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At least 19 killed as insurgents launch attacks in southern Afghanistan
By Sayed Salahuddin, July 28 The Washington Post
KABUL — Equipped with suicide vests, hand grenades and guns, suspected Taliban fighters launched commando-style assaults on Afghan government buildings Thursday in the southern province of Uruzgan, resulting in at least 19 deaths, the provincial health chief said.
Afghanistan, the Taliban, and the US deficit
By Dan Murphy, Staff writer The Christian Science Monitor July 28, 2011 at 12:25 pm EDT
Afghanistan Ambassador Ryan Crocker has jumped from his breeze of a confirmation hearing in the US into the fat end of the fire this week. The new ambassador has arrived in a country reeling from a string of assassinations of government officials and worried about what the future may hold, as the US continues to contract its fighting presence across the country.
Three Afghan civilians killed by French soldier: officials
by Aymeric Vincenot Wed Jul 27, 1:01 pm ET
KABUL (AFP) – Three Afghan civilians were shot dead and three wounded when a French soldier opened fire on their vehicle in Kapisa province, north of the capital, the French military and the Afghan presidency said.
Taliban Not Lying Low In Waziristan
July 28, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Majeed Babar
Three months ago, the Mehsud and Wazir tribes of South Waziristan were convinced (or, forced, depending on who one asks) by Pakistani authorities and international agencies to return to their villages. The villagers had been evacuated so security forces could "clear and hold" the area after defeating the Taliban there.
Afghan police suffer worst casualties of war
By AHMAD SEIR - Associated Press,DEB RIECHMANN - Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban were raining fire on his checkpoint when Afghan policeman Jan Agha heard the whooshing sound of an incoming rocket just as he was tying a tourniquet on his bloody hand ripped by a machine gun bullet.
1,400 newly graduated Afghan soldiers commissioned to army
KABUL, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,400 soldiers graduated from Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) on Thursday and were commissioned to Afghan National Army (ANA), General Aminullah Patyannai commander of KMTC said.
Afghan army fights for respect, equipment in south
By Jason Gutierrez (AFP) – July 28, 2011
COMPANY OUTPOST WARE, Afghanistan — Afghan commander Maqim Sediqi has spent more than half of his life on battlefields but says that these days he is more preoccupied fighting for respect than firing his gun.
How Afghanistan civilian deaths have changed the way the US military fights
Civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan rose by 20 percent between the spring of 2010 and the spring of 2011, according to a UN report. Training and technology are two ways to address that.
By By Anna Mulrine | Christian Science Monitor – Wed, Jul 27, 2011
In Afghanistan, the accidental killing of civilians by the US military has repeatedly put America’s war strategy at risk.
US accuses Iran of 'secret deal' with al-Qaida to take cash, recruits to Afghanistan, Pakistan
By Bradley Klapper,Matthew Lee, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration accused Iran on Thursday of entering into a "secret deal" with an al-Qaida offshoot that provides money and recruits for attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Treasury Department designated six members of the unit as terrorists subject to U.S. sanctions.
U.S. Soldier Found Guilty Of Killing Afghan Civilian
July 28, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A U.S. National Guardsman who shot an Afghan electrician in the head at close range last year has been found guilty of premeditated murder.
U.S. envoy praises Karzai, signals reset in Afghan ties
Reuters By Emma Graham-Harrison Wed Jul 27, 2011
KABUL - The new U.S. envoy to Afghanistan on Wednesday described Afghan President Hamid Karzai as a brave man who holds one of the world's most difficult jobs, strong praise that could signal a U.S. bid to reset an often tense and acrimonious relationship.
Lawmakers to Summon Minister Mansoori over Comments
TOLOnews.com Wednesday, 27 July 2011
A number of Afghan lawmakers on Wednesday said that Afghan Rural Rehabilitation and Development Minister should be called to parliament over recently released audio tape attributed to him that contain remarks against parliament and the president.
Costs of British military operations in Afghanistan estimated at £18bn
Official figures by Commons defence committee also estimate cost of Libyan no-fly zone and bombing at £260m
Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 July 2011
The cost of British military operations in Afghanistan is now officially estimated at more than £18bn, figures released on Thursday show. The cost of imposing a no-fly zone and bombing targets in Libya is so far officially estimated at £260m.
Afghan army fights for respect, equipment in south
By Jason Gutierrez | AFP
Afghan commander Maqim Sediqi has spent more than half of his life on battlefields but says that these days he is more preoccupied fighting for respect than firing his gun.
U.S. special ops unit faced pitched Afghan battle
CNN By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent July 28, 2011
Washington - The Afghanistan battle that resulted in a rare fatality for a classified Army unit pitted U.S. troops against waves of insurgents who attacked from bunkers and caves, a U.S. military official said Wednesday.
Afghanistan and Libya point NATO to five lessons
Both the wars in Afghanistan and Libya reveal serious flaws in the alliance. If they can’t be fixed, perhaps it's time for a 'back to basics' NATO and a return to coalitions of the willing.
By Kurt Volker July 28, 2011 at 11:20 am EDT The Christian Science Monitor
Washington - Whether it is a matter of weeks or months, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi will probably fall from power, and opposition forces will likely gain control of most of Libya.
The Trials of Team Afghanistan
By JOSEPH D’HIPPOLITO The New York Times
Afghanistan has a national men’s basketball team, although it is made up of young Afghan-Americans with modest doses of collegiate experience. The team has a coach, although actually holding a full practice can require a mad scramble that includes cross-country flights. When the practices do occur, he sometimes puts up as many as seven players in his home near Sacramento.
Afghan Deadpan, Kabul Gets Its Version of ‘The Office’
The New York Times By ROBERT MACKEY July 27, 2011
Saad Mohseni, an Afghan media mogul who owns the popular Tolo TV network, has alerted his Twitter followers to stand by for the debut next month of a new comedy series, “The Ministry,” which appears to be an Afghan version of “The Office” in all but name.
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At least 19 killed as insurgents launch attacks in southern Afghanistan
By Sayed Salahuddin, July 28 The Washington Post
KABUL — Equipped with suicide vests, hand grenades and guns, suspected Taliban fighters launched commando-style assaults on Afghan government buildings Thursday in the southern province of Uruzgan, resulting in at least 19 deaths, the provincial health chief said.
The raids targeted the governor’s compound, a police base and a television station in the provincial capital, Tarin Kot, and followed a gun battle between the assailants and Afghan forces, officials said. The scale of the attacks prompted local authorities to call on NATO-led forces in the province to use air power in defeating the assailants, said a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Kabul.
“Nineteen dead people, including civilians and police, have been brought to a hospital,” Khan Agha Miakhel, the public health chief of Uruzgan, said by telephone. He said that at least 35 people were wounded. It was not clear whether all of the 19 deaths occurred in the attacks or whether some may have been due to NATO airstrikes.
The BBC said its Afghan reporter in the province, Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, was among those killed in the fighting. Khpulwak, 25, was in the local radio and television building when it came under attack, Peter Horrocks, director of BBC Global News, said in a statement.
One of the suicide bombers detonated his explosives outside the provincial governor’s headquarters, while at least three blasts were heard elsewhere in the town, said Ahmad Milad, a spokesman for the governor.
The Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqi, said the gun battle lasted at least four hours. A spokesman for the Taliban asserted responsibility for the strikes.
The attacks Thursday follow a spate of assassinations of senior Afghan civilian and military officials in recent months across the country. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed the mayor of Kandahar at his office in the city, the capital of the province bordering Uruzgan.
