In this bulletin:

• NATO rejects U.S. criticism of Afghan allies
• U.S. rushes to calm allies in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan summons Iranian envoy on winter expulsions
• Iran temporarily halts Afghan expulsion
• Blast kills former governor in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan: Former Taliban Commander Advises U.S. Ambassador
• Kabul hotel attack a shock but it's business as usual
• Foreigners in Afghanistan now key targets for Taleban's suicide bombers
• Race Against Time
• Opposition says Afghanistan heading toward crisis
• Afghan president rejects calls to end combat mission
• Fix Pakistan, then Afghanistan, Dion says
• Afghan police need security before they can learn skills: RCMP
• Big cut in Afghan TB cases shows aid works: Canada
• What diplomacy looks like in Afghanistan
• In Afghanistan, our rivalries conspire to make a great nation small
• Army 'flees second Pakistan fort' – BBC
• Call for shift in US policy towards Pakistan
• To defeat Al-Qaida for good, we must expose its brutality
• Payments Made to 17 Afghans for Deaths
• Corridors of Power: Sarko on the Record, Khalilzad for President

NATO rejects U.S. criticism of Afghan allies

MARK JOHN Reuters January 16, 2008

BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Wednesday rejected remarks attributed to U.S. Pentagon chief Robert Gates questioning the preparedness of allied troops in Afghanistan, saying they were up to the task.

In comments likely to surprise allies such as Britain that have sent troops to the violent south of the country, the Los Angeles Times cited Mr. Gates' concerns that some of the troops there did not know how to conduct counter-insurgency operations.

"I'm surprised because I have no indication — and neither has the military chain of command — that any country or countries are not exercising their tasks to the highest levels," Mr. de Hoop Scheffer told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Mr. de Hoop Scheffer stressed he had not verified the comments attributed to Mr. Gates, and had no recollection of Mr. Gates having raised concerns with him or at NATO meetings.

"That is why I say I am surprised ... I think there is no reason not to conclude that all nations, including the ones in the south, are performing very well," Mr. de Hoop Scheffer said of the 42,000-strong NATO-led ISAF force.

"I have the greatest admiration for all the ISAF forces and especially the ones who do the heavy lifting in the south."

Aside from the United States, the main NATO allies operating in south Afghanistan are Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and Romania.

The Los Angeles Times quoted Mr. Gates as saying he believed NATO forces in the region did not know how to combat a guerrilla insurgency such as that being pursued with mounting bloodshed by the Taliban.

"I'm worried we're deploying (military advisers) that are not properly trained and I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counter-insurgency operations," it quoted Mr. Gates as saying in an interview.

"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counter-insurgency. They were trained for the Fulda Gap," Mr. Gates said of the strip of land between former East and West Germany where a Soviet invasion was deemed most likely.

The comments by Mr. Gates came a day after the United States confirmed it would send an additional 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan after months of unsuccessful efforts to persuade other NATO allies to provide extra combat forces.

U.S. rushes to calm allies in Afghanistan

Defence chief sets off uproar by questioning abilities of NATO troops

January 17, 2008 - Tim Harper in Washington Les Whittington in Ottawa

The Bush administration fought to contain the fallout yesterday after a frustrated Defence Secretary Robert Gates levelled uncharacteristic criticism at NATO allies in Afghanistan, including operations where Canadian troops are fighting.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay told reporters yesterday Gates called him to say he had no specific criticism of the Canadian performance, but the public questioning of military strategy caused an uproar on both sides of the Atlantic.

“I’m worried we’re deploying (military advisers) that are not properly trained and I’m worried we have some military forces that don’t know how to do counter-insurgency operations,’’ Gates told the Los Angeles Times.

He specifically compared the troubles of NATO forces in the south — the turf of Canadian, British and Dutch troops — with progress made by American troops in the eastern part of Afghanistan.

MacKay said he was “a bit taken aback” when he read Gates’s comments in yesterday’s L.A. Times.

But in their telephone conversation Gates was “extremely complimentary in what he said about Canadian forces and, in fact, expressed regret and embarrassment over those comments being in any way reflected toward our troops,” MacKay said.

“He (Gates) said this a general comment about how we, collectively in the (NATO) alliance, need to train our troops to deal with counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism,” MacKay said.

But Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre said Gates’s comments were unacceptable, particularly on the day after another Canadian soldier was killed in the southern Afghanistan, bringing the death total to 77 soldiers and one diplomat, Glyn Berry.

“We need to get an apology,” Coderre said. “We’re spending billions, we’re losing lives over there.” He added Prime Minister Stephen Harper should call in David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, to register Canada’s complaint.

Gates’s comments come at a time when Canadians, deeply divided on the Afghan mission, are awaiting recommendations for Ottawa’s next step there.

A federal panel, led by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley, is expected to deliver its findings early next week. Harper asked for the report on the future of the mission as part of the government’s effort to reach a compromise on what Canada should do after the current commitment expires in early 2009.

Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesperson, told the Star that Gates called MacKay to assure him he had no specific concern with the Canadian performance in Afghanistan.

But he did not deny any of the comments Gates made in the interview. “He does have problems with the performance of the alliance as a whole,’’ Morrell said. “I want to stress that the secretary is not afraid to criticize anybody, but any criticism of the alliance was not directed at any one country.’’

In the past, however, Washington has limited its public exasperation to those NATO members who have refused to do the heavy lifting in the fight against the Taliban.

Raising questions about those who are fighting and dying opens a new front, one that comes from an administration that has been under fire for its own military strategy in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Pentagon did not deny anything Gates told the newspaper and there was a sense in Washington that a defence secretary known to be tough but careful with his words, had sent a clear message.

Gates blamed the lack of training in counter-insurgency on the Cold War orientation of European troops fighting in Afghanistan, but his comments stuck in European capitals where it is believed that Washington’s obsession with Iraq has prevented it from deploying enough manpower to turn back the Taliban in Afghanistan.

In response, the Dutch defence minister called in the U.S. ambassador for a “clarification’’ of the remarks.

 “This is not the Robert Gates we have come to know,” Eimert Van Middlekoop told the Dutch broadcasting agency NOS. “It’s also not the manner in which you treat each other when you have to co-operate with each other in the south of Afghanistan.’’

The comments also raised hackles in Britain’s House of Commons. Conservative MP Patrick Mercer said Gates’s comments were “bloody outrageous.”

“I would beg the Americans to understand that we are their closest allies, and our men are bleeding and dying in large numbers,” said Mercer, a former infantry officer.

MacKay downplayed any tension between Ottawa and Washington. “They were comments made of a general nature about the need to focus training of NATO and the alliance on counter insurgency,’’ he said.

“He made similar comments, quite frankly, when we were in Scotland at the (southern Afghanistan regional command) defence ministers conference talking about the need to specifically gear training of the NATO alliance towards counter-insurgency.”

Gates was arguing that NATO militaries were built to fight more conventional enemies and he is worried the recent training of Afghan troops and police is not up to standard, Morrell said.

But this specific concern with the recent performance of NATO’s Operational and Mentoring Liaison Teams (known as OMLTS), the units that train the Afghan troops, does not indicate Gates has always had that concern, Morrell said.

