In this bulletin:

• Afghan President calls on Taliban to give up militancy
• Taliban kill Afghan district spy chief, coalition soldier wounded
• 16 militants, four Pakistani soldiers killed in Afghan border clash
• Pakistan making efforts to promote security along Afghan border: Musharraf
• Minister visits Afghanistan ahead of British deployment
• US wants lasting strategic relationship with Pakistan
• Taliban attack party to stop music
• Pakistan to help Dutch deploy troops in Urzgan
• First Afghan appears at Guantanamo trial
• AFGHANISTAN: Government to build 2,000 schools this year
• Afghanistan's first open heart operation gives Elaha new life
• AFGHANISTAN: Refugee returns approach 10,000 this year
• Killed by friendly fire?
• Ivory Tower Stonewall
• Christie Blatchford discussed the Canadian mission in Afghanistan

Afghan President calls on Taliban to give up militancy – Xinhua 04/05/2006

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday defined militancy as terrorism and called on Taliban to give up the practice and help rebuild their country.

"I am calling on those Taliban who are playing in the hands of enemies to give up militancy, to abandon terrorists and let us to rebuild this country," he told hundreds of religious leaders at a ceremony held in connection with Prophet Mohammad's birthday.

He made this remarks amid increasing insurgency and Taliban movement's vow to intensify activities in spring when the weather gets warm. "Afghans deserve to live in peace and dignity and I am praying before the Almighty God to assist us in achieving this goal," President Karzai pointed out.

The Afghan leader said assassinating religious leaders was not an act of Islam. Suspected Taliban militias have killed over 10 pro-government religious leaders over the past one year.

Suspected Taliban loyalists in their latest wave of violence against government interests set on fire two schools and one health clinic in Nimroze province Monday night.

The elusive leader of ousted Taliban regime Mullah Mohammad Omar who has escaped the U.S. military biggest manhunt in the region in a recent statement vowed to step up attack on Afghan and foreign troops till their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Some 200 including 13 American soldiers have lost their lives in Taliban-linked militancy so far this year.

Taliban kill Afghan district spy chief, coalition soldier wounded

Kabul (AFP) - Taliban militants shot dead a district intelligence chief in southern Afghanistan while a coalition soldier was wounded in a separate battle with insurgents, officials said.

Four Taliban on motorbikes opened fire on the spy chief of Moqur district of Ghazni province as he was travelling to work, the provincial police chief said on Wednesday.

"The intelligence chief of Moqur district was martyred by four Taliban on motorbikes today in the morning," Abdul Rehman Sarjang told AFP. Police gave chase and shot at the attackers, one of whom was arrested, he said.

Three others were wounded but managed to escape in a car, he said. They were later cornered by police who expected to arrest them soon. On Tuesday another district intelligence chief, Mohammad Tahir from western Farah province, was also gunned down by the Taliban as he was going to office.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the Farah attack on behalf of the Islamist movement, which has been waging a deadly insurgency since being forced from government in a US-led attack in November 2001.

Also Tuesday, soldiers serving with the US-led coalition in central Uruzgan province clashed with "enemy forces", spokesman Colonel Jim Yonts said. One coalition soldier was hurt and evacuated for treatment, he said in a statement Wednesday.

Australian and Dutch troops are due to deploy this year to Uruzgan, which sees regular insurgent attacks. A NATO-led deployment of peacekeepers is expected to merge with the US-led coalition in stages this year with the new force eventually to number up to 25,000 troops from more than 30 countries.

Foreign troops have been in Afghanistan since helping to topple the Taliban government and are focused on combating insurgents and extending the authority of the government.

The insurgency is blamed for most of almost 2,000 killings since the start of 2005, with most of the dead being militants killed by security forces.

16 militants, four Pakistani soldiers killed in Afghan border clash

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships killed at least 16 militants after an overnight rebel rocket attack left four soldiers dead, the military said.

Some 19 pro-Taliban militants were captured during the operation in the North Waziristan tribal district near the Afghan border. "In retaliatory operations after last night's rocket attack on the checkpost, the security forces have killed 16 militants and 19 miscreants have been captured," military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told AFP on Wednesday.

Sultan said the forces went into action early Wednesday after "miscreants" fired several rockets at the security post in Shawal, leaving four soldiers dead and six wounded.

Sultan said the military's Cobra helicopters also targeted militants who were trying to escape a compound in four or five vehicles. He said security forces have completed the operation.

The army last month fought bloody battles with militants sympathetic to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban and their tribal supporters in North Waziristan, killing nearly 200 people.

Separately two soldiers were injured late Tuesday when militants fired rockets at their camp outside Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan. The mountainous region is believed to shelter numerous militants linked to Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime.

Pakistan has deployed 80,000 troops along the border to hunt down militants who sought refuge in the rugged tribal terrain after the ousting of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in the neighbouring country. President Pervez Musharraf last month warned foreign insurgents to leave the tribal belt or be killed.

Pakistan making efforts to promote security along Afghan border: Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, April 05 : President General Pervez Musharraf told the visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Mr. Richard A. Boucher that Pakistan is making all possible efforts to promote security along the Afghan border, officials said.

“The President noted Pakistan’s vital stake in the peace, stability and the reconstruction process in Afghanistan,” a Foreign Ministry statement quoted President as telling Mr Boucher, who arrived here on Tuesday for talks on bilateral matters.

“He (the President) stressed that securing this border was a joint responsibility. Pakistan would continue to work with its international partners in this regard,” the statement said.

“The President and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs discussed matters relating to Pakistan-U.S. relations and regional issues of common interest were discussed”.

The President underlined the importance of moving towards conflict resolution in South Asia, it said.

“He appreciated President Bush’s commitment of U.S. support for a Kashmir solution acceptable to all sides,” the statement said.

“The President underlined the importance of consolidating and expanding bilateral cooperation in diverse areas in the frame-work of the Pakistan-U.S. Joint Statement on Strategic Partnership issued during the visit of President Bush to Pakistan last month,” the statement said.

The President pointed to the resolve of the government to maintain high economic growth rate. In this context, he said that Pakistan’s expanding energy requirements would be met through a variety of sources including nuclear power generation.

President Musharraf underscored the importance of expeditious realization of the proposal for setting up Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) for the development of Tribal Areas and the earthquake affected zone.

In the regional context, President Musharraf highlighted Pakistan’s commitment to the peace process with India and Pakistan’s efforts for the resolution of all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Assistant Secretary Boucher stated that the U.S. was committed to seeking a broader and lasting strategic relationship with Pakistan, the statement said. He said that the U.S. would enhance its support with a view to strengthening Pakistan’s socio-economic development.

