Why the US is losing in Afghanistan - updates on the Pashtun insurgency

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Karzai changes law to remove foreign observers from voting fraud watchdog

Irishtimes

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63591&hd=&size=1&l=e

February 23, 2010

KABUL – Afghan President Hamid Karzai has signed into law changes that remove foreign observers from the electoral watchdog charged with reviewing voting fraud, his office said yesterday.

The move could put Mr Karzai in conflict with western donors who have said they will not fund September 18th parliamentary elections without electoral reforms, following a 2009 presidential election beset by massive fraud. The five-member Electoral Complaints Commission previously had three members appointed by the United Nations, and last year nullified one-third of Mr Karzai’s votes as fraudulent.

Free and fair elections are part of a western strategy to return the nation to stability, while a Nato-led military operation battles a renewed Taliban insurgency with the aim of returning all of Afghanistan to the Karzai-led government.

"The Afghan government for long has wanted to 'Afghanise’ the electoral process and, 10 days ago, the cabinet ratified the amendment and the president endorsed it," Karzai spokesman Siamak Herawi said. He said parliament could not overturn the law, since Mr Karzai had signed it into effect when the legislature was in recess.

The change raises the prospect of criticism that the overall elections commission, appointed by Mr Karzai, would not be seen as independent.

Opponents criticised the national elections body for failing to halt last years fraud. The UN-backed watchdog threw out nearly one-third of Mr Karzai’s votes, lowering his total below the 50 per cent required to avoid a run-off.

Mr Karzai was declared the winner after his main opponent pulled out before a planned second round. Donor nations provided security and more than $230 million dollars for the poll last year. The UN is holding tens of millions of dollars earmarked for this year’s vote, with diplomats saying they will not release the money without reforms.

"It is vital that the Afghan government learns the lessons from the 2009 elections as it works with the international community to prepare the 2010 parliamentary elections," a British foreign office spokesperson said on condition of anonymity.

The US said the composition of the electoral watchdog was "ultimately an issue for the Afghan government and people to determine", a spokesperson for the US embassy in Kabul said.

"We support electoral institutions and reforms that provide the Afghan people with a system that ensures elections will be fair, credible, transparent, and respectful of human rights," he said.

Mr Karzai acknowledged some fraud at last year’s poll, but said its extent had been exaggerated by western media.

Meanwhile, the number of US troops killed in Afghanistan has reached 1,000, according to an independent website. The Pentagon disputed this, saying 916 had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan combined since late 2001 when the Taliban fell.

"It’s significantly less than 1,000 in Afghanistan," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman when asked to comment on the latest death toll provided by the website www.icasualties.org, which tracks casualties.





 

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Learning From History: Can the US Win the Afghan War?

by Ivan Eland, February 24, 2010
http://original.antiwar.com/eland/2010/02/23/learning-from-history/


The United States military is attempting to transfer its recipe for "success" in the conflict in Iraq to the war in Afghanistan. In Iraq, after many years of stumbling to relearn the lessons of counterinsurgency warfare gleaned from many years of staggering in Vietnam, the United States happened upon a technique that attenuated the Sunni insurgency. That gambit was dividing the Sunni opposition by paying former Saddamists to fight the recalcitrant al-Qaeda.

In the short term, this strategy has dampened the violence in Iraq. In the long term, it may aggravate the still likely civil war between the Kurds, Shia, and Sunnis by training, arming, and paying the Sunnis, as well as the Kurds and Shia. But Afghanistan’s war is really between a recalcitrant Taliban and U.S.-supported warlords (the Afghan government is weak and corrupt), the U.S. military, and NATO allied forces. So to divide the opposition, couldn’t the United States just pay off some of the Taliban? Afghan’s president, Hamid Karzai, has proposed just that and has gotten some U.S. support.

Although throughout history, counterinsurgency "wins" have been few, dividing the opposition has been a major factor in prominent episodes that have proved successful. For example, in the 1950s, the classic British win in Malaya has helped write the military doctrine on counterinsurgency warfare ever since. After initially stumbling with a scorched-earth policy, the British implemented the same "hearts and minds" approach, aimed at winning the support of the indigenous population, that the U.S. has adopted in Afghanistan. This more benign method succeeded in winning over the Malayan population, thereby eliminating support for guerrillas among the people – the key to any counterinsurgency success. But the British were helped by one significant factor. Malays were already divided about rebelling against their colonial overlord. The Malayan Communist Party insurgents had the support of only a small part of the population.

A similar situation existed during the Greek government’s successful counterinsurgency against Marxist guerillas from 1946 until 1949. The guerrillas became divided when the Soviet Union demanded that they adhere to the values of the international Communist movement, which prevented them from taking advantage of strong feelings of Greek nationalism among the population.

So from these two cases and the at least short-term success in Iraq, isn’t Karzai’s effort to divide the opposition by bribing the Taliban with jobs and money a good idea? Given that the U.S. seems to be unwisely sinking deeper into the Afghan quicksand, trying to bribe your enemies, instead of fighting them, may again have at least short-term merits and is worth a try. But one other crucial issue has not been mentioned in the Malayan, Greek, and Iraqi success stories: the overwhelming factor of foreign occupation.

The primary reason that counterinsurgency warfare has not been very successful over time is that although counterinsurgents are usually much stronger than insurgents, they are also often foreign occupiers. This is one huge strike against them. People naturally get really annoyed when foreigners invade their country, as our own experience with British forces in the American Revolution attests. Even if the foreign troops are fairly benevolent – building schools, roads, and health clinics and handing out candy to children – they are still foreigners who are killing civilians by accident and arrogantly telling locals what to do at gunpoint, thus creating a nationalist backlash.

In the aforementioned three episodes, hatred of foreign involvement was either mitigated (in the Malayan and Iraqi cases) or went against the insurgents (in the Greek case). In the Malayan case, the Communist Party was overwhelmingly Chinese in ethnic origin. The Chinese, a minority in Malaya, were regarded as hated foreigners – even more so than the British. So the insurgents were the minority of a minority, and ethnic Malayans helped the British get rid of them.

In the Iraqi case, the Sunni insurgency was originally directed against the Americans but then became preoccupied with a civil war against the Shia majority and the excessively bloodthirsty and foreign-led al-Qaeda. Eventually, the mainstream Sunni rebels believed that receiving money, training, and arms from the foreigners would help them in their future fight against these perceived alien groups. So the mainstream Sunni insurgents flipped and began helping the Americans.

In Greece, the people have always been nationalistic, and the Greek government, backed by only indirect U.S. aid, used such nationalism to battle an insurgency of internationally oriented communists, which were getting aid from Albania, Yugoslavia, and Greeks outside Greece.

Unfortunately for the United States in Afghanistan, however, the label of "foreign occupier" is an albatross the U.S. will likely never be able to shake or mitigate. Although the Taliban is often brutal (but may now be toning this down in its own realization that it must win greater public support) and unpopular, so is the U.S. occupation and the corrupt client government of Hamid Karzai. After the fraudulent election, the U.S. stewed about putting distance between the United States and Karzai, but more important – and something Americans don’t want to face – is that to survive, Karzai must stiff-arm the foreign occupier. In the all-important quest for the hearts and minds of the Afghan public, the Taliban is at least perceived by those people as being Afghans acting independently. In addition, the Taliban guerrillas are fighting to get back their home turf, and that means they, like the North Vietnamese, will likely have much more patience than the foreign occupier. One must go back in history to centuries before Christ – to Cyrus the Great of Persia – to find a conqueror of Afghanistan who actually was able to maintain control of it. So the U.S. escalation in Afghanistan is likely to face insurmountable long-term obstacles.

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Afghanistan war: As civilian deaths rise, NATO says, 'Sorry.'


In the Afghanistan war, NATO forces chief Gen. Stanley McChrystal publicly apologized Tuesday for 27 Afghan civilian deaths in a US airstrike. The coalition has begun saying 'sorry' more quickly to civilian deaths, as part of a new hearts and minds strategy.


Afghanistan war: US soldiers with NATO patrol near the site of an explosion near Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday. McChrystal publicly apologized for 27 Afghan civilian deaths in a US airstrike.

By Julius Cavendish Correspondent
posted February 23, 2010 at 10:05 am EST
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0223/Afghanistan-war-As-civilian-deaths-rise-NATO-says-Sorry.

Kabul, Afghanistan — Another botched airstrike, another apology.

In a video distributed Tuesday in Dari and Pashto, the main languages spoken in Afghanistan, the top NATO commander here Gen. Stanley McChrystal said he was sorry to the nation for 27 civilian deaths, after US special forces killed a convoy of Afghan civilians they had mistaken for insurgents. It was the coalition’s deadliest mistake in six months.

While public apologies by NATO have become almost commonplace – this was just one of half a dozen in the past 10 days, and the second by McChrystal himself – the push to admit mistakes and say sorry is unprecedented in NATO’s nine-year intervention in Afghanistan. It fits into McChyrstal’s new strategy that prioritizes winning over the population.

“I have instituted a thorough investigation to prevent this from happening again,” he said. “I pledge to strengthen our efforts to regain your trust to build a brighter future for all Afghans. Most importantly, I express my deepest, heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families. We all share in their grief and will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”

For years, stonewalling
For years, foreign forces here were grudging in their apologies, trying to spin big mistakes into smaller mistakes and refusing to comment on civilian casualties until torturously slow and opaque inquiries ended. If any blame was admitted, it was usually too long after the event to sound sincere. The Taliban exploited NATO’s lack of information, seizing on reports of civilian deaths with its own propaganda machine to turn Afghans against the foreign forces.

But NATO has shifted on the communications front. In the past 10 days alone, it has admitted that airstrikes in Kunduz and Kandahar Provinces last week killed five civilians and a handful of Afghan policemen, and that a rocket strike in the Marjah offensive in Helmand Province left at least nine bystanders dead. Troops there have also shot and killed civilians they have mistaken for suicide bombers. Each time an explanation has been forthcoming.

Apologies, apologies
Afghans are circumspect about the change in tone. “Does this apology mean there won’t be any other civilian casualties in future?” says Abdul Jabar, a carpenter from the eastern province of Wardak. “If it does then I appreciate it.”

Mohammad Yassir, a shopkeeper in Kabul, is less receptive. “I want to ask McChrystal if he had lost his family in such an incident,” he says. “And if someone called to apologize, what would his reaction be? An apology doesn’t bring anyone back to life.”

Officials claim that NATO’s improved ability to communicate in Afghanistan can be attributed to McChrystal himself, who has shaken up the command structure and spun off a new public affairs office fielding queries 24 hours a day.

“It’s a good place to be right now. It’s very exciting and I think the excitement is contagious,” says Col. Wayne Shanks, a NATO public affairs officer based in Kabul. “I owe most of it to General McChrystal because he refocuses us and reenergizes us each day.”

More than words
But independent observers say the difference is attributable not just to the reorganization but also to a change in approach. The circumstances in which coalition forces are allowed to call in an airstrike have become more limited. For example, they must wait 72 hours to establish a “pattern of life” before bombing a house where insurgents have taken refuge.

Although the total number of civilian casualties rose in 2009 to 2,412, NATO troops were responsible for ‘only’ 25 percent of them, down from 39 percent the year before.

“The distinction that McChrystal has brought to the table is that there is a focus on communications but there is another level beyond that, where they are willing to make some changes in policy that reflect community concerns,” says Erica Gaston, a human rights advocate in Kabul for Open Society Institute. “I think that’s the main reason he’s been more effective in strategic communications.”

“With [Gen. David] McKiernan [McChrystal’s predecessor] there was also a certain public relations sensitivity to issues like civilian casualties, but you didn’t really see changes of policy,” she says.

"McChrystal is not only willing to go to the site afterward and make apologies but also to follow that up by making changes to tactical restrictions to prevent similar incidents from occurring.”

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British Military Chiefs: More Troops Needed

Thousands of Additional Troops Needed to Continue Afghan War

by Jason Ditz, February 23, 2010
http://news.antiwar.com/2010/02/23/british-military-chiefs-more-troops-needed/

Britain’s military has been complaining for years that overseas operations are straining the forces to the limit, and the latest escalation in Afghanistan has unsurprisingly increased that problem.

Top British military figures now say that thousands of additional troops will have to be recruited if they are to continue committing forces overseas. Of Britain’s 100,000 soldiers, 9,500 are in Afghanistan, with thousands of others in overseas postings elsewhere.

Last month, top MP Kim Howells warned that the British government could not continue in its role as “world police” and advised the nation to rethink its role internationally.

But even though polls show a growing majority of Britain’s population against the war in Afghanistan, both major parties are on the side of escalation in the war. Though Britain is having budget problems it seems likely whichever party emerges victorious will support the increase in the military’s size.

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February 23, 2010
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/patrick-cockburn-these-rapid-apologies-only-emphasise-waning-support-1907391.html

Patrick Cockburn: These rapid apologies only emphasise waning support

No Nato power contributing forces can keep itself on the margins of the escalating conflict


The attention given to the killing of at least 27 Afghan civilians in a Nato airstrike shows a significant political and military change in the Afghan war. Political support for the war is so fragile in the US and other states contributing troops that every misdirected bombing has to be apologised for. The Dutch government has already fallen because of disagreement over the Dutch military contribution of 2,000 troops to the Nato force.

This limitation on airstrikes removes one of the Nato powers' main advantages against Taliban guerrillas: the ability to call in air power whenever fighters were located. The Nato planes fired yesterday at a convoy of three vehicles; among the dead were four women and a child, and 12 more were wounded. The group were believed to be Taliban fighters. The outcome of the bombing confirms that when air power is inaccurate the blame lies not with inadequate technology but with the failures of the intelligence on which targeting is based.

In the mountains of Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, intelligence is always going to be patchy or even based on deliberate misinformation. It is therefore increasingly difficult for Nato to claim, as it did early last year and the year before, that casualties are not civilians but in fact Taliban fighters.

In Afghanistan incidents like the bombing of civilians in Uruzgan will inevitably be highly publicised, not least because the government of President Hamid Karzai is seeking to burnish its nationalist credentials by protesting volubly against the loss of civilian lives. This is in sharp contrast with Iraq where, at the height of the fighting between 2004 and 2007, the Iraqi government would happily confirm that civilian dead were insurgent fighters.

The fact that these airstrikes took place in Uruzgan, from which the 2,000-strong Dutch contingent is being withdrawn, shows that no Nato power contributing forces can keep itself politically and militarily on the margins of the escalating conflict.

Meanwhile the curtailment in the use of air power by Nato will mean that more foreign troops will be needed to make up the loss in firepower just as support for the Afghan venture is waning in the countries which supply them.

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VIDEO

UN: Afghanistan epicenter of world's drug trade

mms://217.218.67.244/presstv/20100224/OUTPUT_14-03-00-SNG-ROSHAN-LONDON.wmv

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Afghan Resistance against US Invaders

US surge goes full steam ahead in Marjah

by Eric Walberg

February 24, 2010
http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63620&hd=&size=1&l=e

Apart for Abu Ghraib, Fallujah is perhaps the Iraq war’s defining moment. The hatred and resentment of the occupied people found a catalyst in the four Blackwater mercenaries, who were killed and strung up, and no doubt deserved their fate, certainly as symbols of a cynical, illegal invasion. The US soldiers -- who are just as mercenary, being a professional army invading a country sans provocation -- came and "destroyed the village to save it."

The "success" of the blitzkrieg war in Iraq has been difficult to duplicate in Afghanistan, "the heart of darkness", one British commander quipped to his troops as they went into battle, despite dropping far more bombs -- many of them radioactive. The unflagging resistance of the Afghans, their refusal to submit to the occupiers, is that because they realise the invaders are not there for their purported altruistic motives. The thousands of civilians and resistance fighters who have been killed by airstrikes -- none of them guilty of anything more egregious than defending their homeland -- is more than ample proof, as is the craven propping up of a US-imposed government, and the proliferation of US bases in the country. The unapologetically un-Islamic ways of the invaders, their lack of even the remotest understanding of the people they are occupying, is a constant insult to a proud and ancient people.

