In this bulletin:

• U.S. urges NATO allies to back 5-year Afghan plan
• NATO commander urges US lawmakers to lobby Europeans to drop Afghan operation restrictions
• MPs approve motion to extend Afghan mission
• Conservatives, Liberals extend Afghanistan mission
• Troops uncover Taliban torture chamber
• Afghan insurgency ruthless: UN
• Al-Qaeda stronger thanks to Musharraf deal in 2006: US intelligence
• New govt will help boost Pak-Afghan ties: Munir Akram
• India urges international community to step up Afghanistan security
• Iran says will spare no efforts to help Afghanistan
• Vietnam ready to take part in Afghanistan's reconstruction, says envoy
• Australia welcomes naming of new UN envy for Afghanistan
• UAE voices concerns over Afghan situation
• Russian UN envoy calls for measures to curb Afghan drugs threat
• 3 Taliban Killed in Afghanistan Clash
• Militants kill 'US spy' in Pakistan: officials
• Afghan ruling was the right one
• Canada's top UN envoy in Afghanistan to stay on
• We must put the Afghans first
• Bush says if younger, he would work in Afghanistan
• Inside Track: Desperately Seeking Stability
• Afghanistan: A War We Can't Believe In
• Woman Vies to Become First 'Afghan Star'
• Afghanistan gets its first open heart surgeon
• India no longer enemy number one: Pak politician

Thu Mar 13, 2008 - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States is urging NATO allies at a summit next month to sign up to a five-year plan stepping up efforts to end the insurgency in Afghanistan, according to a document obtained by Reuters.

Under the plan, alliance members would commit to plug troop shortfalls and supply enough well-trained and flexible forces to combat insurgents, while providing the support, training and equipment needed by Afghanistan's own security forces.

The U.S. proposals also set out benchmarks for measuring success, such as the ability of Afghanistan to hold elections undisrupted by violence, and to field a trained army of 70,000 troops and a professionalized 82,000-strong police force.

While they do not explicitly refer to the refusal of allies such as Germany to send troops to the thick of the fighting in south Afghanistan, the proposals call on allies to acknowledge a need to "share the burden" of the battle.

The Afghan mission is the toughest ground war faced by the 59-year-old alliance and has led to open differences among allies over tactics and troop levels of its 43,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The proposed U.S. plan is part of an input paper for a "strategic vision statement" to be unveiled at an April 2-4 summit in Bucharest affirming NATO's long-term commitment to defeating the Taliban-led insurgency.

Alliance diplomats in Brussels are currently drafting the statement and say the final version is far from finished. The U.S. paper is dated February3 but a source familiar with the U.S. position said it still closely represented U.S. thinking.

The paper calls on NATO partners to commit to develop a five-year security plan but offers no target date for an actual exit of NATO troops, instead saying peace could take time.

"ISAF and the international community must agree to make a long-term commitment to Afghanistan," the paper says.

"Success in Afghanistan is nothing less than a test of our solidarity and commitment to each other and to our values ... Failure would show that the will of the NATO allies is one of short-duration, close-to-home and non-risky engagements."

It calls on NATO allies to work with other agencies to ensure each Afghan province has its own Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) -- reconstruction units complete with military back-up -- for as long as needed.

It further urges allies to support Afghan efforts to combat the huge narcotics trade, "including through interdiction, eradication, alternative livelihood and other programs."

NATO commander urges US lawmakers to lobby Europeans to drop Afghan operation restrictions

The Associated Press, Published: March 13, 2008

WASHINGTON: NATO's supreme commander, U.S. Gen. Bantz Craddock, on Thursday urged U.S. lawmakers to press their European counterparts to drop restrictions on how and where troops from their countries can be used in NATO's Afghanistan mission.

In testimony to the House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee, Craddock also raised the perennial U.S. complaint about the failure of European members to meet NATO benchmarks for defense spending. Craddock said that only seven of the alliance's 27 members currently meet the alliance's stated minimum level for defense spending and added that he does not see a trend toward increases.

Craddock's complaint about restrictions on troops in Afghanistan — known as caveats — reflects a growing tension in NATO. The issue is likely to be a major topic at the alliance's summit meeting in Bucharest early next month.

Asked what U.S. lawmakers could do, Craddock suggested they should raise the issue in meetings with European parliamentarians and leaders.

"We have to convey the consequences, the impacts of those caveats on day-to-day operations in stark terms not only to military representatives in the countries that have the caveats but also to those in the political arena," he said.

NATO's International Security Assistance Forces is 50,000-strong in Afghanistan, but commanders have asked for more combat troops, particularly for the country's south, where the insurgency is the most active.

Troops from Canada, Britain, the Netherlands and the United States have borne the brunt of a resurgence of Taliban violence in the region, with support from Denmark, Romania, Estonia and non-NATO Australia. Canada, which has 2,500 troops in Kandahar, have threatened to end their combat role in Afghanistan unless other NATO countries provide an additional 1,000 troops to help the anti-Taliban drive there.

The United States, which already has some 28,000 forces in the country — both in the NATO-led mission and as part of a separate U.S.-led counterterrorism coalition — is sending in April an additional 3,200 Marines, most of whom are expected to be stationed in Kandahar during their seven-month tour.

MPs approve motion to extend Afghan mission

Updated Thu. Mar. 13 2008 CTV.ca News Staff

Parliamentarians overwhelmingly passed a motion Thursday to extend the military mission in Afghanistan, which means Canadian troops will stay in the war-torn country until at least 2011.

The vote, which passed 198-77, came as anti-war protesters chanted in another area of Parliament. Some even had to be dragged away by guards. But in the end, they didn't affect the outcome.

Passage of the confidence motion was basically assured after the Liberals and Conservatives ironed out a compromise last month. The Conservatives agreed to set a mission end date and focus on reconstruction efforts and training instead of seeking combat.

The vote came ahead of a meeting of NATO allies slated for Bucharest, Romania, in a few weeks. The extension is dependent on NATO coming through with 1,000 combat troops. Canada is also asking for eight helicopters to ferry troops and unarmed drones to spot the enemy. There have been indications that some European countries or the U.S. will provide more troops.

The NDP voted against extending the mission, along with most Bloc MPs.

NDP Leader Jack Layton told CTV Newsnet before Thursday's vote that he was "sorry that (Liberal Leader Stephane) Dion has decided to essentially prop up (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper and support the continued war effort."

"We don't have a sense of the final cost and even (where) the additional troops . . . are going to come from," Layton said. "We are embroiled in something that is not taking us towards peace."

Some Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan say the mission is worth their sacrifices.

"Every war has a price," said Cpl. Vartan Koumayan. But he noted, "I am really in no position to know whether we're or not we are getting anywhere."

Master-Cpl. Tatyana Danylyshyn said, "It's not a hopeless cause."

There are about 2,500 Canadian soldiers serving in the Afghan mission. Eighty have died.

Some critics say Canada needs to end its combat role. The Council of Canadians has warned that they will keep tabs on those MPs who voted in favour of extending the mission -- and they have threatened to campaign against them in the next federal election.

A Liberal senator says MPs did not pay enough attention to the mission funding, but instead focused on the political debate over why Canada is in Afghanistan.

