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Afghanistan bans chemical used to make bombs
By Amir Shah, Associated Press Writer
KABUL – Afghanistan on Friday banned the use of a fertilizer chemical also used to make bombs, giving farmers and other holders a month to turn in their supplies.
Karzai wants to pay Taliban to lay down their arms
by Waheedullah Massoud
KABUL (AFP) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai unveiled an ambitious Western-funded plan Friday to offer money and jobs to tempt Taliban fighters to lay down their arms in an effort to quell a crippling insurgency.
Taliban Won’t Give Up Until Karzai Gets Upper Hand, Gates Says
By Viola Gienger
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Senior Afghan Taliban leaders aren’t likely to agree to give up their insurgency until they see the momentum shift in favor of the government and international forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
U.S. ambassador puts brakes on plan to utilize Afghan militias against Taliban
By Greg Jaffe and Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 22, 2010; A08
The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and senior Afghan officials have resisted moving forward with a bold and potentially risky initiative to support local militias in Afghanistan that are willing to defend their villages against insurgents, according to U.S. officials.
No military push against Taliban in 2010, says Pakistan
By Saeed Shah – The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News - Thu Jan 21, 11:16 pm ET
Islamabad – Obama administration efforts to pacify Afghanistan suffered a major setback Thursday with the announcement in Pakistan that Pakistan's military plans no new assault this year on Taliban sanctuaries near the Afghan border.
Taliban part of 'political fabric' of Afghanistan: Gates
Fri Jan 22, 1:04 am ET
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Friday described the Taliban as part of the "political fabric" of Afghanistan, but said any future role would depend on insurgents laying down their weapons.
Gates sees room for Taliban in new Afghan government
FT.com - UK By Daniel Dombey in Rawalpindi January 22 2010
The US would welcome Taliban participation in Afghanistan's government – as long as the group gives up violence and recognises the country's legitimate rulers, Robert Gates, US defence secretary, said on Friday.
Taliban intensifies Afghan PR campaign
January 22, 2010 BBC News
After the attack on buildings in Kabul that killed five people and injured 71, Allan Little - who was there - explains that while the militants certainly caused disruption, their mission was not entirely successful.
Bombs and ambushes as Marines inch into Taliban bastion
by Jason Gutierrez – Fri Jan 22, 1:09 am ET
SOUTHEAST OF MARJAH, Afghanistan (AFP) – The crisp crackling of AK-47s breaks the morning silence as US Marines inch towards the outskirts of a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.
Review: Eric Blehm tells of victory over Taliban
By Carl Hartman, For The Associated Press – Thu Jan 21, 12:20 pm ET
"The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan" (Harper, 375 pages, $25.99), by Eric Blehm: On Nov. 14, 2001, anti-Taliban forces in northern Afghanistan occupied Kabul, ending the five-year rule of the extremist Muslim government that protected Osama bin Laden. The Taliban stood little chance against American air power.
British ambassador tipped for top civilian Nato post in Afghanistan
The Guardian By Julian Borger 01/21/2010
Mark Sedwill said to be leading candidate to co-ordinate huge reconstruction effort
A British diplomat is being tipped to take on a top Nato civilian role in Afghanistan, co-ordinating the flow of billions of dollars in reconstruction funds around the country.
As Afghanistan war ramps up, one hospital hunkers down to treat soldiers – and Taliban
Medics at a British base in Helmand – the epicenter of the Afghanistan war – cope with sadness, stress, and the ethical pangs of caring for the ‘enemy.’
By Aidan Jones The Christian Science Monitor Correspondent - Thu Jan 21, 8:27 pm ET
Camp Bastion, Afghanistan - A Chinook helicopter rumbles ominously overhead, quickly followed by ambulance sirens as another critically injured soldier arrives at Camp Bastion's field hospital.
Kabul Promotes Its Side of Taliban Attack
Wall Street Journal By Yaroslav Trofimov 01/21/2010
KABUL - The propaganda war between the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban has just escalated, as each side offers starkly different accounts of Monday's insurgent attacks on central Kabul.
US unveils civilian strategy for Afghanistan, Pakistan
by Lachlan Carmichael – Fri Jan 22, 1:39 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled a long-term, non-military strategy to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan that calls for sending more civilian experts to the region.
Afghanistan asks ex-presidential contender to tackle corruption
The Canadian Press 01/21/2010
KABUL - The Afghan government presented its strategy Wednesday for confronting the insurgency, including overtures to Taliban militants, building up its security forces and tackling corruption one week ahead of a key international conference aimed at shoring up the national leadership.
Germany Denies Report 1,500 More Troops to Go to Afghanistan
By Patrick Donahue
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The German government denied a report that Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg plans to send 1,500 additional troops to Afghanistan.
Germany may increase troops in Afghanistan
BERLIN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Germany may increase its troop commitment to Afghanistan to train local police and protect civilian reconstruction, German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said on Friday.
Kabul's failures a threat to Afghan success: Canada
By David Ljunggren – Thu Jan 21, 2:52 pm ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Afghan government's failure to combat insurgents is a significant obstacle in the way to eventual success in Afghanistan, a top Canadian general said in blunt comments on Thursday.
Afghanistan: Film archive weathers coups and car bombs, but threats remain
While the Taliban had plans to turn it into a weapons museum, Afghanistan's national film archive is attempting to save documents by digitizing a collection dating back to World War II.
The Christian Science Monitor By Ben Arnoldy Staff Writer / January 21, 2010
Kabul, Afghanistan — A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent
On two occasions over the past decade, Afghanistan’s national film archive almost went up in smoke. The collection of 2,000 canisters contains the only known copies of some Afghan feature films, documentaries, and newsreels dating back to World War II.
Afghan Recovery Report: Taleban Buying Guns From Former Warlords
Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) 21 Jan 2010
Insurgents in north take advantage of big arms caches retained by ex-militiamen in contravention of major disarmament programme.
By Abdul Latif Sahak in Mazar-e-Sharif (ARR No. 350, 21-Jan-10)
Evidence is mounting that Taleban insurgents are purchasing the weapons they need to fight government and international forces from their former and perhaps future opponents: the warlords who controlled Afghanistan during the mujahedin period that followed the collapse of the Communist-backed regime of President Najibullah in 1992.
Safi Airways inks interline agreements
These agreements, effective from February, allow passengers travelling to and from Kabul to international destinations served by these partners to enjoy single-fare tickets and reduced lead time
Gulf News January 20, 2010
Dubai: Safi Airways, Afghanistan's international carrier, has announced interline agreements with Lufthansa, United Airlines, Emirates and Qatar Airways.
India 'important' for US success in Afghanistan, Pakistan: Holbrooke
Calcutta News.Net Friday 22nd January, 2010 (ANI)
Washington, Jan.22 : US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said that India is 'important' for America's success in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
World can learn from India's move on Afghanistan: UK envoy
Calcutta News.Net Friday 22nd January, 2010 (IANS)
Ahead of the London conference on Afghanistan next week, British High Commissioner Richard Stagg Friday lauded India's reconstruction efforts in the strife-torn country and said the world could learn 'some lessons' from it.
Pakistan 'wants unarmed drones'
January 22, 2010 BBC News
The United States may provide Pakistan with a dozen unarmed drone aircraft to help strengthen its fight against the Taliban, US defence officials say.
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Afghanistan bans chemical used to make bombs
By Amir Shah, Associated Press Writer
KABUL – Afghanistan on Friday banned the use of a fertilizer chemical also used to make bombs, giving farmers and other holders a month to turn in their supplies.
President Hamid Karzai's office issued a decree banning the use, production, storage, purchase or sale of ammonium nitrate. The decision was made after an investigation showed militants had used the chemical in a series of bombings, according to a statement.
Violators who fail to turn in supplies will face court action, it said.
Fertilizer explosives were used in attacks that include the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people, and the 1995 attack on a federal building in Oklahoma City with a 2-ton bomb that killed 168.
NATO-led forces already have been confiscating the chemical compound, urging Afghan farmers to use fertilizer containing urea nitrate instead. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer has been used to make about 95 percent of the bombs in Afghanistan, according to security think tank Globalsecurity.org.
The government also ordered training for police and border customs house workers to detect the chemical.
Afghanistan's government gave U.S. and allied forces permission to confiscate ammonium nitrate in September, and troops have been seizing huge quantities of fertilizer in return for compensation.
A joint force of NATO and Afghan troops found a truck carrying 10 tons of suspect fertilizer in the southern province of Kandahar earlier this month.
Protesters, meanwhile, blocked roads and chanted angry slogans against the United States and the Afghan government for a second day southwest of Kabul, amid mounting anger over the killing of four people in a village by NATO forces in volatile Ghazni province.
NATO said Wednesday's raid in the Qara Bagh district targeted a Taliban commander and the four killed were suspected insurgents, including a 15-year-old boy shot while allegedly reaching for a soldier's gun. But villagers insisted the dead were civilians.
Provincial police chief Khial Baz Shirzai also said the four killed in Wednesday's raid were militants and the protests were organized by the Taliban to foment unrest.
The conflicting claims reflect growing impatience among Afghans over the presence of NATO-led forces, even though a recent U.N. report showed the number of civilian deaths attributed to allied troops had dropped sharply over the past year. The report blamed most civilian casualties on Taliban suicide bombings and other attacks.