The new exit plan, so it goes, involves "clearing" all regions of Taliban -- US Marines call it "mowing the grass", acknowledging that as soon as they murder one group of resisters and leave, more pop up. The "new" strategy is to bring in ready-made Afghan administrators and police to create a prosperous, peaceful society once the "enemy" have been destroyed, "winning the hearts and minds" of the locals. "We’ve got a government in a box, ready to roll in," said chief honcho General Stanley McChrystal.

But wait a moment. Is it possible the invaders are the enemy? And who are these newly discovered Afghan officials? Are (famously corrupt) Afghan government officials and police nominally loyal to NATO forces, trucked in by the invaders, going to be welcome in remote villages as ready-made trusted representatives of the people? And wasn’t this precisely the failed policy the US followed in Vietnam ? This old "new" policy was what convinced United States President Barack Obama to go along grudgingly with the Pentagon’s demands to radically increase NATO force -- though on the condition that the whole operation be complete by next year. He clearly was given no choice in the matter, and his "ultimatum" was dismissed by US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates moments after Obama made it.

Not surprisingly, NATO forces have met strong resistance in Marjah as their onslaught enters its second week, from both the incredible, ragtag resistance and from locals, who doubt that the postwar reality will correspond remotely to the picture the invaders are painting. Tribal elders in Helmand this week called for an end to the "Moshtarak" offensive, citing Western troops’ disregard for civilian lives. Realising their "shock and awe" bombing kills civilians and turns locals against them, the invaders have reluctantly cut back, now authorising them only under "very limited and prescribed conditions." Even so, over 50 civilians are among the dead so far -- 27 in an airstrike in Uruzgan Province -- and "friendly fire" killed seven Afghan police. Six occupiers were killed in one day alone, bringing NATO losses to 18 at the time of writing.

The latest propaganda ploy is to accuse the Taliban of using locals as "human shields" and of holing up near civilians. But surely it is the NATO forces that are using locals as human shields, invading their homes in search of the "enemy", forcing them to betray their children and friends, often under torture in Afghan-run prisons. Even those Afghans who collaborate with the occupiers, taking their dollars, guns and uniforms, are in effect human shields for the troops. And when they realise their lives are on the line, they flee their paymasters. How else to explain the 25 police officers who left their posts last week and "defected" to the Taliban in Chak?

But Marjah is really just a microcosm for what the US is doing at this very moment around the globe -- waging a veritable war on the world, in Iraq, Pakistan, expanding into Yemen, Somalia, Iran, supplementing bombs and soldiers with militarised sea lanes, forward military and missile bases on every continent, encircling "enemies" Russia and China.

The process is merely accelerating as the US loses its traditional edge in the world economy, outpaced by China . It is the logical next step for a deeply illogical economic system. It can’t be repeated too often: the US is frantically trying to consolidate its sole superpower status militarily before it loses the economic war.

Marjah also represents the US project of replacing the UN with NATO as the world’s peacekeeper. The coalition of almost 60 nations is pursuing an illegal war launched by the US , with the UN -- the only legitimate forum for world peacekeeping -- now in tow solely as window dressing. Though not quite. Deputy special representative of the secretary general Robert Watkins said the UN will not be involved in NATO’s reconstruction plans for Marjah "because we would not want to have the humanitarian activities we deliver to be linked with military activity."

Today’s Russia, unhappy with the Yelstin-era acquiescence to a subservient role in the US empire, is the only country standing up to the US empire. The new military doctrine announced by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev earlier this month is unwavering in its condemnation of US plans. The fact that NATO is attempting to "globalise its functions in contravention of international law" is threat Number One, followed by NATO’s encirclement of Russia and US forward missile bases, now rapidly being deployed around the world -- and Russia. International terrorism is ninth out of 11 threats listed. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reiterated this on Tuesday, saying Russia will give priority to nuclear deterrence, space and air defense in its military reforms.

The Russians argue that the OSCE should have been the vehicle for European security after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but instead, the US chose to expand NATO. This meant not uniting Europe, but merely moving the dividing line east, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week at the Munich Conference on Security. Lavrov pointed to the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 and the tragedy in the Caucasus in August 2008 as evidence that the OSCE had failed to rise to the challenge of maintaining peace in Europe . The OSCE Permanent Council knew about the Georgian leaders’ preparations for a military attack but took no measures. The Russia-NATO Council also failed when members blocked Russia’s request to convene an urgent meeting when the military actions were at their height.

Last month’s London conference on Afghanistan was presented in the West as a benign effort to provide economic development and humanitarian aid. It was not a UN conference, but "the international community coming together to fully align military and civilian resources behind an Afghan-led political strategy", graced by the UN secretary general’s presence. It was preceded by two days of meetings between top military commanders of almost a third of the world’s nations at NATO headquarters in Brussels, and followed by two days of meetings by NATO and allied defense chiefs last week in Istanbul, the latter attended by Israeli Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

The brazen involvement of Israel in a war against Islamic Afghanistan, where Israeli drones have killed and continue to kill civilians and resisters, suggests what this war really represents. The invaders should note that their nickname "Moshtarak" (collective) derives from the same Arabic root as shirk (idolatry). Though Pentagon planners don’t register such subtleties, the locals surely do.

Marjah is indeed Fallujah. Like Fallujah, it will become a symbol, the defining moment in the war against the Afghan people. US Marines may "mow the grass", eradicate the "weeds", and plant their sterile seeds of Western-style democracy and economic prosperity as much as they like. However, "the Taliban is the future, the Americans are the past in Afghanistan," as former head of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Hamid Gul recently told Al-Jazeera. This is clear to any sensible observer.

Gul angrily notes that it is Afghanistan ’s neighbours, in particular, Pakistan, that will be left holding the bag when the inevitable arrives. "The OIC and the Muslim countries will have to come in and play their part. Then Afghanistan can redeem itself." The sooner the US accepts the inevitable, the fewer will be the needless deaths of both Americans, Europeans and Afghans.


Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly




 

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Long-term Afghan Taliban resistance seen in Marjah

Reuters

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63621&hd=&size=1&l=e

* Taliban has strong ties to Marjah, won't give up-Marine

* Offensive in 11th day, moving slower than expected

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Taliban is unlikely to give up on Marjah and is expected to return in small numbers to contest the drug-producing Afghan district even after NATO and Afghan forces secure it, the top U.S. Marine said on Wednesday.

"We think that Marjah will be a contested area for as long as we're there, until the Taliban pack it up," General James Conway, the U.S. Marine Corps commandant, told a hearing in Congress.

"It's a drug center. It's an area where they've had a long-term presence. In some ways, they have families there."

The Pentagon has acknowledged the 11-day-old offensive to secure Marjah, one of the biggest operations in the more than eight-year-old Afghan war, was moving more slowly than expected and have pointed to pockets of intense Taliban resistance.

The operation is an early test of President Barack Obama's plan to add 30,000 more troops to win control of Taliban strongholds and eventually transfer them to Afghan authority.

Conway, whose Marines have been leading the assault, played down expectations that Marjah, home to lucrative opium poppy cultivation, could be completely pacified, but expressed confidence that NATO forces could accomplish their mission.

"Although we intend to secure the area and put the Afghan police in eventually to help control it, the nature of an insurgency is that they could well be back in small numbers to contest the area," Conway said. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; editing by Sue Pleming and Eric Beech)





 

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UK soldier and airman die in Afghanistan

Associated Press

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63645&hd=&size=1&l=e

February 25, 2010

Two U.K. service members have been killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan, Britain's military said Thursday.

The Ministry of Defense said the fatalities, which occurred near Sangin and north of Kandahar Air Base, weren't related to the NATO offensive against the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, where U.S.-led troops are trying to clear final pockets of resistance.

The first fatality occurred Wednesday, when an airman from 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force regiment, was taking part in a patrol near the air base when he was killed in an explosion.

The second took place early Thursday, when a soldier from 4th Battalion The Rifles was shot dead when his foot patrol came under insurgent attack.

British officials did not identify either service member, though it said their families had been informed.

The deaths bring to 266 the number of British military personnel who have died while serving in Afghanistan since the start of operations there in October 2001.





 

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Friday, February 26, 2010
13:46 Mecca time, 10:46 GMT  
 http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/201022625531437595.html
 
News CENTRAL/S. ASIA  

Deadly suicide blasts rock Kabul  

Several suicide bombers attacked a hotel popular with foreigners in Kabul, the Afghan capital [AFP]

VIDEO :  http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/201022625531437595.html


At least 17 people were killed and 32 wounded when several suicide bombers attacked a hotel popular with foreigners and the surrounding area in the centre of Kabul, the Afghan capital.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, one of the deadliest attacks on the Afghan capital in a year.

An Italian, a Frenchman and four Indians were among the dead, officials said.

The first blast occurred at about 06:45 local time, near the Kabul City Centre, Kabul's largest shopping centre located in the city's main commercial district, that includes the Safi Landmark Hotel.

"I saw foreigners crying and shouting ... It was a very bad situation inside"

Najibullah, hotel worker
 
That was followed about 10-20 minutes later by fierce gunfire and two smaller explosions.

Police say at least two police officers were among those killed in the blasts.

The Reuters news agency quoted Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, as saying "holy warriors" had "managed to attack in the heart of Kabul city once again."

The spokesman said at least five Taliban fighters launched the attack, including two suicide bombers who detonated explosives-packed vests near the hotel and a shopping mall, Reuters reported.

However, the Afghan interior ministry says there were only three suicide bombers involved in these attacks.

'Crying and shouting'

Najibullah, a 25-year-old hotel worker, said he ran out of the hotel when he heard the first explosion. He said he saw two suicide bombers on the site.


Friday's attack came as US, Afghan and Nato forces push ahead with Operation Moshtarak
"I saw foreigners were crying and shouting," he said.

"It was a very bad situation inside. God helped me; otherwise I would be dead. I saw one suicide bomber blowing himself up on the first floor of the hotel."

One of the bombers detonated his vest, according to the police, who were still engaged in a firefight with the attackers an hour later.

"A suicide bomber detonated himself in front of a kebab shop near the Safi Landmark," Zemarai Bashary, an interior ministry spokesman, told the AFP news agency.

"Two other suicide bombers were shot dead by police in the same area."

An official said seven bodies had been transported to military hospitals. He said foreigners were among the dead.

Taliban attacks

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, Hoda Abdel-Hamid, said: "Explosions and the sound of intense gunfire, followed by sporadic gunfire, were heard in the heart of Kabul this morning.

In depth :
  Operation Moshtarak at a glance
  Gallery: Operation Moshtarak
  Video: Interview with US commander in Helmand
  Video: Taliban fighter says Nato losing Afghan support
  Video: Civilians flee Marjah fighting
  Focus: To win over Afghans, US must listen
  Timeline: Afghanistan in crisis
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/201022625531437595.html
 
"There is a concern that as the Nato push against the Taliban goes on, these types of attacks will increase as a result.

"The Taliban is showing that they too are very strong-willed and that they will attack anywhere and anytime they want.

"An attack like this one sends a message that no one is really safe, that even a city like Kabul, with heavy security, is not safe from the conflict anymore," she said.

The bombing is the first attack in the Afghan capital since January 18, when teams of suicide bombers and gunmen targeted government buildingsin the centre of the city, leaving 12 dead, including seven attackers.

It is also the first attack in Kabul since the start of a major Nato-led offensive against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

Our correspondent said that since Operation Moshtarakbegan 12 days ago, Kabul has been largely safe although attacks have occurred elsewherein Afghanistan.

Nato 'outrage'

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary-general, expressed outrage over Friday's dawn attacks.

"I strongly condemn the terrorist attack which took place this morning in Kabul," Rasmussen said in a statement.

"Once again, the enemies of Afghanistan have killed innocent civilians, Afghans and international workers alike."

After 12 days of fighting, Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commander of US marines in southern Afghanistan, had welcomed Thursday's flag-hoisting in Marjahas "a new beginning" as Afghan government authority was restored.

Afghans "believe there is a fresh start for Marjah under the government of Afghanistan", he said as the country's flag was hoisted by the governor of Helmand province in front of several hundred residents.

Humanitarian groups have said residents are facing deteriorating conditions as food, medicine and other supplies run dangerously low and innumerable Taliban-planted bombs make movement in and out of Marjah perilous.
 
 

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Afghan Senators Demand Execution of Foreign Troops;

BlackwaterTraining Scandal


By Juan Cole

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24866.htm

February 25, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Pajhwok News Agency reports that on Tuesday, the Afghanistan senate deplored the foreign airstrikes that killed 21 innocent civilians in the province of Daikundi on Sunday, and demanded that NATO avoid any repetition of this sort of error.

But some senators went farther, demanding that NATO or US military men responsible for the deaths be executed. Senator Hamidullah Tokhi of Uuzgan complained to Pajhwok that the foreign forces had killed civilians in such incidents time and again, and kept apologizing but then repeating the fatal mistake: "Anyone killing an ordinary Afghan should be executed in public."

Lawmaker Fatima Aziz of Qunduz concurred, observing, "We saw foreign troops time and again that they killed innocent people, something unbearable for the already war-weary Afghans."

Maulvi Abdul Wali Raji, a senator from Baghlan Province, called for the Muslim law of an 'eye for an eye' to be applied to foreign troops for civilian deaths. Pajhwok concludes, "Mohammad Alam Izdiyar said civilian deaths were the major reason behind the widening gap between the people and Afghan government."

Note that those speaking this way are not Taliban, but rather elected members of the Afghanistan National Parliament, whose government is supposedly a close US ally.

Sarah Chayes, a former National Public Radio correspondent who lived for years in Qandahar but has been on Gen. Stanley McChrystal's staff for the past year, told CNN that she sees increasing frustration in the Afghan public over the killing of civilians by NATO and US strikes. She implies that how the government of President Hamid Karzai deals with this issue could determine its fate, given that it is acting like, and perceived as acting like a criminal syndicate.

In the meantime, Karzai is taking no chances. Radio Azadi reports in Dari Persian that Karzai took control of the supposedly independent Electoral Complaints Commission, and will appoint all 5 of its members. The system had been that 3 members were appointed by the United Nations, and the other two chosen by the supreme courty chief justice and the independent high electoral commission.

The ECC threw out about 1 million fraudulent ballots in last summer's presidential election, a move that could have forced Karzai into a run-off election against rival Abdullah Abdullah. But the latter withdrew from the race on the grounds that Karzai controlled the in-country electoral commission and refused to relinquish control of it. Many observers believe that Karzai stole the election. In short, Karzai is increasingly acting like a Middle Eastern dictator, manipulating state institutions to ensure that he cannot be unseated in an election.

Whatever US troops are fighting for in Afghanistan, it is not democracy.

As for those nearly 100,000 trained Afghan troops that Washington keeps boasting about, it turns out that the Pentagon sub-sub-contracted the troop training and "a Blackwater subsidiary hired violent drug users to help train the Afghan army." Many journalists doubt that there are actually so many troops in the Afghanistan National Army, citing high turnover and desertion rates, while others suggest that two weeks of 'show and tell' training for illiterate recruits is not exactly a rigorous 'training'-- even if it were done properly, which it seems not always to have been.

Canadian Brig. Gen. Daniel Ménard said that some estimates of the number of Taliban roadside bombs planted in Marjah were too low, putting them at 400 to 500. He said that despite what happened in Marjah, where Taliban took advantage of the ample warning NATO gave that it was coming, the same procedure will be followed this May when the Qandahar campaign begins. It is aimed at blunting the summer campaign of Taliban coming over the border from Pakistan.

Former Pakistan chief of staff, Mirza Aslam Beg, wrote in Nava-e Waqt for February 23, 2010, explaining Taliban strategy in Marjah. These passages were translated from Urdu by the USG Open Source Center:

 

' Marjah is located some 15 km from Lashkargah City, which is the provincial capital of Helmand Province. It is a flat desert area. It has a few scattered mud houses. There is a green belt to its north and west, which is irrigated by the Helmand River. This green belt has large agricultural farms and orchards, with a population of about 6,000 to 7,000 people. The entire terrain is flat and totally unsuitable for guerilla war, which is the preferred style of the Taliban. It will be very easy for the allied air forces and ground war machine to control the movement of the Taliban in this area. Now, the question arises is why are the allied forces preparing for a similar kind of heavy attack in an area where there is hardly any resistance?

