In this bulletin:

The Afghan Presidnet with the Japanese Prime Minister In Tokyo, July 5, 2006

• Afghan President Condemns Civilian Attacks
• Karzai asks Taliban leader to stop atrocities
• US Afghan raid 'kills 35 Taleban'
• Japan vows $ 60 million to help Afghan disarmament efforts
• Conference on Afghanistan peace ends, calls for further int'l support
• Aziz: Afghan Stability in Pakistan's Interest – VOA
• Two Afghan guards with US security firm killed in ambush
• UK mulls troop hike in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan burns over 40 tons of narcotics
• Hard Times for Hamid Karzai
• Afghanistan: The Reality of the Taliban's 'Comeback'
• Baloch rebels reject army claims
• Washington is losing 'war on terror': experts
• Governor helpless before parties' blue-eyed
• Taliban warrior plays a double game
• Kabul to Lord's

Afghan President Condemns Civilian Attacks - By AMIR SHAH (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan - Authorities stepped up security in the Afghan capital on Thursday, as President Hamid Karzai vowed a spate of bombings in the city would not shake the country's efforts to build a peaceful future.

Dozens of suspected militants, meanwhile, died in clashes in the volatile south. A coalition soldier was killed in an ambush in eastern Afghanistan.

Multiple bombs hit Kabul for the second day in a row Wednesday, killing one person and wounding nearly 50. The attacks raised fears that resurgent Taliban militants were bringing their fight to the capital, which has been largely spared the wave of violence roiling the east and south.

"The enemies of Afghanistan once again showed by attacking innocent civilians that they want to bring misery and destruction to Afghanistan, but the people of Afghanistan will never allow this to happen," Karzai said in a statement from Tokyo where he was attending a conference.

"Afghanistan will continue to rebuild its security institutions and these incidents will never hurt the desire of the Afghan people for a better future," he said.

He ordered authorities to investigate the bombings and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Three bombs targeted buses carrying government workers and army officers heading to work Wednesday. Two similar bombings in Kabul wounded 10 people the day before.

Kabul Police Chief Gen. Amanullah Ghuzar said extra police would man checkpoints around the city.

In eastern Paktika province, militants opened fire on a U.S.-led coalition patrol Wednesday, killing one soldier. A 10-year-old Afghan girl was wounded in the gunbattle and was in stable condition after surgery at a military clinic, a coalition statement said.

Coalition forces continued their hunt for Taliban forces, killing an estimated 35 militants in a strike against a compound at Musa Qala in southern Helmand province late Tuesday, a coalition statement said. A British soldier was killed on patrol in a separate attack that day, the sixth British soldier to die in combat in Afghanistan since June.

On Wednesday night, coalition and Afghan security forces killed three suspected Taliban fighters and arrested four others in southern Zabul province, said provincial police chief Noor Mohammad Paktin.

Four militants were also killed and six arrested during search operations in Shingai district, he said. In addition, Afghan soldiers came under attack in Naubahar district, and one soldier and three insurgents were killed, he said.

More than 10,000 troops have been deployed in a major offensive in the south as coalition and Afghan forces step up their pursuit of Taliban fighters blamed for a rash of deadly ambushes and suicide attacks. The south has seen the worst of the violence as hardline militants try to regain control of their former heartland. More than 700 people have been killed since May, mostly militants.

On Thursday, unidentified gunmen briefly kidnapped seven Afghan landmine removers and their three drivers as they drove through the Dund district near the city of Kandahar, said Noor Ahmad, a director at the Mine Clearance Training Agency. The gunmen later freed the hostages.

Associated Press writer Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.

Karzai asks Taliban leader to stop atrocities – PTI 07/05/2006

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has asked Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to stop atrocities, carried out by Talibals, on people.

"If he is a good Muslim, he should not do that. If he is a good Afghan, he should not do that," Karzai said in an interview with Kyodo News in Kabul on Monday.

Karzai's call comes in the backdrop of Taliban militants launching fiercest attacks since the regime's fall in 2001. More than 700 people, mostly militants, have been killed since mid-May in increasing violence in southern Afghanistan.

"He must come out and answer for all those crimes, all the killing of innocent people, the burning of the schools, all the killing of engineers and doctors who had come to help us, especially in the past four years," Karzai said.

Omar was the country's de facto head of state from 1996 to 2001. Now he is suspected to be hiding in a tribal area on the Pakistani border. The US government has offered a $10 million reward for information on Omar.

Asked whether he is ready to talk to Omar if he comes out, Karzai said, "He is on the international list of terrorism. It is an international question. It is not an Afghanistan question at all. The international community has to decide whether we are willing to engage with him or not."

On the recent violence in Afghanistan, Karzai said, "The external factor is extremely important.

US Afghan raid 'kills 35 Taleban' – BBC

US-led forces in Afghanistan say they have killed about 35 militants in a raid on a "known Taleban compound" in the south of the country. The raid took place in the restive province of Helmand on Tuesday night, the force said in a statement.

