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Petraeus arrives in Afghanistan as 5 killed in Taliban attack
By the CNN Wire StaffJuly 2, 2010
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- New U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus arrived in Afghanistan Friday, a day marred by violence in a part of the troubled nation that was relatively peaceful a year ago.
Roadside bomb defused in S Afghanistan, causing no casualty
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 2 (Xinhua) -- A roadside bomb was defused by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) Friday near southern Afghanistan's restive city of Kandahar, causing no casualty.
U.S. House Approves Money For Afghan Troop Surge
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 2, 2010
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved funds for President Barack Obama's planned troops increase in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan minister rejects US corruption allegations
July 1, 2010 BBC News
Afghanistan's finance minister has rejected US allegations that government corruption is to blame for the loss of billions of dollars in aid money.
U.N. official: Taliban knows they can't win war
By Ashish Kumar Sen Thursday, July 1, 2010 The Washington Times
The U.N.'s top official in Afghanistan says the Taliban are interested in a political solution because they know they cannot win the war against the U.S.-led coalition or the hearts of Afghans.
British general: Taliban getting help
July 1, 2010
LONDON, July 1 (UPI) -- A senior British military officer says money and technical help for roadside bombers in Afghanistan is coming from Pakistan and Iran.
Pakistan army chief denies secret Karzai-Haqqani meets
(AFP)
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani Wednesday denied organising secret meetings in Kabul between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a senior Al-Qaeda-linked militant.
Karzai Approves Plan for Taliban Reintegration
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. July 1, 2010 The New York Times
KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai has approved a plan intended to win over Taliban foot soldiers and low-level commanders, according to NATO officials and an aide to the Afghan official overseeing the effort at Taliban reintegration.
With friends' like Pakistan, who needs enemies?
McClatchy-Tribune News Service By Joel Brinkley 01/07/2010
Dismissing American objections, Pakistan has signed an agreement to run a natural-gas pipeline from Iran, spreading glee among the mullahs in Tehran. Pakistani officials, including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, offered low-key objections to the American complaints, but other Pakistanis loudly broadcast their disdain for the United States.
Petraeus Faces Unfinished Projects, Fragile Progress
by Corey Flintoff NPR
July 1, 2010 As Gen. David Petraeus takes command in Afghanistan, he'll find key military operations unfinished and a crucial political process that may be just beginning.
Afghanistan and the 'Resource Curse'
With its newly discovered mineral wealth, it could end up like Nigeria. Or like Mexico.
Wall Street Journal By STEPHEN HABER AND VICTOR MENALDO JULY 2, 2010
The U.S. government recently announced that geologists had discovered almost $1 trillion in untapped stocks of copper, gold, cobalt and lithium in Afghanistan. Will Afghanistan's newfound mineral wealth promote economic growth and political stability, or will it fuel yet more corruption and violent conflict, while doing little to improve the lives of everyday Afghans?
In Afghanistan, No Direct Route to Success
On the Ground With Bravo Co. in Marja, Marines Struggle Amid Casualties, Mistrust
ABC News By MIGUEL MARQUEZ July 1, 2010
MARJA, Afghanistan - Since U.S. Marines launched a major coordinated assault on this agricultural community last February it has been called a "catastrophic success," a "failure," "doomed" and most memorably "a bleeding ulcer." Marja is all and none of these. Marja is a work in progress, the outcome of which is still in question.
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Petraeus arrives in Afghanistan as 5 killed in Taliban attack
By the CNN Wire StaffJuly 2, 2010
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- New U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus arrived in Afghanistan Friday, a day marred by violence in a part of the troubled nation that was relatively peaceful a year ago.
Petraeus arrived at NATO headquarters in Kabul in the evening, the International Security Assistance Force said.
Earlier in the day, Taliban militants in the northern city of Kunduz attacked the compound of a U.S. aid agency subcontractor, killing at least five people and wounding 20 others, government officials said.
On the day of Petraeus' arrival, the brazen attack served as a grim reminder for international forces that they face a difficult challenge in overcoming the Taliban insurgency, which many say has been gaining momentum. A year ago, places like Kunduz were regarded as safe -- but not anymore.
The pre-dawn raid started when a suicide bomber on foot and another in a car detonated at the gate of the compound, said Mohammad Omar, the provincial governor. Following the initial assault, four gunmen stormed the facility, firing machine guns and throwing hand grenades, according to Omar.
Three of the dead were foreigners -- a Filipino, a Briton and a German, Omar said.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner told CNN that two American contractors were among the wounded and had been taken to the Provincial Reconstruction Team hospital in Kunduz province.