It appears there is a historical and psychological factor behind this decision. History says that every army that went to this area did not return safely. The allied forces believe that if they succeed in taking control of Marjah and the Taliban are compelled to back off, the allied forces will gain a psychological upper hand, making it easy for them to carry out operation against the Taliban in other provinces in Afghanistan as well.

The Taliban have become experts in fighting a war in the difficult desert terrain of the northern regions for the past 30 years. They are brave mujahids [holy warriors] who have full confidence in themselves and in their quest for success against their enemies. Time and circumstance are totally on their side. Thus, it is easy to understand their strategy in the battle of Marjah.

One of their strategies is to send 1,000 to 2,000 fighters under the command of Commander Mullah Abdul Razzaq. These fighters are committed to fight until their last breath and will bleed the allied forces to the end. They will defend the region with their scattered fighters spread all over the area. They will also defend the area against the attacking forces through the use of improvised engineering devices (IEDs), including the Omar bomb and booby traps. Their ground defense system, which was used by the Hezbollah against Israel in 2006, can also be used as a defense weapon. This strategy has been used by the Taliban during the last four days of this war.

The number of Taliban present in the adjacent areas of Helmand is around 10,000 to 12,000. These troops have the ability to attack the allied forces from the nearby areas of the main battleground and keep them engaged by attacking them regularly. Moreover, they will cut off the supply line of the allied forces. Under this strategy, on one side, the Taliban will continue the battle in Marjah, and on the other side, they will create problems for the allied forces by increasing attacks on them in provinces under their control. '
Juan Cole is President of the Global Americana Institute -  Visit his blog http://www.juancole.com/

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Officials puzzle over millions of dollars leaving Afghanistan by plane for Dubai

By Andrew Higgins
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, February 25, 2010; A10
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/24/AR2010022404914_pf.html


KABUL -- A blizzard of bank notes is flying out of Afghanistan -- often in full view of customs officers at the Kabul airport -- as part of a cash exodus that is confounding U.S. officials and raising concerns about the money's origin.

The cash, estimated to total well over $1 billion a year, flows mostly to the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, where many wealthy Afghans now park their families and funds, according to U.S. and Afghan officials. So long as departing cash is declared at the airport here, its transfer is legal.

But at a time when the United States and its allies are spending billions of dollars to prop up the fragile government of President Hamid Karzai, the volume of the outflow has stirred concerns that funds have been diverted from aid. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, for its part, is trying to figure out whether some of the money comes from Afghanistan's thriving opium trade. And officials in neighboring Pakistan think that at least some of the cash leaving Kabul has been smuggled overland from Pakistan.

"All this money magically appears from nowhere," said a U.S. official who monitors Afghanistan's growing role as a hub for cash transfers to Dubai, which has six flights a day to and from Kabul.

Meanwhile, the United States is stepping up efforts to stop money flow in the other direction -- into Afghanistan and Pakistan in support of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Senior Treasury Department officials visited Kabul this month to discuss the cash flows and other issues relating to this country's infant, often chaotic financial sector.

Tracking Afghan exchanges has long been made difficult by the widespread use of traditional money-moving outfits, known as "hawalas," which keep few records. The Afghan central bank, supported by U.S. Treasury advisers, is trying to get a grip on them by licensing their operations.

In the meantime, the money continues to flow. Cash declaration forms filed at Kabul International Airport and reviewed by The Washington Post show that Afghan passengers took more than $180 million to Dubai during a two-month period starting in July. If that rate held for the entire year, the amount of cash that left Afghanistan in 2009 would have far exceeded the country's annual tax and other domestic revenue of about $875 million.

The declaration forms highlight the prominent and often opaque role played by hawalas. Asked to identify the "source of funds" in forms issued by the Afghan central bank, cash couriers frequently put down the name of the same Kabul hawala, an outfit called New Ansari Exchange.

Early last month, Afghan police and intelligence officers raided New Ansari's office in Kabul's bazaar district, carting away documents and computers, said Afghan bankers familiar with the operation. U.S. officials declined to comment on what prompted the raid. New Ansari Exchange, which is affiliated with a licensed Afghan bank, closed for a day or so but was soon up and running again.

The total volume of departing cash is almost certainly much higher than the declared amount. A Chinese man, for instance, was arrested recently at the Kabul airport carrying 800,000 undeclared euros (about $1.1 million).

Cash also can be moved easily through a VIP section at the airport, from which Afghan officials generally leave without being searched. American officials said that they have repeatedly raised the issue of special treatment for VIPs at the Kabul airport with the Afghan government but that they have made no headway.

One U.S. official said he had been told by a senior Dubai police officer that an Afghan diplomat flew into the emirate's airport last year with more than $2 million worth of euros in undeclared cash. The Afghan consul general in Dubai, Haji Rashoudin Mohammadi, said in a telephone interview that he was not aware of any such incident.

The high volume of cash passing through Kabul's airport first came to light last summer when British company Global Strategies Group, which has an airport security contract, started filing reports on the money transfers at the request of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, the domestic intelligence agency. The country's notoriously corrupt police force, however, complained about this arrangement, and Global stopped its reporting in September, according to someone familiar with the matter.

Afghan bankers interviewed in Kabul said that much of the money that does get declared belongs to traders who want to buy goods in Dubai but want to avoid the fees, delays and paperwork that result from conventional wire transfers.

The cash flown out of Kabul includes a wide range of foreign currencies. Most is in U.S. dollars, euros and -- to the bafflement of officials -- Saudi Arabian riyals, a currency not widely used in Afghanistan.

Last month, a well-dressed Afghan man en route to Dubai was found carrying three briefcases stuffed with $3 million in U.S. currency and $2 million in Saudi currency, according to an American official who was present when the notes were counted. A few days later, the same man was back at the Kabul airport, en route to Dubai again, with about $5 million in U.S. and Saudi bank notes.

One theory is that some of the Arab nation's cash might come from Saudi donations that were supposed to go to mosques and other projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But, the American official said, "we don't really know what is going on."

Efforts to figure out just how much money is leaving Afghanistan and why have been hampered by a lack of cooperation from Dubai, complained Afghan and U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Dubai's financial problems, said a U.S. official, had left the emirate eager for foreign cash, and "they don't seem to care where it comes from." Dubai authorities declined to comment.

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DoD takes over Afghan Police training after IG cites State Dept. failures


By Lisa M. Novak, Stars and Stripes
Online Edition, Thursday, February 25, 2010
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68304

NAPLES, Italy — The Defense Department is taking over training of the Afghan National Police because State Department-hired trainers failed to keep pace with the growing instability in Afghanistan or address the security needs of the civilian population, according to a joint State and DOD Inspector General report released late last week.

“The ANP training program that is in place does not provide the ANP with the necessary skills to successfully fight the insurgency, and therefore, hampers the ability of DOD to fulfill its role in the emerging national strategy,” according to the report.

The report, initiated by members of the Senate Appropriations Committee last year, said the State Department failed on a number of fronts, mainly in its ability to provide training that adequately reflected the security needs of the country.

A Clinton administration-era directive gave the State Department responsibility for training civilian police forces around the world. Under that directive, the DOD transferred $1.04 billion to the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to support training programs for the ANP.

At the time, according to the IG report, “the security situation in Afghanistan was more stable and suitable for a civilian police force whose sole mission is to enforce the rule of law.”

But as average monthly fatality rates for members of the ANP soared from 24 in 2006 to 123 last year, contractors hired by the State Department failed to provide the level of combat training needed to battle the escalating insurgency, the report said.

The report described the training contract as “ambiguous” and said task orders within the contract included no specific information on the type of training required and provided no way to measure its efficacy. DynCorp International, the company that holds the contract, filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office in December, arguing that the DOD takeover of training effectively shut the company out of the bidding process for new contracts.

The current contract, which expired last month, was extended to July pending the outcome of a GAO review.

While the DOD will take over the Americans’ part in ANP training, many other countries are also involved. However, a lack of standardization throughout the country is slowing progress, the IG report states.

That’s something NATO is looking to change.

“Right now you’ve got … the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, run by the [U.S.] Embassy here [in Afghanistan],” said Lt. Col. David S. Hylton, a spokesman for NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan. “At the same time you have several countries that have bi-lateral agreements with Afghanistan that conduct police training.

“We want to set a common standard, so if you’re getting trained to be a uniformed policeman up in Herat, you’re getting the same standard of training as you do in Kandahar, or Jalalabad or Kabul,” Hylton said.

Other issues raised in the report included ensuring there were enough women on the force and maintaining fiscal oversight for supply purchases.

Efforts to train women have fallen woefully short — even taking into account the cultural mores that make training female police officers difficult in a male-dominated career field and country, the report said.

While more than 172,000 Afghans completed basic and advanced training courses, only 131 are women.

The report also was critical of contracting officers who failed to maintain sufficient invoices for millions of dollars worth of supplies. Nor did they ensure that orders for equipment purchased were considered allowable expenses or that items paid for were actually received.

The State Department took exception to the report’s claim that $80 million was unaccounted for and should be returned to the Defense Department, according to Susan Pittman, a State spokeswoman.

“The money in question has been appropriated for the tasks at hand but has not yet been expended,” Pittman wrote in an e-mail.

The shift in responsibility doesn’t paint the State Department completely out of the picture. The report recommends the department’s law enforcement bureau continue in areas such as criminal investigation and professional development.

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Afghan Army Announces New Joint Operation

18 Month, Nationwide Military Offensive Planned

by Jason Ditz, February 25, 2010
http://news.antiwar.com/2010/02/25/afghan-army-announces-new-joint-operation/

General Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, today announced that the army will soon launch a joint military operation called Operation Omed.

According to Gen. Azimi, the operation is intended to take 18 months and will take place across the entire nation. How this is distinct from the overall military operation, beyond the 18 month timeline, is unclear.

Officials say that the ongoing offensive in the agricultural community of Marjah will technically be considered part of this operation. The offensive, dubbed Operation Mushtarak, is the largest single offensive since the 2001 invasion.

It likely will also include the upcoming invasion of Kandahar Province, which officials say will mirror the Marjah strategy. With one of the most important cities in the entire nation, Kandahar’s invasion is expected to be much more perilous than the Helmand offensive has been.

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Suicide attack on Afghan capital

Explosions and gunfire in the centre of the Afghan capital, Kabul, have left at least 17 people dead, officials say.

Article and video here:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8538005.stm

A suicide bomber detonated explosives near Kabul's main shopping centre. Several smaller blasts followed and two other attackers were shot dead.

The Taliban said it was responsible. Four Indians, a Frenchman, an Italian and two policemen were among the dead.

The violence comes as Nato and Afghan forces continue Operation Moshtarak to tackle the Taliban in Helmand province.

Kabul has been relatively quiet since 18 January, when Taliban bombers and gunmen attacked government targets and shopping malls, killing 12 people.

Friday's attack is also the Taliban's first major raid since the arrest of key leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Pakistan this month.

'Crying and shouting'

The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says the first blast on Friday happened at 0630 local time (0200 GMT) close to the Kabul City Centre shopping area and the Safi Landmark Hotel.

ANALYSIS
Martin Patience, BBC News, Kabul

""This is the second attack in Kabul since the start of the year and the tactics appeared to be the same: using multiple attackers and suicide bombers for maximum impact.

Because the attack took place early in the morning, it is possible that the militants were trying to target foreigners sleeping in the guesthouses at the time. An attack on a UN guesthouse in October 2009 used similar tactics.

Whatever the motive, the Taliban - who said they carried out the latest attack - want to demonstrate that they can strike anywhere in the country. The movement is determined to show that the Afghan government and Western forces cannot control the security situation across the country and, in this case, the capital. ""

The Park Residence Hotel, popular with foreigners, was also close to the main blast and a number of foreign nationals were killed.

A number of Indian nationals were staying in hotels in the area, and the head of the police criminal investigation department told the BBC that four had died.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said one French visitor to Afghanistan had been killed, while Afghan interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told the AFP news agency that an Italian national was also among the dead.

Gen Abdul Rahman, Kabul's city police chief, told AFP the Italian man had been staying in the Park Residence and had been helping police by telephone when militants shot him dead.

"He was a brave man," Gen Rahman said.

At least 30 people are reported to have been injured in the attacks.

Nato's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemned the attacks.

"Those who committed them made it clear, in their choice of targets, that their aim is to reverse the progress that Afghans are making," he said in a statement.

The situation now appears to be under control but there are reports that one suspected attacker is holed up in the basement of a guesthouse.

At least two smaller explosions were reported following the main blast and security forces exchanged fire with gunmen for several hours after sealing off the area.

Sirens blared across the city and announcements from loudspeakers warned people to stay indoors. The areas around diplomatic missions and government ministries were closed to traffic.

A British national staying at the Safi Landmark, Brian Briscombe, told the BBC he awoke to shattered glass and smoke.

He stayed in his hotel room for 30 minutes but then decided to leave.

"My hand was gashed and I wanted to get it treated. But a jumpy soldier screamed and almost shot me because he saw my backpack and thought for 10 seconds that I was a suicide bomber. Luckily he calmed down and I was allowed to leave."

RECENT KABUL ATTACKS

18 Jan 2010: Taliban attack government targets and shopping malls, killing 12
15 Dec 09: Six killed in suicide attack near hotel in Wazir Akbar Khan district
24 Oct 09: Six UN staff and three Afghans killed in attack on UN guesthouse
8 Oct 09: Suicide bomber attacks Indian embassy, killing at least 17
17 Sept 09: Six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghans die in military convoy blast
18 Aug 09: Suicide blast kills 10 in attack on Western troop convoy

Operation Moshtarak continues in Helmand in the south, aiming to drive the Taliban from their strongholds around Nad Ali and Marjah. The Afghan government is now operating in the town of Marjah although troops continue to target militants in the area.

On Thursday, Maj Gen Nick Carter, commander of troops in southern Afghanistan, told the BBC there had been "a great deal of progress" in establishing security.

Friday's attack also represents the first major Taliban response to the capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Karachi in Pakistan.

He was said to be the second in command and to have run the Taliban's leadership council and controlled their finances.

At least four Taliban "shadow governors" of provinces in Afghanistan have also reportedly been arrested in Pakistan.

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Can Afghanistan Taliban absorb blow to Quetta Shura?

The Afghanistan Taliban is under pressure with 7 of 15 members of its top leadership council, the Quetta Shura, recently arrested. But still in place are senior leaders who might step up and other senior Taliban councils responsible for different parts of the country.


Afghan army commandos stand on a sand bank as a US army Apache helicopter flies above them on February 24, 2010.  While the recent capture of Quetta Shura leaders was in Pakistan, the organization runs operations have a wide reach, including within Afghanistan.


By Anand Gopal Correspondent
posted February 25, 2010 at 6:42 pm EST
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2010/0225/Can-Afghanistan-Taliban-absorb-blow-to-Quetta-Shura

Kabul, Afghanistan — The Afghan Taliban now faces what may be its biggest test in recent years, with 7 of 15 members of its leadership council, the Quetta Shura, recently captured by Pakistani authorities.

From its perch in Pakistan, the Quetta Shura is said to act as a nerve center for all of the Afghan Taliban’s operations, formulating military and political strategy, appointing field commanders, and managing a shadow government.

Yet still in tact are a roster of experienced leaders who can take their arrested comrades’ place as well as several subcommittees that each oversee sections of the country.

This report on the Taliban’s leadership structure is based on interviews with two Taliban figures who claim to belong to the council and with Afghan intelligence officials.

A wide-reaching organization
The Quetta Shura's is described as assigning and replacing field commanders in Afghanistan, overseeing the Taliban’s parallel government in Afghanistan, and fielding complaints from Taliban members. In some cases the Taliban’s control over some parts of Afghanistan is so strong that nongovernmental organizations working there – such as the United Nation’s World Food Program – have first sought permission from the Quetta Shura to enter the region.