"This war is going to take a lot more money than this government is prepared to admit," said Colin Kenny. "This government is also clearly not prepared to invest in it."

New Democrat Dawn Black says it is difficult to find out exactly what it costs Canada to fund the war. The mission's funding is part of the overall operating budget at the Department of Defence.

"Clearly, if they (the government) can downplay the costs in both human terms and in dollar terms, they think that will work to their advantage," Black said.

With files from The Canadian Press

Conservatives, Liberals extend Afghanistan mission

Mar 14, 2008 04:30 AM - Allan Woods - Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA–Canada's mission in Afghanistan will be extended by two years, to 2011, after a House of Commons vote that endorsed the will of the Conservative government and most – but not all – of the Liberal opposition.

The passage of the motion, by a vote of 198-77, means the Canadian effort must shift focus in February 2009 away from offensive combat operations toward training Afghan security forces, securing reconstruction work and delivering aid.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the vote results send a "strong signal" of support to Canadian soldiers, diplomats and aid workers operating in Afghanistan.

"I think it's a bipartisan consensus that comes out of this vote," he said. "I know that it will be well received by our NATO allies and demonstrates that our democracy works."

Several dozen protesters were escorted out of the Commons' public gallery after trying to interrupt the vote, shouting, "End it. Don't extend it." The chant is the rallying cry of activists who are planning demonstrations across the country this weekend.

The Bloc Québécois and the NDP voted against the motion. All eyes, however, were on the Liberal benches as 20 MPs were absent from what both the government and the Liberals labelled an "historic" decision.

Toronto-area MPs who skipped the vote included Joe Volpe (Eglinton-Lawrence), Mario Silva (Davenport), Bonnie Brown (Oakville), Ruby Dhalla (Brampton-Springdale), who was sick, and Omar Alghabra (Mississauga-Erindale), who had an engagement in his riding.

Dhalla and Alghabra told the Star last night they would have supported the government motion. Party officials could not account for the other missing MPs.

Newfoundland Liberal Bill Matthews was the only one in the caucus to stand against the extension, saying that he wanted to be consistent with his 2006 opposition to an extended mission and felt there were too many unanswered questions about costs of the campaign. "I didn't support it last time, I don't support it this time," he said.

Liberal spokesperson Leslie Swartman said Liberal whip Karen Redman (Kitchener Centre) will "make whatever decision needs to be made" about those who missed the vote, or opposed the motion.

Critics say the Liberals backed down from what had been a fiercely held position that Canada would end combat operations, leaving behind a grey area in which the military can continue to operate as it has been doing since 2002.

Aid groups say the new mandate moves in the direction of a mission that has a better balance of security, aid and reconstruction. But questions remain about how quickly diplomats and soldiers will respond to Parliament's new direction.

"It is impossible to answer in advance," said Gerry Barr, head of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation.

The extension is still conditional on another NATO ally sending 1,000 more troops to Kandahar and the government securing six transport helicopters and a fleet of drones to track insurgents, conditions that appear likely to be met.

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said Prime Minister Stephen Harper will have a stronger mandate to push allied countries at a NATO meeting in Bucharest, Romania, early next month.

Still, some groups warn that MPs who backed the extension can expect to be held accountable for their vote in the next federal election.

The Council of Canadians, which boasts 100,000 members, said it plans to launch a campaign targeted at those who backed the war in yesterday's vote.

"We do believe that members of Parliament who vote in favour of the war and against the public interest should pay an electoral price," said Brent Patterson, director of organizing for the group. "The issue is that serious."

Mohamed Boudjenane, executive director of the Canadian Arab Federation, said the extension of the Afghan war would likely factor highly in the way his organization's members vote.

"People in this country are free to say those things," said Richmond Hill Liberal Bryon Wilfert.

"At the end of the day I think the mission changes, the mission ends and it's about more than military. I think that is very clear in the motion."

Troops uncover Taliban torture chamber

UPI - International Intelligence - March 12, 2008 LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan

British and Afghan National Army troops operating in Afghanistan's Upper Gereshk Valley say they uncovered a Taliban torture chamber.

Officials believe the 8ft by 4ft underground facility uncovered north of Forward Operating Base Keenan, was used to torture local Afghan citizens. Officials say in the blood-soaked chamber, British and Afghan troops found chains used for stringing up prisoners and a pair of shackles along with bamboo canes, the British Ministry of Defense reported.

British Coldstream Guards were alerted to the chamber with intelligence from Afghan National Army. Officials say troops also found "two Afghan police uniforms -- one of which had the crotch ripped out -- plus the butt of a Kalashnikov assault rifle and wires carrying full electric power," the release said.

"We heard the Afghan National Army had been badly spooked by something," Lance Cpl. Steve Walker said in a statement. "They had found a torture chamber and we went down a set of steps to the 8ft by 4ft room.

"Chains were hanging from the ceiling; broken glass was on the floor and bamboo sticks which we presume were for beatings. There was definitely dried blood on the floor. I knew that sort of stuff probably goes on but you don't expect to come across it."

Officials say troops have destroyed the torture facility with explosives.

Afghan insurgency ruthless: UN

PakTribune.Com - Afghanistan News - Thursday March 13, 2008 UNITED NATIONS

The Afghan insurgency has been much worse than expected and a sharper UN mandate is needed if international efforts to stabilise Afghanistan are to succeed, a top UN official said on Wednesday. ìWe face an insurgency that has proven to be more resilient than we expected and more ruthless than we ever imagined,î UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno told the Security Council at an open debate on extending the UN mandate in Afghanistan.

He also told the council that governmental institutions in Afghanistan remained fragile, partly due to widespread corruption. Illicit opium trade continued to flourish and has undermined the government by helping Taliban insurgents. ìThe international community, while both committed and generous, has also been, too often, insufficiently united on key issues of policy,î Guehenno said.

In his latest report to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the militant attacks in Afghanistan had increased dramatically last year. Ban recommended increased coordination between the international community, Afghan government and the NATO-led ISAF forces, and expanding the UN activities across Afghanistan.

Italy, meanwhile, drafted a Security Council resolution and circulated it to council members. It is expected to be put to a vote on March 20. The draft calls for ëmore coherent supportí for Kabul, a wider UN presence and better cooperation with ISAF.

Al-Qaeda stronger thanks to Musharraf deal in 2006: US intelligence

Hindu, India, Tuesday, March 11, 2008 (PTI) Silicon Valley

Al-Qaeda is stronger than it was earlier thanks to President Pervez Musharraf's decision in 2006 to cut a ceasefire deal with Islamic militants in the region bordering Afghanistan, US intelligence agencies said.

With the Pakistani security forces staying out of the region, al-Qaida militants were able to resettle and even re-establish some training camps in the area, says Michael Leiter, acting director of the National Counter terrorism Center.

"I think that safe haven has made al-Qaida stronger today than it was two years ago," Leiter told the National Public Radio in an interview yesterday. "That has allowed it to recruit, train, and deploy individuals in plots against Western Europe and potentially the homeland or, the United States," he said.

The US National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell shares the assessment and agrees that having survived the global war on terror, al-Qaida is again a centrally directed network with military capabilities.

"They have the leadership that they had before, they've rebuilt the middle management, the trainers," McConnell told the CNN recently, adding "And they're recruiting very vigorously."

