In this bulletin:

• Afghan flood death toll climbs to 120
• Afghan Defense Minister Calls For More Help
• Afghan Defence Minister Cuts Training Timeline for Troops
• Afghan problem solution linked to refugees’ repatriation: Pak
• Pakistani embassy refutes Afghan charge
• In Afghanistan's South, Mixed Signals for Help
• US Calls on Germany for Riskier Afghanistan Missions
• US unhappy with obstacles
• 'Germany has played a big part already'
• Miliary efforts "not enough"
• NATO’s Fateful Afghan Wager
• Afghan reconstruction a frustrating process
• NATO denies role in death of Afghan teen during raid
• $92m needed for mining clearing operations
• REMARKS BY AFGHANISTAN’S AMBASSADOR TO CANADA OMAR SAMAD
• AT THE PARLIAMENTARY BRIEFING BY MINES ACTION CANADA
• Volume of Iranian goods exported to Afghanistan hits 228m dollars
• Work on terminal at Kabul Airport starts
• Gas pipeline project Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India approved
• Roshan first Afghan telecom firm in UAE
• The Afghan poppy trade
• Afghan mission raises alarm about Olympics
• Why are we in Afghanistan?
• Up close with UK's Afghan mission

Afghan flood death toll climbs to 120

November 20, 2006 - KABUL, Afghanistan --Heavy rain again battered remote villages in western Afghanistan already devastated by flooding, as the death toll rose to 120, officials said Monday.

Aid workers delivered several tons of food and aid to people in Badghis province, said Habibullah Murghabi, the head of a government-appointed disaster committee. The delivery had taken more than two days of travel by donkey and horse to reach flood-affected villages in the mountainous region.

Murghabi said the death toll in Balamurghab and Ghormach districts had risen to 62, while 92 people were reported missing.

"The roads are still bad, and last night there was heavy rain again. It's still raining now," Murghabi said by telephone from Badghis. Heavy rain Thursday triggered flash floods that inundated several villages in Badghis. Some 50,000 families live in the inundated area.

Other affected areas in the west include Farah province, where at least 18 people have died in recent days, said provincial police chief Gen. Sayed Aga Saqib. One village of eight houses had been washed away, he said.

Floods also hit the southern province of Uruzgan over the weekend, killing 40 people and destroying hundreds of homes in four districts, said Qayum Qayumi, the governor's spokesman.

Afghan Defense Minister Calls For More Help

November 21, 2006 rfe/rl -- Afghanistan's defense minister has asked for more American and NATO help to equip, train, and arm the country's young army so it carry out more operations on its own.

General Abdul Rahim Wardak also said Kabul aimed to speed up the recruiting and training of the army, to raise the force to a strength of 70,000 by 2008.
He was speaking in Washington on November 20 on the eve of talks with outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Meanwhile, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan says a recent NATO offensive in the southern province of Kandahar has set back the Taliban. 

But Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie said on November 20 that he expected the Taliban to regroup and mount further attacks on western forces.

NATO forces launched a major operation against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan in September, killing hundreds of militants. Leslie made his remarks on November 20 in Ottawa before a parliamentary defense committee.

Also speaking to the committee was Brigadier-General Al Howard, a leading Canadian army strategist. He said NATO forces in the south would press ahead to set up so-called development zones. These zones, Howard said, would allow reconstruction work to go on under conditions of safety.

Howard stressed that the southern Kandahar region remained dangerous and said the zones would not work immediately.

Afghan Defence Minister Cuts Training Timeline for Troops
Josh Pringle - Monday, November 20, 2006

Afghanistan's defence minister disagrees with predictions that it will be at least 10 years before Afghan troops can handle their own security without help from Canada and NATO.

Abdul Wardak says a time line is impossible to lay out and it will depend on how much violence escalates.

Wardak says 70-thousand nationals could be trained to serve in the Afghan army within two years. The General says it's possible to get them ready by October, 2008, instead of previous targets of some time in 2010.

Afghan problem solution linked to refugees’ repatriation: Pak

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said that solution of Afghanistan problem is linked to Afghan refugees’ repatriation urging Kabul to call back refugees for solution of its internal problem and elimination of terrorism.

"Afghan refugees’ repatriation is vital for solution of Afghanistan problem and elimination of terrorism," said Foreign Office spokesperson.

Tasnim Aslam in a weekly press briefing said here Monday that the simple solution of Afghanistan problem lies in refugees’ repatriation. She said that Taliban and common Afghans could not be easily identified.

The spokesperson said that Pakistan was not interfering in Afghanistan affairs. "Problem in Afghanistan exists within," she said adding, "Pakistan has established 97 checkpoints to check infiltration but Afghanistan has established only 24 check posts".

She said Pakistan had proposed fencing Durand Line and mining some points along the border but the Afghan government rejected the offer. She said that a marshal plan be enforced in south and southeastern parts of the country and launch economic and political process. "Military operation is no solution to the problem," she added.

Tasnim Aslam termed Karzai’s allegation as baseless. Responding to a question, the foreign office spokesperson that Chinese President would be visiting Pakistan from November 23 and he would meet President Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, chairman senate, speaker National Assembly and other officials. He would address Pakistani nation. Several agreements would be signed with Chinese leadership that could help boost investment in public and private sectors.

She termed reports about nuclear deal with China as concocted; however, she said that the two countries had been cooperating in civil nuclear technology for long time. She said that Pakistan’s stance on Indo-US nuclear deal was clear. "Obtaining nuclear energy is a part of national energy policy and we will not retreat from it," she added.

The spokesperson said that talks with the nuclear supplier group regarding additional protocol were underway. " We are a recognized nuclear power and the nuclear supplier group should keep it in mind," she added.

Responding to a question about opening of consulate in Mumbai she said that suitable place had so far not been selected for the consulate.

