In this bulletin:

• Roadside blast kills 2 civilians in Afghanistan; 4 Taliban killed in a clash
• U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan, Region
• Coalition to build new base in Kandahar area
• US Military Orders Review of Coalition Strategy in Afghanistan
• ‘Progress being made’ in talks on Afghanistan
• Is rebuilding Afghanistan our mission impossible?
• Amid Real Progress, an Afghan Failure to Take Responsibility
• Afghanistan becoming a forgotten war
• Weapon caches recovered in E Afghanistan
• Fida over Vida
• Afghanistan service honoured
• Afghanistan Bound
• Afghan traders hope for foreign boost
• In Fremont, grassroots groups explore ways to rebuild Afghanistan
• Disabled Afghans struggle against untold odds
• With Color and Panache, Afghans Fight a Different Kind of War
• Groups share ideas on rebuilding Afghanistan
• Militants behead Pakistani soldier: officials

Roadside blast kills 2 civilians in Afghanistan; 4 Taliban killed in a clash

Associated Press - December 16, 2007 9:33 AM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Two Afghan civilians are dead and five others are wounded after a roadside bombing in an eastern province.

Officials are accusing the Taliban of carrying out the attack.

Meanwhile, Afghan security forces clashed with Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan. Defense officials say four militants were killed.

The clash comes just days after Afghan, British and American troops launched an offensive to push the militants out of a town there, which had been under insurgent control for more than 10 months.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan, Region

By The Associated Press
As of Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007, at least 401 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Dec. 8, 2007, at 10 a.m. EST.

Of those, the military reports 271 were killed by hostile action.

Outside the Afghan region, the Defense Department reports 63 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, two were the result of hostile action. The military lists these other locations as Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Jordan; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Philippines; Seychelles; Sudan; Tajikistan; Turkey; and Yemen.

There were also four CIA officer deaths and one military civilian death.

___

The latest identifications reported by the military:

Two soldiers were killed Wednesday at Forward Operating Base Curry, Afghanistan, when their vehicle encountered an explosive. Both were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade, Camp Ederle, Italy. Killed were:

_ Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Gabel, 30, Crowley, La.

_ Army Cpl. Joshua C. Blaney, 25, Matthews, N.C.

Coalition to build new base in Kandahar area

Gains will be defended, says U.S. general who thanked Canadians, Afghans for successes

via The Toronto Star December 16, 2007 Tobi Cohen THE CANADIAN PRESS

ARGHANDAB DISTRICT, Afghanistan–Maintaining security in the strategic Arghandab district north of Kandahar City is critical to the Afghan mission, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force told a group of village leaders yesterday as he promised to build a new forward operating base in the region.

"I want to assure you, we have a keen interest, those of us in the international force, in security of the Arghandab," U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill said during a visit to a shura, or town council meeting.

"I hope this day is a sign of good times to come for the Arghandab... As Afghanistan grows stronger, so will the security of Arghandab," McNeill said.

During his brief visit aimed at bolstering support for newly appointed district leader Kareemullah Naquibi, McNeill thanked Canadian and Afghan forces for quickly stopping a Taliban attempt to take over the region in October.

Insurgents had moved into the area, which is considered a gateway to Kandahar City, following the death of Arghandab's revered warlord and Taliban enemy Mullah Naqib but were quickly driven out by coalition troops.

The young Naquibi, who after his father's death was made leader of the Alokozai tribe that rules the Arghandab, blamed himself for allowing a leadership vacuum and not acting sooner to solidify his position in the region.

He's been struggling to win favour with village elders but it's hoped the support from the international community and President Hamid Karzai will help.

In what some observers described as a show of confidence in the often-criticized Afghan National Police, McNeil surprised everyone by snubbing security procedures and jumping into an unarmoured ANP vehicle when the meeting adjourned to go and visit the famous Baba Saab shrine a short distance away.

Whisked in by helicopter earlier to attend the shura, he was joined by a host of dignitaries, including Canadian commander Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, Afghan Gen. Bismillah Khan and Kandahar police chief Sayed Agha Saqib.

During the meeting, district elders not only expressed concern about security, they also sought assistance with road construction, the installation of electricity and flood prevention.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the Bush administration and NATO, deeply concerned about the prospect of failure in Afghanistan, have begun three top-to-bottom reviews of the entire mission.

Topics to be reviewed go from security and counterterrorism to political consolidation and economic development, according to U.S. and alliance officials.

The reviews are an acknowledgment of the need for greater co-ordination in fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda, halting the rising opium production and trafficking that finance the insurgency, and helping the Kabul government extend its legitimacy and control.

Taken together, these efforts reflect a growing apprehension that one of the administration's most important legacies – the routing of Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 – may slip away, according to senior officials in the administration.

The U.S. reviews of the Afghan strategy have not been announced and are not expected to result in a "troop surge" as in Iraq, mostly because there are no U.S. troops readily available.

The administration is now committed to finding an international co-ordinator, described as a "super-envoy," to synchronize the full range of efforts in Afghanistan, and to continue pressing for more NATO troops to fight an insurgency that made 2007 the most violent year since the Taliban and Al Qaeda were routed in December 2001.

With files from the Star's wire services

US Military Orders Review of Coalition Strategy in Afghanistan

By VOA News 16 December 2007

The U.S. military is making an assessment of coalition strategy in Afghanistan in an effort to ensure that a recent increase in violence does not threaten long-term progress.

The effort, first reported in Sunday's New York Times newspaper, was confirmed to VOA by a U.S. military official.

‘Progress being made’ in talks on Afghanistan

Dec 15 2007 Western Mail

TALKS on the military situation in southern Afghanistan made “significant progress” yesterday, Defence Secretary Des Browne said.

He also repeated his call for other countries to should- er more of the burden.

Australian defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon warned his country would send no more troops to Afghanistan until European countries such as Spain and Germany step up their commitment.

Mr Browne said after the Edinburgh meeting, “The issue of burden-sharing was on the table – there is no question of that.

“We are all looking for additional contributions and support – and increasingly we have been getting those.”

But Mr Browne continued, “The most important thing is that we are making considerable progress.”

This week had seen an Afghan-led operation in Musa Qala in Helmand province, which cleared the Taliban out of one of their important strongholds.

“Now we can say there are no centres of population, no district centres anywhere in Helmand province, that these people occupy,” he said.

“This is an international operation – there are 38 countries with 40,000 troops there, and other organisations are present.

“We need more help.”

ISLAMABAD:The Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Monday asserted that the well known terrorist and AI-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden is hiding in Bajaur area of Afghanistan.

Interacting with the media Musharraf said that he could be in the area that borders Pakistan's Bajaur tribal agency and Afghanistan's Kunar province.

Responding to, whether Pakistan can contain the threat from the extremists, Musharraf said "We are combating it, and I think we are on the winning side."

He further said that "No, these are settled districts. Osama could be in Bajaur – this is the tribal agency bordering Kunar province, where there were no coalition forces in the past," he said. "On the Afghan side – that's in Afghanistan," he added.

When asked whether the U.S. had abandoned him, Musharraf said, "I have nothing against President Bush. I think he has been most supportive; he has been a very sincere friend. I must say he understands fully the Pakistan environment. He understands why I had to act and what I'm facing."

