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Afghanistan to back Pakistan if wars with U.S.: Karzai
Oct 22, 2011 11:13am EDT
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Afghanistan would support Pakistan in case of military conflict between Pakistan and the United States, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview to a private Pakistani TV channel broadcast on Saturday.
24 militants killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Afghan troops, backed by NATO-led coalition forces, have killed 24 Taliban insurgents and captured 10 others over the past 24 hours, Afghan Interior Ministry said Saturday.
Clinton seeks role for Afghanistan's neighbors
By MATTHEW LEE - Associated Press
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Central Asian nations on Saturday to play a role in securing and rebuilding war-torn Afghanistan, promoting the concept of a "new Silk Road" that would benefit the entire region.
Pakistan’s Rabbani Khar Pales Next to Clinton
Wall Street Journal By Tom Wright October 21, 2011
When Pakistan appointed Hina Rabbani Khar, a 33-year-old politician, as its first female foreign minister earlier this year, there was some suggestion that she lacked experience for the job.
Clinton leaves but with mounting pressure on Pakistan
By Muhammad Tahir
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) - U.S. Secretary of States Hillary Clinton has left Islamabad at the conclusion of her two- day trip but has delivered a message of urgency for the Pakistani civil and military leadership to act against the groups, blamed for cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.
US shifts demands from Pakistani military action to peace talks with armed groups
By Sebastian Abbot, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
ISLAMABAD - Despite some tough talk, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's recent visit to Pakistan seemed to subtly soften Washington's stand on a key point of contention between the two countries: whether Islamabad should take military action against Pakistan-based insurgents fighting American troops in Afghanistan, or try to engage them in peace talks.
Pakistani PM offers training to Afghan army
by Muhammad Tahir
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani offered training to Afghan armed forces and renewed his country's support for the Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process, local media reported on Friday.
Some Afghan ministers have embezzled millions, according to anti-graft chief
October 22, 2011
KABUL (Reuters) - At least two Afghan cabinet ministers have embezzled millions of dollars of public money, the country's anti-graft chief said at the weekend, adding to Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to clean up his government.
Overseas Afghans remit money to support families
By Abdul, Haleem
KABUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- "On average, I personally remit some 2,000 Dirham which is equal to 26,000 Afghanis (around 578 U.S. dollars) send to my family in Khost province each month," Katib Gul said.
Turban-searching rule disrespectful, say Afghan men
Sydney Morning Herald October 22, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - Following a spate of assassinations using explosives hidden in headgear, spot checks have angered locals, writes Alissa Rubin.
Afghan Cinema Clambers Back, Despite Neighbor's Influence
October 21, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty By Frud Bezhan
Gray desert surrounds the camp, a forbidding compound of watchtowers, mud walls, and razor wire.
Beyond the iron gates, dozens of makeshift tents dot the sands inside the compound, where hundreds of refugees -- men, women, and children -- lie in human excrement and other filth.
Looking to the Children for Guidance in Afghanistan
By CAPT. BRAD WILSON The New York Times October 21, 2011, 12:21 pm
It is a truism that children represent the future, but here in Afghanistan, that future is a very uncertain one. I have interacted with Afghan children as much as possible during the first half of my yearlong tour in eastern Afghanistan and am just as uncertain about the future of this country as when I arrived. While they have provided some of my best memories
Patience won in Libya. How about in Afghanistan?
An Obama doctrine of 'strategic patience' helped to bring down Qaddafi. But Obama's impatience to exit Afghanistan only allows Pakistan and the Taliban to wait out the US.
Christian Science Monitor By the Monitor's Editorial Board October 21, 2011
Lest it go unnoticed, it was American patience that triumphed over Muammar Qaddafi as much as NATO bombs.
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Afghanistan to back Pakistan if wars with U.S.: Karzai
Oct 22, 2011 11:13am EDT
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Afghanistan would support Pakistan in case of military conflict between Pakistan and the United States, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview to a private Pakistani TV channel broadcast on Saturday.
The remarks were in sharp contrast to recent tension between the two neighbors over cross-border raids, and Afghan accusations that Pakistan was involved in killing the chief Afghan peace envoy, former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, by a suicide bomber on September 20.
"God forbid, If ever there is a war between Pakistan and America, Afghanistan will side with Pakistan," he said in the interview to Geo television.
"If Pakistan is attacked and if the people of Pakistan needs Afghanistan's help, Afghanistan will be there with you."
Such a situation is extremely unlikely, however. Despite months of tension and tough talk between Washington and Islamabad, the two allies appear to be working to ease tension.
In a two-day visit to Islamabad, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued stern warnings and asked for more cooperation in winding down the war in Afghanistan, but ruled out "boots on the ground" in North Waziristan, where Washington has been pushing Pakistan to tackle the Haqqani network.
The Haqqani are a group of militants Washington has blamed for a series of attacks in Afghanistan, using sanctuaries in the Pakistani tribal region along the Afghan border.
Pakistan is seen as a critical to the U.S. drive to end the conflict in Afghanistan.
Pressure on Islamabad has been mounting since U.S. special forces found and killed Osama bin Laden in May in a Pakistani garrison town, where he apparently had been living for years.