Canada has been a leading proponent of the OMLTS regime and was a driving force behind the alliance’s acceptance of the concept.

The Times story followed hard on the heels of a Washington Post article that made clear Gates’s frustration that some NATO allies were not stepping up to the plate in Afghanistan.

“The secretary feels all these pieces are unhelpful because we are an alliance and we must work together,’’ Morrell said.

Gates’s most recent comments came a day after confirmation that Washington was dispatching 3,200 more Marines to Afghanistan, bringing the U.S. contingent there to 30,000. Some 2,200 of those Marines will be fighting under Canadian command.

MacKay suggested the decision to join was in keeping with U.S. President George W. Bush’s troop “surge” strategy that saw more American soldiers assigned to Iraq. MacKay praised that decision, saying “it appears to have had the desired effect” in Iraq, and said the U.S. commitment of more Marines to Afghanistan amounted to “a small surge” in the southern Afghan battle region.

- With files from Bruce Campion-Smith and Associated Press

Afghanistan summons Iranian envoy on winter expulsions

AFP, 01/16/2008 -KABUL - The Afghan foreign ministry said it had summoned the top Iranian diplomat in Kabul to complain about the expulsion of thousands of Afghans over the winter and call for an immediate halt.

Nearly 9,000 Afghans in Iran have been illegally deported in the past two weeks, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The ministry said it summoned the acting Iranian ambassador, Sayed Mohayaddin Najafi, to express "serious concerns about forced and mass repatriation of Afghan refugees during the freezing months of winter."

Officials called on Tehran to immediately halt the repatriation "because we don't have capacity to accept large groups of refugees, particularly in winter months," said the ministry, which called the expulsions a "human tragedy."

It was the second time in just over two months that Afghanistan has summoned the Iranian representative on the issue.

During his meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Kabir Farahi, Najafi was told the forced repatriations were against agreements between the neighbours, the ministry said.

The two countries signed an agreement that the return of registered Afghan refugees from Iran must be voluntary and conducted in a safe and dignified way. But the agreement does not cover unregistered Afghans.

"So far this year nearly 9,000 Afghan nationals who were illegally present were deported from Iran," UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Mohammad Nader Farhad told AFP.

The UNHCR has appealed to Iran "for a more dignified process of deportation of illegal Afghans" given the harsh winter weather, he said.

Iran estimates there are about 1.5 million Afghans illegally living within its borders with another 900,000 there as registered refugees.

Most of the illegal Afghans are young men looking for work. Last year 365,000 were returned from Iran while around 7,000 registered refugees came home voluntarily, Farhad said.

Iranian authorities this month warned Afghans without documents that they faced arrest and detention for up to five years if they did not leave.

Since 2002, around four million Afghans have returned to their country after fleeing during years of war and drought. It is one of the world's biggest repatriation drives. There are still two million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Iran temporarily halts Afghan expulsion

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran said on Wednesday it had temporarily stopped the expulsion of illegal Afghans for "humanitarian reasons" after Kabul called for an immediate halt, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, due to humanitarian reasons, issued an order to temporarily halt expulsion of illegal Afghans residents based on the Afghan government request," it quoted a statement by the Iranian embassy in Kabul as saying.

The Afghan foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned the acting Iranian ambassador, Sayed Mohayaddin Najafi to complain about the expulsion of thousands of Afghans over the winter and call for an immediate halt.

Nearly 9,000 Afghans in Iran have been illegally deported in the past two weeks, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

It was the second time in just over two months that Afghanistan has summoned the Iranian representative on the issue.

The two countries signed an agreement that the return of registered Afghan refugees from Iran must be voluntary and conducted in a safe and dignified way. But the agreement does not cover unregistered Afghans.

Iran estimates there are about 1.5 million Afghans illegally living within its borders with another 900,000 there as registered refugees.

Most of the illegal Afghans are young men looking for work. Last year 365,000 were returned from Iran while around 7,000 registered refugees came home voluntarily, the UNHCR said.

Iranian authorities this month warned Afghans without documents that they faced arrest and detention for up to five years if they did not leave.

Since 2002, around four million Afghans have returned to their country after fleeing during years of war and drought. It is one of the world's biggest repatriation drives.

There are still two million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Blast kills former governor in Afghanistan

Xinhua - 01/15/2008 Kabul - A roadside remote controlled bomb blast has killed two tribal elders, including a former provincial governor, in Tirin Kot district of southern Afghanistan's Uruzgan province, the police said Tuesday.

'The two were heading towards their houses from a mosque at around 7:00 p.m. Monday when the bomb exploded,' provincial police chief Juma Gul Himat told Xinhua.

Fazl Rabi had served as Uruzgan governor during the Mohammad Najibullah regime in the 1990s and as deputy governor of Uruzgan 2003-2004, Himat said. No group or individual claimed responsibility for the blast.

Militancy-related violence left over 6,000 people dead in war-torn Afghanistan in 2007, the most violent year since the Taliban regime was toppled six years ago. Both Afghan and NATO commanders expect more terror attacks this year in the country.

Afghanistan: Former Taliban Commander Advises U.S. Ambassador

By Ron Synovitz Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - January 16, 2008

The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, William Wood, on January 13 met with Mullah Abdul Salaam, the former Taliban commander who recently defected to the side of the Afghan government and now heads the Kabul-backed administration in Musa Qala.

Wood traveled to Musa Qala with the goal of clearing the obstacles that prevent reconstruction aid from reaching the northeastern part of Helmand Province. His meeting with Mullah Salaam was meant to advance the ambassador's goal of aiding the region's transformation from a volatile Taliban stronghold into a center of peace, stability, and prosperity.

But during his meeting with Mullah Salaam, Wood wasn't doing all of the talking. The U.S. ambassador also got advice from Mullah Salaam about what the United States and Kabul can do to reduce popular support for the Taliban.

The former Taliban commander's advice included references to Shari'a law and its warnings about government corruption and cronyism, which, he says, prevent government aid from reaching his community.

Mullah Salaam also said as many as half of the people in his district are addicted to opium. And he said farmers in the area need help to grow alternative crops because they have become economically dependent on opium-poppy cultivation.

Mullah Salaam, a powerful local commander who has brought some 300 militia fighters to the side of the Afghan government in northeastern Helmand Province, even gave the U.S. ambassador tactical advice on how to prevent the Taliban from attacking the strategic Kajaki hydroelectric dam, which is about 25 kilometers from Musa Qala.

In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on the sidelines of the talks, Mullah Salaam said the international community must understand that residents of Musa Qala blame British forces for allowing the Taliban to seize their town in February 2007.

He says that is because of a deal brokered by the British in 2006 under which local militia fighters were disarmed and then expected to prevent the Taliban from moving back into the area.

"For the people to realize that these [NATO] troops have come to rebuild Musa Qala, the people must be convinced that they will not be abandoned, as they were in the past when the foreigners delivered us to the terrorists -- which was not the fault of the people and the elders," Mullah Salaam said. "The international community is to be blamed for that. They disarmed the people and the elders. Then the Taliban came and took over."

Salaam also told RFE/RL that it is crucial for a new turbine to be installed at the Kajaki hydroelectric dam and for power to start being distributed to Afghan homes and businesses so that residents see improvements in their living conditions.