Is rebuilding Afghanistan our mission impossible?
From The Sunday Times December 16, 2007

A former British diplomat and our present ambassador in Kabul clash over what we have achieved and what more can be done

Rory Stewart and Sherard Cowper-Coles

YES Rory Stewart, a former diplomat, lives in Kabul where he is running an urban regeneration project

BRITAIN is putting more resources and energy into Afghanistan than into almost any other country in the world. It plans to create a safe, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan and has taken particular responsibility for fighting drugs and the insurgency in the province of Helmand. But what is the chance of success?

Some things have been achieved in the six years since the USled invasion, from getting millions of girls back into school to child inoculations and the creation of a central bank. But these are tiny steps relative to our ambitions of creating a multi-ethnic centralised state based on democracy, respect for human rights, gender equality and the rule of law. Many of these objectives are not simply difficult but dishonest and impossible.

Rural areas of Afghanistan remain far more isolated, conservative and resistant to change than we publicly acknowledge. War has eroded social structures and entrenched ethnic suspicion between Pashtun, Hazara and Tajik populations. Pakistan and Iran continue to exercise a dangerous influence. There is a widespread insurgency. Many provinces are now too dangerous for international civilians to visit. Power is in the hands of tribal leaders and militia commanders.

Much of Afghanistan is barren and most people cannot read or write. Despite our efforts in counter-narcotics, production is at a record high; in Balkh, where the government boasts that the poppy is eliminated, villagers are growing cannabis instead. Afghanistan’s economic comparative advantage seems to lie in the fact that it is the source of 92% of Europe’s heroin and yet still receives $4 billion a year in international aid.

Most of these problems are beyond the power of the United States to solve, let alone Britain. Yet Britain continues to behave as though it were omnipotent. It assumed responsibility for Helmand, perhaps the most difficult province; it chose to take prime responsibility for counter-narcotics, perhaps the most difficult security issue; and it has launched a “state-building” programme in areas dominated by groups opposed to the government. Most of this effort is wasted and has often made the situation worse for both Afghans and Britain.

We need a policy that reflects our actual capacity rather than our hubristic fantasies. We cannot win a counter-insurgency campaign against the Taliban. We do not control the borders with Pakistan, where insurgents find safety and support. Our troop numbers are limited and so is our understanding of local structures. Nato is divided and uncoordinated. The Afghan government lacks the ability to provide the level of support that we require. The local population is at best suspicious of our actions. In Helmand, where we have increased the troop presence from 200 to over 7,000, our gains can only be temporary. It is more dangerous there for foreign civilians than it was two years ago, before we deployed our troops.

We have also discovered that we cannot create key Afghan institutions from outside. The police are predatory and corrupt; in some cases, security improves when they withdraw. We can build a technical institution such as a central bank and we have trained soldiers, but we have not had a big impact on the police, rural courts or power structures. Instead of trying to transform remote parts of the country with slogans of “rule of law” and “governance” we should accept that we don’t have the power, knowledge or legitimacy to change those societies.

Moreover, we cannot run successful development projects in the middle of an insurgency. A dollar spent in Kabul has about 20 times the impact of a dollar in an insurgent-dominated town such as Musa Qala in north Helmand, where much of our aid was wasted on security and projects were undermined by lack of intimate engagement with the community. In such towns, expensively constructed projects collapse or are destroyed as we leave.

Afghanistan will probably remain weakly governed and poor for a long time. There is little we can do to prevent it. But it is not a cause for despair because there are things that we can do, and do well. We have the ability to build roads and dams, to provide advice on commercial law or to undertake development projects in stable areas. The province of Bamiyan has had far less money poured into it than the small insurgency-ridden sub-district of Panjawi, but it has become a much better place for its inhabitants. This is because its population brings its own ingenuity and energy to bear on foreign-supported projects and will maintain them after we leave.

We should focus on such places, mainly in the centre and the north. We should also pursue a security agenda focused on counter-terrorism, rather than counter-insurgency, using intelligence or special forces operations to destroy terrorist training camps if they reemerge.

Our principle should be to protect ourselves against a terrorist threat from Afghanistan, while delivering a handful of well executed projects that create jobs and incomes for Afghans and help to restore national confidence after decades of conflict. Afghanistan is not going to be the only fragile and unstable poor country with which we will have to deal over the next 30 years. We need a strategy, one that is smarter, more honest and more efficient with our resources; one which can be applied to Somalia, Sudan or anywhere else where trouble emerges.

We are hiding the dishonesty and failures of our policy by claiming that “failure is not an option” and talking about a moral obligation. Ought implies can. We do not have the moral obligation to do what we cannot do.

NO Sherard Cowper-Coles is British ambassador to Afghanistan

THE cabinet ministers involved in Afghanistan - David Miliband, who paid his first visit as foreign secretary outside Europe here, Douglas Alexander, Des Browne and the prime minister himself - have told me that they want us to tell it as it is. They have asked us what is going right, what is going wrong, what Britain should be doing more of and what less of. You yourself have talked to several of them on their visits here. I’m surprised you continue to believe we are starry-eyed about what is possible.

Telling it as it is is precisely what my team and I have done; and over the six years since the Bonn agreement on the future of Afghanistan, much has been achieved, more than you acknowledge: a constitution is in place; presidential and parliamentary elections have been held; millions of children, particularly girls, are back in school; dramatically improved health-care means that tens of thousands of young Afghans are alive today who would not otherwise have been; schools and clinics have been built, wells sunk, roads laid; millions of Afghans are connected not just to the next village but to the world by mobile telephone; and, perhaps most significantly, Afghanistan enjoys a robustly free media in which her problems are debated.

We have reported all that. We have also reported what needs to be done better, not just by Britain but also by the international community and the Afghans themselves. Coordination among the scores of foreign actors here is one example. Improving the way we train the Afghan police is another. Getting proper Afghan and international backing for a serious long-term policy for taking the country out of the opium trade is a third.

So you are right to suggest that Britain is taking Afghanistan very seriously. But we are doing so not on our own, as you seem to imply, but as part of a huge international coalition; a coalition that gave its word in Bonn - and again nearly two years ago in London - that it would help the Afghans rebuild their shattered land.

Some of the hopes expressed at those meetings, by Afghans at least as much as by foreigners, may prove unrealistic. But nothing I have seen in my six months on the job suggests that anyone involved in this project has what you call “hubristic fantasies” about what Britain can do.

Indeed, those inside government agree with much of your diagnosis. We sympathise with your frustration at what has not been done in a land you know and love more than most outsiders. But I cannot agree with what seems to be your prescription:that we pull back and out; that we concentrate on a few prestige development projects in more developed areas and end our military support to the Afghan authorities, instead concentrating on intelligence-led special forces strikes against “terrorist” targets. You don’t say whether you think that Britain should move to such a posture unilaterally, or whether we should try to persuade the Americans, the Canadians, the Dutch and all the other 40 or so nations represented here, plus the United Nations, Nato and the European Union, to do the same.