The secret bin Laden raid was the biggest blow to U.S.-Pakistan relations since Islamabad joined the U.S. "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Karzai said tensions between the United States and Pakistan did not have any impact in his country's attitude toward Pakistan.
The TV channel, Geo, did not say when the interview was conducted.
Afghans have long been suspicious of Pakistan's intentions in their country and question its promise to help bring peace. Karzai repeated that concern in his remarks.
"Please brother, stop using all methods that hurt us and that are now hurting you.
"Let's engage from a different platform, a platform in which the two brothers only progress toward a better future in peace and harmony," he said.
Following the death of Rabbani, Karzai said he would cease attempting to reach out to the Afghan Taliban and instead negotiate directly with Pakistan, saying its military and intelligence services could influence the militants to make peace.
(Reporting by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Michael Roddy)
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24 militants killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Afghan troops, backed by NATO-led coalition forces, have killed 24 Taliban insurgents and captured 10 others over the past 24 hours, Afghan Interior Ministry said Saturday.
"Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan army and coalition forces have launched five joint operations in Kabul, Ghazni and Kandahar provinces over the past 24 hours, killing 24 armed insurgents and detaining 10 suspects," the ministry said in a statement.
ANP also confiscated 12 AK-47 guns, 3 pistols, one PKM machine gun, one vehicle, 568 light bullets, 100kg explosives, 2kg hashish in the operations, it added.
Afghan and NATO forces keep up pressure on insurgents all over the country as over 560 insurgents have been killed and around 750 detained since Sept. 1, according to the interior ministry.
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Clinton seeks role for Afghanistan's neighbors
By MATTHEW LEE - Associated Press
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Central Asian nations on Saturday to play a role in securing and rebuilding war-torn Afghanistan, promoting the concept of a "new Silk Road" that would benefit the entire region.
She also pressed authorities in the region about improving their record on human rights.
Before arriving in Uzbekistan, Clinton told an audience in Tajikistan that Afghanistan's reintegration into the regional economy would be critical to its recovery from war, as well as for better conditions in surrounding countries.
Afghanistan has been at "the crossroads for terrorism and insurgency and so much pain and suffering over 30 years," she said. "We want Afghanistan to be at the crossroads of economic opportunities going north and south and east and west, which is why it's so critical to more fully integrate the autonomies of the countries in this region in South and Central Asia."
Clinton says the "new Silk Road" will increase regional trade and commerce.
"We hope it will give rise to a network of thriving economic relationships around the region," she said. But, Clinton added, countries would have to remove or ease trade restrictions and reform commercial laws for the scheme to succeed.
On human rights, Clinton told a town hall meeting in Dushanbe that she would raise the issue with the leaders of both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
In Tajikistan, she said she spoke to President Emomali Rakhmonov about her concerns over restrictions on press and religious freedoms. In particular, she cited attempts to register certain faiths and efforts to discourage younger people from embracing the worship of their choice.
Tajikistan, a Muslim nation with a secular government, is keen to prevent its youth from adopting extremist Islamic views.
But this kind of strategy, Clinton warned, often backfires.
"It could push legitimate religious expression underground and that could build up a lot of unrest and discontent," she told reporters at a news conference with the Tajik foreign minister. "You have to look at the consequences. We don't want to do anything that breeds extremism."
U.S. officials said she would bring a similar message to Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
Clinton defended her meeting with Karimov, whose government has been accused of numerous serious rights abuses.
She said it was important to try to raise "issues of human rights and rule of law, the kind of fundamental freedoms that the U.S. strongly supports.
"If you have no contact, you have no influence and other countries will fill that vacuum that do not care about human rights and fundamental freedoms," she said. "So I would rather be raising these issues than be outside."
Human Rights Watch has called on her to link improvements to continued U.S. engagement.
Clinton was the highest-ranking American official to visit Tashkent since the U.S. last month lifted seven-year-old restrictions on assistance to the country. The restrictions were imposed because of rights abuses.
Clinton previously made stops in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where she demanded greater cooperation in dealing with militants and encouraging insurgents to talk peace.
Clinton is at the tail end of a weeklong, seven-nation overseas trip that has also taken her to Malta, Libya and Oman. She planned to return to Washington on Sunday.
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Pakistan’s Rabbani Khar Pales Next to Clinton
Wall Street Journal By Tom Wright October 21, 2011
When Pakistan appointed Hina Rabbani Khar, a 33-year-old politician, as its first female foreign minister earlier this year, there was some suggestion that she lacked experience for the job.
On Friday, sharing a podium with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she certainly appeared out of her depth.
Mrs. Clinton masterfully chided Pakistan for not invading North Waziristan and managed not to sound too schoolmarmly in the process, although she did ask Islamabad to “squeeze” the Haqqani militant group a few too many times.
Ms. Khar, by contrast, seemed to get lost in her own rhetoric, saying very little during overly-long answers to reporters’ questions. She often repeated phrases like “both sides of the border” numerous times in one response. It was unclear at points exactly what she wanted to get across.
At one stage, her loosely worn headdress, evocative of the late former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto, slipped off her head.