Having apparently lost the ability to confront hundreds of thousands of Afghan and U.S.-led NATO forces in face-to-face battle in recent years, the Taliban this year has changed its tactics to include targeting government buildings in commando-style raids and stepping up assassinations of officials.
Ahmed Wali Karzai, a half brother of President Hamid Karzai and his mainstay for political and tribal support in the south was killed more than two weeks ago, and violence has spread to some areas that had been regarded as secure in recent years.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Thursday, eight Afghan troops were killed in insurgent attacks, the Defense Ministry said. And the president’s office said French troops serving under NATO’s command killed a pregnant woman and two other civilians traveling in a car Wednesday in Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul.
Amid a military stalemate on the battlefield, rising casualties, high war costs and growing domestic pressure, all Western troops are expected to leave Afghanistan by 2014. The resurgent Taliban, toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, is apparently unwilling to join a negotiated settlement to the conflict unless all foreign forces withdraw, although there have been several contacts involving the Taliban, U.S. officials and the Afghan government.
Many Afghans fear that if foreign troops pull out without stabilizing the country, there could be a reprise of the bloody civil war that erupted after the withdrawal of Soviet occupation forces in 1989.
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Afghanistan, the Taliban, and the US deficit
By Dan Murphy, Staff writer The Christian Science Monitor July 28, 2011 at 12:25 pm EDT
Afghanistan Ambassador Ryan Crocker has jumped from his breeze of a confirmation hearing in the US into the fat end of the fire this week. The new ambassador has arrived in a country reeling from a string of assassinations of government officials and worried about what the future may hold, as the US continues to contract its fighting presence across the country.
Yesterday, Kandahar's popular mayor Ghulam Haider Hamidi was murdered by a Taliban suicide bomber while receiving petitioners. The dual US-Afghan national (he lived in America for decades) was exactly the sort of official the US, which harbors hopes of transforming Afghanistan's political culture, wanted to see more of. Tom Peter wrote yesterday that Mr. Hamidi, "an accountant for most of his life... had far more in common with Western politicians than he did with many of the warlords and powerbrokers in control of large parts of Afghanistan."
He also had enough steel to get things done in the Tombstone-like atmosphere of Kandahar. A Kandahari pharmacist told Tom that he once saw the son of a powerful local official park his car in a way that completely blocked a narrow road. The official's son brushed off all requests that he move his car, including from Hamidi, who happened upon the scene. Hamidi's response? He bashed in the man's rear-view mirror with his shoe. The message was received, the car soon moved.
That followed the murder earlier this month President Hamid Karzai's half brother Ahmad Wali Karzai, long the main powerbroker in Kandahar, the ancestral home of both the Karzai's and where the Taliban found its initial strength in the early 1990s. In April, Kandahar's police chief was killed by a suicide bomber and also earlier this month, Jan Mohammed Khan, a powerful warlord in Uruzgan and a key ally of President Karzai's, was killed in a suicide attack at his home in Kabul.
Mr. Crocker, dealing with the first of what's likely to be many crises on his watch, borrowed a page from the Iraq war public communications book (where Crocker served as ambassador from 2007-2009): The murders, he said, could in fact be a sign of the enemy's weakness.
The US has spent billions of dollars in the past few years trying to remove the Taliban from Kandahar and neighboring provinces, and Crocker suggested yesterday that the killings might be because the Taliban "have been damaged to the point that they are resorting to terrorist attacks... Clearly these are horrific attacks but they can also be interpreted as a sign of organizational weakness on the part of the adversary," he said.
Assassinations and suicide bombings have been a feature of the war in Afghanistan from the the start. Indeed, even before the US got involved. Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Northern Alliance commander who would have almost certainly been a US ally, was assassinated a few days before the 9/11 attacks on the US.
But as if in response to Crocker, the Taliban carried out a far more operationally complex assault today in Uruzgan.
In the provincial capital of Tirin Kot, squads of Taliban fighters, some wearing suicide vests, assaulted the governor's compound, a TV station, and a police station, all in the heart of town. The BBC reports that among the dead was Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, who worked for the BBC's Pashto news service and for local news outlet Pahjwok. The situation was bad enough that NATO air support was called in to win the battle.
And that need for air support, brings us to US debt negotiations and the ongoing drawdown of US troops.
The US – by far the most potent piece of the NATO force in Afghanistan – is spending $113 billion there in the current fiscal year and has requested $100 billion for next year. With Congress in the process of groping toward a deficit reduction deal to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit and avoid the first US government default in history, steep cuts in domestic services seem inevitable – whether it's the Republican call for spending cuts with no increase in taxes, or President Obama's desire for a mix of cuts and new revenues. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada wants the lion's share of savings to come from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, is calling for sharp cuts in the routine defense budget as well. Given the political mood in the US and the focus on debt, the era of free-spending on foreign wars, which have been mostly funded "off-budget" for a decade, is well and truly over. And it's happening at a time when the stated objective of bringing good government to Afghanistan is far from achieved and parts of Afghanistan, particularly the south, are looking very shaky, indeed.
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Three Afghan civilians killed by French soldier: officials
by Aymeric Vincenot Wed Jul 27, 1:01 pm ET
KABUL (AFP) – Three Afghan civilians were shot dead and three wounded when a French soldier opened fire on their vehicle in Kapisa province, north of the capital, the French military and the Afghan presidency said.
The incident happened late Tuesday night when the driver of the car approached a French military convoy and failed to stop despite requests, said the French military's spokesman in Kabul, Lieutenant Colonel Eric de Lapresle.
"A night mounted patrol found itself blocked by an obstacle in the road. A soldier in the last vehicle saw a car coming and motioned him to stop with a green laser. The car did not stop and a soldier opened fire," he said.
The dead were one woman, a man and a child, and one woman and two men were wounded, he said. The presidency said the woman who was killed had been pregnant.
"The French army recognises its responsibility in this tragedy," said Lapresle, adding that an investigation was underway to determine the exact circumstances.
He said the French military had met with local authorities on Wednesday over the deaths, while two of the wounded had been taken to a French-run medical facility in Kabul and the third was being treated at a military base in Nijrad in Kapisa.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai "strongly condemned" the attack that took place in the Alasau district of the eastern province.
"NATO forces opened fire on a car that was moving towards them, thinking it was a suicide car," said his statement.
It said that the French ambassador in Kabul had called the presidential palace to officially apologise.
"The president asked NATO forces to protect civilian lives and not to allow innocent people to be killed every day as a result of their repeated mistakes," Karzai's statement said.
Violence against civilians is at a record-high in the war, with more than 1,400 Afghan civilians killed in the conflict this year, up 15 percent on the first half of 2010, according to a recently released United Nations report.
According to the UN, NATO and Afghan forces are responsible for 14 percent of civilian casualties with 80 percent due to the insurgents.
Tuesday's incident comes after a suicide attack in the Tagab valley of Kapisa killed five French soldiers on July 13.
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Taliban Not Lying Low In Waziristan
July 28, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Majeed Babar
Three months ago, the Mehsud and Wazir tribes of South Waziristan were convinced (or, forced, depending on who one asks) by Pakistani authorities and international agencies to return to their villages. The villagers had been evacuated so security forces could "clear and hold" the area after defeating the Taliban there.