International and Afghan security forces have stepped up operations as the U.S. and its allies begin sending 37,000 reinforcements to try to rout the Taliban. Militants also have increased their campaign with a series of attacks, including an assault on the Afghan capital on Monday.
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Karzai wants to pay Taliban to lay down their arms
by Waheedullah Massoud
KABUL (AFP) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai unveiled an ambitious Western-funded plan Friday to offer money and jobs to tempt Taliban fighters to lay down their arms in an effort to quell a crippling insurgency.
His comments to the BBC came as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates described the Taliban as part of Afghanistan's "political fabric", but said any future role would depend on insurgents laying down their weapons.
Karzai's plan echoed similar proposals by Washington to try and bring low and mid-level extremists back into mainstream society, but the leadership of Islamist insurgent groups remain hostile to negotiations.
Militants led by the Taliban movement have been waging an increasingly deadly rebellion against the Afghan government and foreign troops since a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime from power in late 2001.
"We know as the Afghan people we must have peace at any cost," Karzai said in the television interview aired Friday ahead of an international conference on Afghanistan in London next week, where he will present the plan.
"Those that we approach to return will be provided with the abilities to work, to find jobs, to have protection, to resettle in their own communities."
The Taliban gives its foot-soldiers higher salaries than the Afghan government can afford to pay its forces, and the president said his project would have international backing to provide the necessary funds.
Hardline Taliban supporters, who were members of Al-Qaeda or other terror groups, would not be accepted in the scheme, Karzai added. Related article: Taliban part of 'political fabric' in Afghanistan: Gates
The Taliban leadership have repeatedly rebuffed peace talks in the past, and on Friday a spokesman for the militia, Zabihullah Mujahid, reiterated that they would not negotiate with Karzai's government.
"Our only and main goal is the freedom and independence of our country. We cannot be bought by money and bounties. The Taliban will not sell themselves off for cash," Mujahid said, reacting to Karzai's comments.
"We insist on our previous stance that we will not negotiate with this government. Any negotiation now would mean accepting being a slave of America. Our goal is enforcing an Islamic government and withdrawal of foreign forces."
Insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who commands another radical Islamist group Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan, would come to the table with the US and Afghan government, but only under strict conditions, his spokesman Zubair Sediqi said.
"All the foreign forces must leave Afghanistan unconditionally. A permanent ceasefire must be enforced. All prisoners from all side must be freed. An interim administration must take charge for one year," Sediqi told AFP.
Karzai has in the past urged the United States to back talks with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar but Washington has resisted negotiations with any figures linked to wider extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda.
On a visit to Pakistan -- which has come under intense US pressure to do more to wipe out Islamist extremists along its border with Afghanistan -- Gates said the Taliban had to prove they wanted a role in Afghanistan's future.
"The question is whether they are prepared to play a legitimate role in the political fabric of Afghanistan going forward, meaning participating in elections, meaning not assassinating local officials and killing families," he told reporters.
Gates had said earlier that some lower-ranking insurgents might be open to making peace with Kabul, but warned that the senior-most Taliban leaders would unlikely reconcile with Afghanistan's government.
In Washington on Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled a long-term non-military strategy to stabilise Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The strategy aims to to rebuild the Afghan farm sector, improve governance and bring extremists back into mainstream society.
It complements a military strategy in which President Barack Obama announced on December 1 he would deploy another 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan.
Extra troop commitments from NATO allies are expected to take to around 150,000 the total number of foreign troops operating in Afghanistan under US and NATO command in the coming year.
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Taliban Won’t Give Up Until Karzai Gets Upper Hand, Gates Says
By Viola Gienger
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Senior Afghan Taliban leaders aren’t likely to agree to give up their insurgency until they see the momentum shift in favor of the government and international forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
“Reconciliation will come slowly,” Gates told reporters during a trip to neighboring Pakistan. “You will begin to see it, I suspect, on the part of local commanders and others in Afghanistan itself first.”
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the BBC he plans to offer Taliban fighters money and jobs to lure them back to normal life. The program will be funded by the international community, the BBC reported Karzai as saying. The U.S. and U.K. will back the proposal at a conference on Afghanistan’s future to be held in London on Jan. 28.
In response to one journalist who commented that it looked as if the Taliban are gaining strength and would end up as the next government of Afghanistan, Gates disagreed.
“I will wager a good deal that the Taliban will not be the next government in Kabul,” he said. Reconciliation with Taliban leaders and reintegration of lower-level fighters “has to be done in the terms set by the Afghan government.”
Terms would include adhering to the Afghan constitution, acknowledging the government as the sole military power in the country with no more warlords and participating in elections, he said. The Taliban as it ruled before, with violent intimidation and barring girls from school, created “a desert, culturally and every other way.”
‘21st-Century Afghanistan’
“We have said all along, in Iraq as in Afghanistan, political reconciliation ultimately has to be a part of settling the conflict,” Gates said, citing similar comments he and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have made to the U.S. Congress. “The Taliban, we recognize, are part of the political fabric of Afghanistan at this point.”
The question is whether the Taliban “are ready to help build a 21st-century Afghanistan or whether they still just want to kill people,” Gates said.
As the U.S. escalates its fight against the Taliban and al- Qaeda, the Obama administration has been increasing pressure on Karzai to fight graft. Karzai will go into the London conference without a full cabinet in place after parliament twice rejected nominees that lawmakers deemed to be inexperienced or corrupt.
The U.S. is also urging neighboring Pakistan to extend its offensive against militants to include groups attacking international forces in Afghanistan.
Waziristan Fight
Gates told reporters on the way to Islamabad that he wanted to hear about Pakistan’s plans to extend the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda into North Waziristan after “very successful military operations” that broke up a major Taliban haven to the south. No new offensive is imminent, said Pakistan’s military spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas.
U.S. officials say al-Qaeda leaders likely have holed up in ungoverned tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border since the U.S. toppled the group’s Taliban protectors in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Obama has ordered 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to battle the Taliban insurgency.
While wanting to see further action against Taliban fighters who attack U.S. troops, Gates respects the country’s sovereignty and will leave the pacing and details up to Pakistani leaders, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said yesterday.
Speaking to an audience of officers at Pakistan’s National Defense University in the capital Islamabad today, Gates expressed respect and sympathy for the losses the country has suffered as it fights militant extremists.
U.S. ‘Mistake’
He lamented America’s “mistake” in pulling back from its alliance with Pakistan after the Soviet Union withdrew from neighboring Afghanistan. The militaries of the U.S. and Pakistan have “a lot to learn from each other on many issues,” Gates said, alluding to a rivalry with India that dominates Pakistan’s strategic thinking.
“The U.S. military has reshaped and reformed itself to meet new threats,” Gates said. “As all of you look to the future and assess the most likely threats to Pakistan, you will have to grapple with the same issues.”
Gates said yesterday that the U.S. is developing a new “multi-year military funding program” for Pakistan, without giving further details. Last year, Congress and President Barack Obama approved a bill to provide $1.5 billion a year in economic aid to the country.
To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Islamabad via vgienger@bloomberg.net.
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U.S. ambassador puts brakes on plan to utilize Afghan militias against Taliban
By Greg Jaffe and Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 22, 2010; A08
The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and senior Afghan officials have resisted moving forward with a bold and potentially risky initiative to support local militias in Afghanistan that are willing to defend their villages against insurgents, according to U.S. officials.
Their concerns have slowed the implementation of a key effort to provide security in places where there are relatively few NATO forces or Afghan police and Army units. U.S. military officials had wanted to get the initiative -- developed under the leadership of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan -- off to a quick start this year.
The plan was to take advantage of the emergence of informal village security forces that were taking up arms against outside insurgents. The hope was that the new program could yield thousands of new security forces relatively fast, bridging the gap until more army and police forces could be trained. But before the initiative can be implemented on a broader scale, Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry must approve the release of more money for it.
Eikenberry's unease about the program as it was structured by the military also reflects a broader difference of opinion at the highest levels of the U.S. military and diplomatic headquarters in Kabul about new approaches to combating the Taliban insurgency. While military commanders are eager to experiment with decentralized grass-roots initiatives that work around the ponderous Afghan bureaucracy in Kabul, civilian officials think it is more important to wait until they have the central government's support, something they regard as essential to sustaining the programs.
U.S. Embassy and Afghan officials are working to modify the program, called Local Defense Initiatives, to ensure that the Afghan government plays a more central role in how it is run. "We are committed to doing this right, and that means taking the time for the Afghan government and people to decide on whether and how to move ahead," said Philip Kosnett, the U.S. Embassy's political-military counselor in Kabul.
The disagreement about how to move forward with the local security program comes at a time when McChrystal and Eikenberry, who served as the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, are under intense pressure to show fast results to take advantage of the 30,000 U.S. troops that will arrive in the country this year. By July 2011, President Obama has said, military commanders will begin sending some of those forces home.
Afghan officials and Eikenberry have also expressed concern that unless there is a detailed plan to connect these village security forces to Ministry of Interior oversight, they could fuel the rise of warlords and undermine the already fragile government in Kabul. Another worry is that the local tribal leaders could manipulate U.S. officers who do not understand politics and tribal grievances in a particular area, U.S. officials said.