In addition to the top council, the Taliban relies on a number of other shuras to oversee the insurgency. All of these councils answer to the supreme body in Quetta, and membership in the different councils or shuras sometimes overlaps.

Mullah Abdul Qayoum Zakir, the movement’s leading military commander and a member of the Quetta Shura, who was arrested in Pakistan’s recent crackdown, headed two such bodies.

Like the top council, these two shuras are based in Quetta, Pakistan, and are responsible for military affairs in southern and western Afghanistan, including resistance to the ongoing United States-led offensive in the town of Marjah.

A third council is based in the North Waziristan town of Miram Shah, where insurgent leader Sirajuddin Haqqani directs the Taliban’s operations in the southeast, according to former insurgents and Afghan intelligence officials. Mr. Haqqani is considered one of the most dangerous foes of the Western forces, and has been behind a number of high-profile attacks in recent years.

[A Pakistani Taliban commander in North Waziristan was killed in a suspected CIA missile strike in northwest Pakistan, officials told the Associated Press Thursday. Mohammed Qari Zafar, wanted for a deadly 2006 bombing of the US consulate in Karachi, was among at least 13 people killed Wednesday when three missiles slammed into a compound and a vehicle in the Dargah Mandi area of the North Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan, two Pakistani intelligence officials said. ]

A fourth shura, based in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, serves as the hub for Taliban operations in the eastern and northern parts of Afghanistan. Maulavi Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s governor of Nangarhar Province when the group was in power, headed this body, according to Afghan and US intelligence officials. Maulavi Kabir was also caught in the Pakistani sweep.

Can the leadership spring back?
Some Taliban figures who do not belong to the Quetta Shura still hold important roles. One example is Qudratullah Jamal, who deals with fundraising and outreach to other groups and potential donors and is believed to be based in Pakistan. Another is Hafez Majid, who has headed a number of military committees over the years.

While the recent crackdown may put pressure on the Taliban, the movement has survived the loss of senior leaders before.

In early 2009, Pakistani authorities announced that they had captured Ustad Yasir, at the time the Taliban’s chief of military operations. His current whereabouts are unknown. In 2007, Pakistani officials captured Mullah Obaidullah, then considered the movement’s No. 2. Other senior leaders have been killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan.

The current sweep, however, marks the first time so many members of the leadership have been apprehended at once.

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Friday, February 26, 2010
16:15 Mecca time, 13:15 GMT 
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/02/2010226112713123300.html
 
News Europe 
 
Germany to boost Afghan mission 

 
The decision will see a maximum of 5,350 German troops deployed to Afghanistan [GALLO/GETTY]
 
Germany's parliament has voted to increase its troop level in Afghanistan by 850 and extend its mission in the country by one year.

The government plans to send 500 troops to the war-torn country, with the remaining 350 on standby and tasked with training up Afghan security forces.

The increase, which will see Germany's mandate for the country raised to 5,350 soldiers, was less than Nato had pushed for, reflecting strong public opposition to further deployment.

During Friday's vote in Germany's lower house the Left Party raised its opposition to the bill by holding up placards with the names of people killed in a Nato bombing ordered by a German officer in September.

"Germany is involved in a war against the ordinary population in Afghanistan," Christine Buchholz, a Left Party politician said during the debate.

"However you justify the war, you are deciding today about life or death."

'Victory for sense'

But despite growing public disillusionment over the conflict, some 429 of 622 lawmakers backed the troop increase, with 111 voting against.

Guido Westerwelle, Germany's foreign minister, said the vote was a "victory for sense and responsibility".

"Our Afghanistan policy could not carry on as it had before, everyone knows that. But at the same time, we could not rashly leave and look away."

German troops currently form the third-largest contingent in the 110,000-strong international force behind the United States and Britain.

The new head of the German army said earlier February that Afghanistan could be as much as two decades away from being a functioning state.

The vote came as Taliban suicide bombers hit private guesthouses in the centre of Kabul, killing 16 people including foreigners in one of the deadliest attacks on the Afghan capital in a year.
 
 

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Afghans Compensated For Damage: Civilians Negotiate With Soldiers For Reimbursement

by CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA | 02/26/10 03:32 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/26/afghans-compensated-for-d_n_477852.html

An elderly Afghan villager waits to be reimbursed for damage to his trees as U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Daniel Hickok, 24, left, and U.S. Staff Sgt. Christopher Wootton, 25, count Afghan money after a meeting, or shura, between Afghan Army representatives, U.S.Army Lt. Col. Burton Shields, commander of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry of Task Force Stryker, in the background and village leaders in the Badula Qulp area, West of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Thursday, Feb. 25

BADULA QULP, Afghanistan — The battalion commander pondered the question: How much is a tree worth?

Warrior one day, haggler the next. Lt. Col. Burton Shields was talking to an Afghan farmer who said the Americans had damaged five trees on his property in an operation against the Taliban near the town of Marjah, where NATO forces are fighting insurgent holdouts.

The farmer, an elderly man with a beard and turban, wanted compensation.

"What's a fair price for five trees? I don't know. How much is a tree worth?" Shields mused. Then, he couldn't resist: "Money doesn't grow on trees."

Just the night before, Shields of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was surrounded by attentive officers in uniform in a tent on a patrol base, plotting military strategy and assessing the threat of hidden bombs and insurgent infiltration.

The next day, Thursday, the men around him were Afghan elders, faces lined by decades of sun and wind, a few wearing battered army jackets over their robes, relics of past wars.

The farmer, Habibullah, got 30,000 Afghanis, or $600, for his trees. He had asked for another $200, but Shields and his money men – Staff. Sgt. Christopher Wooton and 1st Lt. Daniel Hickok – bargained low in the best bazaar tradition. Rules of thumb: shave off up to 40 percent, or more, of an opening bid from an aggrieved villager and lean heavily on Afghan commanders as "honest brokers."

Still, the Afghans overall gave the Americans a run for their money. The troops parted with more than $10,000 as part of a plan to compensate civilians for damage to crops and compounds, and also injuries – whether caused by the Taliban or not – after more than two weeks of combat.

The aim: Show the goodwill of NATO forces, and persuade the local population to support the Western-backed government.

Story continues below 
 
"I assume everyone's trying to take us for as much as they can get," said Shields, clutching a stack of handwritten claim forms. "The Afghan system is kind of inflated."

He paid $5,000 to the leaders of a village whose mosque was destroyed by an American missile that targeted an insurgent allegedly hiding in the building. He paid $50 to a man whose 1,000-square-meter (quarter-acre) patch of land was torn up by Stryker infantry vehicles, which often go off-road to avoid improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, that the Taliban plants on, under or beside roads.

The man had been growing poppy, the opium-bearing flower that provides the Taliban with a major source of funding in southern Afghanistan. His case revealed the line between strict policy and hard reality.

"We don't pay for poppy, sir," said Wooton, of Richmond, Virginia. Hickok, of Puyallup, Washington, sat beside him, plucking fresh bank notes from a black zip-up bag.

"Depends on how you look at it, I guess," said Shields. "We could be paying for damage to the land, but not for the poppy."

Later, the commander of 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 5th Stryker Brigade explained, saying the farmer likely had no alternative to poppy-growing until the government could organize seed distribution for legitimate crops.

With the help of a Pashto-speaking translator, Wooton alternated between stiff courtesy – "I hope your harvest is a good one this year" – and exasperation – "This isn't a money stop. Tell him I want $1,000 too, but I just can't take it."

He was ever-mindful of security. The Afghans lined up for payouts after a meeting beside a compound with the chief of staff of the district administrator, who was absent from the region until NATO troops rolled in. In keeping with local sensitivities, the frisking of arrivals was left to Afghan troops, but American soldiers wore flak jackets, carried weapons, and most kept their helmets on.

"Tell him he can't stand behind me. He needs to move on," Wooton said as an Afghan man circled in the background.

A large explosion in the distance forced a pause in the proceedings. The report came that a building had blown up while insurgents were building a bomb.

"Very good," said Shields. He and the top Afghan commander in the area, Maj. Abdul Jalal, shared a fist-bump.

As the haggling progressed, Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Morgan of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, sat on a box and said villagers had offered to sell him a goat for $200, a steep price compared with the $35 he paid while deployed in another area of southern Afghanistan.

Morgan said he wanted to trap one of the many weasels he had seen on this deployment. "If it's got a heartbeat, I'll eat it. I'm from Tennessee."

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Kabul bombings and gun battles leave 17 dead

Indian government officials among victims, as suicide bombers attack in the heart of Afghanistan's capital
   
 Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Friday 26 February 2010 08.00 GMT 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/26/afghanistan-kabul-bombings

Taliban attacks terrorise Kabul Link to this video :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/feb/26/afghanistan-taliban


Suicide bombers mounted attacks in the heart of Kabul today, triggering a series of explosions and gun battles that killed at least 17 people, including Indian government officials.

The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying five suicide bombers conducted the early-morning attacks on two buildings in an area that is home to small residential hotels used by foreigners. The Indian foreign ministry said as many as nine of its nationals had been killed, including government officials. An Italian diplomat was also among the victims, according to the Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini.

An Indian doctor, Surbod Sanjiv Paul, hid in his bathroom in one of the guesthouses for three hours when it came under attack.

"When I was coming out, I found two or three dead bodies," Paul said at a military hospital, where his wounded foot was bandaged. "When firing was going on, the first car bomb exploded and the full roof came on my head."

The attacks in Kabul came as thousands of US, Afghan and Nato soldiers were in the second week of a large-scale offensive against a Taliban stronghold in the town of Marjah in Helmand province.

More than two dozen senior and mid-level Taliban figures have been detained in Pakistan in recent weeks. The attack in Kabul could be a way for the militants to show that the insurgency remains potent.

At least 17 people were killed in today's attack and 32 wounded, said Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, head of criminal investigation for the Kabul police. He said three of the dead were police officers and most of the civilians killed were Indians.

The targets were two residential hotels. A car bomb flattened the Hamid Guesthouse and assailants also attacked the nearby Park Residence, Sayedzada said. An Associated Press reporter saw police carry seven bodies from the Park Residence.

"I saw foreigners were crying and shouting," said Najibullah, a 25-year-old hotel worker who ran out into the rain-soaked street in his underwear when he heard the first explosion.

Najibullah, whose face and hands were covered in blood, said he saw two suicide bombers at the site. "It was a very bad situation inside," he said. "God helped me, otherwise I would be dead. I saw one suicide bomber blowing himself up."

The explosions woke residents near the Kabul City Centre, a nine-storey shopping area that includes the four-star Safi Landmark hotel. Witnesses said one explosion created a crater about a metre wide and windows of the Safi hotel were blown out.

A large plume of black smoke rose from the area. Shattered glass littered the streets, which were mostly empty because it was the first day of the Afghan weekend. Afghan police, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, crouched behind traffic barriers with guns ready as shots sounded from several sides.

More than two hours after the first explosion, gunfire continued to ring out around one of the guest houses. Police with gas masks were trying to smoke out a suspected attacker in the basement of the building, according to a police officer at the scene who only gave his first name, Abdulrahman.

The Canadian embassy issued a statement saying the violence would not undermine international commitment to Afghanistan.

"Attacks, such as today's bombing, will not deter Canada or its international partners from its commitment to support Afghans in their efforts to create a stable, democratic and self-sufficient society," the embassy said.

Jack Barton, an Australian aid worker, said he had been awakened by a large blast that blew in the windows of the guesthouse where he was staying and filled the room with dust.

"There was very intense street fighting outside the guesthouse compound. It happened very close by. After an hour, it slowly drifted away," he said.

It was the first attack in the Afghan capital since 18 January, when teams of suicide bombers and gunmen targeted government buildings, leaving 12 dead, including seven attackers. On 15 December a suicide car bomber struck near a hotel frequented by foreigners, killing eight people.

On 28 October, gunmen with suicide vests stormed a small residential hotel, leaving 11 dead, including five UN staff and three attackers. Earlier that month, on 8 October, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle outside the Indian embassy, killing 17 people.

India is among the largest economic donors to Afghanistan apart from countries that have sent troops to the Nato-led mission. It is seeking regional allies and access to oil and gas-rich central Asia.

But India's growing role in the country is strongly opposed by Pakistan, which wants a friendly Afghan government without ties to its arch-rival, and by the Taliban because of Indian links to rival ethnic communities. Many of the Islamic extremist groups in the region have been fighting the Indians for years in Indian-controlled parts of Kashmir.

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FOLLOWING EXPLAINS HOW FROM NOW ON WHATEVER HAPPENS
AT BAGRAM PRISON WILL REMAIN A "SECRET"

Saturday, February 27, 2010
18:01 Mecca time, 15:01 GMT
 http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/2010227134828232750.html
 
News CENTRAL/S. ASIA 
 
US unveils Bagram handover plan  


The prison facility at Bagram is built on the site of a US military airbase [File: Gallo/Getty]
 
Afghan officers will begin to take charge of the prison facility at Bagram, currently run by the US military, from next week.

Addressing a news conference at the jail near the capital Kabul on Saturday, US and Afghan officials said the handover of the prison would be gradual over the coming year as Afghan officers still require training.

"This is the start of the process," Mohammad Qaseem Hashimzai, Afghanistan's deputy justice minister, told reporters.

"As a first step we will soon send a team of judicial officials [and] in three months the Afghan national army will take control of the prison facility," he said.

"By January 2011 we'll be in full control of the prison."

General Mohammad Akram, the deputy defence minister, said that in two years the facility would pass from army control to the ministry of justice.

'Lengthy process'

Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent at the news conference, said that Afghan and US officials had warned that the handover was a "lengthy" and "difficult process".

in depth :
  US unveils extended Bagram prison
  Video: Access restricted on Bagram 'tour'
  Guantanamo's 'more evil twin'?
  Riz Khan: Is Bagram the new Guantanamo?
 
"The Americans will certainly continue to have a role at the detention centre," she said.

Prisoners at the controversial prison, which has been compared to the US military facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, have complained about terrible living conditions and long periods of detention without charges or trial.

In 2002, two detainees died after being beaten at Bagram. Officially they were said to have died of natural causes but an inquiry later revealed they had been beaten, chained and deprived of sleep.

However, the prison was recently revamped at a cost of $60 million and has been renamed the Parwan Detention Facility, after province of Parwan where it is located.

Hashimzai desribed the new jail, which can hold up to 1,000 inmates, as a "a model prison".

The centre currently houses about 700 people, "about 30" of whom are non-Afghans and "about five" are juveniles, according US military officials.

'Atmosphere improved'

In 2008, the International Committee of the Red Cross began organising family visits but they were cancelled last July amid reports of a mass protest by prisoners that went on for months.

But US military officials say the "the atmosphere has now improved".

Al Jazeera's Abdel-Hamid said that an Afghan justice ministry official told the news conference that the handover would improve conditions for inmates at the prison.

 
The handover plan came as the US said it was considering an offensive in Kandahar [Reuters]
"He was saying that handing over, even within the limitations they do have at the moment, will certainly have a positive impact because the Afghans who will be manning that facility know better the culture and the traditional of the people here," she said.

"He also said that every single detainee will go through a hearing, ther files will be closely monitored and studied and any detainee who should be released will be released.

"That process started under the Americans - the American commander told us that this month alone 60 detainess had been released after going before a commission."

The planned handover comes as the US prepares to launch a military offensive in Kandahar cityfollowing the military operation to drive Taliban fighters out of the town of Marjah in Helmand province.

A senior US official said the impending operation would be "more comprehensive".

"I think the way to look at Marjah, it's the tactical prelude to larger, more comprehensive operations later this year in Kandahar city," news agencies quoted the unnamed official as saying on Friday.

Afghan troops raised their flag over Marjah as the town was symbolically handed over to the Kabul government's control after two weeks of fighting by a joint Afghan, Nato and US Marine force.
 
 

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US 'planning Kandahar offensive

Aljazeera.net

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63679&hd=&size=1&l=e

February 26, 2010

The United States is planning to launch a military offensive in Afghanistan's Kandahar city following the military operation to drive Taliban fighters out of the town of Marjah in Helmand province, a senior US official has said.