In January, elders from both tribes expressed their concerns in a series of jirgas with the authorities. They explained that it would be impossible for them to return to their normal lives and traditions because of the lingering threat from extremists. In the end, the authorities assured the elders that the area is now under the writ of Pakistan's government.
On July 26, these assurances were proven false when an armed group of Taliban fighters entered the bazaar in Wana calling for all pieces of "thin fabric" to be brought out to be burned. The men burned what witnesses said were "thousands of meters" of fabric that they claimed did not fully cover the women wearing clothes made from it -- deeming such clothing as obscene.
This follows a trend in Pakistan's tribal areas of Taliban militants trying to impose their will on the people. In May, Taliban militants in the Kurram Agency, adjacent to South Waziristan, issued a leaflet ordering the residents to follow its "code of conduct or face the consequences."
The militants asked the men in Lower Kurram Valley to grow beards and the women to remain veiled when venturing outside their homes. The women were instructed to stay at home and never leave unless accompanied by immediate family members.
The Taliban further told the locals that arranging music for wedding ceremonies was strictly forbidden in Islam, and warned the people to avoid all such practices. The militants also asked the locals to pay at least 5,000 rupees ($70) to the imam in every mosque in the area.
The Taliban directed the individuals working with nongovernmental organizations to quit their jobs and clarify their positions in Taliban courts.
Islamic extremists continue to show their presence and let the world know they still exist. This time the innocent bystanders who normally serve as the militants' targets were spared for pieces of cloth. But the wider message is clear. The Taliban has yet to be defeated in Pakistan.
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Afghan police suffer worst casualties of war
By AHMAD SEIR - Associated Press,DEB RIECHMANN - Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban were raining fire on his checkpoint when Afghan policeman Jan Agha heard the whooshing sound of an incoming rocket just as he was tying a tourniquet on his bloody hand ripped by a machine gun bullet.
He moved fast, but couldn't get far enough. Shrapnel from the rocket sprayed his legs, breaking both in several places.
"If I had been standing where I was, I would have been killed," the 26-year-old Agha said, lying in a hospital bed in Kabul.
Agha of Maidan Shahr in Wardak province lived to tell his story, but many of his comrades don't. Afghan policemen on the front line of the war suffer more deaths and injuries than Afghan soldiers or U.S.-led coalition forces. And the human toll on the 130,600-member police force is likely to rise as it increasingly takes over from foreign troops who are to end their combat mission in 2014.
There were 2,770 Afghan policemen killed during the two-year period that ended March 19, the last day of the most recent Afghan calendar year. That's more than twice the 1,052 Afghan soldiers or 1,256 U.S. and other foreign troops who died during the same period. Moreover, 4,785 Afghan policemen were wounded in the two-year period compared with 2,413 Afghan soldiers.
The statistics were obtained from the Afghan ministries of interior and defense and the U.S.-led coalition.
"For anyone to say 'When will the Afghans start fighting and dying for their country?' I can tell you that they are doing that right now." Gen. David Petraeus, the former top commander in Afghanistan, recently testified in the U.S. Senate.
The Afghan National Police force has come under criticism for corruption, and many call it unprofessional and under equipped. Illiteracy is rife, despite six weeks of training and literacy lessons that recruits undergo. Still, questions remain about whether it will be able to handle the increased duties as foreign troops leave.
Police officials acknowledge the problems. But they also point to the risks that members of the force are constantly facing. While the troops of the more than 160,000-member Afghan National Army move in offensives against Taliban and insurgents, police are at the forefront trying to keep a longer-term hold on territory, patrolling their towns, stopping suicide bombers from slipping through checkpoints and trying to foil potential attacks.
"It is true that corruption is a liability in the police force, but (critics) tend to forget about the sacrifices and the hard work and the bravery of the Afghan police," said Hanif Atmar, who was interior minister from 2008 to 2010.
Police, for example, are the main force involved in eradication of poppy crops, making them the target of hatred from farmers, drug dealers and the fighters that profit from the drug trade, said Zemeri Bashary, a former ministry spokesman who now handles security for international organizations in Afghanistan.
"They are the first barrier against all the bad guys — whether they're terrorists, insurgents, drug dealers," Bashary said.
Interior Minister Bismullah Khan said in an interview on Wednesday that most police casualties are from roadside bombs. "Unfortunately, we are on the front line. Sometimes the casualties go up and sometimes they go down, but we are obliged to fight against the enemy," he said.
On average, between 1,200 and 1,400 policemen are killed every year, and up to three to four times that number are injured, said Atmar. Better intelligence networks would reduce that, he said, as would better equipment. Most police vehicles are unarmored, making them vulnerable to roadside blasts. "The police are expected to regularly patrol areas so they are easy targets," Atmar said.
Assassination is a danger. The police chief of southern Kandahar province and the top police commander in the north were killed in two suicide bombings this year. This month, insurgents hanged an 8-year-old boy in Helmand province because his father, a police officer, refused to give them a police vehicle.
In the hospital, Agha said his 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son sometimes try to stop him from going to work, fearing he won't come home.
When two of his close colleagues were killed two years ago by a mine, Agha said he was demoralized and thought about quitting. "But then I thought that if I leave and others leave too there will be no one left. That thought motivated me to stay and take revenge for my friends."
Casualties are one reason only about half the policemen re-enlist after their first tour of duty, police officials said. Still, police recruiting is strong. In June, 130,600 Afghans signed up, exceeding the target by more than 1,000, according to the U.S.-led coalition.
Some join for patriotic reasons. They want to see their homeland secured by Afghans not foreigners.
"Police are serving this nation," said Abdul Jabar, a 30-year-old policeman from Parwan province who is recovering from a bullet wound to his leg that he received in a Taliban ambush. "If I can still walk, I will go back to my duty."
For many others, it's a matter of money. A new patrolman makes about $165 a month, considered a decent salary.
"My brother many times tried to stop me from joining. He said 'It's too dangerous. You will lose your leg,'" said Gul Mohammad, a 38-year-old father of five in Ghazni in eastern Afghanistan. "But I had to join to feed my family."
Last year, Mohammed's police vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. He lost his right leg in the explosion.
He now works as a street cobbler, making less money.
"I don't see a good future ahead for myself," he said. "When I look at other people now I get upset. I used to be like them. I used to have both of my legs. I could walk like them."
Currently, if a police officer is killed on duty, his family receives the equivalent of around $2,200. The families of slain lower-level patrolmen receive about $1,500. The ministry pays the cost of treating wounded policemen.
In Kabul, Hedayatullah Khan, a 25-year-old patrolman, stood with his AK-47 stopping vehicles at a checkpoint, looking for possible suicide bombers.
Amid the noise of engines and blaring horns, Khan and the other patrolmen closely watched the traffic — boys driving donkey carts, vendors pushing ice cream carts, coalition Humvees, armored vehicles, cars and overcrowded buses.
"In the morning when I come out of my house after praying, I know I am in danger of being attacked," Khan said. "Even when I go to sleep at night, I have the feeling that death is following me."
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Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez and Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report.
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1,400 newly graduated Afghan soldiers commissioned to army
KABUL, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,400 soldiers graduated from Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) on Thursday and were commissioned to Afghan National Army (ANA), General Aminullah Patyannai commander of KMTC said.
"After completion of two-month training, some 1,400 soldiers graduated from Kabul Military Training Center on Thursday morning and were commissioned to army to serve the nation," Patyannai told audience in a graduation ceremony in KMTC complex, eastern edge of capital city of Kabul.