"Our level of intelligence is so lacking," said an adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. "We could be supporting people whose interests are not what we think they are." Eikenberry has argued that without Afghan government support, the program could be quickly disbanded if one of the village security forces is turned by the Taliban or gets into a dispute with government security forces.
"It's a two-edged sword," Richard C. Holbrooke, the Obama administration's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in an interview. "One person's community defense initiative can be another person's warlord militia."
Military officials said it is important to take advantage of the colder winter months when violence drops to begin training village forces. "If you delay until March, you lose a lot," said a military official in Kabul.
The military is moving forward with the initiative on a smaller scale, using money that the embassy does not control. "No one is frustrated. We just want to get going," the official said.
The Afghan village program has drawn comparisons to the Sons of Iraq effort, in which Sunni tribal forces consisting of more than 100,000 Iraqis -- many of them former insurgents -- were paid to police their villages. That effort, which was widely viewed as essential to blunting a runaway insurgency, was started without seeking permission from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who initially voiced strong objections to the program. Although some members of the Sons of Iraq have been absorbed into the army and police forces, Sunni leaders have accused Maliki of reneging on commitments made by U.S. commanders when the program was started and trying to dismantle the program.
The Afghan village security initiative differs significantly from the Sons of Iraq effort, which involved U.S. military personnel training, arming and paying Sunni tribesmen to defend their communities against al-Qaeda-affiliated extremists.
In Afghanistan, the military does not intend to arm or pay members of the local security groups. Afghanistan, military officials note, is already awash in weapons. Compensation will be in the form of money for development projects in areas where the groups operate. Although Afghanistan's interior minister has expressed a desire to pay recruits, the United States plans to channel development projects to villages that sign up for the security effort. Village militias will also receive radios to call for assistance from nearby U.S. or Afghan forces and receive training from Special Forces troops.
Military officials also said that to prevent warlordism, the groups will be under the authority of a local shura -- a council of tribal elders -- not a single tribal chief. U.S. military officials, meanwhile, have said that they are committed to a bottom-up approach to security and economic development, which recognizes that many Afghans consider the corrupt central government part of the problem and a threat to local tribal power structures.
"The community level will be decisive -- and that support is entirely up for grabs," Col. Christopher D. Kolenda, an adviser to McChrystal, wrote in the current issue of Joint Force Quarterly.
Staff writers Karen DeYoung in Washington and Keith B. Richburg in Kabul contributed to this report.
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No military push against Taliban in 2010, says Pakistan
By Saeed Shah – The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News - Thu Jan 21, 11:16 pm ET
Islamabad – Obama administration efforts to pacify Afghanistan suffered a major setback Thursday with the announcement in Pakistan that Pakistan's military plans no new assault this year on Taliban sanctuaries near the Afghan border.
U.S. strategy in Afghanistan depends on shutting off Taliban havens in Pakistan, especially in the North Waziristan area, where leaders of the Haqqani network, which is considered the most dangerous insurgent group in Afghanistan, shelter.
Pakistan's chief military spokesman, Maj. Athar Abbas, said that any new offensive against the Taliban would have to wait until next year.
"We are not going to conduct any major new operations against the militants over the next 12 months," Abbas told the BBC. "The Pakistan army is overstretched, and it is not in a position to open any new fronts."
Abbas later revised his remarks, telling reporters who were traveling with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that operations would have to wait "six months to a year." The military didn't respond to a request from McClatchy Newspapers for clarification.
Abbas made his remarks just as Gates arrived in Pakistan for talks that were widely expected to be aimed at pressing Pakistan to expand its military operations against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Last year, the U.S. pressured Pakistan into sending troops into the country's Swat valley, which Pakistani Taliban had overrun, and then into South Waziristan, again against Pakistani Taliban.
The military, however, hasn't moved against Afghan Taliban or the Haqqani network, which Pakistan usually denies operate from its soil. Critics have accused Pakistan's army of remaining close to some insurgent groups that it had backed in the past, including the Haqqani network, a charge that the military vehemently denies.
Pakistan's wild tribal region, which includes North and South Waziristan, is a magnet for extremists from around the world.
In recent weeks, Gates and U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones have suggested that al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden is hiding in North Waziristan. Last month, a suicide bomber set off from the tribal area to detonate himself at a CIA outpost just across the border in Khost, Afghanistan. The explosion killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian who was working with them.
Pakistani officials privately say that Washington is exaggerating the importance of the Haqqani network and highlighting bin Laden's likely presence in Pakistan as a way of putting pressure on the country.
Gates met with Pakistan's army chief and civilian president Thursday and played down any rift with Islamabad.
"We have to do this in a way that is comfortable for them, and at a pace that they can accommodate and is tolerable for them," Gates said. "Frankly, I'm comfortable doing that. I think having them set that pace as to what they think the political situation will bear is almost certainly the right thing to do."
Pakistani public opinion is deeply anti-American, while the civilian government has been shown repeatedly not to be in control of the military.
Pakistan's military has argued that it must first tackle the extremist groups that are threatening the country's government before taking on militants who fight only in Afghanistan. U.S. officials argue that the extremist groups that are operating along the Pakistani-Afghan border are inextricably linked.
"It is important to remember that the Pakistani Taliban operates in collusion with both the Taliban in Afghanistan and al Qaida, so it is impossible to separate these groups," Gates wrote in an opinion piece published Thursday in The News, a Pakistani daily newspaper.
(Shah is a special correspondent.)
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Taliban part of 'political fabric' of Afghanistan: Gates
Fri Jan 22, 1:04 am ET
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Friday described the Taliban as part of the "political fabric" of Afghanistan, but said any future role would depend on insurgents laying down their weapons.
The Islamist extremist movement has been waging an increasingly deadly insurgency against the Afghan government and foreign troops since a US-led invasion ousted the regime from power in late 2001.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is planning an ambitious Western-backed reconciliation package aimed at tempting fighters away from their Taliban masters by offering money and jobs to draw them back to civilian life.
"The Taliban, we recognize, are part of the political fabric of Afghanistan at this point," Gates said during a visit to Pakistan on Friday.
"The question is whether they are prepared to play a legitimate role in the political fabric of Afghanistan going forward, meaning participating in elections, meaning not assassinating local officials and killing families.
"The question is what do the Taliban want to make out of Afghanistan?" he added in comment to reporters.
"When they tried before we saw before what they wanted to make and it was a desert, culturally and every other way."
Karzai told the BBC in an interview shown on Friday that major powers would fund his new scheme to tempt Taliban fighters to lay their weapons aside and head home to their communities and integrate into legitimate society.
The United States and Britain would announce at a major conference on Afghanistan in London next week that they had decided to back his plan, the president said, adding Japan would also offer financial backing.
Hardline Taliban supporters and those who were members of Al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups would not be accepted into the scheme, the president said -- something Washington has also repeatedly stressed.
Gates had said earlier this week that it was unlikely Taliban leaders would reconcile with Afghanistan's government but that lower ranking insurgents might be open to making peace with Kabul.
"Reconciliation and reintegration are really two different things," Gates said in an interview with Pakistan's Express television station Thursday.
"Reintegration is really focused at the lower-level Taliban, many of whom fight for money or to protect their families.
"And if we can offer them a job, if we can offer security for their families, we believe that a number of these fighters can be reintegrated.
"Reconciliation tends to apply to the senior-most members of the Taliban. I think that for some of them to consider reconciliation on Afghan government terms, they will have to see that the momentum of the conflict has changed against them."
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Gates sees room for Taliban in new Afghan government
FT.com - UK By Daniel Dombey in Rawalpindi January 22 2010
The US would welcome Taliban participation in Afghanistan's government – as long as the group gives up violence and recognises the country's legitimate rulers, Robert Gates, US defence secretary, said on Friday.
On a 24-hour visit to Pakistan, Mr Gates emphasised that US strategy consisted of turning the tide in the Afghan war so as to convince Taliban leaders to sit down and negotiate.
“We and our many allies are increasing our capabilities in Afghanistan to try and change the momentum and bring the Taliban, those elements of the Taliban that are willing to reconcile, into the government,” he said.
Seeking to counter Pakistani perceptions that the Taliban will replace the government of Hamid Karzai, Afghan president, he told a roundtable of Pakistani journalists that the US recognised that the Taliban were “part of the political fabric of Afghanistan at this point”.
“The question is whether they are prepared to play a legitimate role ... meaning participating in elections, meaning not assassinating local officials and killing families and opposing the education of children... The question is whether the Taliban at some point of this process are ready to help build a 21st-century Afghanistan or whether they just want to kill people,” he added
Efforts to bolster Afghan reconciliation have repeatedly faltered, in spite of Mr Karzai's professed interest in negotiating with Taliban leaders.
But with a Washington review scheduled for December of current strategy for Afghanistan – including President Barack Obana's recent decision to increase US forces to 100,000 by the end of the summer, time is limited for a political or military breakthrough.
Mr Gates said reconciliation with Taliban leaders and the reintegration of the insurgency's footsoldiers had to follow the terms set by the Kabul government – including adhering to the Afghan constitution and acknowledging the government as the sole legitimate source of military power.
But he also said that in his private meetings with Pakistani leaders he had had to explain Mr Obama's plans to begin drawing down US forces in July 2011 – a date that has bolstered suspicion in the region that the US lacks the stomach for a prolonged fight in Afghanistan.
