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Raid against Haqqani stronghold leaves 50 dead in Afghanistan
By David Ariosto, CNN July 22, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A coalition operation against militants in southeastern Afghanistan has left at least 50 insurgents dead as Afghan and NATO forces swept through a "known Haqqani network" area.
The Taliban's Likely Negotiator With The U.S.
by Quil Lawrence July 22, 2011 NPR
After months of rumors, most observers in Kabul now believe that American officials have met with a Taliban envoy face to face. The most likely interlocutor is Tayyeb Agha, the head of the Taliban political committee and one of a handful of people in the world said to have direct contact with Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban.
Drugs and weapons seized in Afghanistan
CANBERRA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Australian Defense Force on Friday confirmed that Afghan troops, supported by Australian troops, have seized a large cache of drugs and weapons in Afghanistan.
Illegal alcohol destroyed in Kabul, officials say
By David Ariosto, CNN July 22, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Thousands of bottles of alcohol were destroyed in Kabul this week, in what authorities described as the product of a crackdown on illegal smuggling and sales.
Diplomats in Kabul had plenty of booze: documents
The Canadian Press Friday Jul. 22, 2011 6:47 AM ET
OTTAWA — Canada's diplomatic corps in Kabul did not go thirsty.
Hospitality forms show embassy staff and dignitaries drank plenty of booze while posted to Afghanistan, an Islamic country where imbibing is not just taboo, it's against the law.
France Spies in Afghanistan: Book
Tolo news July 22, 2011
A famous French author, Jean-Christopher Notin, has written in his new book that France has widely been engaged in espionage in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s biggest need: a flourishing economy
By Robert B. Zoellick, The Washington Post Saturday, July 23, 4:39 AM
American and NATO troops will soon be moving out of Afghanistan, and people are asking whether the Afghan army will be able to provide security. An equally important question is: Will the Afghan economy be able to provide for the country?
CIA Trains Covert Units of Afghans to Fight the Taliban
Tolo news July 21, 2011
Covert forces of Afghans have been trained by CIA to keep the war against the Taliban on the track as US troops are leaving the country.
Afghans fear Taliban return as NATO pulls back
By ANI | ANI
Washington, July 22 (ANI): Afghans are worried about Taliban resurgence in various provinces, as NATO troops begin to pull out of the country.
Bin Laden's Tora Bora escape, just months after 9/11
BBC News By Gordon Corera Security Correspondent 21 July, 2011
Only a few months after 9/11, American troops located Osama Bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan - so how was he able to evade them?
Afghan women hope to break new ground in the sky
By Tracy Sabo, CNN Senior Producer July 22, 2011
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas (CNN) -- In a flower-filled courtyard near San Antonio, adult education students gather during a break, some celebrating the passage of final English exams and some discussing an upcoming social event.
Afghanistan transition day six: A visit to Helmand central prison
Nick Hopkins meets jail governor General Hamid Bismellah, a cheerful man proud of his prison
Guardian.co.uk By Nick Hopkins Friday 22 July 2011
The first day after transition, and I visit the Helmand central prison, which is in the middle of Lashkar Gah.
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Raid against Haqqani stronghold leaves 50 dead in Afghanistan
By David Ariosto, CNN July 22, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A coalition operation against militants in southeastern Afghanistan has left at least 50 insurgents dead as Afghan and NATO forces swept through a "known Haqqani network" area.
The encampment was considered a staging ground for Haqqani and foreign fighters, NATO's International Security Assistance Force reported Friday.
The Haqqani network is an insurgent group loosely affiliated with the Taliban, and is believed to be based in Pakistan's lawless frontier territories. They operate along the porous Afghan-Pakistan border regions.
The group has been responsible for "several high-profile attacks against the Afghan government and its citizens," ISAF reported.
The coalition operation -- which included Afghan special forces -- engaged "multiple groups of insurgents," who were armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.
The firefight took place against multiple insurgent groups, who were holed up in areas that included caves and fortified bunker positions, ISAF reported.
The operation spanned night-time hours as NATO airstrikes pummeled insurgent positions.
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The Taliban's Likely Negotiator With The U.S.
by Quil Lawrence July 22, 2011 NPR
After months of rumors, most observers in Kabul now believe that American officials have met with a Taliban envoy face to face. The most likely interlocutor is Tayyeb Agha, the head of the Taliban political committee and one of a handful of people in the world said to have direct contact with Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban.
Agha was last seen by world media nearly 10 years ago, as he gave defiant statements from the Taliban's last stronghold in Kandahar. While his rhetoric about thousands of fighters waiting anxiously to defeat the American invaders proved empty, Agha impressed many with his command of several languages, including English.