The newly graduated soldiers are ready to be deployed to any part of the country to provide security for their people, he further said.
According to Patyannai, the soldiers had received training under U.S., NATO and Afghan trainers.
Currently the Afghan army or ANA has more than 171,000 soldiers, according to Patyannai.
The process of handing over security charge from over 140,000 U. S. and NATO-led forces stationed in Afghanistan to Afghan forces begun earlier this month and would be completed by the end of 2014 when Afghanistan is due to take over the full leadership of its own security duties.
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Afghan army fights for respect, equipment in south
By Jason Gutierrez (AFP) – July 28, 2011
COMPANY OUTPOST WARE, Afghanistan — Afghan commander Maqim Sediqi has spent more than half of his life on battlefields but says that these days he is more preoccupied fighting for respect than firing his gun.
The army captain leads some 100 men battling alongside American forces to keep control of the critical Arghandab Valley in southern Kandahar province, where a surge of US troops last year has seen some successes against a trenchant insurgency.
But this year's traditional summer fighting season comes as thousands of US troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, putting the fledgling force under pressure to show what they can do for themselves.
And while commanders cite gains in the outlying areas of the province, the birthplace of the Taliban, a string of political assassinations in Kandahar city a few kilometres (miles) south has brought fresh fears of an insurgent comeback.
Sediqi said his men were ready to fight: "But we need good equipment, logistics. We have no good weapons and we lack ammunition."
Sediqi, who like many of his men gained his battlefield experience fighting with the US-backed mujahedeen against the Soviet invaders in the 1980s, blamed infighting in the political corridors of Kabul for the lack of support.
"I want them to have pride in their army," he said.
While the US soldiers patrol in regulation desert boots, some of their Afghan counterparts wear sandals out in the streets, and while the US force drives around in heavily-armoured vehicles, the local force has pick-up trucks.
Not all are equipped with the modern American-made M16 rifles, with many still carrying old Russian issue AK-47s.
Sediqi's equipment concerns are echoed by commanders across the country and officials have expressed fears over how the Afghan army and police will be funded after a withdrawal of all foreign combat troops in three years' time.
Still, 50-year-old Sediqi says the greatest threat to his men comes from homemade Taliban bombs, which litter the surrounding fields.
"There has been no face-to-face fighting," he said.
A Pentagon war report in April said that across Afghanistan, three-quarters of army units were judged "effective" when backed by an adviser or assistance from coalition troops, but no single army unit could yet operate independently.
Sediqi's men are under the tight lead of their American comrades and he says he hopes their military trainers stay on longer to help them. But there are some successes -- the Afghan National Army and police set up check points along a highway alone, and on one recent mission they recovered a heavy weapon buried by insurgents.
"My men are willing. They are being trained by the Americans. With the Americans we believe we can defeat them," said Sediqi, although he later added: "I really can't say whether they can be defeated or not."
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Simmering, commander of the 1st Battalion, 67 Armored Regiment leading coalition efforts in the area, teaches his men to praise the Afghan soldiers for any small accomplishments to build their morale.
"What we're trying to do is create a force that is capable of standing on its own," Simmering told his men after awarding certificates of recognition to Afghan troops who recovered the arms cache. "Right now, they're not."
But although talk of the transition from foreign to Afghan forces is high, after seven parts of the country were transferred in ceremonies last week, no such handover is likely in Kandahar soon.
The murder of the mayor of Kandahar on Wednesday, two weeks after the president's half-brother -- the province's key powerbroker -- was killed, underscores the ongoing volatility of the region, and some are pessimistic.
"The bottom line is, once we're out of here, this whole place is going to be taken over again by the Taliban," said a military defence contractor and ex-army officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, who had done three previous tours here.
"You just can't teach people to take care of their own country if they are less willing to do so."
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How Afghanistan civilian deaths have changed the way the US military fights
Civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan rose by 20 percent between the spring of 2010 and the spring of 2011, according to a UN report. Training and technology are two ways to address that.
By By Anna Mulrine | Christian Science Monitor – Wed, Jul 27, 2011
In Afghanistan, the accidental killing of civilians by the US military has repeatedly put America’s war strategy at risk.
Top US commanders recognize this, and they’ve created rules of engagement to minimize the chances that children and other innocent bystanders are caught in the path of bombs and strafing fire.
Although they’ve had some success, a recent United Nations report has plenty of troubling news. Civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan rose by 20 percent – to 1,090 killed and more than 1,800 wounded – between the spring of 2010 and the spring of 2011.
But the proportion of civilians killed by the military has declined, according to the report. The actions of the US military and NATO forces accounted for 10 percent of civilian casualties over the same period, versus 16 percent the year before.
The experience of a decade of war has helped drive home the impact of accidental killings, says Col. Clay Hall, commander of the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group, who has served tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan. “When the war kicked off here and in Iraq, we were less concerned about that,” he adds. “When we start off wars, we’re in an offensive mind-set.”
Now, everyone in the service – from the most junior troop on up – knows that the goal is to stabilize the country, Hall adds, “and it’s pretty hard to do that when you’re dropping bombs on innocent people.”
Commanders also emphasize the far-reaching consequences of a single mistake. “[Afghan President Hamid] Karzai’s making a statement, and [Gen. David] Petraeus is apologizing to the president” for an incident involving civilian casualties, says Lt. Col. Daren Sorenson, deputy commander of the 455th. “They can see how quickly a tactical mistake has a strategic-level impact.”
But caution doesn’t always come naturally in the heat of battle. And so during training, joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) – Air Force specialists who embed with US military infantry units to help them call in airstrikes during battle – learn how to navigate what may quickly become ethical gray areas.
During role-playing, an instructor might act as a ground-force commander, yelling at the JTAC to call for fire on a building where enemy forces have taken cover. When the JTAC asks if civilians are in the building, the ground commander ignores him, insisting that they must strike immediately or risk an enemy escape.
“We’re yelling, ‘Hey Air Force, where’s my air?’ and ‘I got intel – I want to take it out now!’ I’m throwing him off thinking about the civilians, when he should be,” says Senior Master Sgt. Javier Soto, a JTAC who has worked with Special Operations Forces and is also an instructor.
“Long story short, the building gets hit, but it hits good guys and bad guys.” Next, Soto says, the JTAC learns of his mistake. “So we’ll scream at him and all sorts of good stuff,” he adds. “It works.”
Technology can help, too, in real-life incidents. For example, in the headquarters building of the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group here, airmen play a grainy video of a compound that houses insurgents who have been planting roadside bombs. They watch the compound, make sure it is clear of innocents, and then fire a 500-pound, laser-guided bomb to kill the insurgents.
But after the bomb, known as a joint direct attack munition (JDAM), is launched, a civilian bicycles into the blast zone. With just seconds to spare, the operators are able to direct the GPS laser-guided bomb away from the civilian, into an open field, where it detonates without harming anyone. “There are things like this that happen every day,” Hall says.
At one time, rules of engagement “weren’t as strict,” Soto acknowledges. “A commander could go down there and just lay waste to all the bad guys. If it didn’t go well” – in other words, if civilians were injured or killed – “you’d have your PA [public affairs] folks smooth things out,” he says. “It didn’t get national attention.”
Stringent rules of engagement also have benefits for the troops in the field, Soto adds. When civilians are hurt as a result of US strikes, “It gets really hard,” he says. “It weighs heavy on us.”