Before 2006, al-Qaida was arguably on the run, under attack, its mid-level leadership decimated. Osama bin Laden and his associates were still able to inspire Islamic militant groups in Africa and the Middle East - but they could not direct them.

The assessment is in complete contrast with the opinion of the US President George W Bush, who last month told a conservative conference "The Taliban, al-Qaida and their allies are on the run."

New govt will help boost Pak-Afghan ties: Munir Akram

Ambassador to UN says safe return of Afghan refugees should be given priority

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday that its cooperation with Afghanistan would get a boost when a democratic government takes office in Islamabad.

“Pakistan’s ability to contribute to peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region will be enhanced following the recent fair and open elections in Pakistan and the assumption of office by a popularly elected government,” Ambassador Munir Akram said during a day-long debate on the situation in strife-torn Afghanistan.

“We hope this will lead to closer coordination and consensus on a strategy for success in Afghanistan and the region.”

Stating that their destinies were interlinked, Akram said Pakistan sought to strengthen friendly relations with Afghanistan, based on reciprocity and mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pakistan wanted peace and greater prosperity for both peoples, he said.

“Much of the success vis-à-vis Al Qaeda and the Taliban has been the result of Pakistan’s support and cooperation, including the exchange of intelligence through the Tripartite Commission,” the ambassador said.

Refugees: Akram said that the safe and voluntary return of Afghan refugees, two million of whom were still in Pakistan, should also be accorded high priority.

Akram welcomed the emphasis in the UN secretary general’s report, which is before the UNSC, on increased assistance for creating conditions conducive to refugees returning.

Pakistan, he added, was also trying to foster participation and reconciliation through a peace jirga, whose next meeting would be arranged in Pakistan. He said that the security situation in parts of Afghanistan was a common concern for Pakistan and the UN. App

India urges international community to step up Afghanistan security

Text of report by Indian news agency PTI

New York, 13 March: India has asked the international community to bolster its security action inside and outside Afghanistan to ensure that terrorists and their patrons are deprived of shelter, financing and ideological support.

"We should not underestimate the Taleban and Al-Qa'idah nor fight terrorism with any less military and political determination than in the immediate post-2001 days" after terrorist attacks on the United States, India's UN Ambassador Nirupam Sen told the Security Council Wednesday [12 March].

Intervening on the debate on situation in Afghanistan ahead of extension of the mandate of the United Nations mission there, Sen also stressed the need to vigorously fight drug trafficking which sustains terrorism.

"International partners must also make effort to upgrade Afghan capacity to take more effective action to prevent cross-border smuggling and movements, and work unitedly in support of action by Afghan agenc! ies and internationally to stem demand of narcotic products," he said.

The counter-narcotics effort, Sen said, is "precisely at the intersection" of the effort to assist government establish its authority, the fight against terror and organized crime and a challenge to poverty alleviation and development.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his latest report, had urged the government to "muster the political will" on eradication of poppy cultivation and take measures against erring public officials and large land owners.

But Sen said this is part of the picture and equally important are effective disincentives against poppy cultivation in contrast to efforts to "legitimize the practice" via so-called "legal opiates."

The international community should bolster its security action inside and outside Afghanistan to ensure that terrorists and their patrons are deprived of shelter, funds and ideological support, Sen said.

While consolidating efforts internationally on the security front, "we must also simultaneously ramp up efforts to build local capacity across the board - from administration to security from civil engineering to medical science," he said.

So far as India concerned, he told the 15-member [Security] Council, capacity building is a priority area as "we believe that this is one area which requires of assistance that requires minimal investment but yields maximum long-term benefits."

Asking the international community to direct collective energy towards security, Sen said the experience shows that effective people-centric administration closely follows robust efforts to provide security.

"Development and security are closely intertwined, and on both, the international community and the United Nations must be in closer coordination with each other and with relevant Afghan agencies," Sen said.

To do so, he said, while pressing forward forcefully in terms of security operations, "we m! ust also pay more attention to building capacity in the Afghan National Army and the National Police."

India, Sen said, is fully committed to implementing the interrelated security, political and developmental challenges facing Afghanistan.

"Our commitment to reconstruction, development and capacity building in Afghanistan is unflinching. India's assistance programme has now exceeded 750m US dollars, and it spans the gamut of requirements, ranging from developing capacity to infrastructure and reconstruction."

As a committed development partner of Afghanistan, India is willing to actively participate in any UN-led effort to improve donor cohesion in support of Afghan-defined priorities, Sen told the council.

The central objective of the international community is to assist Afghanistan complete its re-emergence from decades of war and civil strife, he said, and stressed the need for setting the goal of assisting Afghani! stan emerge as a modern democratic country, rooted in its unique cultu re, at peace with itself, secure in its neighbourhood and on the path to sustainable economic development.

"Each of these processes needs to be 'Afghanized' at a pace and in a manner that is acceptable to the Afghan people and their government. We should neither press for unrealistic targets or unattainable agendas, nor should we transfer responsibility to Afghan shoulders before they are ready to accept it," the ambassador emphasized.

The prioritization of tasks in an environment as challenging as it is in Afghanistan, he said, is a difficult task, but it must be an Afghan-led process.

This, Sen said, is not to say that international partners should not have an input in drawing up a list of priorities.

"But at the end of the day, Afghan interlocutors should have the final say on where scarce resources - manpower and money - are allocated."

Iran says will spare no efforts to help Afghanistan

Text of report in English by Iranian official government news agency IRNA website

New York, 13 March: Deputy permanent ambassador of Iran to the UN Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi said here Wednesday [12 March] that Iran would spare no efforts to improve security and economic situation in Afghanistan.

Addressing the UN Security Council's session on Afghanistan, he said that Tehran has provided help to Kabul for its reconstruction and economic development despite of being illegally sanctioned for its peaceful nuclear activities.

Danesh-Yazdi added that impacts of Iran's assistance to Afghanistan were evident in the daily lives of Afghan people.

Referring to long history of the tow neighbouring states relations and their deep historical and cultural bonds, the diplomat added, "Tehran hosted millions of Afghan refugees in the past decades and is interested in development, stability and welfare of the Afghan nation."

He added Tehran enthusiastically hoped that new circumstances in Afghanistan would prepare grounds for regular repatria! tion of Afghan refugees to their homeland.

The diplomat said that the increasing threats of terrorism as well as consuming and smuggling illicit drugs in Afghanistan became a source of serious concerns.

"Despite achievements of the Afghan government including drawing a strategy for the country's national development, threats such as terrorism, insecurity caused by activities of the Al-Qa'idah, Taleban and other terrorist groups and illicit drugs smuggling and consumption are spreading in Afghanistan," Danesh-Yazdi said.

He stressed the need for handing over Afghanistan's security affairs to Afghan forces.

Referring to some key factors to settle security problems in Afghanistan, the diplomat said that strengthening the independence and solidarity of Afghan security forces as well as boosting the country's security situation relying on its national forces were among major steps to this end.

He referred to devastating effects of cultivation, ! production and smuggling of illicit drugs both on Afghanistan and othe r countries.