Afghanistan has seen an upsurge in violence by the Taleban and their allies this year, with hundreds killed. The capital, Kabul, was hit by blasts for a second day when triple bombings killed one and wounded at least 40.

Buses carrying Afghan army officers and government workers were the target. The Taleban claimed responsibility for both Tuesday and Wednesday's attacks.

The Afghan defence ministry said its enemies were trying to "disturb and terrify the people" because they do not have the ability to face the national army.

The US military said Tuesday night's raid in Helmand took place in the village of Gujdar, some 25km (16 miles) east of Musa Qala in the south of the province.

"Several of the extremists killed were area Taleban leaders who planned and conducted multiple attacks against local Afghans, government officials and coalition forces," it said. "No injuries to coalition forces or non-combatants were observed during the strike."

Elsewhere in Helmand on Wednesday, a British soldier from the 3 Para Battle Group died after his patrol came under fire from "suspected Taleban forces" in the town of Sangin, the Ministry of Defence said. He is the sixth British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan in recent weeks.

The first explosion in Kabul struck a bus carrying Afghan army officers to work in the city centre. Thirty-nine officers were wounded, the defence ministry said.

Reports say the bus veered out of control and crashed into shops, setting them on fire. The second explosion struck another bus that was carrying commerce ministry employees in the north of the city. One person was killed and several wounded.

A third explosion in eastern Kabul is said to have targeted an Afghan army convoy. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The first two explosions were apparently caused by bombs going off in hand carts as the buses passed by.

A BBC correspondent at the scene described seeing people jumping out of the smashed windows of the bus, their clothes on fire. A day earlier, seven people were injured in two similar explosions.

Taleban spokesman, Muhammad Hanif, told Reuters news agency the Kabul attacks "proved we can hit targets, whether they're under the surveillance and security of foreign forces or the government".

Afghanistan has seen in recent months the worst violence from the Taleban since they were forced from power in 2001. Most of the bloodshed has been in the south and east.

J apan vows $ 60 million to help Afghan disarmament efforts - Japan Times
07/06/2006

Japan promised an aid package Wednesday for Afghanistan worth $ 60 million as part of efforts to disarm former combatants still threatening the security in the war-torn country.

The package was announced by Foreign Minister Taro Aso during a one-day international conference of donor countries and agencies in Tokyo.

"As part of the implementation of that pledged assistance, I am pleased to . . . offer about $ 60 million in assistance to projects in fields such as the development of regional areas, improvement of security and antinarcotics," Aso said in his address.

The aid focuses on financing development projects for rural areas. By providing locals with economic incentives, Japan wants to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a hotbed of terrorism and drug-trafficking. The package is part of the $ 450 million in aid Japan pledged in London in January.

In his address, Aso praised the program on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, or DDR, as "another step forward" in Afghanistan's efforts to achieve peace, stability and democracy.

"The successful disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of more than 60,000 troops of the former National Army within three years will serve as a model for the consolidation of peace after war," Aso told the Second Tokyo Conference on Consolidation of Peace in Afghanistan.

Under the U.N.-backed DDR program, which began in October 2003 and ended in June, private armies across Afghanistan were disarmed.

Aso urged the global community to continue its assistance to Afghanistan in response to pressing challenges, including the ongoing Disbandment of Illegal Armed Group (DIAG) program, which operates separately from the DDR.

"Without success in the DIAG process, neither the rule of law nor continued economic development can be achieved," Aso said.

DIAG began last July and aims to disarm an estimated 125,000 militiamen operating in up to 1,200 illegal armed groups. As of May 15, a total of 999 armed groups had taken part in the DIAG program, which is also sponsored by the United Nations.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is taking part in the confab, which is jointly chaired by the Japanese and Afghan governments and the U.N.

Conference on Afghanistan peace ends, calls for further int'l support

An international conference on the consolidation of peace in Afghanistan ended here Wednesday with participants agreeing on the need for continued self-help efforts by the nation and long-term partnership and support by the international community.

The conference, cochaired by Japan, Afghanistan and the United Nations, was the second such meeting held in Tokyo. It was attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and representatives from 53 states and 15 international organizations.

In the cochairs' summary released after the conference, participants evaluated such achievements as the political process, economic reconstruction, and security sector reform in the nation-building process over the past four and a half years.

The summary, however, pointed out that in view of the tense security situation, "the achievements made in Afghanistan have not yet been consolidated sufficiently for the nation-building process to be considered self-sustaining."

The conference, therefore, noted that Afghanistan needs to strengthen its army, reform the national police and judicial system, demobilize illegal armed groups and promote counter-narcotics activities, in order to enhance its national security.

A disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program, launched in October 2003, was completed in June.

