged that "widespread fraud" had marred Afghanistan's presidential election, but denied allegations from his sacked second-in-command that he had attempted to cover up evidence of cheating.
With days to go until the final result of the August election, Kai Eide, the head of the UN mission in Kabul, admitted there had been "significant fraud". He said that the claims made by Peter Galbraith, the American diplomat sacked earlier this month, had "affected the entire election process".
The report of a fraud investigation is due in the coming days, which will decide the final outcome of the voting that took place more than seven weeks ago.
A western diplomat said it was "on a knife edge" whether enough fraudulent votes would be removed from the preliminary result to trigger a potentially difficult second round.
Public and international faith in the election plunged to at an all time low after the fraud allegations and the UN attempted to bolster credibility in the process today by surrounding Eide with leading ambassadors at the stage-managed press event.
Although the US, British, French and German ambassadors joined Eide for his attempt to set the record straight, none of them spoke and UN officials prevented journalists from asking them questions.
Eide said their presence was a "sign of international support" for his approach. Galbraith had claimed that his former boss failed to stop polling stations from opening in areas that were too dangerous for monitors to visit.
Eide said that he had been backed in his decision keep as many polling stations open by the main western powers, who were anxious not to disenfranchise voters.
"We all understood that if we pre-emptively removed 1,200 polling centres we would prevent a large number of voters, primarily Pashtun, from voting."
He said that would have created "an important element of instability in the country".
The Norwegian diplomat also defended himself against allegations that he banned his staff from handing over evidence collected on polling day that showed that actual voter turnout was far lower than the reported result. Eide said that some of the information was not in a fit state to hand over to the relevant authorities.
"It was often second or third-hand information and some changed from day to day. It is important to me that when information is shared and provided by the UN it must have the level of solidity that can make it authoritative," he said, adding that it would have been a "conflict of interest" for the UN to act as an observer in an election it helped to run.
Western diplomats are anxious to shore up support for the poll as the Election Complaints Commission, a watchdog led by non-Afghan staff, prepares to unveil the results of an investigation it ordered into electoral fraud. Around 10% of the 3,498 ballot boxes regarded as suspicious have been inspected by election staff looking for signs of irregularities.
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U.N. mission chief denies Afghan fraud cover-up
By Peter Graff And Akram Walizada – Sun Oct 11, 9:44 am ET
KABUL (Reuters) – The head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan denied accusations on Sunday that he had helped cover up election fraud, and said he still believed a result could be reached that Afghans would find credible.
In strongly-worded remarks at a news conference, Kai Eide said allegations by a U.S. diplomat who was fired as his deputy were false and undermined the election process.
Eide appeared at the news conference flanked by the U.S., British and French ambassadors, which he said was an "expression of international unity in the work that we are doing."
A final result is expected within days in the August 20 vote, held up for weeks by an investigation after a U.N.-backed watchdog found "clear and convincing evidence of fraud."
"That's been a difficult process. It's been marred, not least, as you know, by widespread fraud," Eide said. He added it was up to the watchdog to determine the extent of the cheating.
Investigators would still "be able to remove fraudulent votes and honor valid votes," he said. "When the result is being certified it will be a result that is being made on a solid basis, and it should be accepted by the Afghan people."
The Electoral Complaints Commission will announce results of the fraud investigation later this week, either confirming President Hamid Karzai as the victor, or -- if a large share of Karzai's votes are found to be fraudulent -- ordering a run-off.
The final weeks of the process have been overshadowed by a feud between Eide, a veteran Norwegian diplomat, and his American former deputy, Peter Galbraith, who was fired after complaining that Eide turned a blind eye toward fraud.
"ATTACK ON INTEGRITY"
"Yes, it has affected me. It's been an attack on my integrity. It's not been dignified. It's not been fair. It's not been true," Eide said. "It's had an impact on the U.N. mission; it's had an impact on the election process because it's heightened the temperature."
Because Galbraith is a senior U.S. diplomat and known to be close to the U.S. envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, the feud has been widely interpreted in Western media as a sign that Washington wanted a harder line toward fraud.
U.S. officials say doubt about the legitimacy of the vote is one of the issues they are grappling with while weighing whether to send 40,000 more troops to defend the Kabul government, but they have spent the past few days signaling backing for Eide.
The U.S. State Department issued a brief statement on Friday saying it supported Eide's role in the election. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry did not speak or take questions at Sunday's news conference, but nodded in agreement when Eide referred to support he had received from ambassadors.
Karzai has acknowledged that some fraud took place, but says its extent was exaggerated by the Western media, European monitors and others. Speaking to reporters at his palace on Sunday, he said he expected a result within days.
"Of course, there are outside circles who interfered in our elections and still do so," he said, without identifying them. He said the U.N. mission was not to blame.
"No, the U.N. has had no involvement in ruining Afghanistan's election or has interfered in it," Karzai said.
According to preliminary results, Karzai won 54.6 percent of the vote. After finding "clear and convincing evidence of fraud," the ECC ordered a recount of around 12 percent of ballot boxes, believed to contain more than a quarter of all votes cast.
Officials completed checks of a sample of those suspicious ballots last week and are now working out a final tally.
If the complaints commission throws out enough of Karzai's votes that his tally falls below 50 percent, he must face a run-off against main rival former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah at the end of October or in early November.
(Additional reporting by Sayed Salahuddin and Sean Maguire; editing by Robin Pomeroy)
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UN highlights Afghan poll fraud
Sunday, 11 October 2009 BBC News
The senior UN envoy in Afghanistan has given his one of his strongest indications yet of concern over the conduct of the country's election.
Kai Eide acknowledged that "widespread fraud" affected the presidential vote.
Responding to accusations that he covered up the extent of malpractice, he said fraud was "significant" but any effect on the result remained unclear.
Allegations made by his former deputy were an attack on his dignity and hurt the entire electoral process, he said.
Peter Galbraith - dismissed from his post at the end of September - has labelled the Kabul-based mission "leaderless" and called Mr Eide a "terrible manager".
He also called for a complete recount of the Afghan vote, reportedly angering President Hamid Karzai - whose supporters have been most closely linked with irregularities.
Investigations
Speaking in Kabul accompanied by ambassadors from the US, the UK and France, Mr Eide, a Norwegian, was clear in his judgement that fraud had taken place during August's election.
"It is true that in a number of polling stations in the south and the south-east there was significant fraud," he said.
"There is no way to know at this stage what the level of fraud is. I do not know, nobody else knows.
"The extent of that fraud is now being determined," he added, calling any attempt to put a figure on it as "pure speculation".
According to EU election observers, about 1.5m votes cast in August's presidential vote - about one quarter of all ballots - could be fraudulent.