“There will soon be 100,000 American troops and 50,000 troops from 43 countries from round the world in Afghanistan,” he said. ”No one should expect to see them all start to head for the exits in July 2011. There will be a substantial presence in my view well beyond that period of time.”
“The most important thing to understand is that July 2011 is the beginning of a process What the president has said is he expects that we will be in a position to begin turning over certain districts and provinces to provincial or district Afghan control beginning in July 2011,” he added.
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Taliban intensifies Afghan PR campaign
January 22, 2010 BBC News
After the attack on buildings in Kabul that killed five people and injured 71, Allan Little - who was there - explains that while the militants certainly caused disruption, their mission was not entirely successful.
I heard the blast of the first explosion and wished it away, wanting to believe that it was the sound of something heavy and metallic dropped from a height by a construction worker.
But the unmistakable dug-a-dug-a-dug of machine gun fire left no room for wishful thinking and soon the air of central Kabul rang with the noise of the fight.
It is quite a moment, this sudden descent into violence. Your pulse quickens and your stomach lurches.
We were summoned to the basement of the hotel, down the winding stairwell where we met - on their way up - Afghan National Policemen, flak-jacketed and heavily armed.
They took up gun positions on the roof, firing volley after volley into neighbouring buildings.
We followed what was happening by listening, tracking the sound of battle as it moved in an arc around us, engulfing what was supposed to be the fortified heart of the Afghan capital.
Orgy of violence
Soon you tasted on your tongue and in your throat the acrid gunpowder burn of spent rifle rounds.
Soon, four Afghan police came down into the basement carrying one of their comrades, gravely wounded or, more probably, dead.
Each of the four held a limb. His face, upside down and quite inert, was streaked with blood.
They took him to a separate room. The hotel staff began to ask whether there was a doctor among the guests sheltering in the basement. There wasn't.
It seemed the city centre had exploded in an orgy of violence - grotesque, indiscriminate, chaotic.
But it was not chaotic. It was highly organised, co-ordinated.
Each of the attackers knew which target he had been allocated: one suicide bomber to the south gate of the presidential palace; others to the ministry of justice, the ministry of education; someone else to the headquarters of a national bank.
Neither was it indiscriminate.
News agency call
The Taliban, we learned later, having failed to storm the government buildings they had at first targeted, sought shelter elsewhere.
At least four went into a crowded shopping centre.
If their intention had been to kill as many people as possible, it would have been achievable there.
But they didn't. They ordered everyone - shoppers and shopkeepers alike - out. Soon the building was on fire.
The Taliban fighters died amid the flames, most of them in a volley of gunfire, while the last man alive blew himself up.
The number of civilians who died was - given the scale of what was happening - surprisingly low.
From Pakistan, we learned, a Taliban spokesman had called a news agency, while the attack was still under way, to announce that 20 of its militants were involved.
The public relations management was as vital to the perpetrators as the co-ordination of the attack itself.
This care, this determination to avoid civilian deaths is now part of the conflict in Afghanistan.
It is something the Taliban shares with its Nato enemies.
For public opinion in Afghanistan has turned decisively against the Taliban and they, like Nato, are engaged in a battle not just for power and territory but for the hearts and minds, the trust, of the Afghan people.
This time last year, when asked who they blamed for the violence in their country, more Afghans blamed Nato than the Taliban. That has turned around.
Now it is the Taliban they blame. Asked who they would rather have in power, 90% said the current government rather than the Taliban.
Most Afghans also support the surge in US troop numbers announced by President Obama last year, in effect doubling the size of the US military presence in less than 12 months.
Emphasis on protection
That is coupled with a radical change in strategy. The US commander General Stanley McChrystal not only persuaded President Obama to send more troops, he persuaded him to change the nature of their mission.
The emphasis now is on protecting the Afghan population, rather than on killing or capturing Taliban militants.
That means more foreign boots on Afghan soil, fewer air strikes, fewer civilian deaths attributable to Nato and, gradually, the building of trust.
The idea is no longer to defeat the Taliban militarily but to isolate them, marginalise them, and persuade the majority of those who volunteer to fight for them to reintegrate into the law-abiding Afghan mainstream.
Monday, when the dust settled, reflected all of that.
When the din was over, what did it reveal?
A Taliban that was careful not to take civilian lives; a Taliban that failed to storm any of the government buildings that it had targeted and ended up in the softest, least protected of buildings - a shopping centre and a cinema.
Finally, it revealed an Afghan-led security operation that was capable of regaining control of the streets in a matter of hours, watched - but largely unassisted - by Nato forces.
In the public relations battle between the Afghan government and the Taliban, it is the government that can, more plausibly, claim to have won the day.
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Bombs and ambushes as Marines inch into Taliban bastion
by Jason Gutierrez – Fri Jan 22, 1:09 am ET
SOUTHEAST OF MARJAH, Afghanistan (AFP) – The crisp crackling of AK-47s breaks the morning silence as US Marines inch towards the outskirts of a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.
Within minutes, three squads of the Marines' 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment's Alpha company are pinned down in an open, dried-out poppy field by gunfire from unseen Taliban militants hiding in mud houses metres away.
"Stay down, stay down. Get me an eye on these guys," Staff Sergeant Stephen Vallejo barks as he directs his men into an embankment facing the gunfire.
At least two suspected Taliban militants are sighted, one of them lighting up a haystack as a signal for reinforcement. More gunfire ensues, the smell of gunpowder wafts in the cold air, and then silence.
In the distance, women and children are in the firing line of the Marines -- either forced by the Taliban to stay there as human shields or they are unperturbed by the fighting.
"We can't engage them because there are civilians in the direct path," Vallejo says, calling in the unit's position to base and asking for exact coordinates to pin down the enemy fire.
His men positioned in the embankment let off a volley of machine gunfire, sending fragments of the mud house flying into the air. Nearby, an elderly man herds his family away to safety.
Young Marines in their early 20s are visibly shaken.
For some among them, this is their first time out in the field waging a battle against the Taliban, the Islamist regime ousted in a US-led invasion in 2001 but who have since been waging a festering insurgency from the south. Related article: Karzai plans to pay Taliban to lay down arms
Soldiers from Afghanistan's army, who are being trained by the Marines to take over once they begin gradually pulling out in 18 months, provide seemingly chaotic support to those up front.
One interpreter props himself down on the earth and begins to pray during a lull in the fighting.
The Marines are on one of the patrol missions to inch closer to Marjah in Helmand province, which produces the bulk of the world's opium poppies, the main ingredient in the production of heroin.
Marjah is described as one of the last bastions of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, and dislodging them from this area is part of the US government's overall strategy to push them away from population centres.
Some 10,000 Marines have already poured into the region, and an all-out push into Marjah is on the drawing board. Related article: Taliban part of 'political fabric' of Afghanistan
The Taliban could either fight to the death or abandon the town, but pushing them out without bloodshed is preferred.
"The best battles are won are without a fight," says one lieutenant.
The initial push into Marjah, however, has met resistance. Taliban fighters hidden in farming communities take potshots at advancing Marines.
Heavy sporadic fighting over the past few days has left at least three Taliban fighters dead. Forces also arrested an elderly man whose shed yielded over 500 kilograms (1,200 pounds) of processed ammonium nitrate and other materials used in making bombs.
One US sergeant was killed during an earlier patrol after stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) planted in an open field.
"Watch out for disturbed earth, these are clever fighters, they plant IEDs where they know we may be going," Vallejo says.
"What really angers me is that we are prevented from making further contact. They are either using the women and children as human shields or they (the women and children) just don't care about the fighting," he said.
"Most likely, it's the former. They know our rules of engagement," he said.
The radio crackles into life some 20 minutes later. It's the forward operating base calling them to pull back. For now, the operation ends.
"But we'll be back to get these guys," Vallejo vows. Moving away, a rifle grenade explodes into the Taliban position, sending a plume of smoke into the air as artillery fire is heard in the distance.
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Review: Eric Blehm tells of victory over Taliban
By Carl Hartman, For The Associated Press – Thu Jan 21, 12:20 pm ET
"The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan" (Harper, 375 pages, $25.99), by Eric Blehm: On Nov. 14, 2001, anti-Taliban forces in northern Afghanistan occupied Kabul, ending the five-year rule of the extremist Muslim government that protected Osama bin Laden. The Taliban stood little chance against American air power.
With a revived Taliban guerrilla campaign now increasing American casualties, some critics are certain to question the assertive title of Eric Blehm's "The Only Thing Worth Dying For." The subtitle, "How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan," will certainly provoke doubt.
In 2001, the Taliban still controlled Kandahar, the country's second city, 250 miles to the south. Hamid Karzai, now president of Afghanistan, had been touring the area clandestinely to promote support for a change.
The night Kabul fell, two Black Hawk helicopters flew into southern Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan. They carried some of the first Americans to operate there: part of an 11-man Green Beret unit — Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA 574). Also there: a CIA group and seven Afghan tribal chiefs who backed Karzai. Their mission was to start a revolt against the Taliban.
Military buffs will be fascinated by the precise descriptions of equipment and tactics in a three-week campaign to take Kandahar, which Taliban leader Mullah Omar used as his capital. Karzai accompanied the campaign and rallied more Afghans, who were encouraged by arms and supplies dropped from American planes.