At present, Britain channels about 80% of its aid through the government of Afghanistan, under arrangements overseen by the World Bank and audited by Price Waterhouse Coopers. We do so because we believe we have to trust the Afghans to rebuild their own country. Are you saying we should end all that?

You say we should give up on counter-narcotics, so allowing Afghanistan to turn itself into a narco-state. And this, when all the evidence (13 poppy-free provinces this year, compared with six last) is that, where there is security, poppy production falls. This is a hard road, but giving up now would undermine all else we do.

Similarly, I don’t understand your thinking on our military posture. If we, and the Americans, Canadians, Dutch and others, did as you suggest, the Taliban would sweep back to power across the south and east, destroying all that has been achieved in the past six years. The people - especially the women - of the Pashtun belt would be plunged back into a new dark age.

The warlords would regroup and come down from the north. Kandahar would fall. Kabul would be fought over again. A new and even bloodier civil war would erupt while the West stood on the sidelines, engaging in what you call “counter-terrorist” operations.

There is much we should do better. But your prescription would not only kill the patient; it would bring shame on any who tried to administer it.

This is an edited extract from a debate in the next issue of Prospect magazine, on sale on Thursday. For details visit www.prospect-magazine.co.uk

Amid Real Progress, an Afghan Failure to Take Responsibility

Sunday, December 16, 2007 Ann Marlowe FCI

Ann Marlowe is an independent journalist who was embedded in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army in November and December.

KABUL, Afghanistan--Air Force Lt. Col. Gordon Phillips of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is usually a very patient man. As the commander of Nangarhar Province's Provincial Reconstruction Team or PRT, he has to be.

Like other Provincial Reconstruction Team commanders in Afghanistan, he spends most of his time in an endless series of meetings with provincial officials and elders, trying to gain the cooperation of the Afghan people in providing security, the rule of law, and economic development.

Largely, Phillips' patience and that of his colleagues in the Nangarhar maneuver command is paying off. More IEDs are being called in by Afghan civilians to the Afghan National Police or Coalition forces. Ordinary Afghans are beginning to look to the law rather than tribal custom to address grievances.

But after a recent attack in his area of command, he had enough.

A suicide bomber detonated his vest while four American soldiers were traveling to meet with elders in Nangarhar Province, to discuss security.

The soldiers escaped the Humvee with only minor injuries before the ammunition inside cooked and blew it apart. A 15-year old Afghan boy, recently married, was not so lucky; he was fatally wounded.

Phillips called a meeting, or shura to talk about the Charparhar attack, and staged it right in front of the destroyed Humvee so that the Afghan elders attending had to look at burned out hulk.

"They expected to say "sorry" and depart. I kept them for an hour to discuss their responsibility as leaders in the community in deterring these attack and getting the population involved," he said.

Phillips is involved in building a road in Charparhar but that day he threatened to suspect the project until the elders get a grip on their community.

"We didn't make any friends that day, but at least they know we were serious!"

One of the most challenging tasks of American PRT commanders is encouraging Afghan civilians take responsibility for the security of their own neighborhoods.

Every attack lowers the willingness of Afghan government and Non Government Organizations to work in the area, while village elders and provincial council members complain to the PRT commander that aid is slow to arrive.

And too often, U.S. commanders say, the hard work of American soldiers is stymied because civilians look the other way when an IED is planted or an attack planned.

But in the last year, as citizens have more positive interactions with their government, the more they separate from the insurgents.

Coalition forces in Khost are trying to strengthen the Afghan National Police and encourage civilians to cooperate with them.

Efforts such as the Small Rewards Program has been a big success in Khost and Ghazni. Under this arrangement, Afghans who bring weapons or unexploded ordinance to their district center or police receive cash payments.

And the Afghan National Army, or ANA, being trained by coalition forces, is beginning to stand up.

Col. Martin Schweitzer, commander of American ISAF forces for RC-East working to train the ANA said he's seen advancement in the rapidly-improving force.

"The ANA has not lost a contact with the Taliban since the beginning of April", says Schweitzer.

Just as important are the more than 14,000 reconstruction works in Afghanistan.

In 2002 there were only seven paved roads in the six eastern provinces under Schweitzer's command. Now there are more than 4,000.

The standard of living for most Afghans has improved, even out in the hinterlands. In RC-East, a 2006 survey showed that 88% of Afghans now have radios, 50% mobile phones, 21% televisions. Afghanistan has enjoyed an average 9.75% growth rate in GDP for the last four years and is expected to hit 13% next year, according the World Bank.

All this has begun to win over the locals. When Schweitzer assumed command of ISAF forces in RC-East in early 2007, only 20 of the 85 districts within these six provinces were "green" - the military term for districts that have a low level of insurgent violence and good cooperation with the provincial government.

Now, 58 districts are classified as green, with a several more districts expected to go the same way in the next few months.

But on a recent trip to Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed concern over increasing levels of violence in the country.

The past year has been the deadliest for Afghan civilians, who are increasingly the victims of IED attacks aimed at Afghan or Coalition troops. Sometimes, too, IEDs claim the innocent people.

In Ghazni Province, about 200 miles from Nangarhar, an IED killed Tom Stefani, the USAID Department of Agriculture representative, on October 4.

And two weeks ago, a school principal in Khost Province was shot to death, in an attack that happened, reports said, because "schools and teachers" are frequent Taliban targets."

Major Tim Kohn, head of Civil Affairs for Khost said that many attacks that are reported in the media as "Taliban" violence are simple criminality reflective of Afghanistan's weak police force and justice system.

"The other half of the story that is not reported is that he (the principal) was killed for his motorcycle," said Kohn. "I doubt that the assailants even knew that he was a school principal."

There is a long way to go before Afghanistan’s police and military will be able provide the stability the country needs. But the Afghan people are also key the country’s success. And after hundreds of years of despotic government, it may take a generation for Afghans to learn the consequences of not becoming more active citizens.

Meanwhile, Americans will continue to risk, and sometimes lose their lives, to help them on their way.

As LTC Jeffrey Milhorn, the manoever commander who works with Phillips put it, "A young man was robbed of his life because the local people had failed to dissuade insurgents from behaving this way."

Afghanistan becoming a forgotten war

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. government and NATO officials ordered sweeping reviews of the mission in Afghanistan amid concerns the mission there is failing.

Two U.S. reviews and one NATO examination signal a recognition that development on political and economic stabilization, counter-terrorist operations and curbing the production of opium and heroin trafficking is in a dire state, The New York Times said Sunday.

It also signifies the cornerstone of the Bush administration's stated objectives in counter-terrorist operations targeting al-Qaida is faltering despite claims of recent success in Iraq, the newspaper said.

The reviews of the mission in Afghanistan are not likely to generate the attention that similar reviews of the Iraqi policy did in 2006, nor are they likely to produce any significant change in policy due to the commitment in Iraq, The Times said.

Pentagon officials greeted the reason behind the reviews as myopic, saying the goal should be long-term and any examination should focus on the success in terms of reconstruction thus far.

NATO officials responded saying the mission in Afghanistan was regarded as a success in 2006, but a Taliban resurgence and increased opium harvests curtail much of the progress.

Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said the mission in Afghanistan was in jeopardy.