"I think the way to look at Marjah, it's the tactical prelude to larger, more comprehensive operations later this year in Kandahar city," news agencies quoted the unnamed official as saying on Friday.

Afghan troops raised their flag over Marjah as the town was symbolically handed over to the Kabul government's control after two weeks of fighting by a joint Afghan, Nato and US Marine force.

The senior US official told reporters that the military operation was "pretty much on track", but cautioned that it would be several more weeks before Nato troops had cleared the area of Taliban fighters.

The Marjah offensive was an early test of the new strategy of Barack Obama , the US president, to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistanto win control of Taliban-held areas and put in a civilian administration.

Kandahar 'very important'

General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, said earlier this week that "Operation Moshtarak" was a  "model for the future".

"We are going to go to where significant parts of the population are at risk and Kandahar is clearly very, very important not just to the south but to the nation," he told Britain's The Timesnewspaper.

In depth
  Operation Moshtarak at a glance
  Gallery: Operation Moshtarak
  Video: Interview with US commander in Helmand
  Video: Taliban fighter says Nato losing Afghan support
  Video: Civilians flee Marjah fighting
  Focus: To win over Afghans, US must listen
  Timeline: Afghanistan in crisis
 
"It is not the only area though."

Kandahar is Afghanistan's second biggest city and has been a centre for Taliban resistance since the movement was forced from power by the US-led invasion in 2001.

"If the goal in Afghanistan is to reverse the momentum of the Taliban ... then we think we have to get to Kandahar this year," the US administration official was quoted as saying.

"Bringing security, comprehensive population security to Kandahar city is the centrepiece of operations this year. Therefore, Marjah is the prelude, a sort of a preparatory action."

Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, said that the reported plans for a Kandahar offensive would fit with comments made byofficials before the Marjah operation.

"This all fits in with Obama's plan to surge 30,000 troops to Afghanistan and then set a timeline for withdrawal," she said.

"Sources were telling me this is what the plan was ... They were going to focus on 80 distinct areas and they thought if they could secure those they could connect the dots and form a 'U' around the country.

"The reason they want to do this is because they believe that could be the main economic artery, the main road that hits most of the population centres.

"They are not necessary trying to secure the whole country, just the main population centres."

Taliban 'confused'   

A British commander said on Friday that the Helmand offensive had left Taliban fighters "disorientated".

"One of the key conclusions from what the commanders on the ground have seen is the degree of dissipation and confusion the Taliban are experiencing," Major General Gordon Messenger told reporters in London.

"There is increasing evidence that they feel under pressure and are moving out of the area.

"Insurgent activity across the area is levelling off and in some cases experiencing a bit of a lull."

However, Taliban fighters showed that they still had the ability to strike elsewhere in the country, killing at least 17 people in suicide bomb and gun attacks on a number of guesthouses in the capital Kabul on Friday.


 

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UK troops in Afghanistan 'for five years'

by Robin Henry

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63707&hd=&size=1&l=e

February 27, 2010

British troops will remain in Afghanistan for the next five years, according to the head of the Army.

General Sir David Richard expects combat in the country to "trail off in 2011" but said the military would stay to provide training and support for Afghan troops.

His comments come as Operation Moshtarak, a major joint offensive against Taliban strongholds, appears to be drawing to an end.

Last year Sir David predicted the UK would remain in Afghanistan for 30 to 40 years, however he believes the "tables have turned" on the Taliban since then.

Sir David said: "The combat role will start to decline in 2011, but we will remain military engaged in training and support roles for another five years, and we will remain in a support role for many years to come.

"A year ago the Taliban thought they had us on the run, but now the tables have turned. They are under relentless pressure and they are now having some serious thoughts about continuing the fight."

Speaking to the Telegraph newspaper during a visit to Helmand he claimed the campaign in Afghanistan was now showing some "very optimistic" signs.

Today a senior US General claimed Operation Moshtarak, which has involved US, UK and Afghan troops, was in its final stages after two weeks of fighting.

Brigadier General Ben Hodges, who heads operations in the south of the country, said most Taliban fighters in the Marjah area had either been killed or gone into hiding.

He said: "There will be some sporadic fighting, I believe, some tough areas where there are still a few holdouts.

"I think most of the significant combat operations, though, will have subsided. I think the majority of the enemy has either been killed or driven out or blended back into the population."

Four British troops have been killed in the offensive so far.

A total of 266 British servicemen and women have died since operations began in 2001, with three soldiers killed in as many days last week.

A soldier from 28 Engineer Regiment, attached to the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, died yesterday after being caught in a blast near a check point in Nad-e-Ali, Helmand.

His next of kin was informed and he is expected to be named today.

Tributes were paid yesterday to Rifleman Martin Kinggett from A Company 4 Rifles who was shot dead in Sangin on Thursday and to Senior Aircraftman Luke Southgate who died in an explosion north of Kandahar Airfield on Wednesday.





 

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"They are our people"

by Rutabaga Ridgepole, TPM

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63717&hd=&size=1&l=e


February 27, 2010

While the shit-head Army spin-doctors are bellowing about our next great "operation" after "Operation Moshtarak" has completely destroyed the little of Marjah that existed before we arrived with our tanks and artillery and rockets and supersonic bombers and Marines trained to kill with incredible efficiency...

While idiots on the blogs are blathering about the evil Taliban, as if you shit-heads have a right to make life-and-death decisions about Afghanistan...

This man must die, because we say so, we Americans, the stupidest f**king sons-of-bitches on the face of the earth...

We Americans who can't even find Afghanistan on a map...

We Americans who can't speak any of the many, many languages of Afghanistan...

We Americans decide life and death in Afghanistan!

While this whole obscene circus was celebrating the murder of at least another dozen children in Marjah and planning our next great "operation" in Kandahar...

While this obscenely stupid dog-and-pony show was repeating itself for the hundredth or five hundredth time in Afghanistan, after nine goddamned years of our obscenely stupid occupation...

One reporter for the Associated Press actually interviewed a couple of actual citizens of Afghanistan, and one particle of truth somehow found its way into the nauseating ocean of bullshit and outright lies that passes for "reporting" in the United States.

"There is no difference between Taliban and the civilian people. The Taliban are the rural people. They are our people," said Musa Jan, who arrived a week ago from Marjah. He spoke to the AP outside a makeshift warehouse in Lashkar Gah where the government was distributing essentials to war victims.
"The fight was continuing when we were trying to get out," said Jan, who said he paid about $35 for each of the three taxis. "That was all our money, and now we have to come here and beg."

Jan said his neighbors house was bombed by an aircraft, killing five occupants inside, including children.

Sultan Mohammed who fled last Friday from Marjah said he had to walk for several hours before a motorcyclist gave him a lift. He said the Taliban fled when the soldiers came to his area.

"But who are the Taliban? They are the rural people," he said.

Al Qaeda is gone. The "foreign militants" are gone.

Now it's just villagers, rural people, their people, and us...

Their people and us with our tanks and artillery and rockets and supersonic bombers and Marines trained to kill with incredible efficiency.



 

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Anti-Imperialist
Andrew Bacevich on international relations and foreign policy.
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/new/blogs/bacevich/Consensus_Renewed

Consensus Renewed

Several reporters called me this week, asking for comment on the Afghanistan war’s latest milestone: The total American war deaths in that conflict have surpassed one thousand.

My initial reaction was to wonder why anyone would think the issue sufficiently noteworthy to merit a story. It struck me as one of those situations where journalists grab a random factoid and try to endow it with significance, recruiting people (like me) to unearth its hitherto unappreciated meaning.

The real story—which just about no one seems to have noticed—is this: In Washington, the bipartisan consensus in favor of open-ended global war has been restored. As far as national security policy is concerned, this may well stand as the Obama administration’s principal accomplishment to date.

Recall, please, the immediate aftermath of 9/11. President Bush and his lieutenants wasted no time in committing the United States to a global war. America’s purpose was to eliminate terror—perhaps even evil itself—and to spread democracy around the world. Bush and others in his inner circle were quite candid in declaring that this enterprise was likely to require decades if not generations before achieving complete success.

In Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike responded with applause, with blank-check authorizations, and with massive appropriations of money. Few voices were raised to wonder if open-ended war might not be such a good thing. Bring 'em on: That was the order of the day.

Only when Bush decided to go after Saddam Hussein—innocent of very little, but uninvolved in the 9/11 attacks—did cracks begin to show in this consensus. When Operation Iraqi Freedom produced not victory, but a shipwreck, consensus all but collapsed. Democrats turned (belatedly) against the war. From out of nowhere, Barack Obama—who, unlike Senator Hillary Clinton, had not voted in favor of invading Iraq (he hadn’t yet been elected to the Senate)—emerged as the anti-war/peace presidential candidate. Obama promised to change the way Washington worked. Surely that implied a rejection of Bush’s recipe for endless war.

Didn’t it?

Well, no, as it turns out. Once elected and after due deliberation, Obama decided that endless war remains an imperative. The new president just wanted to focus on Afghanistan and “AfPak” rather than on Iraq and the Persian Gulf. So he hired his own version of General David Petraeus and announced his own version of the surge. In Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike responded with applause, with blank-check authorizations, and with massive appropriations of money.

Which leaves us pretty much back where we were after 9/11—except that no one any longer believes that the concerted use of military power will enable the United States to eliminate terror—much less evil itself—or to spread democracy around the world. The fighting continues. The bills mount. To what end?

Helluva job, Mr. President.

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Army says it needs 20,000 more soldiers

Defence chiefs believe the Army may have to recruit an extra 20,000 soldiers if Britain is to win the wars of the 21st century.
 
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
Published: 9:00PM GMT 27 Feb 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/7332259/Army-says-it-needs-20000-more-soldiers.html

Photo: AFP/GETTY

A British Army strategy document seen by The Sunday Telegraph states that the Army may need to grow by 20 per cent from its current strength of 101,000 troops if the country is to be adequately defended from future threats.

It stated that expensive equipment may need to be sacrificed to pay for the additional soldiers.

 
The disclosures were made in an Army response to the Green Paper which set out the terms for the Strategic Defence Review, due to take place after the General Election.

Recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have demonstrated that large numbers of troops were needed to hold and secure ground and to fight a relatively unsophisticated enemy.

Senior Army generals have already questioned the cost of a replacement for the Trident nuclear deterrent or other expensive programmes such as the RAF's Eurofighter, the Royal Navy's proposed carriers and the 100 US jets accompanying them.

Senior army sources warned last week that many British military capabilities lacked relevance and were structured and equipped for the 20th-century cold war.

They said that of all weapons at the disposal of the armed forces, the Trident missile system was least likely to be used.

The document states: "There are several cost drivers in defence that grow above inflation; two of these are manpower and equipment. The (Green) Paper rightly suggests that SDR must look at these.

"In the past this cost growth has lead to reductions in numbers of platforms or personnel but the Paper is careful not to suggest that these trends are enduring.

"We should be mindful of the fact that our US, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand allies have all recently increased the size of their Armies by approaching 20 per cent.

"Indeed defence may need to prioritise manpower over equipment if that is what we require to fight wars in the 21st Century."

One Army source added that the armed forces need more surveillance and intelligence gathering equipment and fewer strike weapons.

While military chiefs should not "say goodbye to major combat operations" they should provide governments in the future with "many more options on the soft end" involving "boots on the ground".

The document also stressed the need for the military to improve its strategic communications strategy, which is widely accepted as having failed to win public support for the Afghan war.

The fight for future resources comes as Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, is expected to be forced this week to explain why defence spending was slashed just a year after the start of the war in Iraq.

The Prime Minister will be asked at the Chilcot Inquiry why Army recruiting was capped, infantry battalions were cut and the helicopter budget was slashed by £1.4 billion just as Britain became embroiled in a counter-insurgency war in southern Iraq.

Senior defence sources have told The Sunday Telegraph that Gordon Brown, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, was more interested in reaping the financial rewards of the peace dividend which accompanied the troops' pull-out from Northern Ireland than funding the Iraq war.

Under Treasury directives the Army was forced to cut the number of infantry battalions from 40 to 36; a programme to buy up to 20 Chinook helicopters was effectively cancelled; and recruiting for the infantry, which was at an all-time high in 2004, was stopped.

Defence chiefs were also told that there was no money available to replace the Army's fleet of lightly armoured Snatch Land Rovers which were regarded by troops as "death traps".

Senior defence sources said that the feeling in the Ministry of Defence was that Gordon Brown had no interest in the Army or what was happening in Iraq.

One senior source said: "The insurgency in southern Iraq was gaining pace. The Army was becoming increasingly stretched and while the government should have been investing and spending the message from The Treasury was 'pare down'."

We made various submissions to the Treasury but they were either ignored or not acted upon.

"The attitude was 'the Northern Ireland problem was now solved so you don't need so many infantry battalions'.

The Treasury wanted to cut troop numbers by 10,000 but General Sir Mike Jackson, who the then chief of the general staff, fought back and the figure was reduced to around 4,000, according to sources.

The 1998 Strategic Defence Review stated that there was a requirement for an additional 20 Chinooks, but a £1.4 billion Treasury-imposed cut to the equipment budget in 2004 meant that the procurement programme was shelved.

The consequences of that single act came home to roost in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2009 when a lack of helicopters forced troops to travel by vehicle at a time when the Taliban had switched tactics and the use of improvised explosive devices surged.

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By Mark Magnier and Aimal Yaqubi
http://freedomsyndicate.com/mayfair/latimes032.htm

Attack in Kabul points to shifting Taliban tactics

Coordinated bombings that kill 16 in a rich residential district come early Friday as the Afghan weekend begins, helping the assailants set up the attack, while cutting the risk of civilian deaths.
 

February 27, 2010

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and New Delhi

A coordinated attack early Friday, which killed at least 16 people and targeted a hotel and guesthouse in central Kabul, underscored the shifting tactics of Taliban insurgents and their keen understanding of geopolitical implications.

Three assailants struck at 6:30 a.m. on the first day of the Afghan weekend, when few people are on the street, in the prosperous Shahr-e-Naw residential area. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombings, the first attack in Kabul since January and the capital's deadliest in months, police and Interior Ministry officials said.

The destruction started with a car bombing that leveled the Arya Guesthouse, which was filled with Indian doctors who work at Kabul's Indira Gandhi Child Health Institute, city Police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahman told reporters.

After the blast, one of the militants set off his explosives vest in front of the ruins while the two others entered the Park Residence guesthouse across the street, which was soon surrounded by police and military. A second assailant then blew himself up, killing three policemen, while the third attacker hunkered down in the basement and was killed about 10:30 a.m. by police gunfire.

Among the dead were six Indians, four Afghan civilians, an Italian diplomat, a French filmmaker and three police officers, officials said. Some bodies were so badly burned it will take time to identify them. At least 36 people were wounded.

"I was in my room and heard a big explosion, and all the glass shattered, the first of three blasts," said Qimat Shah, 38, a municipal worker living in the area. "My head was injured, bleeding badly, from the flying glass."

Early morning television broadcast images of a plume of black smoke rising from the area, shattered glass lining the streets and broken windows in shops and homes. Afghan police crouched behind traffic barriers as the remaining gunman remained holed up in the guesthouse basement.

Analysts said the attack appeared to be a well-planned operation aimed at achieving several political objectives.

Pulling off the attack in central Kabul -- in one of the most secure neighborhoods in Afghanistan's most secure city -- was designed to send a message that the Taliban is not intimidated by the stepped-up military offensive in the southern city of Marja and can bring the battle to the doorstep of its adversaries.

"They're trying to up the pressure and send a message that you guys aren't defeating us," said John Harrison, a research manager at the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore. "And they're showing they can penetrate the city and stand awhile."

The early morning timing on a weekend probably made it easier to get the attackers, vehicles, weapons and explosives into position since security forces presumably would be less vigilant; an early start also gives recruits less time for second thoughts. And with streets largely deserted, the attackers are less likely to kill civilians and more likely to find their principal target -- foreigners -- still sleeping. The insurgent group is wary of a backlash from the Afghan public over civilian deaths.