Omar surrendered Kandahar. But the climax of the book is different. The morning the delegation from Omar came to the camp, an American lieutenant colonel who had been sent to give Karzai military advice spotted a suspicious-looking cave on the bank of a river. He ordered an air strike.
A subordinate transmitting the order, working with unfamiliar equipment, transferred mistaken geographical data to the B-52 bomber and a 2,000-pound bomb was brought down on the Americans and their Afghan allies. It was estimated that more than 50 were killed, including three Americans.
Blehm devotes more than 50 brilliantly written pages describing the damage and chaos that followed. His descriptions favor the direct quotations from participants that he uses throughout book, including expletives from the military vocabulary and vivid details of wounds that are not for the squeamish.
"All events reported in this book were described to me by eyewitnesses in exclusive personal interviews conducted over the course of two years," the author says in a concluding note.
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British ambassador tipped for top civilian Nato post in Afghanistan
The Guardian By Julian Borger 01/21/2010
Mark Sedwill said to be leading candidate to co-ordinate huge reconstruction effort
A British diplomat is being tipped to take on a top Nato civilian role in Afghanistan, co-ordinating the flow of billions of dollars in reconstruction funds around the country.
Mark Sedwill, the British ambassador in Kabul, is said to be the leading candidate for the job of Nato's special civilian representative, which will be given enhanced powers to orchestrate an international reconstruction effort that has hitherto been faltering and badly co-ordinated.
Western diplomats today confirmed Sedwill was a candidate, but said no decision had been taken.
The Nato post is potentially one of the most powerful in Afghanistan, as it would oversee the work of the provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs), Nato-run civil and military groups that carry out the lion's share of roadbuilding, construction and development work around Afghanistan.
The British-run PRT in Helmand province spent $529m (£326m) last year, compared with the Afghan government's budget for the province of $14m. Western officials want Kabul to take on an increasing share of the responsibility and resources, but a better co-ordinated PRT network would allow development work to be accelerated in the next few months to help the counter-insurgency effort.
Until now, the work of each PRT has been the responsibility of the lead Nato nation in the province, resulting in duplication and incoherence.
In its new form, the Nato representative will in theory have equal authority to the US military commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, who leads the 110,000-strong International Security Assistance Force. The US ambassador will also continue to wield considerable clout.
The reorganisation of the international effort is due to be discussed at the London conference on Afghanistan starting next Thursday. The thinking is that the Nato representative will work with a new UN special envoy to replace the outgoing Kai Eide (a job widely expected to go to a Swedish diplomat, Staffan di Mistura), with a new post of EU special representative. "Together they are supposed to present a co-ordinated and coherent international position to the Afghan government," a western diplomat said.
James Appathurai, the Nato spokesman in Brussels, said he could not discuss candidates but added: "This will strengthen the co-ordination of the work being done by the Nato PRTs, and there is a lot of room for improvement there, to meet the objectives of the Afghan government."
Last year, some senior American officials had pushed for the creation of a super-envoy or high representative in Kabul to combine the Nato and UN positions, a role once offered to Britain's former liberal leader, Paddy Ashdown. But such a hybrid post would have to be granted special statutory powers in Afghanistan, and President Hamid Karzai was believed to oppose them. The new Nato job is seen as a second-best solution to co-ordinating the international effort.
Appathurai insisted yesterday that the new Nato post would not be expanded at the expense of the UN's role in Afghanistan. "The bottom line is that this post will not infringe on the United Nations work in Afghanistan," he said. "The Nato allies strongly support a strong UN mission in Afghanistan."
Sedwill, 45, has been Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan since last April, and was formerly a UN weapons inspector in Iraq and a British government spokesman on the Middle East.
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As Afghanistan war ramps up, one hospital hunkers down to treat soldiers – and Taliban
Medics at a British base in Helmand – the epicenter of the Afghanistan war – cope with sadness, stress, and the ethical pangs of caring for the ‘enemy.’
By Aidan Jones The Christian Science Monitor Correspondent - Thu Jan 21, 8:27 pm ET
Camp Bastion, Afghanistan - A Chinook helicopter rumbles ominously overhead, quickly followed by ambulance sirens as another critically injured soldier arrives at Camp Bastion's field hospital.
It is a grim ritual punctuating days and nights at the British base in Helmand Province, a frequent reminder that the insurgency shows no signs of abating despite the deepening winter.
NATO forces suffered a deadly 2009, the worst in eight years of war in Afghanistan, with the most intense fighting taking place in this province.
Medics here are all too aware of the grinding conflict. On bad days they admit flurries of British, American, and Afghan troops and civilians – and even Taliban fighters – to the emergency department, one of the few permanent structures in the vast, bleak, rubble-strewn camp.
And tough months may be ahead, as President Barack Obama's troop surge crescendos, putting more boots on Helmand's IED-studded ground.
"Neither side wants to be out in these conditions, but it seems like the Taliban are prepared to brave it this time round," says Col. Peter Gilbert, commanding officer of 256 Field Hospital, the British unit leading the care. "We've seen several significant episodes since November, whereas perhaps we were expecting the fighting to slow down."
A steady flow of patients
Col Gilbert's unit is staffed by 90 National Health Service (NHS) volunteers, working long hours alongside 60 US Navy medics for three or four months at a time.
There are few creature comforts at Bastion to break up the monotony of the eat-sleep-work “triangle” that a tour entails.
But the routine is made bearable by the great pride the medics take in their work. They have made many “remarkable saves” at the hospital – patients who in previous wars would have almost certainly died – and the unit is rapidly becoming known as the world's leading center for trauma surgery and aftercare.
It is a reputation complemented by a fast-flowing treatment “passageway,” which sees injured soldiers picked up from the front line, operated on, stabilized, and evacuated to Europe within 12 to 48 hours.
"Many of the ones who don't make it are young lads. That's something everyone feels deeply," says Capt. Simon Cook, who is part of the resuscitation team.
Of the British deaths last year, 61 were under age 25. The increasing sophistication and size of the Taliban's IEDs has also maimed dozens of young men.
"With those patients, it's the recognition of the journey that lies ahead of them that plays on your mind," says Maj. Sue Snaith, who in civilian life is a pediatric expert in London.
More so for the Afghan children wounded in crossfire, bombings, or mine blasts.
United Nations estimates suggest around two thirds of civilian casualties are caused by the Taliban, with the remainder hit by NATO forces.
Treatment of Afghans brings its own challenges. Medics are expected to be sensitive to Afghanistan's rigorously patriarchal culture.
Recalling the case of a boy who had stepped on an IED, Snaith says the culture clash can sometimes be daunting.
"The boy's biggest worry was what his dad would say when he saw him, so he hid his lower legs under a sheet," she says. "It was heartbreaking to see."
Treating the Taliban
Under the Geneva Convention the Taliban are also entitled to care – a fact which sits uneasily with many soldiers who believe the brutal asymmetry of the Taliban's tactics should disqualify them from treatment.
On a recent visit to the hospital, a Taliban fighter sat upright in a bed in the Intensive Treatment Unit, his thick beard wrestling free from underneath a large blindfold. Though heavily sedated, he was accompanied by an Army guard even as he was wheeled into surgery.
Privately some medics are uncomfortable with treating the enemy, but stick to the ethical code governing their profession.
Others, such as Capt. Andrea Blay, second in command of the ITU ward, try to step back from the emotive debate on patching up the Taliban.
"They don't like being treated by women, that's for sure," she says wryly.
"But some of them are kids – 14 or 15-year-olds paid to do something stupid. Do they know the consequences of what they are doing? When you see them in here, some look almost apologetic. They are human, and we treat them with that respect."
Her colleague Capt. Raj Nathwani takes a similarly nuanced view.
"I hope I am able to still see the wider picture here. They are fighting for a cause, and perhaps my feeling would be very similar if foreign forces were in my land," he says.
"I hope for the Afghan people we are doing the right thing here, because a lot of people are being hurt."
Not everyone at Bastion is so sanguine. Outside, a weary-looking Marine from Washington expressed shock that medical resources are spent on the Taliban – an enemy he has yet to see in seven months patrolling northern Helmand.
"They are killing our guys, so why should we help them?" said the young man, who did not want to be named. "They hate our way of life so let them fix themselves up."
It is never too long before the thump of helicopter rotor blades again ranges into earshot, bringing another casualty from a remote front line.
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Kabul Promotes Its Side of Taliban Attack
Wall Street Journal By Yaroslav Trofimov 01/21/2010
KABUL - The propaganda war between the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban has just escalated, as each side offers starkly different accounts of Monday's insurgent attacks on central Kabul.
Until recently, the Taliban proved far better than the disorganized Afghan government in spreading their message. But this time, Afghan officials—with American support—have mounted a newly sophisticated effort to present their view of events, culminating with an award ceremony Thursday for Afghan soldiers who helped repel the insurgents.
Afghan leaders say Monday's attack, in which militants seized buildings and unleashed suicide bombings near the presidential palace, wasn't a Taliban triumph, but instead showcased the might of the nation's fledgling security forces.
"What happened was a victory and a show of our strength. The enemy was well prepared, and they wanted to prolong the siege by a day or two, like in Mumbai," the Afghan army's chief of staff, Gen. Bismullah Khan Mohammadi, said in an interview.