The six-and-a-half-hour attack was on an office of Development Alternatives Inc., a humanitarian assistance subcontractor working with the U.S. Agency of International Development. The Taliban said the building was a base for U.S. Special Operations troops, which the U.S. military denied.
DAI said four of the dead worked for its security subcontractor, Edinburgh International, and that several more EI staff were wounded as were two DAI staff members.
In a conflicting report, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said six gunmen had killed nearly all of the 52 foreigners at the compound.
"The attack by insurgents in Kunduz was an attempt to intimidate Afghans and members of the international community trying to improve the lives of all Afghans," said NATO's International Security Assistance Force in a statement.
"This attack shows the insurgents' desire to prevent progress and draws attention to their true goal of serving themselves rather than the people of Afghanistan," said Navy Capt. Jane Campbell, an ISAF spokeswoman. "We remain committed to serving alongside our Afghan partners to improve security and development for all Afghans."
CNN's Atia Abawi, Journalist Matiullah Mati and State Department Producer Charley Keyes contributed to this report
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Roadside bomb defused in S Afghanistan, causing no casualty
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 2 (Xinhua) -- A roadside bomb was defused by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) Friday near southern Afghanistan's restive city of Kandahar, causing no casualty.
Fazal Ahmad Shizad, deputy police chief of Kandahar province, told Xinhua that ISAF service members successfully detected and defused the bomb around one km off Kandahar city, the provincial capital.
Kandahar province, branded as the Taliban hotbed, has been seeing increase of violence since the ISAF announced to launch a major offensive on the Taliban earlier this year.
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U.S. House Approves Money For Afghan Troop Surge
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 2, 2010
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved funds for President Barack Obama's planned troops increase in Afghanistan.
Obama was seeking $33 billion to help pay for 30,000 extra troops this year.
The administration, however, won't get the money by July 4 as it had hoped.
The bill will now go back to the Senate for approval after the House added some nonmilitary spending to it.
compiled from Reuters reports
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Afghanistan minister rejects US corruption allegations
July 1, 2010 BBC News
Afghanistan's finance minister has rejected US allegations that government corruption is to blame for the loss of billions of dollars in aid money.
Omar Zakhilwal said foreign contractors were to blame for taking the bulk of $4bn (£2.6bn) that has reportedly left the country in recent years.
He said his government had little control over foreign aid money.
US lawmakers voted on Wednesday to cut almost $4bn (£2.6bn) in aid to the government of Afghanistan.
The vote followed a report in the Wall Street Journal claiming that US investigators believed "Afghan officials and their associates were sending billions of diverted US aid and logistics dollars and drug money to financial safe havens abroad".
Investigation call
Mr Zakhilwal said it was his ministry which revealed the money was leaving the country.
"We strongly believe that the bulk of this money is from the huge contracts that our international partners have given out directly to big companies, particularly private security companies, without any involvement from the Afghan government."
Mr Zakhilwal said his government wanted an international investigation to establish whose money it was that had been diverted out of the country.
He acknowledged that corruption was a problem in Afghanistan but said the government was best equipped to handle the distribution of aid.
"Aid money that is given through the government, the internationals who are here on the ground will tell you it's better managed by the government than managed outside."
The Afghan government received directly about 20% of the foreign aid that enters the country, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.
US Congresswoman Nita Lowey, chair of the House of Representatives subcommittee responsible for aid appropriations, has demanded that an audit is carried out of billions of dollars of past funds.
She said that alleged corruption in the Afghan government made taxpayer money hard to justify.
The money could be reinstated in a few months, after a review of Kabul's efforts to tackle the issue.
The subcommittee has not cut military funds, which are to be debated in a separate bill.
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U.N. official: Taliban knows they can't win war
By Ashish Kumar Sen Thursday, July 1, 2010 The Washington Times
The U.N.'s top official in Afghanistan says the Taliban are interested in a political solution because they know they cannot win the war against the U.S.-led coalition or the hearts of Afghans.
Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan and head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said it is important to find an "Afghan solution."
The Taliban told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday that it had no intention of entering into any kind of negotiations with NATO forces.
Speaking at the Atlantic Council, Mr. de Mistura said the Afghan people are painfully aware of what it means to have the Taliban back in power.
"The time when [the Taliban] arrived and believed they could be trusted as a group of religious zealots who were bringing an anti-corruption environment is over," he said. "They know that they cannot win, and the Afghan people will not accept them."