When U.S. authorities revealed this summer that they were negotiating with a close associate of Mullah Omar, it was widely assumed to be Agha.
"All along, what the U.S. was asking for was an address, so to speak, or a point of contact with the Taliban, and it looks like they have developed that in the last year," says Anand Gopal, a journalist who has interviewed senior Taliban leaders.
Gopal says Agha is the logical person for the Americans to be speaking with. His identity is known, avoiding the possibility of another embarrassing hoax, like the Afghan who last year convinced American and British authorities that he was a Taliban negotiator. And Agha still has the trust of Mullah Omar, Gopal says.
"Maybe five or six people in the world actually have regular access to Omar. And it wouldn't be surprising that Agha would be one of those, just because of their history," Gopal says. "Because in the final days just before the government had fallen, most of the Taliban officials had fled and were hiding, but Agha was staying close to Mullah Omar, by his side. Those things matter, even today. It would make a lot of sense that somebody like Agha is involved in these talks."
Pakistan's Uncertain Role
Agha has given scattered interviews since he escaped Afghanistan at the end of 2001. He is rumored to have been arrested by Pakistani authorities last year along with other Taliban leaders.
The arrests first appeared to be a sign of Pakistani cooperation, but observers later concluded that Pakistan was arresting Taliban figures who had made peace overtures to the United Nations. The theory went that Pakistan's powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, didn't want peace talks unless it was in control of them.
Observers say if Agha has been involved in talks in Qatar or in Europe with the Americans, it probably means Pakistan has signed off on the process and allowed him to travel. Still, some doubt Agha will offer any breakthrough.
Political commentator Waheed Mujda, who worked with Agha in the Taliban government, says Agha's importance is being exaggerated.
"He was a young man in that time; [he] was 25, now he is 35, maybe. And during these ten years it was impossible for him to go to university, or other places. Just, maybe, he studied some other religious books," Mujda says.
All Just Rumors?
What's more, Mujda says he doesn't believe there are real talks going on. Mujda says that Western sources are trying to spread rumors across the Taliban insurgency that the leadership is cutting a deal while the foot soldiers sacrifice themselves in battle.
"It's completely [a] lie, and Americans want to make problem inside [the] Taliban," Mujda says. "They want to make some Taliban armed people think, if the negotiation is held, why [should we fight]?"
Mujda says the Taliban have been conducting negotiations, but only regarding the release of prisoners they are holding. But journalist Gopal says it's the prisoner release talks that are cover for preliminary peace talks.
"It's important for the Taliban to maintain for their rank and file a sense that they're not willing to talk, so that there's no decrease in morale amongst their troops," Gopal says. "But the reality is that there are contacts through back channels that have been going on."
Even if talks have begun, they must first answer several questions. American officials say the insurgency is increasingly fragmented, and it's unclear just how much influence Mullah Omar still wields. If he is bringing the Taliban to the table, it remains to be seen whether the insurgents will be offering terms that are acceptable to Afghan society, or to the West.
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Drugs and weapons seized in Afghanistan
CANBERRA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Australian Defense Force on Friday confirmed that Afghan troops, supported by Australian troops, have seized a large cache of drugs and weapons in Afghanistan.
On 10 July 2011, the Afghan National Interdiction Unit (NIU), supported by members of Australia's Special Operations Task Group (SOTG), seized a tonne of opium, several kilograms of heroin and over two tonnes of chemicals used to make illegal drugs in Daykundi province in central Afghanistan.
More than 20 weapons were also found, including pistols, rifles, machine guns and ammunition.
According to the Commanding Officer (CO) of the SOTG, who cannot be named for security reasons, insurgents use illegal drugs to finance their illegal activities in Afghanistan.
He said that by supporting the NIU to find and destroy drug factories, it can reduce the insurgents' ability to harm civilians and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan forces. "The illegal drug trade is a major threat to security, economic development and democratic government, so the more it's reduced the better it is for Afghanistan," the CO SOTG said in a statement released in Defense Department website on Friday.
In May this year, the SOTG commenced combined operations with the NIU. This combined effort has resulted in thousands of kilograms of drugs destroyed, and several individuals detained to face prosecution.
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Illegal alcohol destroyed in Kabul, officials say
By David Ariosto, CNN July 22, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Thousands of bottles of alcohol were destroyed in Kabul this week, in what authorities described as the product of a crackdown on illegal smuggling and sales.
The bottles were confiscated over a two-year period in and around the Afghan capital, according to Kabul police and criminal investigations chief Mohammad Zahir.