As suicide bombings have become nearly routine, the combination of a car bombing and suicide blast followed by an armed standoff carries more shock value, providing more of the attention that militants seek. Having armed insurgents stand their ground also sends a message that the fighters are more ideologically committed than some drugged, brainwashed, poorly educated teenager pulling a detonation cord. The combination, with its drawn-out suspense, also gains better TV coverage.

"It prolongs developments, adds to the chaos and brings more publicity," said Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, senior researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "With a suicide attack, you blow yourself up, that's it. This has much more impact."

The choice of the Shahr-e-Naw neighborhood frequented by foreigners and affluent Afghans sent a not-so-subtle message: foreign occupiers and those who follow their profligate ways must be eliminated.

And that the militants targeted a guesthouse serving Indians is probably no accident, analysts said. At one level, the attack is a direct challenge to President Hamid Karzai, who has closely allied himself with India and whom the Taliban opposes for his pro-Western policies and support.

The attack is also a bid to further drive a wedge among Western coalition member countries in the hopes that other nations will follow the Dutch in leaving, as they appear likely to do with the recent fall of their government.

Targeting Indians working on humanitarian projects -- coming on the heels of two attacks on the Indian Embassy in Kabul in the last two years -- also may serve the interests of some in Pakistan who hope to reduce India's influence in Afghanistan as the region prepares for the likely power vacuum after the U.S.-led coalition leaves.

Pakistan's intelligence agencies have a history of supporting militant groups in Pakistan, many with links to their Afghan counterparts, as part of their proxy war against India, according to U.S. and Asian analysts.

"Pakistan is deeply resentful of India's footprint in Afghanistan and would like to see it reduced," said Sadanand Dhume, an Asia Society fellow and author of "My Friend the Fanatic," a book on radical Islam.

"That said, I don't see India [abandoning projects in Afghanistan] over one attack. It's deeply committed to maintaining a role in Afghanistan."

If tensions rise again between India and Pakistan just as the two have resumed formal talks after a 15-month hiatus following the 2008 Mumbai attack, it could keep more Pakistani troops on the Indian border and away from the Afghan border, where the U.S. would like to see them. The Afghan and Pakistani Taliban could gain more freedom to operate along the porous border.

"If you get India riled up, you divert Pakistan troops," Harrison said. "The jihadi community is trying to relieve the pressure."

Finally, there's the spin that militants put on the attack.

Analysts said that when Afghan police respond to an attack, the Taliban spreads rumors that foreigners are putting Afghans in danger while avoiding it themselves. If coalition troops respond to an attack, the Taliban spreads rumors that the coalition doesn't trust locals and views them as lap dogs.

"No matter what the coalition does, it can't win," Harrison said. "It's a very smart strategy."

mark.magnier @latimes.com

Yaqubi is a special correspondent.

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US winds down Afghan assault but bigger one on way

by Nasrat Shoib Nasrat Shoib
Sat Feb 27, 8:10 am ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100227/ts_afp/afghanistanunrestmarjah

A CH53 US Marine helicopter lands in Marjah. US-led forces are winding down one of their biggest offensives in Afghanistan, but an official says it was a prelude to a larger assault on the Taliban bastion of Kandahar.

 
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) – US-led forces were winding down one of their biggest offensives in Afghanistan on Saturday, but an official said it was a prelude to a larger assault on the Taliban bastion of Kandahar.

The two-week Operation Mushtarak -- Dari for "Together" -- symbolically ended Thursday when authorities hoisted the Afghan flag in Marjah, a poppy-growing southern area that had eluded government control for years.

A US commander in Kandahar said most combat operations had "subsided", although US, British and Afghan troops would still need several weeks to exert control over more remote villages in the targeted area in Helmand province.

"There will be some sporadic fighting, I believe, some tough areas where there are still a few holdouts," Brigadier General Ben Hodges told the PBS Newshour on US public television.

"I think most of the significant combat operations though will have subsided. I think the majority of the enemy has either been killed or driven out or blended back into the population," he said.

Helmand government spokesman Daud Ahmadi said Marjah was returning to "normal" but authorities were reluctant to return thousands of displaced villagers to their homes because of the innumerable mines left by the Taliban.

"At the moment the situation is normal in Marjah," he told AFP.

But "the improvised bombs... are and have been a major problem. The troops are busy clearing the mines but the threat remains as big," he said.

"At the moment we do not have any particular programme to return the displaced people, mainly because of the mines," he said.

More than 4,000 families left Marjah to escape the violence, authorities and humanitarian organisations have said.

Ahmadi said shops were reopening and other commercial activity resuming in Marjah.

The assault has been billed as the biggest military operation since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime, and is a major test of President Barack Obama's troop surge, which aims to turn the tide in Afghanistan.

In a vivid reminder of the Taliban's reach, suicide bombers on Friday targeted guesthouses in the heart of Kabul, killing 16 people including Westerners and Indians.

The new US-led counter-insurgency strategy, designed to allow Western troops to be drawn down by mid-2011, entails carrying out military operations then establishing civilian security and services such as hospitals and schools.

In Washington, a senior Obama administration official said Operation Mushtarak was just a preview of a wider campaign under preparation to exert control in Kandahar, the second largest Taliban stronghold after Helmand.

"Marjah (is) the tactical prelude to larger, more comprehensive operations later this year in Kandahar city," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"It's a goal for 2010. If our overall goal for 2010 is to reverse the momentum and gain time and space for the Afghan capacity, we have to get to Kandahar this year," he said.

Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary confirmed Kandahar was the next step in an anti-Taliban campaign "which will last 18 months".

Kandahar is a cultural home to the Pashtun people and was the birthplace of the Taliban movement, which imposed an austere brand of Islam over the country from 1996 to 2001.

The anonymous administration official on Friday pointed to successes in a key part of the strategy -- Pakistan.

"In the last nine months we've seen a significant strategic shift in Pakistan (which) is the decision by the Pakistani security forces to take the fight against the Pakistani Taliban."

Pakistan has launched offensives in its lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, where much of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda leadership is believed to be based.

The British embassy in Kabul said Afghan forces taking part in Mushtarak had seized more than 7,533 kilogrammes (16,600 pounds) of opium and heroin in two separate operations on February 14 and 15 in southern Helmand.

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Blast kills 11 civilians in Afghanistan

Sunday, 28 Feb, 2010 
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/12-blast+kills+11+civilians+in+afghanistan--bi-03

     
Afghan police investigate the site of a blast in Helmand.—Reuters/File Provinces


 KANDAHAR: An explosive device planted by Taliban militants killed 11 civilians on Sunday in Afghanistan's most violent province, a government official said.

The blast happened on a road in the Nawzad district of Helmand Province.

“A newly planted mine of the Taliban hit a coach bus, killing 11 civilians including two women and two children today,” Dawud Ahmedi, spokesman for the Helmand provincial governor, said. The Taliban had no immediate comment.

On Tuesday, authorities blamed the Taliban for setting off a remote-controlled bomb near a government building in Helmand's capital, Lashkar Gah, which killed seven people and wounded 14.—Reuters

 

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Sunday, February 28, 2010
16:52 Mecca time, 13:52 GMT 
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/2010228133831513930.html
 
News CENTRAL/S. ASIA 
 
Lethal bombing in south Afghanistan 
 

The US military and Nato are planning to launch an offensive on Kandahar in the coming weeks [AFP]
 
A roadside bomb has claimed the lives of 11 civilians in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, according to local government officials.

Daud Ahmadi, the governor's spokesman, told journalists on Sunday that "a civilian car struck a roadside bomb in Nawzad district" in the north of the province.

Blaming the Taliban for the attack, Ahmadi said the dead included two children and two women.

Thousands of US, NATO and Afghan troops have been pursuing a  major offensive against the Taliban in Helmand's Marjah and Nad Ali areas since February 13.

Helmand is the most troubled region in Afghanistan with the  highest level of activity by insurgents, mostly remnants of the Taliban ousted from the government by US-led forces in late 2001.

The current operation, called Moshtarak (Dari for "together"), is aimed at driving the Taliban from their strongholds and is part of Washington's new war strategy for Afghanistan announced late last year.

The town of Marjah continues to see sporadic resistance.

Over a dozen foreign soldiers and at least two of their Afghan counterparts have been killed during Moshtarak. Dozens of Taliban fighters have also died although the authorities have yet to give a precise figure.

At least 15 civilians have also been killed in the offensive, 12 of them by a rocket fired by US forces and intended to hit Taliban resistance.

Operations are set to expand to other Taliban strongholds, particularly in the neighbouring province of Kandahar, where the Taliban maintain a large presence.

About 121,000 international troops, mainly from the United States and NATO, are stationed in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban.
 
 

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Two blasts hit Afghanistan's Kandahar, six dead


by Ismael Sameem
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan
Mon Mar 1, 2010 5:23am
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6200TM20100301?feedType=nl&feedName=usmorningdigest

Large blast rocks Afghanistan's Kandahar: witness

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Four Afghan civilians and one foreign soldier were killed on Monday when a suicide car bomber hit a convoy of NATO-led troops near the southern city of Kandahar, officials and witnesses said.

World

Hours later, a car packed with explosives blew up outside the main police station in the city, the birthplace of the ousted Taliban in Afghanistan and the expected next target of NATO troops fighting to oust the militants.

The second Kandahar blast killed one police officer and wounded 16 people, including nine police, said Fazl Ahmad Sherzad, deputy police chief for Kandahar province.

A Reuters reporter at the scene saw at least six vehicles badly damaged. Shattered glass littered the area and several buildings nearby were destroyed.

In the earlier suicide attack, several soldiers from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were wounded in the attack on a road several miles from Kandahar airport, a provincial official said.

The airport is a key base for a major offensive by ISAF and Afghan forces launched in neighboring Helmand province two weeks ago to retake the town of Marjah from the Taliban.

The Afghan civilians were killed after they pulled their car over on the side of the road, a common act in rural areas to allow convoys of foreign forces to pass, witnesses said.

"Four civilians were killed and one wounded in the attack," said Mohammad Ibrahim, a doctor in a Kandahar hospital.

Foreign troops cordoned off the road leading to the site of the strike, witnesses said, adding that a coalition helicopter evacuated the wounded ISAF soldiers.

A bridge close by was badly damaged, a Reuters cameraman and reporter said.

In a statement on their website, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the convoy, saying at least 11 foreign soldiers were killed.

A spokesman for the NATO-led force said one NATO soldier was killed in the blast.

(Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Bryson Hull and Paul Tait)

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Marjah: ‘This is not Fallujah’ 

(AFP) NATO forces have met strong resistance in Afghanistan’s Marjah as their onslaught enters its second week.

01/03/2010 11:30:00 AM GMT
http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/39/Marjah-This-is-not-Fallujah.html
 
NATO forces have met strong resistance in Afghanistan’s Marjah. But Marjah is really just a microcosm for what the U.S. is doing at this moment around the globe.


By Eric Walberg

Apart for Abu Ghraib, Fallujah is perhaps the Iraq war’s defining moment. The hatred and resentment of the occupied people found a catalyst in the four Blackwater mercenaries, who were killed and strung up, and no doubt deserved their fate, certainly as symbols of a cynical, illegal invasion. The U.S. soldiers -- who are just as mercenary, being a professional army invading a country sans provocation -- came and "destroyed the village to save it."


The "success" of the blitzkrieg war in Iraq has been difficult to duplicate in Afghanistan, "the heart of darkness", one British commander quipped to his troops as they went into battle, despite dropping far more bombs -- many of them radioactive. The unflagging resistance of the Afghans, their refusal to submit to the occupiers, is that because they realise the invaders are not there for their purported altruistic motives.

The thousands of civilians and resistance fighters who have been killed by airstrikes -- none of them guilty of anything more egregious than defending their homeland -- is more than ample proof, as is the craven propping up of a U.S.-imposed government, and the proliferation of U.S. bases in the country. The unapologetically un-Islamic ways of the invaders, their lack of even the remotest understanding of the people they are occupying, is a constant insult to a proud and ancient people.


The new exit plan, so it goes, involves "clearing" all regions of Taliban -- US Marines call it "mowing the grass", acknowledging that as soon as they murder one group of resisters and leave, more pop up. The "new" strategy is to bring in ready-made Afghan administrators and police to create a prosperous, peaceful society once the "enemy" have been destroyed, "winning the hearts and minds" of the locals. "We’ve got a government in a box, ready to roll in," said chief honcho General Stanley McChrystal.


But wait a moment. Is it possible the invaders are the enemy? And who are these newly discovered Afghan officials? Are (famously corrupt) Afghan government officials and police nominally loyal to NATO forces, trucked in by the invaders, going to be welcome in remote villages as ready-made trusted representatives of the people? And wasn’t this precisely the failed policy the U.S. followed in Vietnam ? This old "new" policy was what convinced United States President Barack Obama to go along grudgingly with the Pentagon’s demands to radically increase NATO force -- though on the condition that the whole operation be complete by next year. He clearly was given no choice in the matter, and his "ultimatum" was dismissed by U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates moments after Obama made it.


Not surprisingly, NATO forces have met strong resistance in Marjah as their onslaught enters its second week, from both the incredible, ragtag resistance and from locals, who doubt that the postwar reality will correspond remotely to the picture the invaders are painting. Tribal elders in Helmand this week called for an end to the "Moshtarak" offensive, citing Western troops’ disregard for civilian lives. Realising their "shock and awe" bombing kills civilians and turns locals against them, the invaders have reluctantly cut back, now authorising them only under "very limited and prescribed conditions."

Even so, over 50 civilians are among the dead so far -- 27 in an airstrike in Uruzgan Province -- and "friendly fire" killed seven Afghan police. Six occupiers were killed in one day alone, bringing NATO losses to 18 at the time of writing.


The latest propaganda ploy is to accuse the Taliban of using locals as "human shields" and of holing up near civilians. But surely it is the NATO forces that are using locals as human shields, invading their homes in search of the "enemy", forcing them to betray their children and friends, often under torture in Afghan-run prisons. Even those Afghans who collaborate with the occupiers, taking their dollars, guns and uniforms, are in effect human shields for the troops. And when they realise their lives are on the line, they flee their paymasters. How else to explain the 25 police officers who left their posts last week and "defected" to the Taliban in Chak?


But Marjah is really just a microcosm for what the U.S. is doing at this very moment around the globe -- waging a veritable war on the world, in Iraq, Pakistan, expanding into Yemen, Somalia, Iran, supplementing bombs and soldiers with militarised sea lanes, forward military and missile bases on every continent, encircling "enemies" Russia and China.


The process is merely accelerating as the U.S. loses its traditional edge in the world economy, outpaced by China . It is the logical next step for a deeply illogical economic system. It can’t be repeated too often: the US is frantically trying to consolidate its sole superpower status militarily before it loses the economic war.


Marjah also represents the U.S. project of replacing the UN with NATO as the world’s peacekeeper. The coalition of almost 60 nations is pursuing an illegal war launched by the U.S. , with the UN -- the only legitimate forum for world peacekeeping -- now in tow solely as window dressing. Though not quite. Deputy special representative of the secretary general Robert Watkins said the UN will not be involved in NATO’s reconstruction plans for Marjah "because we would not want to have the humanitarian activities we deliver to be linked with military activity."


Today’s Russia, unhappy with the Yelstin-era acquiescence to a subservient role in the U.S. empire, is the only country standing up to the US empire. The new military doctrine announced by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev earlier this month is unwavering in its condemnation of U.S. plans. The fact that NATO is attempting to "globalise its functions in contravention of international law" is threat Number One, followed by NATO’s encirclement of Russia and U.S. forward missile bases, now rapidly being deployed around the world -- and Russia. International terrorism is ninth out of 11 threats listed. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reiterated this on Tuesday, saying Russia will give priority to nuclear deterrence, space and air defense in its military reforms.