Mr Eide said allegations against him by Mr Galbraith had been hugely damaging.
"The allegations made against me by my former deputy have not only been personal attacks against me and my integrity, but they have been attacks that have affected the entire election process."
The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says it was significant that Mr Eide came out fighting.
It also appears that the international community, in the shape of ambassadors from Western countries, was closing ranks behind their man in Afghanistan, our correspondent says.
Karzai impatient
The Afghan Electoral Complaints Commission and the Independent Election Commission have almost completed an investigation of ballot boxes identified as suspicious, the UN has said.
Mr Karzai leads preliminary results with about 55% of the vote, considerably ahead of his nearest rival Abdullah Abdullah, who has 28%.
Separately on Sunday Mr Karzai was reported as saying the delay in announcing an official winner was damaging Afghanistan.
"Day by day, Afghanistan faces more security problems, there is a decrease in the national income, there is an increase in insecurity across the country, [and] there is a negative impact on daily business," the Associated Press reported him as saying.
Disputes about the electoral process and its aftermath caused differences between Mr Eide and Mr Galbraith, his American deputy, to erupt in public.
Mr Galbraith left Afghanistan following an apparent row with Mr Eide over the UN's approach to the electoral fallout.
He was then removed from his position by the UN before going public with concerns over Mr Eide's leadership.
He alleged Mr Eide covered up the extent of the fraud to maintain good relations with Hamid Karzai.
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SCENARIOS - Possible outcomes of Afghanistan's election
Reuters via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News - Oct 11 8:38 AM
A final result from the first round of Afghanistan's August 20 presidential election is expected this week, after being held up by an investigation into fraud. Skip related content
A U.N.-backed watchdog, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), ordered a recount of 12 percent of ballot boxes, believed to contain about a quarter of votes, after finding "clear and convincing evidence of fraud."
To speed up the process, experts have inspected a sample of the suspicious boxes and will use a formula to calculate whether a second round is needed.
In preliminary results, President Hamid Karzai received 54.6 percent of the vote. If the impact of any fraud is found to lower his tally below 50 percent, he must face his main challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, in a runoff.
Following are some possible outcomes:
ECC FINDS FRAUD NOT DECISIVE, KARZAI DECLARED WINNER
When the ECC concludes its investigations, it could well find that while fraud took place, it was not on a big enough scale to force a second round, and declare Karzai the winner.
Karzai's preliminary winning margin is big enough that fraud could have happened on a very large scale and still not alter the outcome. In the preliminary tally, Karzai won 3.1 million of 5.7 million valid votes. If about 500,000 of Karzai's votes were annulled, he would still have 2.6 million out of 5.2 million valid votes, the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a run-off.
This outcome might anger Abdullah's followers. However, Abdullah has pledged repeatedly that he would abide by a decision of the ECC, which is led by a respected Canadian official, backed by the United Nations and widely seen as fair.
Abdullah says he believes his followers will not take to the streets, and so far fears of violence connected to the dispute have not been borne out, although he has also suggested he may not be able to control them if they feel the vote was stolen. One of Abdullah's leading supporters, Atta Mohammad Noor, governor of Balkh province, has warned of possible unrest if Karzai wins in a single round and Abdullah's followers are not given jobs.
Karzai has repeatedly said he would welcome Abdullah back into the government. Abdullah says he will not accept a post.
ECC FINDS FRAUD DECISIVE, ORDERS SECOND ROUND:
If the ECC eliminates enough of Karzai's ballots to push him back below the 50 percent threshold, a second round must be held.
Karzai clearly wishes to avoid that, but probably would have no choice but to accept one if the ECC orders it.
Afghan election laws require any second round be held within two weeks of the final result being announced.
Authorities have already printed up ballot papers, and say they should be able to hold the second round around the end of October or beginning of November.
In any second round, Karzai would still be the clear front runner, although Abdullah would try to win support from some of the regional chieftains who backed Karzai in the first round.
The international community and Afghan authorities would be under pressure to ensure that massive fraud was not repeated, while Taliban insurgents are likely to attempt to disrupt voting areas through violence and threats.
OTHER OPTIONS:
In recent weeks there had been concern that winter might set in before a second round could be held this year, leading to speculation that an interim government would be needed or other measures would have to be taken to resolve a prolonged dispute.
However, the ECC's decision to use a sampling method to speed up the recount means the process should be finished this week, in time for a prompt second round.
Both sides say they will abide by the decision of the ECC, and there seems to be little appetite either in Afghanistan or the West for any outcomes other than a first round Karzai victory or a run-off.
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McCain warns against 'historic' error in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain said any added military deployment in Afghanistan smaller than the 40,000 troops reportedly requested by the top U.S. commander there "would be an error of historic proportions."
Asked whether he thought the war in Afghanistan could be won with fewer troops than Gen. Stanley McChrystal has reportedly requested, McCain said, "I do not."
The Arizona Republican, who was defeated by President Obama in the 2008 presidential election, spoke in a wide-ranging interview that aired Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."
"I think the great danger now is a half-measure, sort of a -- you know, try to please all ends of the political spectrum," McCain told CNN chief national correspondent John King. "And, again, I have great sympathy for the president, making the toughest decisions that presidents have to make, but I think he needs to use deliberate speed."
Disregarding requirements that have been "laid out and agreed to" by Central Command head Gen. David Petraeus and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen "would be an error of historic proportions," McCain said when asked whether 10,000 or 20,000 additional troops in Afghanistan would suffice.
Also Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said U.S. troops would be put in "jeopardy" if Obama does not listen to McChrystal.
"I don't know how you put somebody in who's as crackerjack as Gen. McChrystal, who gives the president very solid recommendations, and not take those recommendations if you're not going to pull out," the California Democrat said on ABC's "This Week."
Feinstein was one of many members of Congress who discussed the situation in Afghanistan with Obama last week. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," she called on Obama to make a decision "sooner, rather than later." That's a turnaround from her position two weeks ago when she expressed support for Obama's wait-and-see approach on Afghanistan.
The president and his top military, national security and foreign policy advisers are in the midst of an intensive strategic review of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. McChrystal is advocating a counterinsurgency strategy similar to the so-called "surge" in Iraq -- which McCain championed. Vice President Joe Biden is advocating a counterterrorism strategy focused more on using drone aircraft and special forces to rid Afghanistan of al Qaeda militants along the Pakistan border.
As Obama continued a planned series of meetings with his war council, last week a remote U.S. outpost in Afghanistan was attacked by hundreds of insurgents, leading to the deaths of eight Americans during the single incident. The fierce firefight has become part of the ongoing debate about how many troops are necessary to accomplish the United States' goals in the country.