Under the program, 63,380 ex-combatants were disarmed and 62,044 demobilized. Reintegration programs were provided for 55,804. But it is believed that some 125,000 still belong to militia groups. (Jiji Press) July 6, 2006

Aziz: Afghan Stability in Pakistan's Interest – VOA By Lisa Schlein – Geneva 05 July 2006

Pakistan's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, rejects accusations that his country is not doing enough to prevent Taleban forces from crossing the border into Afghanistan. He told a group of journalists in Geneva that stability in Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interests and his government is doing what it can to improve security and help the Afghan people. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva, where Mr. Aziz attended a U.N. Economic and Social Council meeting.

Both the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai and the Bush administration say Pakistan could be doing more to keep the Taleban under wraps so they do not mount cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, says his country's role regarding the Taleban's activity is being overplayed. He says what is happening in Afghanistan is a domestic reaction to lack of progress in the development of the country.

"The people of Afghanistan have gone through tremendous trauma over the last several decades because of all the violence and other stuff going on," he said. "It is in Pakistan's strategic interest to have a peaceful, stable and growing Afghanistan. If that is destabilized in any way, we are the biggest losers."

Aziz says Pakistan has done its utmost to help President Karzai and his government because it is in its interest to do so. He says there are Taleban militia all over Afghanistan. He says it is unclear who is behind all the incidents that are occurring.

"And they are not incidents near the Pakistan border," he said. "As you know, they are all across the country. So, Afghanistan is trying to improve its security forces, police, army, etc. And, we support these efforts because we think that peace in Afghanistan will help peace in the whole region. So, our interests are common."

The Pakistani prime minister says his government has stationed 80,000 troops along its border with Afghanistan to prevent, what he calls, elements who can create problems, from moving on either side. He says his government is coordinating security with Afghanistan to help improve the situation.

Two Afghan guards with US security firm killed in ambush - Wed Jul 5,

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Taliban militants have attacked the convoy of a private US security firm in western Afghanistan and killed two local security guards.

A five-vehicle convoy of the USPI company was travelling through western Herat province late Tuesday when it was ambushed by Taliban fighters, deputy provincial police chief Ghulam Sarwar Haidari told AFP Wednesday.

"Taliban attacked a USPI convoy. One vehicle was damaged and two USPI guards were killed yesterday," Haidari said.

The company has a strong presence in Afghanistan, providing security for private firms, military bases and a host of organisations.

There have been increasing attacks in Herat province but some appear to be carried out by criminals or fighters who are not part of an insurgency launched by the Taliban movement after it was removed from government in 2001.

Nonetheless there are a growing number of Taliban-linked attacks outside southern and eastern Afghanistan where the rebels are most active.

On Wednesday at least two bombs claimed by the movement exploded in Kabul, killing a government employee and wounding around 44 people, most of them Afghan army officers.

People working for foreigners, whom the Taliban call "invaders," are a particular target of the insurgents.

They also focus their attacks on Afghan and foreign security forces, as well as aid workers and others associated with the new government that is trying to rebuild Afghanistan, shattered by 25 years of war.

UK mulls troop hike in Afghanistan –

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain has said it is urgently considering a request to send more troops to fight the Taliban insurgency.

"I can now confirm that today I have received advice on additional deployment, and I am considering it, as a matter of urgency, with the chiefs of staff," Defense Minister Des Browne told parliament on Thursday.

There are about 4,000 British troops deployed Afghanistan, with 3,200 of them in Helmand province in the south. Browne said he would tell the House of Commons about his decision as soon as possible.

"This House will be the first to know, but will also understand that there is a proper process to these decisions, and it would be entirely inappropriate and unhelpful, particularly to those who are in theatre, to discuss further detail until that process is complete," Browne is quoted as saying.

Thirteen British troops, including one this week, have died since the coalition toppled the Taliban government in late 2001. The most recent soldier to die was killed Wednesday in Sangin when a patrol was attacked by Taliban militants.

The British troops are taking part of Operation Mountain Thrust, a heavy push by U.S.-led coalition forces to rout out Taliban insurgents and extend Kabul's rule into eastern and southern Afghanistan.

But the coalition has warned that major battles will come as Taliban fighters resist the push to sweep those regions clear ahead of a security handover to NATO-led International Security Assistance Force later this summer, military officials said.

Operation Mountain Thrust began in earnest earlier this month with more than 10,000 Afghan, British, Canadian and American troops deploying throughout four southern provinces to crush a resurgent Taliban force.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday defended the deployment of British troops despite mounting criticism from opposition politicians that the government downplayed the dangers of the operation.

He told parliament that commanders had not demanded reinforcements, but added: "If they need more, we will make sure that they get more.

"They are fighting a battle that I think is important not just for the security of Afghanistan," he said. "It is important for the security of the wider world. "It is absolutely right we give them every support. We will do that."

Afghanistan burns over 40 tons of narcotics

The Afghan government as part of its efforts to eliminate illegal drug in the country burned more than 40 tons of narcotics at a ceremony held here on Wednesday. The narcotics include 4.1 tons of heroin, 12 tons of opium and 24 tons of hashish.