No doubt Ms. Khar will grow into the job and was noteworthy on a recent trip to the U.S. for standing her ground over allegations that Pakistani intelligence ran the Haqqani network.
But, fairly or not, Ms. Khar’s performance next to Mrs. Clinton could give ammunition to cynics who believe her appointment was an attempt by Pakistan’s military –the final arbiter of the country’s foreign policy—to put someone junior and malleable in the position.
The last incumbent, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, was pushed out, reportedly after disagreements with the military.
Ms. Khar’s rise in politics has been fast since completing a degree in hospitality management at the University of Massachusetts and returning to Pakistan, where she opened a restaurant in the grounds of the Lahore polo club.
She’s from a powerful Punjabi political family and entered politics in 2002 with the political party of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, switching at the last election to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party.
Ms. Khar worked closely with the late U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke in a previous junior minister role in which she oversaw foreign aid contributions to Pakistan.
Mr. Holbrooke had nice things to say about her abilities. But since then, Ms. Khar has been fighting a losing battle to build a serious image.
Earlier this year, during peace talks in New Delhi with Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna, who is 79 years old, Ms. Khar won a warm reception from the normally-hostile Indian press.
But much of the coverage focused on Ms. Khar’s choice of designer handbag and what shades she was wearing on top of her head.
It would be easy to ascribe much of this to old-style sexism. But, as Ms. Khar’s performance alongside Ms. Clinton showed, she’ll have to work harder to change the focus from her accoutrements to her achievements.
You can follow Mr. Wright on Twitter @TomWrightAsia.
Follow India Real Time on Twitter @indiarealtime.
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Clinton leaves but with mounting pressure on Pakistan
By Muhammad Tahir
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) - U.S. Secretary of States Hillary Clinton has left Islamabad at the conclusion of her two- day trip but has delivered a message of urgency for the Pakistani civil and military leadership to act against the groups, blamed for cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.
"So we had a very in-depth conversation with specifics, and we are looking forward to taking that conversation and operationalizing it over the next days and weeks not months and years, but days and weeks because we have a lot of work to do to realize our shared goals," Clinton told reporters in Islamabad on Friday after her talks with Pakistani leaders. She, however, agreed with Pakistan's quest to give a chance to peace.
"Now we have to turn our attention to the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, Haqqani, and other terrorist groups, and try to get them into a peace process, but if that fails, prevent them from committing more violence and murdering more innocent people," Clinton said when she spoke to reporters along with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
It was the second visit to Pakistan by Hillary Clinton in five months in tense environment. She had visited Pakistan in late May just weeks after the U.S. military killed Osama bin Laden in an unilateral action in the city of Abbotabad. Pakistanis had been angry at the U.S. military's May 2 action and she flew into Islamabad to pacify them. Pakistan had condemned the U.S. attack and had described it as violation of its sovereignty.
Clinton again paid a two-day Oct. 20-21 visit as senior U.S. military officials recently publicly accused Pakistan's spy agency of having links with the armed Afghan insurgents, including the Haqqani network. They also said that the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, helped the Haqqani network in attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul on Sept. 13 and the huge truck bomb strike at the major U.S. military base at Wardak province of Afghanistan on Sept. 11. A total of 77 U.S. soldiers had been injured in the attack, coincided with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 attacks. Pakistan had dismissed the charges of helping the Haqqanis as irresponsible.
The relationship further soured when top U.S. officials threatened unilateral action against the Haqqani network and other Pakistan-based armed groups. The U.S. threats were taken very seriously in Pakistan and nearly 60 top political and religious leaders met at an emergency conference and threw weight behind the security forces to counter any U.S. ground offensive. Pakistan's Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani warned at a recent rare briefing to the members of parliament at the army headquarters that the United States will think 10 times before launching ground offensive in Pakistan.
Officials believe that hot verbal exchanges between the U.S. and Pakistani military leaders prompted Clinton's visit to Pakistan, which had not been officially announced by Pakistan and the United States until her arrival and even the U.S. embassy had denied the visit when section of Pakistani media had reported the visit.
Before Clinton landed in Islamabad, the U.S. administration, as per its traditions, told the mainstream American media that the Secretary of State will deliver a tough message to Pakistani leaders on militant groups. And when Clinton met Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, a U.S. daily said that she conveyed her tough message. She had also stated herself in Kabul, a day ahead of Islamabad arrival, that she would have a hard message for Pakistan to act against the militants.
Clinton was right to say in Kabul as she proved it in Islamabad and gave a warning that Pakistan must act in "days or weeks" against the Taliban and Haqqanis. The statement shows that the United States is frustrated at failure of thousands of American troops in Afghanistan to deal with Taliban in ten years. Pakistani analysts believe that the United States, as a policy, has to blame others for its failure in Afghanistan and it has Pakistan to use it as a scapegoat when withdrawal of the U.S. troops has already started.
The United States needs Pakistan in both cases in any possible dialogue with Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network and for any military action in its border regions against the militants who are thought to be crossing into Afghanistan for attacks. Pakistan, using its influence on militant groups, has already arranged talks between the U.S. officials and members of the Haqqani network a few months ago. That process had not yielded any results as both did not show any softness.