"The threat has so far had destructive impacts on economic development of Afghanistan, added to the country's insecurity and caused serious problems for its neighbouring states as well as regional countries," said the diplomat.

He called on Afghan government and the international community to adopt proper measures to fight against the threat.

Vietnam ready to take part in Afghanistan's reconstruction, says envoy

Text of report in English by Vietnamese news agency VNA website

[Unattributed article from the "Politics" page: "Vietnam Ready To Join Afghanistan's Reconstruction Efforts"]

New York (VNA) -With experiences on post-war reconstruction, Vietnam is ready to take part in Afghanistan 's reconstruction efforts, the Vietnamese representative to the UN Security Council said.

Ambassador Le Luong Minh made the remarks while addressing the United Nations Security Council' open debate on the situation in Afghanistan held on March 12.

He reaffirmed Vietnam's support for the efforts of the Government and people of Afghanistan aimed at stabilising and rebuilding the country and stressed that for the specific situation in Afghanistan which has gone through long decades of internal conflict and division, it is Vietnam's view that besides measures to enhance security, the need to promote national reconciliation and a political process aimed at ensuring lasting Afghan and regional peace and stability should be duly recognised.

He went on to say, "For all the sufferings they have endured and for their earnest aspiration to move forward, the people of Afghanistan deserve the continued support and assistance of the international community in their cause of national rebuilding, the success of which depends on that against both major enemies-terrorism and drug."

While underscoring the need to strengthen enforcement activities aiming at eradicating and interdicting illicit drug trafficking and dismantling production facilities, the ambassador called for in-depth and action-oriented study to come up with initiatives in building alternate livelihoods for the Afghan people so that they can enjoy a better life without engaging in drug-related activities.

In the speech, the Vietnamese representative appreciated the efforts of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and supported the recommendation of the Secretary-General to extend the current mandate of UNAMA for a fur! ther 12 months.

"We are of the opinion that in the context of th e complex security situation still prevailing in Afghanistan, UNAMA should focus on carrying out its present mandate though we agree with Under-Secretary-General Gueheno that the mandate can be sharpened," Ambassador Minh said.

Australia welcomes naming of new UN envy for Afghanistan

Excerpt from media release carried by Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website on 12 March

The Australian government welcomes the appointment of Ambassador Kai Eide of Norway as the UN secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan.

The position heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which provides political support and the coordination of UN-led relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts, and is effectively the multilateral face and voice of the international community to the Afghan government and people.

The secretary-general's decision to appoint Ambassador Eide is an important step forward.

Strengthening UN engagement in Afghanistan is crucial to progress on stabilization and to establishing the longer term conditions needed to sustain peace and security.

The secretary-general's special representative has a key role in leading and directing that engagement, and also in ensuring that international humanitarian and development activities are more effectively coordinated and extended throughout the c! ountry.

This is particularly important in southern Afghanistan, and we look forward to working with closely with Ambassador Eide to strengthen the role of UNAMA on the ground, including in Urozgan Province. [passage omitted]

UAE voices concerns over Afghan situation

Irish Sun, Thursday 13th March, 2008 (IANS)

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has voiced its deep concern over the continuing violence in Afghanistan, hindering development and posing threats to innocent civilians, aid workers and diplomats, WAM news agency reported Thursday.

'The UAE is deeply concerned at the increasing threat of violence which continues to impede political reconciliation and development efforts made in Afghanistan,' Ahmed Al Jarman, UAE's permanent envoy to the UN, told the UN Security Council Wednesday.

'The violence has prevented people in more than 36 (Afghan) provinces from accessing humanitarian assistance,' Al Jarman told the Council discussing the Afghan situation.

The envoy noted that besides innocent civilians, UN personnel, humanitarian workers, and members of diplomatic missions face constant threat to terrorist violence.

He welcomed the appointment of the former Algerian foreign minister Lakhdar Brahimi as the chief of the independent panel on the safety and security of UN personnel and its offices around the world.

He also stressed the importance of helping Kabul achieve a national reconciliation and consolidate its authority over all parts of the country.

'We emphasize the importance of focusing on the priorities of the national development strategy of Afghanistan and its enforcement mechanisms in order to achieve its goals, especially those concerning the advancement of peace, development, reconstruction and stability in this friendly country,' the envoy said.

Russian UN envoy calls for measures to curb Afghan drugs threat

Excerpt from report by corporate-owned Russian news agency Interfax

New York (UN), 13 March: Russia has once again called for the creation of anti-narcotics and financial security "belts" around Afghanistan in order to cut off external support of terrorists.

Speaking in New York, Russia's permanent representative at the UN Vitaliy Churkin expressed concern over a rise in terrorist activities of the Taleban, supporters of Al-Qa'idah and other extremists in Afghanistan and called for cutting off their financial sources, the primary one being drug-trafficking.

Churkin said that "the Afghan government's inability to curb the drug threat with assistance from the international community" proves the importance of the Russian initiative to set up a comprehensive system of anti-narcotics and financial security "belts", with the coordinating role of the UN and with the participation of the states bordering on Afghanistan, the UN News Centre reported on Thursday [13 March].

The Russian envoy said that it was ! necessary to make use of the possibilities offered by regional organizations, in particular the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

"The strengthening of the anti-narcotics and antiterrorist 'protection' around the Afghan state will not only make it possible to significantly weaken extremists' financial support, but will also help achieve stability both in Afghanistan and the region as a whole as quickly as possible," Churkin said as quoted by the UN News Centre.

3 Taliban Killed in Afghanistan Clash

By NOOR KHAN - KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan and foreign troops clashed with Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Friday, leaving three suspected militants dead and two wounded, an official said.

Militants ambushed the security forces in Zabul province before troops returned fire, said district chief Mohammad Younus Akhunzada. No troops were hurt but a police vehicle was damaged.

There has been little let up in fighting by supporters of the former Taliban regime. In the first three months of 2007, some 769 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence, including 502 militants, according to figures from Afghan and Western officials tallied by The Associated Press.

Last year was the bloodiest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, with more than 8,000 people reported killed in insurgency-related violence, according to the U.N.

In the east, meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition forces detained 11 suspected insurgents, the coalition said in a statement Friday.

The troops nabbed the militants during a raid and searches of compounds in Tanai district of the eastern Khost province on Wednesday, the coalition said.

The suspects will be questioned for their links to foreign fighters, roadside bomb making and other extremists activities, it said.

Militants kill 'US spy' in Pakistan: officials

(AFP) - Islamist militants killed a tribesman after accusing him of working as a US spy in a lawless stronghold of Al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents bordering Afghanistan, officials said Friday.

Rebels shot and then slit the throat of the 30-year-old man in the latest in a series of executions in Pakistan's troubled tribal areas targeting people allegedly working for US and NATO forces across the border.

His body was dumped on a road in Sham, a town between the North and South Waziristan tribal regions, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"They left a note claiming that he was a US spy and warning that anyone working for the US will suffer the same fate," one official said.

Pakistan has been combating hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants who fled over the border from Afghanistan after the US-led invasion in late 2001 that followed the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Afghan ruling was the right one

March 14, 2008 - THE RECORD (Waterloo)

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not stretch all the way from Canada to countries where Canadians are toiling -- in particular to Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Justice Anne Mactavish of the Federal Court made this point clearly this week when she ruled that the charter does not apply to prisoners captured in Afghanistan by Canadian troops. Canadian courts do not have the power to set rules on the treatment of Afghan prisoners.