They were taken almost exclusively from "Afghan sources and not foreigners," he said.
The illicit items were being stored by Afghan customs officials, who burned the bottles Wednesday after receiving authorization from the city's attorney general's office, he added.
Alcohol is largely banned in Afghanistan, and its sales and consumption considered a criminal offense for the country's
Muslims, who constitute roughly 99% of the population.
Certain areas that cater to foreigners, however, are permitted to sell it.
Zahir said that it was in these areas -- mostly international hotels -- that local sellers had come into possession of the alcohol.
CNN's Matiullah Mati contributed to this report
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Diplomats in Kabul had plenty of booze: documents
The Canadian Press Friday Jul. 22, 2011 6:47 AM ET
OTTAWA — Canada's diplomatic corps in Kabul did not go thirsty.
Hospitality forms show embassy staff and dignitaries drank plenty of booze while posted to Afghanistan, an Islamic country where imbibing is not just taboo, it's against the law.
The embassy consumed close to 3,000 bottles of alcoholic beverages from mid-2007 to last November. The tab for the beer, wine and hard liquor was at least $20,000.
The Canadian Press obtained hospitality diaries from the Canadian Embassy in Kabul under the Access to Information Act.
The forms give the Foreign Affairs Department the cost of the embassy's food and drink orders, along with guest lists and descriptions of lunches, dinners and other functions.
It is not clear whether the department provided all the hospitality forms. While there were dozens of forms in 2008 and 2010, there was just a single sheet for all of 2009.
Foreign Affairs also did not provide any forms for all of 2006 and the first half of 2007 -- even though they were requested -- so the booze bill could actually be much higher.
Still, the paperwork offers a glimpse of the social side of Canadian diplomacy in the Afghan capital, where alcohol can legally flow on embassy grounds.
There were sendoffs for departing staffers and shindigs to welcome new ones. The embassy entertained visiting generals, diplomats, journalists and politicians.
They nursed Gordon's Gin and white rum from Bacardi. They sipped red and white wines. They didn't always drink beer, but when they did, they preferred Corona, Heineken and Beck's.
The kidnapping of CBC journalist Mellissa Fung did not postpone an October 2008 barbecue to welcome a new staffer to the embassy.
"Despite the host's absence (due to the kidnapping of Mellissa Fung earlier that day), the event succeeded in transferring contacts to Adrian Norfolk, enabling him to get a strong start as political counsellor," says a hospitality diary entry from Oct. 12, 2008.
It was not the same for Canadians serving in the country's restive south. Booze was banned at Kandahar Airfield and at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar City. Soldiers, diplomats and civilians stationed there had to wait until holidays or special events for a cold one. And there was little danger of getting tipsy with a strict two-beer limit.
By contrast, the hospitality forms show diplomats in Kabul could go through several bottles of wine in one sitting.
The embassy is one of Canada's largest diplomatic missions. Foreign Affairs would only say that alcohol expenses vary from embassy to embassy.
But a report by the department's inspector general on Canada's embassy in Beijing, another large mission, may offer some perspective.
The inspector general's office was left scratching its head over some of the functions there.
"A review of hospitality diaries found that programs were not always completing the form in a manner that clearly linked objectives and results to key priorities," says the report, released this month.
"In a few cases Canadian officials were the only guests, whereas the intent of hospitality should be to establish, expand and leverage local contact networks."
The inspector general has not done a similar review of the mission in Afghanistan's capital. But many hospitality diaries from Kabul appear to be for staff functions or to entertain visiting Canadian Forces brass.
Canada's embassy in Kabul is in the wealthy Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood. The affluent enclave is home to embassies of other countries, including the United States.
Blast walls, sand bags and razor wire surround the complex. Armed Afghan security forces stand guard at boom barriers and checkpoints along the tree-lined street leading to the embassy, where the Canadians sometimes played road hockey under the shadow of the snow-capped Hindu Kush mountains.
A few years ago, staff built a bar on embassy grounds, stocked with sofas, a pool table and a wooden bar counter.
Beyond the fortified walls of the embassy, there is no shortage of watering holes around Kabul for the many diplomats, aid workers and journalists who call the city home.
At one time, some popular hang outs included the Tex-Mex restaurant La Cantina and the Gandamak Lodge, a guest house with a British pub in the basement set up by a BBC journalist a decade ago after the Taliban regime fell.
Under Afghan law, anyone caught drinking alcohol can be fined, jailed or whipped. But these punishments are rarely handed down.
Drinking did cause a diplomatic hangover for at least one foreign country.
In 2009, the American embassy in Kabul banned all alcohol from a nearby camp where its private guards lived following allegations of drunken brawls and lewd behaviour that put U.S. diplomats in peril.