Clinton admitted that talks had been held with Haqqanis through Pakistan. Chief of Haqqani network Siraj Haqqani has also admitted contacts with the United States and other countries in recent interview. So if the United States requires Pakistan's help for military action or dialogue, it's better, as Pakistan would expect, to stop public accusations against security institutions and also look at Islamabad's legitimate interests in Afghanistan.
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US shifts demands from Pakistani military action to peace talks with armed groups
By Sebastian Abbot, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
ISLAMABAD - Despite some tough talk, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's recent visit to Pakistan seemed to subtly soften Washington's stand on a key point of contention between the two countries: whether Islamabad should take military action against Pakistan-based insurgents fighting American troops in Afghanistan, or try to engage them in peace talks.
Clinton seemed to acknowledge during her two-day visit that ended Friday that help with a negotiated settlement is perhaps the best the U.S. can hope for from Pakistan. This shift in the U.S. stance could give Washington and Islamabad new room to co-operate on ending the Afghan war.
But serious barriers to negotiations remain. The U.S. believes that military force is still needed to push the Taliban and their allies to make concessions. Pakistan, which Washington alleges supports some of the militant groups, prefers on the other hand to reduce violence to induce the insurgents to come to the table.
Islamabad is also worried about being blamed if peace talks fail. It has long-standing ties with the armed groups, but the militants are unpredictable and resistant to pressure. Pakistan is furthermore unsure of exactly what kind of deal the U.S. and Afghan governments might strike with the insurgents, and the atmosphere is permeated by feelings of distrust on all sides.
The U.S. has long demanded that Pakistan take greater military action against Taliban militants and their allies who use Pakistani territory to regroup and to send fighters to attack forces in Afghanistan. Recently, the U.S. has pushed for an assault on the Haqqani militant network, which the U.S. alleges is supported by the Pakistan military's spy agency, the ISI. The U.S. deems the Haqqanis the greatest threat to American troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has denied supporting the Haqqanis, but has also made clear that it will not conduct an offensive against the group's safe haven in the North Waziristan tribal area, a position that has not changed despite the two-day visit by Clinton and other senior national security officials, including CIA chief David Petraeus and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey.
Many analysts believe Pakistan's refusal is driven by its belief that the Haqqanis could be key allies in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw, especially in countering the influence of archenemy India.
The Pakistani military, however, says that its failure to act against the Haqqanis is just a question of limited resources. It claims its troops are stretched too thin by operations in other parts of the tribal region of northwest Pakistan that are deemed a higher priority — a stance reiterated by the Pakistanis following talks with Clinton's delegation.
"There is limited capacity, and if the organization is overstretched and starts to develop cracks, that is counterproductive," said a senior Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity to comment on the outcome of the closed-door talks.
Clinton seemed to soften the U.S. stance during a town hall meeting in Islamabad. When asked whether the U.S. expects Pakistan to militarily tackle the Haqqani network or force them to the negotiating table, she said, "It's more the latter."
Clinton also confirmed that the U.S. had tried to reach out to the Haqqanis directly in peace efforts. She is the first U.S. official to publicly acknowledge the overtures, which were first reported by The Associated Press in August. She said the meeting was organized by the ISI.
The U.S. has not totally backed away from blunt public statements urging Pakistan to fight the Haqqanis. Clinton said Islamabad must rid the country "of terrorists who kill their own people and who cross the border to kill people in Afghanistan."
The tough message may be intended to avoid making the U.S. look weak in its policy toward a militant group accused of attacking American civilians and soldiers in Afghanistan. It could also be meant to keep up perceived pressure on the Haqqanis to get them to negotiate.
Pakistan doesn't believe the U.S. plan to use military action to force militants into peace talks will work — a disagreement that has bedeviled the process.
"In our culture, it may not work if you want to negotiate with the same adversary you are fighting," said the Pakistani security official. "You have to declare a pause in fighting if you want to give peace a chance."
Clinton made clear the U.S. feels otherwise, saying during the town hall meeting that experience has shown that only a combination of fighting and talking "will convince some to come to negotiations and will remove others who are totally opposed to peace and want to continue their violent attacks."
Pakistan is open to approaching the Taliban and their allies about participating in peace talks, but can't provide any guarantees that its efforts will succeed, said the security official.
"Contact does not mean that they are in our pockets," said the official. "Contact means we will suggest to them that they participate."
Both the Taliban and the Haqqanis have been difficult partners for Pakistan over the years.
In the late 1990s, the founder of the Haqqani network, Jalaluddin Haqqani, refused Islamabad's demand to hand over militants in his camps in Afghanistan who had carried out attacks inside Pakistan. Following the Sept. 11 2001 attacks, Taliban leader Mullah Omar refused Pakistan's plea to hand over al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.
Perhaps the greatest barrier to a potential peace deal, however, is that nobody seems to have a clear idea whether the Taliban and their allies have any interest in negotiating.
"We're not sure," said Clinton. "There may be no appetite for talking on the other side for ideological reasons or whatever other motivations."
After the U.S. met with a senior Haqqani official over the summer, the group allegedly carried out an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and staged a truck bombing days later that wounded 77 American soldiers.