Mactavish's ruling disappointed Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which brought the case to the court's attention. The two groups argued that the charter should protect Afghan prisoners.

It is one thing for a country to have a fundamental set of rules that the courts within that country interpret. It is quite another to expect those rules to cross international borders. The role of Canadian courts is to interpret the law within Canada.

This does not mean prisoners captured by Canadian troops in Afghanistan, or elsewhere for that matter, should be subject to torture or mistreatment. They should not be. They should be treated as well as Canadians would want a Canadian soldier to be treated if that person became a prisoner.

Mactavish, the federal court judge, pointed out that Afghans whom Canadians detain have rights under the Afghan constitution and beyond that under international law.

Furthermore, regardless of the charter, regardless of international law, Canadian troops have a strong reason to treat captured enemy combatants well -- including members of the Taliban, despicable though its extremist views may be: In Afghanistan, Canadians, along with troops from the United States and other western countries, are really fighting for the support of Afghan civilians. We will not receive that support if we do not live up to the high standards we set for ourselves.

During the Second World War, the federal government built prison camps in Canada for German prisoners of war. As a nation, Canada tried to treat those prisoners well. This was the right approach then. It is the right approach now.

Canada's top UN envoy in Afghanistan to stay on

Canada.com, Matthew Fisher Canwest News Service Thursday, March 13, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan - The top Canadian with the United Nations in Afghanistan confirmed Thursday he intends to stay on as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special political adviser, working with Kai Eide, the Norwegian diplomat who last week was named the international community's new super envoy to the war-ravaged country.

"I continue in the job," said Christopher Alexander, who was Canada's first ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 until 2005 before moving over to the UN as one of its two second-ranking officers here. "I look forward to doing so under Kai Eide."

There has been intense media and political speculation over whether NATO would meet a formal demand Parliament was expected to make Thursday for an additional 1,000 NATO troops to fight alongside a Canadian battle group in Kandahar but Alexander predicted this was not going to be a problem.

"I don't have privileged knowledge, but more troops are pouring into ISAF this year from a number of directions and they are mainly going to the south, where Canada is," the 39-year old diplomat said. "They will meet and exceed the criteria that has been set by Canada. But the exact nature and nationality of these commitments has yet to be decided."

Eide, who has served as his country's ambassador to NATO and as the UN's special envoy to Bosnia-Herzegovina and to Kosovo, comes to Afghanistan to try to bring order to sometimes chaotic international efforts here, amid fears the Taliban has been making gains against the government of President Hamid Karzai.

"I know Kai very well," Alexander said. "He has been travelling here for a long time as what has, in effect been Norway's Afghan envoy. "He is a respected practitioner of the art of integrating diplomatic, development and military missions."

Alexander, who advises Ki-moon on issues such as political affairs, peace and stability, the rule of law and human rights in Afghanistan, said the UN saw an urgent need to sharpen the international focus here.

Among the most important of six priorities for Afghanistan set out by the UN in New York on Wednesday, was "tightening the relationship" between the UN and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, Alexander said.

Among the others was a clearly defined agenda of political outreach that was unambiguously endorsed by the Afghan government - delivering governance programs and additional international resources to a civilian campaign plan to complement the military campaign developed by ISAF and Afghan security forces.

Asked about annual claims that success this spring, when the war normally escalates, was crucial if the Taliban was to be defeated, Alexander said: "It's been true every spring. This is not a place where there has ever been room for complacency.

"My sense is that the challenge is less stark militarily, but the political and development challenges are still very substantial. The Afghan government wants and needs to deliver."

One of many serious shortcomings in Afghanistan has been developing a credible anti-narcotics action plan. The production of illicit drugs increased dramatically last year, especially in Helmand and in Kandahar provinces, the UN declared in a recent report.

"As the Canadians know from being in Kandahar, this has been extremely hard to implement," Alexander said, but progress towards a coordinated international and Afghan position on this had finally been made at a recent meeting in Japan.

We must put the Afghans first

There's more to Canada's commitment than deploying troops until 2011

LAURYN OATES - Vice-president of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan

March 14, 2008 – Globe and Mail - We are missing the boat on Afghanistan. By focusing debate disproportionately on deploying troops and extending Canada's mission, we have created space for the real spoilers in that country to wreak havoc unimpeded.

Those spoilers include wretched poverty, deforestation, corruption in government and in NGOs, a lack of support to the agricultural sector, aid that lacks monitoring and regular assessment, little access to quality higher education, growing unemployment, and a failure to build Afghanistan's human resources and professional capacity. Failure to change our approach and to raise our level of investment in these issues is what will ultimately make a permanent peace in Afghanistan impossible.

We are also approaching Afghanistan in a vacuum, as our government completely ignores the powerful role of Pakistan in perpetrating violent conflict and instability in southern and eastern Afghanistan. Most informed commentators, such as Afghanistan expert Barnett Rubin and former NPR journalist and current Kandahar resident Sarah Chayes, point to action and diplomacy with Pakistan as the missing piece in efforts to end the war in Afghanistan. This is also a point repeatedly brought up by ordinary Afghans whom I encounter in my travels. Yet, little heed has been paid them. The costs will be significant.

The role of Pakistan is one key issue that no major political player has even begun to address, and it is off the agenda entirely of those who posit a "troops out" position in Canada. Another challenge it seems anyone trying to influence policy finds convenient to ignore is that the Afghan government is not the only corrupt institution in the country. International organizations working in Afghanistan and local Afghan non-governmental organizations are corrupt, too, a fact well-known among the seasoned expat community in Kabul and the disillusioned Afghans who have witnessed one failed development project after another on their doorsteps.

Perhaps this is a less popular truth than the tendency to fall back on claiming that the Afghan government is illegitimate (though elected), as the NDP would have it, in place of actually proposing viable options to stabilize and support Afghanistan. We must address weaknesses in the delivery of aid through the Afghan government, as well as other channels, including the World Bank (which wastes funds on bloated staff salaries and benefits), the United Nations (whose excessive bureaucracy eats away donor money), and international NGOs (which frequently impose template projects not appropriate or functional in the Afghan context), and Afghan implementing NGOs (which all too frequently function as family businesses).

Canada is pouring millions of badly needed dollars into Afghanistan but is not effectively monitoring this aid. And the public is allowing this to happen by failing to demand accountability. We are too preoccupied holding demonstrations against military intervention that reduce perception of the Afghan conflict to a simplistic matter of the presence of soldiers rather than a holistic human-security approach that addresses the multiple dimensions of instability in that country. Oxfam, a lead development agency funding programs in Afghanistan, has called for an independent UN body to assess aid effectiveness; Canada would be well-advised to take this into consideration, and the Canadian public must demand that it do so.

Perhaps the most critical issue we have failed to address is an honest assessment of what a Taliban government would actually look like, and an understanding of how our actions in Canada may determine whether such a government is allowed to come to power again. There have been few other extremist groups in recent history with such a profound commitment to misogyny or a human-rights record as appalling as the Taliban's. Where there is "local support" for the Taliban, it is usually because the Taliban are terrorizing the locals and leaving them no other choice. In the Taliban stronghold of Ghazni, which I visited two weeks ago, I learned that people are starving to death because insurgents have threatened death if they venture into town to collect World Food Program rations.