Assistant Secretary Boucher heads the newly expanded Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the Department of State. He is visiting the region for the first time in this new capacity.

He had detailed meetings with Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri and Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan yesterday. During Assistant Secretary Boucher’s call on the President, Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan and U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker were also present.

Minister visits Afghanistan ahead of British deployment – IRNA 4.4.06

Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells has visited British troops in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan ahead of the UK assuming control of operations from the US next month.

"The UK effort will create a stable environment where the Afghan Government can operate freely and securely to bring about the progress seen elsewhere in Afghanistan," Howells said after his arrival on Monday.

According to the Foreign Office in London, the minister also called on Governor Daud and the provincial council during his visit to discuss a variety of issues, including the UK deployment and counter-narcotics strategy. The so-called Lashkar Gah Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) is currently under US control but will transfer to British authority in May.

"The PRT will follow the model adopted in Mazar-e-Sharif, and consist of military and civilian staff pursuing activities in the fields of governance, economic and social development, counter- narcotics, and rule of law," Howells said, The UK is deploying 3,300 personnel in the region consisting mainly of infantry besides attack and support helicopters, C-130s, light artillery and mechanised support. But it insists that its forces will not take part in the eradication of opium poppies or in pre-planned and direct military action against the drugs trade. The Foreign Office said that the controversial deployment is aimed to bring security that allows economic and social development programs to take place.

As part of the mission, the UK is deploying a total of 5,700 troops in Afghanistan, a commitment which Defence Secretary John Reid said would cost pnd 1 billion (USD 1.77b) over five years.

Giving evidence to the Defence Select Committee last month, Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram also emphasized that the troops would focus on reconstruction rather than counter-terrorism.

Ingram was unable to say whether Britain was close to an exit strategy, insisting that security capacity had to be built up in any country of conflict before there could be a withdrawal plan.

US wants lasting strategic relationship with Pakistan

Islamabad (AFP) - Top US diplomat Richard Boucher told Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that Washington wants a lasting strategic relationship with Islamabad, officials said.

Boucher, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, was making his first visit to Pakistan since he was appointed to the post.

The US was committed to seeking a broader and lasting strategic relationship with Pakistan, Boucher told Musharraf, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Musharraf briefed Boucher on Pakistan's economic growth and said its expanding energy needs would be met through a variety of sources including nuclear power, the statement said.

Pakistan, a key US ally in the so-called "war on terror", responded to last month's US civilian nuclear deal with India by demanding equal treatment.

The official statement did not say whether Musharraf raised the issue with Boucher. However, Boucher told a press conference later that the India-US nuclear deal came up during discussions with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.

"We are not oblivious to the effects of what we are doing. We don't do similar things that we do with Pakistan and India," he said.

"The question is, are we meeting the needs of Pakistan, its aspirations for economic growth and education assistance, helping towards building a secure society?"

The statement said Musharraf told Boucher that Pakistan was making "all possible efforts to promote security along the Afghan border" and securing the border was a joint responsibility.

Afghan and US officials have said the rugged tribal areas of Pakistan are being used by Taliban and other Islamic fighters to launch attacks on US-led coalition and Afghan troops across the frontier.

"There is a common problem extending control in border areas. Common geography makes it difficult. It is not an easy place to police," Boucher told reporters.

Taliban attack party to stop music – Daily Times

TANK: A group of Taliban stormed a wedding ceremony to disrupt a music programme, wounding one man a few days after they ordered Bhittani tribesmen to grow beards, eyewitnesses said on Tuesday.

Naib Nazim Haji Abdur Rehman told reporters that dozens of Taliban attacked the music programme at the wedding of Haji Saeedullah’s two sons in Maghzey village of Tank district. “They came by vehicles and opened fire at the participants in the music programme, wounding one late on Monday evening,” the naib nazim said.

Riaz Kundi, Tank district nazim, confirmed the incident but gave no details. “I am still gathering information,” he said.

“Everyone ran for cover when the bearded Taliban attacked the programme,” the naib nazim said. “The music was stopped and all the frightened music-lovers went home.”

The attack came three days after a Taliban chief in Jandola, a town on the Tank border with South Waziristan, ordered Bhittani tribesmen to grow beards within three weeks.

“Maulana Asmatullah, who claims to be the Taliban chief in Jandola, asked every adult to grow a beard or severe punishment will be awarded after the deadline expires,” a shopkeeper in Jandola bazaar told Daily Times.

Meanwhile, key tribal commander Baitullah Mehsud denied on Tuesday that the Taliban had set up a parallel government in the tribal areas. “Reports about the establishment of a parallel administration or parallel government in Waziristan are baseless and it is a media smear campaign against Islam and Pakistan,” he said in a statement issued in Tank city.

His statement comes after reports from Waziristan that a Taliban-style parallel administration was set up disperse justice under Sharia.

The Tuesday statement is the first from Mehsud since his peace deal with the South Waziristan administration on February 7, 2005. “We want development and peace in our areas and Pakistan is our country and we have to uphold its constitution,” Mehsud added.

He said the local population pressed his force to help them against criminals and their illegal activities. “We are helping our people who asked for help,” the Taliban commander said.

Pakistan to help Dutch deploy troops in Urzgan - By Mohammad Imran

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will help the Netherlands deploy its troops in the Urzgan province of Afghanistan as part of NATO forces, decided a meeting between Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal and his Dutch counterpart Henricus Gregorius Jozeph in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

Both sides agreed to enhance defence cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the field of intelligence sharing. In this connection a memorandum of understanding will be signed soon, the Dutch defence minister told reporters after the meeting. He said the Netherlands would hand over command of Coalition Task Force 150 in the Arabian Sea to Pakistan by the end of this month. He stressed the need for more cooperation between NATO forces and Pakistan, adding that efforts to bring stability in Afghanistan could not succeed without Pakistan’s support.

Jozeph said the Netherlands had already contributed 1,000 troops to NATO forces working for the last four years in Afghanistan, adding that the Dutch forces would stay in Urzgan for two more years. In reply to a question, he said the Netherlands had appointed a permanent military representative in Islamabad to enhance defence cooperation with Pakistan. His visit was the part of efforts in this regard, he added.

He said that a Pakistan military delegation would visit the Netherlands soon to strengthen the defence cooperation. He said that NATO and Pakistani forces were busy fighting terrorists on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border, therefore coordination and cooperation between them was necessary to make the war on terror successful.