"Adm. Mullen and Gen. McChrystal and Gen. Petraeus have said the situation is deteriorating. Just over the last several days, as you know, week or so, we've lost 10 more brave young Americans. And the longer we delay the decision, the longer it will be before we provide them with what the needed resources are," McCain said on "State of the Union."
And pointing to the successful "surge" in Iraq that involved a broad, troop-intensive counterinsurgency strategy, in which Petraeus and McChrystal both played roles, McCain suggested that rather than delay, the president should follow the strategic advice that the two generals have already set out.
"The strategy that was developed by Gen. Petraeus in particular, but also with Gen. McChrystal as his strong right arm, did succeed there [in Iraq]," McCain told King. "Should we risk going against the advice and counsel of our best and strongest advisers, those we've given the responsibility? ... This is a very tough decision, but I do again argue for some deliberate speed, because our allies in the region are beginning to get the impression that perhaps we are wavering."
McCain also weighed in on Friday's surprise announcement that Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. "I can't divine all their intentions," McCain said of the Nobel Committee that awards the prestigious international honor, "but I think part of their decision-making was expectations. And I'm sure the president understands that he now has even more to live up to."
McCain on health care reform, Palin
On the domestic front, McCain said his party needs to be prepared for the next phase of the health care reform debate, likely to begin as soon as the last of five reform bills is put to an expected vote Tuesday in the Senate Finance Committee.
"We Republicans need to come up with our agenda, and we need to do it so that there is a viable alternative to this [legislation in the Senate Finance Committee]. And it has to do with things that are not associated with government-controlled health care in America.
"And there are many, many things we can do -- medical malpractice reform, go across state lines to get insurance policies of your choice, refundable tax credits -- there's a long list of things that we can and should propose as we enter this debate."
Asked whether he would vote for the version of health care reform legislation championed by finance committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, if it came to the Senate floor, McCain said he would have to wait and see what the final Senate version of reform legislation looks like.
As the release date approaches for his former running mate's new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," McCain openly admitted that there were tensions between his former campaign manager Steve Schmidt and those close to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Still, McCain called Palin "a formidable force" in the GOP and said he remains open to the possibility of Palin being his party's presidential nominee in 2012. "I have great affection for her," McCain continued. But "did we always agree on everything in the past? Will we in the future? No."
While McCain said he could not predict what would happen in the next presidential election, the Arizona Republican said he is open to many potential nominees for his party -- including Palin.
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McCain Says 40,000 More Troops Needed to Win in Afghanistan
By Jesse Westbrook and Viola Gienger
Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said it will take at least 40,000 additional U.S. troops to win in Afghanistan and cautioned the Obama administration against a “half-measure.”
“The great danger now is not an American pullout,” McCain, who was his party’s 2008 presidential nominee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program today. “The great danger is a half-measure” that tries to “please all ends of the political spectrum.”
President Barack Obama is examining options for the Afghan war after his commander in country, General Stanley McChrystal, warned that the U.S. risks failure without doing more to protect the local population from a Taliban insurgency. In an Aug. 30 assessment, McChrystal said more international troops would be needed to provide security and train Afghan forces. McCain says McChrystal is seeking to add 30,000 to 40,000 troops to the 68,000 the U.S. will have there by the end of the year.
Administration officials have argued that al-Qaeda, the group that carried out terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001, could find sanctuary in Afghanistan if the Taliban returns to power. A U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban leadership eight years ago.
Robert Gibbs, Obama’s press secretary, said Oct. 9 that the administration is “probably several weeks away” from deciding on a new strategy in Afghanistan. McCain urged Obama to act quickly.
“He needs to use deliberate speed,” said McCain, a U.S. Navy veteran and former prisoner of war in Vietnam who represents Arizona. “The longer we delay the decision, the longer it will be before we provide them with what the needed resources are.”
Divisions on Strategy
Obama is mulling what to do as he faces divisions within his administration and his own party over a U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan.
“There’s a lot of ways to show resolve other than sending more combat forces,” U.S. Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who heads the Armed Services Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” today. “The surge that will work in Afghanistan will be a surge in Afghan troops.”
One reason Obama has said he is reviewing strategy in Afghanistan is the disputed election of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. A lack of credibility might weaken Karzai’s capacity to mobilize his government and the Afghan people to work with the NATO-led alliance against the Taliban insurgents that once harbored al-Qaeda.
Election Fraud Allegations
Afghan officials and the United Nations are examining the fraud allegations and recounting some ballots from the Aug. 20 vote. The Independent Election Commission in Afghanistan said on Sept. 16 that Karzai’s nominal lead increased slightly to 54 percent compared with 28 percent for his main challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.
Under the election rules, Karzai will be re-elected unless his final tally falls to 50 percent or less, in which case he and Abdullah will compete in a runoff.
Former U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith has accused the UN of suppressing evidence of voter irregularities. UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon fired Galbraith last month from his position as deputy head of the UN mission in Afghanistan.
“If there is a finding that the election was corrupt” then “have a runoff and have it as soon as possible,” McCain said. “We have to have the Karzai government show us it is going to truly reform.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Jesse Westbrook in Washington at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net; Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net.
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Afghan official: Foreigners bolstering Taliban
By Rahim Faiez And Heidi Vogt, Associated Press Writer – Sun Oct 11, 12:30 am ET
KABUL – Thousands of foreign fighters have poured into Afghanistan to bolster the Taliban insurgency, the country's defense minister said Saturday as he called for more international troops.
The remarks come as the U.S. debates whether to substantially increase its forces in Afghanistan or to conduct a more limited campaign focused on targeting al-Qaida figures — most of whom are believed to be in neighboring Pakistan.
The minister's comments hit on a key worry of the United States — that not sending enough troops to Afghanistan will open the door back up to al-Qaida. They also suggest that the Afghan government is nervous about the U.S. commitment amid talk of changing the strategy and a surge in violence in recent months.
An American and two Polish troops were killed by bombs in the latest violence reported by NATO forces.
"The enemy has changed. Their number has increased," Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak told lawmakers in a speech. He said about 4,000 fighters, mostly from Chechnya, North Africa and Pakistan "have joined with them and they are involved in the fighting in Afghanistan."
He gave no timeframe for the supposed increase in foreign fighters.
Wardak said Afghan intelligence services had asked for more international forces to cope with the foreign threat, and the minister's spokesman said Wardak backed the call.
U.S. military officials said they could not immediately comment on the claim of a recent influx of foreign fighters.
Afghanistan's interior minister, who also spoke to parliament, endorsed a strategy promoted by the top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal to focus on protecting civilians rather than simply killing insurgents.