Those who push for negotiations with the Taliban must come to terms with the fact that the Taliban simply do not represent Afghans. As much as 40 per cent of the Taliban are Pakistanis, and more yet are Chechens, Uzbeks, Arabs and North Africans. There are also no Taliban women - so how can they claim to represent more than half of the Afghan population? The Taliban are being financed and supported in Pakistan; we must stop viewing them as a purely Afghan phenomenon and consider that the vast majority of Afghans want nothing to do with them. They are seen as radical fascists who have deviated from, and distorted, the true Islam.

If we do not urgently refocus our debate and put the needs and interests of Afghans at the heart of our discussions, we will leave a bleak smear in the Canadian history of international interventionism, a smear that will bring us shame in the history books our children will read. We must ensure that we are finding constructive solutions to the underlying problems plaguing Afghanistan and to the issues that Afghans point to as priorities, and not merely to our own insular interests. We have limited time to start making a genuine effort to understand Afghanistan, its history and its people, and to recapture what we have lost of our identity as humanitarians and peace-builders.

Lauryn Oates, who lives in Vancouver, recently returned from her seventh trip to Afghanistan.

Bush says if younger, he would work in Afghanistan

By Tabassum Zakaria - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush got an earful on Thursday about problems and progress in Afghanistan where a war has dragged on for more than six years but been largely eclipsed by Iraq.

In a videoconference, Bush heard from U.S. military and civilian personnel about the challenges ranging from fighting local government and police corruption to persuading farmers to abandon a lucrative poppy drug trade for other crops.

Bush heard tales of all-night tea drinking sessions to coax local residents into cooperating, and of tribesmen crossing mountains to attend government meetings seen as building blocks for the country's democracy-in-the-making.

"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."

"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.

He was told of efforts to reduce support for the Taliban in tribal areas as well as hopeful signs that schools were being built, more health care was reaching remote areas and local government officials were being trained in management.

Critics accuse Bush of focusing on Iraq to the detriment of Afghanistan where the Taliban has persisted in fighting after being ousted from power by the U.S.-led war in 2001 following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bush will try to persuade allies at a NATO summit in early April to do more for Afghanistan. He wants international support to reduce violence, boost the economy and provide social services.

"We're obviously analyzing ways to help our NATO allies to be able to step up, and step up more," he said.

Canada has demanded 1,000 more troops from other countries as a condition for remaining in Afghanistan to work near Kandahar where its 2,500-strong force is fighting the Taliban.

"We're mindful of their request, and we want to help them meet that request," Bush said.

NATO has a total of 43,000 troops in Afghanistan. The United States has 29,000 troops in the country, about half of which are part of NATO, and is sending another 3,200 Marines.

The Afghan mission is the toughest ground war faced by the 59-year-old alliance and has led to open differences among allies over tactics and troop levels.

Bush sat at the head of a conference table at the White House with Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and others.

A Reuters correspondent was permitted to observe the White House exchange that took place with U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan William Wood and U.S. military and civilian personnel in Kabul.

The videoconference was stopped several times when the sound crackled, diagnosed by technicians as a bad microphone at Kabul's end, which was immediately swapped out for a new one.

"You're looking beautiful but you're not sounding too good," said Bush, who was in charge of the remote control, increasing and lowering the volume at will.

Bush was told that if local governments can provide for their people, they will respond by breaking away from tribal law and the Taliban.

One of the American participants in Kabul said there was a saying in Ghazni: "Taliban begins where the paved road ends."

Inside Track: Desperately Seeking Stability

The National Interest Online, DC - by Caitlin B. Doherty 03.12.2008

AS NATO military operations in Afghanistan face setbacks and President Musharaff’s political clout recedes, crucial U.S. interests in the war on terror are at stake. To address American policy in these evolving times, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Ambassador Richard Boucher, led a discussion at the Nixon Center yesterday. Kris Elftmann, chairman of the Richard Nixon Birthplace and Library Foundation, moderated the discussion.

“Stabilizing the center of [South and Central Asia]—Afghanistan, Pakistan—is a matter of some very, very high priority and considerable urgency,” Boucher declared.

The ambassador first explained that U.S. involvement in Pakistan and Afghanistan was a matter of necessity. Because of the number of terrorist attacks that have originated from the region, the stakes are particularly high. Boucher also noted that the United States has an opportunity “to change the picture strategically for every single country in the region.”

The ambassador then explained that the United States has also been presented with an opportunity of historical proportions. “For the last several hundred years Afghanistan has been a buffer, a barrier, between South Asia and Central Asia. It’s been an obstacle to commerce and energy and ideas, people flowing back and forth in this part of the world. And we have an opportunity now—with Afghanistan being an open place, a stabilizing place—to start back a flow that used to exist through hundreds and hundreds of years of history,” stated Boucher.

With these optimistic opening statements, Boucher then admitted that these opportunities are in addition to the challenges that must be faced. “There’s an awful lot going on in Pakistan and Afghanistan that doesn’t respond to historic opportunity or strategic necessity,” he stated.

Pakistan

IF THE DESIRED outcome in Pakistan is a stable center from which to fight extremism, then, according to Ambassador Boucher, progress has been made in achieving that goal. In the past ten years, Pakistan has developed its civil society and media. Currently, the country is transitioning to an elected civilian government that is about to take office. Boucher noted that the United States will work with the new government and respect its right to form its own policies. Furthermore, the speaker pointed out that a significant factor in fighting extremism lies in creating political and economic alternatives for people in the tribal areas where terrorist groups have taken hold. By expanding and reforming the education system and the judicial system, and creating more economic opportunities for people throughout the country—particularly in tribal areas—terrorist groups will come under pressure.

Although the United States provides generous aid to Pakistan—in the hundreds of millions—anti-Americanism continues to be pervasive in the country. When asked how the United States addresses this troubling phenomenon, the ambassador explained that although the U.S. government does its best to make its involvements clear, they are often misinterpreted and misunderstood by the Pakistani people. Much of the anti-Americanism stems from the sense that the U.S. is interfering, when, in fact, it provides much needed aid. Boucher noted, “The $125 million a year spent on the [Pakistani] education system is under-appreciated We hope we get more appreciation for the support we give.”

When asked how the United States should deal with the current power divide of Pakistan, the ambassador replied, “It’s no different than France.” Elaborating, he explained that the situation was no different than dealing with any other country. It is not strange or unusual to work with political leaders from various sides of the political spectrum of a nation, which is how American diplomats will be involved with Pakistan.

The ambassador also pointed out that the Islamist parties lost “big time” in the election and lost most of their seats to secular nationalists. Whether this was due to their performance in government or their ideology is up for debate, but Boucher made it clear that there is “a movement away from Islamist parties in the new legislature.”

Ambassador Boucher outlined a discontent and “worry” among the general population regarding the “Talibanization” of settled areas of Pakistan. Boucher gave the example of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, which he described as a “tragic loss for the whole society.” Furthermore, the act was “probably perpetrated by Baitullah Mahsud—the head of a Taliban organization” the ambassador explained. The population is reacting against this type of violence instigated by extremist groups.