"The people will take advantage of the new situation if they are reassured that Musa Qala will not be abandoned again -- if Musa Qala is rebuilt, if Musa Qala becomes stable, and if the people of Musa Qala are taken care of," Mullah Salaam said. "The people want this area to be made into its own province. If the Kajaki Dam is rebuilt, it will be a source of livelihood for the whole of the country as well as the two districts [in Helmand Province, Musa Qala and Kajaki.] So if this work is done, the people will trust the government more. Governments earn trust as a result of their actions."

Mullah Salaam was once the Taliban's governor in the southern Afghan province of Oruzgan -- birthplace of Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Omar, as well as Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

By siding with the Kabul government in December, Mullah Salaam has helped extend the central government's authority into an area previously seen as a bastion of popular support for the Taliban.

But Mullah Salaam warns that reconstruction funds from the Afghan government are not being forwarded to Musa Qala by Helmand's provincial administration in the town of Lashkar Gah. He also says his requests for the Afghan Interior Ministry to send an additional 200 police officers to Musa Qala have so far fallen on deaf ears.

As a result, he says the only reconstruction work being done in Musa Qala has been by the U.S. military's so-called Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Mullah Salaam says that has led residents of Musa Qala and nearby Kajaki to demand that their districts break away from Helmand's provincial administration in Lashkar Gah to create a new Afghan province.

For his part, the U.S. ambassador promised Mullah Salaam that more U.S. aid would come to the people in the northeastern part of Helmand Province.

"You can count on the support of the United States," Wood said. "We are already working with others to provide furnishings for your school. We are already supporting other development projects relating to agriculture, relating to health, relating to the paving of roads, and other things."

"We believe it is very important that the community of Musa Qala come together to decide what your priorities are so that we can help you fulfill them," Wood continued. "It is the people of Musa Qala who know what Musa Qala wants and needs. And we want to hear their voices."

But Wood told Mullah Salaam that residents of Musa Qala also need to help Afghan and NATO-led security forces so that Taliban attacks are unable to thwart reconstruction efforts.

"The eyes of the world will be on Musa Qala. And whatever happens here will be known. And we want the eyes of the world and the eyes of Afghanistan to see success, to see peace, to see reconciliation, to see health, to see education, and to see good governance," Wood said. "We want to see the voice of the people of Musa Qala represented in the government of Lashkar Gah and the government of Kabul through [Mullah Salaam's] voice. And we want to see the government of Kabul and the government of Lashkar Gah represented in Musa Qala through [Mullah Salaam's] voice."

Mullah Salaam said there are two types of Taliban in Helmand: Afghan nationals who he described as as "true Afghan mullahs," and foreign Taliban. He told Wood it is possible to separate Afghan and foreign Taliban fighters because Afghans are unwilling to destroy their own country.

Mullah Salaam said he expects his appointment as district chief in Musa Qala to foster reconciliation between the Kabul government and other moderate Taliban members. And he said some moderate Afghan Taliban already are talking to him about the possibility of backing Karzai's government -- but he added that it would be premature to announce any fresh wave of Taliban defections.

Wood told Mullah Salaam that the U.S. government would welcome all Taliban who respect the Afghan Constitution, lay down their weapons, and decide to join in a peaceful reconciliation process.

(RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Ahmad Zubair Zhman contributed to this story from Musa Qala.)

Kabul hotel attack a shock but it's business as usual

KABUL (AFP) — A deadly strike on a luxury Kabul hotel opened to fanfare two years ago as a high-security haven has driven home the Taliban's reach and shaken confidence in the restive nation, analysts and officials say.

They said Monday's attack -- the latest in a series of increasingly deadly Taliban suicide blasts -- may not ultimately significantly affect international efforts in Afghanistan.

But what most shocked people was that the extremists were able to penetrate the capital's most secure hotel, the Kabul Serena, previously seen as an oasis of peace and luxury in a troubled land.

"There were many guests who used to say to us they would never come to Kabul if the Serena did not exist," a hotel spokesman said on condition his name was not used.

"Of course they are going to find it difficult to come here in the future."

That the attackers came as visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere was about to host a dinner meeting "is also going to have implications," he admitted.

Such was its status that Australia located its embassy there -- it has now moved its staffers out.

The Serena was the only Kabul hotel with security clearance for functions and international guests of the government's Export Promotion Agency, said its president Suleman Fatimie.

"It gave a good impression of the new Afghanistan -- it was a symbol of Afghanistan being on track after 30 years of war," he told AFP, and vowed that his agency would continue using it for exhibitions and accommodation.

The attack, in which militants stormed into the hotel lobby and appeared to target foreigners, left eight dead: a US national, a Filipina spa director and a Norwegian photographer, as well as an Afghan guest and four guards.

"It makes you wonder, they can go anywhere, they could target my guesthouse," said Roshan Khadivi, a media officer with the UN's children organisation who was in the hotel's health club at the time.

"It makes you wonder about the rest of the year, this is just the beginning of 2008."

A United Nations spokesman, Adrian Edwards, said: "We have to acknowledge that when something like this happens, it does shake confidence.

"But it is part of the environment we are in, in Afghanistan. We have to live with the fact it is an insecure environment."

The past months have seen some of the deadliest attacks of the insurgency launched soon after the Taliban were driven from government in late 2001, but "this was distinct in that it was against foreigners," Edwards said.

Afterwards, the Taliban warned they would hit other haunts of Westerners, including with suicide strikes -- which military officials label a desperate and high-propaganda tactic.

Some embassies and agencies have since revamped security measures, such as barring staff from restaurants that previously had been approved.

Edwards said UN staff had been advised to be extra careful but otherwise it was business as usual. "It does not at the moment affect anything regarding our planning," he said.

The British embassy said it had increased security but "we are operating fully as an embassy."

Aleem Siddique, a UN spokesman, said that while the attack was a shock, "if we stop going out, if we retract our engagement with the country, then they have won.

"We work in some of the most difficult conflict ares of the world -- this is what we do."

The feeling among many foreigners was mixed. "It is no more dangerous today than it was yesterday," said one Westerner.

Another, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "It could all blow over, or it could mark a new trend if all the expats cannot go out anymore."

Afghan analyst and writer Waheed Mujda said the Taliban chose the target to show "they can attack a place just outside the presidential place and a place where special guests of the president stays."

But he said the significance paled in comparison with other events, such as a US decision to dispatch 3,200 more soldiers which suggests a "major security problem."

"It shows they are able to do what they want, almost," said another analyst, former government minister Professor Hamidullah Tarzi. "It was a tactical ploy with high media coverage."

But he also saw few major implications, other than in personal security and perhaps some potential foreign visitors reviewing their trips.

Foreigners in Afghanistan now key targets for Taleban's suicide bombers

The Times Nick Meo January 16, 2008

A young Pakistan-based warlord with links to al-Qaeda was blamed yesterday for a suicide assault on a luxury Kabul hotel, as the Taleban threatened a new wave of attacks against foreign civilians.

At least one suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest as gunmen stormed into the Kabul Serena hotel, shooting guests and employees in an attack that appeared to mark a ruthless development in the tactics of the Taleban.