First Afghan appears at Guantanamo trial - Tue Apr 4

GUANTANAMO BAY US NAVAL BASE (AFP) - The first Afghan to face "war on terror" war crimes charges appeared before a US military court at the Guantanamo base.

Abdul Zahir allegedly served as a money courier for Al-Qaeda and is accused of throwing a hand grenade at foreign journalists in a car.

Hearings have resumed at the US naval base in Cuba despite a pivotal case before the US Supreme Court challenging the legality of the US military tribunals.

Prosecutors say three reporters were targeted by Zahir in March 2002, including Kathleen Kenna, a Canadian reporter for the Toronto Star newspaper, who suffered leg injuries in the grenade attack.

A pre-trial hearing was also scheduled for Canadian teenager, Omar Ahmed Khadr, who is charged with killing a US soldier during a battle in Afghanistan in 2002. Khadr was 15 when he was captured by US forces and his lawyers say he is too young to be charged with war crimes.

The military tribunals were set up by the US administration to try detainees held at the remote US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but human rights groups and foreign governments have criticized the proceedings as unfair and outside of US and international legal norms.

Only 10 of some 490 inmates held at the Guantanamo prison have been charged more than four years since the camp was opened.

After Canada raised concerns about Khadr's age, the US government said the accused would not be eligible for the death penalty if he is found guilty by military authorities.

Khadr's lawyer alleges his client has been shackled in painful positions and at one point was forced to urinate on himself during his detention.

Prosecutors maintain that Khadr comes from a family with close links to Al-Qaeda and that his father, an Egyptian-born Canadian, was a financier of the terror network's operations.

The father, Ahmed Said Khadr, was killed in a firefight in October 2003 and his other children have also been accused of terrorist ties.

Last week the US Supreme Court heard arguments in a case brought by Guantanamo detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for     Osama bin Laden, whose lawyers have questioned the fairness of the trials.

Zahir's military lawyer, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Bogar, asked the presiding officer Tuesday if he had followed the landmark case before the Supreme Court.

While he had read some legal briefs and news accounts related to the Hamdan case, Chester said he had not followed the Supreme Court proceedings in detail.

"It's above my pay grade. The Supreme Court is going to tell us what to do," said Chester, who as a presiding officer has powers similar to a judge in a civilian court.

While the Supreme Court is not due to rule on the landmark case until June, the government has chosen to continue with the Guantanamo trials.

The US administration defends the tribunals, saying the detainees facing charges are linked to Al-Qaeda and are dangerous terrorists that cannot be treated as normal prisoners-of-war.

AFGHANISTAN: Government to build 2,000 schools this year - 04 Apr 2006

KABUL, 4 April (IRIN) - The Afghan education ministry is planning to build 2,000 schools in cooperation with international aid agencies during 2006, the ministry said on Tuesday in the capital Kabul.

Afghanistan has one of the worst education systems in the world and one of the lowest adult literacy rates, at just 28.7 percent of the population, according to the UN's Afghanistan Human Development Report of 2005. Only Burundi, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Sierra Leone are worse.

"[During 2006] we are planning to build around 2,000 schools, mainly for primary education, with the cooperation of the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Japan and other aid agencies in the country," Mohammad Sadiq Fatman, Deputy Minister of Education, said.

The ministry has said that around 7,000 schools have no permanent structure, with students studying under trees or tents for lack of classrooms.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), around 5 million children were studying in schools during 2005, an increase of over a million on 2004. The enrollment of girls also increased in the same period, the UN agency noted.

Despite these large increases in children attending school in the post-Taliban era, in some provinces, more than 60 percent of young people do not attend, with the number rising to 80 percent when girls alone are considered.

On top of a lack of school buildings, many schools face serious shortages of professional teachers.

"More than 50,000 teachers need to be employed over the next six years to meet the thirst for education," Fatman explained.

Insecurity is also preventing schools from operating in parts of Afghanistan. In the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, and Urozgan more than 200 schools have been closed due to attacks from ousted Taliban insurgents.

Fatman said the ministry was planning to arrange temporary schooling in the capitals of Helmand, Zabul and Paktika provinces for students whose schools have been closed as a result of the insurgency in these remote districts. Recent IRIN report on attacks on schools in the south

Afghanistan's first open heart operation gives Elaha new life

KABUL (AFP) - Elaha, a 13-year-old Afghan girl, had been given only a few years to live before she underwent the first open heart operation in the history of  Afghanistan.

Twenty-four hours later she was sleeping peacefully under the watchful eye of her mother Najeeba in a brand new hospital in Kabul built by French NGO group Enfants Afghans (Afghan Children).

Still hooked up to a heart monitor, a drip in her arm and a furry squirrel toy at her side, the teenager should be able to leave the intensive care ward Wednesday.

Her operation was a medical first in one of the poorest countries in the world where the public health structures, battered by 25 years of war, are not capable of this kind of surgery.

"The symbolic value overrides all technical aspects," says chief surgeon Alain Deloche. "We know that this is the first open heart operation in the history of Afghanistan -- I have done my research," he says with pride.

Deloche has since 1995 headed the Chaîne de l'Espoir (Chain of Hope), a French NGO specialised in humanitarian medicine such as the Enfants Afghans programme.

Elaha has always had her heart defect. "It was a malformation at birth -- normally there are partitions between the auricles but with her there were none. She would have died in two or three years," Deloche explained to AFP.

In France "it is one of the more classic operations", said the surgeon. There are between 800 and 1,000 every year, but they are usually performed on babies up to two years old.

Deloche is one of six French doctors who took part in this Afghan first under the wing of doctor Daniel Roux, a cardiovascular surgeon at Rangueil Hospital in Toulouse from where teams come in rotation to Kabul's French Medical Institute for the Child.

An Afghan surgeon, an anesthetist and two nurses were also in the operating theatre for Elaha's procedure. The team had first chosen a young boy for their first operation in Afghanistan but his mother had refused when she learned what it entailed.

"The heart -- it's a cultural shock. When we told the first family that we were going to make a scar there, the mother said, "You will not operate on my child.'

"But that happens everywhere. In Cambodia it is the same when you talk about blood, scars," said Deloche. But the fear was not shared by Najeeba, 32, who agreed to allow the team to operate on her daughter, despite opposition from her family.

It was a local doctor that suggested she take the girl to the "French hospital", which will be officially opened on Saturday by Bernadette Chirac, the wife of the French president Jacques Chirac.

Bernadette Chirac has been involved in the project since it was launched in late 2001, after the fall of the hardline Taliban regime.