Pakistani embassy refutes Afghan charge

WASHINGTON: The Pakistani embassy has strongly refuted the charge by an Afghan official that Islamabad wants to keep Afghanistan destabilised and to make it fail. The embassy’s press minister, M Akram Shaheedi, in a letter published by the New York Times on Sunday, takes issue with what an “unidentified senior Afghan intelligence official” was earlier quoted by the newspaper as saying, namely that Pakistan wants “to keep Afghanistan destabilised, to make us fail and to keep us fragmented.” Shaheedi asks, “How can Pakistan afford to support the destabilisation of Afghanistan when its security is linked with Afghanistan’s stability?” He argues that a strong and prosperous Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s economic, strategic and political interests. Pakistan cannot emerge as a trade and energy corridor of the world without peace in Afghanistan. “Pakistan is committed to fight the Taliban because they are lethal to the stability and security of Afghanistan and Pakistan. As a front-line state in the war on terror, Pakistan has deployed 80,000 troops on its border with Afghanistan and is occupying more than 900 posts to check the infiltration of the insurgents. Playing the blame game will get us nowhere and will only strengthen the terrorists and those who harbour them,” asserts the Pakistani official. staff report - Courtesy DailyTimes.com.pk

In Afghanistan's South, Mixed Signals for Help

Residents Differ on Strategy Toward Taliban - By Pamela Constable - Washington Post Monday, November 20, 2006

KABUL -- Clutching scarves nervously around their faces, the women whispered details of Taliban atrocities taking place in their native Helmand province: A translator's body found in a sack, carved into pieces. A police officer taken hostage, blinded and garroted with wire. A woman shot and hanged by her thumbs.

"All of our lives are in danger now. Our schools are shut, and anyone who works for the government is branded as an infidel," said Ma Gul, 52, a teacher who traveled to the capital this week with 20 other women from Greshk, a town in Helmand 300 miles south, to demand better protection and the removal of weak regional officials.

Gul's woes echo across this country's four southern provinces, where the Taliban insurgency is on a fierce rebound five years after U.S. and Afghan forces toppled the Islamic militia from power in Kabul. Months of aggressive ground combat and NATO airstrikes have failed to halt continuous violence in the south, as well as some sporadic attacks in other parts of the country.

According to a new report by a commission of Afghan and foreign officials, insurgent and terrorist attacks nationwide have increased fourfold in the past year, reaching 600 incidents per month by September and causing 3,700 deaths since January.

The report was issued by a group called the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board, set up in February under U.N. auspices to promote and measure Afghan government performance. It said the violence threatens to reverse recent economic and political gains across the nation, and has led to a partial or total withdrawal of foreign aid in some provinces.

In Helmand, a vast and arid region where much of the worst fighting has taken place and thousands of people have fled their homes, residents and elders have been sending urgent but contradictory signals about how to restore peace.

While the delegation of women recounted Taliban abuses, a group of visiting elders from another Helmand district described local Taliban fighters as "brothers" and said their worst problem was the devastation from months of bombing by foreign military forces. If the authorities would allow tribal leaders to administer their district, they said, they would guarantee no further Taliban attacks.

"This bombing has destroyed hundreds of shops and many vineyards, but it has not driven the Taliban away," said Mohammed Rahim, a bearded farmer from Helmand's Nau Zad district. "We know the local Taliban; they are fighting against corruption and abuses. Once we have our own administration and the bombing stops, we trust they will obey us and the central government."

As a result of the mixed messages from victims of the conflict, and the growing public resentment over civilian casualties from bombing, NATO and Afghan officials now confront a strategic question: whether to keep pressing to forcibly defeat the Taliban, or begin accepting its presence in areas where tribal elders promise to rein in the militia.

Much of the south is still at war, with attacks and armed clashes occurring daily in Kandahar, Zabol and Uruzgan provinces. But in Helmand's Musa Qala district, NATO has cautiously agreed to test the tribal approach. Under a deal brokered in September by the provincial governor, NATO agreed to pull back British forces from Musa Qala, and local elders pledged that Taliban attacks would cease.

So far, reports from the isolated region, which is also a major center of opium smuggling, are confusing and contradictory. Some residents and visitors say the district is effectively under Taliban control, and a recent BBC video report showed squads of armed insurgents patrolling Musa Qala in fast pickup trucks, much as they did during the era of repressive Taliban rule that ended in 2001.

But both NATO and senior Afghan officials say they are largely satisfied with the arrangement, which they said has brought fighting to a halt and allowed foreign troops to focus on creating a central zone for security and development around Helmand's capital city, rather than manning scattered outposts and chasing after bands of insurgents.

"Musa Qala has proved to be a very good deal," said Maj. Luke Knittig, a U.S. Army officer and the chief NATO spokesman in Kabul. "After the agreement, there were 34 days of calm, which led us to believe the elders had made good on their word." However, he added: "We have our eyes closely on Musa Qala. If we see it being used as a launching pad for attacks, we will go back and address that."

President Hamid Karzai defended the pact last week against criticism that it has been a major concession to the Taliban. Speaking on Radio Free Europe, he said he had complete trust in the region's elders and in their promise not to allow any "saboteurs" in Musa Qala. However, Karzai also expressed concern about reports that a local Islamic cleric was humiliated by Taliban fighters and that a senior tribal leader had disappeared.

Karzai's embrace of the agreement stands in marked contrast to the skepticism he and other Afghan officials have shown toward two similar peace deals reached this fall between the government of Pakistan and tribal leaders in districts abutting the Afghan border. Those districts are widely believed to serve as havens for Islamic extremists and al-Qaeda fugitives who train insurgents and send them across the border to fight against Afghan and NATO forces.

Some observers here worry that the Musa Qala deal is not only setting a tone of conciliation toward the insurgency, but that it also means Karzai and his foreign defenders are falling back on Afghanistan's tribal system of jergas, or informal consensual agreements, at the expense of modern democratic institutions.

"This is the wrong way to solve things," said Noorulhaq Olemi, a member of parliament who chairs its security and defense committee. "Our problem is that we have a weak government. We need a better national army and police. We need reconciliation with the people, not with terrorists. If we go back to the tribal system and jergas, we could end up with the country divided into pieces."