He predicted a campaign by the Taliban and al Qaeda of "spectacular types of activities" aimed at creating the perception that they have the upper hand.
"The end is going to be painful before it gets better," he said.
Mr. de Mistura said no solution in Afghanistan is feasible unless the regional players feel that the stability of Afghanistan is in their interests.
India and Pakistan have been engaged in a proxy war in Afghanistan, and Mr. de Mistura said Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been fairly successful in balancing his relationships with New Delhi and Islamabad.
Mr. de Mistura headed the U.N. mission in Iraq when Army Gen. David H. Petraeus was in charge of U.S. forces there.
President Obama last month appointed Gen. Petraeus to lead U.S. troops in Afghanistan after he fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal over comments he made to Rolling Stone magazine.
Mr. de Mistura said while in Iraq, Gen. Petraeus "showed a remarkable capacity of combining military skills with diplomatic sensitivity, cultural sensitivity and political finessing, which is quite a rare combination."
He said with the arrival of Gen. Petraeus, "we are going to see a momentum on the military side" and expressed confidence that the U.S. commander would make "quite a difference" in Afghanistan.
Mr. de Mistura described as the "mother of all issues" elections planned for Sept. 18 in Afghanistan.
The last election in August went "very badly," he said, adding that it was important to have a more credible contest, but that expectations need to be lowered.
"They will not be Swiss elections, they are going to be Afghan elections," he said, suggesting that the contest may not fit the Western definition of democracy.
More than 2,600 candidates, including more than 400 women, are running for office.
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British general: Taliban getting help
July 1, 2010
LONDON, July 1 (UPI) -- A senior British military officer says money and technical help for roadside bombers in Afghanistan is coming from Pakistan and Iran.
Maj. Gen. Gordon Messenger, the spokesman for British forces in Afghanistan, told reporters the Taliban are also adapting their tactics, using more snipers. He described an "arms race of tactics and technology" between the Taliban and NATO forces.
"We are looking beyond Afghanistan in terms of the provision of some of the more sophisticated components and the provision of finance," he said. "There is evidence that something is coming in from Iran, something is coming in from Pakistan."
Improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs, have killed many of the more than 300 British soldiers who have died in Afghanistan.
Messenger said Afghan residents have become more willing to reveal the location of IEDs and British soldiers more adept at deactivating them.
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Pakistan army chief denies secret Karzai-Haqqani meets
(AFP)
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani Wednesday denied organising secret meetings in Kabul between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a senior Al-Qaeda-linked militant.
Kayani's brief statement came days after a media report claimed that he and the head of Pakistani intelligence services facilitated a meeting between Karzai and Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the Haqqani network.
"General Ashfaq Kayani has said that during his last two visits to Kabul, he met President Karzai to discuss issues of mutual interest," the military said in a statement.
It quoted Kayani as saying that on both these occasions, recently-sacked NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal was also present.
The statement, however, did not specify when the meetings took place.
"This transparent trilateral engagement augurs well for the comfort level of the leadership of all prime stake holders and strengthens the existing relationship," Kayani said.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have been marked by distrust, but there have been growing signs of rapprochement and Karzai in March welcomed an offer from Pakistan to help with peace efforts.
Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omar had also dismissed the report that the Afghan president had a face-to-face with Haqqani in Kabul.
Haqqani network leaders are based in North Waziristan. Created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin the group is one of the toughest foes for foreign forces in Afghanistan, particularly in the east of the country.
Pakistan has come under US pressure to press a military campaign in North Waziristan, but commanders have been reluctant to deploy overstretched troops against groups such as the Haqqani which refrain from attacks within Pakistan.
The United States and NATO, which prop up Karzai's administration, have 140,000 troops in Afghanistan to fight the insurgency, and have so far this year lost more than 300 soldiers as the war intensifies.
Karzai has been trying to convince the rebels to give up fighting his administration in return for an amnesty.
A landmark conference convened by Karzai in Kabul last month saw 1,600 representatives from across the country come up with a 16-point declaration in which they urged all parties to disarm and reconcile.
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Karzai Approves Plan for Taliban Reintegration
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. July 1, 2010 The New York Times
KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai has approved a plan intended to win over Taliban foot soldiers and low-level commanders, according to NATO officials and an aide to the Afghan official overseeing the effort at Taliban reintegration.
Mr. Karzai’s decision to sign the reintegration decree earlier this week followed months of debate and pressure from Afghan and NATO officials, as well as what one NATO official said was a recent phone call to Mr. Karzai from the incoming American military commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus.