Initially planned to be the "hospital of the mother and child", the French Medical Institute for the Child focuses on pediatrics. It has operated on about 100 children since November.

Enfants Afghans is responsible for all medical aspects of the programme while its direction, operation and a large part of its financing has since the start of the year been carried out by the Aga Khan foundation.

AFGHANISTAN: Refugee returns approach 10,000 this year - 04 Apr 2006

KABUL, 4 April (IRIN) - Around 9,000 Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistan and Iran since the United Nations-assisted voluntary repatriation programme resumed last month, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner Refugees (UNHCR) has said.

The UN refugee agency estimates that in 2006 some 400,000 people may return to Afghanistan from Pakistan and around 200,000 from Iran. Last year the agency assisted more than 500,000 Afghans to return home, of whom 440,000 came from Pakistan and the remaining 60,000 from Iran.

"We are providing a travel grant ranging from US $4 to $37 per person for each returning Afghan, depending on the distance to their destination. They also receive a cash grant of $12 each to meet their immediate needs upon return," Nader Farhad, UNHCR's spokesman in Kabul, said on Monday.

Since the UN refugee agency began its voluntary repatriation programme to Afghanistan in 2002, more than 3.5 million Afghan refugees have returned - the vast majority from Pakistan and Iran, where the largest number of Afghans live.

The current agreement between Afghanistan, Pakistan and UNHCR that governs voluntary repatriation was scheduled to expire in March but has been extended to December 2006.

More than 2.7 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan since 2002, while an estimated 2 million remain. At least 900,000 Afghans are still estimated to be in Iran.

Many Afghans still living in neighbouring countries remain reluctant to return, citing lack of housing, jobs and security as the main reasons for staying put.

UNHCR in Afghanistan is trying to address some of these issues. "We are planning to help build some 19,000 housing units for vulnerable Afghan returnees across the country during 2006," Farhad explained.

Since 2002, the UN agency has assisted in the construction of more than 150,000 housing units for returnees from both Pakistan and Iran mainly in rural areas of Afghanistan, said Farhad.

Killed by friendly fire? - By STEPHANIE RUBEC, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER Toronto Star 4.5.06

Ottawa – A military police investigation has uncovered forensic evidence that indicates Pte. Robert Costall's death in Afghanistan during last week's intense gun fight may have resulted from friendly fire.

Maj. Bud Garroch, the Canadian Forces national investigation services' senior operating officer, said his four-man team of military police working out of Kandahar have "cause for concern" due to evidence they've gathered and in the wake of initial interviews with Canadian, U.S. and Afghan soldiers involved in the heated battle.

Garroch said he has dispatched another four military police officers to Afghanistan to help carry out a full probe of Costall's death and determine whether he died at the hands of a coalition soldier or a Taliban insurgent.

Garroch said he expects they'll be wrapped up within weeks to allow for a military board of inquiry to probe the incident. Costall, 22, and American medic John Stone, 52, were killed during the night last Wednesday when a fierce battle erupted about 110 km northwest of the main Canadian base in Kandahar.

Costall was a member of the quick reaction team that had been called in to provide muscle. The battle left one Afghan, one U.S. and three Canadian soldiers injured.

Military officials have already ruled out the possibility the deaths resulted from bombs dropped by B-52s or from air support provided by U.S. attack helicopters and British jets.

Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, said his country is also investigating the battle. Samad said the firefight was an unusually forceful offensive by the Taliban who were boldly attempting to take control of the Helmand province outpost and destabilize the region.

He said coalition forces killed 30 Taliban supporters. "It ended up being a major defeat for the Taliban," he said.

If investigators determine that Costall died from a coalition bullet, he will become the fifth Canadian soldier to be killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan. On April 17, 2002, four Edmonton-based soldiers died during a training exercise when they were mistakenly bombed by an American pilot.

Ivory Tower Stonewall - A 9/11 survivor asks Yale to explain why it admitted the Taliban Man. Monday, April 3, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT

Katherine Bailey and her sister, Margaret Pothier, have a bone to pick with Yale President Richard Levin over his university's admission of a former Taliban official as a student. Mrs. Bailey lost her husband, Garnet "Ace" Bailey, on 9/11. Mr. Bailey, a hockey scout and former Boston Bruins star, was a passenger on United flight 175 when it slammed into the second World Trade Center tower.

Mrs. Bailey's sister, whose daughter graduated from Yale last year, has written Mr. Levin three times to demand an explanation. All she has gotten back is a single "form letter" that repeats the same vague 144-word response that has been Yale's sole statement on its Taliban Man for the past five weeks. "It's insulting and not at all brave," says Mrs. Bailey. Ms. Pothier is even more blunt: "Can't they see they are causing people pain and making it worse by ignoring our questions?"

In the past month, Mrs. Bailey and Ms. Pothier have had to be painfully reminded of Ace Bailey's death twice. The first was when they both watched a live TV feed of the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker who was arrested a month before 9/11 and now has confessed to helping plot the attacks.

The second was when they learned that Yale had admitted Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, a 27-year-old former official of the Taliban, the murderous regime that harbored Osama bin Laden. Mr. Hashemi remains largely unrepentant about his involvement with the regime, whose remnants are still killing Americans. Last Wednesday brought word of the 139th U.S. soldier to be killed in combat at the hands of Taliban guerrillas, and yesterday, five U.S. soldiers were wounded when their armored vehicle struck a Taliban roadside bomb in Kunar province.

Mrs. Bailey feels an obligation to travel from her home in suburban Lynnfield, Mass., to a federal courtroom in Boston, where 9/11 families can watch the Moussaoui trial on closed-circuit television, so she can confront the evil that killed her husband. She says the courtroom scenes are chilling. "When prosecutors discuss how much he hates America, he turns around to face the camera he knows is broadcasting his trial to the victims' families," she told me. "He then pulls at his beard and vigorously shakes his head at us: 'Yes, yes.' "

Mrs. Bailey wishes all Americans could see what she's seen and hear Moussaoui's "blood curdling" testimony. "If the president of Yale and his officials could see the trial, perhaps they'd understand why people are upset and why they should find the courage to act on their Taliban student," she told me yesterday. "I only wish I could be sure they'd understand. They seem to want to stay inside their little bubble at Yale."

Mrs. Bailey has tried to take a positive approach to the loss of Ace, her husband of 29 years. She now spends most of her time promoting the Ace Bailey Children's Foundation, which assists programs such as Tufts University's Floating Hospital for Children, which treats children with major medical conditions.