Two more victims died yesterday, bringing the total killed to eight, including a Filipina spa supervisor who was shot along with three guests in the hotel gym. A Norwegian journalist, three Americans and a French woman were also reported killed, as well as an Afghan woman employee, although there were conflicting reports of casualty numbers. Several more people were wounded.

Aid workers and diplomats are concerned at the prospect of a terror campaign directed against foreign civilians, who since 2001 have largely been spared the attacks. The suicide bombing has highlighted the problem of how to protect thousands of foreigners working on aid and reconstruction projects in Kabul, where there is no Baghdad-style protected “green zone”.

Foreigners live in houses throughout the city and visit restaurants where security is often minimal. The Kabul Serena had been considered one of the most secure and heavily protected buildings in the capital.

A Taleban spokesman issued an explicit threat against foreigners for the first time. Zabihullah Mujahed said: “We will carry out a wave of attacks on restaurants, guest houses and other places frequented by foreigners. They are not safe any more.”

Amrullah Saleh, the head of the Afghanistan intelligence service, blamed Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of a warlord based in Pakistan's tribal areas, for the attack. Afghan security sources said that several people involved in organising the assault were captured, including one suspect accused of supplying suicide vests and weapons who was seized trying to escape into Pakistan.

Afghan security forces said that they had found a video in which a suicide bomber called Farouq left his last testament. On the video he was filmed saying: “I'm ready to carry out a suicide attack.”

Sirajuddin Haqqani's father, Jalaluddin,was a CIA ally and legendary figure in the fight against the Russians before becoming a supporter of Osama bin Laden. In recent years the Haqqani network has been blamed by US soldiers for the deaths of numerous comrades.

The US military has put a bounty of $200,000 (£100,000) on the head of Sirajuddin. One of his associates, Mullah Abdullah, was accused by Mr Saleh of being the mastermind behind the attack.

Sirajuddin has emerged as a leading figure among a new generation of Taleban who appear to have taken lessons from the Iraqi insurgency, possibly under the tutelage of al-Qaeda. In December Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Anders, a US military officer, said: “His allegiance is not with his tribe or with Afghans but with Arabs and al-Qaeda.” In recent years the influence of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan has appeared limited, except for a few areas along the Pakistan border.

Making a well-planned assault on the hotel as the visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister was about to host a dinner required a much higher level of professionalism than the Taleban is normally capable of. The Australian Embassy announced that it was moving from its base inside the hotel, which has pledged to tighten security.

Western organisations in Kabul were reviewing their security yesterday, although a terrorist “spectacular” had been expected for several weeks.

The Taleban Voice of Jihad website claimed that a “Martyrdom Operation” had been carried out. It said: “The hotel was opened for high-level functions of the Western-backed puppet Government.”

Race Against Time

Al-Qaeda could still undo six years' work in Afghanistan - The Times - January 16, 2008

A month ago, Afghan and American forces hosted a gathering of tribespeople near the Pakistani border that surpassed all expectations as an exercise in winning hearts and minds. More than 1,500 people attended. The Taleban were denounced by local leaders and dozens pledged to join the Afghan police. On Sunday, suicide bombers from the same region wrought carnage in Kabul's showpiece hotel. Eight guests and workers were killed and a government whose hold on power is already fragile was left to contemplate the arrival of al-Qaeda in what had been, by Afgan standards, a haven of relative calm.

The attack on the Serena Hotel was more than a sickening echo of pre-surge Baghdad. It was the first of its kind in the Afghan capital and was followed yesterday by Taleban warnings that more were imminent. Unlike Baghdad, Kabul has no green zone. If al-Qaeda has declared open season on the NGOs trying to rebuild Afghanistan, an exodus of the foreigners they employ would be one of the first consequences. Reconstruction would grind to a halt. Yet reconstruction is precisely what President Karzai and his myriad international partners must deliver to secure legitimacy. For all the talk in London and Washington of the need for a long-term presence in Afghanistan, time is critically short.

President Karzai's precarious position only adds to the urgency. Even in Kabul he has little say in security matters, for which responsibility still lies with the Nato International Security Assistance Force (Isaf). Nor is he in full control of his budget. Half of this consists of foreign aid, much of it earmarked for specific projects before it reaches Afghanistan. Ethnically, he is a lonely Pashtun in a government made up largely of Tajik veterans of the Northern Alliance. And his fear of being cast as a puppet by his rivals has led to a dangerous strategy of promoting inept officials motivated mainly by tribal loyalty and avarice.

A year ago, Mr Karzai dismayed Isaf commanders by sacking a new governor of Helmand province who had pledged to co-operate with Western efforts to curb heroin poppy production. He has since turned a blind eye to claims of involvement in drug trafficking by his half- brother and Interior Minister. But his political clumsiness was most evident last month in his peremptory expulsion of two Irish diplomats for holding covert negotiations with the Taleban.

The expulsions were meant as a signal of Mr Karzai's independence - of both Western advisers and the Islamists regrouping against him in Pakistan's tribal areas. But he would be unwise to seize on the Serena Hotel bombing as evidence that covert talks are doomed. They were originally his policy, and they remain a vital strand of a broader strategy of winning rank-and-file Taleban back to the democratic cause.

At the same time, reconstruction must mean something to the peasant farmers among whom extremists recruit. British Forces in particular have laboured heroically to make this happen. Others, including the Department for International Development, have realised late but not too late that their role, too, will involve real risk and sacrifice. If they can deliver concrete alternatives to the Taleban's medievalism, Mr Karzai may yet break the narco-dependency that comes with it. If not, the just war triggered by 9/11, and still being fought by 38 nations, could be lost.

Opposition says Afghanistan heading toward crisis

Thu 17 Jan 2008, KABUL (Reuters) - Worsening security is pushing Afghanistan towards a crisis, the country's main opposition group said on Thursday, days after a deadly Taliban raid near the presidential palace.

Attacks by the al Qaeda-backed Taliban have dramatically jumped in the past two years in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led troops overthrew the militants from power in 2001.

In the most brazen raid so far, several Taliban stormed a highly protected five-star hotel next to the presidential palace, killing seven foreign civilians and Afghan security guards in a combined suicide bomb and gun attack on Monday.

The National Front main opposition group, which includes a number of key current and ex-members of President Hamid Karzai's government, said the attack was a matter of great concern for the country where nearly 160,000 foreign and Afghan forces are trying to defeat the militants.

"If a serious move and serious decision is not adopted regarding the maintenance of the security situation in the country, we consider ... the outcome will be dangerous and warn the world that Afghanistan is on the verge of being drowned in a swamp which would be very difficult to sort out," said front spokesman Fazel Sangcharaki.

The front, formed last year, called for more coordination between foreign and Afghan forces.

Afghan president rejects calls to end combat mission

The Vancouver Sun - 01/15/2008 KABUL

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his senior cabinet reject the Liberal position that Canada should end its combat mission in southern Afghanistan by February 2009.

Following Saturday's visit to Kabul by Liberal leader Stephane Dion and deputy Michael Ignatieff, the Grit notion that Canada's military mission can somehow be changed to focus less on combat and more on diplomacy and development didn't fly with the Afghan government.