Convincing lower-ranking Taliban to throw their loyalty behind the government is part of a broader plan that includes making peace with high-level insurgent leaders and also getting more support from Pakistan, where many Taliban fighters and commanders have refuge and elements of the government security services have long aided Taliban militants.
A patchwork of past efforts to lure fighters to the Afghan government’s side has been crippled by lack of funding and disorganization as well as the government’s inability to protect fighters who want to switch sides. NATO officials hope this plan will create a more uniform program that will entice community leaders with the promise of jobs, education and development programs and other incentives to put pressure on local militants to stop fighting.
But the plan — which calls for militants to accept the Afghan constitution, sever ties to terrorists and renounce violence — appears to include few concrete incentives specifically aimed at individual fighters to throw their lot in with the government.
Taliban commanders and spokesmen have publicly disclaimed interest in joining the government in hard-line statements, and say that they have no reason to do so because they believe they are winning the fight against Western and Afghan forces.
But NATO officials say interest is growing. “We’re already seeing small and relatively isolated pockets of reintegration occurring in various places in the country,” said the officer leading NATO’s reintegration team, Maj. Gen. Phil Jones.
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With friends' like Pakistan, who needs enemies?
McClatchy-Tribune News Service By Joel Brinkley 01/07/2010
Dismissing American objections, Pakistan has signed an agreement to run a natural-gas pipeline from Iran, spreading glee among the mullahs in Tehran. Pakistani officials, including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, offered low-key objections to the American complaints, but other Pakistanis loudly broadcast their disdain for the United States.
Former Punjab Gov. Shahid Hamid called the American concern "an insult to our independence and sovereignty," while former Foreign Minister Mian Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri said "we should not compromise at all as far as our basic interests are concerned."
So much for cooperation from our "ally," recipient of billions of dollars in American aid every year. How many ways can the Pakistanis stab us in the back? As an example, for many months now they have blithely refused to grant visas to several hundred American diplomatic and military officials assigned to work there.
Richard Holbrook, Washington's special envoy to the region, warned Pakistan in June that the pipeline from Iran might conflict with American law. Congress was working on new American sanctions against Iran, to complement U.N. sanctions just passed and additional European Union rules under discussion at the same time.
"We cautioned the Pakistanis to try to see what the legislation is before deciding how to proceed because it would be a disaster" if "we had a situation develop where an agreement was reached which then triggered something under the law." In other words, Holbrooke was trying to avoid the nightmare that would ensue if the new sanctions law snared Pakistan because of its choice to buy gas from Iran.
David Lipton, special assistant to President Obama, told Pakistan's leaders last week that the United States would find other sources of natural gas if the nation canceled its Iran deal. Tehran is promising to supply 742 million cubic feet of natural gas every day. What's more, during a recent visit to Islamabad, Holbrooke promised $11.1 million in additional humanitarian aid - on top of $174 million in humanitarian assistance already supplied since Jan 1. But that was to no avail. On June 23, Foreign Minister Qureshi said simply: Pakistan is "not bound to follow these sanctions."
Pakistan seems to believe it is "not bound" to do anything it finds inconvenient or uncomfortable. As witness, consider how Syed Kamal, who recently completed his term as mayor of Karachi, described the behavior of Sen. Israr Ullah Zehri. He "buries five women alive and has got the cheek to come on TV and tell the world, 'Look, you don't have to worry about it because this is our custom,'" Kamal told me. After that, "not surprisingly, he was appointed as federal Minister of Postal Services."
At the same time, the Pakistani government is back-dealing with the Taliban and al-Qaeda - taking billions from the United States to fight the extremists, while working with the Afghan government to make a deal with some of the most radical branches of both sects - bringing pointed complaints from President Obama and other senior American officials this week.
In recent days, the heads of Pakistan's army and intelligence service have been making secret trips to Kabul to meet with Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's corrupt and inept president. These Pakistani officers have been coddling him, telling Karzai the Americans cannot win in Afghanistan, so he should consider Pakistan his true ally.
Karzai's reaction to that is not known, but his aides have been saying for weeks that the president has "lost faith" in the United States. Still, Karzai must be smart enough to realize that listening to Pakistan's smarmy approach is like letting the fox into the hen house. Wasn't it Pakistan that happily supported the Taliban when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001? Don't Pakistanis openly believe that the Taliban remain reliable allies in their unending fight with India? And what use would Pakistan have for Karzai once the Americans are gone?