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US accuses Iran of 'secret deal' with al-Qaida to take cash, recruits to Afghanistan, Pakistan
By Bradley Klapper,Matthew Lee, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration accused Iran on Thursday of entering into a "secret deal" with an al-Qaida offshoot that provides money and recruits for attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Treasury Department designated six members of the unit as terrorists subject to U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. intelligence community has in the past disagreed about the extent of direct links between the Iranian government and al-Qaida. Thursday's allegations went further than what most analysts had previously said was a murky relationship with limited co-operation.
David S. Cohen, Treasury's point man for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Iran entered a "secret deal with al-Qaida allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through its territory." He didn't provide any details of that agreement, but said the sanctions seek to disrupt al-Qaida's work in Iraq and deny the terrorist group's leadership much-needed support.
"Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world today," Cohen said in a statement. "We are illuminating yet another aspect of Iran's unmatched support for terrorism."
Treasury said the exposure of the clandestine agreement would disrupt al-Qaida operations by shedding light on Iran's role as a "critical transit point" for money and extremists reaching Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"This network serves as the core pipeline through which al-Qaida moves money, facilitators and operatives from across the Middle East to South Asia," it said..
Treasury said a branch headed by Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil was operating in Iran with the Tehran government's blessing, funneling funds collected from across the Arab world to al-Qaida's senior leaders in Pakistan. Khalil, the department said, has operated within Iran's borders for six years.
Also targeted by the sanctions is Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, appointed by Osama bin Laden as al-Qaida's envoy in Iran after serving as a commander in Pakistan's tribal areas. As an emissary, al-Rahman is allowed to travel in and out of Iran with the permission of government officials, the statement claimed.
The sanctions block any assets the individuals might have held in the United States, and bans Americans from doing any business with them.
No Iranian officials were cited for complicity in terrorism. The others targeted were Umid Muhammadi, described as a key planner for al-Qaida in Iraq's attacks; Salim Hasan Khalifa Rashid al-Kuwari and Abdallah Ghanim Mafuz Muslim al-Khawar, Qatar-based financial supporters who've allegedly helped extremists travel across the region; and Ali Hassan Ali al-Ajmi, a Kuwait-based fundraiser for al-Qaida and the Taliban.
The action comes a day after the top U.S. commander for special operations forces said al-Qaida is bloodied and "nearing its end," even as he warned that the next generation of militants could keep special operations fighting for a decade to come.
Navy SEAL Adm. Eric T. Olson said bin Laden's killing on May 2 was a near-fatal blow for the organization created by bin Laden and led from his Pakistan hide out. He said the group already had lost steam because of the revolts of the Arab Spring, which proved the Muslim world did not need terrorism to bring down governments, from Tunisia to Egypt.
Treasury's public allegations against Iran may reflect part of a strategy to expand the pressure on smaller, less well-established offshoots of al-Qaida as the weakening of the group's leadership threatens to make its activities more disparate. Washington already has re-focused much attention on al-Qaida's Yemen-based branch, which has attempted to bomb a U.S.-bound jetliner and cargo planes in recent years.
But the exact nature of Iran's relationship with al-Qaida remains disputed in Washington, with different branches of the intelligence community disagreeing about whether Iran is supporting al-Qaida as a matter of policy, according to one U.S. official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Some hardline militants backing al-Qaida, members of Islam's majority Sunnis, see the Shiite Islam dominant in Iran as heretical, and they view Tehran's regional ambitions as a greater threat than the West. Sunni insurgents in Iraq have used car bombs and suicide attacks against Shiite targets, killing thousands since 2003, as well as targeting Shiite militias allied to Iran.
Since 2001, Iran has appeared a somewhat reluctant host for senior al-Qaida operatives who fled there after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, keeping them under tight restrictions. After an initial period of co-operation with the West, Iran now seems to be a more comfortable haven even if it remains on the edge of al-Qaida's orbit.
Western officials point to the release earlier this year of an Iranian diplomat who was held for 15 months after being kidnapped by gunmen in Pakistan.
In negotiations for the diplomat's freedom, they say Iran promised better conditions for dozens of people close to Osama bin Laden who were being held under tight security. These included some of the terror chief's children and the network's most senior military strategist, Saif al-Adel.
Still, the life of the al-Qaida-linked exiles in Iran continues to be very much a blind spot for Western intelligence agencies. Few firm details have emerged, such as how much Iran limits their movements and contacts.
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U.S. Soldier Found Guilty Of Killing Afghan Civilian
July 28, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A U.S. National Guardsman who shot an Afghan electrician in the head at close range last year has been found guilty of premeditated murder.
Officials say that Sergeant Derrick Miller will be sentenced in the near future.
Prosecutors had argued that Miller shot and killed Atta Mohammed in September in Masamute Bala, Afghanistan, with a Beretta pistol.
They said Miller took another soldier's weapon, straddled the man on the ground, and then shot him.
Miller is a member of a Connecticut National Guard unit that is attached to Fort Campbell, home to the 101st Airborne Division, which is now being rotated home from Afghanistan.
compiled from agency reports
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U.S. envoy praises Karzai, signals reset in Afghan ties
Reuters By Emma Graham-Harrison Wed Jul 27, 2011
KABUL - The new U.S. envoy to Afghanistan on Wednesday described Afghan President Hamid Karzai as a brave man who holds one of the world's most difficult jobs, strong praise that could signal a U.S. bid to reset an often tense and acrimonious relationship.
U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker, speaking a few days after arriving in Kabul, said he had already been given a warm welcome by many senior Afghan officials.
"I have had no one question the value of the relationship, or even hint at it," Crocker told journalists at his first news conference in the post. "What they have said virtually without exception is ... they consider the relationship with the United States extremely important."
His predecessor was Karl Eikenberry, a former general widely known to have a difficult relationship with Karzai. Some diplomats and military officers complained of a U.S. political "vacuum" in Kabul while he was at the helm.
Weeks before he left, Eikenberry issued a thinly veiled warning to Karzai that his strong criticisms of the West were "hurtful and inappropriate" and could jeopardise troops and funding critical to the Afghan government's survival.
Relations have been strained by a string of problems, from Karzai's repeated criticism of Western military tactics to his fraught relationship with parliament and his handling of the collapse of Kabulbank, the country's largest private lender, with hundreds of millions of dollars of bad loans.
But Crocker, asked how he would characterise ties with Karzai, had only praise for the president, who he has known since he served a brief period in Kabul in 2002.
"I was only here for about 3 months but had intensive interaction with him during that time and developed considerable respect for his commitment, his courage and the clear signal he sent as an Afghan nationalist. He thinks in national terms," Crocker said.
"I continue to have very, very high regard for him. He has had arguably the toughest job in the world for the last 9 and a half years, and one of the most dangerous. He has stuck with it, I think he deserves our support; he has our support."
Crocker also repeated promises the United States did not seek permanent bases in Afghanistan, after a security handover to Afghan troops scheduled to finish by the end of 2014, although the military might stay to "advise and assist".
He said a strategic partnership currently under discussion would go far beyond security concerns.
"Both we and the Afghans envisage this as a very broad compact ... I think we're going to talk about educational cooperation, economic and commercial cooperation, cooperation in science and technology."
(Editing by Robert Birsel)
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Lawmakers to Summon Minister Mansoori over Comments
TOLOnews.com Wednesday, 27 July 2011
A number of Afghan lawmakers on Wednesday said that Afghan Rural Rehabilitation and Development Minister should be called to parliament over recently released audio tape attributed to him that contain remarks against parliament and the president.