"If the target of this fight is only killing the Taliban, we will not win this war. If it is saving the Afghan people, then we have a possibility," Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said.
The strategy debate in the U.S. has been complicated by the still-undecided Afghan presidential election, which has raised doubts about whether there will be reliable, credible Afghan leadership to cement any military gains by the U.S. and its allies. Results from the disputed August vote have been delayed because of widespread allegations of fraud.
A U.N.-backed fraud investigation panel was analyzing data Saturday from an audit and recount of polling stations with suspect results. Results from about 13 percent of the country's polling stations hang in the balance — enough to swing the result from an outright win by President Hamid Karzai to a forced runoff between the top two finishers.
Election officials have said they expect to announce final results by the end of next week.
The weeks of waiting have been dogged by accusations of wrongdoing between candidates and even within the U.N., which has advised on the vote and whose appointees dominate the fraud investigation panel.
The second-in-command at the U.N. in Afghanistan was fired this month after a dispute with his boss about how to investigate alleged fraud. The official, American Peter Galbraith, has since accused the U.N. of trying to cover up fraud to avoid a runoff vote. Kai Eide, the top U.N. envoy to Afghanistan, has denied the charges.
An Afghan election official said Saturday that the U.N. dispute is further damaging the credibility of an election already seen as marred by fraud.
"This kind of controversy will of course have an impact on the wider perception of the election inside and outside Afghanistan," said Zekria Barakzai, a deputy chief electoral officer with the government-appointed Independent Election Commission. "It is a negative impact."
The U.S. service member died Saturday of wounds suffered in a bombing in southern Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.
The Polish soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in eastern Wardak province on Friday, Poland's Defense Ministry said. Four others were wounded.
Also Saturday, Afghan officials said nine Taliban were killed the day before in a gunfight in Wardak.
Two Afghan policemen and a district official were killed Friday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Paktika province, which borders Pakistan.
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Japan's FM makes surprise visit to Afghanistan
Sun Oct 11, 8:32 am ET
TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada held talks with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai during a surprise visit to Kabul Sunday, Okada's ministry said.
Okada, the first member of Japan's new government to visit Afghanistan, arrived in Kabul Sunday on a regional tour that will also take him to neighbouring Pakistan later in the day, his ministry said.
The ministry did not immediately confirm what Karzai and Okada discussed.
Okada will stay in Pakistan until Monday and visit Indonesia Tuesday and Wednesday, the ministry added.
While in Kabul, Okada was also scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta and other Afghan leaders.
"The visit is aimed at prompting Afghan officials to establish a stable government after (August's) presidential election," the ministry said in a statement.
Okada was expected to discuss Japan's contribution to war-ravaged country Afghanistan and other issues, Japanese media said.
He will also tell Pakistani leaders that Japan will "continue supporting the country's stable development while (Pakistan) undertakes anti-terrorism measures and economic reforms," the ministry said.
Okada is the envoy of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party of Japan took over Japan's government on September 16 following its landslide victory in national elections.
Since taking office, Hatoyama has said that in January he will end Japan's naval-support mission for US-led operations in Afghanistan.
But Okada has said Tokyo could offer Kabul more development aid in place of the support mission.
The Indian Ocean mission -- which began in December 2001 and was periodically renewed by Japan's previous, conservative government -- provides the US-led coalition with fuel and other logistical support.
Hatoyama's government is preparing its plans for helping Afghanistan ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to Japan on November 12 and 13 as part of an Asian tour.
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US, Afghan troops kill 16 insurgents: NATO
Sun Oct 11, 10:22 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – Afghan and US forces killed 16 insurgents on Sunday in an operation in the east of the country, also arresting a suspected Al-Qaeda fighter, NATO and Afghan police said.
The overnight operation took place in Kunar province, which borders Pakistan's tribal regions, considered a hiding place for Islamist militants.
"Today a joint security force killed more than a dozen militants and detained a suspected militant after searching a mountainside compound in Kunar province known to be used by an Al-Qaeda commander," NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.
"During the search of the compound located near Tantil village, northeast of Jalalabad, the force received hostile enemy fire on two occasions and returned fire, killing the enemy militants.
"The joint force also found a number of rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, multiple AK-47 rifles and other grenades. All items were destroyed in place," the statement added.
An ISAF spokesman specified that 16 people were killed and there were no civilian casualties. Kunar's police chief, Khalilullah Ziayi, said: "Sixteen people were killed. All of them were Taliban."
However, in the village of Tantil, residents Asghar and Sayed Hassan insisted that those killed were civilians, among them an 80-year-old man, as well as nine members of one family. This claim could not be confirmed by official sources.
Kunar is known for high levels of insurgent attacks and as a centre of operations by the powerful Haqqani insurgent group, named after Jalaluddin Haqqani, which cut its teeth resisting Soviet rule in the 1980s.
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15 Taliban rebels arrested, 50 rifles seized in N Afghanistan
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Security forces during an operation against Taliban insurgents in Kunduz province, north of Afghanistan, have detained over a dozen fighters and seized a large number of weapons, provincial governor Mohammad Omar said Sunday.
"Afghan troops with the support of U.S. Special Force detained 15 rebels from Ali Abad district Saturday night," Omar told newsmen at a press conference.
He also said that 50 assault rifles had been seized during the operation.
When he was asked about casualties on the side of security forces, the official contended that only one police constable was killed and another sustained injuries in the gunfight on Saturday.
Omar stressed that militants loyal to Uzbek fighter Tahir Yaldash who was killed recently are active in Kunduz province fighting against security forces.
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Afghan outlook bleak as Taliban grabs territory
By Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer
KABUL – My closest Afghan friend held out his Taliban-era photo. A decade younger, he had a thick black beard that the oppressive regime forced men to grow.
My friend won't grow one again. He is already thinking about when to flee.
As generals, politicians and pundits in Washington debate the next best step for America's eight-year war in Afghanistan, the Taliban takes new territory by the day, despite the record 64,000 U.S. troops here.
I arrived in Afghanistan in spring 2006, just as violence began to explode. I leave after three years as the chief correspondent for The Associated Press, and never have things seemed so ominous. As one of America's top military analysts, Anthony Cordesman, says: The U.S. "is now decisively losing."
No one thinks Kabul will fall while American forces are here. But even top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal's latest assessment says that without reversing insurgent momentum in the next 12 months, defeating the insurgency will no longer be possible.
The quiet truth whispered by soldiers in the field and aid workers in Kabul is that the Afghan government is not likely to ever control southern Afghanistan's wildlands, the foreboding territory beyond the provincial capitals.
Villagers fear thieving police more than militants, and the August presidential election laid bare how pervasive corruption is here. The Taliban is playing to the general disgust with corruption by offering itself as an alternative.
Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, a large man with a woolly black beard, once served as the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan. He always greets me with a smile and seems an unlikely representative for a hardline regime. He uses an iPhone — though his grandson recently broke it.
Zaeef is a conduit between the Afghan government and Mullah Omar's Taliban. Zaeef told me the militant leadership refers to its forces not as Taliban now, but as "mujahedeen," a throwback to the Afghan "holy warriors" who ousted the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s. The reason is that only one out of 10 militant fighters is a true "Taliban." The rest are ordinary Afghans, Zaeef said.
That bodes extremely ill for U.S. and NATO efforts.
"Every day you are killing people. Dozens of people. They have brothers, they have fathers, they have sons," Zaeef said. "The Taliban are my brothers, the Taliban are my sons. The Taliban are my cousins. They are not different from us. They did not come from the sky. They did not come from another Earth. They are all from Afghanistan."
McChrystal wants to shift the fight from killing militants to protecting the population. But the U.S. is now eight years into the fight, and there are signs — the spreading of the insurgency to the north, rising U.S. deaths — that it could be too late.
McChrystal knows the issue of civilian deaths caused by U.S. forces has turned many Afghans against the West. I witnessed my first such deaths in the summer of 2006, when I shadowed Lt. Will Felder and his platoon on a night-time helicopter invasion of Helmand province's Baghran valley.
Felder, a West Point graduate who left the Army in June after fulfilling his five-year commitment, battled in Helmand, Kandahar and Paktika provinces. He is frank about his time here.
"The things that we were able to accomplish tactically obviously were useless. You can pretty much point to every area we gained, to any sort of tactical success, and in the intervening years those areas have been lost and gained tactically many times," Felder told me from Atlanta, where he is a first-year law student.
"The only thing I can take away from it being successful is none of my soldiers got killed," he said.
It waas on Felder's mission in Baghran that I saw a B-1 bomber destroy a mud house that militants had overrun, killing an apparently innocent elderly couple inside.
"We moved into an area, secured it, at the loss of American lives and certainly Afghan lives, spending a great deal of money and making promises to civilians in the area," he said. "And then we left."
The U.S. was also slow to identify the Taliban comeback for what it was. A top U.S. military official in Kabul told me that for too many years the rising violence here was mistakenly seen as a rise in crime, the drug trade, and corruption. Instead, he said, it was the beginning of an insurgency against the government.
The Taliban's leaders, and their al-Qaida partners in Pakistan, decided to make a stand, "to fight the West," the official said.
Now, the harsh social rules that Taliban imposed under their reign in the 1990s have already returned — or never left — in many of Afghanistan's hinterlands, like rural Helmand. Women can't leave the house unaccompanied. Music and movies are banned. Beards are mandated.
As Washington debates whether to send 10,000, 20,000 or 40,000 more forces, it's worth remembering that a former top commander here, U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, said in an interview with NPR last summer that "well over 400,000" troops are needed to tame the country. He then called it "an absurd figure," because Afghanistan will never see that many troops. U.S. and NATO forces now number 100,000. The Afghan army has 90,000.
After eight years, fewer Americans than ever support the war. More troops would mean more forces driving over increasingly lethal roadside bombs.
There is little domestic support for the decades of work Afghanistan requires. That's why, Zaeef told me, Taliban leaders, militant commanders and ordinary Afghans are already laying the groundwork to prevent another civil war when the U.S. and NATO draw down.
"Afghans have to decide the future, to make a solution for the future. I think many people they are trying to do that," Zaeef said. "It's not guaranteed that civil war will not happen, but the people are trying to prevent it." He would not elaborate.
Peace talks between the Taliban and President Hamid Karzai's government in Saudi Arabia last year went nowhere, said Zaeef, who took part in the failed attempt. U.S. officials say talks are unlikely now that the Taliban has the upper hand.
The latest fiasco — the Aug. 20 election — was so widely rigged that it will take months of investigations to declare a winner. Worse yet, the fraud has shown the world precisely how crooked the Afghan government is, bringing the most salient question to the fore: Do American families want their sons and daughters to die to defend it?
Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, recently told AP that McChrystal is trying his best to succeed, but that "at this stage it will be very difficult for him to change the direction" of the war.
"The more troops you bring the more troubles you will have here," said Kabulov, who knows from the experience of the Soviets, who were defeated bitterly in Afghanistan more than two decades ago.
My memories of Afghanistan will last forever: The kids chasing kites. Cringing every time a U.S. convoy passed, because of the threat of a bomb attack. Hearing bullets whiz over my head while in the field with troops. Seeing a rare woman driver. And seeing a little Afghan girl burned within an inch of her life by white phosphorus rescued by U.S. military doctors.
A best-case scenario for the country is that the U.S. and NATO train enough Afghan soldiers to protect the provincial capitals, and the U.S. maintains a small counter-terrorism force to watch over al-Qaida and Pakistan. The wild hinterlands will be left for the Taliban.
But Zaeef believes the Taliban will rule again one day, though they may not be able to take Kabul by force. How long will America stay? As the Taliban likes to say: "The Americans have the watches, but the Taliban has the time."
That is why my Afghan friend has already decided he will sell his home and leave Afghanistan if the Taliban infiltrate Kabul. My friend survived one Taliban regime. He is now laying plans so he won't have to do it again.
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Afghan, international troops target Al-Qaeda hideout, killing over 12
KABUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Afghan and international security forces eliminated more than a dozen militants and detained another during a joint operation targeting Al-Qaeda in Kunar province of eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, said a statement of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
"Today a joint security force killed more than a dozen militants and detained a suspected militant after searching a mountainside compound in Kunar province known to be used by an al-Qaida commander whose element believed responsible for the facilitation of foreign fighters and numerous attacks in Pech Valley," the statement said.
There were no casualties on the combined forces or local civilians, Mathias, a U.S. military spokeswoman said.
Moreover, the statement confirmed one U.S. service member was killed in an improvised explosive device strike on Saturday in western Afghanistan.
Conflicts and violence have claimed 407 international troops, including 241 from the U.S., as NATO's supreme commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal has asked for additional 40,000 troops to control the deteriorating security situation in the war-plagued country.
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Mine explosion kills police, district chief in E Afghanistan
KHOST, Afghanistan, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- One mine went off unexpectedly during a mine defusing mission in Afghanistan's eastern province of Paktika, killing the chief and police chief of Shah Khil district on Saturday, an official said on Sunday.
"Police uncovered two mines in Shah Khil district and was defusing them when one of them suddenly blew up, as a result, ShirAli the district chief and one police constable were killed on the spot," provincial police chief Daulat Khan Zadran told Xinhua.