"Afghanistan has been the forgotten war," Skelton said.

Weapon caches recovered in E Afghanistan

KABUL, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), assisted by the U.S.-led coalition forces, have recovered two weapons caches during routine security patrols in eastern Afghan province Nangarhar, a statement issued by the coalition forces said here on Sunday.

The ANSF executed the missions on Dec. 14 after receiving credible information of possible ammunition caches in their area, the statement said.

"The ANSF located and searched the suspected area where they found and recovered approximately 70 85-mm recoilless rifle rounds" in Ragham village of Rodat district, the statement said.

In another development, the coalition forces confiscated several rocket-propelled grenades, 82-mm mortar rounds, and 85-mm recoilless rifle rounds in Desarak village of Achin district, it added.

Afghan citizens will receive compensation for their efforts through the Small Rewards Program when they facilitate the recovery and turn-in of armament caches, said the statement.

"Afghan citizens have taken an active role in improving the security and stability within their villages by facilitating the recovery of munitions caches," said Chris Belcher, the coalition spokesman.

Fida over Vida

Miss Afghanistan 2003 Vida Samadzai, tells AYESHA MATTHANno matter where Afghan women are the blood and fire within them is the same BETWEEN TWO WORLDS This Afghan-American says she has the best of both worlds

There is one question that Vida Samadzai is constantly asked: “How is Osama and are you his mistress?” Vida nonchalantly shrugs it off, with a reply that “plays along” to the tune. She answers: “Yeah, he is fine – didn’t you know that we had a relationship?”

Vida Samadzai was crowned Miss Afghanistan in 2003, defying and breaking stereotypes that both her home and adopted country have of Afghanistan and its people.

She was born and raised in Afghanistan till she moved to the U.S.A with her family, when she was in her early teens. She was related to the royal ruling family – the late Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last king of the war-ravaged country. Vida Samadzai was here in the city to work for a women’s right organisation, model for Deepika Govind’s collection and watch the test match.

She recalls her childhood in the 1980s: “It was wonderful and we were happy – there was television, music, movies including ‘Khuda Gawah’ and I never cared about politics – I still don’t”, she states. Graceful and willowy, Vida recounts how she and her family left Afghanistan and moved to California.

Talking about entering the pageant, Vida says: “I was working for a company that deals with home loans and a former Miss America persuaded me to participate. I hadn’t even done any of the working out or make-up sessions, took a risk and I won.” At the Miss Earth pageant, she wore a “70s style red bikini” that created a stir in Afghanistan – and since then she’s been banished from visiting.

For the last year and a half, she has been living in Mumbai trying her hands in two things close to her heart — Bollywood and social work. “Passion brought me to India. I had a role in a Subhash Ghai movie ‘Black and White’ and have modelled for designer Deepika Govind’s clothes, amongst others.”

Vida works for a women rights organisation called “Afghan Woman Organisation” that helps women become aware of their rights. “The Taliban took away basic rights and women need to be made aware of their rights.

She feels that there is no difference between her and her compatriots. “They are still courageous, nurturing, giving, smart and intelligent. I just went to another country and had access to education. But inside us, the blood and fire is still the same. Afghans have the biggest heart – they will give you the last jacket they’re wearing if you’re cold and their last bite if you’re hungry. They just want peace.”

This Afghan-American says that adopting the U.S.A and being of Afghan origin has helped her pick the best of both worlds. “I wouldn’t say that the U.S has greatly influenced me as a person. I am aware of my rights and I just have an American accent. I think that I had an opportunity to live life for myself and not be bothered about what other people say about where I come from.”

She feels that there is no use pointing fingers at just one person for the situation of Afghanistan. “They are just ignorant people who have taken advantage of the situation. And after 9/11, the image that people have of terrorists has changed. It was horrible to hear that an innocent Sikh man had been killed just because he had a beard.”

She also met fellow Afghan-American and author Khaled Hosseini. “We’ve exchanged ideas and discussed controversies. ‘The Kite Runner’ is an amazing book – it brought tears to my eyes. I was offered a role in the movie but my mother didn’t pass on the message,” she laughs.

Vida has plans of being a successful businesswoman. “I know I can and will be one so that I can contribute more money to organisations and change the lifestyle of Afghan women and children.” She adds, “Of course, I also want to get married, have six children and live close to my family.”

© Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu

Afghanistan service honoured

Londoner Christopher Murdy was in charge of one convoy that faced suicide bombers, minefields and a mortar attack.

By PATRICK MALONEY, SUN MEDIA

The longest, toughest day in Christopher Murdy's life has also turned out to be the most rewarding.

The London soldier, a sergeant with 4RCR, led a convoy in Afghanistan that in one marathon trip on a blistering August day encountered two suicide bombers, several minefields and a Taliban mortar attack.

An estimated 60 people were under Murdy's watch and all survived -- an achievement that's earned him a prestigious Mention in Dispatches medallion.

"It was exhausting," Murdy said of the 25-hour ordeal on Aug. 29, 2006. "I definitely believe in the training, the equipment (but) there's a little bit of luck involved.

"If you believe in a higher power, there's that element, too."

That day -- just Murdy's 13th in Afghanistan -- started at 7 a.m. when the convoy, loaded with supplies, set out from Kandahar field base along a highway toward the Pakistan border.

Thirty minutes in, with the vehicles slowed to a crawl at a checkpoint, a suicide bomber in a car blew up in the opposite lane just 10 metres from Murdy's armoured vehicle. The blast killed one civilian.

Once they continued on the day's trip, the drivers found themselves in the midst of two different minefields. Deftly noticing the detonators sticking up through the sand, the drivers got the vehicles out unscathed.

It wasn't long before the same process repeated itself, directions having put the convoy in yet another minefield.

The group was successfully back on the main highway when a handful of mortars started exploding to Murdy's left. As the sun set, another Taliban attack -- including a failed suicide bomber -- struck.

"They threw everything they had at us," Murdy said, noting one crew commander was shot in the hand and shoulder. "We returned fire and kept going."

A medic was picked up at a nearby compound to ride with the injured man, but the vehicle carrying both of them rolled into a ditch. It was dark and scores of civilians were in the immediate area.

"A week earlier a Canadian soldier was killed at that same intersection by a suicide bomber," Murdy said, recalling the confusion that night.

A security zone was set up and -- after eight hours -- the vehicle was pulled from the ditch and the convoy headed to its destination, a military compound in Kandahar City.

"The guys were used to going 24 hours, that's not the point," Murdy, 32, said. "It's the highs and lows -- it's the adrenaline rush and then you tire out and then you get another adrenaline rush.

"It was just the combination of all those different incidents in one day that made it such a tough day."

Murdy, who enlisted in the reserves in 1999, participated in 95 convoys during his seven months in Afghanistan. For 69 of them, including the harrowing Aug. 29 trip, he was a convoy commander.

He received his medal two months ago. A military statement on the award cited the "exceptional judgment and tactical expertise" he displayed that day.

"Murdy's steadfast composure and combat leadership inspired his soldiers to confidently carry out their mission," it read.

In civilian life, Murdy is a teacher, most recently working as a long-term substitute teacher in a Tillsonburg Grade 8 class.