Earlier this month, the security company, ArmorGroup North America, paid the U.S. government $7.5 million to settle the allegations.
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France Spies in Afghanistan: Book
Tolo news July 22, 2011
A famous French author, Jean-Christopher Notin, has written in his new book that France has widely been engaged in espionage in Afghanistan.
The newly published book by Jean-Christopher Notin is titled "France's Covert War in Afghanistan" according to the French radio website.
The website writes that the book has also revealed influence of French spies among the Taliban.
France had provided insurgents in Afghanistan with anti-tank missiles in 1995 and 2001 and thus increased its influence among the Taliban, the website quotes the book.
"France increased its spy activities in Afghanistan in 1995 and sent some of its spies to work among terrorist groups after the terrorist attack on Paris metro which killed 8 people. It also trained some of the insurgents in Paris. In 1980, 1995 and 2001 France sent 2km range anti-tank missiles to insurgents and eventually it could increase its influence among the Taliban," the book reportedly says.
The book claims that French spies have access to much more information in Afghanistan than Americans saying that once Americans had taken satellite photos of a camp where chemical weapons were made, but France was able to get pictures from inside the camp.
According to the book, the Taliban, in 2001, had proposed to France to take Osama Bin Laden to Paris, but France ignored the request as the US-led invasion of Afghanistan took place.
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Afghanistan’s biggest need: a flourishing economy
By Robert B. Zoellick, The Washington Post Saturday, July 23, 4:39 AM
American and NATO troops will soon be moving out of Afghanistan, and people are asking whether the Afghan army will be able to provide security. An equally important question is: Will the Afghan economy be able to provide for the country?
Without a viable economy, there is little prospect of Afghanistan ever paying for its own security; little hope of its government gaining legitimacy; and not much chance of creating opportunity to counter the insurgency.
Afghanistan’s economy is at risk of a “negative multiplier”: A withdrawal of funds that precipitates an abrupt slowdown. Afghanistan has been growing strongly, at an annual rate of more than 10 percent, over the past five years. But this performance has been fueled by massive inflows of international military spending and aid. From 2010 to 2011, military spending was estimated at more than $100 billion, while spending on aid could be as high as $15.4 billion. Total gross domestic product is about $16.3 billion. As the troops withdraw, support will shrink. Private consumption is closely linked to military spending and aid.
Afghanistan is a poor country that can ill afford an economic reversal, especially when it faces rising security challenges. It languishes near the bottom of development rankings, placing 155th on the U.N. Human Development Index in 2010 for its performance in health, education, income and other indicators. The withdrawal of military spending and external aid will hit hardest in construction and services, particularly transportation, distribution and security.
Afghanistan’s partners need to anticipate the effects of this spending drawdown to better soften the blow. Given tight budgets, Afghanistan will need more efficient aid combined with proven delivery mechanisms to ensure that every dollar helps the Afghan people.
First, militaries and donors could do more to increase spending within Afghanistan. Total aid to Afghanistan last year was equivalent to 91 percent of its economy, but most military and other aid was spent outside the country. Even if these amounts decline, they will still be big numbers for the Afghan economy. Redirecting more funding to local contractors and suppliers so that it is spent in Afghanistan and employs more Afghans could have a significant softening effect.
Second, more aid should go through the Afghan government. Only 15 percent of aid is expended through the government’s budget. Connecting aid to the budget can raise the share of contracts won by local businesses. Donors will, of course, need to build capacity within the Afghan government, including rigorous anti-corruption safeguards. Yet the able Finance Ministry has used financing through the budget to increase transparency, fiduciary oversight and supervision of other ministries. The World Bank and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund deliver assistance through the budget in partnership with Afghan ministries. Afghans cannot take control of their destiny if donors bypass the government. Development does not work without local ownership.
Third, Afghans can help themselves if they can pay for more themselves. Current trends show that domestic revenue could increase 16 percent a year, climbing to around 13 percent of GDP by 2019, largely driven by progress in customs reforms, a new value-added tax in 2014 and collection of mining revenue. But if external support declines rapidly, the gap between money coming in and going out will grow. That gap will have to be filled for a period by foreign donors.
Donors can support all these objectives by recommitting to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund. The fund is financing many of the programs that represent success stories, including the National Solidarity Program, a community-driven development initiative; other successful programs include education for boys and girls; rural access roads; a basic health program; and a credible public financial management system.