In an audio clip attributed to the Afghan Rural Rehabilitation and Development Minister, President Hamid Karzai's government has been called illegitimate to govern the nation, a comment which lawmakers considered an insult to the parliament and the president.
"If he had remarked in a state of abnormality, he should apologise to the nation. He should be called over, otherwise this wouldn't be a legitimate parliament," Hajji Qurban Kohestani, Afghan MP, said.
Speaker of the House Abdul Raouf Ebrahimi said: "He hasn't made acceptable remarks, but he has rejected that the audio clip belongs to him.
In a four-minute audio clip, a voice that sounds like that of Jarullah Mansoori's says the government of President Karzai as well as the National Council have no legitimacy.
The clip said: "Many people have been killed in the country and he [Karzai] has illegally been the president so far. The Parliament has no legitimacy. If they put me in prison and get me fired from my post because of my age, I swear I wouldn't give a damn about it, and I want to assure you all that I would continue to become a minister for many times in this country until I am alive."
But at a press conference on Monday the Afghan Rural Rehabilitation and Development Minister, Jarullah Mansoori, denied that the audio clip contained his voice.
"No conscientious Afghan could make such remarks. If you go after the sound clip, that's not mine. I'm proud to be a member of the cabinet of the one who is the founder of a new Afghanistan," he said hinting to the Afghan President.
TOLOnews has obtained a copy of a passport which puts the age of Mr Mansoori at 33, which is an inelligible age for a minister's post according to Afghan laws.
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Costs of British military operations in Afghanistan estimated at £18bn
Official figures by Commons defence committee also estimate cost of Libyan no-fly zone and bombing at £260m
Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 July 2011
The cost of British military operations in Afghanistan is now officially estimated at more than £18bn, figures released on Thursday show. The cost of imposing a no-fly zone and bombing targets in Libya is so far officially estimated at £260m.
The figures are contained in a report by the Commons defence committee which makes it clear the sums are no more than estimates. "The total cost of operations in Afghanistan is not known", it states. The Ministry of Defence told the committee: "It is too early accurately to forecast the cost of UK operations in Libya".
The defence committee revealed that the MoD estimates that military operations in Afghanistan this year will cost more than £4bn.
However, the figures for Afghanistan , and the £260m estimated for Libya - more than half spent on bombs and missiles - are described as "additional costs" of operations to be paid for by the Treasury out its reserves.
The figures do not include what the defence committee describes as "additional costs in terms of training opportunities cancelled or deferred and equipment wear and tear that will eventually have to be met".
The committee added that it was "disappointed" by the MoD's inability to provide information it asked for about some £12bn worth of "write-offs" as a result of equipment, including a fleet of Nimrod maritime reconnaissance aircraft, and the navy's type 22 frigates, scrapped as part of last year's strategic defence and security review. Asked for a breakdown, it received a reply "which left us little the wiser", the committee said.
It also expressed concern that the armed forces voluntary redundancy programme was over-subscribed and that applications, and even resignations, have been received from individuals who might have achieved "high command".
More than 900 officers and men have applied for redundancy, though the army had asked for just 500 volunteers. The army is also likely to lose a significant number of experienced NCOs.
The committee has asked the MoD to show how it will ensure that the voluntary redundancy programme "does not impact on the future leadership capability and effectiveness of the armed services".
James Arbuthnot, the committee's chairman, said: "In some instances the department appears to be unable or unwilling to provide the kind of detailed information we ask for, notably in respect of the total cost of military operations and the detail of savings proposed. This prevents proper parliamentary scrutiny. We expect these gaps to be filled."
British troops in Afghanistan are to be issued with waterproof "bacteria-zapping socks" designed to help keep their feet dry when wading through ditches and streams, the MoD announced on Thursday.
And in a new addition to their "pelvic protection system", troops will be equipped with "ballistic knee-length shorts" for troops operating lead metal detectors in search for improvised explosive devices.
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Afghan army fights for respect, equipment in south
By Jason Gutierrez | AFP
Afghan commander Maqim Sediqi has spent more than half of his life on battlefields but says that these days he is more preoccupied fighting for respect than firing his gun.
The army captain leads some 100 men battling alongside American forces to keep control of the critical Arghandab Valley in southern Kandahar province, where a surge of US troops last year has seen some successes against a trenchant insurgency.
But this year's traditional summer fighting season comes as thousands of US troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, putting the fledgling force under pressure to show what they can do for themselves.
And while commanders cite gains in the outlying areas of the province, the birthplace of the Taliban, a string of political assassinations in Kandahar city a few kilometres (miles) south has brought fresh fears of an insurgent comeback.
Sediqi said his men were ready to fight: "But we need good equipment, logistics. We have no good weapons and we lack ammunition."
Sediqi, who like many of his men gained his battlefield experience fighting with the US-backed mujahedeen against the Soviet invaders in the 1980s, blamed infighting in the political corridors of Kabul for the lack of support.
"I want them to have pride in their army," he said.
While the US soldiers patrol in regulation desert boots, some of their Afghan counterparts wear sandals out in the streets, and while the US force drives around in heavily-armoured vehicles, the local force has pick-up trucks.
Not all are equipped with the modern American-made M16 rifles, with many still carrying old Russian issue AK-47s.
Sediqi's equipment concerns are echoed by commanders across the country and officials have expressed fears over how the Afghan army and police will be funded after a withdrawal of all foreign combat troops in three years' time.
Still, 50-year-old Sediqi says the greatest threat to his men comes from homemade Taliban bombs, which litter the surrounding fields.
"There has been no face-to-face fighting," he said.
A Pentagon war report in April said that across Afghanistan, three-quarters of army units were judged "effective" when backed by an adviser or assistance from coalition troops, but no single army unit could yet operate independently.
Sediqi's men are under the tight lead of their American comrades and he says he hopes their military trainers stay on longer to help them. But there are some successes -- the Afghan National Army and police set up check points along a highway alone, and on one recent mission they recovered a heavy weapon buried by insurgents.
"My men are willing. They are being trained by the Americans. With the Americans we believe we can defeat them," said Sediqi, although he later added: "I really can't say whether they can be defeated or not."
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Simmering, commander of the 1st Battalion, 67 Armored Regiment leading coalition efforts in the area, teaches his men to praise the Afghan soldiers for any small accomplishments to build their morale.
"What we're trying to do is create a force that is capable of standing on its own," Simmering told his men after awarding certificates of recognition to Afghan troops who recovered the arms cache. "Right now, they're not."
But although talk of the transition from foreign to Afghan forces is high, after seven parts of the country were transferred in ceremonies last week, no such handover is likely in Kandahar soon.
The murder of the mayor of Kandahar on Wednesday, two weeks after the president's half-brother -- the province's key powerbroker -- was killed, underscores the ongoing volatility of the region, and some are pessimistic.
"The bottom line is, once we're out of here, this whole place is going to be taken over again by the Taliban," said a military defence contractor and ex-army officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, who had done three previous tours here.
"You just can't teach people to take care of their own country if they are less willing to do so."
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U.S. special ops unit faced pitched Afghan battle
CNN By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent July 28, 2011
Washington - The Afghanistan battle that resulted in a rare fatality for a classified Army unit pitted U.S. troops against waves of insurgents who attacked from bunkers and caves, a U.S. military official said Wednesday.