The Mumbai siege, carried out by 10 militants in November 2008, lasted for several days and left more than 170 people dead, many of them guests of luxury hotels. By contrast, in Kabul, the militants were killed after four hours of fighting, with only two civilians and three members of the security forces dead. The attackers—20 of them, according to the Taliban—failed to take over any government installations, or the nearby Serena hotel, which houses foreign diplomats and journalists.
The Taliban have staged several high-profile attacks in Kabul in recent months, attempting to demonstrate that not even the most heavily secured part of the capital is beyond their reach.
The group portrayed Monday's events as an unqualified triumph. In statements posted on the Voice of Jihad, a slick multilingual Web site run by the Taliban's high command, the militant group claimed to have killed "dozens of foreigners" at the Serena and 31 government soldiers. "The soldiers of the NATO and the security forces are seen to run about in a confused and chaotic state at the battle ground," it declared.
Similar propaganda—often left unchallenged by the Afghan government and frequently believed by many Afghans—has helped the Taliban create a perception of their inevitable rise, something that in turn attracts new recruits and collaborators.
This time, two hours after the shooting ended, the leaders of the Afghan army, police and intelligence services presented a united front, appearing at a joint news conference to proclaim victory. President Hamid Karzai then swiftly approved the awarding of medals to Afghan commandos who distinguished themselves in Monday's fighting, including a lieutenant who shot and killed a suicide bomber before he was able to detonate his vest.
U.S.-led coalition officials enthusiastically endorsed this view. "We're actually quite proud of the role the ANA played," says Canadian Brig. Gen. Paul Wynnyk, the coalition's officer in charge of Afghan National Army development. "There are very few cities in the world where it could have been suppressed in four-five hours."
Gen. Mohammadi, flanked by the Afghan army's top brass and American generals, handed out medals and citations at a ceremony Thursday attended by hundreds of soldiers at a commando base on the outskirts of Kabul. "When we asked for three volunteers, ten of you stepped forward. Everybody is praising your quick reaction," the Afghan chief of staff told the rows of commandos, their shoulder patches inscribed with the Arabic words "Allahu Akbar," or "God is Great."
Coalition officials pointed out that only a few American and allied special forces fought alongside the Afghans on Monday. "Several months ago the Afghan security forces did not respond as well as they did on Monday—they have learned from their experience," said U.S. Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, who oversees the coalition's effort to train and stand up the Afghan army and police. "Their actions without question saved many civilian lives and precluded any further destruction in the city."
It's not clear who emerged the winner of the latest skirmish of narratives. Among the residents of Kabul, views were divided. Haji Akram, a 65-year-old jeweler whose store is a couple of blocks from the scene of Monday's attacks, praised the ANA. "They fought the terrorists the best way they could. Every one of them deserves more than a medal," he said. "If they hadn't arrived on time, God knows how many people would have been killed."
But Ahmad Jamal, another shopkeeper in the area—with its burned-down shopping mall and other signs of Monday's violence—disagreed. "With this attack, the Taliban showed how strong they are," he said. "I am scared."
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US unveils civilian strategy for Afghanistan, Pakistan
by Lachlan Carmichael – Fri Jan 22, 1:39 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled a long-term, non-military strategy to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan that calls for sending more civilian experts to the region.
A week before a London conference aimed at promoting Afghanistan's development, the new civilian strategy outlines plans to rebuild the Afghan farm sector, improve governance, and bring extremists back into mainstream society.
It also calls for boosting neighboring Pakistan's capabilities to fight a growing Islamist insurgency and to enhance the US partnership with Islamabad, partly through supporting political and economic reforms.
A key part of the plan also calls for "countering extremist voices" in both countries, where anti-American feelings run high.
It complements a military strategy in which President Barack Obama announced December 1 he will deploy another 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan this year -- on top of more than 70,000 already there -- to undercut a resurgent Taliban.
Under his plan, troops are to begin withdrawing in July next year.
"While our military mission in Afghanistan is not open-ended, we are committed to building lasting partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan," Clinton said in a statement timed with the release of the civilian strategy.
"I believe this strategy offers the best prospect for stabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan," the chief US diplomat said.
"I look forward to working with Congress to secure the non-military resources needed to achieve our mission and to signal our commitment to Afghanistan and Pakistan," she said, adding the money would be well spent.
However, it was not immediately clear how much support there is in Congress for the strategy.
Lawmakers last year adopted legislation sending 1.5 billion dollars in annual economic and other aid to Pakistan over the next five years.
The new strategy calls for increasing civilian experts in Afghanistan beyond the nearly 1,000 US experts due to be deployed by now or in the next few weeks.
"We anticipate further increasing our civilian staffing in 2010 by another 20 to 30 percent, concentrating experts in the field and at key ministries that deliver vital services to the Afghan people," the 30-page paper said.
The plan calls for sending dozens of US Agency for International Development and other personnel to Pakistan by the end of the year to enhance oversight of contracts and improvement management of programs developed with Islamabad. Related article: Gates to bolster Pakistan alliance
The Afghanistan and Pakistan Regional Stabilization Strategy was produced by the office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, who briefed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on it.
Holbrooke warned them that the situation in Pakistan was "far more complicated" than in Afghanistan, where Washington has more influence with its large military and civilian presence.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband also briefed senators about plans for a London conference on Afghanistan.
Fighting corruption is one of the key topics due to be discussed at the conference in the British capital on January 28, along with the security situation, good governance and reconciliation with Taliban fighters. Related article: Karzai plans to pay Taliban to lay down arms
The conference calls on the 60 or more countries attending to mobilize their civilian and military resources behind the government of Hamid Karzai, who was re-elected president following a fraud-tainted election last year.
Standing next to Clinton, Miliband indicated the conference is designed to reinforce the new US civilian effort.
"On the NATO side too and in the EU, it's very important that we upgrade our civilian side of the mission as the military upgrade their side of the mission," Miliband said.
"And I very much hope the momentum coming out of the London conference will contribute to that," he said.
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Afghanistan asks ex-presidential contender to tackle corruption
The Canadian Press 01/21/2010
KABUL - The Afghan government presented its strategy Wednesday for confronting the insurgency, including overtures to Taliban militants, building up its security forces and tackling corruption one week ahead of a key international conference aimed at shoring up the national leadership.
The plan was presented to the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, including representatives from the government, the U.N. and major troop contributing countries. The board was to finalize programs to be presented at the Jan. 28 conference in London.
The goal of the conference is to bolster support for the government at a time when the U.S. and NATO allies are sending 37,000 reinforcements to ramp up the fight against the Taliban. U.S. officials have said the military effort cannot succeed without major reforms in the weak and corrupt Afghan government.
Former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, a sharp critic of President Hamid Karzai, planned to submit a report outlining new ideas for tackling corruption, which international officials believe has been driving Afghans into Taliban ranks. A U.N. report this week found that Afghans had paid a staggering $1.2 billion bribes over a 12-month period ending last fall _ roughly equal to one quarter of the national GDP.
Goals for training Afghan security forces also were expected to be finalized at Wednesday's meeting.
The government is calling for force levels to reach 400,000 in the next three to five years _ including 240,000 Afghan soldiers and 160,000 national police, according to a draft document obtained by The Associated Press. That would be up from the current levels of about 94,000 Afghan police officers and 97,000 soldiers.
The Obama administration believes the key to stability in Afghanistan is a strong security force that can protect the country and allow U.S. and other foreign troops to go home. The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, also has set the goal of building the Afghan security force to 400,000 by 2013.
British Col. Donald Bigger, who is part of the planning team for Afghanistan's security forces, gave more specific goals for the near future. He told the AP ahead of the meeting that the board would be asked to approve a goal of 134,000 soldiers and 109,000 police by the end of this year. That would increase to 172,000 soldiers and 134,000 police by the end of 2011.
"We expect those figures will be approved today," Bigger said.
A plan to reintegrate Taliban militants who renounce violence also was on the agenda as senior Afghan, U.N. and other international officials gathered at the Foreign Ministry amid tight security following Monday's co-ordinated attack by Taliban suicide bombers that brought the capital to a standstill.
Karzai's government is promising to have a two-pronged reintegration plan to persuade Taliban militants to switch sides ready by the spring to present to international donors who will have to come up with the money needed to lure them off the battlefield, according to a draft document obtained by The Associated Press.
The international community has said key Taliban leaders like Mullah Mohammed Omar would not be part of any reintegration plan. However, the draft, which was being discussed at Wednesday's meeting, does offer "key leaders of the Taliban movement" an opportunity for amnesty and reintegration.
Central to the plan will be a Grand Peace Council, that will include representation by all aspects of Afghanistan's society, including religious leaders, with the purpose of giving armed opponents a guarantee that their views will be heard.
"The government will provide the Taliban and other insurgent groups who wish to respect the constitution a dignified way to renounce violence and peacefully reintegrate into their communities and separate themselves from their past," said the draft report.
"The rank-and-file Taliban are not al-Qaida, they are our neighbours and cousins, and to achieve peace we need only remove their reason to fight," the report said. "As victory will not be achieved on the battlefield alone, but in the hearts and minds of our citizens, no effort can be spared to eliminate the civilian casualties that strengthen the enemy and rally support for their case."