But the past keeps coming back to haunt her. On the morning of 9/11, she had dropped Ace off at Logan Airport so he could board his United flight to Los Angeles on a hockey scouting trip. She says that he tried to reach her three times from his cell phone after the plane had been hijacked. "I didn't have call waiting on my home phone then, so I missed his first two calls because I was talking to someone else," she recalls. Then, in what she assumes was desperation, her husband called her downstairs business phone. "I ran down to get it, but when I picked up the line it went dead. It was the precise moment that Flight 175 lost contact with the outside world and hit the Trade Center. I never got to speak any final words with him." Last Friday, she was deeply saddened when the tapes of several dozen emergency calls from people trapped in the Trade Center that day were finally released to their families.

Mrs. Bailey says that such incidents as the Moussaoui trial and the release of emergency call tapes are unavoidable reminders of her loss. She is also concerned that "many Americans have become complacent since 3,000 of us died on 9/11. The attitude of those at Yale who think we need to educate Hashemi rather than a deserving Afghan victim of the Taliban is evidence of that laxity," she says. "What's almost as bad is that they refuse to discuss their decision with anyone."

Her sister tried to start a dialogue. On March 9, 11 days after a sympathetic 9,000-word New York Times magazine profile of Mr. Hashemi broke the news of his presence on campus, Ms. Pothier emailed President Levin from her home in Brookline, Mass.:

Our daughter, [name withheld], graduated from Yale in 2005. We are quite dismayed to hear of the attendance of Sayed Rahmatulla Hashemi at Yale University this year.

Having lost a family member to the 9/11 attacks and currently attending the sentencing phase of self-admitted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, we are appalled that Yale University would admit an individual with known Taliban involvement. Perhaps your admission committee members and you should further acquaint yourself with the totalitarian nature of this group. Our country remains in dire danger from radical Islam.

Until this matter is settled with the expulsion of this individual from Yale, we shall not contribute further to Yale.

Five days later, Mr. Levin's office responded with the 144-word form letter. "I was incensed," Ms. Pothier told me. "My daughter who went to Yale lost her favorite uncle on 9/11 and all he could do was send a word-for-word regurgitation of Yale's media statement."

She felt she deserved more. Unlike many parents, Ms. Pothier and her husband had paid Yale's full tuition, which during the time their daughter attended ranged from $36,000 to $39,000 a year. "I walked to work as a nurse every day at 6:15 am to pay those tuition bills," she told me. "I sent over $150,000 to Yale, and all I could get back from President Levin was a lousy form letter."

The next day, Ms. Pothier wrote back:

I appreciate your reply. However, I consider your explanation of Mr. Hashemi's presence at Yale to be naive at best and somewhat disingenuous.

In particular, your statement that "universities are places that must strive to increase understanding, especially of the most difficult issues that face the nation and the world," seems contrary to Yale's policy of banning ROTC and military recruiting from campus. The defense of our country is extraordinarily important to our survival.

You also noted that "we hope that his courses help him understand the broader context for the conflicts around the world." Are we then to believe that Osama bin Laden is to be enlightened by this same reasoning? Although Mr. Hashemi is not currently in a degree-granting program of study, you did not mention future plans for this individual at Yale.

That the State Department issued a visa to Mr. Hashemi is an unrelated subject in my view. It should not have happened. Allowing the former ambassador-at-large for the Taliban, a regime well known for its brutal tactics of imprisoning women and depriving them of any educational opportunities, to study at Yale is outrageous. I find Yale's admissions committee and you devoid of understanding the true nature and actions of the Taliban.

I do hope that you will do the correct thing regarding Mr. Hashemi: expel him from Yale.

I will follow with interest.

After waiting five days and receiving no reply, Ms. Pothier sat down at her word processor a third and final time and penned the following letter on March 20:

After speaking with several alumni and parents of Yale graduates, it is clear to me that we all received the identical e-mail regarding our concerns about Mr. Hashemi's attendance at Yale.

I believe that this is a story that will not and should not go away. That Yale University is using resources to educate a former high-ranking Taliban official is extremely disturbing. Perhaps the coffers of Yale's endowment are so full that further donations are not needed. I, for one, will not send another dime until this egregious situation is rectified with the expulsion of this individual.

I would also request that you not respond to me with another generic e-mail.

Two weeks later, Ms. Pothier has yet to receive a reply from Mr. Levin, "in keeping," she says, "with his general ostrich-like behavior" on the Taliban Man issue.

Ms. Pothier says she has been disappointed before by Yale's handling of the feelings of the families of 9/11 victims. In September 2001, she drove down from Boston to pick up her daughter at Yale for her uncle's memorial service. She was appalled when her daughter told her about a "town meeting" Yale's administrators had organized at Battell Chapel on Sept. 16. Its ostensible purpose was to explain the attack's significance to students.

"She went there to try to understand why her uncle was killed," Ms. Pothier recalls. "Instead she got something else entirely: the message that the U.S. may be partly to blame." The six panelists, led by history professor Paul Kennedy and former Clinton State Department official Strobe Talbott, all focused on the "underlying causes" of the attack and our need to understand those who hated America.

Mr. Talbott concluded that it "it is from the desperate, angry and bereaved that these suicide pilots came." But the most controversial comments were by Prof. Kennedy who suggested that students should understand the reasons why the U.S. was hated. He stated that the vastness of U.S. power in the world and the attractive nature of its political and social ideals were seen by many as "offensive cultural messages" and engendered anger. "Suppose that there existed today a powerful united Arab-Muslim state," he told Yale's students and posited that state had the biggest economy and the most powerful military in the world. "In those conditions, would not many Americans grow to loathe that colossus?" Mr. Kennedy wondered. "I think so."

The reaction from some faculty members who were not part of the "town meeting" was swift. Steven Smith, a political science professor, said that confused and timid statements such as those at the "Town Meeting" represented a "failure to see the attack on America as an act of clear and unmitigated evil." Donald Kagan, a history professor and former dean of Yale College, went further and blasted the panel for the uniformity of the views it expressed. He asked why Yale couldn't find one professor who could have focused on the enemy and "how to stamp out such evil." He wondered if Yale had found it "impossible" to find one, or "just undesirable."

Mr. Kagan wrote that the meeting was "a classic example of blaming the victim" and that Mr. Kennedy's comments "seem to suggest we react by appeasing the terrorists by a measured retreat." Mr. Kennedy responded to his critics by sending out the full text of his remarks and asking that "readers draw their own conclusions."