“When we talk to all the parties about dealing with extremism as a whole in all these different ways, part of that [conversation] is to keep up the pressure against the most dangerous elements of those extremists, which are going to have to be fought with military, as well as other, means,” he said.

“What matters to us are the outcomes,” Boucher summarized.

Afghanistan

IN AFGHANISTAN, Ambassador Boucher explained that there is “an opportunity to achieve a new kind of momentum.” Although there is an array of difficulties in stabilizing Afghanistan, Boucher reminded his audience that progress was being made, albeit slowly. Coalition forces have been successful at keeping the Taliban at bay, which has then allowed the Afghan government to establish itself and implement successful civil initiatives in areas such as health and education.

Although there is a long way to go in Afghanistan, Boucher explained that the key to stability is still expanding and enhancing the quality of the government. In response to an audience member questioning the progress that has been made in Afghanistan, Boucher gave an anecdote from his visit to Afghanistan in 2002 with Colin Powell. “The government was a bunch of people having lunch around a table with no money in the bank, no money in vault in the central bank, no computers, no telephones, no funding—they had nothing.”

He continued, “Now you have some very capable ministries that are able to go out and run schools and who are able to build wells and dig irrigation ditches for people, who are able to provide policemen in certain areas. Not necessarily thoroughly and completely around the country, but I would say when I went to see the minister of Reconstruction and Development, the national solidarity program that he runs is doing 35,000 projects in 25,000 villages.”

As well, approximately 82 percent of the country has access to health care. In applying that statistic, Boucher estimated that improved medical care has saved the lives of 8,500 Afghan children, who would have died as little as five years previous.

The export of opium is still a huge problem, though the most rampant production occurs in the south, where the Taliban has its strongholds. Once stability is achieved, there’s considerably more potential for improvement.

“THE BEST we can do is stabilize and create a direction in these places,” said Boucher. Noting that current U.S. officials are conscious of the fact that the Bush administration is in its last year, Boucher expressed a desire of his office to give the next administration a platform to work from and to put forth plans that will stand up well in future years.

The ambassador concluded, “A lot of these programs, even though they’re beginning or expanding this year, are designed to give something to the next administration to carry through and to really start the transformation that they’re going to want to complete and benefit from in terms of the stability it can provide.”

Afghanistan: A War We Can't Believe In

Why Obama's favorite war is less winnable than Iraq

Boise Weekly, USA, BY TED RALL MARCH 12, 2008 NEW YORK

Five years after the Republicans got us into war against Iraq, Democrats want to double down on a war that's even more unjustifiable and unwinnable—the one against Afghanistan.

By any measure, U.S. troops and their NATO allies are getting their asses kicked in the country that Reagan's CIA station chief for Pakistan called "the graveyard of empires." Afghanistan currently produces a record 93 percent of the world's opium. Suicide bombers are killing more U.S.-aligned troops than ever. Stonings are back. The Taliban and their allies, "defeated" in 2001, control most of the country—and may recapture the capital of Kabul as early as this summer.

"So," asks The New York Times, "has Afghanistan now become a bigger security threat to the United States than Iraq?" Barack Obama's answer is yes. He spent last year parroting the Democratic National Committee's line that Bush "took his eye off the ball" in Afghanistan when we invaded Iraq. Thankfully, he abandoned that hoary sports metaphor. Iraq, he says now, "distracted us from the fight that needed to be fought in Afghanistan against al-Qaida. They're the ones who killed 3,000 Americans."

Sorta. But not really. Osama bin Laden bragged about ordering the East Africa embassy bombings in 1998, yet has repeatedly denied a direct role in 9/11. He's probably telling the truth. The hijackers were mostly likely recruited by Islamic Jihad, which is based in Egypt. Saudis, including members of the royal family, financed the strikes against New York and Washington. Pakistani intelligence funded and supervised the camps where some of them trained.

Al-Qaida may have been peripherally involved in 9/11; its leadership certainly knew about the plot ahead of time. They may have fronted some of the expense money. But 9/11 wasn't an al-Qaida operation per se. Afghanistan's connection to 9/11 was tertiary. At the moment the first plane struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center, most of al-Qaida's camps and fighters were in Pakistan. As CBS News reported on January 29, 2002, Osama bin Laden was in a Pakistani military hospital in Rawalpindi on 9/11. The Taliban militia, which provided neither men nor money for the attacks, controlled 90 percent of the country.

It has long been an article of faith among Democrats that Afghanistan is the "good war," a righteous campaign that could be won with more money and manpower. But the facts say otherwise. The U.S. Air Force rained more than a million pounds of bombs upon Afghanistan in 2007, mostly on innocent civilians. It's twice as much as was dropped on Iraq—and equally ineffective.

Six years after the U.S. invasion of 2001, according to Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, the U.S./NATO occupation force has surged from 8,000 to 50,000. But the Americans are having no more luck against the Afghans than had the Brits or the Soviet Union. The U.S.-backed government of Hamid Karzai controls a mere 30 percent of Afghanistan, admits McConnell. (Regional analysts say in truth it is closer to 15 percent.) Most of the country belongs to the charming guys who gave us babes in burqas and exploding Buddhas: the Taliban and likeminded warlords. "Afghanistan remains a failing state," says a report by Gen. James Jones, former NATO supreme allied commander. "The United States and the international community have tried to win the struggle in Afghanistan with too few military forces and insufficient economic aid."

If he becomes president, Obama says he'll "ask more from our European allies" to win in Afghanistan. But he won't get it. As The New York Times puts it: "Why help the United States in Afghanistan, the European logic goes, when America would be able to handle Afghanistan much more easily if its GIs weren't bogged down in Iraq?"

Obama says he would send two more American combat brigades—between 3,000 and 8,000 troops. If 158,000 troops can't subdue Iraq, how can 58,000 do the job in Afghanistan? They can't. Afghanistan's population is 19 percent larger than that of Iraq. Its area is 49 percent bigger, with infinitely rougher terrain. Obama's proposed "surgelet" would result in troop strength of less than one-sixth of the 400,000 dictated by official U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine for a nation the size of Afghanistan.

Afghans say spring could mark the beginning of the end of the United States' first experiment in post-9/11 regime change. For more than a year, Taliban commanders have controlled the key Kabul-to-Kandahar highway. "On one convoy last year, we were 40 vehicles and only 12 got through," Sadat Khan, a 25-year-old truck driver explained to the UK Telegraph as he pointed to "roughly patched bullet holes in the cab of his truck." Cops loyal to Karzai expect to be massacred. "Maybe we will lose 30 per cent of us this spring, maybe 60 per cent," police commander Mohammad Farid told the paper. He'd already been shot.

The Taliban say they'll retake Kabul this year and reestablish the Islamic fundamentalist government led by Mullah Omar. No one knows whether they'll succeed. But they've begun to strangle the city of Kabul. They're destroying its nascent telecommunications infrastructure, driving out foreign non-governmental organizations and businesspeople with terrorist attacks, and cutting off access to the remaining highways. Talibs promise to continue to target NATO troops, betting that Canada and other members of the coalition will pull out under pressure from antiwar voters. Bogged down in Iraq, the United States won't be able to send more soldiers to Afghanistan. Karzai's puppet regime won't last long.