Afghanistan Bound

They're headed to Afghanistan for a tour of duty that could last anywhere from 6-9 months.

Coronach’s Corporal Jay Tellier says it's something he's always wanted to do.

"Not going to Afghanistan in particular but since I was very small I always knew I wanted to be in the military, always.

Tellier says he’s made the most of months of intense training.

I feel absolutely prepared. 100 percent, the training we got is top of the world and there's no doubt in my mind that it's going to help us when we're over there".

Saturday night a special Christmas dinner was held at the Armouries in honour of their work.

Dragoons Commanding Officer Major Brad Hraycyna is proud of each and every one of them.

"They did extremely well in their training with the battle group. They showed that they were well prepared and ready to go and I'm hoping their training will serve them well and they'll come home safe and well".

Honourary Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Carline believes the Dragoons are doing good work.

"I think it’s important for Moose Jaw to know that we have a unit in the city which is actively engaged in the defense of Canada".

The Dragoons are set head overseas early in the new year.

Lt. Col. Scottie Custer is an 82nd Airborne Division artillery officer in a place where the big guns he's trained to use are worthless.

Navy Cmdr. David Adams is a former submarine driver leading a team of Fort Bragg-trained sailors in a landlocked country.

And Arsala Jamal _ a man schooled in accounting who once kept the books for the University of Nebraska's education center in Pakistan _ is the appointed governor of a war-torn province in Afghanistan.

These three are the authors of a seemingly unlikely success story. A story producing something rare in Afghanistan _ hope.

Khost Province is one of the few bright spots in a country increasingly plagued by suicide bombings, insurgent attacks, lagging redevelopment and a lack of faith in the Afghan government's ability to lead.

Conventional wisdom says that if something is working in Afghanistan, it shouldn't be here. A case could be made that the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq have roots in Khost Province: This is one of the places where the hijackers who crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon trained.

As recently as two years ago, the province's main city _ Khost _ was a dreary place with crumbling Soviet-era concrete office buildings, garbage-strewn streets and only a few paved roads. The smell of raw sewage hung in the air.

Last year, Khost was plagued by suicide bombers and attacks by insurgents. Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters were constantly in the province, slipping easily in and out of neighboring Pakistan.

These days, the signs of a community coming back to life are impossible to miss.

The market at the center of Khost city is clogged with shoppers and carts bringing goods to the stalls that line the road. Teenagers with motorized rickshas wait for fares on the outskirts of the shopping district.

Towering over everything is a brand new purple building with glass windows from floor to ceiling.

But even as the people of Khost take the first steps away from war and poverty, a question hangs over the region: How long can it last?

Khost is a pocket of success surrounded by provinces still wracked by violence, a booming drug economy and other problems.

"Khost will be affected by the larger insecurity, opium production and corruption," said Caroline Wadhams, a senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, a think tank. "If you don't deal with the larger problems, Khost is doomed in the long term."

Khost's success is also the result of the collaboration of three men, two of them Americans who will leave next year.

The roots of the turnaround were planted a year ago over servings of homemade lasagna.

Adams and Custer met for dinner at Custer's house on Fort Bragg. It was their first chance to get to know one another before they took up commands in the volatile province on the Pakistan border.

Security of the province would fall to Custer _ a dead ringer for Robert Duvall's character in "Apocalypse Now." A workaholic, Custer is often up firing e-mails to his staff at 2 a.m. He seems made of equal parts enthusiasm and confidence, fueled by the diet Coke or a cup of coffee always in one fist. Anyone not in agreement with him is a "whacker."

Adams, a former speech-writer for the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, would head up reconstruction. He's the quieter partner, with the measured speech of a college professor.

Adams volunteered to take over the Provisional Reconstruction Team in Khost. He had tracked terrorists in the province in the 1990s on board submarines _ at one point almost shooting Tomahawk missiles at a training camp where Osama bin Laden was thought to be hiding _ and continued to follow developments there even after he left the fleet.

Both men agreed that stopping the violence depended on getting soldiers out where the people would see them and the insurgents would fear them. To put their plan in place, they knew they needed a man with whom they could work.

They had yet to meet Jamal.

About the time that Custer and Adams were meeting over dinner, Jamal was in Kabul working for the United Nations as a project manager.

When he mentioned to friends in the central government that he would like to serve, he got a call from Afghan President Hamid Karzai: Would he take the governor's job in Khost?

Jamal is a native of Paktika, a neighboring province. He knew how bad conditions were in Khost, and he didn't really want the job. But, against his better judgment, he took it.

A month after he assumed power last year, Khost city was hit by 13 suicide bombers.

Custer arrived in Afghanistan in February.

As one of his first moves, he worked with Jamal to have Afghan forces _ the national police and army _ take over security for Khost city. A key to that was the construction of checkpoints on roads leading into the city. Those checkpoints, manned by the Afghan forces, were a safeguard against insurgents bringing in guns and bombs.

Turning those duties over to the Afghans left his paratroopers _ about 130 of them _ to cover the province's 11 subdistricts.

It was in deciding how to use his men that Custer really got creative.

Custer injured his neck on a jump at Fort Bragg years ago and knew that he couldn't make the bone-jarring rides over the rocky paths out to the districts on a regular basis. Plus, convoys to some of the outlying districts can take several hours _ too long for troops based at Forward Operating Salerno outside Khost city to react effectively to Taliban insurgents.

Custer's solution? He moved his men out into the subdistricts.

At first, the soldiers spent only a few nights in the subdistricts at a time, then returned to Salerno for supplies and rest. One day on the treadmill in the gym _ Custer runs six miles a day _ he decided to kick his troops off the big American base and force them to live out in the province.

Soldiers grumbled. The shift meant they were in spartan conditions, away from the hot showers and hot food of Salerno.

But Custer sees success in the strategy. Standing in front of a new district center in Sabari this fall, he got a big smile and a fist pump from the sub-governor, Luftallah.

"They know the people by name now," he said. "They know the towns."

Luftallah said through an interpreter that since the paratroopers had moved into the district, the Taliban had moved out.

Numbers bear that out. Insurgent attacks and roadside bombs are down significantly compared with February, when the paratroopers arrived.

With the Taliban staying out, aid money has poured in. Adams says the improved security makes it easier for him to lobby for funding of reconstruction projects.

His job has been to put that money to work. It's a role he believes is an important piece of winning in Afghanistan.

"There are two paths for Afghanistan," he says. "Roads and schools, or war and destruction."

It is not unusual in either Iraq or Afghanistan to see local leaders deferring to U.S. military officers when it comes to making decisions. But in the weekly security meetings in Khost, Jamal is clearly in charge.

At one gathering in the fall, Jamal sat at the head of the table. He kept the meeting on track, and all decisions came from him. At one point, Custer forcefully made the case that the Afghan National Police should provide men for an upcoming mission. But it didn't happen until Jamal approved it.

"We all work for the governor," Custer says, almost like a mantra. He often forces Afghans to swear allegiance to Jamal before he will deal with them.

The governor's cooperation and leadership have been key to improving security in the province. But his leadership is most apparent in the reconstruction effort.

