Afghan Taliban 'push back' opposition in northeast
7.19.01 Reuters
ISLAMABAD Afghanistan's ruling Taliban on Thu. launched a major attack using tanks &
artillery in the NE province of Takhar, breaking through the opposition line, a Pakistan-based Afghan
news service reported. Afghan Islamic Press, quoting a Taliban spokesman from Afghan capital Kabul, said
ruling forces had attacked the opposition from the Lataband front, 16 mi. SE of Taloqan, capital of
Takhar province. The spokesman said Taliban fighters broke through the opposition line, pushing back forces
loyal to opposition leader Ahmed Shah Masood, and were still advancing. There was no immediate comment from
the opposition, ousted last summer from the strategic town of Taloqan that it had used as a headquarters.
Repeated attempts to regain the town have failed. The opposition is now based in Faizabad, capital of Badakhsan
province, some 62 mi. NE of Taloqan in mountainous terrain.
During the time of the Soviets I joined the Mujahideen. It was a very difficult time; I was a soldier in the front line.
But I always hoped that my country would pull through it. And when the factions started fighting among themselves,
I had to leave. It was too much. I came here 6 years ago and have watched the country fall into nothing.
Information is always very hard to get, I find. And now with the Alliance taking over the country, I am afraid for what
might happen. It looks as if there will be lots of revenge killings and everything will stay the same. People have
such short memories. Burhanuddin Rabbani is not much different from the Taliban.
Muhammad Naim Farahi, former Afghanistan province governor
11.18.01 Guardian Unlimited
AIP, quoting its sources, said though fighting had broken out several times this summer, Thursday's attack was the
biggest offensive of the year, with the Taliban using tanks and artillery. Diplomatic sources have reported over the
past 2 months the Taliban are massing thousands of fighters in the north to attack Masood, their main obstacle to
total control of the country.
AIP said at least 3 Taliban were killed and a dozen wounded while the Islamic movement had captured 15
opposition fighters in the attack, which started in the early hours of Thursday. The fighting continues despite
international appeals for peace so the impoverished people of Afghanistan can be helped and about a million
people who fled drought and war be returned home.
interview personal views, Anssi Kristian Kullberg, Finnish Dir. of Immigration Western & Central
Asia Desk legal & country intelligence service researcher. He was in Kyrgyzstan 9.11.01 on his way to
notorious Ferghana Valley in reconstruction of the late Finnish Marshal C.G.E. Mannerheim's intelligence
expedition to Turkistan & China in 1906-1908.
Q: Was the Taliban the creation of Pakistan? Can you tell us about its formation and how was Russia involved in it?
A: The Taliban was not a creation of Pakistan, although Pakistan was among several states that contributed
to the genesis & development of this peculiar movement. It is true that the Taliban (which was established only
as late as in 1994 as a religious movement) had a significant influx from Pakistani madrassas. But the Taliban is
not only an extreme religious movement, but also an ethnic Pashtun one. The Pashtuns are a bit less than half of
Afghanistan's population, but in Pakistan there are 16 million resident Pashtuns plus 3 million as refugees. There
are more Pashtuns in Pakistan than in Afghanistan nowadays. The "Pakistanis" involved in Afghanistan are in fact
Afghans. The role of the Pakistani Islamist opposition in the formation & support of the Taliban is widely
recorded. But more important are those who made it a military power. This is where Russia enters the game, too. In
order to understand the Taliban, we must recall the background situation in Afghanistan ever since the events in
1970s.
The Taliban is not monolithic. Even less so is the Northern Alliance. Neither were the Afghan communists united.
This was made evident by the internal power struggles following the ousting of King Zahir
Shah in 1973. Daoud was overthrown & killed by communists in 1978. But the communists were divided
into the Khalq faction, favored by China, and the Parcham faction, favored by the Soviet Union. In 1978 it was the
Khalq faction that took over, but their more moderate leader Nur Mohammed Taraki was overthrown & killed
by the hardliner Khalq communist Hafizullah Amin. In 1979, the Soviet Spetsnaz murdered Amin and replaced him
with the Parcham follower Babrak Karmal, who was close to the KGB. Then the Soviet army invaded.
The communist secret service Khad (KhAD), whose leaders were Karmal & Sayid Mohammed Najibullah, was
actually an Afghan branch of the KGB. It had been preceded by the communist secret services of Taraki &
Amin (AGSA, KAM), but from 1979 onwards this organization of terror was instructed & trained by the KGB.
The culture of terror & the horrible persecution of the civil population continued without a pause from the
communist takeover up until the overthrowing of Najibullah's regime in 1992 when Massoud liberated Kabul. Western minds seem to implicitly suppose that when the Cold War was
over, the communists & the structures they had created just suddenly disappeared. This is a recurrent fatal
misperception esp. of the Americans.
According to Professor Azmat Hayat Khan of the University of Peshawar, when Ahmad Shah Massoud's
mujaheddin liberated Kabul in 1992, and Najibullah gave up power, the communist generals of the army & of
Khad agreed to prolong the Afghan civil war in order to discredit President Burhanuddin Rabbani's mujahid govt
and prevent Afghanistan from stabilizing.
The Uzbek communist General Abdurrashid Dostum continued the rebellion against Rabbani & Massoud in
Mazar-i-Sharif, massively backed by the Soviet Union and later by Russia & Uzbekistan. Another rebellious
general was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Most of the ethnic Pashtun Khalq army generals as well as those of the Khad
defected to Hekmatyar's troops. A decisive role was the one played by General Shahnawaz Tanai, the communist
commander of the artillery, who defected to Hekmatyar's side as early as in 1990. Later in 1995, when Hekmatyar's
rebellion was losing strength, Tanai defected to the Taliban. So did many other communist army & Khad
officers. It was Tanai's defection that provided the Taliban with Soviet artillery, Soviet air force, Soviet intelligence
and Soviet technical & military knowledge. The American Anthony Arnold argued already then that Tanai's
moves were a KGB-inspired provocation. The former KGB General Oleg Kalugin said that it was Moscow who
trained most of the terrorists the US is now chasing.
As regards the Taliban, it was nothing special when they took over Kandahar in 1994. Kandahar was a Pashtun
city and the strict interpretation of Islam the Taliban propounds is not so much based on the Qur'an but on the
narrow-minded social norms of an agrarian Pashtun village. Mullah Omar is often described as having the
background of a relatively simple-minded rustic mullah, although he was also politically active in Mohammed Nabi
Mohammadi's Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami (Revolutionary Islamic Movement), which later opposed the Taliban. But
apart from Mullah Mohammed Omar & some other leaders who seem to have truly religious backgrounds (and
no other education), the Taliban's military & intelligence are dominated by Soviet-trained communists.
Besides Tanai, there is for example the late first Taliban military commander & one of its founders, "Mullah
Borjan", whose real name was Turan Abdurrahman, a prominent communist military officer.
Many Taliban "mullahs" have no religious training at all. They are former communist military & security
agents who have grown up beards and adopted new names & identities replete with the title "mullah". The
Taliban artillery commander was the former Soviet Army's Afghan military intelligence officer Shah Sawar. The
Taliban intelligence service chief Mohammed Akbar used to head a dept of the Khad. And the Taliban air force
commander Mohammed Gilani was a communist general, too. Perhaps because of this immensely influential influx
into the Taliban, their interpretation of Islam is quite alien for most of the world's Muslims, but closely resembles the
interpretation of Islam that the communists & Russia have traditionally espoused in their anti-Islamic
propaganda.
The decisive strengthening of the Taliban took place in 1995-1996, when it was seen as a "stabilizing" force in
Afghanistan. This was a great fallacy based on the Taliban's success in Kandahar, which was indeed their "home
field". Anywhere else the Taliban did not bring about stability, but quite the opposite. Among those with a rising
interest in the Taliban forces, were all the main players: Russia & its satellite regimes in Central Asia, the US,
Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. At the initiative of the Turkmen dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, the Russian energy giant
Gazprom, headed by the then Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, and the US firm Unocal, contracted to
lay a pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan, circumventing Iran and crossing the Afghan territory that the Taliban
had supposedly "stabilized". For Pakistan, it has been a traditional national interest to secure energy supplies from
Central Asia, since it is sandwiched between two vehemently hostile great powers, India & Iran. For Russia,
this was seen as a way to control Central Asian energy resources and to extend its influence towards the Indian
Ocean. Two Saudi Arabian oil companies were also involved.
During the same years, the Taliban received sizable armed support. It did not come mainly from
Pakistan. Financial succor came from Saudi Arabia. But the most decisive increase in the Taliban's
strength came from Russia: the defections of the Khalq & Khad generals directly into the Taliban's leadership,
vast amounts of Russian weaponry in several mysteriously "captured" stashes, including a very suspicious
"hijacking" & escape of a Russian jet loaded with weapons that ended up in the hands of the Taliban's ex-
communist leaders. With these new weapons, the Taliban marched on Herat in 1995, and finally managed to
capture Kabul in 1996. Najibullah was hanged, but Najibullah's hanging by his former Taliban-turned protégés
seems to have camouflaged the actual developments in the Afghan power struggle.
Gardez Afghan & American troops were last night fanning across southern Afghanistan after
Mullah Mohamed Omar reportedly broke a siege of his mountain redoubt on a
motorbike. The Taliban leader raced
over dirt roads in a dramatic escape from allied forces who were closing in on the village of Baghran in Helmand
province, according to an Afghan intelligence chief, Haji Gulalai. Omar vanished deeper into Helmand with four
body guards who also rode motorbikes in a successful attempt to exploit the confusion of a mass surrender by
1,500 Taliban fighters, said Gulalai. 'We will not let him go free. He is a national criminal. He can't escape if he is in
Afghanistan.'
If confirmed, the escape will dismay Washington and London that yet another opportunity to capture the cleric has
been bungled by Afghan allies and US forces despite a six-day deployment near Baghran. The burnishing of
Omar's legend came as an ambush in the east of the country wounded a CIA officer and killed a US soldier, the
first American to die from hostile fire in Afghanistan since Washington declared a war on terror. The US was able to
announce that it had taken Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef into custody. The former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan,
he is the most senior Taliban to have been taken so far.
But capturing Omar has fixated Washington since he fled Kandahar in early December and last week Afghan
intelligence officials pinpointed the remote village of Baghran. US forces reinforced Afghan allies who claimed to
have surrounded the village as tribal leaders negotiated the surrender of the cleric and his estimated 1,500 fighters.
Afghan officials set yesterday as the deadline for US bombing to start unless he was handed over and by late
morning Taliban soldiers started to surrender, averting fears of a bloodbath.
But to the consternation of US forces, the enemy soldiers walked free after handing over their guns rather than face
jail and questioning. Worse followed when Gulalai, the intelligence chief of Kandahar, told the BBC that the mullah,
America's most wanted man after Osama bin Laden, had escaped in a feat likened to Steve McQueen's character
in The Great Escape . 'Except in the film McQueen doesn't get away,' said one diplomat in Kabul. But it was
unclear if Omar, 42, really had escaped, or even if he was ever in Baghran. Afghan forces combing the village had
found no evidence that the Taliban founder had stayed there and suggested scrambling US helicopters to help the hunt.
If caught Omar would be lynched, sent to an international tribunal or handed to the Americans according to the
respective opinions of a tribal leader, the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister. The Taliban leader is relying on
supposed diehard supporters in the south but many blame him for not handing over the suspected mastermind of
9.11.01 bin Laden, and averting the US air strikes which triggered the collapse of the 5 year old Islamic regime.
Gen. Tommy Franks, head of US Central Command, said his forces had searched seven of the eight key cave
complexes in Tora Bora and found a substantial number of bodies, a tank and other weapons. But no bin Laden.
The Taleban gone, the tradition of sodomy returns to Kandahar. Bearded men, accompanied by their "ashna"
(beloved boys) are again openly visible on the streets. The Taleban had forbidden the Pashtun tradition of "ashna", the grooming of favorite boys for sexual pleasure. In one of his first acts in 1994, Mullah Omar freed a boy being fought over by 2 Mujaheddin warlords in Kandahar, who had started firing artillery rounds at each other's positions, destroying part of the city. Called to mediate in other such affairs, the Taleban movement quickly implanted itself in Kandahari society. The Taleban quickly applied their medieval rules to those caught practising sodomy: they were forced to stand under a stone wall, which was felled on top of them. Eye witnesses in Kandahar speak of the change under the Taleban, and the subsequent return of the ashna. There is a local saying that birds fly over Kandahar using only one wing, the other covering their posterior. Now the population claims "Birds flew with both wings under the Taleban…but not any more".
One witness is the soldier Torjan. "In the later Mujaheddin years", he told the British newspaper The Times, "more & more soldiers would take boys by force and keep them for as long as they wished. When the Taleban came, they were very strict about the ban". However, the streets of Kandahar are now full of bearded men (usually married with families), walking openly accompanied by 15- or 16-year-old boys. The ashna are approached in the street, in cinemas or football stadiums, and are coerced into sex by the offer of a drink, a piece of clothing, jewelry, money or a fighting pigeon, with which they can make a comfortable living. In the poverty-stricken world of Afghanistan, survival is the order of the day. In their quest to help feed their brothers and sisters, these boys are marked for life by the pedophiles who prey on them to raise their social status: a poor man seen with an ashna is considered to have increased in social level.
Startled marines find Afghan men all made up to see them
5.24.02 Chris Stephen The Scotsman
Bagram British marines returning from an operation deep in the Afghan mountains spoke last night
of an alarming new threat, being propositioned by swarms of gay local farmers. An Arbroath marine, James
Fletcher, said: "They were more terrifying than the al-Qaeda. One bloke who had painted toenails was offering to
paint ours. They go about hand in hand, mincing around the village." While the marines failed to find any al-Qaeda
during 7 day Op. Condor, they were propositioned by dozens of men in villages the troops were ordered to search.
"We were pretty shocked," Marine Fletcher said. "We discovered from the Afghan soldiers we had with us that a lot
of men in this country have the same philosophy as ancient Greeks: 'a woman for babies, a man for pleasure'."
Originally, the marines had sent patrols into several villages in the mountains near the town of Khost, hoping to
catch up with al-Qaeda suspects who last week fought a 4 hour gun battle with soldiers of the Australian SAS. The hardened troops, their faces covered in camouflage cream and weight down with weapons, radios and ammunition, were confronted with Afghans wanting to stroke their hair. "It was hell," said Corporal Paul Richard, 20. "Every village we went into we got a group of men wearing make-up coming up, stroking our hair and cheeks and making kissing noises."
At one stage, troops were invited into a house and asked to dance. Citing the need to keep momentum in their
search & destroy mission, the marines made their excuses and left. "They put some music on and ask us to dance. I told them where to go," said Cpl Richard. "Some of the guys turned tail and fled. It was hideous." The
Afghan hill tribes live in some of the most isolated communities in the country. "I think a lot of the problem is that
they don't have the women around a lot," said another marine, Vaz Pickles. "We only saw about 2 women in the
whole 6 days. It was all very disconcerting."
A second problem the British found came minutes after the first helicopter touched down at one of the hilltop
firebases, when local farmers appeared demanding compensation for goats they claimed had been blown off the
mountains by the rotor blades. "Every time we landed a Chinook near a village, we got some irate bloke running up to us saying his goat has just got blown off the mountain ridge by the helicopter and then he demanded $100
compensation," said Major Phil Joyce, commander of Whisky Company, one of 4 companies deployed.
As patrols moved away from the landing zones, the locals began pestering Afghan troops attached to the marines with ever more outrageous compensation demands, topping off at a demand from one village elder for $500 for damage to a tree by the downdraft from helicopters. But the marines were under orders to win the "hearts & minds" of local farmers in what is one of the few remaining Taleban bastions. "I managed to barter him down to two marine pens, a pencil and a rubber," Major Joyce said. "He went away quite happy ."
Russia had an interest to cut the strong ties between Massoud's mujaheddin and the Tajik opposition that Russia had crushed since it attacked Tajikistan in 1992 and backed the communists into power there. The old provocateur Hekmatyar was by then defeated and had finally given up his fight after losing his men & arms by Tanai's defection to the Taliban, and accepted a seat in the govt in compensation. Since Hekmatyar was finished, a new Pashtun force was needed in those years. Taliban was a rising force that various external players tried to exploit by infiltration, support & manipulation. When the Cold War was declared over by the West, it did not stop elsewhere. After 1989 the West really lost interest in Afghanistan and until some months before his death Massoud was trying to appeal to it in vain. The West was uninterested, but others were. Pakistan, of course, was interested in the goings on in its unstable neighbor. Saudi Arabia was financing & supporting dangerous Sunni fundamentalist groups, and later the Taliban. The Saudis also provided them with their own Saudi fanatics that had become troublesome at home. Iran was supporting its own agents within Afghan Shia groups. And the Soviet Union & later Russia continued to provide massive armed support to the last communist dictator of Afghanistan, Najibullah, and later to the notorious General Dostum.
The Russian principle was "divide & rule", with the basic idea of keeping the West out and assuring that the
region would not strengthen so that the Soviet empire could return once it has regained its military might. Because of this stratagem, Russia has supported the Tajiks of the Northern Alliance through Tajikistan only sufficiently to form a buffer zone against the Taliban, but without being able to gain substantial victories or to intervene in Tajikistan. Moreover, Russia has been arming & supporting the Uzbeks under the command of Dostum & General Malik who later defected to the Taliban's side. This support has been directed through Uzbekistan and still continues, ironically, with the West's full blessing. Less known has been the Russian support directed through Turkmenistan to the Taliban, and to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan that is said to threaten Karimov's rule there.
Q: What was & is the role of the CIA in all this?
Was Pakistan's ISI the CIA's long arm?
Was bin Laden a CIA agent?
A: A chronic feature of American intelligence policy seems to be historical amnesia and inability to see the complex nature of conflicts & local relationships. This was also manifested during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. British intelligence and part of the Pakistani intelligence community clashed with the US already during the Cold War period, because they wanted to support Ahmad Shah Massoud, the "Lion of Panjshir". It was Massoud & his mujaheddin who finally, after getting Stingers from the British, managed to make the war too expensive for the Soviets, forcing them to retreat in 1989. Meanwhile, the CIA was incompetent enough to be dependent on the Pakistani intelligence services that, especially in Zia ul-Haq's period, favored Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a pompous figure who claimed to have extensive contacts throughout the Islamic world. He indeed had some contacts, incl with Osama bin Laden, but he was considered to be a KGB provocateur by Massoud & many others, and was never of any help in the Afghan independence struggle.
Instead of fighting the Soviet occupants, Hekmatyar preferred to fight other Afghans, and to conspire with
suspicious Arab circles imported by his contact bin Laden to Peshawar. The Stingers that the CIA had provided to Hekmatyar, were not used to liberate Afghanistan.
Instead, Hekmatyar sold them to Iran, and they were later used against the Americans in a well-known
incident.
When the Soviet troops moved out, Hekmatyar pursued a bloody rebellion against the legal Afghan govt,
devastating the country along with another rebel general, Dostum. (Though they were not aligned.) In 1993,
Hekmatyar supported the KGB general & spymaster Haidar Aliyev's coup in Azerbaijan and, in 1994,
Hekmatyar was involved in supporting pro-Russian Lezghin terrorists in the Caucasus. Hekmatyar is still active. He lives in Teheran, and has recently finally revealed his true colors by siding with the Taliban.
As far as I know, Osama bin Laden was never a CIA agent. However, there are relatively plausible claims that he
was close to Saudi intelligence, esp. to the recently fired intelligence chief Prince Turki bin Faizal, until they broke
up. Osama first appeared in the Afghan War theater either in 1979, or, at the latest in 1984. But at the beginning he was first & foremost a businessman. He served the interests of those who wished to construct roads
accessible for tanks to cross through Afghanistan to the Indian Ocean. This might also explain his characteristic
opportunism, quite atypical for a self-proclaimed warrior of faith. International jihadists surely want to portray him as a religious fighter or Muslim hero, but this is not the true picture, but, mostly, a myth created by the Western media. This is where Arab, Pakistani and Indonesian teenagers learn that Osama is a fighter in a universal struggle of Islam against its oppressors. But bin Laden never fought the Soviets to liberate Afghanistan. For most of this period, he was not even in Afghanistan. He was managing an office in Peshawar, and the only credible claim about him being in a battle has been made by the former CIA official Milton Bearden concerning a minor skirmish that took place in spring 1987.
Bin Laden's first significant contact in Peshawar was the Palestinian Professor Abdullah Azzam, whom bin Laden has later described as his mentor. Azzam was an Arab idealist, who wanted to concentrate on the liberation of Afghanistan, and who wanted to support Massoud, whom he correctly regarded as being the right person to uphold. Bin Laden disagreed. He wanted to support the disloyal Islamist fanatic Hekmatyar. As a result, Azzam & his son were blown up in a car bomb in 1989, and consequently, bin Laden took over his organization and transformed it into Al-Qaida (the Base). Already before these events, he started to transform the agency by flooding it with his Arab contacts from the Middle East. These Arabs were not interested in liberating Afghanistan as much as in hiding from the law enforcement agencies of their own countries, most of all Egypt's.
When Russia attacked Tajikistan, bin Laden & his folks were by no means interested in liberating Tajikistan
from a new communist yoke. Instead, bin Laden left Afghanistan and dispersed his terrorist network, directing it to
act against the West. It is bizarre that a man claiming to be an Islamic fundamentalist supported the invasion by the Arab socialist (and thereby atheist) Iraq against Kuwait & Saudi Arabia, both with conservative Islamic
regimes. Al-Qaida's supported all causes & activities against the West: the US, Turkey, Israel, and any pro-
Western Muslim regime like Pakistan. Robbers on the island of Jolo in the Philippines qualified for Al-Qaida's
support although they hardly knew anything about the Qur'an. They were immediately portrayed as "Islamic
fighters". Even the strictly atheist anti-Turkish terrorist organization PKK has been welcomed. At the same time
they definitely have not supported Muslims advocating Turkish-modeled moderate independence, like the
Chechens, the original Tajik opposition or the Azeri govt under President Abulfaz Elchibey.
As concerning Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, I think it would be gross underestimation of a potential
regional great power and its British colonial traditions of military & intelligence to describe it just as an arm of
the CIA or of the Islamists. These are widespread myths. The ISI is neither the hero nor the villain of this story. I
think the ISI is interested simply in the national interest of Pakistan, which consists of four main elements:
security against the hostile strong neighbors India & Iran,
security against the instability and uncontrolled forces ravaging Afghanistan and infiltrating Pakistan
through the large Pashtun population,
the conflict over Kashmir,
Pakistan's own international status.
Afghanistan is an historical buffer zone in the ancient Great Game of Central Eurasia. It is the gateway through
which Pakistan's enemies can attack or destabilize it, and it is equally the buffer that stops these enemies.
Pakistan's is interested in regional stability while its enemies seek to use any instability against it. There is a great
divide within Pakistan between Pakistani nationalists & internationalist Islamists. Pakistan is relatively
democratic compared with its neighbors, even incl India, considering its treatment of minorities and the Kashmir
issue. It, thus, has the problems of a democracy. Pakistan has quite free & critical press, local administration and intellectual opposition, the Islamists included. It is not, and has never been, an Islamist dictatorship like Saudi Arabia.
A powerful bomb exploded on a bridge outside Kandahar in southern Afghanistan yesterday, blowing up a bus and killing 18 passengers. Afghan police blamed the attack on Taleban & al-Qaeda fighters believed to be
regrouping in the area, but other officials said the blast may have been the work of the renegade warlord
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose forces are said to be seeking alliances with remnants of the Taleban in order to wage a holy war against the American-backed govt in Kabul.
The explosion, triggered by a powerful device planted on the bridge, appeared to be aimed at Afghan soldiers
fighting alongside American troops, who use the road to patrol the area from their nearby army post. The blast left a 3ft-deep crater in the road.
It is the worst such attack since 26 people were killed by a huge car bomb in Kabul 5 months ago, on the same day as an assassination attempt on President Karzai in Kandahar. A spokesman for the President said that the attacks strengthened the case for a bigger foreign military presence in Afghanistan.
Afghan civilians said killed in clash
6.30.07 Noor Khan, Rahim Faiez AP
Kandahar, Afghanistan U.S.-led airstrikes targeting Taliban militants who had attacked NATO forces slammed into civilian homes in southern Afghanistan, killing both civilians and insurgents, Afghan and Western officials said Saturday.
Like most battles in the dangerous and remote regions of Afghanistan, casualty estimates varied widely. Local govt officials said up to 60 civilians and 35 insurgents had been killed in the fighting in Helmand province's Gereshk district late Friday. NATO did not give an estimate of casualties, but one Western military official said privately that around 8 civilians had been killed.
It was not possible to independently verify the casualty claims. The U.S. acknowledged some civilians were killed after fighters sought shelter in village homes, a familiar scenario in Afghanistan that has led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent bystanders this year.
The U.S. news release did not say how many civilians were killed. A British soldier was killed when Taliban fired on coalition forces in the southern village of Qaleh-e-Gaz, Britain's defense ministry said.
The battle in Gereshk district began when Taliban fighters tried to ambush a joint U.S.-Afghan military convoy late Friday before fleeing into the nearby village of Hyderabad for cover, said Mohammad Hussein, Helmand's provincial police chief. Airstrikes targeted the militants in the village, said Dur Ali Shah, the mayor of Gereshk.
Shah said late Saturday that between 50 and 60 civilians and 35 Taliban fighters had been killed. He said the fighters were mostly Arab.
Maj. John Thomas, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said the military had no information "at this time to corroborate numbers that large." He said NATO would not fire on positions if it knew there were civilians nearby.
"It's the enemy fighters who willingly fire when civilians are standing right next to them," he said.
The U.S.-led coalition said the airstrikes were in response to machine gun, mortar and rocker propelled grenade attacks on a joint Afghan-coalition patrol.
"It appears that ANA (Afghan National Army) and coalition forces fired at clearly identified firing positions," said Maj. Chris Belcher, a coalition spokesman. "Remains of some people who apparently were civilians were found among insurgent fighters who were killed in firing positions in a trench line".
Belcher accused militants of hiding among civilians.
"We are deeply saddened by any loss of innocent lives," he said.
Mohammad Khan, a resident of Hyderabad, said 7 members of his family, including his brother and 5 of his brother's children, were killed by airstrikes.
"I brought 3 of my wounded relatives to Gereshk hospital for treatment," he said by phone. The villagers on Saturday were burying a "lot of dead bodies," Khan said.
Civilians deaths caused by U.S. and NATO-led troops have infuriated Afghans and prompted President Hamid Karzai to publicly condemn the forces for carelessness and viewing Afghan lives as "cheap." He has urged restraint and better coordination of military operations with the govt, while also blaming the Taliban for using civilians as human shields.
A United Nations tally shows that of 673 civilian deaths this year, 314 were caused by international or Afghan security forces, and 279 by insurgents. A similar Associated Press count, though lower, shows the same trend: 213 killed by the U.S. or NATO and 180 by the Taliban.
Overall, the AP counts more than 2,800 people killed this year. The tally, based on Western and Afghan official data, puts the violence far ahead of last year, when about 4,000 died.
Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, said during a visit to Kabul that NATO's International Security Assistance Force makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties, and blamed such deaths on Taliban tactics.
"The Taliban make every effort to cause civilian casualties and to create situations where we might not be able to avoid civilians casualties," Downer said. "It is very, very foolish for anybody, except of course for those that support the Taliban to try to create some sort of moral equivalent between," NATO and the militants, he said.
In other violence:
• 5 "innocent civilians" including women and children were killed and 8 wounded by rocket attacks in Kunar province, said Gov. Shalezai Dedar.
• A suicide car bomber detonated himself near a U.S. convoy in Nangarhar province, killing only himself, said Ghafor Khan, a police spokesman.
• In Helmand's Sangin district, NATO-led and Afghan troops clashed with Taliban fighters on Friday, leaving 15 militants dead, said Ezatullah Khan, a district chief.
Q: Can you chart the relationship between the ISI & the Taliban?
A: The policy of the ISI was strongly correlated with developments in Pakistan's leadership. The main divide
concerning the ISI's Afghanistan policies did not concern religious issues as it did the ethnic question related to the political & military aspirations of the Pashtun people in both Pakistan & Afghanistan. Actually one of the greatest dangers to Pakistan's national existence would be the emergence of the idea of Greater Pashtunistan, splitting Pakistan in two. This was an idea favored & agitated by the pro-Soviet Pashtuns, mny of whom are now influential in the Taliban. The Pakistani researcher Musa Khan Jalalzai noticed this and described these people as "enemies of Pakistani interests".
India & Iran would like to split Pakistan & destroy it, and Russian geopolitics is still based on a "final
thrust to the South". Iran & India equally fear that Baluchistan, Kashmir and Punjab would finally be united under Pakistani rule. Incorporating Pashtunistan, Pakistan has the potential to become a South Asian superpower with plausible expansionist chances. Yet this has never really been an aspiration of Pakistan. Like Turkey under
Ataturk, Pakistan under such leaders as Ayub Khan & now Pervez Musharraf has been introverted in its
nationalism and based on constitutional & national ideas similar to those of present day Turkey &
France.
During the military dictatorship of Zia ul-Haq the policy turned more Islamist, and during this period the ISI strongly
supported Hekmatyar. Hekmatyar proved disloyal and finally defected to Iran. During Benazir Bhutto's govt, support has shifted to the Taliban. This was decided by the Interior Minister Nasirullah Babar. It is history's irony that the first female prime minister of Pakistan helped to strengthen the misogynist Taliban regime. The ISI started to get disillusioned & disappointed with the Taliban during the thoroughly corrupt "democracy" continued under Nawaz Sharif. There have been rumors that the ISI wished to influence the Taliban and to empower "a third force" among the more moderate Taliban leaders to take over it. It is in connection with this that Shahnawaz Tanai actually defected to Pakistan, and the ISI was dealing with the former communists who were so powerful within the Taliban.
Luckily for Western interests, General Pervez Musharraf took over. This takeover was the best event in Pakistani
history as far as the West is concerned, although it was sadly ignored in the West during the Clinton administration. Musharraf was portrayed as a military dictator & a supporter of the causes of the Taliban and of an alliance with China (all sins of his predecessors). Musharraf is profoundly pro-Western, secular in mind and pragmatic in foreign policy. He in fact tried to form constructive relationships with all the neighboring countries (Iran, India and Afghanistan). His peace initiatives in Kashmir were stalled by Indian arrogance, and the West turned a cold shoulder to its old ally, which has been a source of great bitterness in Pakistan, esp. since the West has been very inconsistent in choosing when to support Pakistan and when not to. But during the Musharraf reign, human rights and the position of women in Pakistan have improved considerably.
Constructive relations with whomever rules Afghanistan have been Realpolitik for Pakistan. Although Musharraf,
immediately after seizing power, started to undermine the support for the Taliban, he could not remove the
recognition given to the Taliban govt, as there was no other Afghan govt, the Rabbani govt having been ousted and categorically hostile to Pakistan, partly for legitimate reasons. Pakistan has been trying ever since to construct new anti-Taliban alliances, as well as trying to find intra-Taliban frictions to exploit. But the West should be very careful & measured in its pressure on Pakistan. The Taliban is really not under Pakistan's thumb, and never was.
I think the ISI first saw the Taliban as a potential instrument. Then it saw it as a threat that had to be infiltrated
& controlled. Then they saw it as a burden. Surely the ISI wished to control & contain the Taliban, but
their success has been rather doubtful (as has been others'). Many analysts have paid attention to the fact that
Afghan as well as non-Afghan adventurers like bin Laden, have always been very talented at exploiting the
surrounding states as well as both superpowers.
Another distorted myth is propagated by India. It is that the Kashmiri secessionism is terrorism and a Pakistani
creation. This is very far from reality. More than 80% of Kashmiris would probably prefer
independence, but at the same time they reject the Islamist model. There are several small but media-visible
Islamist groups operating in Kashmir, or at least proclaiming the Kashmiri cause. But these people
are not really interested in Kashmiri independence. They are interested in jihad. Such Islamists appear wherever
there is a war (during Bosnia's struggle for independence and in the Albanian civil war, in Chechnya, Kashmir and
so on). Their "help" is usually just an added burden to the ones they purport to help, since they are seldom fighting for any liberation. These "professional" jihadists also seem to be more common in internet cafes and among Arab diasporas in the West than in places where Muslim nations face real oppression.
We must remember that Musharraf cannot possibly surrender to India in the Kashmir dispute. This would not only be political suicide, but it would not end the Kashmir conflict ; quite the contrary. It would mean importing the
Kashmiri conflict into Pakistan, and against Pakistan. What happened in Afghanistan, with millions of refugees
flooding to Pakistan, should not happen with Kashmir. This would be an outright catastrophe for both Pakistan
& India, let alone the Kashmiri people. Therefore it is the most crucial interest of the West to prevent India
from escalating the Kashmir conflict and turning Kashmir into another weapon against Pakistan's stability.
Q: The "Arab" fighters in Afghanistan, are they a state with a state, or the long arm for covert operations (e.g., the
assassination of Massoud) for the Taliban? Who is the dog and who is the tail?
A: The dog & tail can get very entangled here. Everybody is exploiting everybody, and finally all
organizations & states are tools which consist of individuals and used by them.
The Arabs in Afghanistan are indeed Arabs.
There are also lots of "Pakistani" volunteers on the Taliban side, but these are mainly Pashtuns, that is,
Afghans.
The mentioning of Chechens, Uighurs and so on is more designed to satisfy the propaganda purposes of Russia
& China. There are less than one million Chechens and they have a very harsh war going on in Chechnya.
Chechens who choose to go to Afghanistan instead must be quite unpatriotic.
The Arabs form the hard core of Al-Qaida. They are the Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi etc. professional revolutionaries
& terrorists who have gathered around the figurehead of Osama bin Laden. Many of these share the same old background in Marxist-inspired revolutionary movements in the Middle East. Ideology & facade have changed when green replaced red, but their methods as well as foreign contacts have mainly remained the same. This is why they are much more interested in attacking the West & pro-Western Muslim regimes than in supporting any true national liberation movements. Even if they try to infiltrate & influence conflict outcomes in the Balkans, the Caucasus, East Turkistan and Kashmir, they are set against the nationalist & secular, and usually pro-Western, policies of the legitimate leadership of these secessionist movements. So the people whom Al-Qaida may support and try to infiltrate are usually exiled or otherwise opposition forces acting in fact against the idea of independence. This has been the case in Chechnya, Dagestan, Bosnia, Kashmir and so on.
And this has been the case in Afghanistan as well. Osama bin Laden & his Arabs never contributed to the actual Afghan national liberation struggle. Instead they acted against it by infiltrating Afghan circles and turning
them against each other. Their jihad is not intended to defend the Muslims against infidel oppressors, but to cause chaos and destruction, in which they apparently hope to overthrow Muslim regimes and replace them with the utopia of Salafi rule. It is not hard to see how this set of mind was inherited from the communist utopian
terrorist movements that preceded the present Islamist ones. They had the same structures, the same cadres, the same leaders, the same sponsors and the same methods.
The Arabs in Afghanistan have feathered their nests, though. Osama bin Laden & his closest associates have all married daughters of Afghan elders from different factions and tribes and their sons & daughters have, in turn, married the off-spring of eminent Afghan leaders. This is how they secured their foothold in Afghan social networks, something neither the West nor Pakistan succeeded to do. When issues are reduced to family
relationships, it is not to be expected that the Afghans would hand over the Arabs to the West or to Pakistan.
Al-Qaida is not only fortifying itself physically, but also socially. At the same time their cells and countless
collaborating agencies, some of whom are clearly non-Islamist, and some of which are govt agencies of certain
hostile states, are hoping to escalate this "war against terrorism" and to exploit it for their own purposes.
Q: Do you believe that the USA had long standing designs to conquer Afghanistan and used 9.11.01 as a pretext?
A: I would rather say that somebody else had long standing designs for a major conflict in which it was
necessary to get the US involved. Those who wiped out Mr. Massoud a couple of days before the terror strikes in
the US probably knew that the terrorists will be hunted in Afghanistan. It is clear that the US, among many others,
has long desired to overthrow the Taliban, and I see nothing wrong with it. Afghanistan was the easiest target,
because the Taliban was not internationally recognized (except by 3 countries at the beginning of the war), and
because there was nobody strong enough to really side with the Taliban. There was no special need to demonize
them, as they seemed to have done a good job demonizing themselves.
The West was more concerned with the blowing up a couple of Buddha statues than with the thousands of victims of the Taliban's tyranny and of the civil war that continued to rage in Afghanistan all this time totally ignored by the Western media until the US got involved again. The US can, of course, be blamed for hypocrisy, as always, but the truth is that getting the US involved has greatly helped those in Afghanistan who had hoped for decades to overthrow the Taliban. It is also quite surprising that even Musharraf's Pakistan seems to have actually benefited from the present course of affairs, since terrorism has given Musharraf the pretext of openly siding with the West, and abandoning all remnants of Pakistan's tolerance of the Taliban.
Still I would be inclined against any conspiratorial depiction of the recent events that would blame the US for all that happened. The US had to react, and Afghanistan was a logical target. In this sense, the US did what the terrorists wanted. But they did so in a much more moderate way, and after much longer preparations than their enemies had probably hoped for. One reason is that in the Bush administration there seems to be significantly more foreign political expertise than in the Clinton administration that hastily bombed a couple of targets, including a factory in Sudan, but always failed to respond to the real challenge. In the long run, the threat posed by terrorism will not be defeated by military operations and not in Afghanistan. What can be done there is just the removal of the Taliban regime and helping to construct a stable and recognized Afghan govt. It is important to give security guarantees to Pakistan and to support the development that is transforming Pakistan into a strong & relatively stable pro-Western Muslim country that can play a similar role in Central & Southern Asia as Turkey does in the West & Middle East. At best, this could even encourage a Musharraf to rise in Iran, which would yield ultimate benefits to Western interests in Asia.
But then, terrorism must be fought by other means. This means that Western intelligence must rise to the level of
the Cold War to face challenges by terrorist organizations as well as by colluding govts. The West must also resist Huntington's vision coming true, since this is exactly what the terrorists want: a clash of civilizations. And we must keep in mind that there are also many others who would like to see a worldwide conflagration between the West & Islam.
Q: What is the geostrategic & geopolitical importance of Afghanistan?
A: Afghanistan is not so significant in itself, if we only consider economic interests. Of more importance are some countries situated near Afghanistan, especially those in Central Asia & Azerbaijan. Afghanistan is also a traditional buffer zone, since its landscape is hard to penetrate for tanks and modern armies. It has prevented the expansion of the Eurasian Heartland Empire towards Eurasia's southern rim lands for centuries. It has protected the areas included in Pakistan & India today, but on the other hand, turning Afghanistan into a politically or militarily active area was used to destabilize Pakistan, or Central Asia, in order to alter the status quo, whatever it was.
Regarding oil, Afghanistan again forms a bridge or a barrier. As long as Iran is regarded as a hostile country by the US, Afghanistan forms an oil transport route from Central Asia to Pakistan. As long as there is war in Afghanistan, it remains a barrier preventing the countries of the Caspian Sea from benefiting from their oil. Wars in the Caucasus have exactly the same outcome. While this is the case, only Russia and perhaps China will have access to and hegemony over the energy resources in the vast Eurasian heart-land. I think this is the main geopolitical importance of both Afghanistan and the Caucasus. It is the question of Russia monopolizing the geopolitical heartland, first & foremost. Considering the colossal weight of geopolitics & geopolitical thought in present Russian security thinking, these implications cannot be overestimated.
Q: Can Turkey be drawn into the conflict and, if yes, what effect will this have on Iran, Central Asia, and
NATO?
A: It seems Turkey has been drawn into it already. Or rather, Turkey has volunteered to be drawn into it. Iran
& Russia, of course, share a very hostile attitude towards any expansion of Turkish influence in Central Asia
and the Caucasus. Turkey & Pakistan, on the other hand, may finally find each other after a long period of
mutual hostility. They both share a similar geopolitical importance as potential guardians of the West. They are
among the most important rim land nations, to borrow a phrase from classical geopolitics. This means that they are also the most important barriers on the way of a heartland empire to aspire to sole Eurasian hegemony.
Turkey has sought to advocate its interests in Central Asia, where most of the Turkistani nations are ethnically
Turkic (that is, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Uighurs, while Tajiks are Persian).
At the beginning of the 1990's Turkey tried to play the ethnic & linguistic cards and the Central Asians were
quite enthusiastic to embrace "the Turkish model", a Western orientation & secular state. But the Central
Asian states are still dominated by communist nomenclatures with strong ties with Moscow. Turkey's economic
problems and generally overly cautious foreign policy have greatly undermined its capacity to advocate its own and Western interests in Central Asia. Moreover, the Central Asian dictators have interpreted the "Turkish model" in most peculiar ways, being often closer to the Chinese model than the Turkish one. I think Turkey is again trying to prove how pro-Western it is and how loyal it is to NATO. The West has usually been much less loyal to Turkey.
When it comes to NATO's influence in Central Eurasia, once Afghanistan is pacified and US presence probably
strengthened through Uzbekistan (though it is one of the notoriously disloyal allies of any Western interest, much
resembling the role played by Saudi Arabia), it is time to come to Georgia's rescue again. The West had better not be too late in coming to the aid of Georgia & Azerbaijan, which are both under serious Russian pressure right now. If the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline can be completed, then it could be time for a major reform in Iran as well.
Shattered Afghan university struggles to recover
4.5.01 Jack Redden Reuters
Kabul Kabul University proudly unveiled its new computer center this year,
complete with three donated PCs and a printer. There are another four or five computers scattered
about the campus, but since there is no electricity there students trek down darkened halls to the
one small room with lights. Kabul University was once one of the best in the region, at the forefront
of the modernization transforming Afghanistan in 1960s & 1970s and fueling the still-
unresolved battle between secular & Islamic views of the world. Today it is struggling to
rebuild, with many buildings still shattered, especially from fighting in the early 1990s when it was
caught between competing warlords. Electricity is almost nonexistent, lighting fixtures have been
ripped from the walls, water bubbles up from blocked pipes and many books from the library were
looted for sale or simply to burn for heat. Professors get a maximum of $32 a month. "The equipt,
the books & the computers are not enough," said Mohammad Alam Hamdard, 32yr old
academic dean of Kabul Medical Institute, largest of 14 faculties. "All the laboratories are
destroyed, there is not even a microscope."
But Hamdard is making headway. In an otherwise unusable building, one small section sports new
paint and Loma Linda University of California is opening a distance learning center to provide
medical information for staff and students. The U.S. university , a Seventh Day Adventist Christian
institute focused on medicine and headed by a woman, is in the process of re-establishing
decades-old ties to Afghanistan. But rebuilding links that existed before the Soviet invasion of
1979 plunged the country into war will not be easy. Loma Linda University plans to send staff on
rotation but living is hard in a city where the Taliban rulers confine people to their homes after 9
p.m.
Women's Non-Education
And the Islamic Taliban movement's view of women's education is a hard one to swallow for any
Western institute based on equal access for both sexes. Officially, the Taliban say they favor
education of women but cannot allow it until separate rooms, staff & transportation are
provided, preferably by foreign donors. The result, with the exception of teaching in homes, is a
lack of public education for half the population of Afghanistan. Enrolment at Kabul University, once
co-educational, has fallen from 9,000 25 years ago to possibly 6,500 today; some university staff
said it is at most 5,000. All are male, sporting the beards demanded by the Taliban. "Of course we
don't have females studying at the university, so that is why the number of students is lower,"
Maulawi Pir Rohani, the chancellor installed after the Taliban conquest in 1996, told Reuters. "We
want to observe Islamic laws, Afghan culture. We want them to be (covered) in a burqa (veil) and
then study. We are eager to find the means and facilities," he said. "Co-education is not legal in
Islam." There are efforts to resume some teaching of women at the university, but those anxious to
see it prefer to move quietly rather than provoke interference by the religious police.
music ban
The only acknowledged disruption of the curriculum by the new rulers has been to ban teaching
music, sculpture & drawing of animate objects: the same Islamic interpretation that prompted
the Taliban to demolish the colossal Buddhas of Bamiyan that were the country's best known
historic treasure. "Every govt has to adjust its policy," said a man working in the university library.
"Currently there are no books opposing the policy or religion. Certainly books that are contrary to
Islam should be removed." But on the shelves, perhaps overlooked by staff trying to reassemble
the collection, are volumes with un-Taliban sounding titles like "Folksingers & Folksongs in
America."
And books on Afghanistan include some praising an artistic heritage that has been
systematically obliterated since February under the edict of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. The
chancellor, whose family is in Pakistan, says he wants to resume a system where faculties were supported by
foreign universities. But the bearded official, who believes he is about 50 years old, made clear he does not want a
return to the days when Western ideas were given free reign on the campus.
"In the 1970s there were foreign teachers and students studying and teaching in Kabul University. They enjoyed a
good system of laboratories, teaching materials and so on," he said in an office that had no lights and was heated
by a wood stove. "But they were far from Afghanistan's tradition, culture, and you can see a big gap between the
system of teaching then and now. Now, thank God, we are much better," he said. "Of course Kabul University is in
bad shape, but we are following what we need for our society. We want to maintain our religion, our tradition, our
culture. And that's the main thing for us." Rohani, a veteran of 14 years of war against Soviet invaders
then other Afghans, said that after joining in the Taliban's capture of Kabul he was rewarded with
the post of chancellor. But he seems restless while the Taliban are still fighting to eliminate their
last opponents in the north. "I am a combatant," he said. "I wish to fight but the authorities say
'No, you head the university, you teach at the university.' "
The Taliban rules are meticulously enforced by religious police patrols from the omnipresent Ministry of Virtue and
Vice. The "virtue" squads coordinate Islamic education, while "vice" squads stamp out forbidden evils and enforce
the movement's conception of "pure" Islam. … The only allowable music for Muslims is religious song,
unaccompanied by instruments. Television, movies and videos are banned. So is kite-flying, seen as a distraction
from a life of prayer.
… They are led by the Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, self-declared "king of the Muslims," and a circle of 8 to 10 colleagues from Kandahar in the deeply tribal southeast,
near the Pakistan border. Taliban means "students," and indeed many followers attended conservative Muslim
schools in Pakistan as refugees during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. One important training
ground was Dar-ul Uloom Haqqani in Akora Khattak, one of Pakistan's largest Muslim campuses. It was the
academic source of the Taliban gender policies. "It is biologically, religiously and prophetically proven that men
are superior to women," said a spokesman at the Maulana Adil Siddiqu seminary.
… An Afghan scholar in the U.S., Amin Tarzi, charged that his homeland's rulers feed off the people's
"illiteracy and lack of knowledge of traditional Islamic teachings." The Taliban has employed Pashtun
tribal traditions along with religion "to legitimize their rule based on a terror system," said Tarzi, of the Monterey
Institute of International Studies. (The Pashtun are Afghanistan's largest ethnic group.) …
"I personally don't have any idea where they get some of their ideas," said Professor Anis Ahmed of Pakistan's
Islamic University. Some tenets come from literal interpretation of the Koran, the Muslim scripture, Ahmed
explained, but "if you take things literally, that will lead to extremism." He said the Koran must be read in its context
and application in the Sunnah, the authoritative sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad.
… The Muslim world has largely spurned the Taliban up to now. The Organization of the Islamic Conference
refused to admit the regime, and only three of the 56 member nations (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates) have granted it full diplomatic recognition.
Even neighboring Iran, whose 1979 revolution energized militant Muslims worldwide, rejects the Taliban, although
that hostility stems from alleged Taliban persecution of fellow Shiite Muslims. Islam's larger Sunni branch
dominates in Afghanistan. While bin Laden is suspected of directing a terrorist network aimed at the West from
Afghanistan, the nation also has become a haven for thousands of activists believed to be preparing to overthrow
more moderate Muslim regimes in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Islamic states of nearby
Central Asia that were part of the former Soviet Union.
Religious minorities tread carefully under Taliban rule
4.1.01 Pamela Constable WashPost pA21
KABUL … the Taliban recognizes only the lunar calendar & the current year is officially
1421 here. … Ayatollah Sayad Ahmad Tawasali, a Shiite cleric who heads a small mosque and Koranic
school in Kabul, said he had "no problems" with the Taliban. He pointed out that unlike in Pakistan, there is no
sectarian violence between Sunni & Shiite sects in Afghanistan. "Here things are peaceful & we do not
have terrorism," he said.
KABUL Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said Tuesday they will require Hindus to wear identity labels on
their clothing to distinguish them from Muslims, a proposal sharply denounced by India & U.S. The Taliban
said the measure, which would also require Hindu women to be veiled for the first time, was aimed at keeping non-
Muslims from being harassed by religious police enforcing Islamic law. Hindus in Afghanistan have not been the
target of persecution and have been allowed to practice their religion without interference, even using music, which
is otherwise banned. However, over decades of war, the number of Hindus has dwindled from a high of about
50,000 during the 1970s to 500 in the capital and small pockets elsewhere.Hindus and Sikhs first came from India
to Afghanistan in 1747. They numbered some 50,000 in the 1970s, but most left after the Soviets sent troops into
Afghanistan in 1979. Fighting in 1992 destroyed five of the seven temples used jointly by Hindus and Sikhs in
Kabul.
The Taliban's reclusive supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, must still approve the law as he does all edicts.
The head of the religious police, Mohammed Wali, told The Associated Press it would be implemented soon.
The
proposal reminiscent of Nazi policies forcing Jews in Europe to wear a yellow Star of David brought quick
condemnation from Washington. A U.S. State Dept spokesman called the requirement "the latest in a long list of
outrageous oppressions" by the Taliban. "We want to make quite clear that forcing social groups to wear distinctive
clothing or identifying marks stigmatizes and isolates those groups and can never, never be justified," spokesman
Richard Boucher said in Washington. Hindu-dominated India also denounced the measures. Indian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Raminder Singh Jassal told reporters in New Delhi, "We absolutely deplore such orders which
patently discriminate against minorities."
Dozens of protesters marched down a busy thoroughfare in the central Indian city of Bhopal carrying an effigy of a
bearded Taliban soldier. "Taliban, die!" shouted some of the marchers, members of the Hindu fundamentalist
movement Bajrang Dal. There are around 500 Sikhs and Hindus living in Kabul, the Afghan capital. There are
Hindu populations in other Afghan cities, but no reliable figures on exactly how many. Anar, an Afghan Hindu in
Kabul who uses one name, said he does not want to wear a label. "It will make us vulnerable and degrade our
position in society," he said. In March, the Taliban destroyed ancient Buddha statues they said were forbidden by
Islam. That also raised international condemnations on top of longtime criticism of the Taliban for banning
education for girls, beating men for trimming their beards and other rules in the name of Islam.
The Taliban's Bakhtar news agency said the latest measure was intended "to prevent disturbance to non-Muslim
citizens" who might be stopped by the religious police. Unlike Muslim women, Hindu women in Afghanistan have
not been forced to wear the head-to-toe covering called a burqa. Wali, the religious police minister, said the
restrictions were required by Islam. "Religious minorities living in an Islamic state must be identified," he said.
However, other Islamic nations including Iran & Indonesia, which have many minority groups have not
required such a step. Most of the Islamic world, including pro-Taliban Pakistan, has differed with the Taliban's
narrow interpretation of Islam and say the militia is tarnishing Islam's image.
It has also not yet been decided what sort of identity label Hindus would have to wear, Wali said. He said the new
order would be meant only for Hindus because there are no Christians or Jews in Afghanistan, and most Sikh men
can be easily recognized by their turbans and distinctive beards. However, at least one Jew is known to live in
Kabul and there may also be some Christians. There is precedent for the Taliban move. Islamic law
requires protection for religious minorities and assigns them certain rights & responsibilities. So Islamic rulers
have at times in the past tried to distinguish minorities from the Muslim population. The Ottoman Empire required
Jews and Christians to wear distinctive clothing.
The general secretary of Pakistan's Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami praised the Taliban move. ``Providing
protection to religious minorities is a must in any Islamic country and this step seems in line with this concept," said
Munawaar Hasan. The rules on Hindus are the latest restriction imposed by the Taliban. Some have said the
heavier hand is in reaction to U.N. sanctions that bar their leaders from traveling abroad, freeze their foreign assets
and keep them from importing weapons to fight their civil war. The sanctions were imposed because of the
Taliban's failure to hand over Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden, accused of terrorism by U.S. The Taliban has
closed four of six U.N. political offices in Afghanistan to protest sanctions.
Russia seeks sanctions against Pakistan for aid to Taliban
4.9.01 Barbara Crosette NYTimes
Russia is expected to lead a drive this month to persuade the Security Council to impose
sanctions on Pakistan, strongest supporter of Afghanistan's militant Islamic govt, the Taliban,
diplomats & UN officials say. The Russian campaign, coming after 2 rounds of UN sanctions
against the Taliban, has the potential to place the Bush administration in a quandary. Pakistan,
which Washington considers an ally, has serious economic & political problems and faces a
rising tide of more than a million Afghan refugees. But Washington has also led the drive to isolate
the Taliban for harboring Osama bin Laden, who is wanted for masterminding the bombings of two
American Embassies in Africa in 1998.
Moreover, there are signs that Pakistan, which initially backed the Taliban in hopes of creating a
pliable govt next door, is now having doubts about its support, as the Taliban have become heroes
to radical Islamic forces in Pakistan. The Bush administration, now engaged in a general review of
sanctions as a foreign policy tool, has given no indication of how it will deal with Afghanistan. The
first review of sanctions imposed on the Taliban in January at American & Russian insistence
will come before the Council on Thursday. The Russians & French have compiled dossiers
accusing Pakistan of direct support for the Taliban in its fight against an opposition army based in
northeastern Afghanistan, diplomats say. But some Western diplomats & UN officials say that
they have yet to see concrete proof of those allegations.