Speaking on the occasion Counter Narcotics Minister Habibullah Qaderi expressed the Afghan government's firm determination to get the country rid of the drug menace.

"The government of Afghanistan has always been trying to fight against narcotics. So that we can disrupt and foil the efforts made by drug traffickers. And the drug eliminated today is a testimony to this fact," Qaderi told the gathering attended the ceremony.

Meanwhile, Minister for Interior Zarar Ahmad Moqbel also in his speech indicated the government's strong resolve to continue war against drug abuse and its production in Afghanistan.

"Our struggle will not stop until Afghanistan gets rid of illegal drugs. We are fully committed to fully eradicating illegal drugs from Afghanistan,"Moqbel stressed.

Earlier, the Ministry for Counter Narcotics and Ministry for Interior had burned 21.5 tons of illegal drugs and destroyed some 15,000 hectares of poppy cultivated lands. Source: Xinhua

Hard Times for Hamid Karzai – Time Magazine 07/06/2006 By Aryn Baker

Official corruption and continuing economic woes are mounting for Afghanistan's former great hope

It has been a rough couple of weeks for President Hamid Karzai. When a traffic accident caused by a U.S. army vehicle on May 29 sparked a riot in Kabul, protesters called for the president's head along with the ouster of foreign troops. Things haven't improved since. Anti-narcotics agencies are predicting the largest harvest of opium ever; the Taliban is at its strongest since it was ousted from power in 2001; and official corruption is at an all time high. Five explosions rocked Kabul in the past two days, killing one and wounding early 50. Is the golden boy once feted around the world as Afghanistan's great hope losing his shine?

Karzai's 18-month tenure as president may have brought an elected parliament, a constitution and some degree of economic prosperity to the capital, but those benefits are lost on a large segment of the population, which still has no electricity, no running water and no income. "When Karzai became president he told us there would be homes and jobs, but there is nothing for us," says Zoraiya, a 19-year-old former refugee who returned to Afghanistan when the Taliban fell. "If he gave us the fare, we'd move back to Pakistan." Such frustration is not limited to the slums, such as the one where Zoraiva (who only has one name) lives, but can be found even in middle-class enclaves where doctors work as taxi drivers. Afghan government officials counter that generous promises of cash from the international community have yet to materialize. A significant portion of the aid that does come in is spent on contractor salaries and the generators that power their offices.

Up until recently the affable and engaging politician has managed to tread the delicate line between maintaining protocols of the tribal system that has ruled Afghanistan for thousands of years, and the transparent, systematic approach required by the country's foreign investors. It was only a matter of time before he stumbled — which he did, spectacularly, on the issue of police reform. Karzai is charged by critics with having unilaterally supplanted qualified candidates for high-level positions with his own nominees — by all accounts ineligible, distasteful and powerful thugs. It wasn't cronyism so much as Karzai's very Afghan attempt to keep his enemies close at hand. The extremely unpopular decision has both Afghans and foreign observers in an uproar, but it's not without precedent. "The international community wanted a war on the cheap," points out Joanna Nathan, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. "They co-opted old mujahedin warlords and militia leaders to fight the Taliban." Now Karzai has to accommodate these figures, she adds, lest they make their own bids for power.

Karzai's blunt condemnation of the high civilian death toll resulting from Coalition battles against insurgents may have softened Afghan charges that he was a foreign puppet, but it raised hackles even further in diplomatic circles, prompting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to come to his defense during a recent visit to Kabul. "I don't know anyone who is more admired and respected in the international community than President Karzai for his strength, for his wisdom and his courage," she told reporters.

Strong praise indeed, but until Karzai can make decisions based upon what's best for Afghanistan, rather than what pleases his backers, he won't be hearing those kinds of compliments from those who matter most — his people.

Afghanistan: The Reality of the Taliban's 'Comeback'
July 05, 2006 21 22  GMT Stratfor

Summary - Jihadist activity has increased markedly in Afghanistan in recent months. Though the Taliban and al Qaeda have demonstrated that they have staged a comeback, it is important to define what that means. Unless the jihadists have the ability to sustain the current momentum for an extended period of time, they are unlikely to have overcome the stalemate that has existed in Afghanistan since the jihadist insurgency began after the Taliban's ouster.

Analysis -Three bombings took place in three different areas of the Afghan capital of Kabul in fairly quick succession July 5. The first attack, in which a remote-controlled bomb was used, targeted an Afghan National Army bus in downtown Kabul (in the south-central part of the city) and injured some 39 people. The second attack took place in the northern suburb of Khair Khana, where a bomb hidden in a handcart exploded as a bus carrying 16 Afghan Commerce Ministry employees passed. One person was killed; three passersby and five bus passengers were injured. The third explosion took place in eastern Kabul and targeted an Afghan army convoy on Policharki Road. There were no casualties, though the blast left a hole 3 feet wide on the roadside.

These attacks, which come on the heels of other jihadist flare-ups in southern and eastern Afghanistan, seem to only lend credence to the media's line that the Taliban are back. A surge in operations from one spring to the following winter -- the jihadists' standard operational cycle -- does not necessarily constitute a comeback.