Adams negotiates through the bureaucracy of the approval process. It is Jamal who makes sure the funding is going to projects worth the money.

"The more bricks and rocks that are put together, the more people realize something is happening," Jamal said. "If you really work, there is an opportunity to make your dreams come true."

In six months, aid spending in the province has tripled. The money has gone to build 30 diversion dams, six municipal buildings and 56 schools.

All that pales, though, next to the paved roads that are changing life for so many in the province.

In the previous five years, the province added only 19 miles of paved road. In six months with Adams and Custer this year, Jamal's government added 50 miles to the network.

Jamal said when Afghans see paved roads, they smile.

In Afghanistan, success comes with a price.

Five times, the Taliban has tried to assassinate Jamal. In October, he escaped harm but two civilians and three of his bodyguards were hurt when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into the governor's convoy.

At night, Adams likes to sit on the roof of his headquarters smoking a cigar and listening to James Taylor on his iPod. He can see the city only a few miles away, down a newly paved road that will be clogged with people headed to jobs or school in the morning.

The improvements are readily apparent. But he worries.

"Khost is fragile," he warns. "We've improved this place in six months, but don't think that can't change."

Khost may be a glimpse of the best the U.S. and its allies can hope for in Afghanistan.

The province is more peaceful than those around it. American money is producing real results that make people's lives better. But the threat of the Taliban isn't over, and it is doubtful that the Afghan forces are ready to keep the peace if the U.S. soldiers leave.

"It is Afghanistan," Custer said. "But we are going to hand off Khost a lot better than we received it."

Information from: The Fayetteville Observer

Afghan traders hope for foreign boost

By Moska Najib BBC News, Delhi Sunday, 16 December 2007

"All I want from the people of the world is to teach me how to fish, not give me fish," says bearded, 80-year-old Khal Mohammad.

He is the oldest of 40 Afghan traders who recently visited the Indian capital, Delhi, for an international trade fair.

Khal Mohammad is well known in the Afghan carpet industry and has survived in the business for nearly three decades amid a backdrop of unending war.

"During times of heavy fighting I sold fewer carpets, but I never left Afghanistan!" he says proudly.

"The whole world knows that I established myself in my own country and among my own people."

Now Mr Mohammad is hoping to travel the world to help pave the way for a better future for his country.

"I want to show the Afghan carpets to the rest of the world and demonstrate our skills so we can find possibilities for trade. For every carpet that is bought, one Afghan family stays alive," he says, stroking his silky white beard.

Forgotten silk route

Centuries ago Afghanistan was part of an ancient trade route that supplied precious goods to the West.

Creating international markets now is hard for small businesses. Being landlocked creates problems.

"About 150,000 carpets are woven per month in Afghanistan. But they are sold as 'Made in Pakistan' because the final processing (cutting and washing) is done there," says carpet weaver Mohammad Nabi Saifi.

"We do not have the machinery in our country to do all the work at home, so we lose out on our brand image," he adds.

Said Zahir, a dry fruit supplier, also says Afghan traders are at a disadvantage.

"The taste and quality of Afghanistan's dry fruits are incomparable because we do not use chemicals.

"But we have many competitors - China being the first followed by Iran and Turkey; they are able to insure and securely export their products, a luxury that we don't have," says Mr Zahir.

New platforms

So international exhibitions are now seen as a vital way for Afghan traders to find new opportunities.

Afghan products on show in Delhi ranged from exotic musk melons, vermilion pomegranates to antique lapis gemstones and handmade embroideries.

Zaheer Ahmed, of the Kabul House Company, says visitors to the fair were fascinated by Afghan culture.

"They are intrigued by outfits of the rural Afghan people, and often wonder how they can wear such heavy garments. A lot of these outfits weigh 10-12 kilograms, so we tell them how strong and powerful the Afghan people are."

Yet amid the tradition, new cultural trends are settling in.

Women entrepreneurs

The latest trend on the streets of Kabul is beauty parlours. But not everyone is impressed with what they offer.

"People in Kabul used to be very fashionable," says Belqis Basher Dost, the Director of the Afghanistan Beauticians and Handicrafts Union.

"But now they copy fashion, like the current Arabic style which makes heavy use of make-up. Afghan women see catalogues of Arabic women and want to look the same."

Afghan women can earn about $400 a month before perks in the parlours, 10 times what a typical government worker gets.

Despite the money, women's lives are still limited. For example, it's rare to see a woman commuting on her own.

"Most families don't allow (women) to leave home and work outside," says Fawzia Hashima, a widowed-carpet weaver.

"So carpet weaving is a good option because they can generate income sitting at home."

Ms Hashima is the only breadwinner in her family and has to support her five children. She often travels to Bagram in the Parvan province to sell her goods.

But the journey, which begins in the early hours of the night, is a worry.

"My goods are very popular at the bazaar in Bagram, but it is difficult for me to go there as a woman. I've been questioned about travelling alone and even threatened."

"Life is a constant challenge," she says, smiling. "You either win or lose."

In Fremont, grassroots groups explore ways to rebuild Afghanistan

Jill Tucker San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, December 16, 2007

As a child living under Taliban rule, Humaira Amiri, 22, learned to add and subtract in secret - homeschooled so no one would know. Educating girls in Afghanistan was a sin.

After the Taliban fell in 2001, that changed. Yet children in the war-torn country face new obstacles in obtaining education: poverty, hunger, lack of water and even bombs.

"One day they go to school, the next a suicide bomb (hits) and then they don't go for another month," Amiri said Saturday. Amiri was among more than 200 people who gathered in Fremont's Centerville Presbyterian Church to share ideas and efforts to address those problems and many others in the country suffering from decades of war and conflict.

More than 20 grassroots organizations attended the fifth annual Rebuild Afghanistan Summit, many focusing on helping children, health, infrastructure and financial development.

The event coincided with the release of the movie "The Kite Runner," set in Afghanistan and based on the best-selling 2003 novel by San Jose writer Khalid Hosseini. Those attending the summit said they hoped the film would draw even more attention to a country devastated by endless violence and war.

Amiri stood next to her mother-in-law, Soraya Hakim, the president of the country's Department of Orphanages, part of the Afghan Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled.

The department is working to set up a foster care system for the 11,000 children living in the country's 34 orphanages. The greatest need is to train the orphans in a skill so they can be self-sufficient, Hakim said. Programs teach auto repair and painting skills as well as sewing and cooking.

A few tables down in the church's gymnasium, Mahjoba Raofi handed out information about her newly created nonprofit Afghan Children's Relief Organization.

While thousands of Afghan children are state-supported orphans, tens of thousands more beg on the street, collecting scrap metal or shining shoes for 75 cents a day. Raofi's organization gives the children an allowance if they go to school.

A local volunteer doles out the money based on the child's attendance in class. One family with five children gets $200 each month to ensure there is food on the table and time to study during the day.

"These kids have to be part of reconstruction," Raofi said. "Who's going to build these roads in 20 years?"

Organizers hoped the summit would help all the grassroots efforts to learn from each other and perhaps to consolidate efforts.