There are also questions about whether aid to the Taliban is coming from the administration of
Pakistan's leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, or from freewheeling elements inside Pakistani
intelligence agencies in league with Islamic parties. Pakistan continues to deny that it is giving
material support to the Taliban. At a news conference, Shamshad Ahmad, Pakistan's UN envoy,
dismissed the allegations of support. He said his country is "a law-abiding member of the UN, in
full compliance with Security Council resolutions." He referred to resolutions that ban military aid to
the Taliban but not to its armed opposition. "There is no ground for any sanctions on Pakistan," he
said. UN officials, some of whom opposed the sanctions, say Russia, Iran and lately India have
been equally to blame for fueling the war in Afghanistan, by supporting the armed opposition
against the Taliban. Barnett Rubin, Ctr on Intl Cooperation director of studies at NYU, said in an
interview that it was useful to bring the discussion of outside military assistance to Afghanistan into
the open.
But he was critical of the sanctions policy as it is currently constructed. "What's totally missing to
complement the sanctions is incentives to give Afghan people a concrete idea of what
reconstruction might be available if they change their behavior," he said. Mr. Rubin, an expert on
Afghanistan & Central Asia, added that a policy of sanctions without incentives "is not the
way to get people to reorient their behavior more toward peace-building and to strengthen
moderates who are either in the Taliban or on the Taliban side at the moment." He also
questioned the support for Ahmad Shah Masood, a cosmopolitan former general in a previous
Afghan govt who is leading the armed opposition and has long attracted Western support as the
face of moderate Islam in Afghanistan.
In anticipation of Security Council review of the sanctions this week, Mr. Masood went to garner
support in Europe, where he received praise from French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine,
aspokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said. "Among the leaders who exist in Afghanistan,"
Mr. Rubin said, "Masood is the best, but the fact is that he represents very little in Afghanistan,"
noting that Mr. Masood is a member of the Tajik minority. "He has a very narrow political base."
Pakistan backs Taleban to 'avoid antagonism'
8.3.00 London Times
Afghan Victim Family Fund Compensation conf. impact of U.S. military campaign on Afghan civilians
3.18.02 Marla Ruzicka Global Exchange
Kabul conference 4.7.02 victims from across Afghanistan to submit claims for compensation to US
Embassy in Kabul.
King returning 3.26.02; everyone is excited.
10 member team previously worked with UN monitoring impact of sanctions and Taliban policies across
Afghanistan. Will submit over 200 compensation claim forms to the US Embassy. Chosen Kabul as focus
point.
After 3.21.02 Karzai's press secretary Professor Stanzi will head International Relations div. of Afghan govt. He
organized survey team to do research for compensation claims. Our team, 5 women & 5 men, started surveys
in Kabul, Khost, Kunduz and Paktia, and next week we start in Herat. We also have some surveyors in Jalalabad
& Kandahar. … US military doesn't admit civilians were impacted; US Embassy here is quite open to
accepting compensation claims. Global Exchange organized 15 women delegation to celebrate international
women's day with Afghan women & met with Karzai. I asked him if he thinks USAID should go to victims; he
said, "YES, of course".
4.19.01 A/55/907-
S/2001/384 SecGen rpt Developments since annual rpt 11.20.00 (A/55/633-
S/2000/1106). SecGen visit & UN Special Mission activities. Destruction of statues,
humanitarian activities & HRts
U.N. condemns Taliban harassment in aid efforts
5.29.01 Reuters
ISLAMABAD UN Tue. accused Afghanistan's ruling Taliban of harassment, threatening aid at a time
that war & drought are plunging the country into a humanitarian crisis. The statement followed talks in Kabul in
which Taliban leaders refused again Tuesday to allow the hiring of women for a poverty survey
needed to continue a pgm feeding 300,000 poor in the Afghan capital. "UN Coordinator office for Afghanistan
deplores interference Afghanistan aid community has increasingly faced in recent weeks while staff work to
alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people," said the statement. Office head Erick de Mul took up the issue with
Taliban officials in their stronghold Kandahar a week ago and spent 3 days this week discussing it in Kabul.
"Arrests, harassments, allegations, inability to do surveys; that is the interference," U.N. spokeswoman Stephanie
Bunker told Reuters. "We are very concerned about the interference because we have these huge pgms that we
need to be able to carry out, without which the crisis inside & outside Afghanistan will only be magnified."
While intl aid efforts are made more difficult by the Taliban's drive to impose their radical interpretation of Islam, the
UN said the crisis from 21 years of war and the worst drought in 3 decades was deepening. "At present about
800,000 Afghans have left their homes, with at least half a million internally displaced inside Afghanistan," it said.
"In 2001-2002, UN now believes that the number of Afghans who may have to leave their homes to survive may
more than double." UN said aid was expected to reach $800,000 a day this year, help that neither the Taliban or
their remaining opponents in northern Afghanistan are providing. It also warned neighboring countries that worse
conditions in Afghanistan would force more refugees over the border. Pakistan, which backs the Taliban, has
attempted to seal its border because it says it can take no further Afghan refugees. In recent weeks the Taliban
have been involved in a growing number of confrontations with the U.N. & private organizations that provide
most social services.
New Italian hospital closed 2 weeks ago because of a raid by the religious police, who beat staff on grounds men
& women were in the same dining hall. … But the trigger for Tuesday's U.N. statement was the Taliban
refusal to let women work in a survey needed to ensure subsidized bread reaches the most needy people in Kabul.
U.N. World Food Pgm gave Taliban until June 15 to agree to a survey. But the Taliban have consistently objected
to the hiring of women, which is necessary because men cannot enter homes to interview women under Taliban
rules. Women are barred from almost all work outside the home. U.N. World Food Pgm has warned the Taliban for
more than a year that a survey was vital to ensure bread sold to 282,000 people from bakeries at 12% of retail
price was reaching those most in need.
Fake Afghan refugees dry up U.N. funds
6.17.02 CNN
TAKHT-E-PUL, Afghanistan Growing numbers of Afghans are submitting fraudulent refugee claims
in what is seen as an organized scheme involving officials both inside & outside the country that is drying up
U.N. assistance for the neediest. Estimated 10,000 people, or 10% of nearly 100,000 people who have come
through one southern Afghan way station since mid-March, have been rejected for assistance, said UN High
Commissioner for Refugees official Monica Sandri in southern city of Kandahar. The large number of bogus cases
are straining a system that is rapidly running out of money. 2 other aid agencies, U.N. World Food Program &e
International Organization for Migration, have already said shortfalls threaten to curtail their programs. "They are
drawing on the resources of the organization and taking money from real refugees. This is a serious problem and it
has to stop," Sandri said Friday.
Though the money given to assist refugees is relatively small, in this poor nation, it is a small fortune to those who
get the help. A family of 5, 2 parents & 3 children, can receive as much as $110 for a trip to nearby Kandahar
& 336 lbs of food, enough for 3 months. Fake refugees allegedly pocket the money and sell the food for a tidy
profit in a country where some people make as little as $10 a month. "It's very lucrative if you go 2 or 3 times,"
Sandri said. One man, officials said, was arrested by local police recently on his third trip.
UNHCR officials are openly discussing the possibility that a well-organized scam is being run from neighboring
Pakistan with the collusion of some officials. Aid officials say most of the fake refugees are either people living
permanently in Pakistan, local Afghan residents posing as returnees, or even Pakistanis posing as Afghans.
"It's a very well organized system in Pakistan. They have started doing it as a profession," Sandri said. "Pakistan
should take action to stop this .... The only place it can be controlled is Pakistan. They have to stop this at the start.
We can't do it here."
Aid officials are expecting an increase in Afghan returnees with the election this week of Hamid Karzai as head of
the state, and the promise of stability for the first time in more than 2 decades. Pakistan was host to 2 million
Afghan refugees during the past 23 years of war, while Iran had 1.5 million. More than 650,000 people have
returned from Pakistan since March, the UNHCR said. About 75,000 Afghans have returned from other
countries.
The returns have forced UNHCR to revise estimates for year to 2 million returnees, almost double the previous
forecast of 1.25 million. Increase seriously drained UNHCR resources; with donations shortfall, program providing
relocation funds may be among the first cuts. Though the problem persists in other parts of Afghanistan, UNHCR
officials said Takht-e-Pul has been the worst hit. Fake refugees began showing up at this way station near the
Pakistani border about a month ago. Hundreds are rejected by U.N. officials everyday. "It began to grow and it's
getting larger. It has to be stopped. On one day of 900 families, 100 were rejected because of this," said
Sandri.
According to aid officials, verification documents can be forged, purchased, or even reused. Children &
families can be rented. People arranging the scam are also thought to take a cut, as do some drivers. On a recent
day, UNHCR field assistant Zia Ahmad Karimi was methodically sorting the luggage of 8 families, with more than
40 people, who had just arrived on a truck from Pakistan. He has a personal stake in doing his job well. "I lost my
parents & 4 brothers in the wars. I was a refugee in Pakistan. I know what suffering is. They are taking money
away from real refugees," said Karimi.
As an added deterrent, refugees are told the money will be given at their destination. If they pass muster, they have
their paper stamped and are given money. "This weeds out cheaters who realize they can't get all the money until
another very long drive," Karimi said. To cloud background questions, many alleged fakes claim they fled during the
recent U.S.-led bombing campaign. "We try to close all the doors, and they open another. It never ends," said
another U.N. assistant Mehmood Samadi.
A group of three burqa-clad widows arriving in a pickup truck without luggage was rejected on the spot. "I was
rejected because they said I didn't have enough luggage. During the American bombing, my house was destroyed,
my husband was killed and then I went to Pakistan," said Sultan Bibi, 50. "Why don't you help a widow &
orphans? Instead you pay to this family who has a man," she screamed.
Illegal Afghan refugees to be expelled: Abbas
3.13.01 DAWN
ISLAMABAD Pakistan is firm on its stand to expel illegal Afghan refugees, said the
minister for Kashmir affairs & Northern Areas, Abbas Sarfaraz Khan, in an interview with
IRNA. "Islamabad will soon take a decisive step to expel the illegal Afghan refugees. Pakistan, on
account of its financial difficulties, cannot host the illegal refugees and may even use force to expel
them," he added. He said Pakistan had been hosting Afghan refugees during the years of Soviet
occupation but now it believed that they should return to their country. "We are persistent on our
position of closing the border and ask the UN and relief agencies to shift the Afghan refugees
camps inside Afghanistan,"he added. He said, "From our point of view, those among the refugees
who lack essential food and need assistance are real refugees but there are others who come to
Pakistan just to seek jobs."
About the problems of refugees, he said many refugees were facing problems due to lack of
facilities at the camps inside Pakistan. But he did not endorse the recent press reports that many
of the refugees, particularly children, had died in their camps due to cold and lack of food and
medicines. Pakistan recently closed its border for fresh Afghan refugees after the UN reported that
150,000 more refugees have crossed over to the country during the past five months. Over
500,000 Afghans have been rendered displaced due to continuing fighting and drought in
Afghanistan. The UNHCR has asked Pakistan to open its borders for these refugees as they are
confronted with bitter conditions in their country. It has also demanded of the govt of
NWFP to allocate a new site for setting up more camps for these people, but the latter rejected the
demand saying the newcomers were not real refugees.
Afghan refugees have started enterting Pakistan through unmanned passes along the Pakistan-
Afghan border abutting on Bajur & Mohmand Agencies, Peshawar Bureau adds. Though the
local police had arrested 10 Afghan refugees within two days and sent them back home to
discourage new comers, but this proved a fruitless effort. Five of them were arrested on a ring-
road on Monday and the rest were picked up at a bus stand in Bhana Mari. All of them had no
valid documents. Two weeks ago, police had arrested 240 refugees and handed them over to
Taliban officials at Torkham. Police have also starting a drive in the city to arrest those refugees
who have entered Pakistan illegally, and send them back home . Though the Torkham border is
completely sealed, hundreds of fresh refugees are trying to enter Pakistan. Those who had tried to
trickle into Pakistan through the southwest mountainous border on Sunday had been pushed back
by the militia, policing the area. The Taliban officials present there termed it an "unpleasant
gesture" by Pakistan, sources told Dawn.
A Pakistan official at the border, however, told Dawn by telephone that it was a routine matter for
the Afghans. "They come, stay at the border and then go back. They know that now it is difficult for
them to cross the border," he added. The sources said that refugees were seen crossing the
border during night via Nawan Pass in Mohmand Agency. This area was close to Dir district, he
said and added that they travelled through the nearby Kunar province and waited till evening, to
enter tribal area.
Afghanistan a) The situation in north-eastern Afghanistan has reached a crisis level, as there is very little food
available in the local markets. The price of wheat in the Badakhshan regional capital of Faizabad has reached an
all-time high and few people can afford it. Given the normal consumption patterns in the city and the current stock
of cereals, the projection is that supplies will not last long. Unless the city imports a significant amount of cereals in
the coming two to three weeks, a complete cereal shortage will occur and the situation will deteriorate further. The
majority of the rural population has already been forced to eat alternative foods, which are not normally a part of
their diet. b) In addition to other activities in the country, WFP is launching 3 FFW projects in Faizabad
under which 1,000 of the most vulnerable persons will each receive a monthly family ration of 75 kg of wheat for
performed work. A total of about 550 tons of wheat will be distributed during the next 2 months. The communities in
the area will additionally benefit from repair work on water canals, roads and sanitation facilities. c) Seminars and celebrations were held on 8 March, the International Women's Day, in
collaboration with various UN agencies and NGOs working in the country. Some 500 female participants from
Herat, 400 from Kandahar, 250 from Faizabad, and 400 from Jalalabad were expected to participate. A
varied range of activities was planned for the occasion, including an exhibition of items produced exclusively by
women working in internationally supported projects and discussions among participating women on the role of
mothers and women in society. In addition, 5 free loaves of bread per family will be given in Kabul to all female
bakery beneficiaries (an estimated 56,700 families). In Mazar-e-Sharif, 1,000 IDP families will receive food rations,
as well as 400 women in Jalalabad.
Tajikistan a) WFP has received confirmation for a new pledge of 2,400 tons of wheat flour. Still, only 33,645
tons (26% of the total requirement), has been made available since November. b) In Kurgan Tyube, WFP is observing a deteriorating food security situation, with people affected
by drought becoming increasingly desperate after selling their last household assets. In Khatlon province, WFP
have frequently come across agitated hungry people demanding food. An abnormally large number of institutions,
such as orphanages, schools, and even local govt depts, have been approaching WFP for food aid.
Circumstances are likely to get worse before the next harvest in July. c) Recently, WFP monitored 11 land-lease projects in Kurgan Tyube. WFP interviewed 79 female
heads of households and found the living conditions of all beneficiaries very difficult. Most of the families had no
livestock and for 99 percent of the beneficiaries interviewed, the only source of sustenance at this critical pre-
harvest period was WFP's food assistance.
d) WFP is currently distributing food to 22,142 people in Kabodian and 3,499 people in Dangara,
also in Khatlon. The International Federation for the Red Cross (IFRC) and CARE, two implementing partners of
WFP, continue to distribute food to the drought-affected in Regions of Republican Sub-ordination and Sughd
province, respectively. Mission East, another WFP partner, and IFRC have been preparing distribution of WFP's
food in the Kulyab zone, covering some 35,000 vulnerable people. WFP is monitoring the implementation.
Afghan smugglers find profit on the front lines
10.19.01 Paul Watson LATimes
NAWABHAD, Afghanistan To find the profit in war, follow the smugglers and watch the men moving
refugees and goods across the treacherous front line north of the capital, Kabul, make a killing. Abdul Wakil packed
25 people into his battered Japanese pickup and sneaked them past Taliban lines in the dead of night to reach the
relative safety of opposition-controlled territory Thursday afternoon. He didn't take the risk of getting shot or locked
up in a Taliban jail out of the goodness of his heart. Wakil charged 10 adults $25 apiece, all the money that most
had left, to smuggle them out. He let the children ride for free.
The midnight run along a well-established smuggling route on winding mountain tracks cost Wakil nothing more
than a tank of diesel and some extra wear on already bald tires. The $250 he pocketed was almost straight profit,
nearly a third of the estimated yearly per capita income, for less than 2 days' work. Farooq Rashid, 30, was
crammed into the bed of Wakil's pickup truck with his 2-year-old daughter, Lina, and his father, Abdul, a man of 70
with a long white beard and tired eyes. The family patriarch has little left to live for now. He sold the family's house
in Kabul to pay Wakil, so they will have nowhere to return when, or if, Afghanistan's agony of war ever ends.
"Everyone is leaving Kabul because of the American bombing," Rashid said as he squeezed into a truck so
overloaded that even the tail was down and loaded with people and sacks of flour.
Aman Hulla, who escaped across the front line riding atop a stack of cartons about 6ft high in the bed of the
pickup, teetering precariously the whole time, said he fled because looters have been on the rampage in Kabul
since at least Monday, and food stocks are running out. Hulla, 65, pulled a folded piece of stale flat bread from his
dusty jacket pocket and said it was all he and 2 companions had survived on for the past 3 days. Most of his
relatives left Kabul before him, Hulla said, and the others will follow just as soon as they can scrape up enough
money. "Just the poor are left in Kabul now," he said. "They are like people who are already dead. They don't know
why the airplanes are bombing everywhere, and there is nothing for them to eat. "They are going to sell their
houses and shops, their clothes, anything else that they can to earn the money to get out."
At the wheel of his rattling pickup, Wakil offered no apologies for taking desperate people's money. He was in a
hurry, he said, to move on and unload his cargo, and make a quick turnaround back across the front line. The
United Nations has accused Taliban soldiers of demanding money from people fleeing Kabul. But the refugees
interviewed after crossing the front line Thursday, most of whom belonged to the ethnic Tajik minority, said they
didn't pay anything to the Taliban to escape. They had to meet Wakil's price, the refugees said, because smugglers
have the only vehicles heading into territory controlled by the opposition Northern Alliance, which is dominated by
ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks and other Afghan minorities. After more than two decades of war, Afghanistan's economy is
in such a mess that smuggling is not only one of the few ways left to make a decent living, it is the very foundation
of trade & commerce.
Last year, when all but 5% of Afghanistan was under Taliban control, and TV, video players and cassettes were
banned by the extremist Islamic regime as the organs of infidels, the country imported an unusually large amount
of
home entertainment equipment. A joint UN Development Pgm & World Bank study found that Afghanistan
imported about $1.2 billion in foreign luxury goods last year, incl clothes, electronics and ladies' cosmetics, which is
odd considering that the Taliban forces all women to drape themselves from head to foot in burkas. An est. $942
million of the imports were quickly shipped back out of the country, according to the study published in June. Most
made a full circle into neighboring Pakistan, where they ended up on the black market, duty free.
North of Kabul, the bazaars in areas controlled by the Northern Alliance are stocked full of contraband goods
brought in under the noses of their Taliban enemies and trucked across the front line. There are luxury items such
as Imperial Leather soap, Head & Shoulders dandruff shampoo and Chinese-made Horsehead Brand toilet paper
alongside necessities such as imported sweaters, shoes and Chinese-made underwear. The goods come strapped
to the backs of horses and donkeys, or piled high from the beds of pickup trucks that rock from side to side as they
creep over deep ruts in the road that cuts through the wild frontier, about 20 miles north of Kabul.
Mohammad Zilgai, who's been a smuggler since he was 16, crossed the front line Thursday with a pickup full of
about 375 lbs of goods he bought in the bazaars of Kabul, incl cases of Pepsi and cartons of sandals &
socks. It was a treasure that Zilgai, now 18, risked his life to deliver to shop owners in Northern Alliance bazaars,
for a profit of no more than $25, the fare he could charge for a single Kabul refugee. 3 months ago, the Taliban
caught Zilgai and threw him in a prison cell, where he slept on the bare floor with about 25 other men, he said.
"They fed us each a piece of bread three times a day, with water," Zilgai said. "They beat us with a stick this big,"
he added, pressing his thumbs and fingers together to form a circle as large as a small tree trunk. That wasn't the
worst of it: The Taliban also confiscated his cargo, which set him back about $625 and will take him weeks to make
up. Zilgai's Taliban jailers released him after a week and issued a stern warning: "They told me, 'Don't come this
way again, or we will kill you,' " he said.
He ignored the Taliban and listened to his buyers instead. "If smugglers didn't bring these things in, the shops
would have nothing to sell," Zilgai said. "From 70 to 80% of the goods here come from Kabul." Although every
other truck that came north from Kabul on Thursday had at least a few refugees on board, Zilgai insisted the 8 men
& boys sitting on his stacks of boxes were part of his team and relatives, not paying passengers. One of them,
an elderly man, was carefully holding two small fluorescent-light tubes wrapped in the cardboard of a chewing gum
carton, trying to make sure the glass didn't shatter along the bumpy road. Zilgai fled Kabul himself four years ago,
less than a year after the Taliban seized the capital, and he would never charge anyone trying to get out now, he
claimed. But Zilgai said he wasn't trying to make himself out to be any better than anybody else. "Anyone who
can get food for his family now, he's a hero," he said.
$4.3m more likely for UNHCR & Afghan refugees
1.24.01 Intikhab Amir DAWN
PESHAWAR The UNHCR expects to get US$4.3 million additional funds to carry out its
humanitarian assistance programme for some 80,000 new Afghan refugees entered Pakistan since September
last. "The UNHCR has requested for $4.3 million additional funds to extend assistance to the new entrants," Ms
Montserrat Feixas Vihe, the assistant representative (programme), UNHCR, said while replying to a question by
Dawn at a Press conference here on Wednesday. The additional funds, for which donor agencies and some
countries have made pledges during recent negotiations, would be over and above the funds being extended to
carry out UNHCR's normal programme for the 1.2 million Afghan refugees registered with it in Pakistan,
said the Islamabad-based official. Earlier, UNHCR spokesman Yousuf Hassan replied in the negative when asked
whether the funding for the UNHCR's assistance programme for Afghan refugees (in Pakistan) was enough or
not.
"At present there is no new funding for the new entrants. It [funding] is for normal programme to assist 1.2 million
refugee," said Mr Hassan, adding that negotiations were already under progress and "we hope to get additional
funds in future, details of which will be available once it is finalized". However, he said, the assistance being given
to the new refugees had not affected the normal programme after European Union and some donor agencies
enhanced their contributions. He said some 80,000 Afghans had entered Pakistan due to war and drought in their
country. Besides, some 40,000 new refugees had crossed over to Pakistan and were now living with their
relatives in the urban centres of the country, the spokesman said. He said the UNHCR had anticipated a large
scale displacement of Afghans fleeing to the neighboring countries because of an unending drought and intense
war in northern Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the UNHCR and the Commission for Afghan refugees, on Wednesday, jointly started counting of the
number of Afghan refugees living in the Jallozai makeshift camp. "The final figures of the number of Afghan
refugees would be available by Thursday as some 50,000 people had been counted till Wednesday," said the
spokesman. Similarly, an exercize to verify the number of new entrants had also been carried out to know as to
how many new refugees had taken shelter there, he said. The verification exercize was necessary to move the new
entrants to other places for which, according to the spokesman, negotiations with the Pakistani officials, were under
way. Negotiations were also continuing with the Afghan refugees commission for some new sites to settle the new
entrants, said the UNHCR official. Some 10,000 displaced Afghan families [or 50,000 refugees] recently entered
Pakistan, had been settled to new Shamshatu refugees camp, some 26 kilometres from Peshawar. Some 2,000
more families (10,000 refugees) would be shifted to the new camp from the Jallozai makeshift camp in the near
future. He claimed that situation at the Shamshatu refugees camp was stable and it was getting better with every
passing day as the water, health, education and sanitation facilities had been improved.
UN repatriation program of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees has ground to a halt because of violence on
Afghanistan's borders with Iran and Pakistan. UN spokesman Yusuf Hassan said the violence was holding up
about 40,000 refugees, with protests by poppy farmers and against electricity cuts on the eastern border
with Pakistan, to factional fighting on the western border with Iran. Under the repatriation agreement for Afghan
refugees in Iran signed last week by Iran, Afghan Govt and UN's High Commission for Refugees, return is
voluntary and pgm aims at helping 400,000 people to go back to their homes in the first year.
A similar programme launched in Pakistan just over a month ago has been successful in attracting refugees
wanting to return home, but UN refugee officials caution that conditions in Iran are very different.
Mr Hassan said about 700 vehicles & 14,000 refugees were caught on the road between the Pakistan border
post of Torkham near the Khyber Pass and the eastern Afghanistan city of Jalalabad by farmers blocking the road
in violent protests. The demonstrators, who were throwing stones at cars, were protesting against govt plans to
stop them growing opium poppies. Mr Hassan said another 20,000 to 25,000 refugees were stranded on the
Pakistan side of the border by protesters blocking roads in tribal areas to which electricity had been cut off for non-
payment of bills.
On the Iran border, only 70 people had turned up at Milak-Zaranj, one of the two main border crossings, because of
factional fighting, the UN said. But a convoy of 146 Afghans crossed the border at Islam Qala, the other border
crossing west of Herat in western Afghanistan, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said.
In Pakistan, many refugees live in squalid camps, but very few of the estimated 1.5 million Afghans currently
believed to be living in Iran are in camps. Most are scattered around towns & cities all over the country, with
the biggest community in the capital Tehran, and many having lived in the country for more than 20 years. Those
who arrived most recently and those with little stake in Iran itself will be the first to think of going back, says BBC
Tehran correspondent Jim Muir.
Pakistan a) As of 29 January, the Govt of Pakistan halted the verification of approximately 70,000
Afghans at the Jalozai transit centre. The condition of these people continues to give rise to concern. b) The UN Secretary-General is expected to visit the Shamshatoo camp & Jalozai transit centre on
March 12.
Some 40,000 have already spontaneously crossed the border since February, although some of that movement
may have been seasonal labour migration or people simply checking on the situation inside Afghanistan. But some
Afghans in Iran have voiced concerns about security conditions in their own country, and will want to wait and see
before committing themselves to return, our correspondent says.
Afghans flee, but find no safety Winter is killing kids in southern refugee camps
12.14.02 Ricken Patel APM
Ganj refugee camp, Afghanistan He fled northern Afghanistan, hoping to find safety from ethnic
persecution and fighting among rival warlords. But in a frigid refugee camp in the south, Hasti Khan found a
different sort of danger. His infant son died last week, apparently from exposure to the cold in the Ganj refugee
camp near the southern town of Kandahar. His remaining child, a 2-year-old daughter, shivers with cold and lies
limp in his arms. He worries she may die soon.
"It was God's will to take him from me," Khan says of his son. Khan's son was one of 5 children who have died over
the last 2 weeks in Ganj, a camp with about 2,000 people. 6 children reportedly have died at another camp in
southern Afghanistan, near Spin Buldak.
As winter sets in, temperatures at night have fallen to well below freezing, threatening residents who live in
patched-together tents with few blankets. Khan blames the cold for the deaths of the children, who are buried in
shallow, rocky graves on a hill overlooking the camp. His is a common tale among the Ganj refugees, who fled
northern and western Afghanistan to escape persecution by forces loyal to Abdul Rashid Dostum and Herat
governor Ismail Khan. The two are fighting warlord Atta Mohammed for control of the north.