Although Helmand residents disagree on the issue of negotiating with the Taliban, many express common anger and disillusionment with regional authorities. Both the Greshk women and the Nau Zad elders said that many police and civilian officials in Helmand are abusive and corrupt, and that this problem is creating local support for the Taliban.

The diplomats and academics on the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board agreed, stating in their report that the factors driving the insurgency in the south include poor government services, corrupt officials and lack of law enforcement. In Helmand especially, they added, the "scourge of the narcotics industry" has significantly helped fuel the insurgency.

"When there is an absence in basic service delivery by the government, people inevitably look to alternative sources," the report said. "Only by eliminating corruption can the government diminish the freedom of operation that insurgents and drug traffickers now enjoy."

To the women from Greshk, who include government teachers and professionals, the Musa Qala agreement is a frightening example of authority caving in to powerful miscreants. One member of the delegation said the Taliban and its criminal allies had already built a plane runway and a heroin laboratory in Musa Qala.

But to the elders from Nau Zad, mostly poor farmers whose homes and livelihoods have been savaged by months of fighting, Musa Qala represents a model for peace that they desperately hope can be replicated in their district.

"Some people call it a Taliban agreement, but that is wrong," said Mohammed Anwar, a member of parliament from Nau Zad who hosted the visiting elders in Kabul. "The foreign Taliban are terrorists, but the local Taliban are the sons of Afghanistan. They will speak with us and live under the flag with us. If the government cannot bring security and stop this terrible bombing, they should let the elders try."

US Calls on Germany for Riskier Afghanistan Missions

Deutsche Welle (Germany) November 20, 2006 - The US administration is increasing pressure on Germany to lift restrictions on its Afghanistan directive and help reinforce combat troops in the south to stop Taliban insurgents.

Several German dailies reported at the weekend that the United States wants to see German combat troops in the south of Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents are threatening to destabilize the already shaky situation even further.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper quoted a high-ranking US defense official as saying that German troops based in the relatively peaceful north must be able to move to the south at short notice. The unnamed official said allied commanders should be able to call the Germans in the morning, asking for a battalion, and it should be there by the evening.

He said Washington was frustrated by the mandate restrictions which were confining several foreign armies to the sidelines of conflicts in southern Afghanistan.

US unhappy with obstacles

The US defense official was quoted in reports as saying that he did not like these stumbling blocks and that such a restrictive policy showed no solidarity with those western troops fighting the Taliban in the south of the country.

At present, there are some 2,700 German troops in the north of Afghanistan where they hold the command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) contingent.

However, US and some European NATO member countries feel German troops should also be deployed in the more dangerous southern parts of Afghanistan.

'Germany has played a big part already'

Martin Schulz, leader of the Social Democrats in the European Parliament, rejected the US criticism which had also been echoed more recently by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Schulz insisted German troops have been doing a great job in the north, where they have played a significant role in reconstruction efforts and contributing to resolving the conflicts, and this is where they should stay.

He added that German has been active in "many peace-keeping missions abroad," and resources can only go so far.

"We have a large contingent on the Balkans, we're part of the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon, and German troops are also at the Horn of Africa to prevent the smuggling of weapons by sea to terrorists," Schulz said. "It's justified to say that the German armed forces are taxed to their limits, and any criticism of their commitment in Afghanistan is unfounded."

Miliary efforts "not enough"

Schulz admitted the situation in the south of the country was bordering on chaos but said military operations alone would not resolve the problem.

"Perhaps more troops are needed to fight the Taliban in the south, but the Karsai government is also called upon to ensure that the resources being pumped into the country do not end up in the pockets of warlords and are distributed more evenly," Schulz said.

"What sense would it make to withdraw some of our northern troops who've done a great job there, and deploy them in the south? This would only result in a partial destabilization in the north so that nothing would be gained by such a move," he added.

The US State Department meanwhile has confirmed President George W. Bush has raised the issue with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said there will not be any change to Germany's Afghanistan mandate.

Southern troop deployment a possibility

But reacting to the pressure from Washington, other conservative lawmakers have indicated a partial deployment of German troops in the south of Afghanistan is no longer out of the question. They have said that if the capabilities of the German troops are needed to rescue friendly forces in emergency situations in the south, then they should be dispatched there.

Eckart von Klaeden, foreign policy spokesman for Merkel's Christian Democrats, said up to 100 special forces soldiers could be deployed anywhere in the country at any given time but added this had not been requested for over a year.

Germany's commitment to the Afghanistan mission will be discussed at the NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, on Nov. 28 and 29.

NATO’s Fateful Afghan Wager

November 20, 2006- Michael Moran(CFR)

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), writes a former U.S. envoy to the alliance, may not survive as a useful entity if it cannot stabilize Afghanistan. NATO has “bet the alliance” on Afghanistan ( Project Syndicate), writes Robert Hunter, U.S. ambassador to NATO from 1993 to 1998 and now a senior adviser at the RAND Corporation. “No amount of ‘transformation’ or ‘partnerships’ or anything else will matter much if NATO fails for the first time in its history.” The agenda of next week’s NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, includes the usual mix of questions about expansion (MSNBC), ties with Moscow ( FT), and how best to operate a multinational army in the field (VOA). Yet Afghanistan hovers over it all. As Afghan expert Barnett R. Rubin told CFR.org’s Bernard Gwertzman last month, the country risks falling back toward anarchy.

Just months after taking command of most of the Afghanistan mission from the United States, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) peacekeepers have their hands full. A visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday to British forces battling Taliban remnants in the southern provinces focused largely on things already accomplished. But Blair also recognizes NATO’s forces risk being irrelevant if they cannot beat back the resurgent Taliban ( FT), and the International Crisis Group, in a new report, backs his call for more troops. There is an important non-military side to the struggle as well—the need for Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government to bring reconstruction to rural areas of the country where his writ doesn’t mean much. As Gen. James L. Jones, NATO’s Supreme Commander, told a CFR audience last month, the real challenge in Afghanistan is how well the international aid mission is focused, calling this “the exit strategy for Afghanistan.”