Currently in Afghanistan, fewer than 1 in 4 people has access to safe drinking water and less than 6 percent have access to electricity, said Mo Qayoumi, president of California State University East Bay and the summit's keynote speaker.

The 1979 invasion by the Soviet Union and the subsequent Taliban regime "destroyed every infrastructure that Afghanistan had," he said.

Qayoumi said his biggest hope was for the "audacity of imagination" for what his native country could be again.

Almost all organizations attending the summit focused on an equally optimistic future for Afghanistan.

Nadia Tarzi, however, was focused on its past.

Tarzi represented the Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology. Her father, Zemmaryalai Tarzi, is a renowned archaeologist, known for his work restoring the Bamiyan Buddhas, she said. The huge statues carved into cliffs were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Much of Afghanistan's treasured history has been destroyed or looted in the past few decades, its cultural identity becoming the victim of thieves and war, Tarzi said.

Her organization supports excavations in Bamiyan, where her father is working to uncover ancient monasteries and search for the enormous reclining Buddha believed to be buried there. Her group also is focusing on conservation, training and awareness of Afghanistan's existing and stolen antiquities.

While certainly food, shelter and human rights trump all else in Afghanistan now, Tarzi said she hopes historical preservation makes the long to-do list involved in the country's reconstruction.

"It is about preserving the cultural identify of the people of Afghanistan," she said. "If you don't know what your past is made of, you don't know your place in the world."

Online resources

For information about the organizations involved in the summit:

www.kabulmaternity.org

Disabled Afghans struggle against untold odds

By Allison Lampert CanWest News Service Saturday, December 15, 2007

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Gullalai doesn't dream of a better life for her 16-year-old son Iqbar. His growth and education have been stunted by a childhood disease that's left him unable to walk to school with his 10-year-old brother Feroz.

"There is no future for him," said Gullalai, who like many Afghans goes by one name. "He cannot work. He is half a person."

Like her son, she shares the burden of being handicapped in this war-torn country. Shrapnel from mortars fired by the Russians during the Afghan civil war cost Gullalai her right foot, while her husband was gunned down by an unknown assailant four years ago.

She hobbled with her children Saturday to the site of Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team at Camp Nathan Smith, a sprawling base located at the site of an old canning factory.

In preparation for the second celebration of the Muslim holiday Eid, the Canadians were handing out provisions for 450 handicapped Afghans: 50 kilogram bags of flour, two kilogram bags of sugar and three litres of cooking oil. The reconstruction team has about a thousand ongoing projects, including efforts to build bridges, roads and schools, depending on where it's safe to operate.

"We don't do this very often," said PRT commander Lt-Col. Bob Chamberlain of the food distribution. "We do it once in awhile to demonstrate that we're good neighbours.

"We are targeting the handicapped in particular because they are among the most vulnerable in this society."

In Kandahar province there are 3,762 Afghans registered as disabled, said Bashir Ahmad Wali, director of the Afghan Disabled Rehabilitation Association. Wali, who was injured from stepping on a mine, said he believes there are far more handicapped Afghans in Kandahar.

"Most of them are not registered," he said.

Discrimination and the high proportion of labour intensive jobs like farming in Afghanistan make it hard for the disabled to earn a living, he said.

What's worse, Wali said, is that Afghanistan's Ministry of Martyrs and the Disabled is failing to support the country's handicapped population because of corruption and heavy bureaucracy.

"The government does not take our problems seriously," he said.

Each disabled Afghan is supposed to get $8 US a month from the government, but these monthly stipends are not paid regularly.

The handicapped have difficulty receiving their money because they must travel to the government offices, which are only located in the big cities, said Fayaz Ullah, a civil servant with the ministry. In addition, as they lack a computer network, Afghan civil servants must still do all the processing of financial aid by hand, which can take days.

"There are huge problems to deal with," Ullah said.

"If we could have more bureaus built in the rural districts then these problems would largely be fixed."

Although Gullalai said she does receive her stipend, the money is insufficient. Even the money she earns as a seamstress isn't enough to pay for a home for herself and her four children.

Gullalai bursts into tears as she recounts how the family shares a bombed out mud home with her stepson and his family. There are nine children and three adults living in the remaining four rooms.

"As a widow and as a handicapped woman, it's very, very hard for me," she said. "What we really need is our own home."

The family is taking comfort in celebrating the Eid holiday, which starts this week. As a treat, they will celebrate by eating special cakes.

Gullalai's son Feroz has other ideas.

He wants to ask his late father's uncle for $4. That's all he needs to buy new sandals and new clothes to replace his faded shalvar-kameez.

With Color and Panache, Afghans Fight a Different Kind of War

By KIRK SEMPLE The New York Times December 15, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan — The kites appear suddenly, whimsical flashes of color that kick above the beige landscape here of relentless dust and desperation.

They reveal themselves, like dragonflies, at the most unexpected moments: through the window of a grim government office, beyond the smoke curling from the debris left by a suicide bomber, above the demoralizing gridlock of traffic and poverty. To a new arrival in this chaotic city of three million, they are unexpected and wonderfully incongruous.

Banned during the Taliban’s rule, kite flying is once again the main recreational escape for Afghan boys and some men. (It still remains largely off limits to girls and women.) And with the American release Friday of the film “The Kite Runner,” based on the best-selling novel of the same name, a much wider audience will be introduced to Afghan kite culture.

Follow a kite’s string to its source and you will most likely find an Afghan boy standing on top of his roof or in an empty lot, playing the line in deep concentration.

But this is not the stuff of idle afternoons or, as in American culture, carefree picnics in the park. This is war. The sole reason for kites, Afghans will tell you, is to fight them, and a single kite aloft is nothing but an unspoken challenge to a neighbor.

The objective of the kite fight is to slice the other flier’s string with your own, sending the vanquished aircraft to the ground. Kite-fighting string is coated with a resin made of glue and finely crushed glass, which turns it into a blade.

The big kite-fighting day is Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, when thousands of boys and men flock to their rooftops and to the summits of the craggy hills that ring the city, carrying stacks of kites fashioned from bamboo and brightly colored tissue paper, and miles of sharp string on wooden spools.

On a recent Friday afternoon, there were scores of kites locked in duels above Tapeii-i-Maranjan, a high bluff in a southeastern neighborhood of the capital and the city’s most popular kite-flying venue. All strata of Kabuli life — male Kabuli life, that is — were well represented: schoolchildren were fighting ministerial officials, doctors were battling day laborers. They fought in teams of two, with one person tweaking the string and the other handling the spool.

Packs of boys too poor to buy their own equipment were sprinting after defeated kites as they fell to earth. They were the kite runners.

“We don’t have, like, soccer, baseball or basketball,” said Ahmad Roshazai, a translator at a medical clinic near Bagram who was flying kites on the hill with two of his brothers. He had cuts on his fingers from handling the bladelike fighting string. “We don’t have any good places for that,” he said. “No green places.”

He added: “This is the only game we have every Friday. That’s it.”

The inveterate kite fighters speak of their craft as part science and part art. The key to excellence depends on a combination of factors, both empirical and ineffable: the flexibility and balance of the kites’ bamboo frames, the strength of the glue binding the tissue paper skin, the quality of the string, the evenness of the spool and, of course, the skill of the fliers and their ability to adjust to the vicissitudes of the wind.