The battle has ethnic roots: Dostum is Uzbek, Atta Mohammed is a member of the Tajik group. Their victims
include Pashtuns like Hasti Khan, who is no relation to Ismail Khan, an ethnic Tajik and provincial governor of
Herat. Ismail Khan has been accused by Human Rights Watch and others of torture and other crimes against
ethnic Pashtuns in his territory.
Such reports of abuses have been widespread since the Taliban, who were mostly Pashtuns, were forced from
power by a U.S.-led force last year. The Taliban, in their time, also were accused of atrocities against ethnic
minorities.
Hasti Khan says he was arrested 10 weeks ago by one of Dostum's commanders and imprisoned in a metal
shipping container, accused of having links to the Taliban. Khan says Dostum's men took all his animals &
possessions and beat him, holding him until his family paid a ransom for his release. He then decided to come
south, traveling with his wife & 2 infant children through mountainous terrain, sometimes on foot.
Nearly everyone in Ganj has a similar story. One man says his 18-year-old son was accused of being a Taliban
sympathizer and beaten to death with cables & rifle butts in the middle of a refugee camp outside Herat. Herat
farmer Ahmad says he was arrested by Ismail Khan's men and imprisoned in a container for 12 days until his family
could buy his freedom. He says his fellow prisoners were beaten every night with cables. 3 of them died.
Still, Pashtuns in the Ganj camp say they are not bitter at their Tajik & Uzbek countrymen, only at the
warlords. "The Tajiks & Uzbeks are our brothers," said Haji Torjan, a former truck driver who had been
imprisoned in the north before arriving at the camp. "It is only the people who did these things to us that are our
enemies, the warlords."
The refugees at Ganj and two other camps outside Kandahar say no U.N. agency or aid organization has come to
deliver food or shelter assistance in the three months they have been here. UN says its policy focuses on helping
refugees forced out of their country, not "internally displaced people" forced from one province to another by
domestic conflicts.
Kabul Taj Mohammed picked up a gun when he was 18 and fought the Soviets, and then the
Taliban, in the Panjshir Valley, the heart of the Afghan resistance against occupiers. After 2 decades of serving his homeland, the longtime commander is among 100,000 fighters who have been told to hand over their weapons and return to civilian life, as part of a $370-million UN plan to disarm Afghanistan. But the plan, the Disarmament,
Demobilization and Reintegration program, which began last fall, has been floundering.
Afghanistan's top warlords have been reluctant to cooperate, and the mujahedin fighters have felt betrayed,
jeopardizing the chances of bringing security to the nation before a general election planned for Sept. 2004. "It's a
big failure," said Kabul think tank Afghanistan Research & Evaluation Unit head Andrew Wilder. "We have no
hope of rebuilding Afghanistan when the rule of gun is outside Kabul."
Referring to the U.S. led war that toppled the Taliban regime, Wilder said: "In the first 6 months after November
2001, the warlords wouldn't have thumbed their noses. But now they know U.S. has problems in Iraq and feel they
don't have to listen." By this month, about 40,000 men loyal to rival militias were to have been disarmed, with the
rest turning in their guns over the next 3 years.
Unusual concessions have been offered, incl one by the Japanese Embassy, biggest funder of the program, to
send military units overseas for business training. Originally, soldiers were to hand over a functioning weapon,
usually a Kalashnikov, in exchange for $200 and a bag of food. Money & food were meant to tide them over
while they looked for work, such as ditch-digging or demining, or were taught skills such as farming or
shopkeeping.
So far, only about 6,000 have responded. The most powerful warlords in the country, such as Abdul Rashid
Dostum, Atta Mohammed and Ismail Khan, have been reluctant to surrender their weapons and their men because
they would lose power. The disarmament program calls for the United Nations to verify lists of soldiers provided by
regional commanders.
The program has been a case of trying to implement a 21st century idea within a feudal society. Commanders in
towns & villages in Afghanistan provide weapons, food and wives to residents in exchange for allegiance,
much the way society operated in medieval Europe. Program aim has been to free soldiers from their dependency
on local commanders in particular, and military life in general, thus breaking the power the warlords have on
communities.
Hundreds of fighters complained to UN that the commanders would release them from service but would take their
$200. The world body recently discontinued the payments. "The U.N. panicked, then canceled the $200 clause,"
said Disarmament & Reintegration Commission advisor Noel Cossins, funded by the U.N. to handle the
reintegration of fighters into civilian life. "Now the big commanders are saying, 'See? You can't trust the U.N.' "
The other problem, Cossins said, was that U.S. was unwilling to take on the warlords. U.S. officials "are
obsessed with the fight against Al Qaeda & the Taliban and are prepared to use any resource to that end,"
Cossins said. "The people who are being called warlords are the ones armed by the Americans to take on the
Taliban," he said. "We are getting rid of a bunch of military people who are ill-disciplined and replacing them with
another."
It has also been hard to find jobs for soldiers who, for the most part, are illiterate, have little experience other than
fighting and yet are seen as too undisciplined to serve in the new Afghan national army. About 200 soldiers loyal to
Taj Mohammed have been disarmed, and he has surrendered about 50 heavy weapons. But he has been reluctant
to hand over any more lists of fighters because there has been no clear sense of what they would do in civilian life.
"The mujahedin who were disarmed last year have not been given professions," he said. "They have been walking
around without anything to do. When my soldiers leave, there should be the possibility of jobs in the private sector,
or the Afghan police or army. They haven't offered us an alternative."
In some cases, warlords & their fighters have been responsible for the increase in crime in cities. Illegal
drugs account for nearly half the nation's gross domestic product, and poppy crops are expected to reach
record levels this year.
U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan Jean Arnault said recently that the militias that were to be disbanded had not
been helping to protect the country. That job has been performed by intl peacekeepers and the Afghan national
army. The militias have been involved "neither in combating terrorism nor in fighting organized crime or drug
trafficking," Arnault said. "Quite the contrary, many of them have been, in the past 2 years, involved in factional
fighting, which is a continuing cause of instability and of suffering for the communities affected by it."
In Kabul, where about 6,500 foreign soldiers under the command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization patrol
the streets day & night, many residents fear that the city will fall under the control of rogue commanders.
Warlords virtually destroyed Kabul in the 1990s as they tried to control the capital. "If NATO left tomorrow, the city
would collapse into civil war within 24 hours. People are afraid of the commanders," said political activist Weed,
who campaigns for women's rights and preferred to be identified only by her first name.
Parents in Kabul are afraid to send their children to school because child-trafficking is increasing. In the
last 5 months of 2003, the U.N. Human Rights Commission received 300 complaints of kidnapping. One Kabul
resident, whose 2 cousins, girls ages 4 and 8, were kidnapped in May as they walked to school with their mother,
said a warlord living north of the capital had demanded $10,000 for their release. "The police are too scared
because the commander is too powerful," said the resident, who requested anonymity. "How many people in this
country have that kind of money?"
Warlord Taj Mohammed said that he supported the disarmament project but that the uncertainty of Afghanistan's
future gave him pause. "If mujahedin [are] disarmed in the south and Taliban came again, who will be there to
stand against them?" he asked. "Who can say U.S. will stay for a long time? Tomorrow they can say that
Afghanistan is a free country and leave. Present govt in Afghanistan is a result of the hard work of mujahedin in the
last 24 years," he said. "They are here because of our hard work. God forbid if this country goes toward instability,
because it would fall to the mujahedin to save it again."
Gainspotting Global Eye column
11.30.01 Chris Floyd Moscow Times
… Earlier this year, U.S. administration bribed the Taliban to stop growing opium, most effective per UN which
found Afghan opium production dropped from 3,300 tons annually to less than 200. But the Northern Alliance
engineered a threefold rise in opium output in its territory this year. Now bountiful southern fields … can plant
wheat at $20 per hectare, or plant opium at $8,000. Poppy replanting has already begun. …
Afghan farmers resume planting poppies for heroin Poppy ban enforcement with Taliban
11.24.01 AP
Sorkhud, Afghanistan Gul Haidar smiled as he sifted some seeds through his fingers, happy he
had planted the one crop that should ensure his family's welfare next year, opium poppies. In pencil-thin, spiraling
furrows dug with a homemade plow pulled by oxen, Haidar has sown the tiny, pale specks that will yield flowers in
4 months.
When the petals fall, buyers will come for the seed pods & its opium resin. The Pashto-speaking
farmer expects to triple what he had made from the winter wheat he had planted the last 3 seasons. With the
Taliban no longer around to enforce a 3 year ban on poppy-growing, hundreds of farmers near the eastern city of
Jalalabad, appetite for profit sharpened by years of drought & hardship, have resumed planting what they call "narcotic."
"We don't have much water, so with narcotic we make more money to offset the problem of the drought," Haidar said. "If you water twice a year, narcotic will do very well, but with wheat, you have to water 9 times."
Seeds hidden no more
Miles of flat fields surround Jalalabad, with barren desert mountains visible in the distance. Hundreds of miles of
irrigation canals funnel runoff from mountain springs & creeks onto the fields, but after 3 years without rain,
water is precious. 75-year-old Haidar lives in a mud house and rented his 750 acres from a wealthy Afghan for the
past half-century. Before Taliban ban, he grew poppies almost exclusively. During the past 3 years, he switched to
wheat rather than risk imprisonment. But Haidar had stashed a bag of poppy seeds and brought them out when the
Taliban fled Jalalabad this month, in time for planting season. Now he has sown 250 acres of poppies, which he
said will yield 650 pounds of opium. "It will be just enough to live," Haidar said. "I have a family of 10, so I work just
to live, eat and for clothes." Afghanistan was once the world's largest opium producer, enough to supply 75% of
the world's heroin, per UN Drug Control Pgm. Farmers produced 3,611 tons from the 1999 planting. After Taliban
crackdown, the crop in 2000 dropped to 204 tons, the agency said in July. Most of the opium is exported and is
rarely used locally.
Sent to Pakistan
42-year-old farmer Mujahed who uses only one name said buyers give him an advance so that he can buy fertilizer
and survive until the crop comes in. They return during the annual harvest to buy his seed pods and take the opium
to Pakistan, where, he says, "they make the stuff that is very bad. But we don't know about the advantages or
disadvantages for other people," Mujahed said. "I don't know what they do with it. … For me, there are a lot
of advantages over wheat." The U.N. drug pgm spent years working with the Taliban & aid agencies to
discourage poppy growing & encourage wheat production. But farmers outside Jalalabad said they never saw
any of the aid money that was funneled through the Taliban. "The Westerners, when they want to help us, they
should put the aid in our hands, not give it to the leaders," Mujahed said, adding that he would stop growing
poppies if given an alternative. But 65-year-old white bearded farmer Kasim was less sympathetic. "Our life is really very difficult, because we can't grow wheat and still survive," he said. "We need to grow narcotic, even if it is not fair to the rest of the world".
Fears Afghan farmers can't end opium cash crop
4.1.02 Tim Golden NY Times
American officials have quietly abandoned hope to reduce Afghanistan's opium production substantially this year
and are now bracing for a harvest large enough to inundate the world's heroin & opium markets with cheap
drugs. While American & European officials have debated such measures as paying Afghan opium farmers to plow under their fields, they have concluded that continuing lawlessness & political instability will make
eradication all but impossible. Instead, U.S. officials will pursue a less ambitious strategy: They have begun trying
to persuade Afghan leaders to carry out a modest destruction program as opium poppies are harvested over the
next 2 months, if only to show they were serious last January in declaring a ban on production. Americans will also encourage destruction of opium-processing laboratories and a crackdown on brokers, while providing funds to strengthen anti-sumggling activities by neighboring countries. The campaign is being strongly backed and even to some extent led by Britain, which traces nearly all heroin on its streets to Afghanistan.
Continuing upheaval in & around Afghanistan will limit the effectiveness of those strategies, American &
British officials admit, making it likely that Afghanistan will produce enough opium to dominate the world supply
again. "The fact is, there are no institutions in large parts of the country," the Bush administration's drug policy dir.
John P. Walters said in an interview. "What we can do will be extremely limited." Until Taliban leaders banned
opium in their last year in power, Afghanistan produced as much as three-fourths of the world's supply, and taxes
on the drug trade were an important source of revenue for the Taliban.
Now, profits that flowed to the Taliban's allies are expected to enrich tribal leaders whose support is vital to the
American-backed govt. So long as drug trade flourishes, law-enforcement officials said, it will fuel political rivalries, foster corruption and undermine the authority of central govt.
Because opium farming remains one of few viable economic activities, officials added, any intense eradication
effort could imperil the stability of govt thus hamper the military campaign against the Taliban & Al Qaeda.
"The fight against terrorism takes priority," one British law enforcement official said. "The fight against narcotics comes in second." The challenge that American & European officials face is compounded by the surprising success the Taliban achieved in banning poppy cultivation 2 years ago. That prohibition, which came after several years in which the Taliban quietly encouraged poppy farming, cut opium output from an est. 4,042 tons in 2000, about 71% of world's supply, to just 82 tons last year, according to CIA. What little opium
Afghanistan produced in 2001 came almost entirely from the 10% of its territory then controlled by the Northern Alliance, backbone of the new govt.
Decline left many small landowners & sharecroppers deep in debt. In the absence of a credit system, larger
landholders customarily loan smaller farmers & laborers food, cooking oil or money for the winter, to be paid
back after the harvest of opium gum. The landholders also offer fertilizer & seed in return for a portion of the
crop. Diplomats & relief officials say a considerable number of refugees fleeing into Pakistan were opium
farmers who could not pay their debts. But as soon as the Taliban's military resistance began to crumble last fall,
many other farmers rushed to plant opium again. On Jan. 17, with strong encouragement from U.S. and U.N.,
Afghan Interim Administration chair Hamid Karzai announced new ban on opium cultivation. His prohibition went
beyond the Taliban's decree, to include processing & trafficking, which the Taliban had tolerated and, to some extent, profited from.
While foreign officials applauded Mr. Karzai's ban, it was issued only after the poppies had been planted and
without any viable means of implementation. "Chairman Karzai can put out a decree not to grow poppy, but it takes a law-enforcement component to enforce that decree," DEA administrator Asa Hutchinson told Congress.
Now, even though the opium was planted relatively late in the season and the fields will be affected by a continuing drought, drug-control officials say the conditions are good enough to produce a bumper crop. "We had a brief opportunity to significantly impact their potential to produce opium," one senior American official involved in the effort said. "We have lost that opportunity. What is going to occur is that this crop is going to get out of the ground."
In a Feb. preliminary survey, U.N. Intl Drug Control Program estimated Afghanistan's poppy fields could reach
between 111,000 acres & 161,000 acres, an area about the size of that cultivated in the mid-1990's but much less than its peak of 224,918 acres, which was planted in the fall of 1999 and harvested the next year.
While it will be impossible to determine the size of the crop until the poppies bloom and are harvested over the next 2 months, some U.S. estimates are of a crop even larger than that projected by the U.N.
"What is scary about this is that it really could give them enough opium to stockpile for two or more years," the
senior American official said.
Afghanistan's record harvest in 2000 was so large that opium dealers & traffickers were able to set aside huge amounts of the drug, keeping heroin prices remarkably stable in countries like Britain & Germany even when world supply plummeted the next year because of Afghans' ban. Even now, U.N. officials say, those stockpiles hold enough opium to supply customers in Europe, Central Asia and other countries of the former Soviet Union for perhaps another year.
Initially, U.S. & European officials considered trying to buy this year's harvest then destroying it. That proposal was quickly abandoned, however, after objections from Germany, Italy and Scandinavian countries that it would only encourage the farmers to plant poppies again next year. Second proposal was to pay opium farmers to plow under their fields.
While that strategy has also drawn objections from some European countries, American officials said they would readily try it if they could find people who could move safely around the countryside, make deals with opium farmers and then assure that pledges to eradicate are fulfilled. The possibilities included using relief workers to negotiate with the farmers and American soldiers to provide security, but officials said those ideas had
been rejected.
Germany has taken responsibility for helping to train & equip new Afghan police force, but officials expect that will take 5 years or more before such a force can operate effectively across the country. A drug-enforcement unit in the Afghan Interior Ministry could be up and running much sooner, officials said, but not soon enough to act against this year's harvest.
In the meantime, American & esp. British officials are pushing govt to negotiate some modest eradication plans with Pashtun tribal leaders & other local authorities in the important growing areas. 2 officials said intelligence officers from both countries would support those efforts with cash & other incentives[ i.e. weapons]
for local leaders who could persuade farmers to plow under their opium fields. Ultimately, their success will depend on Afghan govt already struggling to win loyalties of tribal leaders before the loya jirga, or national congress, convenes in June to choose a new govt.
"Do they have the control to do this?" asked Mercy Corps pgm dir. Alex L. Jones in Afghanistan, private relief group that worked there for years, in phone interview from Kandahar. "They depend on the various commanders, and the commanders depend on poppy growing , whether because they get revenue from it directly or because they need the good will of the people who grow it."
Foreign relief workers & development experts are already focused on the enormous task of establishing
sustainable alternatives for poppy farmers before the next planting season begins in Oct. Such efforts, which must fit into wider plans to revitalize the agricultural base, will require everything from seeds for fruit, cumin and other high-value crops to credit systems and new irrigation works & roads. U.N. region control program head Bernard Frahi said in phone interview from Pakistan, "Things need to be done very, very soon in order for farmers not to plan opium next year."
Business as usual for the traffickers?
11.23.01 Andrew North BBC
Before the war in Afghanistan, the Taleban imposed a ban on poppy cultivation, which led to a dramatic fall in
production. But there are alarming signs that the drug barons are already exploiting the fighting and political
uncertainty to revive the trade. 2 decades of war have devastated the Afghan economy, but the drugs trade has
thrived amidst the chaos. For the past few years, the country's poppy fields have produced 70-80% of the
world's (and virtually all of Europe's) supply of opium.
Winning the battle
Nowhere is the impact on Afghanistan's illegal drugs trade more obvious than on the border with Iran, where
thousands of troops have been doing battle with traffickers for almost 20 years. In the past year or so, Iran has
begun to win this battle, with a marked decline in drug flows, and Iranian officials say this has continued since the
start of US military action, However, that is where the good news ends, because Afghanistan's drug traffickers have not given up, Antonella Delledda, head of UN drug control operations for Central Asia, says they stockpiled their supplies and moved north to the more lightly-policed Tajikistan border.
Heroin labs
Growing prevalence of heroin, processed inside Afghanistan … In the past, this most lucrative stage in the
drugs trade was generally carried out outside the country. But many of the new heroin labs are in areas long
controlled by … the Northern Alliance. Poppy cultivation has increased fourfold in Alliance territory in the past year. Alliance's Vienna representative Farid Amin claims they fully intend to continue the fight against the drugs trade, although he thinks it is too early and the situation too uncertain to be discussing the issue at present. … Northern Alliance has neither the power nor the will to clamp down on the illegal drugs trade, not least because some of the faction leaders within it are believed to have links to the drug barons.
Ironically, it was the Taleban leader Mullah Omar, who was seen to be taking the drugs issue more seriously. Just before the September 11th attacks, he made his ban on poppy cultivation permanent. Hamid Ghodse, president of the UN's intl narcotics control board, revealed that only days before the 9.11.01 attacks, he secretly visited Kabul to press the Taleban to do more to crack down on the drug bosses. Now, he says, the international community has a real chance of putting an end to the country's illegal drugs trade once and for all. The window of opportunity will not last; in less than 3 months time, the spring planting season begins and farmers will be deciding whether to plant a new crop of opium poppies.
Bush's Faustian deal with the Taliban
5.22.01 Robt Scheer L.A. Times
… ally in the drug war, the only intl cause this nation still takes seriously. … recent $43 million gift to
Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, … announced last Thu. by Sec.State Powell, in addition to other recent aid,
makes the U.S. the main sponsor of the Taliban and rewards that "rogue regime" for declaring that opium growing is against the will of God. So, too, by the Taliban's estimation, are most human activities, but it's the ban on drugs that catches this administration's attention. … Osama bin Laden still operates the leading anti-American terror operation from his Afghanistan base, from which launched 2 1998 attacks on American embassies in Africa.
… UN, at U.S. insistence, imposes sanctions on Afghanistan because the Kabul govt will not turn over Bin
Laden. War on drugs … trumps all other concerns. … At no point in modern history have women & girls been more systematically abused than in Afghanistan where madness masquerading as Islam … obliterates their fundamental human rights. Women may not appear in public without being covered from head to toe with the oppressive shroud called the burkha , and they may not leave the house without being accompanied by a male family member. They've not been permitted to attend school or be treated by male doctors, yet women have been banned from practicing medicine or any profession for that matter. Males … accept laws of an extreme religious theocracy that prescribes strict rules governing all behavior,
from a ban on shaving to what crops may be grown. … Taliban fanatics, economically & diplomatically
isolated, are at the breaking point; in return for Bush admin cash, they reverse themselves on opium growing. That a totalitarian country can effectively crack down on its farmers is not surprising. … State Dept Asian anti-drug pgm dir. Jas. P. Callahan, after a visit with the Taliban, describes Taliban's special methods in language of representative democracy: "The Taliban used a system of consensus-building," Callahan said , adding Taliban
justified drugs ban "in very religious terms." Callahan also reported those who didn't obey the theocratic edict would be sent to prison.
Those who break minor rules are simply beaten on the spot by religious police & others are stoned to death.
It's understandable the govt's "religious" argument might be compelling. As Callahan concedes, most farmers who grew poppies will now confront starvation because Afghan economy ruined by religious extremism … DEA Steven Casteel admitted, "The bad side of the ban is that it's bringing their country, or certain regions of their
country, to economic ruin." Nor did he hold out much hope for Afghan farmers growing other crops such as wheat, which require a vast infrastructure to supply water & fertilizer that no longer exists in that devastated country. … signing up dictators in the war on drugs demonstrates futile foreign policy built on a domestic obsession. [$$ given through UN pgm]
Afghanistan opium cultivation skyrockets
9.3.06 Matthew Pennington AP
Kabul, Afghanistan Afghanistan's world-leading opium cultivation rose a "staggering" 59% this year, the U.N. anti-drugs chief announced Saturday in urging the govt to crack down on big traffickers and remove corrupt officials and police.
The record crop yielded 6,100 tons of opium, or enough to make 610 tons of heroin, outstripping the demand of world's heroin users by a third, according to U.N. figures. Officials warned that the illicit trade is undermining the Afghan govt, which is under attack by Islamic militants that a U.S.-led offensive helped drive from power in late 2001 for harboring
"The news is very bad. On the opium front today in some of the provinces of Afghanistan, we face a state of emergency," Antonio Maria Costa, chief of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said at a news conference. "In the southern provinces, the situation is out of control."
He talked with reporters after presenting results of the U.N. survey to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who voiced "disappointment" over the figures. "Our efforts to fight narcotics have proved inadequate," Karzai said in a statement.
With the economy struggling, there are not enough jobs and many Afghans say they have to grow opium poppies to feed their families. The trade already accounts for at least 35% of Afghanistan's economy, financing warlords and insurgents.
The top U.S. narcotics official here said the opium trade is a threat to the country's fledgling democracy.
"This country could be taken down by this whole drugs problem," Doug Wankel told reporters. "We have seen what can come from Afghanistan, if you go back to 9/11. Obviously the U.S. does not want to see that again."
The bulk of the opium increase was in lawless Helmand province, where cultivation rose 162% and accounted for 42% of the Afghan crop. The province has been wracked by the surge in attacks by Taliban-led militants that has produced the worst fighting in 5 years.
Opium-growing increased despite the injection of hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to fight the drug over the past 2 years. Costa criticized the international effort and said foreign aid was "plagued by huge overhead costs" in its administration.
Costa said Afghanistan's insecurity is fueling the opium boom, saying he has pleaded with the NATO force that took over military operations in the south a month ago to take a "stronger role" in fighting drugs. NATO says it has no mandate for direct involvement in the anti-drug campaign.
"We need much stronger, forceful measures to improve security or otherwise I'm afraid we are going to face a dramatic situation of failed regions, districts and even perhaps even provinces in the near future," Costa said.
The U.N. report, based on satellite imagery and ground surveys, said the area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached 407,700 acres in 2006, up 59 percent from 257,000 acres in 2005. The previous high was 323,700 acres in 2004.
The estimated yield of 6,100 tons of opium resin, described by Costa as "staggering", is up 49% from 4,100 tons last year, and exceeds the previous high for total global output of 5,764 tons recorded in 1999. Last year, about 450 tons of heroin was consumed worldwide, 90% of it from Afghanistan, according to the U.N.
The report will increase pressure on the beleaguered Afghan president. Karzai has often talked tough on drugs, even declaring a "holy war" against the trade, but he is increasingly criticized for appointing and failing to sack corrupt provincial governors and police.
Costa urged the arrest of "serious drug traffickers" to fill a new high-security wing for narcotics convicts at Kabul's Policharki prison. "It has 100 beds. We want these beds to be taken up in the next few months," he said. At the same news conference, the Afghan counternarcotics minister, Habibullah Qaderi, said the govt had the will to make arrests, but lacked the capacity to gather evidence to prosecute "the big fish."
Yet he maintained that with its newly unveiled national anti-drugs strategy, Afghanistan could "control" drug production within 5 years. Costa was less upbeat. "It's going to take possibly 20 years to get rid of the problem," he said, citing the experience of former opium producers like Thailand, Turkey and Pakistan.
In an indication of the alarming extent of official complicity in the trade, a Western counternarcotics official said about 25,000 to 30,000 acres of govt land in Helmand was used to cultivate opium poppies this year. The official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said police and govt officials are involved in cultivating poppies, providing protection for growers or taking bribes to ensure the crops aren't destroyed.
He said the Taliban, which managed to nearly eradicate Afghanistan's poppy crop in 2001, just before their ouster for giving refuge to Osama bin Laden, now profit from the trade.
In some instances, drug traffickers have provided vehicles and money to the Taliban to carry out terrorist attacks, he said. But added that the ties seem to be local and that there is no evidence of coordination between drug lords and the Taliban leadership.
Vienna, Austria Afghanistan produced dramatically more opium in 2006, increasing its yield by nearly 50 percent from a year earlier and pushing global opium production to a new record high, a U.N. report said Tuesday. The annual report also found that the estimated level of global drug use has remained more or less unchanged for the third year, although cannabis use continues to decline in North America.
Afghanistan's opium production increased from about 4,500 tons in 2005 to 6,700 tons in 2006, according to the 2007 World Drug Report released by the Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
In 2006, Afghanistan accounted for 92 % of global illicit opium production, up from 70 % in 2000 and 52 % a decade earlier. The higher yields in Afghanistan brought global opium production to a record high of nearly 7,300 tons last year, a 43 % increase over 2005.
The area under opium poppy cultivation in the country has also expanded, from nearly 257,000 acres in 2005 to more than 407,000 acres in 2006, an increase of about 59 %.
"This is the largest area under opium poppy cultivation ever recorded in Afghanistan," the report said, noting that two-thirds of cultivation was concentrated in the country's south.
UNODC exec. dir. Antonio Maria Costa warned that Afghanistan's insurgency-plagued Helmand province was becoming the world's biggest drug supplier, with opium cultivation there larger than in the rest of the country put together.