Karzai spoke of the need to continue fighting terrorism "head on," while his foreign minister and parliamentary house leader emphasized the need for the Canadian Forces to stick to their primary purpose in Kandahar -- fighting the Taliban insurgency. Dion and Ignatieff travelled to Afghanistan after releasing the party's submission to the panel.

Fix Pakistan, then Afghanistan, Dion says

Liberal leader argues that Canada's diplomats must 'intervene' with NATO to solve neighbour's terrorist troubles

The Ottawa Citizen , Thursday, January 17, 2008

QUEBEC - Any attempt to counter terrorists in war-torn Afghanistan will not succeed without an intervention in neighbouring Pakistan, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion said yesterday.

Mr. Dion hinted that NATO could take action in Pakistan, which has a porous border with Afghanistan, if the Pakistani government doesn't move to track terrorists.

"We are going to have to discuss that very actively if they (the Pakistanis) are not able to deal with it on their own. We could consider that option with the NATO forces in order to help Pakistan help us pacify Afghanistan," said Mr. Dion in Quebec City, commenting after his two-day trip to Afghanistan last weekend. "As long as we don't solve the problem in Pakistan, I don't see how we can solve it in Afghanistan."

Officials from Mr. Dion's office later stressed that the Liberal leader meant diplomatic, not military intervention was needed in Pakistan. Defence Minister Peter Mac-Kay told Canwest News Service Mr. Dion was off base.

"Mr. Dion can't be serious to suggest NATO 'intervene,' in another country while simultaneously saying Canada should abandon its United Nations-mandated NATO mission in Afghanistan," Mr MacKay said in an e-mail. "It's inane."

The Liberal leader explained that Afghan officials told him they know where the extremist strongholds are in Pakistan, but they don't take action.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, have been urged by the U.S. and other allied countries to counter extremists in the tribal belt along their 2,400-kilometre border.

But Mr. Dion said more pressure has to be put on Pakistan for immediate action. While Mr. Dion said he was impressed with Canada's troops, he was not singing the praises of the secretary of state for foreign affairs once he got home.

In a scathing letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mr. Dion called for Helena Guergis's removal from the portfolio because she sent an e-mail to journalists giving advance notice of his trip to visit Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Kandahar city.

"In publicly revealing in advance the itinerary of the delegation which included deputy leader Michael Ignatieff and myself, Ms. Guergis violated the news blackout put in place for our protection, jeopardizing the security of the Afghan and Canadian military and civilian officials who welcomed and accompanied us during our trip," Mr. Dion says in the letter.

Ms. Guergis's spokesman, Jeffrey Kroeker, dismissed Mr. Dion's complaint as "absolutely ridiculous." Ms. Guergis had no details of the Liberal itinerary and simply made a broad assumption about a possible stop at the PRT. He said Ms. Guergis was only moved to comment after seeing news reports about his arrival in Kabul.

Afghan police need security before they can learn skills: RCMP

Police officers dying in record numbers - National Post, Canada, Mike Blanchfield January 15, 2008 OTTAWA

Training a viable Afghanistan police force is a long way off and totally dependent on first defeating the Taliban insurgency, a senior RCMP official said Tuesday.

Chief Supt. David Beer, head of the RCMP's international policing directorate, said the top priority in the efforts by Canada and its allies in training fledgling Afghan police officers is to train them "to survive" because Afghan police are dying at a record rate -- 22 police officers are killed for every Afghan or coalition soldier.

That means it is premature to teach even the most basic investigative techniques. As far as protecting rights of women in Afghanistan's male-dominated society, the investigation of domestic abuse cases is at a rudimentary level, the RCMP said.

"We won't make positive and sustainable progress in developing the security forces until such time as we, and the police in particular, until such time as we have a more secure environment," said Chief Supt. Beer.

The candour of the senior Mountie is significant because training Afghan police to protect their own people is a key pillar in the exit strategy for western troops, including the 2,500 Canadians based in Kandahar.

Chief Supt. Beer's assertion that the anti-western insurgency -- which on Tuesday claimed the life of a 77th Canadian soldier -- must first be defeated before serious development and training efforts can begin flatly contradicts the calls by the Liberals and other opposition parties to "recalibrate" or "refocus" Canada's military efforts towards training Afghan security forces, instead of combat.

"True development in a policing model as we understand it is some way away. We can't trick ourselves that way," said Chief Supt. Beer.

As recently as Sunday, at least nine Afghan policemen died in two separate attacks, including eight who were slain after gunmen stormed their police outpost in Kandahar province.

Canada has 16 police officers attached to various international training efforts across Afghanistan and is expected to open a training centre for senior police officers in Kandahar city next month next to its provincial reconstruction team.

So far the PRT has relied on seven Mounties and three other municipal police officers to conduct some specialized training for Afghan police recruits, including how to administer first aid and control bleeding of roadside bomb attack victims.

Chief Supt. Beer said illiteracy remains a problem among new recruits. He also said that new measures are in place to ensure that police officers are paid on time.

Afghan police have been plagued by corruption and mass desertions because of long delays in paying officers.

Canadian military personnel are also working more closely with Afghan police, to help them deal with the occupational hazard of being a "soft target" for terrorist attacks.

Chief Supt. Beer said he has no doubt that Afghan police trained by Canadians have been killed, but he did not have statistics on the number of Afghan police who have died.

"For this reason, the military has taken an aggressive role in training, which will provide then a better opportunity, first of all, to survive," said Chief Supt. Beer.

"We're in a combat situation. Having civilian police operate in that environment demands that they have special training, indeed basic training not unlike soldiers."

As a result, don't expect Afghan police to be on the vanguard of advancing the cause of women's rights in the patriarchal southern Afghanistan.

While Canadian officials tout aid programs aimed at increasing the rights of Afghan women, particularly to protect them from domestic abuse, Chief Supt. Beer said the reality on the ground in Afghanistan makes it unfair to impose the cultural standards of western society.

"This amounts to behaviour and cultural change. It isn't done overnight," said Beer.

Speaking from the PRT in Kandahar, RCMP Staff Sgt. Higgins Elliot said he has actually seen a Kandahari policeman investigate a complaint of domestic violence.

"They do an investigation as far as talking to people to find out what happened. It's very basic. It's not as in depth as in Canada."

Big cut in Afghan TB cases shows aid works: Canada

Reuters India, India Wed Jan 16, 2008 OTTAWA

The number of Afghans dying from tuberculosis has fallen by half in recent months, a statistic that shows Canada's efforts to help fight the disease are working, officials said on Tuesday.

Ottawa is keen to show signs of progress in Afghanistan, particularly since critics accuse Canada of focusing too much effort on fighting the Taliban and not enough on development and reconstruction.

The World Health Organization and Afghanistan's public health ministry said last week that people were dying from tuberculosis at the rate of 10,000 a year, down from 20,000 a year a few months earlier.

Canada is working with the WHO and the World Food Program on a campaign to combat the disease.

"You are starting to see far more people now benefiting from treatment early on," a government official told a news conference.

The full course of treatment to fight tuberculosis lasts eight months and the WFP is offering patients food and heating oil in a bid to ensure they do not back out.

"(This campaign) takes the partnership and support of a whole range of players ... we're starting to see real payoffs in this specific area," the official said.