Fourth, more needs to be done to increase private-sector investment. Afghanistan ranks 167th in the World Bank’s Doing Business report. Beyond security and corruption, obstacles that businesses face include expensive and unreliable power, no proper land registration system and weak legal structures. Yet Afghanistan has a wealth of resources in the largely neglected, underfunded mining sector. With private investment to help fund exploration, improve capacity and build appropriate infrastructure, mining, oil and gas could boost the country’s economic development. Agriculture can improve on its traditional place as Afghanistan’s economic mainstay; more investment will be needed in irrigation and across the production chain to get produce to domestic and foreign markets.
Afghans have made real, measurable economic progress in recent years. We need to build on that progress — not abandon it. The security transition strategy needs a complementary strategy for economic transition. An army without an economy is doomed. A precipitous and unplanned economic withdrawal will throw away gains paid for with blood. Afghanistan needs to stand on its own. But Afghanistan’s partners need to plan now — together, coherently and with the government — for how the country will reach that point.
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CIA Trains Covert Units of Afghans to Fight the Taliban
Tolo news July 21, 2011
Covert forces of Afghans have been trained by CIA to keep the war against the Taliban on the track as US troops are leaving the country.
But a senior official in Karzai's Office expressed unawareness about the forces.
Members of one shadowy group of some 400 men in southern Kandahar province have given The Independent insight into their training and secret operations against militants.
A senior member of the 400-man shadowy force has said that they were taught hand-to-hand combat by foreign military advisors, were delivered to targets by US Black Hawk helicopters and have received a thank-you note from President Hamid Karzai for their work.
"These forces are the most shadowy and the most unaccountable in the country and it's a serious problem that nobody's taking responsibility for," Rachel Reid, a senior policy advisor to the Open Society Foundation, said.
Deputy Spokesperson for President Karzai, Seyamak Herawi, said: ''President Hamid Karzai has sought clearance about the units for several times."
The paramilitary groups are stationed in eastern and southern Afghanistan where they gather intelligence, secure the border with Pakistan, and launch raids on militants of al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the host of other militant groups.
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Afghans fear Taliban return as NATO pulls back
By ANI | ANI
Washington, July 22 (ANI): Afghans are worried about Taliban resurgence in various provinces, as NATO troops begin to pull out of the country.
As the foreign presence recedes, many fear the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan's eastern Nuristan Province and Kunar Province.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, the responsibility of security for seven areas throughout the country will have transitioned to Afghan security forces.
Afghans worry about whether government forces can maintain stability as NATO draws down.
US forces have withdrawn from a number of bases since 2009, but now residents say these areas are effectively under Taliban control, the paper said.
Last year, US forces closed two bases in Kunar Province and handed one over to Afghan security forces. The Taliban have used this to their advantage, calling the departure proof that NATO forces have lost.
"It's made it easy for the Taliban to take over any district," the paper quoted Haji Sakhi Mashnai, a member of parliament from Kunar, as saying.
"If they lose in the east, it doesn't make a difference how proud NATO is of its achievements in the south," he added.
Many locals agree that the dearth of government or NATO forces in large parts of both Kunar and Nuristan has created an opening for Taliban forces to easily enter the country and establish havens.
From there, locals say they can easily move throughout the districts or into parts of Kunar without an established military presence.
While these reports are a point of concern for NATO officials, they don't see them as a serious problem for the overall strategy, the report said.
Given the sheer size and mountainous terrain that US forces in Kunar must cover, it would be unrealistic for them to attempt to control the entire area. (ANI)
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Bin Laden's Tora Bora escape, just months after 9/11
BBC News By Gordon Corera Security Correspondent 21 July, 2011
Only a few months after 9/11, American troops located Osama Bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan - so how was he able to evade them?
As members of the British Special Boat Service (SBS) team listened in to conversations on a captured short wave radio, they heard a voice they believed to be their target.
Two of the team spotted a tall figure in a camouflage jacket moving with a 50-man protective detail, who went into a cave through a hidden entrance.
Only a few months after the 11 September 2001 attacks, Osama Bin Laden seemed to be cornered in the mountains of Afghanistan, close to the Pakistani border.
Tora Bora promised to be his final stand. So how did he escape?
The SBS soldiers had joined an American-led team alongside CIA and US Special Forces who had followed Bin Laden from Jalalabad into the White Mountains and finally to Tora Bora, a remote complex of caves.
Once the team approached the foot of the mountains, they took over a schoolhouse as a base.
Four men headed into the mountains, accompanied by 10 Afghans. It was the most rugged terrain many had ever experienced.
When they reached an outcrop and saw a large group of up to about 900 al-Qaeda figures, the battle for Tora Bora began.
The commander back at base, Gary Berntsen, issued orders to open fire. He only told headquarters after the fact.