"Effective surgery on Helmand's drug & insurgency cancer will rid the world of the most dangerous source of its most dangerous narcotic and go a long way to bringing security to the region," Costa said in a statement.
Early indications suggest Afghanistan could see a further increase in opium production in 2007, the report said. For the sixth straight year, the amount of land under opium cultivation has fallen in Southeast Asia. From 1998-2006, that region's share of world opium poppy cultivation has decreased from 67 percent to just 12 percent, largely due to declines in cultivation in Myanmar, the report said.
Southeast Asia's total opium production in 2006 was just 370 tons, it said.
The report also found that the production, trafficking and consumption of other illicit drugs have largely stabilized globally and that the estimated level of global drug use stayed about the same for the third year in a row. About 200 million people, 5 % of the world's population aged between 15 and 64, used drugs at least once in the previous 12 months, it said. Of those, an estimated 25 million were so-called problem drug users, or individuals who are heavily drug dependent. That estimate also remained unchanged from the year before.
"Recent data show that the runaway train of drug addiction has slowed down," Costa said.
Cannabis continues to account for the vast majority of illegal drug use and is consumed by some 160 million people, the report said. Globally, however, the number of people using cannabis has decreased slightly due to ongoing declines in North America and, for the first time, some declines in the largest cannabis markets of Western Europe.
"Although it is too early to speak of a general decline, signs of a stabilization of cannabis use at the global level are apparent," the report said.
Amphetamine-type stimulants, including ecstasy, remained the second most widely consumed group of substances. Over the 2005-2006 period, some 25 million people are estimated to have used amphetamines at least once in the previous 12 months, about the same as a year earlier.
Global cocaine production is estimated to have remained basically unchanged in 2006 as compared to one or 2 years earlier, the report said.
Bush orders sanctions on Afghanistan continued
7.3.01 Reuters
Wash.D.C. President Bush on Monday issued an order maintaining economic sanctions against
Afghanistan & ruling Taliban movement for giving Saudi militant Osama bin Laden safe haven. Bush signed
an executive order continuing sanctions policy begun by Clinton administration 2 years ago after bombing of 2 U.S. embassies in E.Africa which U.S. blamed on bin Laden. "The Taliban continues to allow territory under its control in Afghanistan to be used as a safe haven & base of operations for Osama bin Laden & the al Qaeda organization who have committed, and threaten to continue to commit acts of violence against the U.S. & its nationals," Bush wrote in a statement released by the White House.
The order freezes all property of the Taliban in the U.S. and prohibits trade by Americans involving the
territory of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban. The decision came after Washington warned the Taliban
movement on Friday they would bear responsibility for any attack on U.S. interests by bin Laden. The U.S.
ambassador to Pakistan, William Milam, delivered the warning during an hour-long meeting at the Taliban embassy in Islamabad, Taliban Ambassador Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef told Reuters last week.
bin Laden has been accused by Washington of many attacks on American targets, including the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya & Tanzania, which killed 224 people. It has offered a $5 million reward for his capture. Zaeef said he assured Milam that although bin Laden has been given sanctuary, the Taliban would not allow him to mount any attacks against U.S. targets from their territory.
Washington has also orchestrated the imposition of U.N. sanctions against the Taliban in an effort to force them to hand over the Islamic militant. But the sanctions, which include restrictions on Taliban officials abroad and an arms embargo against their forces, have produced no change in the Taliban position that bin Laden is a guest.
Afghan Jihad schoolbook scandal … almost unreported in Western media that U.S. govt shipped &
continues to ship millions of Islamist (that's short for Islamic fundamentalist) textbooks into Afghanistan. Over the
past 20 years, the U.S. spent millions of dollars producing fanatical schoolbooks, which were then distributed in
Afghanistan.
The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and
mines, have served since then [i.e., since the violent destruction of Afghan secular govt in the early 1990s] as the
Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books..."
From U.S., the ABC's of Jihad Violent Soviet education efforts
3.23.02 Wash. Post
So U.S. govt is right now shipping into Afghanistan millions of Islamic Fundamentalist schoolbooks whose texts,
according to a non-Fundamentalist Afghan educator, are not just "horrendous," they are "much worse." Is it
possible that this is all a terrible mistake? That Bush & US AID just don't know what's in the new
schoolbooks? Apparently not. perWash.Post, the "White House defends the religious content" of the schoolbooks.
And as for US AID, the Agency for Intl Development, which pays for the books: 'It's not AID's policy to support
religious instruction,' Stratos said. 'But we went ahead with this project because the primary purpose … is to educate children, which is predominantly a secular activity.'"
Having been republished in the new books, these exact same texts have undergone a transformation. They have
been reborn as "religious instruction" (US AID) or "religious content" ( White House).
The accidental operative Mondo Washington
Richard Helms's Afghani niece leads corps of Taliban reps
6.6.01 Camelia Fard & James Ridgeway Village Voice also A-L Anderson & R. Gueissaz
Wash. D.C. On this muggy afternoon, a group of neatly attired men and a handful of
women gather in a conference room at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. The guest
list includes officials from the furthest corners of the world-Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and
Turkey-and reps from the World Bank, the Uzbekistan chamber of commerce, the oil industry, and the
Russian news agency Tass, along with various individuals identified only as "U.S. Govt," which in times
past was code for spook. At hand is a low-profile briefing on international narcotics by a top State Dept
official, who has recently returned from a United Nations trip to inspect the poppy fields of Afghanistan, source of
80 percent of the world's opium and target of a recent eradication campaign by the fundamentalist Taliban. The
lecture begins as every other in Washington: The speaker politely informs the crowd he has nothing to do with
policymaking. And, by the way, it's all off the record.
Lecture over, the chairman asks for questions. One man after another rises to describe his own observations while
in the foreign service. The moderator pauses, looks to the back of the room, and says in a scarcely audible voice:
"Laili Helms." The room goes silent. For the people gathered here, the name brings back memories of Richard
Helms, director of the CIA during the tumultuous 1960s, the era of Cuba and Vietnam. After he was accused of
destroying most of the agency's secret documents detailing its own crimes, Helms left the CIA and became
President Ford's ambassador to Iran. There, he trained the repressive secret police, inadvertently sparking the
revolution that soon toppled his friend the Shah.
Laili Helms, his niece by marriage, is an operative, too, but of a different kind. This pleasant young woman who
makes her home in New Jersey is the Taliban rulers' unofficial ambassador in the U.S., and their most active and
best-known advocate elsewhere in the West. As such she not only defends but promotes a severe regime that has
given the White House fits for the past six years-by throwing women out of jobs and schools, stoning adulterers,
forcing Hindus to wear an identifying yellow patch, and smashing ancient Buddha statues.
In meetings on Capitol Hill and at the State Dept, Helms represents a theocracy that harbors America's
Public Enemy No. 1: Osama bin Laden, the man who allegedly masterminded the bombing of American embassies
in Tanzania and Kenya and is suspected of blowing up the USS Cole. From his Afghan fortress, bin Laden
operates a terrorist network reaching across the world. All of which is highly ironic since bin Laden is the progeny of
a U.S. policy that sought to unite Muslims in a jihad against the Soviet Union, but over a decade eroded the
moderate political wing and launched a wave of young radical fundamentalists. The Taliban, says the author
Ahmed Rashid, "is the hip-hop generation of Islamic militants. They know nothing about nothing. Their aim is the
destruction of the status quo, but they offer nothing to replace it with."
Now the Bush administration is lowering its sights, viewing the Taliban within a broader context of an oil-rich central
Asia. The chaotic region is strewn with crooked govts, terrorist brotherhoods, thieving warlords, and
smugglers. Against this backdrop, the Taliban sometimes seems to be the least of our problems. The mullahs
would like to take advantage of the Bush administration's own fundamentalist leanings, complete with antidrug, pro-
energy, and feminist-rollback policies. Their often comic efforts to establish representation in the U.S. took off when
they found Helms. For them, she is a disarming presence, the unassuming woman at the back of the room.
After spending most her life in the States, Helms has impeccable suburban credentials. She lives in Jersey City and
is the mother of a couple of grade-school kids. Her husband works at Chase Manhattan. A granddaughter of a
former Afghan minister in the last monarchy, she returned home during the war to work on U.S. aid missions.
"Everyone thinks I'm a spy," she said in a recent Voice interview. "And Uncle Dick thinks I'm crazy." Helms's
home across the Hudson has become a sort of kitchen-table embassy. She says she patches together
conference calls between the Taliban leadership and State Dept officials. A recent one cost more than
$1000, an expense she covered from her own checking account.
One moment she's packing up a used computer for the foreign ministry in Kabul, the next driving down to
Washington for a briefing or meeting with members of Congress. Her cell phone rings nonstop. "These guys,"
she says, referring to the Taliban leaders, "are on no one else's agenda. They are so isolated you can't call the
country. You can't send letters out. None of their officials can leave Afghanistan now."
Indeed, the Taliban govt is virtually unrecognized by most others. It has no standing at the UN, where
it has come under scathing indictment for human rights abuses. In February, the U.S. demanded that Taliban
offices here be closed. Helms may be just another suburban mom in the States, but last year in Afghanistan
she got movie-star treatment, driving around downtown Kabul in a smart late-model Japanese car, escorted
by armed guards waving Kalashnikov rifles, rattling away in English and Farsi as she shot video footage to
prove that Afghan women are working, free, and happy.
She stands at the public relations hub of a ragtag network of amateur Taliban advocates in the U.S. At the
University of Southern California, economics professor Nake M. Kamrany arranged last year for the Taliban's
Rahmatullah Hashami, ambassador at large, to bypass the visa block. He even rounded up enough money for
Hashami to lecture at the University of California, both in Los Angeles and Berkeley.
The trip ended at the State Dept in D.C., with a reported offer to turn Osama bin Laden over to the U.S. Kamrany
hardly looks the part of a foreign emissary, showing up for an interview recently in Santa Monica dressed in a
Hawaiian shirt and shorts, and insisting on a tuna fish sandwich before getting down to defending the burqa ,
the head-to-toe covering required for Afghani women. In addition to Kamrany, there's the erstwhile official
Taliban representative, Abdul Hakim Mojahed, in Queens, whom Helms dismisses with a wave of her hand as a
do-nothing, not worth talking to. Mojahed's voice line has been disconnected, and his fax number never picks
up.
Dr. Davood Davoodyar, an economics professor at Cal State in San Francisco, joined the jihad to fight
against the Soviets in the early 1980s. Today he keeps in touch with the elusive Mojahed, who seems to
have gone underground since his office was shuttered. Davoodyar thinks the Taliban is helping to
stabilize Afghanistan, but concedes, "If I asked my wife to wear the burqa, she'd kill me." Also in San
Francisco, Ghamar Farhad, a bank supervisor, has served as host to the Taliban's visiting deputy minister
of information along with the ambassador at large. She generally likes the Taliban because she believes
they have cut down on rape, but got very upset when they blew up the Buddha statues. When the Taliban
explained to her that these satanic idols had to go, Farhad says, she changed her mind.
Led by Helms, these people have answers for all the accusations made against the Taliban, starting with its
treatment of women. To a visitor it might seem as if women had just disappeared, as if by some sort of
massive ethnic cleansing. Though they made up 40 percent of all the doctors and 70 percent of teachers in the
capital, women were forced to abandon Western clothes and stay indoors behind windows painted black "for
their own good." Ten million reportedly have been denied education, hospital care, and the right to work. The
Taliban insists that a woman wear a burqa , stifling garb with only tiny slits for her eyes and no peripheral
vision. Even her voice is banned. In shops or in the market, she must have her brother, husband, or father
speak to the shopkeeper so that she will not excite him with the sound of her speaking.
Helms argues that foreign observers have forgotten conditions in the country following the war against the
Soviets. "Afghanistan was like a Mad Max scenario," she says. "Anyone who had a gun and a pickup
truck could abduct your women, rape them. . . . When the Taliban came and established security, the
majority of Afghan women who suffered from the chaotic conditions were happy, because they could live,
their children could live." But a current Physicians for Human Rights poll taken in Afghanistan reports that
women surveyed in Taliban-controlled areas "almost unanimously expressed that the Taliban had made
their life 'much worse.' " They reported high rates of depression and suicide. Last year a group of Afghani
women gathered in Tajikistan made a concerted demand for basic human rights, citing "torture and
inhumane and degrading treatment." Their address noted that "poverty and the lack of freedom of movement push
women into prostitution, involuntary exile, forced marriages, and the selling & trafficking of their daughters."
The Taliban drew more worldwide criticism for its abuse of other religious and ethnic minorities. It required
that Hindus wear yellow clothing-saris for women and shirts for men, so they could be distinguished from
Muslims-a move that immediately brought back images of Jews in Nazi Germany wearing the Star of David.
There are 5000 Hindus living in Kabul and thousands more in other Afghan cities. An Indian external affairs
spokesman condemned the new requirements as "reprehensible" and told The Times of India it was another
example of the Taliban's "obscurantist and racist ideology, which is alien to Afghan traditions." Helms argues
outsiders don't understand the import of the yellow tags. "We asked them to identify themselves [to protect]
their religious beliefs. Everyone has identity cards. The intention is to protect people." She shrugs. "Here you
have labels for handicapped people. So you can have special parking." Blowing up the ancient statues of
Buddhas, hewn from cliffs in the third and fifth centuries B.C., was another matter. "That was a very big deal,"
she says. "That was them thumbing their nose at the international community."
Helms has little regard for Osama bin Laden, whom she sneeringly refers to as a "tractor driver." She says he
was inherited by the Taliban and is widely viewed as a "hang nail." In 1999, Helms says, she got a message
from the Taliban leadership that they were willing to turn over all of bin Laden's communications equipment,
which they had seized, to the U.S. When she called the State Dept with this offer, officials were at first
interested, but later said, "No. We want him." In the same year, Prince Turki, head of Saudi intelligence,
reputedly came up with a scheme to capture bin Laden on his own; after consulting with the Taliban he flew
his private plane to Kabul and drove out to see Mullah Omar at his HQ. The two men sat down, as Helms
recounts the story, and the Saudi said, "There's just one little thing. Will you kill bin Laden before you put him
on the plane?" Mullah Omar called for a bucket of cold water. As the Saudi delegation fidgeted, he took off his
turban, splashed water on his head, and then washed his hands before sitting back down. "You know why I
asked for the cold water?" he asked Turki. "What you just said made my blood boil." Bin Laden was a guest of
the Afghanis and there was no way they were going to kill him, though they might turn him over for a trial. At
that the deal collapsed, and Turki flew home empty-handed.
Early this year, the Taliban's ambassador at large, Hashami, a young man speaking perfect English, met with
CIA operations people and State Dept reps, Helms says. At this final meeting, she says, Hashami
proposed that the Taliban hold bin Laden in one location long enough for the U.S. to locate and destroy him.
The U.S. refused, says Helms, who claims she was the go-between in this deal between the supreme leader
and the feds. A U.S. govt source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, made clear that the U.S. is not
trying to kill bin Laden but instead wants him expelled from Afghanistan so he can be brought to justice.
Acknowledging that Laili Helms does a lot of lobbying on behalf of the Taliban, this source said Helms does not
speak to the Taliban for the U.S.
In the realpolitik of Bush foreign policy, the Taliban may have improved its chances for an opening of relations
with the rest of the world. As it now stands, there seems little question that Afghanistan has indeed stopped
the production of poppies in the areas under its control.
Partly as a result, its farmers are destitute, their lives made more miserable by drought. But that's not likely to faze the powers that be in Afghanistan, since most of the country's real money comes from taxing non-dope trade. Nor will it bother the drug traffickers, who swarm the region and are shifting production north and west into such places as Turkmenistan. As of last month, the U.S. had committed $124 million in aid to Afghanistan, according to the State Dept.
Meanwhile, Iran, which harbors some 2 million Afghan refugees and is fighting massive drug addiction, has sent agricultural engineers north to help repair Afghanistan's irrigation systems.
Last week Milt Bearden, the former CIA station chief in Pakistan & Sudan, argued in The Wall St Journal
that the Bush administration should take a "more restrained approach" to bin Laden.
"There may be a realization that the 2 years of unrestrained rhetoric of the Clinton administration following the 1998 attacks in Africa may have done little more than inflate the myth that has inspired others to harm Americans," he
wrote.
None of this has changed the impression most people here have of the Taliban. Helms & her cohorts
have a lot of work to do. As she freely admits, the Taliban leaders "are considered fascists, tyrants, Pol Pots.
They can't do anything right. We perceive them as monsters no matter what they do."
Bush fights Islamic fundamentalism in Afghanistan while U.S. spends millions to indoctrinate Afghan school
children with Islamic fundamentalism. … "Unintended consequence" is fast becoming favorite U.S. excuse for
many foreign policy disasters . "We didn't know. We weren't prepared. We used old maps. We didn't see the train.
We thought there were tanks in the refugee column. Who could have expected this to happen?"
The Islamist textbooks show every indication of deliberate policy.
Osama bin Laden: Made In USA
excerpt from article on U.S. bombing of Aug. 98 Sudan pill factory. Argues that bin Laden was and still may
be a CIA asset
news report excerptsre Bin Laden in the Balkans
evidence that bin Laden aided U.S. sponsored forces in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.
Afghan leader's brother denies getting CIA pay 'Absolutely ridiculous,' he says of NY Times report
10.28.09 APKabul Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president, on Wednesday denied reports that he has received regular payments from the CIA for much of the past eight years. The New York Times, citing current and former American officials, reported Tuesday that the CIA pays Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the CIA's direction in and around Kandahar.
Karzai called the report "ridiculous."
"I work with the Americans, the Canadians, the British, anyone who asks for my help. They (CIA) do their own recruitment. I have no idea where they get their recruits. It's absolutely ridiculous," he told The Associated Press in Afghanistan.
The CIA's ties to Karzai, who is a suspected player in the country's illegal opium trade, have created deep divisions within the Obama administration, the Times said. Allegations that Karzai is involved in the drug trade have circulated in Kabul for months. He denies them.
Critics say the ties with Karzai complicate the U.S increasingly tense relationship with his older brother, President Hamid Karzai. The CIA's practices also suggest that the U.S. is not doing everything in its power to stamp out the lucrative Afghan drug trade, a major source of revenue for the Taliban.
Some American officials argue that the reliance on Ahmed Wali Karzai, a central figure in the south of the country where the Taliban is dominant, undermines the U.S. push to develop an effective central govt that can maintain law and order and eventually allow the United States to withdraw.
Karzai helps the CIA operate a paramilitary group, the Kandahar Strike Force, that is used for raids against suspected insurgents and terrorists, according to several American officials, the Times reported. Karzai also is paid for allowing the CIA and American Special Operations troops to rent a large compound outside the city, which also is the base of the Kandahar Strike Force, the newspaper said.
Karzai also helps the CIA communicate with and sometimes meet with Afghans loyal to the Taliban, the newspaper reported. CIA spokesman George Little declined to comment on the report.
A congressional official told Associated Press on Wednesday that the story is accurate and said that some members of Congress have known about the relationship between Karzai and the CIA "for some time." The offical spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.
Afghans vote 11.7.09 in a runoff presidential election between Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah. The second round was ordered after U.N.-backed auditors threw out nearly a third of Karzai's votes from the 8.20.09 ballot, determining widespread fraud, and pushed Karzai's totals below the 50 percent threshold needed for a first round victory.
U.S. official resigns over war in Afghanistan Foreign Service officer: GIs dying for what is essentially a foreign civil war
10.27.09 Karen DeYoung Wash.Post
When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan. A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.
But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency.
"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," he wrote 9.10.09 in a 3 page letter to the department's head of personnel. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."
The reaction to Hoh's letter was immediate. Senior U.S. officials, concerned that they would lose an outstanding officer and perhaps gain a prominent critic, appealed to him to stay.
U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry brought him to Kabul and offered him a job on his senior embassy staff. Hoh declined. From there, he was flown home for a face-to-face meeting with Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer," Holbrooke said in an interview. "We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him."
While he did not share Hoh's view that the war "wasn't worth the fight," Holbrooke said, "I agreed with much of his analysis." He asked Hoh to join his team in Washington, saying that "if he really wanted to affect policy and help reduce the cost of the war on lives and treasure," why not be "inside the building, rather than outside, where you can get a lot of attention but you won't have the same political impact?"
Hoh accepted the argument and the job, but changed his mind a week later. "I recognize the career implications, but it wasn't the right thing to do," he said in an interview Friday, two days after his resignation became final.
"I'm not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love," Hoh said. Although he said his time in Zabul was the "second-best job I've ever had," his dominant experience is from the Marines, where many of his closest friends still serve.
"There are plenty of dudes who need to be killed," he said of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. "I was never more happy than when our Iraq team whacked a bunch of guys."
But many Afghans, he wrote in his resignation letter, are fighting the United States largely because its troops are there, a growing military presence in villages and valleys where outsiders, including other Afghans, are not welcome and where the corrupt, U.S.-backed national government is rejected. While the Taliban is a malign presence, and Pakistan-based al-Qaeda needs to be confronted, he said, the United States is asking its troops to die in Afghanistan for what is essentially a far-off civil war.
As the White House deliberates over whether to deploy more troops, Hoh said he decided to speak out publicly because "I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, 'Listen, I don't think this is right.'"
"I realize what I'm getting into . . . what people are going to say about me," he said. "I never thought I would be doing this."
Hoh's journey, from Marine, reconstruction expert and diplomat to war protester — was not an easy one. Over the weeks he spent thinking about and drafting his resignation letter, he said, "I felt physically nauseous at times."
His first ambition in life was to become a firefighter, like his father. Instead, after graduation from Tufts University and a desk job at a publishing firm, he joined the Marines in 1998. After five years in Japan and at the Pentagon, and at a point early in the Iraq war when it appeared to many in the military that the conflict was all but over, he left the Marines to join the private sector, only to be recruited as a Defense Department civilian in Iraq. A trained combat engineer, he was sent to manage reconstruction efforts in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit.
"At one point," Hoh said, "I employed up to 5,000 Iraqis" handing out tens of millions of dollars in cash to construct roads and mosques. His program was one of the few later praised as a success by the U.S. special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
In 2005, Hoh took a job with BearingPoint, a major technology and management contractor at the State Department, and was sent to the Iraq desk in Foggy Bottom. When the U.S. effort in Iraq began to turn south in early 2006, he was recalled to active duty from the reserves. He assumed command of a company in Anbar province, where Marines were dying by the dozens.
Hoh came home in the spring of 2007 with citations for what one Marine evaluator called "uncommon bravery," a recommendation for promotion, and what he later recognized was post-traumatic stress disorder. Of all the deaths he witnessed, the one that weighed most heavily on him happened in a helicopter crash in Anbar in December 2006.
He and a friend, Maj. Joseph T. McCloud, were aboard when the aircraft fell into the rushing waters below Haditha dam. Hoh swam to shore, dropped his 90 pounds of gear and dived back in to try to save McCloud and three others he could hear calling for help.
He was a strong swimmer, he said, but by the time he reached them, "they were gone."
It wasn't until his third month home, in an apartment in Arlington, that it hit him like a wave. "All the things you hear about how it comes over you, it really did. . . . You have dreams, you can't sleep. You're just, 'Why did I fail? Why didn't I save that man? Why are his kids growing up without a father?' "
Like many Marines in similar situations, he didn't seek help. "The only thing I did," Hoh said, "was drink myself blind."
What finally began to bring him back, he said, was a television show — "Rescue Me" on the FX cable network — about a fictional New York firefighter who descended into "survivor guilt" and alcoholism after losing his best friend in the World Trade Center attacks.
He began talking to friends and researching the subject online. He visited McCloud's family and "apologized to his wife . . . because I didn't do enough to save them," even though his rational side knew he had done everything he could.
Hoh represented the service at the funeral of a Marine from his company who committed suicide after returning from Iraq. "My God, I was so afraid they were going to be angry," he said of the man's family. "But they weren't. All they did was tell me how much he loved the Marine Corps."
"It's something I'll carry for the rest of my life," he said of his Iraq experiences. "But it's something I've settled, I've reconciled with."
Late last year, a friend told Hoh that the State Department was offering year-long renewable hires for Foreign Service officers in Afghanistan. It was a chance, he thought, to use the development skills he had learned in Tikrit under a fresh administration that promised a new strategy.
In photographs he brought home from Afghanistan, Hoh appears as a tall young man in civilian clothes, with a neatly trimmed beard and a pristine flak jacket. He stands with Eikenberry, the ambassador, on visits to northern Kunar province and Zabul, in the south. He walks with Zabul Gov. Mohammed Ashraf Naseri, confers with U.S. military officers and sits at food-laden meeting tables with Afghan tribal leaders.
In one picture, taken on a desolate stretch of desert on the Pakistani border, he poses next to a hand-painted sign in Pashto marking the frontier. The border picture was taken in early summer, after he arrived in Zabul following two months in a civilian staff job at the military brigade headquarters in Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan. It was in Jalalabad that his doubts started to form.
Hoh was assigned to research the response to a question asked by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during an April visit. Mullen wanted to know why the U.S. military had been operating for years in the Korengal Valley, an isolated spot near Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan where a number of Americans had been killed.
Hoh concluded that there was no good reason. The people of Korengal didn't want them; the insurgency appeared to have arrived in strength only after the Americans did, and the battle between the two forces had achieved only a bloody stalemate.
Korengal and other areas, he said, taught him "how localized the insurgency was. I didn't realize that a group in this valley here has no connection with an insurgent group two kilometers away." Hundreds, maybe thousands, of groups across Afghanistan, he decided, had few ideological ties to the Taliban but took its money to fight the foreign intruders and maintain their own local power bases.
"That's really what kind of shook me," he said. "I thought it was more nationalistic. But it's localism. I would call it valley-ism."
Zabul is "one of the five or six provinces always vying for the most difficult and neglected," a State Dept official said. Kandahar, the Taliban homeland, is to the southwest and Pakistan to the south. Highway 1, the main link between Kandahar and Kabul and the only paved road in Zabul, bisects the province. Over the past year, the official said, security has become increasingly difficult.
By the time Hoh arrived at the U.S. military-run provincial reconstruction team (PRT) in the Zabul capital of Qalat, he said, "I already had a lot of frustration. But I knew at that point, the new administration was . . . going to do things differently. So I thought I'd give it another chance." He read all the books he could get his hands on, from ancient Afghan history, to the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, through Taliban rule in the 1990s and the eight years of U.S. military involvement.
Frank Ruggiero, the Kandahar-based regional head of the U.S. PRTs in the south, considered Hoh "very capable" and appointed him the senior official among the three U.S. civilians in the province. "I always thought very highly of Matt," he said in a telephone interview.
In accordance with administration policy of decentralizing power in Afghanistan, Hoh worked to increase the political capabilities and clout of Naseri, the provincial governor, and other local officials. "Materially, I don't think we accomplished much," he said in retrospect, but "I think I did represent our government well."
Naseri told him that at least 190 local insurgent groups were fighting in the largely rural province, Hoh said. "It was probably exaggerated," he said, "but the truth is that the majority" are residents with "loyalties to their families, villages, valleys and to their financial supporters."