More than 80 percent of Afghans now have access to basic medical services, compared with 9 percent after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, he added.

Canada has 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. A soldier died in a mine blast on Tuesday, the 77th member of the armed forces to die in the country since 2002.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)

What diplomacy looks like in Afghanistan

No chandelier-lit treaty negotiations or canapés—but Karen Foss provides illuminating, refreshing details on the work of Canada’s reconstruction team in Kandahar

Macleans.ca, Canada, John Geddes Jan 15, 2008

The news coming out of Kandahar often seems to me as featureless as the khaki-coloured landscape in the background, the voices as interchangeable as those of the military public affair officers who read us the names of the latest casualties.

So it’s a relief to occasionally hear an individual’s take that conveys more texture than the flat institutional version of what’s going on there, or the bleakly familiar another-roadside-IED storyline. Karen Foss, the deputy political director with Canada’s Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar, offered such a point of view last week, at once professional and personal, in a seminar hosted by Carleton University’s Centre for Security and Defence Studies.

I sat in, and found her description of her job mercifully free of vague generalities. Foss didn’t stray from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade line; she’s a foreign service pro. But she offered anecdotes and shading that struck me as revealing, touching on everything from why Canadian-supported projects in Kandahar have not been the target of Taliban attacks, to what it’s really taking to make the Afghan-Pakistan border a bit more secure.

Foss was back in Ottawa briefly at about the midway point of her one-year posting to the so-called PRT, which is a team of about 330, made up mostly of troops, but also aid workers, police and diplomats like her.

She’s just six years into her career in diplomacy, and if that word conjures up images of chandelier-lit treaty negotiations, you’ve got the wrong idea. The most notable entry on Foss’s short resume, before Kandahar, is that she set up Canada’s field office in Indonesia’s devastated Aceh provincial just after the 2004 tsunami.

Not a lot of canapés, then, in her diet. Yet she wasn’t playing up hardship. At the Carleton seminar, Foss was mostly upbeat in sketching the PRT’s work for the assembled professors and students (a group that included a retired Air Force general in the former category and a newly enlisted reservist in the latter).

I liked her description of a key meeting room in the PRT’s Kandahar compound: “lots of carpets and cushions, and very good tea.” She emphasized that the PRT, while heavily guarded, is intentionally more than accessible the rather sealed-off main Canadian military base at Kandahar Air Field. In fact, the PRT’s compound is 15 km away, right in Kandahar city itself. And in Kandahar, she told us, 15 km can be “very, very far,” a trip that takes 45 minutes and requires a military escort.

At the PRT, Foss said, spontaneous drop-ins by locals are common. But figuring out exactly how a given visitor fits into Kandahar’s complex social networks and power structure can be a challenge. She showed a slide photo of a group of turbaned men, some of them labeled: “former governor,” “cousin of governor,” “tribal elder of 25,000.”

On a map of Kandahar, she pointed to a district where a single tribe holds sway. No problem figuring out who matters there. But next door is another district where, by her count, 19 tribes jostle for clout. In yet another, she joked, the sparse population is reckoned at “14 police officers and a goat.”

Foss punctuated a lot of her points with a laugh. Normally, I wouldn’t bother making notes about a basically anonymous public servant’s manner or appearance, but I found myself wondering how much a fair, blonde woman with a casual confidence stands out in Kandahar. I’m guessing that a self-effacing manner and a broad smile translate well across most cultural boundaries.

She’s far from a one-woman show, of course. We think of Canada’s 2,500 troops as our main presence in Afghanistan. But Foss pointed out that as one of five diplomats attached to the PRT alone, she’s actually part of a “robust, aggressive deployment.” Five might not sound big. But look at it her way: that’s five for Kandahar’s population of less than one million, compared to the staff of three political officers she served on a few years back in Jakarta, assigned to sort out Indonesia, with a population of 235 million.

What do Canadians get for their government’s disproportionate efforts in Kandahar? Well, don’t look for a lot of projects—wells or schools or what have you—with big maple leaves stenciled on them. The PRT tries to support Afghan-led initiatives, often through something called the National Solidarity Program, an Afghan government fund under which villages first elect councils, then pick small-scale projects, and finally get money and other assistance to complete them. Thus, the new irrigation ditch, say, won’t end up being labeled the foreigners’ canal.

Whatever’s built tends to last longer that way. Asked how many Canadian-supported projects in Kandahar have been targeted by the Taliban—a problem reported elsewhere in Afghanistan–Foss said she didn’t know of any cases. “If there’s greater local ownership,” she said, “there’s a greater incentive to protect it.”

She also boasted that Canada has been singled out by the UN for its practice of hiring more locals at more senior positions than other countries’ PRTs (there are about 25 scattered around Afghanistan, run by various NATO and coalition members). I’ve often heard CIDA, in particular, criticized for not putting enough Canadians in the field in Afghanistan, and not keeping Canadian aid sufficiently separate from the huge, internationally organized funds that ultimately flow through the Afghan government. But Foss suggested that in Kandahar, at least, it would be foolish not to rely largely on locals. “The internationals are few and far between, “ she said. “The local staff understand the area.”

She said locals bring invaluable insights and their own contacts. As for being slowed down sometimes by the need to organize local buy-in or involve the Afghan government before pushing ahead with a project, Foss said: “When you rush the process, with the best of intentions, you can do more harm than good.”

Her observations often seemed to contain a plea for Canadians back home not to expect too much too soon. On the infamously porous frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan, for instance, she noted that only recently has a Canadian army initiative provided phone links between Afghan and Pakistani posts on opposite sides of Kandahar’s southern border. That such a basic element in managing the border didn’t exist until recently is a reminder of the magnitude of the task: this is not just a war-torn country, it’s the fourth poorest in the world.

Most of what she said about what works was quotidian. Get to know the place. Accept its complexity. Be accessible. Work with locals. Progress by small steps. It doesn’t reach for the visionary, but who could argue with any of it? Foss struck me as a practical person, although she did mention in passing that some outsiders fall hard for the province, remarking, “Kandahar is a kind of magical place, the land of poetry and pomegranates.” Then she laughed.

It would have been interesting to know what she would like John Manley’s panel to recommend for Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan, when it reports to Prime Minister Stephen Harper by the end of this month. Everything she said leaned toward hoping Canada stays active in Kandahar, one way or another, long after the current military commitment runs out about a year from now.

But when asked, Foss wasn’t about to expose herself on such a hot political issue. “I’m very much looking forward to the Manley panel’s recommendations,” she said. Then in a wry aside, “Was that diplomatic?”

In Afghanistan, our rivalries conspire to make a great nation small

GEORGE PETROLEKAS Special to Globe and Mail January 16, 2008

On Monday, the Globe and Mail broke the story of interdepartmental conflict threatening Canada's Strategic Advisory Team (SAT) in Kabul, arguably the most influential contribution that Canada has made to Afghanistan. What a shame that limited vision and bureaucratic pettiness have apparently conspired to jeopardize this contribution.

The Achilles heel to good governance in Afghanistan is the limitations of the Afghan civil service savaged by circumstance from being efficient and incorrupt. Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier saw this in 2004 and dispatched strategic planners to pass on to Afghan officials the best practices that we, in Canada, take for granted. It was hoped that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would rise to the challenge itself, but, if not, President Hamid Karzai requested that Gen. Hillier, whom the President affectionately calls "my general," might help.