The team called in air strikes over the next 56 hours.
"We threw everything at him. I didn't even know we had that many B52 or B1s," one of the Special Forces soldiers who was on the ground told the BBC, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Everybody was trying to get into the fight because he was there. I can tell you that we dropped so much munitions on this place that we actually changed the landscape. The map is different." 'Political calculations'
More soldiers joined the team, but it never numbered more than 100. Three sections made a push up the mountain.
Further conversations overheard on captured al-Qaeda radios indicated that Bin Laden was still alive. The tone of his intercepted communications changed.
"It became more of desperation that doom is coming," recalls one American soldier. The Americans believed he was within a mile and a quarter (2 km) of one of the teams.
Members of that team wanted to push forward but were told to wait since they lacked numbers.
"Every now and again, we'd talk about mutiny and just moving up," a member recalls.
The strategy, as with the whole Afghan campaign, was to limit the number of American boots on the ground.
Instead Afghan fighters would operate under the direction of the small CIA/Special Forces teams, supported by air power.
But at Tora Bora, the Afghan mujahideen proved unreliable allies. They refused to fight at night leaving al-Qaeda to reoccupy ground that had been painfully won.
At one point they agreed a ceasefire which may even have secretly assisted Bin Laden. "I don't think they were properly trained," recalls the anonymous Special Forces soldier. "And I don't think their heart was in it."
Berntsen asked for 800 US Rangers to be placed between Bin Laden and the border, or to enter the mountains from the Pakistani side. His request was denied.
"Once you have to ask Washington for assistance, then all sorts of political calculations enter in and unfortunately that's what occurred," Berntsen told the BBC. 'Military incompetence'
The commander of the CIA Afghan operation, Hank Crumpton, spoke to the top military commander who said it would take weeks to get troops in.
"Tora Bora was just a case of military incompetence," argues Richard Clarke, at the time, a White House counter-terrorism adviser.
"They had plenty of time, they had the people, they had the information - this was not a matter of miscommunication. This was a matter of general officers deciding not to do it because they didn't think it was their mission."
Many are angry that the US did not use marines based in Kandahar, not far away.
Cofer Black, the CIA's director of counter-terrorism at the time, blames the decision on a reluctance to risk troops.
"When you compare that to a war that went on for 10 years with American and British troops fighting, in hindsight you can say it would have been well worth it," he says.
"If I'd had any wish, it would have been I'd got up off my desk and made a call and said, 'I want to see the president.'"
General Tommy Franks, then in charge of Central Command (CentCom), made the decision not to send in reinforcements. He declined to comment. Other colleagues reject the idea it was a mistake.
"You could have waited longer and put troops in. In that same amount of time, Bin Laden could have left," argues General Richard Myers, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"So there was a sense of urgency. And the decision was left to General Franks, the CentCom commander, and we backed him. We thought, 'Yep, that sounds good'. I'd do the same thing again."
Berntsen remains angry. "The US military spends a trillion dollars a year on defence. Why is it that they could not get forces into that area? It's a ridiculous statement that they couldn't get people there.
"We had the marines actually down in Kandahar. They could have been lifted up there. If there is a will there is a way."
A Delta Force officer asked for mines to be laid at the back of the mountains to close off a potential escape route to Pakistan. This was also denied.
"We don't use mines that way," argues Myers, a view which is disputed by some Special Forces individuals involved. Some believe the decision was the result of a commitment made after pressure from the British.
As the battle ended, the anonymous Special Forces soldier trudged up to the last known location of Bin Laden. It was cold with high winds and the rain was coming down.
The air assault had pulverised the landscape to the point that he remembers wading knee-deep through a strange mixture of sand and dirt created from the bombed rock.
"And the mujahideen come up and they say 'OK. Osama's gone to Pakistan. We're going home.'"
Bin Laden had escaped to Pakistan - his exact route remains disputed - and there he would remain, out of sight, for close to another ten years until another joint CIA/Special Forces mission finished the task that had been set at Tora Bora.
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Afghan women hope to break new ground in the sky
By Tracy Sabo, CNN Senior Producer July 22, 2011
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas (CNN) -- In a flower-filled courtyard near San Antonio, adult education students gather during a break, some celebrating the passage of final English exams and some discussing an upcoming social event.
The scene resembles very little of a typical campus. Everyone here is in a military uniform, each representing one of 80 countries. Loudly competing voices are conversing in dozens of different languages, each conversation competing against thunderous U.S. Air Force C-5 cargo planes training overhead.
However, it's not the campus that's most unique here. It's the school's four new female students -- each in their 20s and all wearing Afghan military camouflage and burkas -- that are turning heads.