Right now, Pakistan is sidling up to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban leader who runs a militant network, partners of al-Qaeda, that is responsible for a significant part of the insurgency in Afghanistan. The generals in Islamabad are Haggani's ally, even as his men kill Americans.
So, while we pay Pakistan to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban, behind our backs the generals are cutting deals with both groups - undermining the American war effort in Afghanistan.
How Byzantine. But what else should we expect from the Pakistanis? After all, the city of Byzantium, capital of the ancient empire famous for complex, underhanded perfidy, was renamed in 1930. Now it is called Islamabad.
ABOUT THE WRITER Joel Brinkley is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for The New York Times and now a professor of journalism at Stanford University. Readers may send him e-mail at: brinkley@foreign-matters.com
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Petraeus Faces Unfinished Projects, Fragile Progress
by Corey Flintoff NPR
July 1, 2010 As Gen. David Petraeus takes command in Afghanistan, he'll find key military operations unfinished and a crucial political process that may be just beginning.
The military projects include the ongoing campaign in Marjah and a slow-to-begin campaign in the key southern province of Kandahar.
The political part includes the prospect of seeking a negotiated settlement to the war, a process that might bring old enemies to the table.
McChrystal's Final Days
In the weeks before the scandal that cost him his job, Gen. Stanley McChrystal wasn't exactly enjoying the prerogatives of being the top military commander in Afghanistan.
Instead, he was scrambling to keep his counterinsurgency strategy on track.
After a trip to Kandahar with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to rally support for a growing security operation there, McChrystal stood on the ramp of a cargo plane to talk to reporters.
His first task was to express condolences "to the families and the comrades of all the Afghans who were murdered in the last week, just in Kandahar."
The commander was drawing attention to the brutality of insurgent attacks on Afghan civilians, but he was also acknowledging that a key element of his counterinsurgency strategy — protecting the population — still isn't as strong as it needs to be.
Treating 'A Bleeding Ulcer'
Before McChrystal got into trouble for remarks made to a Rolling Stone magazine reporter, he raised eyebrows with a remark about a key NATO operation in the country's south — to restore Afghan government control at Marjah. He said the effort had turned into "a bleeding ulcer."
By that, he meant that ongoing clashes with Taliban fighters and mounting coalition casualties were making the initial success of the Marjah offensive look like a longer-term failure.
Marine Maj. General Richard Mills, whose command includes Marjah, says that experience taught commanders that "you have to manage expectations."
"I think sometimes when you look at some of the nonmilitary parts of this problem — things like governance, development, economics — you have a much longer, softer timeline," he says.
Mills says he and fellow commanders want to be sure their bosses have a realistic idea of how long their job will take.
"Managing expectations" has become a mantra for commanders in the Kandahar area, where they routinely tell reporters not to expect a bang-up offensive, but a slow concentration of coalition troops, coupled with a surge in civilian efforts to strengthen the Afghan government.
In Marjah, the Marines closest to the fight acknowledge that it's tough.
One day last week, Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, attended a memorial for one of his fallen men, only to learn soon after that another Marine had died, along with an Afghan National Army soldier.
A young Afghan interpreter for the unit was maimed in the fight.
The losses are part of the deadliest month of the war for coalition service members, with more than 100 killed in June, including 60 U.S. troops.
Progress Despite The Bloodshed
Despite the losses, Christmas says he is seeing progress, especially since local leaders are now willing to be seen cooperating with the Americans. He recently gathered leaders from all parts of his area to meet with Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The men rode to the meeting in the Marines' armored trucks, an act that made clear to everyone that they had allied themselves with the government and the coalition.
Just 15 miles northeast of Marjah, in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, life can seem almost normal.
Off-duty Afghan soldiers hang out with their friends and compare motorcycles on the edge of a football stadium.
One soldier, a wiry 24-year-old, declined to give his name because he is not authorized to talk to reporters.
But from his perspective, at the bottom of the chain of command, he says he thinks the government is slowly gaining the trust of local people.
He says it's hard to predict, but unless the Taliban lay down their arms and agree to join the government, it's going to take a long time to end the war.
Karzai has called on the Taliban repeatedly to reconcile with his government, but his spokesmen deny rumors that they are negotiating with the insurgent leadership.
Still, no matter how well his forces do in Marjah or Kandahar, or in the northern and eastern provinces where violence is escalating, Petraeus' mission may well depend on the political will and negotiating skill of a shaky Afghan government.
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Afghanistan and the 'Resource Curse'
With its newly discovered mineral wealth, it could end up like Nigeria. Or like Mexico.