Hoh's doubts increased with Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election, marked by low turnout and widespread fraud. He concluded, he said in his resignation letter, that the war "has violently and savagely pitted the urban, secular, educated and modern of Afghanistan against the rural, religious, illiterate and traditional. It is this latter group that composes and supports the Pashtun insurgency."
With "multiple, seemingly infinite, local groups," he wrote, the insurgency "is fed by what is perceived by the Pashtun people as a continued and sustained assault, going back centuries, on Pashtun land, culture, traditions and religion by internal and external enemies. The U.S. and Nato presence in Pashtun valleys and villages, as well as Afghan army and police units that are led and composed of non-Pashtun soldiers and police, provide an occupation force against which the insurgency is justified."
American families, he said at the end of the letter, "must be reassured their dead have sacrificed for a purpose worthy of futures lost, love vanished, and promised dreams unkept. I have lost confidence such assurances can be made any more."
Ruggiero said that he was taken aback by Hoh's resignation but that he made no effort to dissuade him. "It's Matt's decision, and I honored, I respected" it, he said. "I didn't agree with his assessment, but it was his decision."
Eikenberry expressed similar respect, but declined through an aide to discuss "individual personnel matters."
Francis J. Ricciardone Jr., Eikenberry's deputy, said he met with Hoh in Kabul but spoke to him "in confidence. I respect him as a thoughtful man who has rendered selfless service to our country, and I expect most of Matt's colleagues would share this positive estimation of him, whatever may be our differences of policy or program perspectives."
This week, Hoh is scheduled to meet with Vice President Biden's foreign policy adviser, Antony Blinken, at Blinken's invitation. If the United States is to remain in Afghanistan, Hoh said, he would advise a reduction in combat forces.
He also would suggest providing more support for Pakistan, better U.S. communication and propaganda skills to match those of al-Qaeda, and more pressure on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to clean up govt corruption, all options being discussed in White House deliberations.
"We want to have some kind of governance there, and we have some obligation for it not to be a bloodbath," Hoh said. "But you have to draw the line somewhere, and say this is their problem to solve."
Bagram, Afghanistan An explosion at the home of an explosives salesman just outside the U.S.
military HQ in Afghanistan on Friday killed at least 3 people and wounded several others, witnesses said.
All of the victims were local people and the blast appeared to have been accidental, witnesses and the U.S. military
said.
The blast occurred in a mud-walled compound in a residential area about 500 meters from the main gate of
Bagram Air Base just north of Kabul, U.S. military spokesman Col. Rodney Davis told Reuters. "It didn't involve
coalition personnel," he said. "Initial indications are this incident was not the result of any hostile intent but an
accident involving persons operating at a local business engaged in the disassembly of ammunition &
weapons components," he added in a later statement.
Residents said the dead, a teenage boy, a teenage girl and an infant, were from a family who sold explosives
collected from leftover munitions to emerald miners. U.S. military firefighters & medics went to the scene and
U.S. soldiers were seen carrying munitions from the building.
Bagram is the main base for a 12,500-strong force of U.S.-led soldiers hunting remnants of the ousted Taliban
regime and the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden it sheltered.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Friday, police said a group of Taliban guerrillas who had taken refuge in a religious
school in Paktika province had managed to flee despite being besieged by govt forces from Wednesday night.
Locals had appealed to authorities not to launch an attack on the group in Waza district near the Pakistani border.
Paktika police chief Dawlat Khan said he did not know how the guerrillas managed to escape, but the incident
underlined the difficulties faced by U.S. and allied forces chasing the Taliban.
In another incident in the southeast, a govt soldier was killed and an officer severely wounded when they tried to
defuse a rocket aimed at the town of Khost. Military official Khan Padshah said the old Russian-made rocket was
thought to have been primed by Taliban guerrillas or allied fighters loyal to renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Commerce Dept
Ground zero for the Afghan economy
1.21.02 Preston Mendenhall MSNBC
Kandahar, Afghanistan As donor nations pledged billions in aid to Afghanistan Monday, the
country's banker for the Kandahar region couldn't find a pen that worked. Fazal Akhmed Azimi looked down at the
one piece of 20th-century technology on his desk, a solar-powered calculator, and gestured toward his dusty,
unheated office and said, "We need all the help we can get." From the poorest Afghan villager to the country's top
officials, Afghanistan is an economic basket case. 50 donor nations gathered Monday in Tokyo and pledged more
than $2.6 billion in aid over the next few years, but it will take decades for the country to recover. After years of
conflict, there are virtually no health care services in Afghanistan. Average life expectancy is 40 to 44 years, 2/3rds
of adults are illiterate, only 6% of the population has electricity, and govt infrastructure is in ruins.
At Kandahar's main bank, director Azimi & his staff inhabit only 3 rooms of a sprawling concrete building. A
former teller booth now stores kindling. Besides Azimi's calculator, the bank's chief assets are an old, uninstalled
air conditioner and 5 sacks of wheat. In its retreat from Kandahar, Taliban leadership looted the bank, taking about
$5 million in cash, effectively stripping tens of thousands of Kandaharis' hard-earned savings. They stole millions
more from banks in Kabul. "8 million accounts were wiped out in Kandahar alone," Azimi said. "We had nothing
before, and we have less now."
It's not an exaggeration to say Afghans have no modern amenities. Were it not for omnipresent Kalashnikov
machine guns & Toyota 4x4 pickups the new govt inherited from the Taliban, the whole country would
resemble a medieval landscape. Mud & dung dwellings are the standard home for most of Afghanistan's
population of 24 million. Seventy-five% of Afghans are subsistence farmers, and few know the luxury of a
tractor. For 4 years running, drought of epic proportions parched the country. Even before U.S. bombing, 1 million
Afghans had fled their homes to escape the drought. International aid agencies, which quit Afghanistan during the
war on the Taliban, were stretched to the limit then. They are only beginning to return today to help 700,000
Afghans at risk of starvation & death owing to exposure to the harsh winter elements. "There are so many
problems in Afghanistan," said Engineer Pashtoon, spokesman for the Kandahar region's governor,
Gul Agha Shirzai. "We cannot rebuild a country on our own."
At Kandahar Hospital, Dr. Abdul Halim said, every 4th child who enters his outpatient clinic dies after treatment.
With little or no medicine, health officials can do little more than give advice. "Deaths occur due to financial
problems on the part of the parents or the govt," Halim said. The few medications the hospital does receive come
courtesy of a wealthy Kuwaiti sheik, not the govt, he said. "Whatever the international community gives will be
welcome," Halim said. "Everybody here is dying."
Experts estimate Afghanistan that will need $15 billion to get back on its feet. At the outset of the war on the
Taliban, the Bush administration was vague on its commitment to rebuilding the country. Sec.State Powell told
Afghan PM Hamid Karzai Monday "the American people are with you for the long term" and pledged to add nearly
$300 million to an existing U.S. fund of $400 million.
On the streets of Kandahar, America's interest in the Afghan people is welcomed with open arms. Buoyed by the
defeat of the Taliban 2 months ago, there is an unmistakable faith among Afghans that the international
community will get it right this time and rebuild Afghanistan rather than tussle over its strategic importance.
15 year old Jawid said he looked forward to completing school with an open curriculum rather than the Taliban-
imposed religious studies that focused heavily on memorization of the Koran rather than mathematics & social
studies. "The Taliban used to interrupt our classes to tell us to fix our turbans," Jawid said. "I want to study to be an
engineer." 70-year-old owner Haji Noor of Noor Hotel on Jada Marastun St in Kandahar, returned to Afghanistan 2
weeks ago, his first trip back since he abandoned his 18-room hotel during the disastrous 1992-96 rule of the
mujahedeen govt. The Noor Hotel used to cater to foreign tourists, and Haji Noor hopes to woo them back to a
stable Afghanistan. "My last foreign guest checked out 23 years ago," Noor said. "Now there are no banks, no jobs,
now power, no rain … nothing."
Kabul Chicken St shop owners … make a great show of not understanding how you couldn't
buy. Smiling politely then walking on, or even making nonchalant noises about "thinking it over & coming back
later" just doesn't wash. They look at you in surprise, place the item in your arms, take a few paces back to admire
you holding it and then exclaim excitedly in Pashtu something along the lines of "Goodness me, how that samovar
suits you!" … I asked one of BBC drivers, Judge, to become my personal sales asst. In spite of his Western
sounding name, Judge is a Kabul native. In the days before the Taliban occupied the city, Judge was not a driver at
all, he'd presided over the juvenile court. "I AM Judge" he said wryly, "But I also WAS judge."
Although he'd lost his position as magistrate, Judge had clearly not forgotten any of the fundamental principles of
his legal training. He believed firmly in honest pricing, fair trading and truthful marketing. Where I thought I'd
probably have to listen to a few tall tales from the shop owners and might have to do a bit of haggling to ensure I
got a good bargain, Judge set out from a rather different starting point. Chicken Street shop owners, he told me
cheerfully, are a "bunch of bloody butchers."
Judge took me to a little leather shop to buy a briefcase. The workmanship was beautiful, the quality excellent and
the price apparently reasonable. I was just about to hand over the dollars when there was a loud snorting noise
from Judge which evolves into a sort of braying, followed by a prolonged shriek .. and then, with half closed eyes,
like a ham Shakespearean actor just about to recite his favourite soliloquy, Judge launched into a torrent of Pashtu
abuse, ending in the unmistakable words "bloody butcher". The shop owner instantly dropped his price by $20.
Back on the street, Judge was grinning to himself & rubbing his hands gleefully.
"I tell him if he doesn't stop his butchering I put him & his sons in jail and take away his shop. He forgets I'm
not really Judge anymore."
With the savings I'd made on the leather goods, I felt justified in buying a carpet in the tiny rug store, where the
owner seemed to be wearing at least half of his goods. 23 years of war, poverty & oppression had not made a
noticeable dent in this old man's confidence. He was the most enthusiastic & energetic carpet salesman I have
ever come across. Rug after rug was unrolled for me, design after design was explained to me - and when the old
man learned I didn't live in London as he'd presumed, but in Switzerland, he effortlessly switched his sales patter
from English to perfect Swiss German and then to French.
I stared at him in delighted admiration as I selected my carpet, but a low snorting sound in the corner told me such
flashy techniques were too much for Judge, he took a deep breath and began his rehearsed speech. At the closing
couplet "bloody butcher, " the carpet salesman began to shout back. But he was wasting his time. 2 minutes later,
we left the shop, clutching a carpet reduced by $20. "He ask me where's my loyalty?" smiled Judge. "He says as
Muslim man, I should help him make profit. But I tell him first my loyalty is to God, and then my loyalty is to the
BBC."
As Judge was clearly enjoying himself, it didn't seem fair to call an end to the shopping spree, so I forced myself
into a jewellers. Rows of silver & lapis necklaces, belts, rings and bracelets glittered in the grimy cabinets, and
the glittering eyes of the silversmith told me he was anxious for a sale. I picked up a belt and asked how much.
I don't think the jeweller had even named his price before the snorting began, but by the time the words "bloody
butcher" were mentioned, I knew I'd got $20, even if the jeweller didn't. I picked up a ring and again, Judge picked
up his cue.
By the time I'd bought 5 bracelets, 2 necklaces and 3 boxes of wine goblets, I knew Judge's speech almost as well
as he did. Caught up in the bizarre pantomime, even the jeweller couldn't help silently mouthing the repetitive
chorus. 45 minutes later, weighed down by shopping bags, we struggled out of the door. The glitter in the jeweller's
eyes was now jaded. He bowed to me, and took Judge's hand in his, placing the other on his heart to emphasise
the honesty of our deal.
Judge strutted off, shoulders back, the focus of respect, the King of Chicken St. It's perhaps a good job that Judge
didn't look back to see what I saw. As he locked his shop and slid a rusty grille across the window, the jeweller
watched Judge's retreating figure with narrowed eyes. Tucking away his dollars in his coat pocket, he shot one last
look of hatred at him, spat into the road, closed his door, and muttered bitterly: "Bloody Judge!"
Did the Pentagon really consider poisoning the Afghans' food supply in retaliation for the 9.11.01 attacks? The
Washington Post unearthed some evidence that it did then buried the news deep inside a recent forest-decimating
yawnfest on the early days of the administration's response to 9/11. (Mickey Kaus' "Series-Skipper short vers. of 8
part series). Key passage by reporters Bob Woodward & Dan Balz
"DefSec Rumsfeld still wanted president to have detailed briefing. Special operations were going to
be enormously important, he was sure, so a 2-star general was sent from the Special Operations Command
to brief the president. NatSec Adv. Rice & sr NSC staff for defense Frank Miller went with president to
Pentagon. Before briefing, Miller reviewed classified slide presentation prepared for Bush and got a big
surprise.
One slide about Afghanistan special ops said: Thinking Outside the Box — Poisoning Food
Supply. Miller was shocked and showed it to Rice. The U.S. doesn't know how to do this, Miller
reminded her, and we're not allowed. It would effectively be a chemical or biological attack, clearly banned
by treaties the U.S. signed, incl 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.
Rice took the slide to Rumsfeld. "This slide is not going to be shown to the president of the U.S.," she said.
Rumsfeld agreed. "You're right," he said. Pentagon officials said later that their own internal review had
caught the offending slide and that it never would have been shown to the president or to
Rumsfeld."
The passage is on point regarding the illegality of poisoning food, but with its talk that this would
"effectively" be banned by the 1972 biological weapons treaty, it's making the issue seem narrower
& murkier than it really is. Food poisoning is plainly banned by the keystone international conduct-of-
war treaty,The Hague's Laws & Customs of War on Land, ratified by U.S. in 1902. Its Article 23
states: "it is especially prohibited [t]o employ poison or poisoned arms." … Who put the slide there in
the first place? At minimum, Woodbalz seem phenomenally incurious about this.They never name that "2-
star general" dispatched to give the brief. Presumably the poison suggestion came from him or somebody
under his command.
WASHINGTON American ground troops will remain in Afghanistan at least into the summer to
press their manhunt, attack any Taliban & al-Qaida resistance and help the country's transition to a
more permanent govt, Def.Sec Rumsfeld said Thursday. Rumsfeld offered no specific estimate of how long U.S.
forces would stay in Afghanistan & surrounding countries, but he made clear he believes a presence will be
required for several months or more. "You can be sure we're not going to stay there a second longer than we have
to, but we also feel an obligation to be a responsible nation and a participant in this process and help them navigate
through what has to be an enormously difficult thing to do," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference.
The U.S. has about 4,000 troops in Afghanistan & many hundreds more in neighboring Pakistan &
Uzbekistan. Smaller numbers are in Tajikistan & Kyrgyzstan, and thousands are aboard Navy ships patrolling
the Arabian Sea to block any sea route of escape for Osama bin Laden. U.S. warplanes fly missions daily over
Afghanistan from land bases in the area and from aircraft carriers in the Arabian Sea.
The main American ground force in Afghanistan is the Army's 101st Airborne Div., which has taken over for the
Marines at Kandahar airport, where more than 300 al-Qaida & Taliban prisoners are held. An intense gunfight
in which one U.S. Army special forces soldier was wounded provided fresh evidence that the ground war is not
over, even though the Taliban regime has been deposed and the al-Qaida fighters it supported have been bombed
into hiding. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. troops attacked 2 Taliban
"leadership" compounds in a mountainous area about 60 miles north of Kandahar, an area where the
Taliban's deposed leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, was thought to have .
Myers said 27 enemy personnel were taken into custody but he did not know if they included any senior
Taliban or al-Qaida leaders. He said the compounds originally were thought to be mostly populated by al-
Qaida fighters, but turned out to be mainly Taliban. A weapons cache was destroyed by an Air Force AC-
130 gunship, and Myers said U.S. forces "still have eyes on" the compounds. It was the first known substantial U.S.
attack against a Taliban or al-Qaida target in more than a week. Rumsfeld indicated American forces are seeking
out other such targets. "There's a whole lot more of these," he said. "We're going to keep at them until we get
them." Although anti-Taliban Afghan forces are working with the U.S. in pursuit of those targets, Rumsfeld said the
mission will continue to require the firepower of American ground troops. "We keep fighting them, and we intend to
keep doing that," he said. "That takes presence. You can't do that from Chicago. You have to be in there and we
have to be present."
Besides snuffing out those small groups of Taliban & al-Qaida holdouts in several parts of Afghanistan,
U.S. forces also are hunting Omar & bin Laden, as well as a small number of their top lieutenants. The goal is
to capture Omar & bin Laden "if we can," Rumsfeld said, "to keep them from conducting additional terrorist
acts on the one hand and to keep them from turning Afghanistan back into a haven for terrorists." The U.S. also
feels an obligation to keep troops on the ground during the period in which the interim govt headed by Hamid
Karzai, which took power 12.22.01, begins to restore authority in the country. Karzai's govt is scheduled to give way
to a new power structure in June. "Expecting that to happen smoothly, I think, is unrealistic," Rumsfeld said. "We
want to do what is appropriate for us to do to help them get through what is clearly a difficult period, a hard period."
Later he added, "That's why we have military presence there to work with these folks."
Myers said that in his travels this week to Egypt, Jordan & the United Arab Emirates, he was not pressed on
the question of how soon the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan would wind down."I think all our partners, for the
most part, in the region understand this will be over when we achieve our objectives," however long that takes,
Myers said, speaking at Rumsfeld's news conference.
Is the Atlantic Alliance once again engaged in one of those larval crises that recurrently position U.S. in opposition to some of its European partners, with France and Germany on the frontlines, in regard to NATO's missions? During an informal meeting of NATO Defense Ministers on Wed. 9.14.05, besides Paris and Berlin, several countries, notably Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey, rose up against Washington's desire to obtain an extension of the mandate for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, taken over by NATO in August 2003, to mix it in with that of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Now, while the former is a stabilization and peacekeeping force, the latter indulges in war missions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. With their troops highly mobilized in Iraq, the Americans have long wanted to disengage from the Afghan theatre in favor of NATO. Their reasons are logistical, inasmuch as the rescue operations committed to since the passage of Hurricane Katrina weigh heavily on the American Army, and political: it's a matter, as in Iraq, of showing that America is not alone in the fight against terrorism.
Billeted at the outset in Kabul, the ISAF has little by little extended its mandate to the north and west of Afghanistan and is supposed to deploy in the south from spring of 2006. In the name of efficiency and coherence of command, DefSec Rumsfeld, and NATO Sec. General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer want the 2 missions to be melded together with a single command structure.
They dash up against the refusal of several allies, in particular France and Germany. "These are two completely different missions, executed under different conditions with different forces," emphasized French Defense Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, who nonetheless accepts the principle of "strengthened synergies" between the two forces.
Germany is all the more on the same wavelength, given that the electoral period on the other side of the Rhine makes it impossible for the SPD to endorse in any way whatsoever an offensive military role for the some 2000 German soldiers present in Afghanistan. "The ISAF must not be dragged into the fight against terrorism," insisted German Defense Minister Peter Struck.
His Spanish counterpart, José Bono Martinez, drove in the nail, deeming that "the two missions must remain separated, with different chains of command." As for the British Defense Minister, John Reid, he spent a great deal of time denying reports that Great Britain opposed the Pentagon's desires.
The American position is ambivalent, however, because the American commander has only a relative confidence in the military capacities of several Alliance countries. He wants to maintain control of the anti-Taliban hunt, or to subcontract it to the British, which will be the case in the south. Unlike France and Germany, for whom this is not an ISAF mission, Great Britain will elsewhere engage in the struggle against narco-trafficking in the Helmand province.
U.S. did not expect such strong reluctance from its allies, reluctance strengthened by the resurgence of combat in the south and east of Afghanistan. Donald Rumsfeld has prudently beat a retreat, at least for the moment, talking about an "artificial" quarrel and asserting that it was a question of "a great deal of noise about nothing," as the question of a single command structure still remains in a stage of consideration.
He used the occasion to implicitly deny reports U.S. would reduce its troops in Afghanistan by 20% between now and the spring of 2006. Now, that suggestion, which came from General John Abizaid, Centcom chief, reinforces European suspicion. They fear that the United States will take advantage of an OEF withdrawal to no longer contribute to the ISAF, thus leaving their allies with the responsibility for the Afghan burden.
Eyewitness: Guarding Gardez
4.29.02 Andrew Harding BBC
Taj Mohammad Wardak lifts up the edge of a curtain and peers outside past his bodyguards, across the terrace,
and towards the distant brown mountains to the south of Gardez. "All quiet," he says, settling back into his armchair
to contemplate the vicious power struggle which has engulfed this region, Paktia Province, nominally governed by
Mr Wardak himself. … On Saturday, more than 100 shells and rockets rained down on the provincial capital,
Gardez, some two hours drive south of Kabul. The bombardment lasted all day, tearing chunks out of concrete
walls, ripping holes in roofs, shops and markets, and killing at least 18 people.
When we arrived on Sunday, the dusty streets were almost deserted. Sitting in a doorway, a young man with an
automatic rifle said people had been warned to expect another rocket attack and were staying indoors. Large
brown bloodstains marked the spots where 2 men had been killed outside their shops. A friend of one of them,
called Khyal Mohammed, pointed towards a mountain range of that same brown colour, to the south of town.
"That's where the rockets came from, fired by a man called Padshah Khan," he said. "It's always the same here.
The bandits fight and the civilians die."
Padshah Khan used to be the governor of the province. But he was unpopular, and earlier this year the local
population drove him out of town and towards the mountains. Afghanistan's new interim govt then appointed a new
governor, Taj Mohammed Wardak. But Padshah Khan & his supporters have continued to defy the authorities.
Mr Wardak accepts: "There are rebels in every country." But in most countries there are police & soldiers to
deal with them. Paktia's new governor admits that the handful of men, lounging in the shade outside with their
Kalashnikovs, are not up to the job. "Fighting such stupid people [like Padshah Khan] without a proper army or
police force is a big problem," he said.
Outside the local hospital in Gardez, Dr Nakibula Urfan points towards a pile of rubble & broken glass.
"7 rockets hit the building," he said. "We treated 50 people. 5 died here, and 2 more on the way to Kabul."
On Saturday, while the rockets were falling on Gardez, US DefSec Rumsfeld announced plans to help fund and
train just such a force for Afghanistan. The news was welcomed by the interim govt, and by Governor Wardak.
"A proper national army might well bring peace & stability here," Mr Wardak said. "But it takes time, perhaps 3
to 5 years." He gestured out the window towards the mountains. "And in the meantime these problems will be like
an incurable cancer." The solution, according both to Mr Wardak & everyone else that I spoke to in Gardez, is to bring in foreign
peacekeepers. "I used to be against an expansion of ISAF," Mr Wardak said, referring to the international security
force patrolling the streets of Kabul. "But when I saw the situation on the ground here, how vulnerable the civilians
are, and how strong the troublemakers are, I realised that there is a need for peacekeepers here."
But Donald Rumsfeld appeared to rule out that option this weekend. The international community is reluctant to
commit itself to a broader, expensive peacekeeping operation which could tie up thousands of troops in fghanistan
for many years.
DefSec rebukes some chiefs
3.29.02 J.Wiseman & P.Leavitt USA TODAY
In rare public show of discord at Pentagon, DefSec Rumsfeld rebuked some of his top commanders Thursday for
suggesting that U.S. forces are overburdened. He insisted the military is prepared to take on another major conflict,
even as it battles enemy forces in Afghanistan. ''To the extent U.S.decides to undertake an activity, we will be
capable of doing it,'' Rumsfeld said. His show of pique came a week after U.S. Pacific & European commands'
leaders told House Armed Services Committee war in Afghanistan is sapping the strength of other military
deployments. Pacific Command commander in chief Navy Adm. Dennis Blair & European Command
commander in chief Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston were asked if they had enough forces to carry out military
action against Iraq while maintaining existing operations. Both indicated it would be a stretch.
2 weeks ago, U.S. Joint Forces Command commander in chief Army Gen. Wm F. Kernan told the same House
panel U.S. troops were tired. Rumsfeld said Thursday that claim showed a ''fundamental misunderstanding'' of the
troops' conditions. ''It's a disservice to them to leave that impression,'' he said.
On Deadly Ground
U.N. team inspects Taliban base now littered with bombs
1.28.02 Steve Inskeep NPR
The UN has begun what is expected to be a long effort to clear Afghanistan of unexploded bombs. The U.S.
military dropped thousands of weapons in recent months, and those that didn't detonate now rest among the untold
tons of explosives left over from 23 years of war. A U.N. team examined the damage in Kandahar, once the
spiritual home of the Taliban, an area near the city awash with bomb fragments, so many that the ground literally
jingles when walked on. A military compound called Gishla Jadid that once housed 12,000 soldiers is now a
graveyard of twisted scrap metal and gravel. The scrap was once tanks, the gravel once barracks. The U.N. team
has to move carefully because mortar shells, rockets and land mines are scattered everywhere. When U.S. bombs
hit the weapon stockpiles, the explosions blasted munitions all over the site. Nothing remains of the Taliban
defenders except the burnt black soles of their shoes.
Noor Ahmad Azimy, the U.N. assessment team supervisor in Kandahar, warns that the base still has mines left
over from when the Soviet Union fought for control of Afghanistan, two decades ago. Cleaning the base will be a
complicated job, Azimy says, and may take months. The base is one of at least 20 sites in Kandahar that the U.N.
team is studying. Outside the military base, in the middle of a farm field, the assessment team inspects an
American Mark 84 bomb. It weighs 2,000 pounds and appears intact, except for a few pieces missing from the
outside. The team later meets up with Mohammed Zai, who took the bomb parts, some loading hooks and a small
parachute. Zai makes his living as a scavenger. Sometimes he collects firewood to sell. Sometimes he takes apart
bombs, and gets one American dollar for every two pounds of scrap aluminum.
The recent conflict has been good for his business, he says.
desert airstrip, southern Afghanistan U.S. Marine trucks armed with anti-tank weapons tore
into the desert from a Marine base in southern Afghanistan Wednesday to chase down an "unidentified
vehicle" which turned out to be a camel. When news of the alert first came through, the Marines on the
defensive line around the perimeter put on flack jackets & helmets and realigned their mortars in case they
were called to fire on the target 2 miles out.
The tension in the air subsided when the word came through. "How come you can't tell a vehicle from a
camel?" asked one Marine in a company control center, a hole in the sand. "One has wheels, the other
has legs," another Marine threw in. "I can't believe we're chasing damn camels around the desert," said
another. Some of the Marines on the line reported that a camel poked its nose into their fighting hole the
previous night and Marine spokesman Captain Stuart Upton said shots had been fired to scare it away
from the airstrip. It was not clear if the camel that sparked the morning alert was the same one.
WASHINGTON U.S. soldier killed in an assault on Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan 4 weeks ago may
not have been a victim of an ambush, as first thought, but rather a victim of American aircraft fire, the Pentagon
said today. Gen. Tommy R. Franks, who runs the day-to-day operations in Afghanistan as head of the U.S. Central
Command, emphasized at Pentagon news briefing that investigators had not concluded that Chief Warrant Officer
Stanley L. Harriman died from "friendly fire" on March 2. But intelligence has turned up enough coincidences that
the possibility cannot be ruled out, the general said. "What I noticed on March 2 was that, as Operation Anaconda
kicked off & forces were moving into position, there was reporting of one of our convoys, a friendly convoy of
Americans & Afghans, being under fire," General Franks said. "Simultaneously, on a different radio network, I
noticed reporting by an AC-130 gunship that it was engaging a convoy," he continued. "I put the 2 things together
and said, "O.K., what we need to do is, we need to find out the facts associated with that." And so, I've asked our
special operations component to investigate the facts & circumstances and see if there is any connection
between the two."