Former ambassador Chris Alexander, along with his key staff and high-ranking NATO officials whom I met to confirm Mr. Karzai's request, were unequivocal in endorsing the plan. Yet, even then, they cautioned that this team would become a lightning rod of envy for those who did not comprehend it or felt threatened by it. That warning sadly proved true, as ready access to the President's office, to important ministries and the unprecedented freedom that went with it, challenged the bureaucratic status quo. On one occasion, David Sproule, who succeeded Mr. Alexander as ambassador, had to send one of his staff back to Canada as this person objected to SAT members using the embassy swimming pool, not understanding that we are all Canadians in a foreign land.

Mr. Alexander and Mr. Sproule understood that the SAT did not diminish their position as Canada's chief representative in Kabul — it only enhanced their stature. Other countries could not even hope for such influence. Colonel Mike Capstick, the team's first commander (now retired), went to the landmark Afghanistan Compact discussions in London as an Afghan delegate, and the whole SAT was more of an adjunct to, or seconded to, the Afghan civil service than Canadians working in their government. It is a subtle difference, but that nuance means everything.

But such troubles are not entirely new. Reporting to the chief of the defence staff, instead of to the ambassador, was somehow seen as sinister, ignoring the motivation that sought to preserve this team's independence. Gen. Hillier fervently wished that other government departments would join in to make it, as he calls it, "a true Team Canada affair" — yet only the Canadian International Development Agency took up the offer (albeit reluctantly and beset by doubts). The strongest testament to the SAT's worth is that every CIDA person who has worked with it has become a convincing advocate. It represents the absolute best in Pearsonian diplomacy, which we wistfully memorialize — independent, absent of partisan agenda, with Canada's name heralded in consequence.

As I was present at the birth of this team, I was also privileged to be present in the last days of the first rotation. During a farewell party in Kabul, I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection from members of non-governmental organizations that were also working in the capital, from key embassy staff and, most importantly, from Afghan ministers and lower-level civil servants. On his last night in Kabul, I saw Andy Tamas, the CIDA representative on SAT, eyes watering with intense pride as he said farewell, expressing his profound gratitude for having been able to serve Afghans with his military colleagues. I was so intensely proud of the Canadian flag on my shoulder that day.

Critics of Canada's military mission casually label it a combat mission, conveniently ignoring the roads, irrigation ditches, bridges, causeways, schools and orphanages that Canadian soldiers have built, not to mention the strategic advice the SAT has provided. Canadian values of humility and assistance, which are emblematic of the SAT team, might very well be sacrificed on the altar of vanity, envy and perceived competition. It is no wonder that our allies sometimes raise an eyebrow with respect to Canada. It is equally wondrous that we permit such rivalries to make a great nation small.

George Petrolekas, a lieutenant-colonel of the Royal Montreal Regiment presently on unpaid leave, represented Canada to NATO Operational Command of the Afghan mission from 2003 to 2006.

Army 'flees second Pakistan fort' – BBC

Pakistani troops have abandoned a fort in a remote tribal area, a day after another was overrun by pro-Taleban militants, officials and witnesses say.

They say that paramilitary personnel at Sipla Toi military post in South Waziristan left their positions fearing an attack by the militants. But an army spokesman told the BBC he had received no such reports.

On Wednesday, the army said hundreds of militants temporarily seized a fort in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan.

Locals told the BBC that 30-40 troops had been stationed at Sipla Toi, some 90km (55 miles) from the town of Dera Ismail Khan. The outpost is nearly as big as the one at Sararogha.

"According to our reports, the troops abandoned the fort on their own. Some left last night, others went away this morning. "There was no attack from the Taleban," a South Waziristan tribal administration official based in the town of Tank told the BBC.

A resident of the area said that the retreating troops had not left any weapons or ammunition behind.

A Taleban spokesman, Maulvi Umar, told the BBC Urdu service that militants had captured the Sipla Toi fort. But there was no independent confirmation of his claims.

South Waziristan is a known stronghold of pro-Taleban and al-Qaeda militants. The region has been at the centre of fighting between the army and militants in recent months.

Correspondents say the militants are now openly challenging the army in the area bordering Afghanistan. They are eroding confidence in the government's ability to ensure stability for elections due next month that are meant to complete a transition to civilian rule.

The army said seven soldiers were killed in the Sararogha attack and 15 men are still missing. The Taleban say they killed 16 troops and captured another 12 during the fighting.

The army said about 200 militants had charged the fort in the Sararogha area from four sides on Tuesday night. Local officials and other reports suggested the number of militants may have been nearer to 1,000.

Observers say it was the first time that militants have captured a fort in Pakistan. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan says that if the militants had stayed in the fort, they would have made themselves the target of the military's artillery or helicopter gun ships.

The army says that up to 40 attackers were killed in the fighting, something the tribal fighters deny. Officials said troops at the fort came under rocket and automatic weapons attack from militants. Soldiers returned fire and the battle went on until early on Wednesday morning.

Call for shift in US policy towards Pakistan

Washington (AFP) - The US Congress has passed its first 2008 legislation by condemning the murder of Pakistan's ex-premier Benazir Bhutto amid a call for a shift in US policy towards Islamabad.

"What is clear is that before Pakistan devolves any further in chaos and violence, US policy has to change," Democratic lawmaker Gary Ackerman said Thursday after his resolution, which "condemns in the strongest terms" Bhutto's assassination," was approved by a vote of 413 to 0 in the house of Representatives.

It was the first piece of legislation to be taken up and passed by Congress this year. Ackerman said that the reliance by President George W. Bush's administration on "war on terror" ally Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to restore democracy while fighting against extremism had not worked.

"There has been neither success against terrorism nor a return to democracy," he said, as he chaired a separate House hearing on US-Pakistan relations.

The United States, he said, needs a new approach to Pakistan that puts as much emphasis on building stable, free and moderate institutions as it has on fighting terrorists.

Ackerman, a senior member of the influential House committee on foreign affairs, cited a recent survey by the United States Institute for Peace and World Public Opinion which showed that Pakistanis overwhelmingly view having elected leadership as important.

"The Bush Administration needs to build on the Pakistani view of the importance of democracy and needs to start by insisting that the elections on February 18 are free and fair," Ackerman said.

He also called for "a fundamental reappraisal" of US assistance to Pakistan, saying Washington has for too long provided the country's military with the bulk of its aid and "neglected" those aimed at building and strengthening democratic institutions.

The House resolution reaffirmed the US commitment to help Pakistan battle terrorism and promote democracy and backed efforts to "expeditiously bring to justice" those behind Bhutto's assassination at an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27.

The resolution also expressed support for the freedom of the media, the ability of political parties to express their views without restriction, and the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan.

South Asian security expert Ashley Tellis cautioned at the House hearing that any post-election violence with significant fatalities as a result of military action could force Musharraf's exit.

"The potential for civil unrest and instability emerging from a flawed election in Pakistan, therefore, ought to remain the most problematic contingency from the viewpoint of the Bush administration," said Tellis from the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Lisa Curtis, a former CIA analyst and ex-senior State Department advisor on South Asia, warned that US-Pakistan relations were "crossing troubled waters," and "anti-Americanism is reaching the boiling point."