The peace process also took a big blow with the assassination in Kabul of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was tasked with the government's outreach to the Taliban. It's still unclear who carried out the attack. The Afghan government has said it was planned in the Pakistani city of Quetta, the Taliban leadership's suspected base, and the interior minister accused the ISI of being involved. But no evidence has been provided.
The allegations have soured relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as did a strategic partnership agreement that Kabul recently signed with India — the first of its kind that Afghanistan has reached with any country.
U.S. accusations that Pakistan has supported the Haqqani network have also increased feelings of mistrust on all sides.
"These kinds of public pronouncements don't help enhance the space for co-operation," said the Pakistani security official. "They badly affect the space, which is limited to begin with."
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Kathy Gannon, AP Special Regional Correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan, contributed to this report.
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Pakistani PM offers training to Afghan army
by Muhammad Tahir
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani offered training to Afghan armed forces and renewed his country's support for the Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process, local media reported on Friday.
Pakistan's offer came days after Afghanistan and India signed a strategic partnership agreement which will allow India to train and equip Afghan security forces.
Pakistan on a number of occasions has offered imparting training to Afghan forces but Kabul has not accepted it.
"Pakistan is ready to train the Afghan army, police and administration to cope with the aftermath of the 2014 period," Prime Minister Gilani said in a meeting with an Afghan parliamentary delegation in Islamabad. The delegation was led by Ustad Mohaqiq, member of Afghan National Assembly or Wolesi Jirga and the Chairman of Commission on Law and Justice of Wolesi Jirga.
The Afghan delegation is visiting Islamabad at a time when Afghan government has suspended joint peace efforts with Pakistan after the last month assassination of Afgahn peace envoy Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani. Afghan officials had claimed that plot was prepared in the Pakistani city of Quetta by Afghan Taliban. Pakistan rejected the claim but assured cooperation.
Prime Minister Gilani said that he has visited Afghanistan twice and met President Karzai along with Pakistan's military leadership and assured support to the Afghan peace process, adding that Pakistan supported the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process of reconciliation.
"We want to see independent, prosperous and stable Afghanistan. My government will support any solution which will not destabilize Pakistan as was the case last time when this country had to host three million Afghan refugees", the Prime Minister stated.
He said that Pakistan had contributed 350 million U.S. dollars to take part in the rehabilitation of Afghanistan and awarded 2000 scholarships to the Afghan students who were now studying in various universities of Pakistan.
Ustad Mohaqiq advocated the reconciliation process in which Taliban should be included provided they accepted the Afghan constitution.
He rejected the policy of blaming each other and instead underscored the need of working closely against the common enemy.
He said both Afghanistan and Pakistan should work to accomplish the mission of Professor Burhaniuddin Rabbani who wanted to see both the countries as good neighbors and good friends.
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Some Afghan ministers have embezzled millions, according to anti-graft chief
October 22, 2011
KABUL (Reuters) - At least two Afghan cabinet ministers have embezzled millions of dollars of public money, the country's anti-graft chief said at the weekend, adding to Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to clean up his government.
Donor countries say corruption in Karzai's administration is endemic, and a fundamental threat to their efforts to stabilize the country ahead of the end-2014 deadline for foreign combat troops to quit the country, having handed security responsibilities to Afghan institutions.
Billions of dollars in foreign aid have flowed into the country since a U.S.-led military operation threw the Taliban out of government 10 years ago, but the cash has paid for only limited infrastructure and development work, while violence is at its worst since 2001.
"There are former ministers too, but two or three current cabinet ministers have embezzled millions of dollars," said Azizullah Ludin, a Karzai appointee who heads the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption, speaking in his Kabul home.
Ludin said he had sent the cases to the Attorney General's office which will decide whether or not to prosecute, but he did not name the ministers involved or give details.
"Corruption in Afghanistan has damaged our reputation, withheld foreign aid and created distance between people and the government," Ludin said. "This must be stopped."
(Reporting by Mohammad Ibrahim; Writing by Hamid Shalizi; Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Sugita Katyal)
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Overseas Afghans remit money to support families
By Abdul, Haleem
KABUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- "On average, I personally remit some 2,000 Dirham which is equal to 26,000 Afghanis (around 578 U.S. dollars) send to my family in Khost province each month," Katib Gul said.
Gul, 51, said that he along with his two sons and a nephew have been working in United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain cities over the past 10 years, and have reasonable income to feed themselves and support family at home country.
Coming home on vocation to spend Eidul Adha -- the Muslims largest annual holiday begins Nov. 10, with family at home country, the clean shaved Gul said he would study working condition in Afghanistan if conducive, he would establish a cloth shop here in Afghan capital Kabul in the coming months.
However, he said he wants his sons and nephew to continue working in UAE and earn as much money as they can because they are young and energetic.
Another Afghan, introduced himself as Anzor and accompanying Katib Gul in the same flight from UAE to Kabul, said that he has been serving as driver in Abu Dhabi city.
Contrary to Katib Gul, Anzor was a bearded and seemed younger than Gul. He said he has no plan to shift to Afghanistan at least in near future.