The London conference is intended to map out a strategy that will give countries with soldiers serving in Afghanistan confidence that the government can turnaround a bourgeoning insurgency that is fueled by widespread discontent and frustration with a corrupt and inefficient system.
Goals will be reassessed after 2011 based on the results of the influx of 37,000 additional U.S. and NATO forces and the reintegration plan, he said.
President Barack Obama said in announcing the troop surge that the U.S. withdrawal could begin as early as July 2011 but he has conditioned that on the readiness of Afghan security forces.
A U.N. report released Tuesday said half of all Afghan adults paid at least one bribe to a public official over the course of a year to cut through red tape or get help with poor service.
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Germany Denies Report 1,500 More Troops to Go to Afghanistan
By Patrick Donahue
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The German government denied a report that Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg plans to send 1,500 additional troops to Afghanistan.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur today cited unnamed officials close to Germany’s military as saying the deployment would raise the number of German troops in Afghanistan to 6,000. The number “lacks any foundation,” ministry spokesman Christian Dienst told reporters in Berlin.
Guttenberg told lawmakers two days ago that more troops are needed in Afghanistan soon to train local forces, and that the number of German troops there at present is “far from” what’s needed. He declined to say today whether the number of German troops would rise beyond 4,500.
“It can’t be ruled out at the moment, but it also can’t be ruled out that we remain with this number,” Guttenberg told ARD television in an interview.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold talks in Berlin on Jan. 26 with Afghan President Hamid Karzai as he travels to London for a conference two days later on military and development aid for Afghanistan, the government said today. Merkel’s government has said a decision on any additional forces in response to President Barack Obama’s decision to send 30,000 additional combat troops will be made after the Jan. 28 conference.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net
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Germany may increase troops in Afghanistan
BERLIN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Germany may increase its troop commitment to Afghanistan to train local police and protect civilian reconstruction, German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said on Friday.
Since the U.S. announced in December it would send an extra 30,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, Germany has been under considerable pressure from its NATO allies to increase its commitment from the current 4,500 troops.
Guttenberg told local TV station ARD the decision to hold to this limit or increase it must be made on a reasonable basis and no choice had been ruled out at present.
"We're not just talking about troops, we're also talking about training police and protecting civilian reconstruction there," Guttenberg said.
On January 6, Chancellor Angela Merkel set up a special cabinet committee to prepare a coherent German position for the London conference on January 28.
The Afghan mission is unpopular in Germany now, especially after an airstrike order which killed about 142 civilians in Kunduz in September 2009.
However, just a week before the London conference, voices for increasing the number of troops have been growing louder at military and political levels in Germany.
On Tuesday, German army union chief Colonel Ulrich Kirsch said more troops must be sent to Kunduz region in Afghanistan to make civilian reconstruction successful.
Anonymous defense officials claim the German government will seek parliamentary authorization to send 1,500 more German soldiers, according to local news agency DPA on Friday.
Germany has the third largest foreign contingent in Afghanistan after the U.S. and Britain, with about 4,400 soldiers deployed in the northern part of Afghanistan.
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Kabul's failures a threat to Afghan success: Canada
By David Ljunggren – Thu Jan 21, 2:52 pm ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Afghan government's failure to combat insurgents is a significant obstacle in the way to eventual success in Afghanistan, a top Canadian general said in blunt comments on Thursday.
Brigadier-General Jon Vance, who was the commander of Canada's 2,800 troops in Afghanistan until last November, said Kabul needed to act immediately to take advantage of the gains made by foreign troops.
He said Canadian soldiers, who are based in the southern Taliban stronghold region of Kandahar, were gradually taking control of the area outside the city.
"At this point in time, I'd say the enemy effectiveness has been largely arrested and we now have to deal with the greater persistent threat to success, which would be the Afghan government itself," he said in a speech.
"Not that they're actively trying to screw it up. But they need to fight the insurgents, and they're not. I'm being quite frank with you," Vance said.
The Afghan government is having trouble dealing with the Taliban. Insurgents launched a brazen assault on the center of Kabul on Monday, killing several people.
Western nations are trying hard to build up both the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police, with varying success. Vance said the army was showing some signs of progress but the police still faced many hurdles.
He identified one small southern town where he said Canadian troops had helped the local population by evicting the Taliban and restoring peace.
"What we need to see is the Afghan government taking full advantage of the changed situation, fast, and raise their game, so that the town isn't seeing the turnaround strictly as a result of Canadian acts," he said.
Canada is due to pull out all its troops by the end of 2011. So far, 139 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan.
Vance, expressing confidence that Afghanistan would eventually become a stable nation, said the Taliban were running a bad insurgency.
"They don't have a counter-narrative for putting this country back together again, so they don't appeal to the population. So they're not going to win and I think they won't be able to stand as a spoiler in the face of this," he said.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)
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Afghanistan: Film archive weathers coups and car bombs, but threats remain
While the Taliban had plans to turn it into a weapons museum, Afghanistan's national film archive is attempting to save documents by digitizing a collection dating back to World War II.
The Christian Science Monitor By Ben Arnoldy Staff Writer / January 21, 2010
Kabul, Afghanistan — A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent
On two occasions over the past decade, Afghanistan’s national film archive almost went up in smoke. The collection of 2,000 canisters contains the only known copies of some Afghan feature films, documentaries, and newsreels dating back to World War II.
First the Taliban government tried to burn the archive and turn it into a weapons museum. Archivists risked their lives to hide films in ceilings, air ducts, and closed-off closets. Then the Taliban insurgents recently came within yards of inadvertently blowing it up with a car bomb targeting foreign troops in Kabul.
For want of an apparatus called an editing table, Afghan Film archivists have been unable to make digital backups of the films. France offered to house the archive, but the Afghans were leery of something going wrong in transit. Finally, the Spanish archive in Madrid has stepped up to buy and deliver an editing machine. The films should be digitized within two years’ time.
But the originals still are at risk, both from a lack of proper air conditioning in the archives – which would cost a few hundred thousand dollars – and the nearby foreign base.
“These forces [should] take their compound and move it outside the city. It would be safer for them and safer for residents,” says Siddiq Barmak, an Afghan filmmaker famous for the movie “Osama.”
One documentary in the archive, he says, contains footage of a cross-country trip made by the minister of education in 1965 to determine where people needed schools built.
“It’s a mirror for us right now about how poor the people were, how they needed schools and clinics, and how they were making makeshift hospitals,” says Mr. Barmak. “And when you compare it to today, nothing has changed. The only difference is, now they have Kalashnikovs.”
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Afghan Recovery Report: Taleban Buying Guns From Former Warlords
Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) 21 Jan 2010
Insurgents in north take advantage of big arms caches retained by ex-militiamen in contravention of major disarmament programme.
By Abdul Latif Sahak in Mazar-e-Sharif (ARR No. 350, 21-Jan-10)
Evidence is mounting that Taleban insurgents are purchasing the weapons they need to fight government and international forces from their former and perhaps future opponents: the warlords who controlled Afghanistan during the mujahedin period that followed the collapse of the Communist-backed regime of President Najibullah in 1992.
The Afghan government and western forces alike are concerned about the huge caches of weapons belonging to former militiamen and the failure to neutralise them.
General Ghulam Mujtaba Patang, commander of the 303 Pamir Police Zone in northern Afghanistan, confirms the existence of weapons caches in the north, saying that they present a great threat to security.
"We do not have exact figures on weapons," he said. "But we know there are still big depots belonging to former commanders in the north."
Some major weapons caches had been found in the far northern province of Badakhshan, he pointed out.
"The existence of weapons is a matter of concern in terms of ensuring security," Patang said. "These weapons are trafficked to the enemies of peace and stability in Afghanistan. We can say that these weapons are a good source of supply for the Taleban as well."
General Frank Leidenberger, commander of the northern region for the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, also expressed alarm at the surfeit of weapons in northern Afghanistan.
"These weapons are an added threat to our forces," he said. "The armed opposition simply use these weapons against the government and ISAF forces. We will spare no effort to collect weapons, but we will take action only when the Afghan government asks for our assistance in this respect."
A weapons smuggler provided IWPR with an insight into how the arms are delivered to the Taleban.
"I buy weapons in Jowzjan province from former militia members, commanders, and even people who now have high-ranking positions in the government. I then hand them over to a bigger smuggler who takes them to the Taleban, in both the north and the south," he said.
The prices are rising almost on a daily basis, he continued, as the war expands and the need for weapons increases, "I can sell one Kalashnikov for 300-400 US dollars. A PK [machine gun] is worth 1,500 dollars and a rocket launcher goes for 2,000 dollars. But prices are rising quickly."
The Taleban prefer Russian-made weapons, he added, although they are now also buying the new American-made guns that are being issued to the army and the national police.
Northern Afghanistan is awash with weapons left over from nearly three decades of war. Huge stocks came in during the jihad against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. After the withdrawal of the Soviet forces in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of the Najibullah regime, guns and other ordnance continued to flow into Afghanistan as neighbouring countries, including Russia and Iran, tried to shore up the Northern Alliance in its battle with the Taleban.
The United Nations has tried to disarm the population but has little in the way of hardware to show for a multi-million dollar programme that has been running for five years.
The Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups, DIAG, programme has consumed over 100 million dollars since its inception in January 2005, but has confiscated fewer than 50,000 pieces of weaponry, according to reports issued by the UN.