NATO member states appear to understand what’s at stake. Some ideas floated ahead of the summit include proposals to impose stricter monitoring of donor pledges, and give greater roles to the local UN mission and World Bank in coordinating development and reconstruction (Reuters). On paper, NATO’s Afghan force looks impressive (PDF), with multinational commands in all parts of the country. Yet many NATO members are not exactly queuing up to send troops. Instead, some put restrictions on how their soldiers can react to events. For instance, some are forbidden to use tear gas as a crowd control method. German forces, recently rocked by scandal when some of their troops frolicked in photographs with human skeletal remains, are directed toward quieter areas of the country to avoid political backlash at home ( DeutscheWelle).

The difficulties deploying a functional multilateral force made up primarily of EU (with some Canadian and American) forces led NATO to create a new 25,000-strong Rapid Response Force ( DeutscheWelle). Member states are required to place specific units on alert for six months, during which time they can be deployed immediately if NATO so chooses. John Colston, NATO’s assistant secretary general for defense policy and planning, says the Riga summit seeks to formally inaugurate the new unit, and to agree on a “comprehensive political guidance” making official the alliance’s new, extra-European ambitions. 

The new unit, however, does nothing to alleviate the alliance’s core problem—the unwillingness of its European military forces to modernize their forces and commit them to overseas missions. CFR Fellow James M. Goldgeier, with the Brookings Institution’s Ivo H. Daalder, suggests this argues for a more ambitious NATO expansion to include in its membership “Other democratic countries share NATO’s values and many common interests—including Australia, Brazil, Japan, India, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea—and all of them can greatly contribute to NATO’s efforts by providing additional military forces or logistical support to respond to global threats and needs.”

Afghan reconstruction a frustrating process

Updated Mon. Nov. 20 2006 - CTV.ca News Staff

Canada's provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan's Kandahar province is using a strategy that gives local Afghans input in the rebuilding process.

But the program faces a mounting list of difficulties.

In one case, the soldiers bring Afghan doctors from the city to the remote region of Al Bach in Kandahar province to deliver medical care.
 
But minutes in, angry elders from a nearby village arrive demanding to know why they've been left out. "Where's our treatment, where's our gifts?" one man shouted.

The Canadian troops are now caught up in a tribal dispute with only one group getting most of the aid.

"I'm not about to get into village squabbles, I'm telling you right now," said Sgt. Nichola Bascon. "It's extremely frustrating."

Corruption is another frustration for the PRT, which is responsible for more than $100 million donated annually by Canada for the rebuilding process.

In February, Canada's military celebrated the groundbreaking for a new police station. But, nine months later, little has been built. The local engineer was fired for mismanagement.

"It's these kinds of missteps that have led many international aid groups to suggest Canada's military has no business being involved in reconstruction," said CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from Afghanistan. "But the reality is that in this dangerous region there are few alternatives."

The head of Kandahar's department for women understands the danger - the Taliban assassinated her predecessor.

"We haven't seen much from Canada's military," says Rona Trena. "But there are so few aid groups left here, so we hope Canadian soldiers can help."

The military insists that its approach of designating responsibility to local villages, letting them determine how to rebuild, is working.
 
"It's a start and it's a very, very slow progress," said Bascon. "But I'm sure if we stick with it, it will be very rewarding in the long run."

In their 10 years of occupation, the Soviets tried similar methods investing billions on major projects. They were, however, ultimately defeated. The difference this time is that most Afghans say they want outside help.

However, NATO's leadership in Afghanistan has said they have only so much time to make improvements in the lives of those Afghans, or else those people might turn to the Taliban.

With a report from CTV's Steve Chao

NATO denies role in death of Afghan teen during raid

Kandahar -- NATO apologized yesterday for civilian casualties in a deadly raid on a village west of Kandahar in October, but said it found no proof to substantiate allegations that a wounded Afghan teen was killed execution style by alliance soldiers.

Canadians had also taken part in the attack, but NATO spokesman Major Luke Knittig said yesterday that the soldiers in question were from a "European country and contributor to the mission." CP

$92m needed for mining clearing operations

KABUL, Nov 20 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The de-mining programme in Afghanistan will require $92.2 million during the coming year.

A statement released by the UNMACA office here on Monday said the amount was needed for survey of mine-infested areas, mine-clearance, campaign to create awareness among people, help for victims and training of mine clearing workers.

The statement said the demand had been presented to donors in Geneva after assessment of the requirements. Pajhwok Afghan News could not contact UNMACA officials to get details.

The demand had been made according to the Afghanistan national strategy as well as Ottawa convention, the statement said. This amount would help Afghanistan to fulfill its national and international commitment regarding elimination of mines.

According to Ottawa convention, the areas that are facing mine risk should be cleared until 2013 and all anti-personnel mines should be cleared till the end of 2007. The convention suggests that area having risks of live mines should be cleared up to 70 per cent by 2010.

REMARKS BY AFGHANISTAN’S AMBASSADOR TO CANADA OMAR SAMAD

AT THE PARLIAMENTARY BRIEFING BY MINES ACTION CANADA

NOV. 21, 2006, OTTAWA

HONOURABLE MEMBERS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
GOOD MORNING,

PLEASE ALLOW ME TO THANK MINES ACTION CANADA FOR EXTENDING THIS INVITATION TO TALK TO YOU TODAY ABOUT AN ISSUE THAT IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO MY COUNTRY.

I ALSO WANT TO EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION FOR CANADA’S LEADERSHIP IN PUTTING TOGETHER THE INTERNATIONAL LANDMINE TREATY, ALSO KNOWN AS THE OTTAWA TREATY

WE ARE HERE TODAY TO TALK ABOUT LANDMINES AND CLUSTER MUNITIONS. MY COUNTRY HAS BEEN A VICTIM OF BOTH DEVICES AS FAR BACK AS THE EARLY 1980s WHEN SOVIET FORCES INDISCRIMINATELY USED A VARIETY OF MUNITIONS AND WEAPONS AGAINST AFGHANS. I REMEMBER REPORTS OF CLUSTER BOMBS THAT WERE SHAPED LIKE BUTTERFLIES AND TOYS, ATTRACTING CHILDREN, SCATTERED AROUND THE COUNTRY.