Ms. Pothier says her daughter had heard Mr. Kennedy in full and was still upset. Last week, she and Mrs. Bailey visited her daughter in Costa Rica, where she is teaching. "She still remembered how that Yale town meeting failed to see the real issues of 9/11," Ms. Pothier told me. "She and a college classmate had also just seen that Yale had admitted the Taliban official and both were aghast. We all wonder if Yale will ever get it."

Yale officials apparently now wish more than anything else to "move on" from the Taliban controversy. Mr. Hashemi has been silent for five weeks; his application to become a full-fledged sophomore next fall sits on Mr. Levin's desk. Last Wednesday the Yale student government debated a resolution that would have ratified the admissions policy guidelines set down in 1967 by Kingman Brewster, its late president. In relevant part, those guidelines state that "a demonstrated failure of moral sensitivity or regard for the dignity of others cannot be redeemed by allegations that the young man is extremely 'interesting.' "

But even though the resolution didn't even mention Mr. Hashemi directly, there was no vote and further debate was postponed. Austin Broussard, a junior and one of its authors, says several student officials at the meeting called for "tolerance" and giving Mr. Hashemi "the benefit of the doubt." But Mr. Hashemi's lack of repentance, followed by silence, does not merit such a charitable interpretation.

Yale officials now have other concerns. Yesterday it was announced that China's President Hu Jintao will deliver a major address on campus on April 21. Mr. Levin has sent out an email saying the Chinese leader's visit "affirms the value the Chinese place on their longstanding relationship with Yale. In recent years, Yale has been the most active of all American universities in establishing student exchanges and research collaborations with China."

Yale's enormous commitment to China is likely to dominate discussion on campus in the coming weeks. But Mrs. Bailey and Ms. Pothier believe the university is making a long-term mistake by trying to sweep the Taliban Man issue under a rug by ignoring their complaints and that of all others.

After all, they point out that it would just take one more Tiananmen Square massacre in China to leave Yale with an bigger embarrassment than even the Taliban Man has been. "Yale owes it to both itself and the world outside its ivory towers to clarify where it stands on moral questions," Ms. Pothier says.

She points out that last month, the university, with the support of the student government, decided to divest from Sudan, whose government condones slavery and has been accused of genocide. But when it comes to harboring a former top official of the Taliban, another murderous regime whose remnants are even now killing Americans, Yale's official silence continues--and speaks volumes.

Christie Blatchford discussed the Canadian mission in Afghanistan - Globe and Mail Update 4.4.06

Globe columnist Christie Blatchford, who has spent the past several weeks covering the Canadian Forces mission in Afghanistan, was on-line earlier today from Kandahar to take your questions.

Her reporting from the scene has ranged from tragedies such as the first Canadian combat death in Afghanistan to the hopeful The indomitable Afghan spirit She also described the reality of life — and war — for our troops in her two-part series The Belly Button and Into the forbidding Afghan hills.

You can read the rest of Christie's reports from Afghanistan, along with other Globe stories, editorials and comment on our special report on Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

The questions and answers are at the bottom of this page.

Christie started at The Globe in 1972 while still at Ryerson and worked here for six years, four as sports columnist, before joining The Toronto Star for four years as a general assignment reporter. She spent 15 years at the Toronto Sun, first as a humor columnist and then as the paper's main news pages columnist. She covered the first Gulf War for The Sun. Christie joined The National Post for five years, dating from its birth, and then came back to The Globe where her primary beat now is the criminal courts. She's also a general assignment columnist who still dabbles in sports (at the Turin Olympics recently) and in politics (during the recent federal election).

Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.

Please note that due to the technical difficulties of communicating with Christie in Afghanistan, preference was given in this one case — as we advised our readers — to questions submitted in advance.

Jim Sheppard, Executive Editor, globeandmail.com: Christie, thanks very much for joining us today from Kandahar to take questions from the readers of globeandmail.com I know you're extra busy today because of some late-breaking news which you've already reported for our Web site 'Friendly fire' may have killed Canadian soldier So let's get started. As an experienced journalist and war correspondent, you must have had certain expectations when you started this assignment. How many of them came true and, equally important, what surprised you most on the ground in Afghanistan.

Christie Blatchford: I'm not really all that experienced a war correspondent, Jim, except for being in Tel Aviv in the first Gulf War, which was scary as hell (we didn't know which kind of Scuds would fall, regular or poisoned, so you always had a choice of two shelters to go to . . . talk about a rock and a hard place). For the rest of it, I was in Qatar, where the Canucks were based, and that was interesting but pretty damn safe. Aside from that, and the first summer of the war in the former Yugoslavia, that's pretty much it . . . lots of folks who really know this stuff.

I didn't realize, before I got here, how much I would like the country, or how stricken I'd be by the poverty and miserable lot that is the ordinary Afghan's life . . . I haven't spend much time in developing world countries . . . very tough seeing all these beautiful kids, begging on the streets . . . they're so damn smart, and resilient, but what lousy luck, you know.

The other thing that surprised me is how scary it is to be driving around, always expecting some sort of attack — different from the kind of scary that Sarajevo was. There, you knew to fear snipers in the buildings. Here, if you let it, you could be afraid of everyone.

Jim Smerdon, Vancouver: Hello Ms. Blatchford. Thank you for taking my question and for your amazing work in Afghanistan. Have you spoken to Afghans? Do they want us there?

Christie Blatchford: Yes I have, Jim. And yup, I think they do, if only because they've had so much war, and so much destruction, they long for some sort of security and peace. There's still a lot of tribalism about — this is a largely illiterate and uneducated place — but thus far, those I've met, from the many people we interviewed in Kabul to the bright young men working as interpreters for the coalition here, I think we are wanted.

Joyce Lafontaine, North Bay, Ont.: Christie, Thank you for the stories, for sharing your feelings and compassion. As a mother of one of the soldiers that was with you on the "hike" in the mountains, it made me feel like you were an extension of family there with him. I saw through your eyes and felt through your heart. Thank you for helping us feel closer to our son, and for helping us to better understand his situation. Our prayers continue for the troops over there, and now for the journalists as well. God bless!

Editor's Note: Ms. Lafontaine is referring to these two stories by Christie: The Belly Button and Into the forbidding Afghan hills

Christie Blatchford: Thanks very much, Joyce . . . I'm grateful that you liked the story . . . it's tough writing about what these kids, and they are kids to me (both Rosie DiManno of The Star and I feel very maternal about them), knowing that moms and dads back home may be reading . . . hard line to walk, because it's a tough job here they've got, filled with risk, and yet they're so damn steadfast in their resolve. I've found our soldiers so thoughtful, so well-read . . . you must be very proud of your boy.