Though the number of attacks has increased, the radius of operations seems to be expanding and the frequency of strikes has definitely increased, this does not mean the recent uptick in jihadist attacks constitutes a strategic threat. The threshold the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies need to cross to threaten Kabul and the Western military presence is to have the ability to sustain operations over a longer period of time and use those operations to convince the Pashtun masses the jihadists are winning.

If the jihadists do not have those abilities, the stalemate that has existed since the jihadist uprising against Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government, which began in 2002, is still very much in place; the jihadists continue to strike but are not in a position to instigate a general uprising and threaten Kabul's stability. Conversely, the government's writ does not extend to the south and the east; however, through periodic operations conducted by Afghan and coalition task forces, Kabul has the insurgency under control in those areas. There are reports that the Taliban control large swaths of territory in the south, but even in those situations it is a case of back-and-forth with government and coalition forces.

If they want to break the stalemate, the Taliban and al Qaeda cannot continue to just stage attacks around the country and rely on increased volume alone. Rather, they will need to link the tactical activity to their strategic objective, which is to show the locals they are gaining ground against Karzai and the U.S.-led coalition. This can only happen if they sustain operations in Kabul, where security is the highest. Taking the fight to Kabul when coalition forces are focused in the south will at least create some amount of perception among potential supporters that the tide is turning. If successful, the jihadists could gain greater support through such a move at a time when Karzai is facing great opposition at home and there are reports that he is losing support from his western allies.

The Taliban's current tactic appears to be an odd mix of guerrilla-style offensives in rural areas and suicide bombings in urban centers. Since the use of suicide bombers in Afghanistan is a fairly recent development, it is difficult to say with certainty whether this trend is increasing or not as al Qaeda reinvests in Afghanistan. But given that resources have decreased over time and al Qaeda is now devoting a disproportionate amount of attention to Iraq in the wake of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's elimination and the Sunni-Shiite deal regarding the jihadists there, it appears the current level of jihadist activity in Afghanistan is near the maximum yield from that investment. However, if the situation for the jihadists in Iraq significantly deteriorates, al Qaeda would have more bandwidth to use on Afghanistan.

In any case, unless the jihadists reach the point where they are able not just to sustain operations but also to create a perception among the Pashtun masses that the government and its allies have gone on the defensive, the stalemate will remain very much in place. The oft-mentioned comeback is actually just an increase in operations, which does reflect better capabilities and therefore better organization and/or increased resources. However, at this stage, the current surge in attacks is not a threat to the established order.

With reporting by Rachel Morarjee/Kabul

Baloch rebels reject army claims – BBC

Tribal rebels in Pakistan's Balochistan province have denied claims that Pakistani troops killed 31 of their fighters in attacks this week.

Some rebels had been injured in the clashes and security forces had now withdrawn from the Dera Bugti area, spokesmen for the tribesmen said.

They had no news of any deaths and said several helicopters had been damaged - claims the authorities have denied. Tribesmen want greater control of the poor but gas-rich province.

The authorities reported the deaths of the tribesmen after they said they had intercepted communications between the tribesmen following attacks on militant hideouts in the south-western province.

Troops, backed by helicopter gunships, found a cache of arms and ammunition at the compound in the tribal district of Dera Bugti, they added. Those killed were said to be supporters of tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.

Rebel tribesmen have been accused of attacking officials and government buildings as well as blowing up gas pipelines in the province. The government is pumping millions of dollars into Balochistan with the aim of turning it into a regional economic and energy hub.

It has also been building military garrisons to secure the investments, which officials say will bring development to the people. But many Baloch resent the growing presence of the armed forces - seen as imposing Islamabad's agenda - and support for the tribal rebels is growing, correspondents say.

Washington is losing 'war on terror': experts - by Michel Moutot
Jul 4

PARIS (AFP) - Despite high-profile arrests, security operations and upbeat assessments from the White House, the United States is losing its "global war on terror," experts warn.

Five years after Washington launched its hunt for those responsible for the September 11 attacks, the world has not become a safer place, and a new large-scale strike against America at some point appears likely, they say.

Even the killing last month of Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, hailed by the White House as a major blow against the terror network, has not dented its ability to recruit new militants or mount attacks.

In May the influential US magazine Foreign Policy and a Washington-based think-tank questioned 116 leading US experts -- a balanced mix of Republicans and Democrats -- on the progress of the US campaign against terrorism.

Among others, they consulted a former secretary of state, two former directors of the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA) and dozens of the country's top security analysts.

The result? Eighty-four percent believe the United States is losing the "war on terror," 86 percent that the world has become a more dangerous place in the past five years, and 80 percent that a major new attack on their country was likely within the next decade.

"We are losing the 'war on terror' because we are treating the symptoms and not the cause," argued Anne-Marie Slaughter, head of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

"Our insistence that Islamic fundamentalist ideology has replaced communist ideology as the chief enemy of our time feeds Al-Qaeda's vision of the world," boosting support for the Islamic radical cause, she said.