Zadran added that the district police chief later died of wounds sustained in the incident.
Despite the presence of over 100,000 of U.S. and NATO forces in the post-Taliban country, the Taliban-led insurgency has reached its worst level of the eight years war while U.S. President Barack Obama is considering a request of his top commander in Afghanistan for up to 40,000 more troops.
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US soldier killed by IED in Afghanistan: NATO
Sun Oct 11, 11:13 am ET
KABUL (AFP) – A US soldier deployed in Afghanistan to fight Taliban-linked militants was killed by a remote-controlled bomb, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Sunday.
The death happened on Saturday in western Afghanistan, which has recently seen as escalation in Taliban activity, ISAF said in a statement.
It gave no further details of the incident.
So far in 2009, 408 foreign soldiers have died in Afghanistan, 242 of them American, according to an AFP count based on a running tally kept by the independent website icasualties.org.
The war, now in its ninth year, is intensifying as US President Barack Obama -- surprise recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize -- considers a request from military leaders for tens of thousands more troops.
NATO and the US have more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, battling to contain a resurgent Taliban.
Home-made bombs, or improved explosive devices (IEDs) have become the scourge of the efforts to eradicate the Taliban, as they are small, hidden and difficult to detect.
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Taliban spokesman detained in W Afghanistan
KABUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Afghan troops during an operation in Gazara district of western Herat province arrested Taliban spokesman Bashir Qinaat, army spokesperson in the region Abdul Basir Ghori said Sunday.
"Taliban spokesman Bashir Qinaat along with four of his men was arrested in Gazara district late Friday night," Ghori told Xinhua.
Qinaat was involved in terrorist activities including abducting and killing people, especially government servicemen, he further said.
Qinaat, the official added, was arrested just a day after the killing of Taliban key commander Ghulam Yahya Akbari in the region.
Akbari along with 12 of his men were killed during an operation in Gazara district on Thursday.
Taliban insurgents have not made comment.
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Taliban influence in N Afghanistan to cripple NATO mission
By Abdul Haleem
KABUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- While NATO has been endeavoring to sweep Taliban insurgents out from their hotbed in southern Afghanistan, the militants by influencing the northern provinces have opened a new front against the western military alliance.
The militants have stretched their activities in the relatively peaceful Faryab, Balkh, Kunduz and Baghlan provinces which link the Afghan capital Kabul to the former Soviet Republics of central Asia.
Militants on Thursday night attacked and injured three soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Balkh province while Kunduz and Baghlan have been turned to the hub of insurgents.
Parts of Baghlan province, particularly Baghlan-e-Markazi district, has been the scene of almost continued skirmishes over the past couple of months.
In addition to Taliban fighters, militants loyal to dissident warlord and former Prime Minister Gulbudin Hekmatyar-led outlawed Islamic Party, the Hizb-e-Islami, are active in the strategically important Baghlan province.
An individual Al-Hadid who claims to speak for the outfit, in talks with media from undisclosed location said Saturday that Hizb's men clashed with Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops in Kokchinar village Friday, killing two Afghan soldiers and four international troops but authorities rejected the claim as groundless.
A senior police officers in the province Zalmai Mangal confirmed the gun battle, stressing the militants were forced to flee as aircrafts pounded their hideouts.
Meantime, Taliban fighters attacked German forces in Shikhmir area of Chardara district Saturday morning and according to officials, there were no casualties on the troops.
Militancy has escalated in the north of Afghanistan amid U.S. and NATO's efforts to secure the second supply line through Russia and central Asian states in the wake of frequent attacks on NATO's logistic convoys in Pakistan.
Taliban insurgents, according to media reports, have carried out series of dreadful attacks against NATO's logistic convoys inPakistan since early this year, during which scores of trucks have been destroyed and their drivers have either been killed or threatened of dire consequences if continue to supply fuel to the troops.
The militants have repeatedly attacked the NATO's logistic convoys passing through Pakistan into Afghanistan in Khyber Pass and Spin Boldak and according to media reports, only in late August Taliban loyalists attacked logistic convoy in Spin Boldak destroying over a dozen military vehicles and trucks.
Furthermore, the militants in attempt to mount pressure on the troops have closed down Khyber Pass seven times this year for NATO's convoy.
In order to adequately supply some 100,000-strong forces in the post-Taliban country, NATO's political leadership has looked for alternative route and approached Russia and central Asian nations.
NATO's spokesman James Appathurai said on Tuesday that agreement the military alliance needs "for the northern corridor will be reached soon."
Russia, according to the spokesman, has agreed to allow NATO to supply its troops in Afghanistan through the northern corridor which includes Russian soil and central Asian countries.
The northern corridor links Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to NATO-led ISAF forces' Headquarters in Kabul through Kunduz, Baghlan and Balkh provinces, while militants' presence in the region would serious affect the alternative supply line for troops in Afghanistan.
To control the situation, NATO's supreme commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal, according to media reports, has asked for additional 40,000 troops and adding that security situation was deteriorating in the north and western provinces.
Security situation has been deteriorating in the northern province, while the insurgents has gained foothold in the eastern Nuristan province.
The militants overran Kamdish district close to Pakistan's border after killing over a dozen troopers including eight U.S. soldiers overrun last Saturday.
While the fragile security situation has worried the Afghans and international community, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has noted that "any mistake to set a deadline to end U.S. military action and a defeat would be disastrous for the U.S."
Moreover, governor of Afghanistan's northern Balkh province Atta Mohammad Noor warned very recently that, "certain circles distribute weapons to irresponsible people in the north."
The security situation, if goes unchecked in the north of Afghanistan, would double NATO's challenge in achieving its mission in the militancy-plagued post-Taliban central Asian nation.
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The Case Against a Surge
More troops won't solve Afghanistan.
Published Oct 10, 2009 From the magazine issue dated Oct 19, 2009 Fareed Zakaria
At the heart of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for a major surge in troops is the assumption that we are failing in Afghanistan. But are we really? The United States has had one central objective: to deny Al Qaeda the means to reconstitute, train, and plan major terror attacks. This mission has been largely successful for the past eight years. Al Qaeda is dispersed, on the run, and unable to direct attacks of the kind it planned and executed routinely in the 1990s. Fourteen of the top 20 leaders of the group have been killed by drone attacks. Its funding sources are drying up, and its political appeal is at an all-time low. All this is not an accident but rather a product of the U.S. presence in the region and efforts to disrupt terrorists, track funds, gain intelligence, aid development, help allies, and kill enemies.