Guy Warwick, Ottawa: Christie, what are the three most significant things that you have learned as part of your trip to Afghanistan that you think Canadians ought to know?

Christie Blatchford: . . . that our soldiers are in general smart, well-educated and thoughtful . . . that they, if not us, have thought this mission through, and believe in it . . . and that we ought to have more faith in them than I think we do.

David Stevenson, Ottawa: Ms. Blatchford, I have been following your stories in The Globe and have enjoyed them very much. My question deals with the realities of being what the U.S. calls "embedded" with the troops. Is it not possible that journalistic objectivity suffers when the reporter is living with the troops and sharing the same dangers they face? I think it was quite evident that some U.S. reporters suffered from this during the invasion of Iraq. As time went on, they went from being objective reporters to being cheerleaders for the invasion . . . Do you feel that your objectivity has been impaired by your being embedded with the Canadian troops in Afghanistan?

Christie Blatchford: Don't much believe in objectivity anyway, nor do I think it is necessarily a worthy goal. Fairness is much more attainable, and in my view a more reasonable standard. In most of what I've written, I've made it clear that I'm embedded, so the reader knows, and I've not pulled my punches, I don't think.

The truth is, it's a marvellous idea, because you do get to see what the soldiers do (I had no clue, for instance, how bloody hard it is to be an infantryman until I marched with them) and from the military's point of view, it's smart, because it's human nature, I think, to like most people, especially if they're protective of you.

Bob Tower, Victoria, B.C.: Our son is serving in Afghanistan so maybe I am a bit biased. However my question is: The Russians could not win a war in that country, so what makes (Canadian) politicians think that NATO will have better results?

Christie Blatchford: Because it's not a war, not now anyway. Post the U.S. invasion, it was pretty clear that the country needed a lot of help, rebuilding, and that the Afghan government, duly elected, wanted it. I don't think any nation, frankly, could beat these people if they decided they didn't want them here . . . that the coalition is succeeding, bit by bit, suggests I think that we are wanted here.

David Beattie, Chelsea, Que.: Ms. Blatchford, the political and religious instability in this area has gone on for decades at least, maybe hundreds of years . . . Given its history and current challenges — invasion after invasion, dictatorship after dictatorship, drug wars, religious wars, warlords, and on and on — do you harbour a realistic hope that Afghanistan can ever stitch together a functioning and stable state, let alone a Western-style free democracy? What is a compassionate world's desired outcome here? What do we need to do to achieve it? And for how many decades will our help be needed?

Christie Blatchford: I think the desired outcome is that security comes to this country, that it is within a reasonably short time delivered by Afghans, and that they have time to catch their collective breath and give a new generation the chance to go to school without fear, and walk about their streets without fear . . . I think the rest will naturally follow, not our style of democracy necessarily, but change for the better.

W. Kurz, Kelowna, B.C.: Thanks for your insightful reports, Christie. I have 3 questions: First, how are we going to measure success or failure of our mission in Afghanistan? Second, in your opinion, will our mission over there succeed or fail? Third, how long do you think this mission is going to last? Thanks for your answers.

Christie Blatchford: Sheesh, that's a handful of questions . . . bearing in mind I'm no expert, to No. 1, I'd say that's the toughest, but so long as we are made to, by and large, feel welcome here, as is the case now, I think we're succeeding . . . I've encountered no resentment of our soldiers or civic-type officials from ordinary people. To No. 2, I'd say I don't know. I think it's a very dodgy situation, very fluid, and hard to rate. But I'd add that if we fail, it will not be for lack of honest trying. No. 3: I think if the political will is there, we might be here for five years, maybe longer . . .

Barbara J. Stewart, Vancouver: Hi, Christie. One of the "selling points" for the coalition's involvement in Afghanistan was the commitment to expand democratic rights for women. Yet it seems that the promise may be fading — betrayed in negotiations with old-guard tribal and religious leaders. Are Afghani women better off today than they were? What systemic advances, if any, have they made in their country? Thanks for your insight. Stay safe.

Christie Blatchford: Well, they were able to have an International Women's Day celebration, which my CTV colleagues attended . . . I have personally interviewed young girls who are in school, and in mixed classes. No doubt there's a long way to go, but there are many women in some parts of the country now wearing just a colourful head scarf, not a full burka . . . baby steps, I think, but they'd feel big if you'd spent five years covered head-to-toe.

Shelly Gornall, North Vancouver and Geneva: Christie, how does the situation in Kandahar compare to that in Kabul? I'm wondering about differences in culture and security, and particularly attitudes towards the Canadian military.

Christie Blatchford: Kabul feels much safer, though there was a suicide bombing while we were there. However, the city is generally secure, and as a western woman, I felt fine wearing just a head scarf. There are lots of local women without the burka there. But Kandahar City is a different kettle of fish . . . almost all the women are covered head-to-toe. They sort of scuttle about (though they will smile and wave if you do it first), and the IED threat and the ambush threat are both much, much greater. Kandahar City is scary and less friendly . . . the adults anyway. Kids in both places are fabulous, and almost all wave or give the thumbs-up at the sight of soldiers. In Kandahar City the other day, when one of the vehicles in my convoy broke down, the kids were calling me granny . . . alas.

Jakob Tanner, Toronto: I've read that Afghanistan is now Europe's main supplier of heroin. Are Canadian troops in anyway involved in stopping this illegal trade? Won't fighting this trade pit Canadians against local folk (who have no other means of making money) and community leaders (warlords and certain elected officials) and thus create ill will?

Christie Blatchford: All of what you say is true, and it's one of the many things that makes the job here so hard . . . the answer is economic, to give, as a British major said the other day, the unemployed young man something better than a gun and a motorbike. This is why the coalition is putting as much emphasis on reconstruction and nation-building as on things military . . . but without security, nothing else can follow.

Steve Not, Halifax: Are the Canadian troops satisfied with the level of support they are receiving from coalition forces in terms of casualty evacuation and fighter support? Will they be as satisfied when the U.S. is no longer available to assist this summer?

Christie Blatchford: Yes to the first question. In fact, Canadians sing the praises of the Americans who both provide air cover and chopper out the wounded, and then care for them so tenderly in Germany. And no, I don't expect they will be as satisfied when the Americans aren't about.

Bob Bell, Kamloops, B.C.: As Canadians, we pride ourselves in providing a military presence by doing things differently from the U.S. I am very interested in how our soldiers are operating on a day-to-day basis and how it contrasts to the way in which U.S. soldiers operate. Is there a marked difference and if so have you talked to American soldiers about this and listened to what they have to say?