"Although we have disarmed more than 150 illegal armed groups in the north over the past five years, the number of weapons has been very small," said General Abdulmanan Abed, a representative of the ministry of defence and the head of the DIAG programme for northern Afghanistan.
"We have seized just 7,000 weapons. We have not been able to find the depots belonging to commanders."
The problem is the political patronage involved in protecting the weapons, he added.
"Political groups in the north have control over these depots, and we are concerned that they may want to use them for political purposes," Abed said. "They have maintained these weapons caches in order to exert pressure on the government and the people. They are also a good resource for supplying the Taleban."
Militia commanders acquired most of these arms during the chaotic civil war years, and secreted them away.
A large number ended up with Uzbek strongman General Abdul Rashid Dostum, who commanded a large army in the north, and rival commander Atta Mohammad Noor, now governor of Balkh province, according to an officer who had formerly worked in the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, DDR, programme, which sought to return militia members to civilian life.
"The 8th Army Corps of General Dostum and Atta Mohammad's 7th Corps had more than 35,000 weapons of various kinds," he told IWPR, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But they handed over only 7,000 to the commission and the rest are all in hidden depots belonging to commanders."
The American-led Coalition forces, who helped with DDR and DIAG, were looking mainly for heavy weapons, he said, but did not pay enough attention to light arms, resulting in the huge problem that exists now.
Both Dostum and Atta deny that they have any arms stored.
Dostum is the currently chief of staff to the Afghan army's commander-in-chief, a largely ceremonial position that nevertheless gives him power and prestige. Kinja Kagar, spokesman for his political faction, Junbesh-e Milli, told IWPR that Dostum had no weapons at all.
"He handed all of his weapons over to the DDR commission," Kagar said. "This is why our party was given a licence by the ministry of justice to carry out political activity."
Munir Ahmad Farhad, spokesman for the Balkh governor, insisted that Atta, too, was weapons-free.
"Atta is very proud of the weapons collection process, because he was the first person to hand all of his in," Farhad said. "He dissolved the 7th Army Corps."
But some are not convinced. Mohammad Hashem Zareh, governor of Jowzjan province, while not naming Atta or Dostum directly, hinted quite broadly that these individuals had not cooperated fully with the disarmament programmes.
"Commanders who were responsible for tens of thousands of soldiers say they do not have even one weapon, which is just not credible," he said. It was the lack of cooperation by major commanders that had slowed the disarmament process and given the insurgents the opportunity to purchase some of the excess guns and ammunition, he said.
It will not be easy to get the weapons, said retired Colonel Abdullah Khan, a military expert in the north.
"Collecting weapons is going to be impossible as long as these commanders hold high-ranking political positions within the government," he told IWPR. "How can a governor assist with DIAG or DDR when he himself has illegal armed men and weapons?"
According to Khan, Dostum and Atta between them have more than 100,000 pieces of weaponry at present.
"But no one can collect them while these men are in power," he said.
Residents of the north are also worried by the abundance of guns and other types of weapons in their backyard.
"Those who had weapons depots in the past have now been recruited into the police," Rauf Khan, a resident of Jowzjan province, said. "They hand over old Kalashnikovs but protect their real caches. They will use these weapons against the government and the people whenever they find an opportunity. The government should take decisive action against these commanders so that the people can feel safe."
Abdul Latif Sahak is an IWPR-trained reporter in Balkh province.
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Safi Airways inks interline agreements
These agreements, effective from February, allow passengers travelling to and from Kabul to international destinations served by these partners to enjoy single-fare tickets and reduced lead time
Gulf News January 20, 2010
Dubai: Safi Airways, Afghanistan's international carrier, has announced interline agreements with Lufthansa, United Airlines, Emirates and Qatar Airways.
These agreements, effective from February, allow passengers travelling to and from Kabul to international destinations served by these partners to enjoy single-fare tickets and reduced lead time.
The deal with United Airlines will be of special interest to US citizens. The day flights from Kabul to Frankfurt with Safi Airways on to United flights to major US cities with a connecting time of just two and a half hours fulfil the conditions of the Fly America Act.
Interline tickets will be available from February 1.
Qatar Airways will offer fares via the new Safi route from Kabul to Doha from March 13 with three weekly flights to the Qatar Airways hub. Daily flights will be introduced later this year.
These agreements mean passengers will require only one ticket to their destinations. Safi Airways will, however, not be code-sharing with its partner airlines, which means that the Safi flight number will be valid throughout the passenger's journey.
Further, passengers holding these interline tickets are entitled to standard treatment in case of flight interruptions.
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India 'important' for US success in Afghanistan, Pakistan: Holbrooke
Calcutta News.Net Friday 22nd January, 2010 (ANI)
Washington, Jan.22 : US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said that India is 'important' for America's success in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"I want to be sure that everyone here recognises how centrally important India will be to this (the US success in Afghanistan and Pakistan)," Holbrooke said, while addressing lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Holbrooke, who visited India recently, told the hearing, which was convened by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Senator John Kerry, that even though New Delhi is not part of his mandate, it is important to keep it informed about the situation in the troubled Af-Pak region.
"I don't think it would be valuable to go into details in the public forum, but I do want to stress that the Indians are very, very anxious that we succeed in Afghanistan. They're supporting us," Holbrooke said.
He also supported the numerous developmental works being carried out by India in Afghanistan.
"They are giving Afghanistan a lot of aid, particularly in the field of agriculture, which is also our primary non-security priority," Holbrooke said.
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World can learn from India's move on Afghanistan: UK envoy
Calcutta News.Net Friday 22nd January, 2010 (IANS)
Ahead of the London conference on Afghanistan next week, British High Commissioner Richard Stagg Friday lauded India's reconstruction efforts in the strife-torn country and said the world could learn 'some lessons' from it.
'India's approach is probably what the rest of the world needs. We could learn some lessons from India,' the British envoy here said while outlining the agenda of the London conference set for Jan 28.
Lauding India's multifarious reconstruction activities in Afghanistan, Stagg said the conference will be a good opportunity for New Delhi to showcase its role in rebuilding that country.
'It's an opportunity for External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna to showcase what India is doing,' he said.
'India's effort is underknown and undervalued. There is very little awareness about India's role,' he said.
Asked about any request by Western countries to India to train the Afghan National Army, the envoy said although India's training role is needed, no such request was made.
India's focus on the civilian sphere has been very effective, he said.
Krishna will represent India at the London conference on Afghanistan, which is co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The envoy also stressed that India can play an important role in any regional framework - several ideas are being discussed - to stabilising Afghanistan.
The British envoy's remarks come close on the heels of a new opinion poll, commissioned by by BBC, ABC and German TV ARD, in which Afghans rated India as the most favourable foreign country in Afghanistan and rejected a role for Pakistan in their country.
India has pledged $1.3 billion for a wide array of reconstruction activities ranging from education to building roads, bridges, power stations to digging tubewells, and grassroot development projects.
India is the largest regional donor to the strife-torn country
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Pakistan 'wants unarmed drones'
January 22, 2010 BBC News
The United States may provide Pakistan with a dozen unarmed drone aircraft to help strengthen its fight against the Taliban, US defence officials say.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates told a Pakistani television channel that the plan was being considered.
The use of armed drones by US forces in strikes against militants in Pakistan has led to huge anti-American feeling.
On Thursday, Pakistan's president said people would be less critical if drones were used by Pakistani troops.
Hundreds of people - many of them militants, but many more civilians - have died in attacks by armed drones in tribal areas of Pakistan where al-Qaeda and Taliban militants are believed to operate.
'Useful'
"There are some tactical UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that we are considering, yes," Mr Gates said in an interview with a Pakistani television channel.
"I'm not going to discuss operations but I will say this: these unmanned aerial vehicles have been extremely useful to us, both in Iraq and in Afghanistan," the defence secretary told Express TV.
The Associated Press news agency quoted unnamed US officials as saying that Mr Gates was referring to a proposed deal for 12 Shadow aircraft - unarmed drones.
The Shadow drones are smaller than the armed Predator and Reaper aircraft.
They come equipped with sensors and cameras feeding video images back to operators on the ground and are used for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering.
Gates 'impressed'
Earlier on Thursday Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari took up the issue of drone attacks with Mr Gates, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported on Friday.
The president said that it undermined the national consensus against the war on militancy and called for creating a mechanism whereby the drones were used by Pakistan's security forces rather than by foreign troops, Dawn quoted a presidential spokesman as saying.
The president said that when Pakistan's security forces employed high-tech in the war it had no negative fallout.
"If our own security forces possess drones it will be a more helpful high-tech weapon of war than when it is used by foreign forces," Mr Zardari said.
The US defence secretary - who is on a two-day visit to Pakistan - met President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday.
He is due to address a gathering of Pakistan's military on Friday.
Mr Gates told reporters that he was deeply impressed with Pakistan's military offensive against militants within its borders.
He said he would leave it to Pakistan's leadership to decide whether or when to expand the fight.
On Thursday, Pakistan's army spokesman Athar Abbas told the BBC the "overstretched" military had no plans for any fresh anti-militant operations over the next 12 months.
A BBC correspondent in Islamabad said the comments were a clear snub to Washington, which would like Pakistan to expand an offensive against militants launching cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.
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