It's true that the security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated considerably. While it is nothing like Iraq in 2006—civilian deaths are a 10th as numerous—parts of the country are effectively controlled by the Taliban. Other parts are no man's land. But these areas are sparsely populated tracts of countryside. All the major population centers remain in the hands of the Kabul government. Is it worth the effort to gain control of all 35,000 Afghan villages scattered throughout the country? That goal has eluded most Afghan governments for the last 200 years and is a very high bar to set for the U.S. mission there.
Why has security gotten worse? Largely because Hamid Karzai's government is ineffective and corrupt and has alienated large numbers of Pashtuns, who have migrated to the Taliban. It is not clear that this problem can be solved by force, even using a smart counterinsurgency strategy. In fact, more troops injected into the current climate could provoke an antigovernment or nationalist backlash.
It's important to remember that the crucial, lasting element of the surge in Iraq was not the influx of troops, but getting Sunni tribes to switch sides by offering them security, money, and a place at the table. U.S. troops are now drawing down, and yet—despite some violence—the Sunnis have not resumed fighting because Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is courting their support.
The United States and the Afghan government need to make much greater efforts to wean Pashtun tribes away from the most radical Taliban factions. It is unclear how many Taliban fighters believe in a global jihadist ideology, but most U.S. commanders with whom I've spoken feel that the number is less than 30 percent. The other 70 percent are driven by money, gangland peer pressure, or opposition to Karzai.
And when we think through our strategy in Afghanistan, let's please remember that there is virtually no Qaeda presence there. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen recently acknowledged what U.S. intelligence and all independent observers have long said: Al Qaeda is in Pakistan, as is the leadership of the hard-core Afghan Taliban. (That's why it's called the Quetta Shura, Quetta being a Pakistani city.) All attacks against Western targets that have emanated from the region in the past eight years have come from Pakistan and not Afghanistan. Even the most recently foiled plot in the United States, which involved the first Afghan that I know of to be implicated in global terrorism, originated in Pakistan. Yet we spend $30 in Afghanistan for every dollar in Pakistan.
There's little evidence that Pakistan's generals have truly accepted that they must defeat all the jihadis in their country (as opposed to just those who threaten the Pakistani state). But they have been more cooperative and active in the past year than ever before. A civilian government, the jihadi takeover of the Swat Valley, a change in public attitudes, and increased American aid have all contributed to a more effective U.S.-Pakistan relationship. Greater energy, attention, and resources will surely yield even more.
What about the argument that Osama bin Laden and his minions will simply shift back across the border if the Taliban is allowed free rein? Well, they haven't done so yet, despite the pockets of turf the insurgents control. And it is easier for us to deny them territory than to insist that we control it all ourselves—we can fight like guerrillas too. Remember that the U.S. and its allies have close to 100,000 troops in Afghanistan now. Keeping them there is the right commitment, one that keeps in mind the stakes, but also the costs and, most important, the other vital interests around the world to which U.S. foreign policy must also be attentive.
Fareed Zakaria is editor of NEWSWEEK International and author of The Post-American World and The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad .
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Commandos Free 39 Hostages, Ending Militant Siege in Pakistan
By Ayaz Gul VOA News 11 October 2009
Military officials in Pakistan say the siege near the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad, is over. Commando forces raided a building where militants were holding more than 30 hostages just before dawn Sunday. Four militants, two soldiers and three hostages were killed during the operation. Another wounded militant was captured.
The violence began just before midday Saturday when a group of heavily armed militants in army uniforms tried to enter the Pakistani military headquarters. As soon as they were stopped at a main check post, the attackers lobbed several grenades and opened fire with automatic weapons on the soldiers there. A firefight erupted, instantly killing six soldiers and five militants.
The rest of the attackers fled during the firefight and took hostage more than 30 people, mostly security personnel, in a nearby building.
Army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas says that commando forces immediately surrounded the compound in an effort to secure the safe release of the hostages. He says the crisis lasted until Sunday morning when security forces raided the building and managed to free most of the captives.
Abbas said, "All the hostages there have been rescued. Three of them have been killed. We have killed four terrorists and one, Aqeel alias Doctor Usman, has been captured (in wounded condition)."
The army spokesman says he believes the detained militant led the terrorist assault.
General Abbas says that two soldiers were also killed and at least five were wounded in the rescue operation. He says security forces where being extremely careful in launching the final raid because a suicide bomber was guarding the hostages in a corner of the building.
Abbas said, "The most damaging could have been this suicide bomber who was putting on the (suicide) jacket if had blown himself up. So the whole security operation revolved around this point to eliminate this terrorist before he could blow his jacket and the security forces were very successful in eliminating this terrorist before he could blow up his jacket."
Authorities are blaming Taliban extremists for the attack. The Pakistani military is fighting al-Qaida and Taliban militants in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan where they are believed to have set up terrorist training camps.
Saturday's attack on the military headquarters is the third major terrorist strike in Pakistan in the past week. A suicide bomber blew himself up inside the main office of the United Nations World Food Program in Islamabad last week, killing five employees of the agency. And on Friday, a suicide car bomb in the northwestern city of Peshawar left more than 50 people dead.
Analysts say the latest attack is likely to push Pakistan to launch a long-awaited military offensive against terrorist bases in the Waziristan tribal region, which is also being used to launch attacks on international forces across the border in Afghanistan.
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Did Weapons Fail U.S. Troops During Afghanistan Assault?
Sunday, October 11, 2009 Associated Press via Fox News
WASHINGTON — In the chaos of an early morning assault on a remote U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips' M4 carbine quit firing as militant forces surrounded the base. The machine gun he grabbed after tossing the rifle aside didn't work either.
When the battle in the small village of Wanat ended, nine U.S. soldiers lay dead and 27 more were wounded. A detailed study of the attack by a military historian found that weapons failed repeatedly at a "critical moment" during the firefight on July 13, 2008, putting the outnumbered American troops at risk of being overrun by nearly 200 insurgents.
Which raises the question: Eight years into the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, do U.S. armed forces have the best guns money can buy?
Despite the military's insistence that they do, a small but vocal number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq has complained that the standard-issue M4 rifles need too much maintenance and jam at the worst possible times.
A week ago, eight U.S. troops were killed at a base near Kamdesh, a town near Wanat. There's no immediate evidence of weapons failures at Kamdesh, but the circumstances were eerily similar to the Wanat battle: insurgents stormed an isolated stronghold manned by American forces stretched thin by the demands of war.
Army Col. Wayne Shanks, a military spokesman in Afghanistan, said a review of the battle at Kamdesh is under way. "It is too early to make any assumptions regarding what did or didn't work correctly," he said.
Complaints about the weapons the troops carry, especially the M4, aren't new. Army officials say that when properly cleaned and maintained, the M4 is a quality weapon that can pump out more than 3,000 rounds before any failures occur.