These women, along with hundreds of other foreign military officers, were sent to the U.S. to learn English, courtesy of the U.S. military, but it's the women themselves who may soon teach their fellow students new English terms like "trailblazer," "role model," "groundbreaking" and "inner strength."
These four young women are on a military mission as young lieutenants in the Afghan army. They have been tasked by their home nation of Afghanistan with not only perfecting their English language skills but also in breaking new ground as military helicopter pilots in a progressing Afghan air force -- while the world is watching.
Lackland Air Force Base's Defense Language Institute English Language Center (DLIELC) has been teaching the English language to foreign military students for over 55 years.
Approximately 10% of its enrollment at any given time is made of up females; however, this marks the first time the school has welcomed Afghan women to its student body.
Among the names on this semester's historic roster: 2nd Lt. Sourya Saleh, 2nd Lt. Narges Safari, 2nd Lt. Masooma Hussaini and 2nd Lt. Mary Sharifzada -- all from Kabul.
Lt. Sourya Saleh, who joined the Afghan army after completing high school, says she responded to a newspaper advertisement looking for women interested in joining the Afghan military.
Saleh speaks with broken English, but her intent isn't likely to be misunderstood.
"It's the first time that ladies are coming to the military and joining the air force ... it's a very big deal for us. I thought with myself, let's do some new things for our country that all the other world countries know about."
Lt. Narges Safari also joined the Afghan military as soon as she head they were looking for women.
"For me, especially, it was my dream," she says. Lt. Mary Sharifzada, much like her colleague Saleh, hopes to be an inspiration in the future, specifically for Afghan women.
"We saw these women from other countries and they are strong, and they can do everything. Now, it's time for us. We should show the world that the women of Afghanistan are as strong," she says defiantly.
Lt. Col. Bonnie Ward, who is the center's dean, may be one of the young ladies' first official fans in the U.S.
Ward, who has spent some time with the women since their arrival on campus, believes the young lieutenants have shown "incredible strength" and determination.
"They're excited about flying, but more so, they are focused on providing a future for women in Afghanistan ... I'm inspired," she said.
U.S. Air Force Col. Howard Jones, who oversees the center, realizes the importance of this moment in history.
"Let's face it. These young ladies are pathfinders. They're trailblazers, and as such, they are subject to the criticism, the antagonism of those that don't want to see this particular path plowed," Jones said.
"All of us here in the United States are aware ... and understand the significance of what they're doing."
Jones admits he is impressed with these four "very poised" women noting how far they've come already in making it to the U.S.
The program is currently educating and housing nearly 900 students from 80 countries ... all of them from "partner countries" with which the U.S. has a military relationship.
Jones is quick to credit the work being done by his colleagues in Kabul who operate "Thunder Lab," an English immersion program designed for Afghan air force officers awaiting pilot training.
These four Afghan women graduated from the "Thunder Lab" program in Kabul before arriving to the United States earlier this month.
With a year or more of language study under their belts, it's now come time for more intensive immersion and professional aviation instruction. That means being away from Afghanistan and their families for many months.
Being homesick comes with the territory for most students.
"I think Afghan food is better," Sharifzada admitted at the lieutenants' news conference on base. The local press erupted in laughter.
The Afghan students will spend six to eight months at the center, roughly six hours each day in language classes. There is a lot of homework in addition to organized social and cultural activities aimed at increasing English-language proficiency ... and even some time allotted for watching television in the dorms.
Graduation requires mastering the nuance of some military terms necessary for future pilot training.
Time is set aside to allow for students' religious observation. There is an Imam on base along with religious leaders of various faiths. Early next year, these four Afghan women are expected to move from Texas to Fort Rucker, Alabama, where they will all receive advanced helicopter pilot training under the tutelage of the U.S. Army.
Jones does not question whether these Afghan lieutenants will succeed in his U.S.-based program.
"There's no doubt, to even arrive at the point they are now ... they've already faced many challenges. These young ladies know how to persevere. They know how to perform in a stressful environment," he said.
None of these four young women, however, will be able to claim the title of "first female pilot" in Afghanistan's military corps.
Capt. Latifa Nabizada has been a helicopter pilot in the Afghan air force for more than 20 years, and currently is the only female pilot.
Nabizada was trained in the days following Soviet regime in Afghanistan. She told CNN during a recent interview that, as the only female in the force, she had to flee the country when the Taliban took over, but has since returned and rejoined her male colleagues over the Afghan skies.
These young pilots-in-training realize the impact their decision may have on their own safety once back in Afghanistan ... and on their parents.