"My salary as driver in Abu Dhabi is reasonable and sends 1,200 Dirham to my family in Paktia province every month. I have no plan to quit my job in near future," Anzor said.
Katib Gul and Anzor are not alone that have been contributing in rebuilding their country's national economy by remittances.
In the war-torn Afghanistan, many more families, possibly thousands are dependent on relatives living abroad.
"My brother-in-law sends 400 dollars from Canada each month to help me run my life in Kabul smoothly," a Kabul resident Farid said.
Although there is no statistic data about the figure of Afghans working abroad and the remittances sending home, according to Anzor, thousands of Afghans have been working in different cities of UAE and remitting money to their home country.
Afghanistan is a war-battered country and it is difficult to find a job with regular income, Anzor maintained while referring to the high rate of unemployment and poverty in his hometown.
"I had examined my fortune in Afghanistan in past but failed to find a regular income in my home province Paktia and the capital city Kabul to feed my children properly," Anzor, the father of five, said.
Afghanistan has been recovering from over three decades of war aftermath, even though militancy has been continuing.
More than nine million people out of the country's some 26 million population, according to Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Mohammad Asif Rahimi, are living under poverty line in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.
The grim economic situation, high rate of unemployment and poverty are tangible in each corner of the country as taking a round to Kabul squares in the morning time shows that bulk of daily wagers waiting to be hired.
The war-torn Afghanistan is largely relying on agricultural products, and according to Rahimi, 12 percent of Afghan land is arable but less than six percent is currently cultivated.
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Turban-searching rule disrespectful, say Afghan men
Sydney Morning Herald October 22, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - Following a spate of assassinations using explosives hidden in headgear, spot checks have angered locals, writes Alissa Rubin.
Straight-backed, his bearing almost regal, Malik Niaz, 82, entered the Afghan President's compound this month proudly wearing his best turban: a silk one from Turkestan in the north of the country, grey and black and white, its long tail draped over his shoulder.
He watched in disbelief as the guard asked the elder ahead of him to remove his turban and lay it on the table. Niaz, who had journeyed more than eight hours on rugged roads, shuddered.
''That made us so embarrassed, and it made me so sad,'' he said. ''I felt dishonoured when the guard said,'' he hesitated, as if even recalling the words made him upset, '' 'undo your turban'.''
''I had wanted to see the President,'' he added, ''but after that search, I thought it would have been better if I had not come.''
The turban-searching rule at President Hamid Karzai's presidential palace has been rigorously enforced since the assassination of the head of Afghanistan's peace process, Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was killed by a bomb hidden in the attacker's turban. It was the third such killing in four months, leading youths in Kabul to coin the word ''Turbanator'' and US soldiers to invent the new acronym TBIED, for turban-borne improvised explosive device.
The other two instances were the killing in July of Kandahar's senior cleric as he prayed in a mosque, and a few weeks later the killing of Kandahar's mayor.
The searches are deeply disturbing for most Afghan men, as the turban signifies one's religious faith and is a national dress - not to mention being something of a fashion statement.
Turbans are worn across the Muslim world because the Prophet Muhammad was believed to have worn one, and they are especially favoured by imams and mullahs. In Afghanistan, which is a deeply pious country, usage is broader, with dozens of styles and colours. There are ones made of synthetics from Pakistan that cost about $20, silk ones from Herat that cost twice as much and ones made of more luxuriant silks from the north of Afghanistan that cost still more.
However, most turbans in Afghanistan now - and in the pre-Taliban era - are subtle greys and charcoals, deep olive greens, lighter greens and browns.
On the back streets of Kabul's central bazaar, where the turbans are sold neatly folded, thin as a pamphlet and wrapped in torn pages from old magazines, many turban wearers are so angry about the situation that they blame the Americans. Before their arrival, intrusive searches were unknown.
''My father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, my prophet wore a turban, and that's why I wear it,'' said an older man, looking irritable at the question, adding: ''Who brought these turban bombers and turban searchers? You did,'' he said angrily, referring to Westerners, which many Afghans feel are agents of the decline of the society.
Many clerics take a more contemplative view. Faith transcends costume, and a man can pray in any outfit as long as the prayer comes from the heart, but it is an honour to God to dress properly, said Abdul Raouf Nafee, the mullah at the Herati mosque in central Kabul.
As an example, he talked about butchers: ''Even if their clothes are dirty with blood, they can pray and God will accept their prayers, but it's kind of disrespectful. God likes beauty and organisation, but he will accept your prayers,'' Nafee said.
There is also a darker view of turban attacks: that the bombers were so distraught that their turbans' holiness no longer mattered, and that they were forced to use any means available to take revenge on the Americans.
''Is it wrong to respond to the killings of the civilians that you do with your drones, that shoot from the air and do not even have pilots?'' asked Hajji Ahmad Farid, a mullah and a conservative member of Parliament from an insurgent-dominated area of Kapisa province, near Kabul. ''Think about why a man blows himself up: some foreign soldiers go to his house and accuse him and tie his hands and dishonour him and search his wife and his daughters, and this poor man is just watching and can do nothing.
''When a man has lost his dignity, he does not care about his shawl or his turban.''