Immediately after Chief Warrant Harriman's death, the Pentagon said the soldier, who was 34 years old, was killed
in combat against Taliban & Al Qaeda forces in the icy mountains of eastern Afghanistan. His family was told
that he was the victim of mortar fire. The AC-130 aircraft that the authorities now suspect may have accidentally
killed the soldier has been described as a fearsome weapon that can lay down withering machine-gun and cannon
fire. The revised & still unfolding information about Chief Warrant Officer Harriman's death was announced as
part of a report on 10 cases of "friendly fire" & Afghan civilian casualties. 7 other Americans were slain in a
firefight with Al Qaeda forces around the time that Chief Warrant Officer Harriman was killed, making the encounter
the deadliest so far in the Afghan campaign. The general said the "fog of war" cliche is apt for describing what
happens in a combat zone, that military people operate with the best intelligence they have at the time, and that
some of it may turn out to be wrong later. "The fact is, we're never going to be able to absolutely eradicate the loss
of life, and in some cases the loss of the wrong life, when we are engaged in these kinds of operations," Gen.
Franks said. "If we're honest and we're sincere, we want to be lifelong learners from each one of these incidents."
Another incident occurred Jan. 23, when American troops raided 2 suspected enemy compounds, killing 16 men
& capturing 27 who turned out not to be Al Qaeda or Taliban forces. Nevertheless, the men in the compound
had fired upon American troops; Gen. Franks said the Americans did what they were trained to do, shoot back.
Asked about worries that the U.S. might be sliding into a Vietnam-like "quagmire," General Franks said, "We're a
long way from a quagmire in Afghanistan." The general said U.S. is doing what it has to do to defeat terrorism and
it is getting good cooperation from Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan. And he said that "hundreds" of reports come
into the Pentagon daily about the possible whereabouts of the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden
Afghan airspace "Taliban & al-Qaida fighters, we know where you are hiding," said a voice over frequency 850. "Taliban & al-Qaida fighters, you are our targets."
During the most intense combat undertaken by American troops so far in the Afghan war, the USAF is conducting
an electronic combat mission. "We're shooting electrons, not bullets," said an electronic warfare specialist, a Master Sergeant nicknamed D.J., who requested that his real name not be used. While the USAF has air superiority over Afghanistan, it's using highly specialized aircraft to achieve information superiority as well.
The plane called Commando Solo II attached to the 193rd Special Operations Wing of PA National Guard operated without fighter escorts from a classified forward base of operations. Its altitude & route are also classified. The broadcasting platform can transmit on AM, FM and short-wave frequencies. It's also an airborne TV station capable of using any of the 4 worldwide tv standards. Until recently, these electronic combat missions were considered "black ops", so secret that the crew was forbidden tell their wives or children about them. Commando Solo II's mission was the first electronic warfare combat flight on which journalists were permitted to travel.
The plane, the oldest Hercules aircraft in USAF inventory, is crammed with electronic gear, making it one of
heaviest C-130s still flying. Six 1kW & three 10kW transmitters occupy the back half of airplane. The
front half contains dozens of electronic instruments manned by electronic warfare officer & 3 electronic
communications specialists. Once over Afghan airspace, a conical device, or drogue, is lowered over 300 ft from
bottom of the aircraft. D.J. uses standard commercial minidisk player. He pushes play to begin broadcasting a
greeting in Dari & Pashto, main languages in Afghanistan. 4 minutes later, a broadcast is beamed down in
Arabic targeted at al-Qaida fighters. Then, over a speaker system in D.J.'s console, fast-paced local music is
played.
"Music has not been heard for years. It has huge psychological impact," said mission control chief identified as
Maj. John. Music was followed by carefully crafted statement about legitimacy of the Afghan govt. Other
messages suggested Taliban fighters surrender because Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar
& Osama bin Laden have themselves fled the battle. The goal is to destroy enemy's willingness to fight,
Maj. John said. The message is heard on the ground throughout much of Afghanistan. U.S. Army detachment
commander Capt. Mark Mauri was with 4th Psychological Operations group onboard the plane. Mauri, special
forces veteran, said, "We don't do actual propaganda, we use the truth."
PsyOps use country studies, intelligence reports, the current situation on the battle field and knowledge of the local population to shape their message. The broadcasts are targeted to "hit the heartstrings" of fighters who have family and loved ones back home, Mauri said. One radio script begins: "Attention soldiers of the Taliban! You do not have to risk your lives." Hard-core al-Qaida & Taliban fighters also hear: "Osama bin Laden has abandoned you … because he has no concern for your life … his life is more important than yours … he does not care if you die … he hides in safety waiting for your death. You are dying only for a man who has abandoned you." Do these messages work? Military officials point to the 1991 Gulf War, when an estimated 90,000 Iraqis, in interviews conducted by U.S. military intelligence, said they surrendered as a direct result of PsyOps messages.
The same officials say scores of Taliban now held at a U.S. detention facility in Guantanimo Bay in Cuba say they
surrendered after hearing PsyOps transmissions. Broadcasts are supplemented by leaflets dropped on the enemy by military planes. Special operations officials said their information warfare enhances the effectiveness of U.S. and coalition forces on the ground. They call it a "force multiplier." "If we get a thousand Taliban on the ground to surrender, that's a 1,000 fewer Taliban that American forces will have to fight," said Mauri. After an 8 hour tour of duty, the Commando Solo II returned to its classified base as preparations are made for the next day's flight.
Taking a cue from the media-savvy Iraqi insurgency, the Taliban has produced its first fund-raising, recruiting and training VCD shot entirely in Afghanistan. Taliban sources say that over the next few months, Mullah Mohammed Omar's anti-U.S. movement hopes to distribute hundreds of thousands of copies of the hour long VCD throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan and the wealthiest of the gulf states.
"We want to motivate people, make them emotional, so they'll join, contribute to and support our growing jihad against U.S. and their puppets in Afghanistan," says Zabihullah, a senior Taliban official based along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
The VCD, titled "Lions of Islam", a copy of which was obtained by NEWSWEEK, is thoroughly professional. Shots of silhouetted guerrillas armed with AK-47s and RPG launchers are accompanied by songs in Pashto. Groups of masked fighters in Afghan Army camouflage are shown taking target practice, firing mortars and antiaircraft missiles.
Getting the VCDs to their intended audience will be difficult for the Taliban. Because they lack access to industrial VCD manufacturers, supporters currently have to reproduce the VCDs by copying them one by one in small Pakistani video stores. They then have to be smuggled back inside Afghanistan, often inside the jackets of popular Bollywood movies, where, according to one Quetta shop owner who peddles the VCDs, they are sold clandestinely, "just like pornography."
'Water guy' is vital in Afghanistan
6.17.02 Patrick Quinn AP
Kandahar For U.S.-led coalition troops stationed in southern desert flats of Afghanistan, there is one enemy more merciless than the al-Qaida & Taliban. "Dehydration is the big problem. You can't do anything without water," said Canadian Sgt. Mark Pennie. In Afghanistan's drought-plagued southern regions, water is a commodity so precious that the lives of more than 5,000 coalition troops stationed in & around Kandahar air base constantly revolve around it. In the tents of combat troops, water containers vie with weapons & ammunition boxes for space. In dusty lanes & tent cities where officers & sergeants are known by names such as the "devil", the "rock" or "widow maker," the unassuming 36-year-old Pennie is simply known as "the water guy." A Canadian air force water & environmental technician, Pennie came to Afghanistan in February to supply pure drinking water for the 800 men of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group.
He set up what is considered to be the most advanced water purification system in South Asia, a $1 million
Canadian-made reverse osmosis purifying machine that supplies 1,300 gallons of pure water an hour, or about
15,850 gallons in the 12 hours that it runs per day. Using huge rubber containers appropriately called 'bladders,' he
has enough water on stock for 3 days. Although U.S. forces with the 101st Airborne's Task Force Rakassan
brought their own water purification systems, they soon broke down, victims of a variety of ills, including the ever-
present dust & sandstorms that wreak daily havoc on the base. Some are now used as generators to pump
well water through the Canadian system. "At first they didn't know about us. Now we're the only show in town," the
17-year veteran said in a recent interview.
Combat troops need about 2.6 gallons of water per day, he said, to be able to survive & fight effectively in the
unforgiving terrain where they operate. "You are limited by the ammunition you carry. Soldiers need to fight and
you don't realize how much water you need," Pennie said. A former tank driver, Pennie learned his skills in 1992
and has taken them to conflict areas in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.
He also tests water purity on the base and checks samples brought to him from surrounding areas.
"I've looked at the local water and the tests said it was sewage. The samples would fall into the waste water
category," he said. When locals assured him it was their best water, Pennie said, "Holy smokes, if this is good, I
don't want to see what bad looks like." Shortly after his arrival, Pennie set up the showers that have become a
godsend in a region where temperatures surpass 122 degrees. He also built a sewage system that allows troops to
use chemical toilets, which use chemicals rather than water, instead of "Thunder Boxes", wooden shacks with
barrels for human waste.
Pennie said the salt filters on his machine produce water that is more than 96 &%37; pure from a well next to his
facility. Without it, U.S. & coalition forces would have to airlift more than 224,000 pounds of water per day.
He is unsure what will happen to troops from the U.S. 82nd Airborne, who will replace the 101st & Canadians
next month and swell the base population to about 7,000. Pennie will be taking his miracle machine home when he
leaves in mid-July. "I hope they are thinking about it," he said.
U.S. asked to withdraw soldiers
1.19.00 Amir Shah AP
Kabul A Taliban-controlled newspaper reported Wednesday that suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden would end his "hostility" toward the U.S. if Washington withdraws its soldiers
from Saudi Arabia, site of 2 of Islam's holiest places. Bin Laden will stop opposing America once Washington pulls
its troops out of Saudi Arabia, the Taliban's official Pashtu-language weekly newspaper, The Shariat reported. The
article did not identify the source of the information. "If the U.S. withdraws its forces from Saudi Arabia, bin Laden
will stop opposing it, give up his hostility and offer his hand in friendship," the newspaper article said. Bin Laden,
who has taken refuge in Afghanistan, has declared a "jihad," or holy war, against the U.S. to protest the presence
of U.S. soldiers in his homeland. Washington accuses bin Laden of masterminding the bombing of its embassies in
Africa Aug. 1998 and is pressing Afghanistan's orthodox Islamic militia to hand him over to the U.S. or a third
country to stand trial.
But the Taliban say bin Laden is a guest and Afghan tradition forbids handing over a guest to his enemies. The
Taliban also say the U.S. has not given evidence of bin Laden's involvement in terrorism
and that if bin Laden is to stand trial, it should be in an Islamic court. "We cannot hand him over to a court of
infidels that cannot give him justice. If we do that, the name of the Afghan people will be blotted forever," the
newspaper said. However the newspaper article assured Washington that bin Laden would not be allowed to use
Afghanistan to conduct acts of terrorism. It also said bin Laden was not alone in his opposition to U.S. troops in
Saudi Arabia. The presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia is provoking anger among Muslims and hurting
their religious sentiment, the article said. It warned that Washington should avoid this.
The newspaper also assailed criticism from the West of the Taliban's human rights record and treatment of women,
who are denied access to jobs and education beyond the age of 8. "Why do they want us to leave Islam &
adopt their system?" the newspaper article asked. "They should leave us with our own system." The Taliban, who
rule 90% of Afghanistan, incl Kabul, follow a harsh version of Islam that forces men to wear beards and outlaws
most forms of light entertainment, including music and television. "Women & human rights are more safe in
Afghanistan than in the West. A veil gives dignity to women and does not violate their rights. In fact, the rampant
prostitution in the Western & Eastern countries is
the real abuse of women & undermines human rights," the newspaper article said. The Taliban, who are Sunni
Muslims and mostly Pashtun, Afghanistan's majority ethnic group, are fighting the northern-based opposition on
several fronts to extend their rule to the entire country. The opposition controls the remaining 10% of
Afghanistan and is made up of religious & ethnic minorities.
Taliban surrounded as Afghan clashes go on
8.30.03 Angie Ramos Reuters
Kabul Afghan & U.S. led special forces surrounded a group of Taliban fighters in southern
Zabul province after another day of persistent bombardment of rebel positions, a sr official said 8.30.03. As the
operation to hunt down hundreds of guerrillas from the ousted Islamic regime entered its 6th day, provincial
intelligence chief Khalil Hotak told Reuters at least 12 rebels had been killed in Friday's action, and 8 captured.
"The operation is ongoing," he said from Zabul. "Enemy forces are surrounded between Tangi Larzab &
Chinaran," he added, referring to locations in the Dai Chopan district of Zabul province where fighting has
concentrated.
Afghan officials claim well over 100 Taliban losses during the week, many of them killed by U.S. & allied
fighter jets and attack helicopters called in daily to support Afghan troops & U.S. special forces on the ground.
U.S. military spokesman Col Rodney Davis told reporters in Kabul at least 33 rebels had been killed in the first 3
days of fighting this week. He said clashes, which at times were "intense," were continuing on Saturday. "I would
not characterize every day, every moment as intense, but there are times during engagements where I would
certainly say the situation is tense," Davis said.
The group of up to 1,000 Taliban fighters is the largest concentration of militants seen since the regime fell in 2001.
The fighting extends a bloody few weeks in Afghanistan, where bomb attacks, raids on govt forces and factional
clashes claimed dozens of lives and undermined stability, particularly in the south & east of the country.
The Taliban has declared a "jihad," or holy war, against foreign troops & their allies in Afghanistan. U.S.
backed pres. Hamid Karzai says many of the rebels are crossing with impunity from neighboring Pakistan.
Pakistan says it is doing what it can to stem the flow of militants after it withdrew support for the Taliban in the wake
of 9.11.01. It has rounded up hundreds of Taliban & al Qaeda suspects.
Hotak said 8 Taliban were taken prisoner during the last 24 hours. He said that there were Arabs & Pakistanis
fighting with the Taliban, but not among those captured. A U.S. special operations soldier died 8.29.03 of injuries
sustained during operations in Zabul, and 2 more soldiers with U.S.-led forces have been injured in the fighting. A
handful of Afghan troops have been reported wounded.
U.S. military contributes about 10,000 troops to the 12,500-strong force hunting remnants of Taliban & al
Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden it once sheltered.
Qalat, Afghanistan … 4 U.S. soldiers have been killed during fighting in less than 2 weeks.
In the south, U.S fighter jets & helicopters pummeled entrenched rebel positions for a seventh day in the
mountains of Zabul province. … U.S. warplanes bombed the Dai Chupan district area for 3 hours before
dawn, then carried out several more bombing sorties before noon. Afghan soldiers sweeping the area after dawn
… , said southern Zabul province intelligence chief Khalil Hotak. … He spoke to AP at an operations
center in provincial capital Qalat 70 km (42 miles) south of the fighting.
… The Dai Chupan district, an area of rugged mountain gorges and ridges, is believed to be Taliban
stronghold from where they launch operations in neighboring provinces. An Afghan military commander speaking
from Larzab, one of the front-line locations in the battle, said Sunday that intelligence from an informer among the
Taliban indicated more Taliban reinforcement fighters had arrived in the area. "We have information that more than
250 Taliban entered Dai Chupan district from the neighboring district of Mizan," said Gen. Haji Saifullah Khan,
speaking with AP by satellite phone.
U.S. allied Afghan forces have also brought in reinforcements, increasing their numbers from 500 to 800 soldiers,
Hotak said. He said hundreds of American troops were in Dai Chupan on Sunday, up from his earlier reports of up
to 70 Americans. The U.S. military didn't confirm either number. The coalition has 11,500 soldiers hunting down
Taliban and al-Qaida fighters, mainly in the south & east of the country.
The offensive against Taliban in Dai Chupan launched 8.25.03; Afghan officials said U.S. warplanes bombed a
mountain hideout near Dozai, killing at least 14 insurgents. Fighting since spilled into other areas in the district.
Fighting in Paktika province 8.31.03 came when U.S. troops patrolling northwest of the border town of Shkin came
under attack from insurgents, the military said in a statement. 3 soldiers were wounded in the initial assault.
A U.S. rapid reaction force was called in and a 90-minute firefight followed. 2 U.S. A-10 warplanes were called in
for air support but didn't open fire, the military said. 2 of the wounded soldiers later died, and the third was rushed
to Bagram Air Base, U.S. military Afghanistan HQ, for treatment, the military said.
A U.S. special ops soldier was killed 8.28.03 in a fall during the fighting in Zabul province. A week earlier another
U.S. soldier was killed in combat in eastern Afghanistan. In all, 35 U.S. soldiers have been killed in action in
Afghanistan, and 162 wounded due to hostilities, the U.S. military said.
Un-Central Command criticized USMC report calls FL HQ too far from action
6.3.02 Thomas E. Ricks Wash.Post
Some in the U.S. military are concluding the sprawling command structure used in the war in Afghanistan, with
troops getting orders from a time zone or even half a world away, has been cumbersome and has created
unnecessary friction between military leaders & commanders on the ground. In an official report on the first 8
months of the war, USMC depicts major U.S. war HQ Central Command based 7,000 miles from Afghanistan in
Tampa, as distant & troublesome overseer. This command structure has been unique feature of the
Afghanistan campaign, departing from past conflicts, including the Gulf War, in which U.S. military
commanders moved their headquarters closer to the battlefield.
The unusual command setup resulted in frequent differences between Central Command and lower headquarters,
not only the Marines but also with Combined Air Operations Ctr in Saudi Arabia, which ran the air war. The
differences, coupled with the time differences between Tampa & the war zone, wore down staffs at the
operations center & elsewhere in the region. The workday of 14 to 16 hours "was largely due to the need to
interface with multiple staffs in different time zones," the Marine report said.
The report is one of several being compiled by the military services on their experiences in Afghanistan, seeking to
draw out what lessons they have learned. The reports are being written to help the Pentagon study how to better
fight the next phase in the war on terrorism. It is standard practice for the U.S. military to review its performance in
any major action, and the reports on the opening phase of the Afghan war are still being drafted. Wash.Post
obtained a copy of the Marine command chronology, which offers several lessons the Marines are already acting
on, and interviewed officials involved from the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The conclusions about problems within the command structure are stated most sharply in the Marine report.
The problem of higher staffs grinding down lower ones from afar is a genuine one that needs to be addressed, a
four-star general said. "It's insatiable, and it really is a downside of instant communication," he said.
Not everyone in the war has found the command structure troubling. Army's Fifth Special Forces Group
commander Col. John Mulholland, who spent 6 months in & around Afghanistan, said the distant command
did not hurt his ability to fight. "It's a reality that's just got to be accepted," he said.
"This was simply a fact of life," agreed Central Command spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley. To keep the
Pentagon & White House informed, he explained, "every forward-deployed element . . . needed to adjust their
daily battle rhythm, to some extent, to accommodate this reality." Particularly irksome to the Marines was a
"force cap" imposed by Central Command on Nov. 29, 4 days after the Marines landed at an airstrip in the
southern Afghan desert that became the first base in Afghanistan for regular U.S. forces. According to the Marine
report, Central Command ordered that there should be no more than 1,000 Marines and sailors at the base.
The result was that rather than focus on fighting, Marine commanders had to stop moving forces
into the base and instead figure out how to stay below the cap by sending some back to ships 350 miles
away. "When it was initially imposed, it was a surprise," said Marine Brig. Gen. James N. Mattis, who
commanded the operation.
In an interview, Mattis said Central Command never made its rationale clear. "I never really got" an explanation for
the cap, he said. Quigley offered a slightly different account. He said the Marines were never given a "specific
numbers cap" but were "constantly" reminded of "the importance of keeping their footprint small." The purpose, he
said, was to help them maintain their ability to move quickly and not establish a big base that would require lots of
protection.
When the Marines moved their base from the airstrip to the southern city of Kandahar in December, Central
Command again tried to impose a force cap, according to the Marine report. The document implies that the
Marines ignored the order. "It ceased to be addressed as a higher headquarters consideration," the report
said. Another source of friction came from a Central Command directive to remove the U.S. flag flying over the
desert airstrip. "The order to take the flag down came from Tampa," the Marine report said. Mattis said the order
"wasn't received well" by Marines at the base, who repeatedly questioned him about it.
The near-unanimous finding of the service reports is that the star of the war has been the U.S. Special Operations
forces and their comrades in similar foreign special operations units. At one point, almost 2,000 special operations
troops from various countries were inside Afghanistan, said one official, who called the Afghan war "the Olympics of
Special Ops." As a result, every service is studying how to work more closely and more often with Special Forces.
"The era of Special Forces has arrived," states the Army Personnel Command's Web site on Special Forces officer
assignments.
The Marine narrative tells the story of a new relationship, fostered in Afghanistan, between the Corps and Special
Operations forces. The Navy also is thinking about working more closely with Special Operations, a senior Navy
official said. The sea service is considering whether to dedicate an aircraft carrier to carrying Special Operations
helicopters, as the USS Kitty Hawk did during the initial weeks of the Afghan war. One possibility, a Navy official
said, is to convert the 42-year-old USS Constellation from a regular aircraft carrier into a Special Operations carrier,
from which both helicopters & Navy jets could fly.
The Air Force seems to be looking as much at back-office issues such as refueling and airlift as at what it learned
in combat. The Afghan war is first in which, for the first several months, everything that the military used was
flown to the battlefield, usually from several thousand miles away, said Air Force Col. Fred Wieners, deputy
director of Task Force Enduring Look, which was established last Sept. to collect the Air Force's lessons. One
problem the Air Force encountered, Wieners said, is that as the war loomed, commanders overseas wanted
combat forces as fast as possible, and so asked for them first. It would have been more useful to have
equipt & communications specialists sent first, he said.
The lessons released by the Army focus mainly on how well the service is doing in training and equipping its
troops. But behind the scenes, some in the Army are examining how to fix some of the problems encountered in
the offensive against al Qaeda in the Shahikot valley in eastern Afghanistan, in early March. Delays in some
airstrikes were a major concern, said 2 officers involved in that battle. Troops engaged with the enemy always got
air support within 5 minutes, but for other airstrikes, such as hitting a suspected mortar position so troops could
move in its direction, average response time was 40 minutes, one of the officers said. Some strikes took as long as
4 hours, he added. The delays seemed to come from bottlenecks in the process of getting
approval to hit targets. That "target clearance problem" flared into public view in November after Air
Force officers complained that Central Command took so long to approve strikes that as many as 10 opportunities
to hit al Qaeda & Taliban targets had been lost. "Those discussions [about speeding clearances] are ongoing
even as we speak," Wieners said.
The head of the U.S. military central command Gen. Tommy Franks says he does not know if accounts of atrocities
committed by US allies in Afghanistan are true or not. Afghan commanders of the Northern Alliance are alleged to
have killed more than 1,000 Taleban prisoners during fighting in northern Afghanistan Nov. 2001.
U.S. has pressed Afghan Govt of President Hamid Karzai to investigate what happened at Sheberghan, and Gen.
Franks said he believed Kabul was launching an inquiry into the allegations.
Reports say as many as 1,000 Taleban soldiers taken prisoner by forces loyal to Northern Alliance commander
General Abdul Rashid Dostam are buried near the town. An initial investigation by the UN has confirmed the
existence of a mass grave and exhumed the bodies of 3 men, who it concluded had died of suffocation.
General Franks is in Kabul to visit troops from his central command deployed in Kabul and in south-eastern
Afghanistan where they continue to mount operations against suspected remnants of the Taleban & al Qaeda
forces. He said the Karzai govt was sending investigators to northern Afghanistan and only when they report their
findings would the facts be known. "Our experience of operating in Afghanistan is … there have been a lot of
stories on the streets," he said, "in each case, the right thing to do is for people to go take a look and then we will
decide what we find."
Human rights activists say as many as 1,000 Taleban prisoners died when they were loaded into shipping
containers to be taken from the city of Kunduz to the prison at Sheberghan. BBC's Kylie Morris says the Afghan
Govt, which includes several senior Northern Alliance figures, has indicated it is prepared to investigate the alleged
atrocities.
General Franks was unable to discuss what legal responsibility the US might bear if its allies are found to have
committed violations of the Geneva Conventions, describing that as "a policy level issue".
Kabul Throughout Afghanistan's history, factions that were once friends have become enemies...and
vice versa. Today, as the interim govt attempts to unify a nation of tribal leaders, warlords, and power
brokers, it's hard to tell the players without a scorecard. But one enemy in Afghanistan is reliable...and can be
counted on to strike any who cross it. That enemy is the land-mine. There are millions of mines all over the
country...and, as The World's Quil Lawrence reports, clearing them is one of the govt's highest
priorities.
Land mines are a part of life here. Many Afghans have never known a world without them. Still, that diodn't reduce
the heartbreak felt across Kabul a few days ago at the news of another fatality. A young boy had wandered inot a
mine field north of the capital. The mine didn't kill him right away but he bled to death before the Red Cross could
find a safe path through the mines to save him. 19 Afghan de-miners walk in a line with long sticks, prodding the
brush. Mines are usually only laid around battlefields, but, in Afghanistan, that's most the country including Kabul
Intl airport. A known minefield lines the perimeter of the runways and the whole area is littered with shells, flares
and bombs, known as "UXO" unexploded ordinance.
"When one man finds a UXO, he raises his hands and screams 'UXO', and all the line stops. You'll all the time see
them on their straight line." The goal of Danish de-mining group dir. Jurgen Sorenson in Kabul is to make himself
redundant by training local workers to the point where they themselves can train de-miners. But there is a lot to
learn. Each time one of the de-miners spots something metallic, a more speciallized member of the team steps in
to see if it's just junk, which he picks up and throws in a pile, or if the discovery is something more threatening. This
painstaking and slow method is the only safe way to clear the airfield. As for the country, Sorenson says it may
never be completely demined. "Every country that has the mine has the same problem. No matter if there is one
million or ten mines, it depends on how much area is closed for civilians. No matter if there are a thousand or one
mine here, it is a minefield."
Some minefields in remote areas may be simply marked and left off limits. Sorenson says clearing roads and useful
land is a priority. The Kabul airport tops the list. All the promised aid to Afghanistan to help rebuild has to come by
air. Clearing runways is key to the process. After the airport, the roads to major citiies are next. Discovery of a
damaged rocket grenade sends the crew walking up the runway to shelter. Some munitions can be excavated and
moved to a demolitions site. But anything armed or damaged must be destroyed in place. The de-miners get
behind metal containers well donwn the strip as a guard makes sure things are secure. It's a bit chaotic. An
unknown man on a bicycle comes riding down the taxiway and must be warned off. A few minutes before the
detonation, a plane comes in to land on the shorter, cleared section of the runway. The grenade leaves a plume of
black smoke and the Afghan de-miners come out for a cup of tea. The Danish group's policy mandates they take a
ten minute break every 2 hours to keep everyone alert. Adbul Rachman, manning the megaphone, says he was a
soldier for years before he started to clean up after Afghanistan's wars. He recalls all the places he has worked
over the last 7 years as well as the different armies he served in before. Some members of the team fought in the
communist army, others with the mujahedeen against the Soviets. Some even fought for the Taliban. Now they
have a job which is more enjoyable, honored among Afghans and well paid by local standards at $150 per month.