For Leslie Gelb, president of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, the unity of views expressed by those questioned reflects a deeply critical attitude towards the administration of President George W. Bush.

"It's clear to nearly all that Bush and his team have had a totally unrealistic view of what they can accomplish with military force and threats of force," he said.

Other experts questioned the very nature of the US campaign.

"It was a doomed enterprise from the very start: a 'war on terror' -- it's as ridiculous as a 'war on anger'. You do not wage a war on terror, you wage a war against people," said Alain Chouet, a former senior officer of France's DGSE foreign intelligence service.

"The Americans have been stuck inside this idea of a 'war on terror' since September 11, they are not asking the right questions."

"You can always slaughter terrorists -- there are endless reserves of them. We should not be attacking the effects of terrorism but its causes: Wahhabite ideology, Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood. But no one will touch any of those," Chouet argued.

Instead he said US policy in the Middle East, which had "turned Iraq into a new Afghanistan," was acting as a powerful recruiting agent for a generation of Islamic radicals.

The continued US presence in Iraq and "the atrocities committed by a campaigning army", the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq and the "grotesque" US detention centre at Guantanamo in Cuba all "provide excuses" for violent radicals, he said.

The United States "have fallen into the classic terrorist trap -- they're lashing out at the wrong targets," causing collateral damage that boosts the cause of their opponents, he said.

Michael Scheuer, who headed the CIA's Osama Bin Laden unit from 1996 to 1999, agreed that Washington was acting as its own worst enemy in the fight against Islamic terrorism.

"We're clearly losing. Today, Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda and their allies have only one indispensable ally: the US' foreign policy towards the Islamic world."

"The cumulative impact of several events in the past two years has gone a good way towards increasing Muslim hatred for Americans, simply because they are Americans," he said, citing Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and the East-West row over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

"Each of these events is unfortunate but not terribly serious for Western minds. But from the Muslim perspective they are deliberate and vicious attacks against the things that guide their lives and their faith."

Governor helpless before parties' blue-eyed Pajhwok 07/05/2006

KUNDUZ CITY - Expressing grave concern over the provision of poor services by the government departments in Kunduz, provincial Governor engineer Mohammad Omar said most of the senior slots had been occupied by people enjoying the backing of political parties or tribes.

Addressing a meeting attended by religious scholars, influentials and representatives of social societies, the governor admitted his failure in replacing the inefficient people in his administration with those who deserve the slots.

Referring to the influentials in the administration, the governor said he could not introduce reforms or punish the corrupt officials despite his being in office for the past two years.

However, he hoped the reforms process had been started and the province would be reckoned among the most peaceful regions of the country in the next three months. The goal, Omar said, would be achieved with the help of cooperation from representatives of the societies, ulema and other segments of the society.

On this occasion, the people gathered there, asked the governor to take concrete steps instead of verbal assurances. They urged the need for drastic changes to reform the provincial administration.  

Muhammad Ismail, in charge of a youth and cultural committee, said: "Most of the government employees prefer their personal and party interests over their duty to the people, which is a clear violation of the law."

He suggested all government employees should be appointed on merit basis. Anyone appointed to a senior slot must declare his account and property to put an end to corruption in government departments, he suggested.

Taliban warrior plays a double game

Anxious former commander risking his life for his brother's freedom, GRAEME SMITH reports - GRAEME SMITH Globe and Mail (Canada) July 5, 2006

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- The man who calls himself Malik looks like a caged animal, sitting in a government office. Built like a wrestler, he bounces off the plush couch and stalks the room, as if searching for an exit. He fiddles with his mobile phone while jiggling a silver tin of chewing tobacco in his pocket.

Barely listening to questions, he distracts himself by twisting open the tin and gobbling wads of green gunk -- a mix of tobacco, ash, lime and other ingredients known as naswar. He chews with his mouth open, and spits into a metal cuspidor.

"Everybody hates the government," he says. "So they join the Taliban." His answers are loud, long and rarely honest. But slowly -- very slowly, over many hours of talk -- a few truths emerge as this strange, unruly man gives a rare glimpse inside the Taliban movement, its mutation from an armed rebellion to a despotic theocracy and its recent rebirth as a brutally effective insurgency.

Malik was a Taliban commander, and he remains a powerful figure in southern Afghanistan's new insurgency. During battles with Canadian and Afghan troops several weeks ago, he saw Taliban fighters torn apart by gunfire as they fought at his side.

Malik was not supposed to be fighting, under the terms of an amnesty deal with the government, but his loyalty to the Taliban runs deep. He has served the Islamist movement for almost a decade, as a battle commander, a torturer, a bureaucrat and recently an insurgent.

That loyalty has been tested, however, since agents for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, the secret police, arrested his 22-year-old brother as a suspected terrorist and locked him away in Kandahar's main prison.