The New York Times
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Afghan Cinema Clambers Back, Despite Neighbor's Influence
October 21, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty By Frud Bezhan
Gray desert surrounds the camp, a forbidding compound of watchtowers, mud walls, and razor wire.
Beyond the iron gates, dozens of makeshift tents dot the sands inside the compound, where hundreds of refugees -- men, women, and children -- lie in human excrement and other filth.
This ominous setting provides the backdrop for the film "Neighbor," which portrays the alleged massacre of hundreds of Afghan migrants at a detention center inside Iran in the 1990s.
In the film, Iranian guards abet the massacre of some 600 Afghan inmates at the Safed Sang (White Rock) detention facility after they protest their treatment. Iranian war planes finish off the detainees by strafing them with machine-gun fire.
Iranian authorities have never permitted an independent investigation of what actually happened at Safed Sang, so the facts of the case cannot be verified.
But those who escaped provide chilling testimony.
To acclaimed Afghan film director Siddiq Barmak, who produced "Neighbor," it was a story that needed to be told.
But he says the Iranian authorities have mounted a determined effort to prevent the film from gaining wider distribution in Afghanistan -- with a measure of success so far.
The scheduled premiere of "Neighbor" at a human rights film festival in Mazar-e Sharif earlier this month was canceled after protests from the Iranian consulate, which labeled the film "un-Islamic."
Similar objections were voiced in Kabul, where Barmak says the film was briefly screened and warmly received by the audience.
"Everybody was appreciative of the film and they welcomed it," he says. "It had a huge impact on the audience."
But the filmmaker says he has had no luck gaining wider distribution.
"We took the screening of the film...to a few private TV channels in Kabul," he says, "but unfortunately at the last minute they refused."
Again, Barmak sees the hand of Iran in those rebuffs and says the attempted censorship of the film sets a dangerous precedent.
Sensitive Topic
"Neighbor," completed earlier this year, was made on a budget of just $50,000. It follows the plight of Omar, who is trapped at the Safed Sang detention center in Iran with his sick wife and two daughters.
The film depicts the daily trials and humiliations the family faces at the hands of the brutal Iranian guards -- who abuse, torture, and force the detainees to work.
Daud Azimi was one of the few refugees who managed to escape and survive the atrocity that day.
He recalls how he fled to the surrounding mountains with his wife and child after the camp was overrun by Iranian forces. The rest of the inmates, Azimi says, were either killed by guards or subsequently buried alive in mass graves near the camp.
"The guards started shooting at all of us," Azimi says. "In the chaos that followed, people were trying to hide and others were running away toward the mountains leading back to Afghanistan."
More than a decade later, Azimi is reliving the traumatic experience as an actor in "Neighbor."
"It feels strange, but I chose this role," he says when asked about his role as an Iranian guard. "Now I have the opportunity to show the world what they did and how they treated us."
Dangerous Precedent?
The controversy surrounding "Neighbor" comes as another Afghan film was barred from screening this week in Kabul.
The premiere of "Madrasa," based on the true story of a young female Afghan refugee in Iran, was suddenly canceled at the French Cultural Center in Kabul.
"Madrasa" follows the story of 8-year-old Meena, who is prevented from attending school by officials in Iran. She dreams of becoming a doctor but anti-immigrant laws prevent her from getting a good education.
Asad Sikandar, director of "Madrasa," says Afghan authorities prevented the movie from being shown based on a request from the Iranian Embassy in Kabul.
"The Iranian Embassy, together with Latif Ahmadi, head of Afghan Film, received notice not to screen our film," Sikandar says. "If they are saying that there is freedom, why don’t they allow me to show my film?"
Members of the Afghan parliament joined Sikandar in condemning the actions of the government, asserting that the decision to ax the film was a violation of free speech and press freedom.
But during a parliamentary session on October 15, Information and Culture Minister Sayed Makhtoom Raheen denied Sikandar's claims, insisting the government had played no role.
Microbudgets
Although Afghan cinema has made impressive strides in the past decade, director Barmak says it faces huge challenges.
He says the national government must recognize the value of cinema and allocate sufficient funding to boost its growth.
"A lot of young talented filmmakers who are rooting for help from places, especially from the government, they don’t receive any help," Barmak says. "Now they are making short films with $100 or $200."
In a country where most of the population remains illiterate, Barmak says cinema can play an important role in slaking ordinary Afghans' thirst for information and education -- even when the truth is bitter.
"A lot of people were saying that it was our responsibility to make this film," he says, "that it is the responsibly of our cinema to tell these kinds of stories to our nation."
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Looking to the Children for Guidance in Afghanistan
By CAPT. BRAD WILSON The New York Times October 21, 2011, 12:21 pm
It is a truism that children represent the future, but here in Afghanistan, that future is a very uncertain one. I have interacted with Afghan children as much as possible during the first half of my yearlong tour in eastern Afghanistan and am just as uncertain about the future of this country as when I arrived. While they have provided some of my best memories and most optimistic moments, they also have given rise to some of my deepest despair. While my experiences are by no means authoritative, I offer them as an imperfect window into Afghanistan’s future.