She said a strong US public stance supporting the process of democracy without focusing on any one particular leader or party would help calm the situation.

"Washington should increasingly view Musharraf as a transitional figure whose influence is likely to decline in the months ahead," she said.

To defeat Al-Qaida for good, we must expose its brutality

San Jose Mercury News, USA, By Gary Anderson Article Launched: 01/15/2008

The conventional wisdom is that Al-Qaida is making a comeback from its rout in Afghanistan. Many point to its success in killing Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan and to its support of Islamic insurgents there as evidence. Not so. Al-Qaida is waning. Its decline has less to do with our success than with the institutional limitations of the Al-Qaida organization. Simply stated, to know Al-Qaida closely is not to love it.

Every place where Al-Qaida has gained some measure of control over a civilian population, it has quickly worn out its welcome. This happened in Kabul and in Al-Anbar province in western Iraq. It may well happen in Pakistan as a reaction to Bhutto's assassination.

No one likes to be brutalized and dominated by foreigners. The weakness of Al-Qaida is that everywhere it goes, its people are strangers. This is no way to build a worldwide caliphate.

We may not be loved in Iraq and Afghanistan, but compared with the deliberately brutal methods of Osama bin Laden's associates we become a palatable alternative. This is particularly true because, like visiting grandchildren, we will eventually go home.

Bhutto once responded to a friend who was concerned about her safety by saying, "Muslims don't kill women." She was only partly right; real Muslims don't do that, but Al-Qaida does. Its members have killed more Muslim civilians than have misdirected coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. The difference is that the Americans and their allies regret and investigate such incidents; Al-Qaida plans and celebrates them. Why, then, are we supposedly losing the information war in the Muslim world, and why has there not been more of an outcry among Muslims over this slaughter of innocents? A big part of the reason is that we spend too much time wanting to be liked rather than turning Muslim anger on our enemies.

We preach some values that are viewed as alien and threatening to the traditional order of things. Our popular culture is seen as decadent at best and downright threatening at worst in traditional cultures. Our message isn't selling.

What we can do is to expose our Islamic extremist enemies for what they are. The people of Afghanistan and Al-Anbar found this out the hard way and threw the rascals out. But when Al-Qaida kills scores of innocents, we report it as a statistic without context. We may see weeping relatives and bloodstained bodies from a distance, on video or in photographs, but they are depersonalized, and people quickly become desensitized to anonymous images. Ironically, Stalin was right: One death is a tragedy; millions are a statistic. We need to help Muslims understand how these people really treat other Muslims.

The original Islamic movement spread its doctrine by a combination of military action and compassion. Charity was a key tenet. This is largely why Hamas and Hezbollah gain a degree of popular support in the areas they control. That ingredient is missing in the Al-Qaida/Taliban approach to the world. To them, winning hearts and minds means, "Agree with us or else." That is largely the reason the U.S. government dropped its early "for us or against us" approach. It has taken us some time, but we seem to be recovering from that approach.

If I were directing the U.S. strategic information campaign, I would spend my dollars on collecting photos of the Muslim innocents Al-Qaida has killed and putting below them quotations from the Koran decrying such practices. These advertisements would appear in every newspaper and TV station in the Muslim world where I could buy print space or air time.

We may not be losing the war on terrorism, but we are not doing all that we can to win it.

GARY ANDERSON, who led a study of Al-Qaida from 2003 to 2005 for a Defense Department contractor, lectures on "The Revolution in Military Affairs" at George Washington University in Washington. He wrote this article for the Washington Post.

Payments Made to 17 Afghans for Deaths

The Washington Post By ESTES THOMPSON Tuesday, January 15, 2008 CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.

Payments were made to Afghan civilians who were injured or related to those killed by a Marines special operations unit as it reacted to a car bombing and what it believed was a well-planned ambush, a military official testified Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Gordon Phillips, an Air Force officer in charge of reconstruction in Nangahar Province, said he organized two ceremonies during which money was given to people on a list approved by the provincial governor. Since then, there have been no bombings in the area and "we are able to pretty much operate freely," Phillips said.

The so-called "solatia" payments weren't an admission of guilt but rather a gesture to soothe feelings, he told a military panel investigating the March 4 shootings.

"I did say we're very sorry for this event and an investigation would be forthcoming," Phillips testified, noting that Afghans living in the area were aware of the court proceeding. "They are looking for justice to be served."

The Court of Inquiry, a rarely used fact-finding proceeding, is focusing on two officers involved in the shootings: the special operations unit's commander, 38-year-old Maj. Fred C. Galvin of the Kansas City area, and a platoon leader, Capt. Vincent J. Noble, 29, of Philadelphia.

The court could recommend whether charges be filed against the two men.

Citing witness accounts, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission concluded last year that the Marines fired indiscriminately at pedestrians and people in cars, buses and taxis in six locations along a 10-mile stretch of road. As many as 19 civilians were estimated to have been killed.

Phillips testified that more than 200 people attended the two May ceremonies, in which a meal was served, turbans were given as gifts and payments were made.

He said that in total, 17 payments of $2,300 were provided for deaths, 25 for injuries _ $466 for major injuries and $236 for minor _ and that 14 payments of varying amounts were made for property damage, mostly cars damaged by bullets.

But lawyers for the officers have said the unit of about 30 Marines was ambushed just after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed minivan near the second Humvee in their six-vehicle convoy. During the first week of testimony, nearly a dozen Marines told the court that they heard small-arms fire after the explosion and that the convoy's gunners didn't fire until they were fired upon.

Corridors of Power: Sarko on the Record, Khalilzad for President

World Politics Review 01/15/2008 By Roland Flamini

PASSING THE GREEN MANTLE - When the Washington Post reported earlier this week that Zalmay Khalilzad, the American representative at the United Nations, was considering running for president of Afghanistan, Khalilzad publicly denied the story. But that hasn't stopped some of his friends both in Washington and in Afghanistan from going forward with a plan to draft him to succeed President Hamid Karzai, whose term ends in October of next year. A Khalilzad-for-president committee is about to be formed in the United States to advance his candidacy, according to a well-informed source.

The forceful, Afghan-born envoy played a key role in shaping post-invasion Afghanistan. At the Bonn conference on the future of Afghanistan in 2001, he is reliably believed to have more or less produced Karzai like a rabbit out of a hat as the Bush administration's choice for interim leader and eventual president. A number of prominent Afghans at the conference were advocating the restoration of a constitutional monarchy with the still highly respected exiled king restored to the throne, though not as hereditary monarch.

Subsequently, Khalilzad was a very influential U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. Later, while serving as ambassador in Baghdad, he continued to dispense advice to Karzai in almost daily phone calls. For that reason alone, it seems fitting that he should inherit Karzai's decidedly mixed legacy. But the source says Khalilzad's supporters -- even some of those who disagreed with his backing of Karzai -- believe that their man has the ability, strength of will, and understanding of his native country to pull it from the brink.

A thoroughgoing Westerner, Khalilzad is likely to dispense with the green curtain in which Karzai habitually swathes himself.

[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.]