American forces had to be reinforced several times during the two-day firefight in southeast Afghanistan's Paktika province, said the official, who declined to be named because he was discussing the Army's Special Operations Command. The sole U.S. fatality in the attack was Army Master Sgt. Benjamin A. Stevenson, a highly decorated member of one of the Army's special mission units.
The death in combat of a soldier from one of these highly trained units is rare, with the last occurring nearly a year ago, the official said. The classified units are sometimes publicly referred to as Delta Force, the Army equivalent of the Navy SEAL team that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May.
In the Paktika raid, U.S. and Afghan troops attacked an insurgent encampment under cover of darkness last week, killing nearly 80 foreign fighters -- mostly Arabs and Chechens brought into Afghanistan from Pakistan, the military official said.
But as they searched the site in the daylight, they were attacked by two more waves of insurgents who came out from underground bunkers and caves. Additional U.S. forces were called in several times as reinforcements as the firefight stretched on.
Get latest news at Afghanistan Crossroads blog
Stevenson, 36, from Canyon Lake, Texas, was on his 10th tour of duty in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq when he was killed Thursday. The military official said he died shortly after being evacuated from the battlefield, but the Pentagon has disclosed no other details.
The story behind his death offered a rare glimpse into the work of U.S. special operations units.
The target of last week's raid was a camp full of fighters from the so-called Haqqani network, which is responsible for many recent attacks in Afghanistan and is closely tied to al Qaeda. The presence of so many foreign fighters among an insurgent group that typically relies on local Afghan and Pakistani populations for manpower is a worrisome trend, according to a second U.S. military official.
"This is how they are expanding their capabilities," the official said.
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Afghanistan and Libya point NATO to five lessons
Both the wars in Afghanistan and Libya reveal serious flaws in the alliance. If they can’t be fixed, perhaps it's time for a 'back to basics' NATO and a return to coalitions of the willing.
By Kurt Volker July 28, 2011 at 11:20 am EDT The Christian Science Monitor
Washington - Whether it is a matter of weeks or months, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi will probably fall from power, and opposition forces will likely gain control of most of Libya.
In Afghanistan, the United States has begun withdrawing troops and allies are following suit. Over the next few years, despite best efforts to train Afghan security forces, Afghanistan's corrupt and ineffective government will likely have to accommodate radical Islamist Pashtuns (the Taliban in all but name) in the south and east, and acknowledge the old Northern Alliance's sway in the north. The west of the country will remain heavily influenced by Iran.
The best-case scenario may simply be that the central government does not collapse when international forces fall below critical mass.
It is a brutal irony: In Libya, NATO made a half-thought-through effort, with the US in the back seat, and may inadvertently succeed. In Afghanistan, with eight years of hard work, massive US leadership, and more than 150,000 troops on the ground, NATO has made little lasting impact and is beginning a retreat without a clear victory. It's a strange and troubling outcome – and a bad one for NATO – on all counts.
Lessons for US and Europe
The lessons Americans and Europeans may take from these episodes are as different as they are telling. Americans will likely blame Europeans for never doing their share in Afghanistan. And whether Libya is a success or failure, it will prove to Americans that the US should no longer offer defense capabilities that Europe itself will not fund.
Europeans, meanwhile, may conclude it was a mistake to follow the US into Afghanistan in the first place, and that the drawn-out operation in Libya further proves that expeditionary missions are a bad idea. Europe should stay close to home and practice genuine self-defense.
The one thing both sides would agree on is that for whatever we face in the future, NATO is not up to it. But in a world in which ideological, military, economic, political, and sheer chaotic threats are growing, shouldn't Europe and North America, these twin pillars of democratic values in the world, act together more closely than ever before?
If so, what are the real conclusions allies should draw from NATO's current operations? Here are some suggestions:
Lesson One: NATO and US must both take ownership
First, for NATO to mean anything, both sides of the Atlantic need to take ownership of the alliance.
At the moment, for both America and Europe, "NATO" has become synonymous with "them." When an American president speaks of "handing over to NATO," he means "Europe" – as though America, long the leader of NATO, is no longer in it. At the same time, for Europe, "NATO" has been long equated with "the Americans." The alliance is hollowing out from within.
Lesson Two: Europe's defense cuts undermine alliance
Second, as underlined by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the demolishing of European defense budgets is hastening this effect. Europe lacks the capabilities to accomplish basic combat missions without the US. This was a problem long before the Libya operation put it in stark relief.
If Europe continues to shed real defense capabilities, there will be no alliance to speak of.
Lesson Three: US can't abandon NATO
Third, the US cannot abdicate NATO leadership. This does not mean acting unilaterally, but neither can the US take a back seat. It is understandable that Americans would be frustrated that Europe does not pull more of the load. But an America that "leads from behind" is not leading at all.
We must lead, and bring others with us. By rejecting this role in Libya, the US is allowing NATO to appear a paper tiger. That serves no one's interests.
Lesson Four: Shore up solidarity
Fourth, we must shore up solidarity within the transatlantic family, which has eroded dramatically in recent years. The EU is fracturing over the euro debt crisis. In Afghanistan, every ally agreed to take part, but several placed "caveats" on their forces. In Libya, the US itself has become a caveat country.
This trend away from real solidarity must be reversed.
Lesson Five: NATO needs vision public will support
Finally, NATO needs a role that publics will genuinely support with resources and political will. At its 2010 Lisbon summit, NATO agreed on an ambitious new strategic concept that says NATO should do just about everything. But instead of implementing this vision, allies are slashing defense budgets, withdrawing troops, cutting costs at NATO headquarters, and ignoring civilian contributions.
Where does this leave NATO as it approaches a 2012 summit in Chicago? Ideally, we would all recommit to the fully resourced and robust NATO that meets the security needs of the 21st century. But if that bar proves too high, perhaps the opposite is in order.
A "back to basics" NATO that focuses on the collective defense of the allies may be the most that publics and finance ministries will sustainably support. Which means that for complex, expeditionary, and combat missions, whether on Europe's periphery or beyond, the old "coalition of the willing" concept is looking better and better.
Kurt Volker, a former US ambassador to NATO, is managing director, international, for BGR Group and senior fellow and managing director of The Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. A version of this essay originally appeared in Italy's La Stampa newspaper.
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The Trials of Team Afghanistan
By JOSEPH D’HIPPOLITO The New York Times
Afghanistan has a national men’s basketball team, although it is made up of young Afghan-Americans with modest doses of collegiate experience. The team has a coach, although actually holding a full practice can require a mad scramble that includes cross-country flights. When the practices do occur, he sometimes puts up as many as seven players in his home near Sacramento.
“The difficult part is the sacrifices you have to make playing on a team that has no real structure or funds,” said Nafi Mashriqi, 32, the team captain, who was born in Kandahar and now lives in Queens.
The team, though, does have a major victory to its credit: a gold medal won last year in the South Asian Games, the only international title by Afghanistan in any team sport. But perhaps not surprisingly for a club short on history and money, the optimism born of that victory has been imperiled by issues of logistics and organization.
The Afghans, hoping to qualify for the London Olympics next summer, were set to play in a prequalifying tournament in Uzbekistan this weekend. But the Afghanistan Olympic Committee declined to allocate $70,000 for travel, food and accommodations. Last-ditch negotiations restored about $30,000 for travel with a smaller party. But now the players have been unable to obtain the required visas, and by Thursday night their coach, Mamo Rafiq, was convinced they would never make it to the tournament. He said he had heard through the Afghan Sports Federation, a nonprofit agency based in Virginia that serves as a liaison for athletes, that the Uzbekistan Embassy had not received the required paperwork from the country’s foreign ministry to grant permission.