The Russians argue that the OSCE should have been the vehicle for European security after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but instead, the US chose to expand NATO. This meant not uniting Europe, but merely moving the dividing line east, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week at the Munich Conference on Security. Lavrov pointed to the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 and the tragedy in the Caucasus in August 2008 as evidence that the OSCE had failed to rise to the challenge of maintaining peace in Europe . The OSCE Permanent Council knew about the Georgian leaders’ preparations for a military attack but took no measures. The Russia-NATO Council also failed when members blocked Russia’s request to convene an urgent meeting when the military actions were at their height.


Last month’s London conference on Afghanistan was presented in the West as a benign effort to provide economic development and humanitarian aid. It was not a UN conference, but "the international community coming together to fully align military and civilian resources behind an Afghan-led political strategy", graced by the UN secretary general’s presence. It was preceded by two days of meetings between top military commanders of almost a third of the world’s nations at NATO headquarters in Brussels, and followed by two days of meetings by NATO and allied defense chiefs last week in Istanbul, the latter attended by Israeli Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.


The brazen involvement of Israel in a war against Islamic Afghanistan, where Israeli drones have killed and continue to kill civilians and resisters, suggests what this war really represents. The invaders should note that their nickname "Moshtarak" (collective) derives from the same Arabic root as shirk (idolatry). Though Pentagon planners don’t register such subtleties, the locals surely do.


Marjah is indeed Fallujah. Like Fallujah, it will become a symbol, the defining moment in the war against the Afghan people. U.S. Marines may "mow the grass", eradicate the "weeds", and plant their sterile seeds of Western-style democracy and economic prosperity as much as they like. However, "the Taliban is the future, the Americans are the past in Afghanistan," as former head of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Hamid Gul recently told an Arabic news agency. This is clear to any sensible observer.


Gul angrily notes that it is Afghanistan ’s neighbours, in particular, Pakistan, that will be left holding the bag when the inevitable arrives. "The OIC and the Muslim countries will have to come in and play their part. Then Afghanistan can redeem itself." The sooner the U.S. accepts the inevitable, the fewer will be the needless deaths of both Americans, Europeans and Afghans.



-- Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly. You can reach him at EricWalberg.com.



-- Middle East Online

 

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Suspected CIA suicide bomber calls American team 'gift from God'

STORY HIGHLIGHTS:

-Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi has been ID'd as bomber who killed 7 CIA agents

-Newly released video shows al-Balawi describing what led to suicide attack

-He says CIA team was not original target, but "a gift from God," who sent "valuable prey"

-Al-Balawi says in video he fooled Jordanian officials into thinking he worked for them

Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi is believed to be the suicide bomber who killed seven CIA operatives and a Jordanian.

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The man believed to be the suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees and contractors last year appears in a newly released video, claiming to have tricked Jordanian intelligence officers as a double agent.

The 43-minute video, posted on various Islamic radical Web sites Saturday, shows Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, whom a former U.S. intelligence official identified as the suicide bomber.

Family members have said that the man in the video, who uses the alias Abu Dajana Al-Khorasani, is al-Balawi. A much shorter version of the video was posted online in January.

The December 30 bombing at a U.S. base in Khost, in southeastern Afghanistan, killed seven CIA operatives and a Jordanian army captain. The video posted Saturday is dated "Safar 1431" on the lunar calendar, which includes any day between January 16, 2010 and February 13, 2010.

In the video, al-Balawi says killing the CIA team wasn't part of the initial plan. "We planned for something but got a bigger gift -- a gift from God -- who brought us ... a valuable prey: Americans, and from the CIA."

The video opens with a montage of images -- including clips of torture and meetings of world leaders, such as former President George W. Bush with Jordan's King Abdullah and President Obama. A narrator criticizes the "infidel West," and talks of crimes against Muslims.

Al-Balawi then appears on the video, vowing to bring down the CIA and saying how he deceived Jordanian officials into believing he worked for them.

"Look, this is for you," he says to the camera, while sitting in a vehicle. "It's not a watch. It's a detonator to kill as many as I can, God willing."

Later in the video, al-Balawi gives an interview to As-Sahab Media, the production wing of al Qaeda. He says he had tried to join "jihad" in Iraq after the start of the U.S.-led war there. He began to write on online forums about jihad, he tells an unidentified interviewer in a room.

He says he found his opportunity to join the militant mission after being recruited by Jordanian officials as a spy in Afghanistan.

Al-Balawi was recruited by Jordanian authorities as a counterterrorism intelligence source, a Jordanian official told CNN last month.

"Actually, Jordanian intelligence -- may God send consecutive curses on it -- is the one who gave me a large amount of money, it is the one who paid for my ticket, and it is the one who helped me to forge some documents I needed to get a Pakistani visa," the man in the video says.

Jordanian and U.S. intelligence agencies apparently believed al-Balawi had been rehabilitated from his extremist views and were using him to hunt Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 figure, a former U.S. intelligence official said.

Al-Balawi claims in the video that the Jordanian authorities paid him and that the money went to support the Mujahedeen.

"So this is a new era for the Mujahedeen, God willing, in which the Mujahedeen will use intelligence-based tactics and methods which rival or even exceed those of the security apparatuses of the strongest of states, like Jordan and America, with the permission of Allah, Lord of the worlds," he says.

Al-Balawi said he initially targeted a Jordanian official, referred to as Sharif Ali bin Zaid. The narrator said that Zaid, an army captain, was killed in the attack.

"So it wasn't planned this way," al-Balawi said. "The target was Abu Zaid, but the stupidity of Jordanian intelligence and the stupidity of American intelligence is what has turned it into a valuable prey. It's a blessing from Allah."

The man explained why he was choosing a suicide mission, or "martyrdom," for his attack on the U.S. base in Khost.

"You can only get a maximum number of kills for a minimum number of martyrs and losses in the ranks of the Mujahedeen with a martyrdom operation," he said.
 

 
 
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/28/afghanistan.cia.bomber/index.html?hpt=T2 
 

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South Asia
Mar 2, 2010 
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LC02Df03.html 
 
Afghan police still out of step


By Pratap Chatterjee

WASHINGTON - Afghan police are widely considered corrupt, unable to shoot straight, and die at twice the rate of Afghan soldiers and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops. After US$7 billion spent on training and salaries in the past eight years, several United States government investigations are asking why.

Some answers are obvious: Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries of the world, with extremely low literacy and a serious drug problem. One in five police recruits test positive for drugs and fewer than one in 10 can read and write. Unofficial estimates suggest that the Taliban pay twice as much as the government, luring away many candidates from law enforcement careers.

But another rather surprising answer was offered in a little-noticed report published last month after a high-level investigation by two major US government agencies.

The report - titled "DOD Obligations and Expenditures of Funds Provided to the Department of State for the Training and Mentoring of the Afghan National Police" - says that the US State Department has completely failed to do any serious oversight of the private contractors to whom they paid $1.6 billion to provide police training at dozens of sites around Afghanistan.

DynCorp's International Police Training Program, run out of Fort Worth, Texas, has won the bulk of the contracts that have been overseen by the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). The company, which has annual revenues of $3.1 billion, has followed a series of wars to run lucrative police training contracts from Bosnia in the 1990s to Iraq in 2003.

DynCorp's work with Kabul began in 2003, almost two years after the fall of the Taliban. It was expanded in 2004 when the State Department issued it a contract to build seven regional training centers, and provide 30 police advisers across Afghanistan.

This initial contract was replaced by a series of related contracts beginning on August 15, 2005, under which DynCorp today employs some 782 retired US police officers and an additional 1,500 support staff. The contracts expired January 31, 2010, but have temporarily been extended until the end of March.

The cost of hiring contractors to train police is high: Each expatriate police officer makes six-figure US salaries - at least 50 times more than an Afghan police officer. Many experts, including the authors of this new report, have questioned the utility of sending police officers - many from small towns in the US - to teach handcuffing and traffic rules to recruits caught in a war zone.

"The DOS [State Department] Civilian Police Program contract does not meet DOD [Pentagon]'s needs in developing the ANP [Afghan National Police] to provide security in countering the growing insurgency in Afghanistan," says the report signed by Pentagon deputy inspector general Mary L Ugone and State Department assistant inspector general for the Middle East Richard "Nick" Arntson.

The report concludes that the State Department-led training "hampers the ability of DOD to fulfill its role in the emerging national strategy".

Oversight failures
The inspectors general have a long list of complaints.

State Department officials take as long as six months to implement training requirement changes requested by the Pentagon.

The State Department failed to draw up any means of assessing DynCorp's work. "The current task orders do not provide any specific information regarding what type of training is required or any measurement of acceptability ... Additionally, the current contract does not include any measurement of contractor performance."

Oversight of invoices and receipts submitted by the contractor was virtually non-existent.

The description of the State Department's seven-member oversight team as "in country" is "misleading". Only three of the seven "in-country" State Department officials officially in charge of overseeing DynCorp contract were based in Afghanistan. (Three were US-based and the seventh worked on an entirely different contract.)

Much of the equipment provided by the US for training had gone missing. During site visits to three police training centers in Bamiyan, Herat and Kandahar, the inspectors randomly selected 123 items from an inventory list of vehicles, weapons and electronics, but could only locate 34. In Kandahar, nine "sensitive items" - pistols, rifles and scopes - could not be located. A subsequent check up at DynCorp's headquarters in Kabul showed that the weapons were signed out by company personnel. Of 89 non-sensitive items, only two could be located. The Kandahar site coordinator explained that the list was inaccurate and out of date.

Money, too, was unaccounted for or misappropriated. Inspectors quoted a preliminary audit that identified $322 million in invoices for the State Department's global police training program that were approved "even though they were not allowable, allocable, or reasonable". Roughly 50% of the approved invoices that the inspectors reviewed had errors. The inspectors general recommended that the State Department should return a "minimum" of $80 million from the Afghanistan budget to the Pentagon.

Douglas Ebner, a company spokesman, e-mailed Inter Press Service to say that DynCorp "welcome[d] the emphasis on oversight and accountability". He noted that the DynCorp inventory system had been approved by the Defense Contract Management Agency. "Sensitive items are inventoried and documented on a monthly basis. The audit report notes that sensitive items in fact were accounted for as being properly signed out by contractor personnel," wrote Ebner.

The State Department acknowledges many of the problems with oversight. "We agree with report recommendations to station more contracting officer representatives in country for oversight and are moving forward," said Susan R Pittman, a State Department spokesperson. The State Department, she added, was developing "standard operating procedures [specifically] identifying duties and responsibilities" for the oversight officials.

But Pittman took issue with the conclusion of the inspectors general that there was an $80-million overcharge, noting that the State Department was conducting an audit to determine "how much we can return".

Failing grades
While the inspectors general have criticized the lack of State Department oversight, they have not found fault with DynCorp. "Based on what the contract stated, we saw no problem with the contractor," Arntson told CorpWatch.

Yet if the measures that are used to track the capabilities of the Afghan police are any guide, the contract has not been a resounding success. All told, the ANP had 94,958 personnel on the rolls as of December 31, 2009, organized into 365 police districts, but only about one quarter have actually completed formal training, according to Pentagon records.

Just 17% of the 64 police districts reviewed by the inspectors general had sufficient equipment and were capable of conducting law enforcement operations by themselves. Half of the police districts were classified as "present in geographic location" with up to a level of 69% of equipment and personnel and "partially capable of conducting law enforcement with coalition support".

Recent statistics appear to show that the success rates is sliding backward, despite a March 2009 promise by the Barack Obama administration to devote more resources to standing up the Afghan security forces.

Figures tucked away in a January 2010 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report, for example, displayed some alarming trends. A review that covered 97 police districts assessed just 12% as capable of independent operations. Between the third and fourth quarter of 2009, the number of police districts that were considered incapable of conducting law enforcement operations rose from 13 to 21%.

DynCorp is not being considered for a new billion-dollar training contract by the Pentagon office in charge - the Counter Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office (CNTPO) in Dahlgren, Virginia. Instead, CNTPO plans to select from five pre-approved vendors: Xe (formerly Blackwater), Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and ARINC Engineering Services.

DynCorp is not taking this lying down - the company has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office, alleging that the approach is "procedurally and legally flawed". A decision is expected by March 24.

Ryder continues to insist that DynCorp is the most qualified to do police training. "[N]either our military nor European National police were formed or trained to teach basic law enforcement skills," he told the Commission on Wartime Contracting. "At DynCorp International we do not build satellites. We do not design aircraft. We do training and mentoring. That is our core competency - and this competency is represented in the DNA of our 30,000 employees worldwide."

Pratap Chatterjee is a senior editor at CorpWatch. This article was produced in partnership with CorpWatch.

(Inter Press Service)
 
 
 

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Marines, Afghan Troops to Be Stationed in Marjah

Sunday , February 28, 2010
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587623,00.html

Marjah residents sit at the foot of the Afghan flag just hoisted by Helmand province Governor Gulab Mangal on Feb. 25.

MARJAH, Afghanistan — More than 2,000 U.S. Marines and about 1,000 Afghan troops who stormed the Taliban town of Marjah as part of a major NATO offensive against a resurgent Taliban will stay for the next several months to help ensure insurgents don't return, Marine commanders said Sunday.

Two Marine battalions, along with their Afghan counterparts, will be stationed in Marjah and help patrol it as part of NATO's "clear, hold, build" strategy, which calls for troops to secure the area, restore a civilian Afghan administration, and bring in aid and public services to win the support of the local population, commanders said.

On Sunday, the 1,000 Marines with the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines Regiment were fortifying positions to the north and west of the town, taking over compounds and building others from scratch to create a small garrison, known as a Forward Operating Base, as well as combat outposts and a network of temporary patrol bases, said Capt. Joshua Winfrey, head of Lima Company.

To the south of Marjah, another battalion was doing the same, Winfrey said. About 1,000 Afghan troops will accompany the Marines, he added.

Marine spokesman Capt. Abe Sipe said construction of a more permanent military outpost will facilitate a long-term NATO presence in the town.

"We are going to have a presence in Marjah for some time. There's no plans for anyone to pull out," Sipe said. "The idea is to live among the local nationals because we found that's the best way to partner with local security partners to make Afghans feel safe and not under threat."

Afghan residents in Marjah had told government officials that they preferred NATO troops to be based in the town itself, instead of being outside, to provide better security.

Winfrey said he has been told that the entire battalion expects to be stationed in Marjah until the end of its deployment in August.

Establishing a credible local government is a key component of NATO's strategy for the longtime Taliban logistical hub and drug trafficking center. Last week, the government installed a new civilian chief, and several hundred Afghan police have already begun patrolling newly cleared areas of Marjah and the surrounding district of Nad Ali.

The Marjah offensive has been the biggest military operation since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban's hard-line regime. It's the first major test of NATO's counterinsurgency strategy since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 new American troops to try to reverse Taliban gains.

But the challenges in routing the Taliban are formidable. A team of suicide attackers struck Friday in the heart of the capital, Kabul, killing at least 16 people in assaults on two small hotels. Half of the dead were foreigners. The attack served as a reminder that the insurgents still have the strength to launch attacks — even in the capital.

On Sunday, three top police commanders in Kabul offered to resign from their posts for failing to prevent the insurgents' attack.

"We are the people responsible for the security of Kabul, we failed to provide that security and we don't want to be responsible for others dying," said Gen. Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, the chief of Kabul's criminal investigation unit. The city's police chief and deputy police chief also offered to resign, according to the Interior Ministry.

However, the interior minister told all three to continue in their posts until an investigation is finished. At that point, he will decide whether or not to accept their resignations, said Zemeri Bashary, a spokesman for the ministry.

In other violence, 11 members of one family were killed Sunday in southern Helmand province when their tractor, with a truck-bed hitched to the back, hit a roadside bomb, said provincial government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi. All aboard died, including two women and two children.

Ahmadi said the Sunday attack occurred in Now Zad district, significantly north of the area where international and Afghan forces launched their military push against the Taliban.

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Marines, Afghan troops to stay months in Marjah

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press Writer

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63749&hd=&size=1&l=e

February 28, 2010

MARJAH, Afghanistan – More than 2,000 U.S. Marines and about 1,000 Afghan troops who stormed the Taliban town of Marjah as part of a major NATO offensive against a resurgent Taliban will stay several months to ensure insurgents don't return, Marine commanders said Sunday.