Wall Street Journal By STEPHEN HABER AND VICTOR MENALDO JULY 2, 2010
The U.S. government recently announced that geologists had discovered almost $1 trillion in untapped stocks of copper, gold, cobalt and lithium in Afghanistan. Will Afghanistan's newfound mineral wealth promote economic growth and political stability, or will it fuel yet more corruption and violent conflict, while doing little to improve the lives of everyday Afghans?
There has been a lot of hand-wringing about this question, with many pundits predicting that Afghanistan will follow the examples of countries such as Nigeria, and become a victim of the "resource curse." There are reasons to be a bit more sanguine. Research that we've conducted on the histories of countries that have experienced oil and mineral booms since the 19th century suggests that roughly twice as many countries have been blessed by resource booms as cursed by them.
One common refrain among resource curse adherents is that unless a country already has "good institutions" in place, a resource boom will promote slow economic growth, civil war and authoritarianism. According to this argument, countries such as the U.S., Canada or Norway are unreliable guides as to what will happen in Afghanistan.
There may be some truth to that claim. Yet there are countries that had "bad institutions" and then became prosperous democracies during a resource boom. Trinidad and Tobago, for example, was populated in the 19th century by indentured Indian and Chinese laborers who toiled in a kind of quasi-slavery on the islands' sugar plantations and were subject to apartheid-like laws. The growth of its middle class, and its democracy, was fueled by the subsequent discovery of oil and gas. Australia was set up as a penal colony, but it became democratic when it filled up with settlers attracted by its gold and copper wealth.
This is not to say that Afghanistan's mineral wealth will transform the regime of Hamid Karzai into a model of good governance overnight. Nor does it mean that the Afghan economy, among the world's poorest, will suddenly begin to grow at a breakneck pace. Afghanistan faces a host of problems. The country is landlocked and mountainous. The population is poorly educated, and the central government virtually nonexistent. And the society is organized on the basis of tribes which are headed by venal warlords.
Nevertheless, other countries have confronted geographic and institutional constraints and have managed to overcome them precisely because they were able to leverage their natural resource endowments.
Until its late 19th century oil and mineral boom, Mexico was not a whole lot different from Afghanistan. Foreign investors stayed away; the only "roads" were footpaths that dated from the 16th century; the overwhelming majority of the population was illiterate; the central government was perpetually bankrupt; and warlords ran the areas outside of Mexico City as virtual fiefdoms.
The Mexican state was in fact so weak that during the 55 years from 1821 to 1876, it had 75 presidents, with one strongman serving as president on 11 different occasions.
Mexico's first natural resource boom (minerals and oil) from the 1880s to the 1920s did not produce a democracy, but it did produce a stable political system and a fast-growing economy. Mexico's second natural resource boom (oil) from the late 1970s to the present accompanied the creation of a multiparty democracy. In fact, the democratically elected governments of Vicente Fox, from 2000-06, and Felipe Calderón, beginning in 2006, have financed their ambitious antipoverty (and antinarcotics) programs through petroleum taxes.
Afghanistan's potentially vast mineral resources are no guarantee of democracy and prosperity. But they do not condemn this country to eternal corruption, poverty and war either.
Mr. Haber is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor of political science at Stanford University. Mr. Menaldo is a professor of political science at the University of Washington.
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In Afghanistan, No Direct Route to Success
On the Ground With Bravo Co. in Marja, Marines Struggle Amid Casualties, Mistrust
ABC News By MIGUEL MARQUEZ July 1, 2010
MARJA, Afghanistan - Since U.S. Marines launched a major coordinated assault on this agricultural community last February it has been called a "catastrophic success," a "failure," "doomed" and most memorably "a bleeding ulcer." Marja is all and none of these. Marja is a work in progress, the outcome of which is still in question.
Gunnery Sgt. Brandon Dickinson, whose 1st platoon of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, is responsible for winning over the population in southern Marja says, "It reminds me of a big jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces are there but they're all spread out."
Dickinson and Lt. Anthony Piccioni, the anointed counter-insurgency gurus for Bravo Company, have applied the tactics, written by Gen. David Petraeus and refined for Afghanistan by General Stanley McChrystal, aggressively in one of Marja's most densely populated area. They've focused on securing and growing Marja's largest market, bringing security to the villages surrounding Bravo Company's base Combat Outpost Turbett, and getting money in locals' pockets quickly by employing them as day laborers.