If Obama is so eager to keep fighting Bush's wars, he'd be smarter to focus on the more winnable of the two: Iraq.

Ted Rall is the author of the book Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?, an in-depth prose and graphic novel analysis of America's next big foreign policy challenge.

Woman Vies to Become First 'Afghan Star'

By JASON STRAZIUSO – KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — In a first for post-Taliban Afghanistan, a woman from the conservative Pashtun belt is one of the top three contenders in the country's version of "American Idol."

Conservative detractors decry the fact an Afghan woman has found success singing on television, while others — younger Afghans — say the show is helping women progress. Under the Taliban regime that was overthrown in 2001, women were not even allowed out of their homes unaccompanied, while music and television were banned.

With her hair tucked under a wispy blue headscarf, Lima Sahar brushes off her critics, saying there can be no progress for women without upsetting the status quo. "No pain, no gain," she told reporters Wednesday in Kabul.

Sahar beat out 2,000 other hopefuls who auditioned for the third season of "Afghan Star." On Friday, the six-month-long TV show will name the final two contestants, based on votes sent in from viewers via text message. The format is the same as "American Idol," although the shows are not connected.

Afghanistan's conservative cleric's council has protested to President Hamid Karzai over "Afghan Star" and Indian dramas shown on Tolo TV, the country's most popular station.

"In the situation that we have in Afghanistan right now, we don't need a woman singer. We don't need `Afghan Star.' We are in need of a good economy, good education," said Ali Ahmad Jebra-ali, a member of the council. "If Lima Sahar wins 'Afghan Star,' how can she help the poor? This is not the way to help the Afghan people."

Haji Baran Khan, a farmer from Kandahar — the Taliban's spiritual birthplace and the city Sahar now calls home — said a Pashtun girl singing on TV goes against the country's culture.

"She is also affecting the minds of other good girls. She should stop singing," said Khan, whose three sons and two daughters told him about Sahar's success.

Sahar says she's just the latest in a long tradition of Afghan artists — albeit in a more modern form.

"Artists are historical and cultural in our country. Artists have been around a long time," Sahar told a news conference this week. "I came by the vote of the people of Afghanistan."

Several hundred supporters lined up to get the three finalists' autographs at an event this week in Kabul. One of the fans, Shohabidin Mohammad, called "Afghan Star" part of a democratic revival for Afghanistan.

"Women's and men's rights are equal. There are no problems," said Mohammad, dressed in a bright colored shirt, brown hipster hat and a gold necklace that dangles a tiny Koran.

The three finalists represent each of Afghanistan's three main ethnic groups: Pashtuns, Hazaras and Tajiks. Mohammad, who is ethnic Hazara, said he doesn't believe ethnicity should play a role in the vote. But, he acknowledged somewhat sheepishly, he will vote for the Hazara finalist.

Standing beside Mohammad was Abass Nariwal, a fan of Sahar's. Both are ethnic Pashtuns. Another of her fans, Nematullah Khan, is a 25-year-old student at Kandahar University.

"She took a bold step. She has a lot of courage," Khan said. "Whether she wins or not, she's a good example for our youth."

"Afghan Star" has become one of Afghanistan's most popular TV shows, gathering large crowds around TVs in restaurants and homes.

The singers perform in front of a studio audience and three judges, and past winners have been given recording deals. A woman finished fifth in the show's first season, but no female has risen as high as Sahar. The other two finalists are men.

The winner this year will take home around US$5,000 (euro3,230) — a king's ransom in Afghanistan. Daud Sadiqi, the show's host, said "Afghan Star" has been a runaway hit that shows the world the "peaceful face of Afghanistan."

Another finalist, Hameed Sakhizada, a 21-year-old Hazara with a mop of black hair, said that before the show he was "an ordinary person going to work."

"But now I feel like I'm the representative of a nation," Sakhizada said.

The other finalist — and perhaps the odds-on favorite judging by the number of fans seeking his autograph this week — is Rafi Naabzada, a 19-year-old ethnic Tajik wearing a white leather jacket, who calls the show "a symbol of unity."

"'Afghan Star' belongs to all Afghans," he said. "My idea is not to get votes from just my tribe. I think that attitude is now finished — he's a Tajik or he's a Pashtun," Naabzada said. "Of course we still have special support from those ethnic groups."

That is what bothers Mohammad Qasim Akhger, an independent political analyst. He says the most talented singers aren't necessarily the ones who get voted through. He singled out Sahar as having little talent.

"Now there is one Pashtun, one Hazara and one Tajik, so now what will happen is that nobody will care about their talents, they will just vote for their tribe," he said. "If Lima Sahar is not talented enough, it doesn't matter for them (Pashtuns). They are just voting because she is Pashtun."

Even gender loyalties don't seem to be a factor. When the crush of autograph seekers surrounded the singers this week, all the women made a beeline for Naabzada. One fan, Shabana, who goes by one name, was dressed in a pink shawl and bright pink lipstick. She said she was supporting Naabzada over Sahar because he was the better singer.

Would she support a woman? "Yes," Shabana said. "But on condition that she has talent."

Afghanistan gets its first open heart surgeon

AFP, 13/03/2008 KABUL - An Afghan doctor has qualified to carry out open heart surgery on his own in a first for the war-ravaged country, his hospital said Wednesday.

Hashmatullah Nawabi received training from French surgeons at the French Medical Institute for Children in Kabul and has been judged capable of conducting the complicated operations alone, the hospital chief said.

"Nawabi is the first Afghan doctor who can carry out open heart surgery in Afghanistan," institute general director Azizi Ahmad Jan told reporters.

To mark the occasion, reporters witnessed the surgeon, who was also trained in the Soviet Union and has worked in Germany, conduct a relatively simple closed heart operation at the institute on Wednesday.

Afghanistan's first open heart surgery operation was carried out in 2006 by French surgeons. The country had previously not had the technology for such surgery, Nawabi said.

The French hospital has conducted more than 270 open and closed heart operations since its establishment in 2006, said Babatasi Gerard, one of the surgeons who trained Nawabi.

India no longer enemy number one: Pak politician

Economic Times, India, 14 Mar, 2008 COLOMBO

While blaming the US for the problems facing his country, a leading Pakistani politician has said here that the Islamic nation no longer considers India to be its enemy number one and reduction in hostility between the two nations has led to a "relaxed atmosphere" in the south Asian region.

Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistan Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, told the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies here on Thursday that the relationship between his country and India was improving since India had shown sensitivity with regard to Pakistan's political difficulties in 2007 and was changing its attitude over Kashmir.

He said India had accepted Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's thesis that the Kashmir issue had to be solved trilaterally, with the Kashmiri people on both sides of the border also participating in the process of solving the problem.

Sayed pointed out that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was talking to the pro-independence Kashmiri group, the All Party Hurriyat Conference, and Pakistan was talking to the pro-Indian Kashmiri leader Omar Abdullah. There is going to be a track two conference in Colombo involving Kashmiri groups from the Indian and the Pakistani sides.

The Pakistani leader noted that all this had created a "relaxed atmosphere" in the south Asian region.

[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.]