Malik desperately wants his brother's freedom. He stunned local authorities six months ago by coming out of hiding and making an unusual offer: Release my younger brother and I will stop fighting you.

The bold gesture didn't work; the NDS has no intention of giving up a catch as valuable as his brother. So Malik is left in limbo: Officially, he's a traitor to the Taliban, living under government protection. But he hasn't given any useful information to the police, and his associates say he continues to help the insurgents.

He could give up this strategy, disappear into the mountains and escape before he gets caught playing a double game. The authorities are growing nervous about their decision to negotiate with Malik instead of arresting him. It's not clear why they haven't already put him in jail, but it seems they're still hoping he will prove useful as a free man. Every day he remains in public, he runs greater risks of ending up imprisoned alongside his brother.

But he continues to lurk around Kandahar city, visiting local powerbrokers and pleading his brother's case. That's how he ends up in places like this sparsely furnished office, located in a government compound with high white walls at the end of a rutted lane with piles of garbage in the gutter. No sign distinguishes the metal gate from any other entranceway in this residential neighbourhood.

Inside, private guards with Kalashnikov rifles nod silently to visitors they recognize. Malik and his entourage walk into the most comfortable room in the building, with a newly installed air conditioner, two couches and a television usually tuned to an Indian comedy channel or National Geographic programs. Each time he visits, Malik gets more impatient with the authorities.

His eyes are huge and wild beneath his mash of curly black hair. He paces, spits and rails against the government. "My brother hung by his wrists while they beat him," he says. "They questioned him like this for four days." He adds, bitterly: "Everybody knows he's innocent."

Malik is lying about his brother's innocence. The young man was caught with nine AK-47 assault rifles, 13 land mines and several pistols. The description of torture, however, does fit a pattern of complaints by human-rights groups about Afghanistan's prison system.

But, like everything Malik says, the words are woven with threads of both truth and deception. Even the pseudonym he chose for this article is an artifice wrapped around a nugget of his history. His real name cannot be published, he says, because he is a blood relative of a top Taliban leader -- a fact confirmed by several Taliban sources -- and publicity would be dangerous.

But the choice of the name Malik seems like a kind of self-punishment, a bitter reminder of the day in May, 1997, when the northern warlord General Abdul Malik Pahlawan allegedly herded hundreds of Taliban prisoners into shipping containers and slaughtered them in the desert near Mazar-e-Sharif.

General Malik's cruelty inspired many recruits from southern provinces to join the Taliban army during the north-south civil war that raged across Afghanistan in the 1990s. One of these recruits was the man now calling himself Malik, then a young farmer from the Khakrez district of Kandahar province. His relatives were founders of the Taliban; they were the ones who rebelled against the feuding warlords in 1994 and within two years controlled most of the country, imposing an ancient version of Islamic law.

At first, Malik stayed out of the fight. He preferred to study the Koran on his farm, where the ragged fingers of the mountains from Uruzgan province reach down toward the flatlands of Kandahar.

When he eventually enlisted, his family's status as landowners and relatives of the Taliban leadership guaranteed him a commander's job. Malik says he never led more than 60 fighters. Other Taliban-connected sources say he controlled at least 300 men. Either way, he spent his first years with the Taliban on the front lines in the battle against the Northern Alliance.

He tells harrowing stories of battle, which the sources say are probably true. Once, he says, he was travelling with 45 Taliban fighters when they reached a destroyed bridge in the Panjshir Valley. They laid metal girders over the crevice and slowly made the crossing, only to get ambushed by two groups of Northern Alliance fighters on the other side.

Malik's group was pinned down for hours, trapped against the river. "I had only six bullets left," he says. "But other Taliban snuck into the area during the night and saved us. Many times I narrowly escaped death."

He's less boastful about the jobs he later performed for the Taliban. He doesn't talk about the fact that Mullah Mohammed Omar, the reclusive one-eyed Taliban leader, once selected him to lead a group of elite bodyguards. Nor does he discuss his stint as a senior bureaucrat in the western city of Herat at the notorious Ministry of Vice and Virtue. The ministry enforced a strict social code, including bans on music, movies, kites and unaccompanied women in public.

Those who broke the rules in Herat were sometimes tortured, the Taliban-connected sources say, with Malik inflicting the pain personally. He used rudimentary methods such as beating suspects with electrical cables, or binding suspects' arms to a metal pipe before repeatedly throwing them face-first into the ground.

Malik returned to the front lines during the U.S. attack in 2001, as the Northern Alliance swept into central Afghanistan behind a wave of American bombs. In the daytime, Malik fought gun battles against the warlords, and at night his troops would retreat one kilometre back from their last position to avoid getting hit by air strikes.

As the Taliban lost ground, he ended up back in Kandahar city, where a small cadre of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters were trying to hold onto power as most of the regime's supporters ran away. Malik says that Mullah Omar placed him in charge of maintaining calm in the downtown, with only 60 fighters at his disposal.