The pair has even set aside a small area of COP Turbett, decorating it Afghan style, where they can receive and greet local residents in a familiar environment. "I think the most important thing is that we want people to feel comfortable when they come in here" said Dickinson. Piccioni, from Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, and on his first combat tour, says the work he and his platoon are undertaking is not meant so much to win over the population as it is to give locals the confidence to fend for themselves.
"You're not going to end this war by shooting the Taliban and killing the Taliban," says Piccioni. "You're going end this war by proving to the local population that they can stand up to the Taliban."
Their work appears to be paying dividends. Despite continued fighting and Taliban intimidation across Marja the area directly around COP Turbett is an oasis of calm. The market, Koru Chareh, has not had a major incident, not even a shot fired, in four months; Daftani village, just south of the market, is a particular success with locals supplying their own security; nearly 13,000 working age men, most from Bravo's area of operation, have signed up to have their biometric data taken; and farmers in the area insist that next season they'll look for any crop other than poppy to plant.
But the sort of progress Bravo Company is seeing isn't uniform across Marja, a roughly 12 mile by 12 mile stretch of farmland crisscrossed by a web of canals with a population estimated at around 70,000. That's another Marine chore -- trying to get a better handle on the population -- who lives in Marja and who doesn't belong.
Marja, by Afghan standards, is just an infant. When it was developed in the 1950s and '60s it was dubbed "Little America" because it was engineered and built by the US Agency for International Development. The system of canals and farm jobs it created were one way the U.S. sought to keep strategically-positioned Afghanistan in the U.S. column during the cold war. Today, the ownership of 50 percent of the land here is contested; a result of tribal infighting, landowners fleeing years of war, a lack of legal documentation, and poor management from successive governments.
The canals, ignored for years, are now heavily silted and don't flow with enough water for fields that have multiplied over the years. In a sign of how broken Marja is some 60 miles of canals have been identified for dredging and cleaning but the specialized equipment isn't readily available and the price of such a project is exorbitant because of security concerns.
Mixed Feelings
Despite the progress in Bravo Company's area of operation, security remains a constant concern. Once or twice a week a squad on patrol or Marines manning a remote checkpoint will come under a coordinated assault from small teams of Taliban fighters. On a recent patrol to a village just north of COP Turbett a squad of Marines set out in the early morning hoping to build relations with residents who they believed were still under sway of the Taliban. As Marines set out children and residents flocked to them looking for water, pens, or just to say hello.
Marines walked north from COP Turbett into a neighborhood they call "the porkchop" because of its shape. Mud-walled compounds and narrow passageways quickly gave way to broad farm fields with fewer large compounds. After 20 minutes Marines took a left down a tree-lined road and toward a collection of homes. As they walked it was clear they weren't welcome. Doors slammed and were barred, the streets were uncharacteristically empty and, unlike just minutes before, no one came out to greet the Marines. Finally a small gaggle of children peered hesitantly around a corner. The Marines coaxed them over with stuffed polar bears and colored pens. The kids quickly disappeared and again the Marines were alone.
The Marines had brought one blanket which they hoped to present to a village elder. They did eventually find an elderly man to whom they gave the blanket. The man fingered it for a moment then rolled it away; either fearing or resenting the gift. When he looked up and noticed Marines watching his actions he slowly brought the blanket back to his side. Such is the nature of fear and mistrust here, if found by the Taliban the blanket could be a death sentence.
Marines eventually happened upon another elderly man and his grandson. In a low voice the interpreter, whom the Marines call "Jet Li," asked the young man "is the Taliban nearby?" The young man, afraid to speak out loud, motioned up and down with his eyes. The interpreter leaned in and asked in a whisper "where are they?" The boy indicated the direction with a slightest movement of his head. "Down at the end of the road?" asked the translator. Again the boy nodded using only his eyes.
Fearing a trap, Sgt. Travis Dawson, the squad leader, decided to make an unhurried exit from the area. For 10 minutes the Marines walked back along a canal next to a large dirt road. Then all at once the Taliban opened up. The first shots came from the area Marines had just departed; then another volley from the left; finally more shooting from the right. "That's the way they roll," said Dawson coolly. "They try to shoot as us one way then hit us from another when we're all directed toward the area where they originally fired on us from."
Marines and soldiers from the Afghan National Army set in for a fight. For ten minutes both sides traded gunfire. Marines trying to get a fix on the Taliban positions, finally seeing puffs of dust and smoke coming from holes cut in a thick compound wall about 200 yards away. Marines and Afghan soldiers methodically narrow in on their targets as they inch up the firepower. While the incoming shots are numerous they are inaccurate and mainly snap overhead. Occasionally puffs of dust can be seen as bullets land in the field nearby or impact on mud walls.