Meanwhile, insurgents are striking back by attacking resupply convoys moving in and out of Marjah with roadside bombs, Marines said Sunday. Four convoys have been hit in the last two days, Marines said on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information. There was no word on casualties.

Two Marine battalions and their Afghan counterparts will be stationed in Marjah and help patrol it as part of NATO's "clear, hold, build" strategy, which calls for troops to secure the area, restore a civilian Afghan administration, and bring in aid and public services to win the support of the population, commanders said.

On Sunday, the 1,000 Marines with the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines Regiment were fortifying positions to the north and west of the town, taking over compounds and building others from scratch to create a small garrison, known as a Forward Operating Base, as well as combat outposts and a network of temporary patrol bases, said Capt. Joshua Winfrey, head of Lima Company.

Another battalion was doing the same to the south of Marjah, Winfrey said. About 1,000 Afghan troops will accompany the Marines, he added. In addition about 900 Afghan paramilitary police are already patrolling Marjah.

Marine spokesman Capt. Abe Sipe said a more permanent military outpost will facilitate a long-term NATO presence in the town.

"We are going to have a presence in Marjah for some time. There's no plans for anyone to pull out," Sipe said. "The idea is to live among the local nationals because we found that's the best way to partner with local security partners to make Afghans feel safe and not under threat."

Marjah residents had told government officials that they preferred NATO troops to be based in the town itself, instead of being outside, to provide better security.

Winfrey said he has been told that the entire battalion expects to be stationed in Marjah until the end of its deployment in August.

Establishing a credible local government is a key component of NATO's strategy for the longtime Taliban logistical hub and drug trafficking center. Last week, the government installed a new civilian chief, and several hundred Afghan police have already begun patrolling newly cleared areas of Marjah and the surrounding district of Nad Ali.

The Marjah offensive has been the biggest military operation since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban's hard-line regime. It's the first major test of NATO's counterinsurgency strategy since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 new American troops to try to reverse Taliban gains.

But the Taliban have proved resilient in the past, and the attacks against supply convoys indicate they have not been beaten even though they have lost control of Marjah.

Marines said it appeared that insurgents were planting the bombs overnight inside trails that had been cleared for convoys by demolition teams.

As evidence that the Taliban are far from defeated, a team of suicide attackers struck Friday in the heart of the capital, Kabul, killing at least 16 people in assaults on two small hotels. Half of the dead were foreigners. The attack reminds that the insurgents still have the strength to launch attacks — even in the capital.

On Sunday, three top police commanders in Kabul offered to resign for failing to prevent the attack.

"We are the people responsible for the security of Kabul, we failed to provide that security and we don't want to be responsible for others dying," said Gen. Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, the chief of Kabul's criminal investigation unit. The city's police chief and deputy police chief also offered to resign, according to the Interior Ministry.

However, the interior minister told all three to continue in their posts until an investigation is finished. At that point, he will decide whether or not to accept their resignations, said ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary.

In other violence, 11 members of one family were killed Sunday in southern Helmand province when their tractor, with a truck-bed hitched to the back, hit a roadside bomb, said provincial government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi. All aboard died, including two women and two children.

Ahmadi said the Sunday attack occurred in Now Zad district, significantly north of the area where international and Afghan forces launched their military push against the Taliban.

In central Zabul province, a joint Afghan-international force engaged in a gunbattle Sunday with insurgents in Khaki Afghan district, killing six, said provincial government spokesman Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar. The previous night, eight Taliban were arrested, he said.

One Afghan soldier was killed and another one was wounded after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb Sunday near the provincial capital of Qalat, Rasoulyar said.

Two Afghan soldiers were killed Saturday by a roadside bomb near Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

____

Associated Press writers Noor Khan in Kandahar, and Rahim Faiez, Tini Tran and Heidi Vogt in Kabul contributed to this report.



 

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Foreign soldier killed in Afghanistan: NATO

AFP

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63755&hd=&size=1&l=e

February 28, 2010

KABUL (AFP) – A foreign soldier has been killed fighting insurgents in Afghanistan, NATO said, though the death was not associated with major military operations in the south of the country.

In a brief announcement NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the death was in western Afghanistan on Saturday.

"An ISAF servicemember died today as a result of small-arms fire in western Afghanistan," it said, adding that the soldier's nationality would not be revealed according to policy.

NATO and the United States have around 121,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan to battle a Taliban-led insurgency, with the number set to rise to 150,000 by August, military officials have said.

US President Barack Obama is deploying an extra 30,000 troops over coming months -- supplemented with 10,000 from NATO -- most for deployment to the volatile southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, where the insurgency is concentrated.

Some 15,000 US, NATO and Afghan troops are currently in Helmand for the first major operation of a US-led counter-insurgency strategy that marries military clearance of insurgents with civilian control and services.

The latest casualty brings the total death toll of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan so far this year to 101, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the independent website icasulaties.org.

ISAF has said that 14 of those deaths took place during the Helmand operation, dubbed Mushtarak, meaning "together" in the Dari dialect as an indication of the participation of 4,400 Afghan troops.





 

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NATO Poised for Enormous Kandahar Offensive

Major City and Surrounding Province to Face Massive Influx of Troops

by Jason Ditz, February 28, 2010
http://news.antiwar.com/2010/02/28/nato-poised-for-enormous-kandahar-offensive/

When NATO began its invasion of the Marjah farming region, the general consensus among analysts was that the offensive, the single largest operation since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan against a relatively anonymous little town in the middle of nowhere, was mostly a “PR” invasion to sell the continued to an increasingly skeptical Western public.

But it is increasingly clear that wasn’t the whole story. Officials are now making it very plain that the invasion of Marjah was a “test” of a new strategy, that will be put into practice on a much larger scale with the invasion of Kandahar.

The Marjah invasion was far from the runaway success officials promised, but it appears to have been “good enough” from their perspective, and it seems that it will be used more or less unchanged in Kandahar. But the lacking strategy will run into more problems than just transitioning from the invasion of a farming region of 80,000 to a city of nearly a million people.

The Marjah invasion saw around 15,000 troops invade and enormous influx of police aimed at “holding” the region. It also drove around a third of the population into refugee camps around Lashkar Gah. But it was invading a region that was more or less a blank slate, having never had a NATO military presence nor a presence of the Karzai government.

Kandahar, on the other hand, has been the center of a lot of violence since the NATO invasion, and has been torn by numerous corruption scandals surrounding the Karzai government’s police, and Karzai’s brother Wali. Kandahar’s residents will be under no illusions that the offensive will solve its serious corruption problems.

In contrast to Marjah, which was mostly built up in the 1960s by American investors to showcase modern agricultural techniques, Kandahar has enormous historical and cultural significance to the Taliban. It was the site where Mullah Omar founded the movement, and will probably see much more fierce resistance.

It is unclear when the offensive will start, but amassing tens of thousands of troops for a push into the city will likely take months, putting the attack likely in late spring to early summer. This will give the Taliban plenty of time to prepare, even more than they had in Marjah, and will likely create a much larger refugee problem as one of the nation’s largest cities is transformed into a battlefield.

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Afghanistan bans coverage of attacks, will detain offending journalists


Raw Story

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63773&hd=&size=1&l=e

March 1, 2010

"Afghanistan announced a ban on news coverage of Taliban strikes on Monday, saying such coverage only emboldened the Islamist militants, whose latest strikes killed six in the southern city of Kandahar," Reuters reports.

Journalists will only be allowed to cover the aftermath of Taliban attacks with permission from the National Directorate of Security (NDS) spy agency, the agency said. It threatened to detain journalists who film attacks without permission and confiscate their equipment.

"Live coverage does not benefit the government, but benefits the enemies of Afghanistan," NDS spokesman Saeed Ansari said. The agency summoned a group of reporters to announce the ban.

No filming will be permitted while attacks are under way, and live broadcasts will be banned even from a distance, Ansari said.

The move was denounced by Afghan journalism and rights groups, which said it would deprive the public of vital information about the security situation in the country.

The wire service adds that the "government imposed a similar ban for a single day last year as an extraordinary measure during a presidential election, but has never before issued a permanent, blanket ban."

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) – Twin car bombs and multiple other attacks killed four NATO soldiers and 10 Afghans Monday, taking foreign troop deaths this year well above the level for the first two months of 2009.

The NATO deaths in southern and western Afghanistan mean 105 foreign soldiers have been killed in the country this year -- twice the number in the same period last year.

A string of bomb blasts struck the south within 24 hours in an increase in Taliban-linked violence more than two weeks after thousands of US-led troops launched a major offensive in Helmand province.

The attacks highlighted the threat posed by the militia across much of the nation and emphasised the challenge faced by US and NATO troops taking part in a military "surge" aimed at ending the eight-year war.

On Monday morning, a suicide bomber rammed his car into a NATO convoy crossing a bridge in Kandahar province, which neighbours Helmand, sending an armoured vehicle plummeting into the river below, an AFP reporter said.

The Afghan interior ministry said the attack killed "four of our innocent civilian compatriots".

Sergeant Jeff Loftin, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said one foreign soldier was killed and "a few" injured but did not disclose their nationalities.

Hours later, a station wagon packed with explosives blew up outside the provincial police headquarters in Kandahar city -- the spiritual capital of the Taliban -- killing one person and wounding 16 others, police said.

"In the remote-controlled car bomb explosion... one civilian working for the police headquarters was killed," said deputy provincial police chief Fazel Mohammad Shairzad.

Of the 16 wounded, nine were policemen, he added.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location that his organisation was responsible for both bombings.

ISAF later released a statement reporting three more deaths on Monday -- two in an attack in the west and one in a shooting in the south. The force gave no further details, and did not identify the nationalities of the dead.

The deaths bring to 105 the number of foreign soldiers who have died in Afghanistan so far this year, according to an AFP count based on a tally kept by the independent website icasualties.org.

Last year was the deadliest since the war began, with 519 foreign troop deaths.

Another five Afghan civilians were killed by roadside bombs in Helmand on Monday, the interior ministry said.

One mine exploded under a car near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, killing three civilians, and two others died in a similar attack in Gereshk district, it said in a statement.

On Sunday, a bomb planted by the Taliban killed 11 civilians including women and children in Helmand, where 15,000 troops have been waging a massive anti-Taliban offensive. Overall, more than 120,000 foreign troops are currently in Afghanistan.

Since February 13, US, NATO and Afghan troops have been fighting to drive the Taliban from the Marjah and Nad Ali areas of Helmand. Afghan authorities say they are now in control, having hoisted the national flag last week.

Operation Mushtarak ("Together") is aimed at driving the Taliban from their strongholds and is part of Washington's strategy to end the war.

Although commanders say the fighting is now winding down and Kandahar is next on the list, authorities have been reluctant to return thousands of displaced villagers because of innumerable mines left by the Taliban.

The Taliban, their affiliated networks and loyalists have focused their fight to bring down the Western-backed Afghan government on the south but are said to have a significant presence across virtually the entire country.

Foreign troop numbers in Afghanistan are set to rise to 150,000 by August as part of the war strategy adopted by US President Barack Obama and key allies.

(with AFP report)



 

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Attacks kill 4 NATO troops around Afghanistan

By NOOR KHAN (AP)

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63768&hd=&size=1&l=e

March 1, 2010

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Four NATO service members died Monday in separate attacks across Afghanistan, including a suicide car bomb that targeted an international military convey as it crossed a bridge in the Taliban-dominated south, the coalition said.

Nine Afghan civilians also died in four bombings in the south, officials said.

The deaths came as American and Afghan forces worked to consolidate control over the former insurgent stronghold of Marjah in the southern province of Helmand, where allied forces are waging the largest combined offensive of the 8-year-old war.

Monday's suicide attacker waited in a taxi for the NATO convoy to cross the bridge between Kandahar city and the airport, then detonated his explosives, tossing a military vehicle into a ravine, said Inhamullah Khan, an Afghan army official at the site.

A NATO spokesman, Maj. Marcin Walczak, confirmed one service member died in the suicide bombing. He did not provide the nationality or any other details.

Four Afghan civilians died in the bridge attack, the Interior Ministry said. Three of the civilians who died were in a car that had pulled over nearby to wait for the convoy to cross the bridge, which the military regularly sweeps for explosives, Khan said.

In western Afghanistan, two other NATO troops died in a mortar or rocket attack, a military statement said, while another service member was killed by small arms fire in the south. The statement gave no other details.

Another car bomb Monday outside Kandahar city's police headquarters killed a civilian employee and wounded nine police officers and six civilians, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemerai Bashary. Another official had previously said a police officer was among the dead, but Bashary said he was an office worker, not an officer.

Kandahar city is the capital of the province of the same name that is considered the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban. It lies east of Helmand province, where thousands of U.S., NATO and Afghan troops are conducting an offensive to wrest control of the town of Marjah from insurgents.

Marjah has long been controlled by the Taliban, and the assault is seen as the first step in a multi-month offensive that will eventually target insurgent strongholds around Kandahar city.

U.S. and Afghan forces' advances in and around Marjah have been hampered by thousands of buried explosives left behind by the Taliban — roadside bombs that kill civilians as well as military forces.

On Monday, a civilian car hit one of the roadside bombs as it entered the city limits of Lashkar Gah, the major town north of Marjah. The blast killed three people, including a 10-year-old boy, said Dawod Ahmedi, spokesman for the Helmand provincial governor.

Another roadside bomb killed two employees of a construction company who were riding in a company vehicle Monday afternoon on a road north of Lashkar Gah district, an Interior Ministry statement said.

The 2-week-old Marjah offensive, involving thousands of American troops along with Afghan soldiers, is the largest combined assault since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban's hard-line Islamist regime.

It is the first test of NATO's new counterinsurgency strategy since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 new U.S. troops to Afghanistan late last year.

The allied forces have cleared most of Marjah and are now working to secure the area, though NATO has warned there could be pockets of violence for weeks. Hundreds of Afghan police and civil servants are being brought in with the goal of establishing public services to win the support of the population.

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Associated Press writers Noor Khan in Kandahar and Heidi Vogt in Kabul contributed to this report.





 

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70 percent of Afghan police recruits drop out: US trainer

AFP

http://uruknet.com/index.php?p=m63816&hd=&size=1&l=e

March 2, 2010

LONDON (AFP) – Nearly 70 percent of Afghan police recruits drop out during training, the top US army officer in charge of shaping the new Afghan security forces said Tuesday.

Lieutenant General William Caldwell said the 67-percent "attrition rate" among police recruits was "far too high" and revamping the way the police works to avoid burn-out was one of his main priorities.

The high drop-out rate meant that in order to grow the Afghan police and army from their current level of about 200,000 to 300,000, far more than 100,000 recruits would be required because many would fall by the wayside.

Caldwell, the Commander of the NATO Training Mission and Combined Security Transition Command in Afghanistan, told an audience in London that building a new police force was the biggest challenge his team faced.

The task involved with the police was "significantly greater" than for the Afghan army, he told the Royal United Services Institute defence think-tank.

Many Afghans are deeply distrustful of the police which they accuse of being riven by corruption, but Caldwell blamed the fact that until recently just 30 percent of recruits received any training at all.

"How can you expect people to do a job you have never trained them to do?" he asked.

He said he hoped the introduction of new working methods for police recruits to allow them more leave after what was now "extremely intensive" training would prevent so many dropping out.

He admitted that when he saw the unforgiving training and working schedule the police had faced before his appointment, he was not surprised so many were failing to complete the course.

"If you did to my army what we are doing to them, you would break it too," he said.

But Caldwell said he was encouraged by a surge in the number of recruits. From around 800 recruits in September last year, Afghan recruiters were now putting forward 7,000 a month.

His organisation has just 2,500 military staff and about 2,750 civilian trainers, but his budget will be 20.8 billion dollars (15.3 billion euros) over the next two years, with "99.9 percent" of the funding coming from the United States.

He is expected to appeal for more trainers from NATO member states when he visits the organisation's headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.