The M4 is a shorter, lighter version of the M16, which made its debut during the Vietnam war. Roughly 500,000 M4s are in service, making it the rifle troops on the front lines trust with their lives.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a leading critic of the M4, said Thursday the Army needs to move quickly to acquire a combat rifle suited for the extreme conditions U.S. troops are fighting in.
U.S. special operations forces, with their own acquisition budget and the latitude to buy gear the other military branches can't, already are replacing their M4s with a new rifle.
"The M4 has served us well but it's not as good as it needs to be," Coburn said.
Battlefield surveys show that nearly 90 percent of soldiers are satisfied with their M4s, according to Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, head of the Army office that buys soldier gear. Still, the rifle is continually being improved to make it even more reliable and lethal.
Fuller said he's received no official reports of flawed weapons performance at Wanat. "Until it showed up in the news, I was surprised to hear about all this," he said.
The study by Douglas Cubbison of the Army Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., hasn't been publicly released. Copies of the study have been leaked to news organizations and are circulating on the Internet.
Cubbison's study is based on an earlier Army investigation and interviews with soldiers who survived the attack at Wanat. He describes a well-coordinated attack by a highly skilled enemy that unleashed a withering barrage with AK-47 automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
The soldiers said their weapons were meticulously cared for and routinely inspected by commanders. But still the weapons had breakdowns, especially when the rifles were on full automatic, which allows hundreds of bullets to be fired a minute.
The platoon-sized unit of U.S. soldiers and about two dozen Afghan troops was shooting back with such intensity the barrels on their weapons turned white hot. The high rate of fire appears to have put a number of weapons out of commission, even though the guns are tested and built to operate in extreme conditions.
Cpl. Jonathan Ayers and Spc. Chris McKaig were firing their M4s from a position the soldiers called the "Crow's Nest." The pair would pop up together from cover, fire half a dozen rounds and then drop back down.
On one of these trips up, Ayers was killed instantly by an enemy round. McKaig soon had problems with his M4, which carries a 30-round magazine.
"My weapon was overheating," McKaig said, according to Cubbison's report. "I had shot about 12 magazines by this point already and it had only been about a half hour or so into the fight. I couldn't charge my weapon and put another round in because it was too hot, so I got mad and threw my weapon down."
The soldiers also had trouble with their M249 machine guns, a larger weapon than the M4 that can shoot up to 750 rounds per minute.
Cpl. Jason Bogar fired approximately 600 rounds from his M-249 before the weapon overheated and jammed the weapon.
Bogar was killed during the firefight, but no one saw how he died, according to the report.
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Some Canadian troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2011
Sat Oct 10, 1:35 pm ET
OTTAWA (AFP) – Canada will keep some troops in Afghanistan beyond a lawmaker-mandated 2011 deadline for withdrawal to serve in development and reconstruction roles, a government spokesman said Saturday.
Canadian lawmakers voted in March 2008 to end the deployment of Canadian troops in Kandahar in 2011, but Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said troops would remain in Afghanistan beyond that date.
In comments to public broadcaster CBC, Soudas insisted there would nonetheless be a significant troop reduction.
"I would caution you against saying dozens or hundreds or a thousand, there will be exponentially fewer," he told CBC.
"Whether there's 20 or 60 or 80 or 100, they will not be conducting combat operations."
Though Canada's NATO allies have made clear their interest in an extension of the Canadian deployment, Harper has consistently said he must respect parliament's decision to end the mission.
"The military mission ends in 2011," Soudas told AFP. "Canadian soldiers will not play a combat role post-2011."
After the military deployment is over, Canada's mission in Afghanistan will change, he said.
"In terms of our post-2011 commitment, Canada will focus on training, development, reconstruction and humanitarian assistance," he said.
Canada has 2,800 soldiers deployed in the Kandahar region of southern Afghanistan, a stronghold of the Taliban insurgency. Since the beginning of the country's deployment in Afghanistan in 2002, 131 Canadian soldiers have been killed.
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India hints at Pakistan link to Kabul embassy blast
Sun Oct 11, 3:58 am ET
NEW DELHI (AFP) – India hinted that a suicide attack on its embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul last week was staged by Pakistani militants who oppose its support of President Hamid Karzai's government.
Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, who visited the embassy after Thursday's blast in which 17 people were killed, said leaders in Kabul believed the bombing was carried out by "elements from outside Afghanistan".
"The international community and indeed the people of Afghanistan face a clear danger from the perpetrators of such wanton acts of terrorism and their patrons residing across the border," Rao said in a statement late Saturday.
Though Rao declined to name Pakistan directly, her comments were a clear reference to India's arch-rival and neighbour, and were India's first suggestion of a Pakistani link to the attack.
A similar suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in July 2008 killed 60 people and was blamed on Taliban militants linked to Pakistan's intelligence agencies.
That bombing sent tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad soaring, though Indian reaction to Thursday's car bomb blast -- which was also claimed by the Taliban -- has been more tempered.
"The attack was clearly the handiwork of those who are desperate to undermine Indo-Afghan friendship and do not believe in a strong, democratic and pluralistic Afghanistan," Rao said on her return to New Delhi.
No embassy staff died in the blast, but some guards were wounded.
The Afghan ambassador to the United States, Said Jawad, went further than Rao, telling PBS radio soon after the attack that "we are pointing the finger at the Pakistan intelligence agency."
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Pak regrets 'baseless insinuations' on Kabul bombing
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 11 (PTI) Pakistan has expressed regret over "baseless insinuations" linking it to the suicide bombing near the Indian embassy in Afghanistan and said New Delhi should instead "opt for cooperation" to end terrorism.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said though Islamabad had strongly condemned Thursday's "dastardly act of terrorism close to the Indian embassy in Kabul", Indian officials and media were blaming Pakistan for the attack.
"Regrettably the Indian officials and media continue to make baseless insinuations against Pakistan. These have become impulsive reactions betraying a strange mindset," Basit said in a statement issued late last night.
The attack near the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital was followed closely by "terrible terrorist attacks" in Peshawar, Islamabad and Rawalpindi that caused "huge loss of lives and injury to innocent persons", Basit said.
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50 militants join Afghan gov't, 7 others detained in North
KABUL, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Over four dozen Taliban insurgents have laid down arms and joined the government in Kunduz province north of Afghanistan, provincial governor Mohammad Omar said Saturday.
"Fifty rebels loyal to Taliban outfit handed over the arms and resumed their normal lives in Kunduz on Friday," Omar told Xinhua.
He also added that seven more militants were arrested during an operation of security forces in Ali Abad district on the same day.
Taliban militants fighting Afghan government have yet to make comment.
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