'A Game of Chess'
Then, after about 15 minutes, the shooting ceased. Marines regrouped and started moving south toward COP Turbett. Then again another round of shooting; heavier but even less accurate than before as though the Taliban fighters were in retreat. Again the crescendo of gunfire rose. Rocket propelled grenades exploded in the distance. "It's like a game of chess," says Dawson who aspires to become an officer when he returns home. "A game you don't want to lose," he deadpans.
The engagement finally ends when a 30-ton MRAP with a heavy machine gun mounted on top arrives. Marines in the MRAPs said they eventually saw three vans come screeching to a halt in the distance and suspected Taliban fighters jump in and pull away. But the Marines held their fire concerned about civilians or friendly forces beyond the vans.
Not all neighborhoods are so rough. Daftani village, named after the tribe that inhabits it just to the south of COP Turbett, is a standout for its total security and the uniquely local way it has been established. Marines have essentially allowed local residents to form an armed neighborhood watch. Fifty-nine Daftani men have signed up for the $90 a month jobs, about half what a police officer makes.
They patrol the handful of streets and trails here 24 hours a day, AK-47s nonchalantly slung off their shoulders. Carrying a weapon anywhere else in Marja would draw fire from the Marines. Mulan Bazgool, who Marines call Tony Soprano because of his rapid and animated way of talking, is a squad leader in the program. "If I was here without my AK47 then I'd be scared of Taliban," says Bazgool. "We've had to defend ourselves" more than once he exclaims, hands acting out every scene. "Just yesterday Taliban were shooting at us and we answered them with bullets."
The official name of the program, Interim Security for Critical Infrastructure, doesn't exactly roll off the tongue nor does it correlate to what the program actually does. Cpl. Collin Blanscet, a 25-year-old from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, leads a handful of Marines in implementing the program. It's "a village where a local defense force has finally taken the initiative to stand up against the Taliban," says Blanscet.
On a recent sweltering afternoon Blanscet paid a visit on the home of the village elder, Hajji Bazgool, who struck the deal with Marines. Under the shade of an enormous cottonwood tree Marines took off their protective gear and leaned their weapons against the wall. Given the unpredictability of Afghanistan it didn't seem natural. Speaking in reassuring tones Blanscet said "it didn't happen overnight. It definitely took a lot of trust on our part and a lot of trust on their part for them to let us come in here and sit down and for them to see us drop our gear and set our weapons against the wall."
Blanscet and his Marines have taken up position a stone's throw away from the village. Marines at COP Trubett refer to their tiny compound as "the crazy box" because the same small group of Marines has lived there without amenities for nearly two months. Blanscet says it took about 20 days of constant effort to break through and win the trust of the Daftani village. It now appears that trust is complete. Villagers often invite the Marines to lunch or bring them cold drinks and food to their tiny outpost.
Defining a 'Win'
The one thing the men of Daftani village have not done is join the local police force. Police recruitment across Marja has been an issue for Marines. They want more than 300 police on the streets here but so far only about 60 have signed up. Captain Ryan Sparks, on his 4th combat tour nine years, chalks up the low recruitment rates to the fractured nature of Marja, home to 30 or more tribes.
"Nobody wants to be the nail sticking out for the Taliban to hammer," explains Sparks. "While plenty of them will say they have young men lined up ready to join the police force none of them are ready to take that first step." The plan at the moment is to get several tribes to step forward at the same time while guaranteeing the security of their villages while the recruits attend training at a nearby Marine base.
Marines of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines are finally departing Marja after a difficult seven-month tour. They fought their way into Marja under harsh conditions, clearing the area of hundreds of Taliban fighters. During the tour 10 Marines from the 1/6 were killed in action and another 214 wounded.
Despite the hard fought progress Marines realize it could all be quickly reversed. Sgt. Dickinson believes Marines are close to a tipping point but not quite there yet. "I think it's going to be rather difficult to know when you've turned that corner," he said. "Once you see elders of different blocks come together and start providing their own security I think that's when you are going to see a kind of tipping point."
Sgt. Dawson considers success in Afghan terms. "Personally I think the locals aren't really that concerned with who wins. They just want to live their lives. If the Taliban wins they'll live by the Taliban rules. If we win they'll live by our rules. I don't know what the definition is for "win" in this place" he says then has a question of his own. "What would you consider a win?"
Producer Matthew McGarry contributed to this report.
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