Christie Blatchford: I haven't had much of a chance to talk to the Americans, but rather to the Canadians who deal with them every day. The differences might be illustrated by the fact that the Yanks have such things as skulls-and -crossbones painted on their Humvees, and give their units nicknames like The Jedi, while the Canucks stick to business, no fancy nicknames and no cowboy poses.

But don't underestimate the Americans . . . I, for one, think there are differences to be sure, but that we complement one another.

Junior Flores, Mississauga, Ont.: Does or can the average Afghan make a distinction between a Canadian soldier and an American soldier?

Christie Blatchford: They do now, in Kandahar Province at least . . . not so much in (other areas) which have had much less exposure to our guys . . .

Ken Stevens, Toronto: Christie, how does Canadian military equipment compare with that of other coalition forces there? How do the troops feel about the quality of their equipment?

Christie Blatchford: I think that, despite the usual beefs that soldiers always have about kit (the way reporters always bitch about editors), we are really well-equipped . . . as well as the Yanks and Brits, except that we have virtually no air force here (and the Dutch are flying our old Chinook choppers), and far better than the poor Romanians, who muck about in Warsaw Pact vehicles but are plucky and brave anyway

Michael Shannon, Edmonton: After the firefight in which Pte. Costall was killed, many press reports said 32 Taliban had been killed. Have you seen any evidence to substantiate this claim?

Christie Blatchford: Nope, but none of us was at the FOB Robinson when that fight happened. And we, unlike the Taliban, do allow the opposition to collect their dead, so long as they aren't shooting when they do so.

Tracy Lavin, Vancouver: How are the soldiers in Afghanistan reacting to the news that Private Costall may have been killed by "friendly fire."

Christie Blatchford: I don't know that I can say . . . the news came out early here local time, but most of our fighting troops are in the field, so no one is in the big ass tents, where they live, to talk to . . . the others here, support folks mostly, are saddened but pragmatic too.

John Rankin, West Lake, Canada: Christie: I just want to tell you how much your accurate and sensitive reporting means to us, the family of a Canadian army officer scheduled on the next rotation into Kandahar in August. Thank you.

Christie Blatchford: It's been a real privilege to be here, John, and delighted you found my work good. Thanks.

Brenda McIntyre, Toronto: I was wondering if this search-and-destroy type of operation that the Canadian troops are now involved in is appropriate for counterinsurgency tactics. It did not work in Vietnam and it did not work for the Russians. I think conventional theory states that you must concentrate your troops in one area, make it secure, at least secure enough for NGOs to feel comfortable, give the civilian population some security and then expand like an inkspot. Is this discussed at all over there?

Christie Blatchford: I'm no military student, Brenda, but my sense of things is this — Canucks have by and large secured much of Kandahar Province, and they did it by going into the hills where the Taliban were, and making these villages so secure that schools are now open again etc., and by leader engagements. We also maintain . . . a permanent base from which our soldiers travel outside to villages and mountains and live there, in the field, for as long as weeks at a time. There's some belief that by doing that, we succeeded in driving the bad guys out, and that they are now fighting harder, in Helmand Province where the poppy fields are, in a more organized way. Here, the way to rout them appears to be just by appearing. The FOB Robinson has been attacked by Taliban 20 times in 45 days.

Jason Goveas, Ottawa: I grew up in Quetta, Pakistan, on the road to Kandahar. That was in the 1970s. Not much seems to have changed in the region except for a rise in fundamentalism. Poppy production is lucrative for Afghanis. How prevalent is it? What economic options exist for Afghanistan — domestically and for exchange with the rest of the world. Thanks.

Christie Blatchford: It's still prevalent. Afghanistan is the world's largest opium producer, and a lucrative one. I may be naive but education and economics will win this one, I think . . . the uneducated, unemployed young man is a helluva lot more vulnerable to fundamentalism and poppy-growing both if he has no other choices. The trick is to give him some.

Aubrey Charette, Ottawa: Hi Christie, a few weeks back, I asked the Afghan Ambassador to Canada if he could explain who Canada is fighting without using the terms Taliban or terrorists. He gave a rather unsatisfactory answer, intimating that we are fighting neo-Taliban. So I would like to ask you the same question: Who — without using meaningless tags — are we fighting? What ethnic group or clans do they come from? I would also like to know the attitude of the people of Kandahar, given that it was the home of Mullah Omar's movement and very popular there.

Christie Blatchford: I think Major Bill Fletcher, the head of Charlie Company, answered that the other day . . . The Taliban's spiritual home may be Kandahar City, he said, but its pocketbook is in those opium fields . . . oh, and that the two — opium and fundamentalism — are virtually impossible for the soldier in the field to distinguish.

Lynda Nicholls, Lhasa, Tibet/China: Thank you so much for your coverage in Afghanistan. Many Canadians need to hear about the real stories from the real area of news coverage . . . Do you at any time feel that you are not permitted to report on certain stories due to foreign policy issues or because they are not what the public wish to hear? In other words do you hold back? Thank you Ms. Blatchford, I've been enlightened.

Christie Blatchford: Thanks and, no, I've not felt restricted. All we've been asked not to report on are the details of place and exact numbers of Canucks in the field . . . the sorts of things that would be useful for a sophisticated foe, such as this group of Taliban.

Shawn Bull: Has our role in Afghanistan changed since we were originally deployed? If so, how? Thanx.

Christie Blatchford: I'm not sure I know, Shawn, but I don't think our role has changed . . .

James Birchall, Calgary: Ms. Blatchford: Your recent columns have shown a marked fondness for the people serving in Afghanistan while your columns prior show an ambivalence at best. What changed? Why?

Christie Blatchford: What prior columns? I don't think I've ever written about Afghans before. I've certainly never been here before. And when I've written about Canadian soldiers in other places (former Yugoslavia, first Gulf War), it was with similiar affection and regard.

Jim Sheppard, Executive Editor, globeandmail.com: Christie, thank you again for taking so much time today — in fact staying 90 minutes instead of the original 60 — to take more questions from our readers. We particularly appreciate that because it's already so late in the evening in Kandahar and you've still got a big story to write for tomorrow's Globe. Any last thoughts?

Christie Blatchford: The only thing I can say is that our Web readers are as thoughtful as our soldiers. Thanks to them all.

[Disclaimer: The content of this news bulletin does not necessarily reflect the view or policy of the Afghan Government, unless specifically stated as such. The collection of articles and commentaries from Afghan and international news sources is provided for informational purposes, and accuracy of the news is the responsibility of the original source.]