AS A RESULT OF SEVERAL ROUNDS OF CONFLICT IMPOSED ON AFGHANISTAN OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS UNTIL THE OUSTER OF THE TALIBAN, THOUSANDS LOST THEIR LIVES AND MANY OTHERS WERE MAIMED, AND CONTINUE TO BE MAIMED BY THESE DEVICES.

ALTHOUGH STILL HIGH AND TRAGIC, BUT NUMBER OF DEATHS AND INJURIES TODAY ARE 1/10 TH WHAT THEY WERE 10 YEARS AGO.

REAL APPRECIATION GOES TO THE MEN AND WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD WHO WORK IN THIS FIELD, ESPECIALLY IN THE MINEFIEL, TO THOSE WHOSE LIVES ARE ENDANGERED EVERY DAY AS A RESULT OF PAINSTAKING DEMINING WORK. I HAVE SEEN THAT IN MY OWN COUNTRY, WHERE WITH VERY LOW TECHNOLOGIES, DEMINERS TAKE HUGE RISKS TO PREVENT HUMAN CASUALTIES AND SPEND COUNTLESS HOURS ON THEIR KNEES TO NEUTRALIZE THESE MENACING DEVICES. WE PAY TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO HAVE LOST LIFE OR LIMB, AND TO THOSE WHO CARRY ON WITH THIS RISKY JOB.

WE ALSO THANK THE COUNTRIES THAT HAVE FUNDED THE DEMINING OPERATIONS AND THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE CARRIED THEM OUT. HOWEVER, IT IS ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THAT WITHOUT CONTINUED FUNDING AND ACTIVITY, WE WOULD LEAVE A LEGACY OF FEAR, PAIN AND SHATTERED LIVES ACROSS SEVERAL CONTINENTS.

CANADIANS AND OTHER DONORS SHOULD BE PROUD OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND THE TREATY OUTCOME THAT HAVE SAVED LIVES AND DISPOSED OF THOUSANDS OF LANDMINES.

WITH AN ESTIMATED 100 MILLION LANDMINES IN MORE THAN 70 COUNTRIES STILL POSING A REAL AND SERIOUS DANGER TO HUMANS AND OTHER SPECIES, WE CANNOT AFFORD TO SHIFT PRIORITIES OR DE-EMPHASIZE THE ISSUE.

YES, THE SIGNATORIES TO THE OTTAWA TREATY HAVE DONE WELL TO DECREASE THE STOCKPILES AND REDUCE THE CASUALTY COUNTS, AND WE SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED BY THIS TREND, BUT WE SHOULD ALSO BE MINDFUL OF THE REMAINING CHALLENGES AND THE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT PREVIOUS TRAGEDIES STILL ENGENDER.

WE CANNOT DISCOUNT THE IMPORTANCE OF LANDMINE EDUCATION, TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION IN AFFECTED NATIONS. IN MY OWN COUNTRY, THERE IS A NEED TO ADD MINE EDUCATION TO SCHOOL CURRICULA IN AFFECTED REGIONS AS A PREVENTIVE MEASURE. UNFORTUNATELY CHILDREN STILL CONSTITUTE THE LARGEST GROUP OF LANDMINE VICTIMS.

THOSE PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN SHATTERED BY THESE TERRIFYING WEAPONS OF LIFE DESTRUCTION, EXPECT THE MINIMUM OF CARE AND REHABILITATION TO GIVE THEM RENEWED HOPE AND THE MINIMAL MEANS FOR SUSTENANCE. WE SHOULD NOT WAVER FORM THAT RESONSIBILITY.

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN DEMINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN COUNTRIES THAT HAVE COME OUT OF CONFLICT OR ARE FRAGILE STATES, SUCH AS MINE, IS STRONG AND AN INTEGRAL PART OF ECONOMIC WELLBEING.

AFTER ALMOST 25 YEARS, AFGHANISTAN STILL HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST CASUALTY RATES IN THE WORLD TODAY. STATES AND NONSTATE ENTITIES HAVE USED THEM AT VARIOUS STAGES FOR VARIOUS REASONS. AS A RESULT, THOUSANDS HAVE DIED AND TENS OF THOUSANDS ARE MAIMED. WE HAVE BEEN OF THE LARGEST RECIPIENTS OF AID AS WELL, AND WE ARE GREATFUL FOR THAT, BUT WE STILL FACE A DAUNTING TASK, WHILE 35% OF OUR LAND IS UNUSABLE AND THE THREAT TO RECONSTRUCTION IS REAL.

RECENT ESTIMATES SHOW THAT DE-MINING PROGRAMMES IN AFGHANISTAN WILL REQUIRE MORE THAN $92 MILLION DURING THE COMING YEAR.

ONLY LAST WEEK, PRESIDENT KARZAI REMINDED THE WORLD OF THE DANGERS THAT AFGHANISTAN FACES AS RESULT OF LANDMINES. AS NEW LAWS COME INTO FORCE CALLED FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TREATY LAWS AND SAID: “THE PEOPLE OF AFGHANISTAN HAVE SUFFERED TREMENDOUSLY IN THE PAST THREE DECADES… THE MINE CLEARANCE TEAMS HAVE WORKED HARD IN THE PAST 15 YEARS TO ENSURE THE SAFE RETURN OF REFUGEES, FARMERS AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS TO THEIR HOUSES. THOUGH THE CONTINUATION OF SECURITY PROBLEMS IN SOME PARTS OF AFGHANISTAN HAMPERS THE PROGRESSD OF MINE CLEARANCE WORK IN THE COUNTRY, BUT THE GOVERNMENT FULLY BACKS THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION AGAINST LANDMINES AND UNEXPLODED ORDNANCES.”

THE PRESIDENT MADE AN APPEAL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO INCREASE THEIR ASSISTANCE TO THE MINE EFFORT IN AFGHANISTAN AND SAID “I HOPE AFGHANISTAN WILL BECOME A MINE-FREE COUNTRY IN THE NEAR FUTURE.”