First, some observations garnered from six months spent primarily in Kunar Province. More than anything, Afghan youths are tough. Soldiers in my platoon who have deployed to Iraq report that the children here are even hardier than their Iraqi counterparts — and that is saying a lot. I witnessed this firsthand one day while delivering school supplies. An Afghan police officer, accompanying us to help keep order, struck — as hard as he could — any child who proved too aggressive in trying to get a pen or pad of paper. Anybody who hit a child in America like that would be arrested — and rightfully so. These children took the blows like prizefighters, barely skipping a beat as they pulled themselves off the ground and back into the melee.
Like a rich uncle down the street, American aid over the past decade has naturally conditioned many Afghans to see the United States as a supplier of the things they cannot obtain themselves; this has carried over to Afghan children as well. Whenever we pass by children on the street, the first words out of their mouths are usually “pen” or “dollar bill.”
(This phenomenon is not unique to Afghanistan but, I suspect, is stronger than other aid-dependent countries due to the magnitude of the aid budget and large number of American troops.) When they cannot get freebies, they try to sell what they can to us, including services like investigating a suspected improvised explosive device. Resourceful to the bone, they will continue to gain what they can from our presence.
Courtesy of Capt. Brad Wilson
Their demeanors quickly change, however, as soon as one sits down with these children. Like their parents, they are exceptionally generous hosts. The boisterous and tough exteriors seem to melt away to reveal polite and curious individuals. Instead of clamoring for pens, they are quick to offer whatever food or drink they have on hand. While this transformation is probably partially due to Pashtunwali — the code by which Pashtuns live, which includes generosity as hosts — I ascribe most of it to a recognition of our common humanity. After all, once we as American soldiers meet them away from our huge trucks, with our helmets and dark sunglasses removed, we are no longer nameless, faceless foreigners.
One of the best indicators of an area’s danger is to observe how the children on the streets treat you. In predominantly friendly areas, they frequently give us a thumbs-up as we drive or walk by. Areas in which we are less welcome will typically see scowling or even rock-throwing children. (We have had multiple bulletproof windshields cracked from rocks — these are not mere pebbles they are tossing!) In the most hostile of areas, like the Pech River Valley, the children greet us with a bit of Americana: the middle finger. I have no idea how they learned about this gesture, but it has definitely permeated entire villages.
Courtesy of Capt. Bradley WilsonHanding out school supplies.
Capt. Brad Wilson, a 2008 graduate of West Point, is serving as an infantry officer in eastern Afghanistan. The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Army, Department of Defense, or the United States government.
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Patience won in Libya. How about in Afghanistan?
An Obama doctrine of 'strategic patience' helped to bring down Qaddafi. But Obama's impatience to exit Afghanistan only allows Pakistan and the Taliban to wait out the US.
Christian Science Monitor By the Monitor's Editorial Board October 21, 2011
Lest it go unnoticed, it was American patience that triumphed over Muammar Qaddafi as much as NATO bombs.
The Libyan dictator only had to be slowly cornered by his own people with a little help from the sky – and not speedily smashed with a hasty, chest-thumping foreign invasion.
Such “strategic patience” is now President Obama’s guiding doctrine for dealing with the world’s hot spots. From North Korea to Iran to Africa, he has looked for smart but small moves to ensnare an opponent while biding his time to build up alliances, “leading from behind,” and husbanding resources.
If this approach is successful, a conflict’s finale – let’s say, a Qaddafi meekly hiding in a drainpipe – makes this clever, lawyerly effort look so simple.
Strategic patience, however, doesn’t work if Mr. Obama also reveals his own impatience, such as setting a deadline for a conflict to end. Then the advantage of strategic patience goes to an opponent.
That’s now the case in Afghanistan, where Obama plans to end the American combat role by 2014 (assuming he is reelected). Not only is the Taliban waiting out this ongoing American exit, but so is the Pakistani military.
No wonder, then, that the president had to send Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, CIA chief David Petraeus, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey to Islamabad this week. This power team tried to cajole Pakistan into working harder and faster to eliminate Taliban bases on its soil, especially the Haqqani network.
For more than a decade, America has pressured Pakistan to do this, with only some success. Obama even had to ignore Pakistan’s sovereignty to snag Osama bin Laden last spring.
So what does strategic patience look like for the United States in Afghanistan?
The key lies in India, which Pakistan perceives as an archfoe. They are competing for influence in Afghanistan after a US pullout. Obama must convince India to make concessions to reduce Pakistani fears of its larger neighbor in order to help the US leave behind a stable, friendly Afghanistan. The US claims Pakistan is backing the Haqqani group in case it and other Taliban groups win in Afghanistan.
India has already reduced the number of its troops along the Pakistan border. And in recent days, the two sides have moved to expand the very limited trade between them. Amazingly, trade between Pakistan and India was a small $1.83 billion in 2010. Only 1.2 percent of Pakistan’s exports went to India.
A thriving Indo-Pak trade relationship would reduce the mistrust between them, as would a loosening of travel between the two countries. Most of all, India needs to let the people in the disputed territory of Kashmir decide their own future.
Throwing more American aid at Pakistan without reducing its historic fears of India does not show strategic patience.
If such a doctrine is to work in Afghanistan – America’s longest war – the president must work smarter with India.
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