"We were hiding, most of the time," Malik says. "It was very difficult to fight the coalition. We were running back and forth across the city, trying to keep control." Finally, Mullah Omar gave him new orders: disappear.

He claims that this was his last communication with the Taliban leader, and says he spent the next four years living peacefully in the countryside, trying to avoid capture.

"I could only spend one or two nights in any house," he says. "I was hunted." Malik has admitted to his friends that he wasn't merely hiding, however. He is reputed to make regular visits to Helmand province for meetings with Taliban commanders, although his rank has slipped. He now leads only 20 or 30 men.

Malik has also told stories to his associates about his recent battles against Canadian and Afghan troops, in the long-running fight for control of Panjwai and Zhari districts.

That belt of farmland southwest of Kandahar city was a colourful swath of poppy blooms earlier this spring, as farmers reaped a massive crop of raw opium. Villagers understand that foreign troops want to interfere with the illegal harvest, Malik says, so they support the Taliban fighters.

He looks a little bit ashamed when asked why the Taliban now supports the opium trade. The strict Taliban government, after all, ran one of the world's most successful counter-narcotics campaigns in 2000 and 2001, almost wiping out the poppy fields.

"The new Taliban don't want to help poppy growers, but we have no choice," he says. "We need the help of the people, so we let them grow." The insurgents also get help from people who want to take revenge against foreign troops, Malik says. Revenging a family member is a powerful concept in the local Pashtuns' culture, and their families are usually large. Human-rights groups say dozens of civilians have been confirmed killed in the recent fighting; the real number may be higher, as the U.S. military conducted 340 air strikes over three months this spring -- more than twice the number in Iraq.

"If the coalition treated prisoners well, if they didn't bombard people and kill civilians, we would never be successful," Malik says. "We would never have so many recruits."

It's a strange statement, coming from a man with a reputation as a killer and torturer. But it's hard to tell whether he understands the contradiction, as he sits and fidgets, wiping the naswar residue off his fingers and onto his dirty brown robe.

His cellphone rings with a Pakistani pop song, and he answers cryptically. "Hello?" he says. "It's me. No, I'm somewhere else. Okay, I'm coming."

Snapping the phone shut, he leaps up. Even while saying goodbye, his eyes are wild and roaming. He looks as if he's already back in the mountains with his brother, already watching the horizon for his next battle.

Kabul to Lord's – BBC

After years of conflict and oppressive rule, Afghanistan is a nation playing catch-up. With massive infrastructure problems and violent clashes continuing, it will take years for a semblance of stability to set in.

It is quite remarkable then that the country is one of the rising young powers of world cricket. In the five years since the Taleban regime was overthrown, the sport's popularity has soared - more than 2,500 players take part in various leagues - and a glut of talented youngsters have emerged.

The national team toured England for the first time last month, winning five of its six matches - including all three against the second XIs of Glamorgan, Leicestershire and Essex.

And two of that party are in the middle of a stint with the MCC Young Cricketers scheme. Mohammad Nabi, 21, and 19-year-old Hamid Hassan caught the eye when playing for Afghanistan against the MCC in Mumbai earlier this year.

Off-spinning all-rounder Nabi struck a rapid century and paceman Hassan took 3-9 off six overs to earn rave reviews from former England captain Mike Gatting, who also took part in the match.

Nabi said: "We were refugees in Pakistan, which is where we were introduced to cricket and got the bug! "When we returned after the fall of the Taleban, we joined club teams and we heard that Afghanistan had national teams.

"We were selected for the Under-17 team, of which I was the captain and we both put in some good performances. "I was then selected for the senior side, scored 64 on my debut, got four wickets in my second and made a century in the third."

Despite the problems in their homeland, the duo insist sports such as cricket, football and gymnastics are thriving, and progress is being made.

"Things are really getting better," Nabi explained. "Yes there is fighting outside of Kabul, particularly in the Khash and Helmand regions.

"But cricket, which was not that popular even though the Taleban allowed it, has really taken off in the last five years.

"It seems people are playing it everywhere now and there are more and more organised tournaments."

Hassan says: "We have turf and concrete pitches, although it is usually concrete in schools. There aren't many proper cricket venues but the standard is pretty high - the academy is doing really well.

"In fact I'm counting the days till we go back." The paceman is quick to add that is no reflection on the time the pair have spent in England.

Far from it, they believe they have made great strides and cannot wait to pass on the knowledge they have gained to their team-mates.

"This has been a great experience for us, we've had lots of fun here and learnt about playing on different types of wickets - from green seamers to turning pitches and batsmen's paradises, " Hassan explained.

"The coaching has also been the best we've ever received but I'm looking forward to getting back. "We have a tournament in Malaysia that we can't wait to play in."

That is a reference to the Asian Cricket Council Trophy, in which Afghanistan will take on Qatar, Thailand, Iran and Indonesia. After that, there are qualifying matches for the ICC Trophy, the tournament from which teams can win a place at the World Cup.

[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.]