AS AFGHANISTAN AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN SIMILAR SITUATIONS STRUGGLE TO OVERCOME YEARS OF WAR, POVERTY, DESTRUCTION AND TERRORISM, IT IS ALSO AWARE OF THE FACT THAT LANDMINES AND UNEXPLDED ORDNANCES LIKE SUICIDE BOMBERS AND IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES (IEDs) ALSO POSE A REAL THEAT TO THE SECURITY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY.

THIS IS WHY WE CALL ON ALL DONORS TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY ASSISTANCE IN TERMS OF SECURITY AND DEVELOPMENT, AS WELL AS HUMAN PROTECTION, SO THAT WE CAN OVERCOME THIS THREAT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER, WITH FEWER VICTIMS, RATHER THAN MORE.

THANK YOU AND I WISH YOU GOOD LUCK AND SUCCESS WITH YOUR NEW EFFORTS IN RELATION TO CLUSTER MUNITIONS.

Volume of Iranian goods exported to Afghanistan hits 228m dollars

The Iranian goods exported to Afghanistan over the first seven months of the current Iranian year (started March 21) compared to last year's figure for the same period hit 228.443 million dollars.

According to a report released by the Public Relations Department of Iran's Customs Administration on Tuesday, various sweets, detergents or washing liquids, biscuits, mats and clothing were the major products exported to Afghanistan.

The report added that the goods exported over the period weighed 267,354 tons. "Over the same period, dlrs 11.18 million worth of sweets, dlrs 10.773 worth of various detergents or washing liquids and dlrs 376,000 worth of biscuits were exported to Afghanistan."

The weight and value of Iran's exported goods to Afghanistan over the same period last year stood at 568,257 tons and 316.535 million dollars. Meanwhile, over the same period, 7,086 tons of goods worth 5.476 million dollars were imported to Iran via Afghanistan.

The imported products include construction machinery and sesame oil among others. Last year's imported goods from Afghanistan weighed 4,564 tons and their value amounted to 3.917 million dollars.

Work on terminal at Kabul Airport starts

KABUL, Nov 20 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Reconstruction of terminal at the Kabul International Airport started on Monday with $35 million funding from Japan, officials said.

President Hamid Karzai laid the foundation stone of the project and appreciated Japan aid. He said the terminal would be reconstructed in a better shape and would give a modern touch.

The Japanese ambassador Masakaza Pikogochi, who was also present on this occasion, said this showed his country commitment for the uplift of Afghanistan. Japan has given $1.1 billion aid to Afghanistan in different fields of rebuilding so far," the Japanese ambassador said. He added stability in Afghanistan could strengthen peace in the entire region.

Minister for Transportation Niamatullah Ehsan Javed said reconstruction work of the Kabul airport terminal was supposed to start in 2005 and to finish in 2007, but the project was delayed till now due to some technical problems. He said the project would be completed by 2008. A Japanese company called DMC has won a bid for contract on the work. The terminal will have all important blocks.

Gas pipeline project Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India approved

Turkmenistan.ru 11/21/2006 - The participants of the regional conference held in New Delhi supported the project for constructing a gas pipeline between Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI), ITAR TASS reported.

During the final press-conference, Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar urged Islamabad to give his country a transport transit through the territory of Pakistan to India. "We hope that Pakistan will open its territory for an international pipeline to India as soon as possible, so that we can strengthen cooperation in the region and implement recommendations of the conference," he said.

According to the minister, it would allow Afghanistan to realize its potential as an "energy bridge between Central and Southeast Asia". The two-day forum in the Indian capital was attended by officials from 18 countries, including Russia and about 10 international organizations. The delegation of Afghanistan was headed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, reports Trend.

In 2005, Asian Development Bank submitted to the ministers of oil and gas industry and mineral resources of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India the final version of feasibility study of the Trans-Afghan gas pipeline designed by British company Penspen. The pipes will be 1,420 mm in diameter and will transport gas at a working pressure of 100 atmospheres. It will have a capacity of 33 billion cu m of natural gas per year. The 1,680 km pipeline will cost an estimated US $3.3 bln (2.5 bln euro). TAPI will run from the Dovetabat gas deposit in Turkmenistan to the Indian town of Fazilka, near the border between Pakistan and India. 6 compressor stations are to be constructed along the pipeline.

Roshan first Afghan telecom firm in UAE

Gulf News 11/21/2006 - Dubai - Roshan, Afghanistan's cellular service provider, has become the first Afghan operator to introduce pre-paid roaming with the UAE.

This now means that Roshan customers can go anywhere in the UAE and use their Roshan SIMs to make and receive calls.

Roshan was the first operator in Afghanistan to introduce international roaming and now has agreements with more than 160 networks in over 60 countries worldwide. It is also the only operator in Afghanistan to soon offer pre-paid roaming with 12 networks in ten key countries, including neighbouring countries.

Over the last three years, more and more Afghans are traveling to neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Russia and Tajikistan for work, or for personal and family reasons. In order to provide even better quality service, Roshan has also been working closely with operators in these countries to improve the ease of calling.

Roshan's Chief Marketing Officer Altaf Ladak said: "The vastly improved international dialing and international roaming services will contribute substantially to making businesses more efficient. They will put Afghanistan on the world map and facilitate its integration into the global village. This will be particularly beneficial for families divided across borders,traders and the business community, all of whom need to travel to neighbouring countries frequently. With the international roaming facility offered by Roshan, customers can now easily stay in touch with their families and businesses back at home."

Roshan enacts a comprehensive corporate social responsibility programme and is deeply committed to Afghanistan's reconstruction and socio-economic development.

The Afghan poppy trade

Globe and Mail editorial - 11/21/2006 - Canadian and other NATO troops will face greater dangers as a result of the Afghan government's pursuit of poppy eradication in southern areas where the Taliban are strongest, government authority is weakest and the farmers have no alternative sources of income. It is not in the strategic interests of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's forces for Kabul to target opium production at a time when the region remains so unstable. Yet the Afghan government, under pressure from U.S. drug enforcement officials, has launched this ill-advised program without considering the economic fallout or the military ramifications.