Lt. Sourya Saleh's father encouraged his daughter to apply for the Afghan military.
"Because it's the first time this is happening in our country, it's a very hard decision that our parents are making because about our safety ... about our everything that they should care about."
Saleh tries to explain further with her limited English vocabulary.
But, "My father said, 'why not? It's a new thing. Why not? ... You can do this."
Lt. Masooma Hussaini, who was the only female within her family or close high school friends to join the Afghan military, acknowledges her father was initially disappointed in her choice.
"He dreamed about me to be a doctor," Hussaini recalls.
She says her mother supported her and convinced her father that Masooma would never be happy as a doctor.
Eventually her father came around to her way of thinking, Hussaini says proudly, "and now I am very happy they are proud of me."
Young women in Afghanistan are making progress in improving gender equality among its military ranks, but they concede there is still a long way to go.
Saleh says there were about 35 other women in her class during a recent test back in Afghanistan, "and I hope that next year, we have more than that," says Saleh.
Clearly optimism is an attribute these four women possess -- arguably along with some fierce determination.
"There is an inner strength to them that you can just see. You can see how determined they are to succeed at what they've set out to do," says Christine Whittemore, an instructor working with two of the women.
Aware of her own impact on Afghanistan's history, Whittemore calls her work "a privilege." It's the first time she has taught females students at the language center.
Whittemore also admits she's been pleased to see male students at the school, many of them Middle Eastern, "very accepting" toward the female students in her classroom.
In comparing her students, the long-time instructor describes the Afghan women as "a little less boisterous than the men," pausing slightly before adding, "... but they make themselves heard!"
Whittemore smiles, a touch of feminine pride evident in her tone. "They're not afraid to say what they think.... Not at all!," she laughs.
Sharifzada hopes her message is heard loud and clear, especially by Afghan women. She may not be boisterous, but she is fearless. "Don't afraid anything ... if you want to do something, you can do it. Just believe yourself that you can do it," she states emphatically.
Fellow future pilot Saleh may also lack a boisterous attitude, but she's certainly a visionary and exudes confidence.
"We are going to open the door for our ladies in Afghanistan. It's a big deal for us to open this door ... and that the other ladies that have dreams that they can't do it, we want to show them!"
It may take these four brave women a bit more time to express themselves in perfect English, but their big hopes and dreams are clearly evident without any expert interpretation.
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Afghanistan transition day six: A visit to Helmand central prison
Nick Hopkins meets jail governor General Hamid Bismellah, a cheerful man proud of his prison
Guardian.co.uk By Nick Hopkins Friday 22 July 2011
The first day after transition, and I visit the Helmand central prison, which is in the middle of Lashkar Gah.
It is a new building inside what looks like the ruins of an old fort.
The money for the project came from the British government, which has made sure it meets the standards set for prisons by the International Red Cross.
Another jail, for young offenders, is now under construction.
The governor, General Hamid Bismellah, is a very cheerful man who is obviously very proud of his prison.
Of the 934 men, women (and their children), locked up here, more than half – 487 – have been convicted of some kind of insurgent activity.
He has seven women in the cells – five of them have been convicted of murder. Between them, they have four children.
One is an infant of just 12 months, the others range up to the age of six. They all live in the prison with their mothers.
With the help of British advisers, the prison authorities have set up a rehabilitation programme for the Taliban prisoners.
The general says that 80% of the insurgents doing time are from villages within the province, and one day they will be reintegrated back into their tribes and communities.
If the insurgents provide information about the Taliban, then their sentences will be reduced.
The general takes me for a walk around, and we go into Wing B. The first cell has 12 men inside – the maximum allowed.
They sleep in bunk beds with a row of narrow windows on the far wall. The general put his arm round a number of them in a friendly way. Not the sort of greeting Prisoner Officer McKay would have given Norman Stanley Fletcher.
I know he's doing it for me but the prisoners don't seem to mind.
One of the men was rather brave; just after the general had embraced him, he said he had been jailed because he was a Taliban fighter, but that many of the other men had been wrongly convicted. They shouldn't be here, he said.
The inmates in the rehab programme are given literacy classes, there is a volleyball court, and they are shown how to use computers.
They make lamps from beads, and are allowed to watch TV. There is a Turkish soap opera that is very popular, apparently. And they like watching football too.
All of this is designed to show the inmates that there is more to life than being an insurgent.
For all this, there is one rather heartbreaking sight.
Thursday is visitors' day, and the relatives of the inmates, including children, are allowed to line up outside one of the blue iron gates inside the jail.
They crouch on the ground and are allowed to reach through the bars to hold the hands of the prisoners. None of them are going to want to let go.
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