Rashid Abedi, 25, a business administration student, described the satisfaction of killing another kite. “It has a taste,” he said, and he likened it to the thrill of horse riding or driving a car. “These things all the time have a special taste.”

Kite-fighting string in Afghanistan was traditionally homemade by a laborious process that involved coating cotton string with a concoction of crushed glass and glue. But factories in other more-developed kite-flying nations like Pakistan, India, Thailand, Malaysia and China now churn out tens of thousands of spools of machine-made nylon fighting string that swamp the Afghan market.

Unlike in other Asian countries, like Pakistan and India, where kite flying is wildly popular, Afghanistan’s kite industry is still homespun and humble. There is still no Afghan kite federation, no national competitions, no marketing. While nearly all the string sold in Afghanistan is now factory-made and imported from other countries, most of the kites are still made by local artisans.

By consensus in Shor Bazaar, a blocklong market of tiny kite shops in Kabul, the best kite maker in the capital is Noor Agha, a slender and vain 53-year-old man who lives in a squalid mud-and-stone hovel in a cemetery and is missing most of his teeth.

“Nobody can beat me, nobody can do what I’m doing,” he said one recent afternoon as he sat barefooted on the carpeted floor of his workshop making a kite. “Even computers can’t beat me.”

His tools were arrayed before him: long stalks of bamboo and sheets of tissue paper; pliers and blades to cut and whittle the bamboo into long, flexible dowels for the frames; scissors to shape the tissue paper; and a bowl of glue.

“My prestige is higher than the interior minister,” he said.

Noor Agha, like most Afghan kite makers, inherited the craft from his father, who made kites until he was too old to grip the tools.

Alone, he can make about 40 kites a day, he said. But his business has become so large that he has enlisted the help of his two wives and several of his 11 children.

While most kites in Shor Bazaar sell for less than 30 cents, Noor Agha’s kites can fetch upward of $1. He sells custom-ordered kites to Afghan and foreign corporations and clients for much more, he said.

His local fame attracted the attention of the producers of “The Kite Runner,” who hired him to train the film’s child stars in the art of kite fighting and to make hundreds of kites used in the film.

For the kite fliers of Kabul, the release of “The Kite Runner” will help to draw the culture of Afghan kite flying out of the shadows of the much larger and more prosperous kite-flying nations in Asia.

It might also go some way toward explaining a particular Afghan kite ambush of an unsuspecting American kite flier in Maryland in 2004.

That spring, Shoab Sharifi, a Columbia University student recently arrived from Kabul, was visiting Ocean City when he spotted several people flying kites on the beach. He bought a kite from a vendor and did what for him was the natural thing: He started to kite fight. “I thought people were doing it here, too,” he said in a telephone interview from New York.

Mr. Sharifi went on: “There was a little girl and I did the maneuvers and cut her string from below.” As the wind carried the girl’s kite into the ocean, and Shoab celebrated his first kite-fighting victory on American soil, the little girl broke down in tears. When the lifeguards descended on him and accused him of “disturbing the peace,” it dawned on Mr. Sharifi that he had stepped into a cultural rut between Afghanistan and the United States.

“In the United States, I think people try to avoid conflict,” he concluded. “In Afghan culture, everything is about fighting.” He added: “It was a very educational experience.”

Groups share ideas on rebuilding Afghanistan

Fifth annual summit draws 200 participants

By Jamaal Johnson, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 12/16/2007

FREMONT — Afghanistan's rebuilding process is not the burden of just foreign investment and aid, but grass-roots organizations that sometimes are overlooked are making their mark in the effort of remobilizing the devastated country.

About 200 visitors and members of various organizations joined together in the fifth annual Rebuild Afghanistan Summit at the Centerville Presbyterian Church in Fremont on Saturday.

During the meeting, more than 20 organizations that work in Afghanistan directly and indirectly presented projects of their work in assisting Afghanistan, including a variety of workshops.

In 2002, only 20 people attended the first-ever summit, said 28-year-old Masood Sattari, the event's organizer.

Each year, the convention has grown in numbers and is expected to get even larger now that so many people are interested in helping out however they can.

A native of Afghanistan, the president of California State University, East Bay, Dr. MoQayoumi was the keynote speaker at rebuilding and peace summit.

It's been about 28 years since Russia invaded the South Asian country, and since then, it's been a challenge for Afghanistan to rebound and walk on its own two feet, suffering from a lackluster infrastructure and an unstable economy. The invasion uprooted people and left more than 2million people as refugees, Qayoumi said.

"The amount of money given to Afghanistan was one-tenth per capita compared to the countries like Kosovo, and those countries' conflicts only lasted one to two years," Qayoumi said. "There has to be sizable investment, domestic and foreign, so there can be opportunities for people to start and grow businesses."

One example he cited as a successful investment was wireless communication. He said that, in early February 2002, there was no wireless communication in Afghanistan, but by December the country had cybercafes.

To improve the country's stability, Qayoumi said, the world as a whole needs to help increase Afghanistan's productivity and build a sustainable economy. He added, "The Afghanistan government must take an active role instead of being led."

But on the other hand, the country has made big improvements: About 6 million children have access to education, the currency has become one of the most stable in the world and there is a focus on assisting the country, he said.

Classrooms Across Cultures in Marin County, an organization that focuses on teaching training and classroom instruction, was one of many organizations addressing the needs of Afghanistan at the conference.

"We are a small intrepid group of teachers," said the organization's Camilla Barry. "We'll go anywhere they ask, as long as they can get us there."

Last summer, the group traveled through Taliban territory to get to Zerok in Afghanistan to teach and perform chemistry lab demonstrations at a high school of 1,200 students, who had never witnessed chemistry demonstrations.

"I feel as this is my calling to help improve the world," she said.

Militants behead Pakistani soldier: officials
Sun Dec 16, 3:51 AM ET

KHAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani security forces recovered the beheaded body of a soldier from a restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan, local officials said.

The body, along with its severed head, was found dumped near a road on the outskirts of Khar, the main town in the tribal Bajaur region, they said.

A letter recovered from his pocket said the soldier belonged to the paramilitary force, local official Fazle Rabbi said.

It went on to say that the soldier had been killed by local Taliban. It gave no reason, Rabbi said.

Suspected pro-Taliban militants in recent weeks have abducted more than a dozen Pakistani security personnel in Bajaur, a volatile region where Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants are known to have hide outs.

Local Taliban abducted eight soldiers last month, saying they would be swapped for militants held in the troubled northwestern valley of Swat.

The Pakistan army launched a major offensive in Swat last month to drive out followers of Maulana Fazlullah, a radical cleric who has demanded Islamic law in the scenic valley.

More than 300 militants have been killed and dozens have been arrested in the ongoing operation in which supporters of Fazlullah have been dislodged from several towns, officials said.

President Pervez Musharraf cited growing militancy as one of the reasons for declaring emergency rule on November 3 and ordered the army to re-establish government control in the area.

He announced the lifting of the emergency rule on Saturday amid criticism at home and abroad.

[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.]