Washington has long pursued a strategy of eradication in its war on illicit drugs, but that strategy has rarely proved successful, even in more stable environments where growers could switch to legal crops. A U.S. company, DynCorp, which specializes in military contract work, has been hired to destroy Afghan fields without apparent regard for the military situation or the needs of NATO commanders.

Already, Britain has ordered that an additional battalion of 600 paratroopers be placed on standby for deployment to Afghanistan to cope with an expected surge in fighting in Helmand province once the government launches its eradication program in the south in December and January. Helmand accounts for more than a quarter of Afghanistan's entire annual crop. But other parts of the south are also producing poppies, mainly because the soil is too poor and the farms too tiny to grow much else -- and nothing that comes close to the value of the poppy crop. Britain was hard-pressed to come up with the additional battalion. Canada has no extra troops to spare.

Fuelled by endemic corruption, lawlessness, ineffective reconstruction and the growing Taliban insurgency, Afghanistan has become a drug trafficker's paradise. The country is by far the world's biggest supplier of opium poppies, with production up by close to 60 per cent in the past year alone. Afghan growers now account for more than 90 per cent of the global supply, which is converted into more heroin than is needed to meet worldwide demand. No one questions the need to curb this deadly business. But the Afghan government is making a serious mistake. Its previous assaults on the country's most important export crop have all proved futile, because they have not been linked to an effective economic strategy that would give the growers a viable alternative. That remains the case today.

Destroying southern poppy fields raises the risk of more intense battles with the Taliban, who derive a chunk of their income from protecting drug kingpins and their operations. The Taliban will also have a bigger supply of potential recruits among poor farmers desperate to feed their families. Fighting for the Taliban puts money in their pockets.

There are alternatives to eradication that both Kabul and U.S. drug enforcement officials should be considering. The most obvious is to buy the opium output directly from the farmers, making their cash crops legal. There is a huge global shortage of morphine, codeine and other legal opiates, particularly in the Third World. The World Health Organization estimates that 80 per cent of the world's population has no access to the painkillers needed to battle cancer and other diseases. Afghan growers could actually increase their output, the drug middlemen could be driven from the market and there would no longer be a demand for Taliban protectors.

Surely that makes more sense than a strategy that is utterly divorced from the needs of Afghanistan's rural communities and adds needless extra risk to an already tough military task.

Afghan mission raises alarm about Olympics

Questioned in Commons, O'Connor says there will be enough troops to cover both

JEFF SALLOT AND BILL CURRY - OTTAWA -- Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said yesterday there will be enough troops to provide security for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics despite suggestions from military planners that the Games will stretch the Canadian Forces too thin for any major overseas operations at the same time.

The head of Canada's military later backed up that statement, saying that while the army is "stretched," he hopes that new money for recruiting will help meet its needs.

Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie said he is about to announce a reorganization of Canada's soldiers, so that full-time troops are assembled in larger groups to ease their deployment overseas. The reserves will then take on a larger role for domestic protection, including, he suggested, Olympic duties.

British Columbia NDP MP Dawn Black questioned whether the Canadian Forces will have to decide between fighting in Afghanistan or defending Vancouver from terrorists. She asked the Defence Minister in the House of Commons whether he will "choose Vancouver or will he choose Kandahar?"

"Somewhere near 50,000 army, air force and navy troops are available in the country" for domestic security work, Mr. O'Connor responded. He said Canada has enough troops to meet its Afghanistan commitments and is "advancing" its plans for the Olympics.

Ms. Black cited a ministerial briefing note prepared in February for the incoming Conservative government that warned about the heavy burden of Olympic security.

The document, first reported yesterday by Reuters news agency, said Olympic duties could affect the military's "ability to deploy large numbers of forces overseas."

The memo was written by military planning staff before the Conservatives' first budget in May, which promised to add 13,000 new regular-force troops and 10,000 reservists. The budget also promised to hire 1,000 new Mounties in response to terrorism concerns.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day also told the House there is nothing to worry about.

"I can assure Canadians and all who are coming to that fantastic event that this will be the safest and most secure Olympics that we have seen and a joy for everybody to be there," he said.

Later, at a Commons defence committee meeting, Gen. Leslie said "there's no doubt the army is under tremendous pressure" because of troop numbers.

He hopes increased recruiting and added roles for reservists will meet the challenge. But he said it will take a few months before he knows for sure.

The minority Conservatives were able to gather enough support from House Liberals to extend Canadian troop commitments in Afghanistan by two years, to early 2009.

Senior officers, including General Rick Hillier, the Chief of the Defence Staff, have said allies will have to remain involved in Afghanistan possibly for years beyond 2009.

Mr. O'Connor has said the government will not make any decision about extending the Afghan mission in the near future. The NDP, the Bloc Québécois and many Liberals oppose the combat nature of the mission.

The defence committee also heard from Brigadier-General A. J. Howard, the director of general operations for Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

Gen. Howard painted a positive picture of the mission, saying attacks on Canadian troops are down and there is "an improved sense of security." He said the reason is likely a combination of factors, including rain that has led to major flooding and the success of Canada's offensive against the Taliban this fall.

He said the NATO mission in Afghanistan is moving toward a new approach that will focus development efforts, such as building roads and wells, on more urban settings rather than the countryside. "We want to create Kabuls . . . in the rest of the country," he said.

Why are we in Afghanistan?

By Chris Corrigan - The Hamilton Spectator (Nov 21, 2006)

Now into our fifth year in Afghanistan and with casualties mounting, Canadians are increasingly searching for the reasons to why we are there. History has shown that whenever a state has soldiers in combat and sustaining casualties and loss of life, support for the mission gets "wobbly."

Unlike in previous wars in which the nation was insulated from the reality of battle due to censorship and the limitations of technology -- inhibiting the story from getting home in a timely fashion -- technology has resulted in today's battlefield events being known instantaneously at home. This is further dramatized by the media's coverage of returning wounded and dead soldiers.