The problems have led to confusion and uncertainty. The Afghan Embassy in Washington has pitched in to try to help. It is believed that the organizers in Navoi, Uzbekistan, have considered delaying the start of tournament.
Rafiq, with a mix of candor and mystery, said this week: “I had to cut two players off my roster, and I had to cut my manager. We don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.”
It has all taken some of the shine off the team’s historic success at the South Asia Games in Bangladesh. There, Afghanistan opened with its first victory over Pakistan in 40 years.
“No one knew if we were even capable of winning,” said Mashriqi, a 6-foot-7 center. “But once we won that game, the word got out.”
Ali Noorzad, a team member who works at his father’s car dealership in Virginia, recalled that Afghans competing in other sports cheered them on.
“It was so patriotic,” he said, “and so inspiring that it almost brought some guys to tears.”
Afghanistan went 3-0 in the tournament, routing Nepal in the semifinals and beating heavily favored India on a late basket by Mashriqi.
“Once the clock expired, everyone rushed the floor,” Noorzad said. “It was truly an inspiring moment.”
This weekend’s Middle Asia Zone qualifier — conducted by the International Basketball Federation — involves two other national teams. The Afghans are scheduled to take on Turkmenistan on Saturday in their first game. The team that wins the tournament — and Afghanistan is the favorite — will earn a spot in the Asian championship in China next month. The championship will produce the continent’s lone entrant in the 2012 Olympics.
How Afghanistan saw its national basketball team reconstituted is not a widely known story.
After an absence of 10 years, Afghanistan re-entered international basketball in 2006, when the Olympic committee decided to field a team for that year’s Asian Games. In 2007, the committee hired Rafiq, who had played for Idaho State and at the University of California, Davis. He was the first Afghan immigrant to play in the N.C.A.A.
With civil instability and devastated infrastructure making training in Afghanistan impossible, the hiring of Rafiq reflected a plan to rebuild Afghan basketball by reaching out to expatriates in the United States through the Afghan Sports Federation.
Some of the players who responded had competed at small colleges. The vast majority played in recreational leagues. All were first-generation Afghan-Americans and thus eligible to represent Afghanistan.
Rafiq, Mashriqi said, immediately improved communication, and that made organizing a team possible. But it did not make day-to-day training any easier. Almost all the players had day jobs. They were scattered across the country. Their early play appears to have been financed chiefly with their own money, or family money.
“Everybody was going their own separate way,” Mashriqi said of the team members before they were a team. “With Coach Mamo, you have a person who understands the game. You have a system. In that system, everybody understands his role.”
And so practices are held when and where they can be.
“Because of budget and finances, I’ve had to go to different locations,” said Rafiq, who reserved fitness centers and high school gyms for practices and traveled across the United States to work with as few as three or four players.
“We’ve had smaller training camps in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Virginia,” he added. “Wherever they’re closest, that’s where they come and work out.”
Mashriqi said that he has sometimes left New York on Friday to fly to California for Saturday and Sunday practices, only to return on Monday in time for work at Time Warner Cable.
If players cannot find or afford accommodations, Rafiq opens his home.
“We don’t mind sleeping on the floor,” Noorzad said. “We know the only way we’re going to prevail is by our own camaraderie.”
Enhancing that focus is a keen sense of cultural identity.
“Guys were born in Fremont, San Diego and Chicago, but they’ve all been brought up with the same upbringing,” Rafiq said. “They’ve been brought up as Afghans and they hold on to all those cultural values.”
Yet when the players, many of them sons of refugees from the 1979 Soviet invasion, arrived in Bangladesh for last year’s South Asian Games, they risked being viewed as interlopers by other Afghan athletes.
“There was a level of discomfort on both sides, I think,” Mashriqi said. “I personally didn’t know how they would react toward us. Once we really had a chance to sit and talk to everyone, that discomfort was completely gone.
“Everyone began to realize that even though we are not living in Afghanistan, we were just like any other Afghan.”
And there have been trips to tournaments, ones without visa or money problems.
Afghanistan qualified for November’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. The Olympic committee paid for round-trip travel. The sports federation contributed about $25,000, according to Atiq Panjshiri, its executive director.
Afghanistan lost its only game — a qualifier against India — but the defeat did not diminish the experience.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” Rafiq said. “It was compared to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, so that in itself explains how fabulous it was. Afghanistan was the first delegation to enter the stadium to a roaring crowd due to alphabetical order.”
But Thursday night, even with the financial uncertainty resolved, it seemed unlikely that the team would receive the documents necessary for travel to Uzbekistan.
But if the team’s Olympic chances, no matter how slim, are derailed anywhere but on the court, its previous basketball success will be small consolation.
“We have sacrificed so much with no real benefit,” Mashriqi said, “with the exception of pride and honor.”
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Afghan Deadpan, Kabul Gets Its Version of ‘The Office’
The New York Times By ROBERT MACKEY July 27, 2011
Saad Mohseni, an Afghan media mogul who owns the popular Tolo TV network, has alerted his Twitter followers to stand by for the debut next month of a new comedy series, “The Ministry,” which appears to be an Afghan version of “The Office” in all but name.
Mr. Mohseni posted a link to this subtitled trailer for the series, which is a fake documentary look at office life in the mythical country of Hechland’s ministry of garbage:
As in the original BBC series, and the American version it inspired, the comedy seems to revolve around interviews with a deluded, self-important figure — in this case, Hechland’s minister of garbage.
According to the text of an ad for an earlier Tolo comedy series, which was set in the same fictional nation, Hechland means “nothing land.” Even from afar, Tolo’s pitch for that show is hard to resist:
Hechland is a country not so far far away. The Minister of So On and So Forth is even inept at is having his palms greased. His staff excel at taking tea, lots of it, all day, and do their best to do not much else. Hechland brings tears to the eyes of Afghans every Friday night at 8pm – as they roll of their toshak laughing.
This month, to mark the 10th anniversary of the debut of “The Office” in Britain, the BBC described how it morphed into “Stromberg,” “Le Bureau,” “La Ofis” and “Ha Misrad,” as the German, French, Israeli and Chilean versions were known.
In a post on the new series for the Web site Registan, Una Moore, an aid worker who blogs about Afghanistan for the United Nations and for herself, explained:
Each of the characters embodies a set of Afghan stereotypes of Afghan civil servants — the fake university degrees, the denials of blindingly obvious nepotism, the pettiness, the bravado, the bizarre fashion choices — and their respective positions poke fun at the corruption that has left Afghans feeling cheated by their government over the past decade. The butler on the show, for example, has a master’s in political science, but he’s a butler because his family lacks connections. At the same time, the minister’s brother-in-law insists he was hired based on merit, and how could anyone think otherwise? And then there’s the security guard, an elderly, narcoleptic, seemingly-toothless man who sleeps with his head propped on the barrel of his loaded rifle.
War-weary Afghans can certainly use a few laughs, but professional comedy in Afghanistan has a serious side as well. As issues of corruption and state dysfunction become more difficult for Afghanistan’s beleaguered news media to tackle, shows like The Ministry and Tolo’s SNL-esque hit “Danger Bell” are opening space for criticism that would be far more dangerous if packaged differently.
Last year, Al Jazeera English produced this video report on Tolo TV’s answer to “Saturday Night Live,” called “Danger Bell.”
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