The concept of the Strategic Corporal so typifies this dynamic today, in which a Corporal with his section is seen on TV in "real-time" conducting an operation that results in questions being posed in the House of Commons that very afternoon. In so doing this, a corporal and his section at the very lowest tactical level is conducting tactical operations that have a national strategic impact.

As described by the Canadian army, this Strategic Corporal is "prepared to fight and win the three-block war.

"On the first block of the three-block war, we will deliver humanitarian aid or assist others in doing that. On the second, we will conduct stabilization or peace support operations. On the third, we will be engaged in a high-intensity fight. We must be ready to conduct these operations simultaneously and very close to one another. We must be prepared to conduct them in large urban centres and complex terrain."

Such is the nature of the undeclared war in Afghanistan and future undeclared wars in which Canada will fight wars of intervention. Classical peacekeeping has evolved to peacemaking and to the three-block war.

Interest groups, the media, elites, political parties and others either support or oppose the Canadian Forces intervention in Afghanistan. The polemics, misinformation and basic lack of knowledge about the nature of the evolving nature of warfare and how the Canadian Armed Forces is transforming to meet the present and future security needs of the nation makes very difficult understanding why we are there.

According to www.canada-afghanistan.gc.ca, a federal government website, "The Canadian Forces (CF) are in Afghanistan today at the request of the Afghan Government, most of them as part of the UN-sanctioned NATO-led International Stabilization Assistance Force (ISAF) mission to: defend Canadian interests at home and abroad by preventing Afghanistan from relapsing into a failed state that provides a safe haven for terrorists and terrorist organizations; provide the people of Afghanistan with the hope for a brighter future by establishing the security necessary to promote development; and help the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its people to build a stable, peaceful and self-sustaining democratic country."

Although this is a very clear statement of policy, it needs to put in terms that Canadians can speak to and identify with. How we got there is another question. We got there because former Prime Minister Jean Chretien overruled the best professional advice of our military, which strongly advised against intervention in Afghanistan because of the threat and the inability of the military to sustain a long-term commitment without a huge increase of resources -- costs thus far are estimated at $10 billion. So, alas, we are there. But why?

Canada is in Afghanistan simply to help the people of Afghanistan enjoy a little bit of what we enjoy in abundance and take for granted - "peace, order and good government."

That is to say the protection of peace, individual freedoms, equality, and a highly developed, responsive and caring government that represents the democratic will of its citizens and protects minority rights. What could be more noble?: A UN sponsored-mission attempting to create peace, the rule of law, and nation-building in the true tradition and legacy of Canada's peacekeeping history writ large.

Some would have Canada intervening elsewhere in the world essentially for the very same reasons. And others would punish the Afghans by having Canada exit Afghanistan, retrench, ignore our nation's noble peacekeeping past and not contribute on the world stage, thereby abrogating our stature and obligations as a G8 nation and a middle power whose economy and quality of life is dependent upon interaction globally through multilateral organizations.

The British philosopher Edmund Burke said, "No man makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little." Canada is doing something. It is making a difference, a difference of which all Canadians should be proud.

Colonel (retired) Chris Corrigan lives in Carlisle. He is executive director of the Royal Canadian Military Institute (www.rcmi.org), was contingent commander of Canadian Forces in Bosnia in 20o1, and last week was part of a group of defence analysts and academics who met with the minister of national defence.

Up close with UK's Afghan mission - By Alastair Leithead - BBC Kabul Correspondent

"So what do you do?" Tony Blair asked one of the snipers, lined up to represent the garrison for a 90-minute trip to Camp Bastion. He looked down at his long-barrelled rifle, shrugged as if to say "what do you think?" and was quiet.

Next in line for questioning, a Marine from 42 Commando standing in front of a very big rocket: "Tell me, what have you been using it against?" the prime minister asked. "Er, a lot of houses at the moment," came a nervous reply, and with it a reminder that a mission to rebuild and redevelop is still very much based around fighting the Taleban.

The stage had been set for his first trip in nearly five years - 800 servicemen and women, three sniffer dogs and an awful lot of hardware had been arranged at the end of the runway, so Mr Blair didn't even need to visit the lines of tents that are home to around 2,000 of the British forces.

Not everyone was in attendance - the bearded wild-looking men of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force had not been selected for this one, and little controversial was said, apart from the odd Marine or two daring to ask for a pay rise.

Attack helicopters, Chinooks, armoured vehicles, cranes and a fire engine encircled the group photo in-waiting. The Hercules transporter plane which flew straight here from the first round of the trip in Pakistan, touched down and it was just a brisk 100m stroll to the handshakes.

The trip was about doing what he hasn't done for what many troops feel has been too long - visiting the thousands of servicemen and women fighting a war in southern Afghanistan.

The words were about morale boosting and thanks - "you are not just doing this for Afghanistan or for Britain, but for the whole international community," the prime minister said in part of his address.

"What happens here is the future of the world's security in the 21st century," he added, reaffirming the UK's commitment to Afghanistan - something he repeated in a meeting with President Hamid Karzai a couple of hours later.

Corporal Martin Page of the Commando Logistics Regiment, Royal Marines, said he felt the speech was sincere and welcomed the visit, short as it was.

"The word in the galley food queues is that we could do with more men, and the kit does keep wearing out, but that's due to the conditions here," he added. The fine sand that haunted the heat of the desert in summer was turned to a thick mud this week by a spate of thunder storms.

But the winter weather hasn't stopped the fighting just yet - there are still daily clashes between Marine Commandos and Taleban militia across Helmand province.

The calls for more pay were laughed off, but the tax payment announced a couple of months ago was mentioned and lauded as a popular move. "We would just like more support from home," one Marine said, and when pushed as to what exactly he just repeated, "...just more support."

There's still the feeling among some of the British troops that the intensity of the fighting over the summer has not really been properly represented.

But Tony Blair acknowledged the difficult job the joint forces are facing. "That's all we politicians are good for... photographs," the prime minister repeated a couple of times.

And there were plenty of those to be had from the dozen or so journalists, photographers and cameramen who had arrived with him.

[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.]