Next up for the de-miners is destroying a Soviet cluster bomblet, one of the hundreds of small charges which
spread out from a cluster bomb, The munitions here almost write a history of the country, Soviet bombs &
mines, grenades from the internecine wars, and, now, freshly laid bombs from the U.S.
The Danish de-mining group has just returned from Jalabad where they began a survey of the latest round of
bombing. Just in that region they estimate 3 thousand new unexploded bomblets need clearing. These can be
more dangerous than mines, says Sorenson, because they are less predictable. "We know from Kosovo that they
cause a lot of casualties. These type of bomblets actually cause more casualties than mine accidents." The airport
in Kabul shows plenty signs of the latest war. Besides dozens of wrecked planes, there is a hole where a 2
thousand lb. bomb crashed through the concrete and didn't go off. The whole project has taken weeks of work
already. Sorenson estimates they have finished only about 5% of the job.
U.S. special forces, Afghans confiscate weapons
Prisoners' information said preventing attacks
1.23.02 Ellen Knickmeyer AP
Kandahar, Afghanistan U.S. special forces and their Afghan allies confiscated thousands of
weapons from a local warlord Wednesday, officials said, as troops pressed the search for Taliban and al-Qaeda
renegades in southern Afghanistan. At the U.S. military base outside Kandahar, the FBI director said members of
Osama bin Laden's terror network detained here have provided valuable information that has prevented new
attacks against U.S. targets worldwide.
In the southern province of Helmand, anti-Taliban fighters & U.S. special forces searched house-to-house in
four villages looking for al-Qaeda & Taliban renegades, incl deposed Islamic militia's supreme leader Mullah
Mohammed Omar, according to Afghan sources. The search turned up no trace of Omar, who refused to turn over
bin Laden for his role in 9.11.01. However, special forces &Amp; their Afghan allies confiscated about 2,000
weapons ranging from small arms to heavy artillery, according to Kandahar aide Khalid Pashtun.
Gov. Gul Agha Pashtun said the weapons were taken without incident Wednesday from Haji Bashar, a local
warlord in Helmand province, as part of a campaign to bolster security in the region.
Helmand and other southern provinces were Taliban strongholds and among the last areas handed over by the
Islamic militia after it collapsed last year following intense American airstrikes and attacks by the U.S.-backed
northern alliance. The U.S.-led coalition has been trying to get weapons out of the hands of local warlords whose support for the new interim Afghan govt is in doubt. The U.S. has allied itself with other power brokers, including Agha, in hopes they can maintain order and work with the central govt in Kabul.
Last week, efforts to collect weapons triggered brief clashes near the northern city of Kunduz with local leaders who did not want to surrender their guns, Afghan sources said on condition of anonymity. After the Taliban collapse, hundreds of prisoners were taken to the U.S. base at Kandahar airport for interrogation and ultimately for transfer to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
During an unannounced visit Wednesday to the Kandahar base, FBI dir. Robt Mueller said some of those prisoners had provided valuable information that has helped authorities prevent new terrorist attacks. "Information we have picked up since the war has prevented additional attacks around the world," Mueller said. "Interrogations from al-Qaeda members detained here in Afghanistan as well as documents ... has prevented additional attacks against U.S. facilities around the world." Mueller refused to elaborate.
However, one prisoner, al-Qaeda training camp commander Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi, spoke of plots to
bomb the U.S. Navy base in Bahrain and the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, according to U.S. & Yemeni officials. Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi spoke of the Navy plot, said two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Authorities, however, aren't sure if the threat was real. The officials also confirmed that al-Libi provided information about al-Qaeda plans to use a truck bomb to blow up the embassy this week. U.S. officials said it was unclear if the plot had been verified and had no information on any arrests or discovery of bomb materials by Yemeni officials.
Last month, Singapore authorities arrested suspects they said were plotting attacks against the U.S. Embassy and other targets. The authorities said handwritten notes and a videotape found in Afghanistan helped lead them to the suspects.
In Washington, a sr defense official said the Pentagon held off on sending more al-Qaeda & Taliban figures
from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay for security reasons. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. At the
camp itself, its top commander said it was to enable the military to concentrate on the interrogations.
With 158 there now, the makeshift prison is reaching capacity, and officials fear it might be easier for the captives to make trouble if they were doubled up in cells while more are being built, he said.
U.S.-led Afghanistan campaign commander Gen. Tommy Franks said the U.S. is not planning a permanent military presence. In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Franks said the U.S. would work with regional leaders to determine how long a U.S. military presence would remain. "We have no plans to build a permanent military base" in Central Asia, he told reporters.
Although the U.S. bombing campaign is largely over ¹ , U.S. special forces
have intensified the search for remaining Taliban & al-Qaeda members. The search has been complicated by rivalries among tribal leaders, some of whom switched sides during the fighting last year. In Khost, several warlords are competing for recognition by the U.S.-backed govt of Hamid Karzai.
On Wednesday, Afghan Islamic Press, based in Pakistan, reported fighters loyal to one of them, Zakim Khan, had captured most govt, military and intelligence facilities in Khost from loyalists of a bitter rival, Bacha Khan Zadran. Zakim Khan told the agency that he wanted Karzai to send a delegation to mediate the standoff.
But Amanaullah Zadran, brother of Bacha Khan and the govt's minister of border & tribal affairs, said by telephone that his brother's forces were in complete control and that there had been no fighting. Amanullah said 3 tribes told Khan to leave Khost by Thursday. Other Afghan sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed tensions were running high in the Khost area, where Army Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, first U.S. soldier killed in combat, was killed in an ambush 1.04.02.
In other developments:
Accused American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh arrived in U.S. evening 1.23.02 and
was set to appear in federal court next day to face conspiracy & other charges.
UN Sec.Gen K.Annan arrived 1.23.02 in Pakistan for talks with Pakistani leaders on Afghanistan.
Annan will go to Afghanistan Friday.
Pakistan tentatively agreed to allow U.S. & allies full access to country's largest airport as hub for Afghan operations.
China offered to provide economic assistance to rebuild Afghanistan.
There are inevitably myriad references to nations bordering landlocked Afghanistan throughout this page, not
least Pakistan or much less Iran. Please use browser Search function to fully locate references to any
neighbor of interest.
Kipling's day is long forgotten on the NW frontier Western liberals are holding on to a fantasy when they see Islamic fundamentalism as inevitable
2.24.02 Jason Burke The Observer
Peshawar The Colonel pointed to the distant ridge, as sharp against the bleached sky as his
whiskers' waxed points. 'The enemy are there,' he said in perfect Sandhurst tones before clicking his fingers for a
refill of our china teacups. He pointed at a chart hung on the tent's green canvas wall. 'My chaps are pushing up
here,' he said and gestured into the white light outside. It was extremely hot. In the distance, a line of khaki infantry
were working their way across a pink-flecked field of flowering opium poppy, bashing the green plants flat. The
scene, to anyone raised on Kipling and Carry On films, was a parody of a parody, the Raj come to life. Nothing
changes on the North West Frontier.
Next week, Pakistan celebrates the centenary of the North West Frontier Province, carved off as a self-governing
bloc where the truculent tribesmen who had successfully resisted colonial rule for decades could look after
themselves and, it was hoped, act as a useful buffer against Russian imperial expansion. Indeed, in much of the
province, govt authority, then as now, was legally restricted to the roads. Apart from that, the only law was
that of the tribe & the gun. Opium may have been grown in the province for centuries but the explosion in
cultivating the drug, and the manufacture of its derivative, heroin, has come only in the past two decades.
It is easy to dismiss the current fundamentalism of many of the Pashtun tribes here as endemic. But it is not. The
recent support shown for the Taliban and for Osama bin Laden is not merely the latest manifestation of a centuries-
old tradition. If it were, then the chances of countering the growing fundamentalism of the estimated 25 million
people of the province, and elsewhere in the world, would be slim indeed. In fact, religious extremism in the Khyber
can be countered. And if it can be dealt with there, it can be dealt with anywhere.
Kabul Afghanistan's nomadic Kuchi tribes say they are the most under-valued & most widely-
abused ethnic minority in the country. The tribes that roam the country have always been a significant part of
Afghan culture, but nobody knows their exact numbers. Their ancient lifestyle has made few concessions to the
21st century, but they have been hit hard by the relatively modern war of recent decades. They fear that they will
be under-represented in the Loya Jirga
Each year the Pashto-speaking nomads load their possessions onto camel trains. Then they drive their flocks of
sheep & goats from the warm winter pastures in the lowlands to the high green fields of the Hindu Kush for
summer. Their annual migrations have taken them across front lines and through minefields, and they have paid a
heavy price. One Kuchi elder, Allah Gul, said their families & their flocks have been cut to pieces. "It all causes
us problems. Mines kill the children, the animals. Everything. Fighting is always a difficulty for us," he said.
"And then there's been the past 7 years of drought. It's been very hard."
That they are constantly on the move across length & breadth of the country means that they are almost
impossible to count. Without clear number, nobody knows how many seats to allocate them in grand council.
The Kuchis allocation is 26 seats out of a total of 1501. "During [former President] Najibullah's govt, we Kuchis
received about 5 million identity cards, and now we've grown to be about 8 million," said Allah Gul. "The seats
they've given us are not enough, and our leaders say we need more. They're very worried about it," he said.
UN Special Mission to Afghanistan political affairs officer Thomas Ruttig says the Kuchi figures are probably
exaggerated. one of Loya Jirga commission key officials responsible for organising the meeting, says they have
done their best to keep the process fair and open "We can only work with what we have," he said. "We have been
working with scientists from the academy of sciences, we have historians, we have law professors, and they have
used all available material to find out what every group's share is. In the case of the Kuchis, they have taken the
example of the former parliaments & former Loya Jirgas and allocated a percentage as it was before," Mr
Ruttig said. He admits the process is far from perfect, but he also insists that it is working.
The Kuchis say despite their concerns they may be willing to accept their allocation, if only for the sake of national
unity. There has been too much war and fighting for one group to destroy the process because it feels under-
represented. And elders like Allah Gul admit that to disrupt the process could mean unravelling the fragile peace.
It is better to have govt they can negotiate &and work with in peace, he said, than one which is too
preoccupied fighting battles to care for its people.
The stakes are highest for Pakistan, a nuclear-capable state which has never lost its post-colonial hangover.
Pakistan woke up after the bloody binge of partition wondering not just 'where am I?' but 'who am I?' and seems
still to be seeking the answer. Both the fundamentalists and Pakistan's military leader, President Pervez Musharraf,
are hoping to provide one. Musharraf wants a democratic, pluralist, moderate Islamic nation (and for this he
deserves more credit than he receives from left-leaning liberals in Britain who maintain a kneejerk opposition to his
military rule).
Musharraf believes the North West's lurch into religious radicalism was not inevitable. He knows that for centuries
the traditional religious culture of the Pashtuns has been different from that of bin Laden and his Saudi-influenced
Wahhabis or the Taliban with their brand of Deobandi sect militancy.
Although the tribes of the frontier province have ridden to battle many times under the green flag of Islam, religion
has never been their prime motivation, whether they fought the Sikhs, the British or my colonel with the waxed
moustache. It was the desire for loot & land or, as often as not, sheer bloody-minded particularism in the face
of attempts to curtail their autonomy, that drove them to their swords, jezzails or, latterly, rocket-launchers.
Musharraf also knows that over the past 30 years every Pakistani leader has looked to the fundamentalists to
bolster their positions. Fundamentalist leaders, few of whom show genuine commitment to faith, have found fertile
ground in Pakistan, and particularly in the North West where poverty, illiteracy and a culture of violence have drawn
thousands to the certainties of radical Islam.
Pashtun tribal leaders, their patriarchal power undermined by new threats, have been happy to support the
hardliners, so providing an element of legitimacy for a novel and alien ideology. But there is nothing inevitable
about this process. Like the growth of an opium poppy, fundamentalism needs nurturing. And it, too, can be rooted
out. This means the crowds of angry young men who jostled and spat at me in the bazaars of Peshawar last
autumn are not an inevitable element of the political landscape. It also means that the green head-scarved fighters
firing in the air at the funerals in Gaza and the devotees of sharia law in Nigeria (who want to stone rape victims to
death) are not inevitable either.
What we in the West need to guard against is the belief that fundamentalism is an inevitable fact of life in certain
parts of the world. If you were raised on Kiplingesque tales of derring-do on the frontier, with visions of hawk-nosed
turbanned men who were cunning and untrustworthy but great fighters and horsemen, loyal to Allah and their tribe
alone, then that makes it all the harder. It is too easy for us to accept the cliches and dismiss the North West
Frontier Province as beyond help. Those who scratch a living among its bleached and blasted hills deserve much
better.
Wana, Pakistan An al-Qaeda intelligence chief was killed in Pakistan's massive military sweep
through western tribal areas to root out members of Osama bin Laden's terror network & the Taliban, a
military official said Sunday. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan identified the intelligence chief only as
Abdullah. When pressed for details, including Abdullah's full name and nationality, Sultan said he had no more
information.
The military declared the operation in South Waziristan province over on Sunday, and claimed it was a success. Some 167 suspects were arrested, but hundreds of other militants are still at large. Uzbek terrorist leader Tahir Yuldash was reportedly
wounded in the assault but escaped.
Sultan said the army had confirmed Abdullah's death through "independent intelligence sources" but would not say if it had his body. Abdullah is a common name in the Islamic world, and it was impossible to know which of many al-Qaeda and other terror suspects Sultan might be referring to.
Sultan said that 63 militants were killed in the operation, and 167 arrested, including 73 foreigners. Security officials had said Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs were among them. He said 46 troops were killed and 26 injured.
Villagers have begun returning to their homes after seeking shelter in Wana and other villages during the operation, when thousands of Pakistani forces battled hundreds of foreign & local militants. Some tribesmen demanded compensation Monday for property they said had been damaged and looted in the operation, Pakistan's biggest & bloodiest to flush al-Qaeda fugitives.
"I do not know whose rocket hit my house. I do not know who looted my home during the military operation, but I
think the govt is responsible for it," said Mohammed Alam, 43, a resident in the Azam Warsak area, which
was a focus of the military operation.
Sultan said troops had only demolished the homes of tribesmen who sheltered terrorists, but conceded that some other houses could have come under attack. He denied the claims of looting.
While Pakistani troops have withdrawn from the target area of the operation, they have not pulled out of South
Waziristan, which sits along the Afghan border. Sultan said some of the militants had "dispersed into smaller
groups" and would not be allowed to regroup.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf sent 70,000 troops to the border with Afghanistan since 9.11.01 to prevent cross-border attacks. U.S. & Afghan forces have been deployed on the other side of the border as part of a new offensive against al-Qaeda & Taliban forces there.
Hard-liners renew call for Rushdie's death
2.15.02 World BriefsDetroit Newswahabi
TEHRAN, Iran A hard-line group has renewed a call for the killing of prize-winning British novelist
Salman Rushdie, saying the religious edict condemning him to death was irrevocable, a conservative newspaper
reported Thursday. Iran's late revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa, or Islamic edict,
against Rushdie on 2.14.89. Khomeini ordered Muslims to kill the Indian-born author because Rushdie had
allegedly insulted Islam in his best-selling novel, The Satanic Verses.
FBI take 6 off list of terrorists
2.15.02 Dan Eggen Wash.Post
Wash.D.C. The FBI 2.14.02 Thu. removed 6 men from a list of 17 suspected terrorists identified
in an extraordinary terrorism alert Monday after officials confirmed that the six were being held in Yemeni jails. 5 of
the 6 men were shown in photographs distributed to law enforcement agencies and media worldwide as part of a
warning that a suspected al-Qaida operative and his associates may have been planning attacks in the U.S. or
Yemen. The warning said the men "should be considered extremely dangerous." FBI officials said they did not
learn until Thu. that the 6 are apparently the same as those listed in Monday's global alert, a law enforcement
official said.
Bush's remarks undercut Iran's reformers
'Axis of evil' comment emboldens opponents of change, mutes dialogue
2.15.02 Barbara Slavin USA Today
Iranian Hossein Mirshaki wants to see his country restore relations with the U.S.. That's why he wishes President
Bush hadn't labeled Iran a member of an "axis of evil." "Bush's remarks were counterproductive," Mirshaki, a 30-
year-old journalist, said in an e-mail from Tehran. "They angered the people who support rapprochement with the
U.S. and made those opposed happy." Until Bush made the "evil" remark Jan. 29 in his State of the Union address,
an increasing number of Iranians had been hoping that U.S.-Iranian cooperation to oust the Taliban from
Afghanistan would lead to restoring ties broken in 1980 after Iranians seized hostages from the U.S. Embassy.
Many Iranians, fed up with their govt, see America as a model for political & economic freedom.
After 9.11.01, there were even some spontaneous pro-American demonstrations in Tehran. Meanwhile,
demonstrations organized by the Iranian govt against the U.S. on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic
revolution had lost their fervor. This week, however, huge anti-U.S. protests were staged throughout Iran, as
Iranians responded to what many regarded as a "dissing" of their 2,500-year-old nation. The protesters chanted
"Death to America!" and "Death to Bush!"
In his speech, Bush charged that "an unelected few" in Iran seek nuclear
weapons and "repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom." His reference was to senior Muslim clerics who
control Iran's security and defense policies. But the short-term impact has been to undercut popularly elected
reformers who had been pushing for closer relations with the U.S.
"The effect of the president's remarks has been to embolden all the opponents of reform," said Chas Freeman,
president of the Middle East Policy Council. "This is the unintended consequence of rhetoric meant for a U.S.
audience."
Bush's remarks also appeared to undercut Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has been lobbying for overtures
toward Iran. Powell said he still wants Iran to begin a dialogue with the U.S. "We want the best for the people of
Iran," Powell told a Senate hearing. He added that he hopes reform leaders will prevail. As recently as January, the Bush administration had been considering ending U.S. opposition to Iran's membership in the World Trade
Organization. Iranians say membership would boost reform.
Afghan women's group tackles change, slowly Organization says women still suffer after Taliban rule
3.9.02 Charlene Gubash NBC News
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Despite early euphoria over the Taliban downfall, conditions have not
significantly improved for Afghan women beyond the capital, says an Afghan women's group. "The fundamentalists
are again in power. The Taliban & the Northern Alliance are the same," says activist Danish Hamid.
"We have reports of raping, killing, kidnapping and fighting in many cities. Only in areas of Kabul where there are
foreign troops is there security," Hamid says. "Women don't feel secure. They wear burkas because they are afraid
of the 'Jihadis' (holy warriors). They don't go to parks and they don't go out." Hamid, a willowy, soft-spoken pre-med
student, speaks with steely resolve. She is an active member of the Revolutionary Association of Women of
Afghanistan, or RAWA. And the group's goals are nothing short of revolutionary. They have struggled for more
than a decade under a series of brutal regimes, Soviet proxies, warlords, the Taliban & now Northern Alliance
leaders to provide health care & education for Afghan women and to secure women's rights & a
democratic, secular govt. When founder Meena Keshwar Kamal was killed in the Pakistani border city of Quetta,
reportedly by Islamic fundamentalist group Hizb-e-Islami in 1987, the women took their activities underground.
clandestine activities
In Afghanistan, they clandestinely home-teach girls and train women in handicrafts and operate small home-
based orphanages & medical facilities. Members videotape & photograph acts of violence against
women. Their pictures of the Taliban execution of an Afghan woman were seen worldwide. The web site documents post-Taliban violence. In Pakistan, their
members still receive death threats and work from friends' homes using mobile phones to coordinate schools,
literacy & training programs, orphanages, hospitals and political activities. Hamid & her colleagues argue
that the warlords incorporated into the new govt are as repressive as the Taliban. "We support Hamid Karzai but
key positions have been given to the Jihadis (holy warriors). We see the govt hasn't changed. The
fundamentalists are still in power. Taliban & the Northern Alliance are the same, even more
dangerous for young girls. We have seen their crimes."
Afghan women who have fled to Pakistan are still afraid to return home. "Until now there is no security to go back,
the fundamentalists & Jihadis are still in power," says Diba, a long-time refugee. Hamid & her colleagues
fear that only the presence of foreign troops restrains rival warlords from returning to the lawless pre-Taliban days.
"Now it's only foreign pressure that causes them to ask for democracy & women's rights. Maybe they deceive
the outside world but not our people," Hamid says. For that reason, RAWA members want to expose alleged war
criminals by bringing them to justice in international tribunals. Their wanted list includes former Taliban leader
Mullah Mohammed Omar, former Pres. Burhanuddin Rabbani and warlord Gulbuddin Hikmetyar. They have had
modest success so far. The regional govt of Spain's northwestern Basque country signed a memorandum of
understanding in support of their attempts to try war criminals. RAWA will press its case before the UN.
political hang-ups
While RAWA's vision of a secular, democratic Afghanistan would seem to coincide with Western interests, potential
donors are willing to support their social programs but not their political agenda. But Hamid believes only political
change can lead to social change. Although some donors are daunted by the use of the word "Revolutionary" in the
group's name, she argues that it is revolutionary to struggle for women's rights in Afghanistan. In the meantime,
Hamid is helping to secure a better life for Afghan refugees living in poverty in Pakistan's capital city, Islamabad.
Herself a refugee at age 3, Hamid helps supervise 25-bed Malali hospital where about 200 Afghans are treated
daily on an out-patient basis.
At night, we found few patients in bed. Children & women were happily chatting in each others' rooms. Malali's
4 doctors are dedicated but under-equipped. The surgeon had to clean an abscess wound with one hand because
he had only one sterile glove. In the operating room, the smell of formaldehyde stings the eyes, but it is the
cheapest disinfectant available. RAWA's programs depend on the generosity of individuals & small groups,
mainly from the U.S. & Europe.
refugees find hope, love
Before leaving the hospital, Hamid picked up a new mother & her sixth child, a baby boy wrapped snugly
in blue & white swaddling. Hamid was taking her to a guest house where she will sleep before going to have a
tubal ligation done the next day. "He is a beautiful baby," exclaims a foreign medical student. "You can take him
with you," the mother replies. On to an orphanage run by RAWA. Little plastic sandals lay outside the door of a
cozy living room where 30 children sit riveted to a television screen. They jump up and politely shake hands,
intrigued by their foreign visitor. A husband & wife with kindly faces, refugees themselves, care for the
children, who attend a school run by RAWA. 6 children stand to proudly sing something they've learned in class:
"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Older boys & girls sing a tribute to RAWA's founder. All but 2 of the children are
war orphans whose extended families live in bare tents. But these people have become their family. "We
are just like brothers & sisters," says 10-year-old Gobar.
Although a secular, democratic Afghanistan may be a tall order at present, on a smaller scale Hamid & her
colleagues are winning the war for hearts & minds. When asked whether girls & boys should be treated
the same, 13-year-old Sahira doesn't skip a beat. "We should have the same education and equal rights to play
& go to school."
Westside women, girls reach out to Afghans
Feminist Majority Fndtn 888.939.6636 organizes school fund-raisers to support underground education in mostly Taliban-controlled
country
3.30.01 Tami Min L.A.Times
West Hollywood Intl politics have entered into the minds and hands of young
girls like Adia Pickens, 13, who had nightmares after hearing a description of what life is like for
girls and women in Afghanistan. "It's just disgusting how they treat women," she said. So Adia
donated $5 to a "back-to-school" fund-raiser sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation as
part its "Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan." The national women's rights
organization, which has offices in Los Angeles & Washington, D.C., launched the nationwide
fund-raiser earlier this month at West Hollywood City Hall to help raise money for school supplies.
The event was specifically intended to benefit women running underground home schools for girls
in Afghanistan and in nearby Pakistan,
where many have fled as refugees since the Taliban regime took over most of Afghanistan in 1996
and forced its fundamentalist views of Islamic law on the people.
The Feminist Majority Foundation is one of several groups around the globe expressing outrage at
the Taliban's policies. The regime, which sent a representative to the Westside last month to
speak at a Town Hall forum as part of a weeklong, statewide visit, has been criticized for
destroying ancient Buddhist artifacts and for human rights violations. Among other restrictions,
Afghan females are prohibited from attending school, working and required to
wear burqas, traditional garments that cover the entire body from head to toe. During his visit, Afghan envoy
Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi said the world's view of women's rights in Afghanistan is distorted and that a severe
drought and U.N. sanctions have crippled the country. But the idea of not being able to attend school was shocking
to Adia, who attends Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood."Everybody should get an education," she said.
Since the fund-raiser began on the Westside, students have raised $500 from collection cans set
up throughout the school. Katherine Spillar, a national coordinator for the Feminist Majority
Foundation, organized the campaign to give women and girls in the U.S. a focus. "Last fall . . . as
American school girls were returning to schools, we launched the campaign to make the
connection that their counterparts in Afghanistan were not being able to go back to school," she
said. Spillar said Afghan women struggle to teach, using broken doors as chalkboards and have
virtually no other school supplies. She said students, women and community organizations have
created 320 action teams to raise awareness and funds for Afghan women since the campaign
began in September.
"These clandestine home schools that women in Afghanistan run [come] with great risk to
themselves," she said. "They're against such horrible odds. They're making sure that a whole
generation of girls are not lost." Mavis Leno, wife of "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno &
chairwoman of the campaign, spoke at a recent West Hollywood news conference. She
described Afghanistan as an increasingly isolated place where children are not allowed to play
music or laugh. "The world has to know," she said.
Afghan school emerges from hiding
1.1.02 Babak Behnam
NBC News
Jelga, Afghanistan For 6 years, a school in Jelga, a rural village 40 miles south of Afghan capital,
defied the Taliban's ban on education for girls. The Taliban were frequent visitors, seeking to shut down the school, which stayed open despite threats from the religious police. With the Taliban gone, Jelga's teachers are learning how to teach in the open.
Upstairs on a second floor spread among 3 rooms, some 60 students sit on a carpeted floor. Notebook in one hand, pencil in the other, fresh faces look up in curiosity at foreign visitors. Head instructor Zubaida supervises the school and trains its 3 teachers.
Standing outside in the courtyard of the house recently, she recalled how Jelga's tribal elders decided to take advantage of an educational opportunity provided by the U.S.-based NGO CARE despite the Taliban's ban on education for girls.
She recounted how the village secretly came together and housed the school in the top floor of a house belonging to the village doctor. When the Taliban authorities came to object and close the doors of the school, the tribal elders stood up and told the Taliban that they could not tell the villagers what do to with their children. The Taliban returned, and each time they were rebuffed by the tribal elders.
In fear of losing local support, the Taliban did not resort to their common practices of storming, arresting, and beating violators of the regime's extreme interpretation of Islam. But that did not make life any easier
for Zubaida.
"We were very afraid," she said. "We would continue, because we had to fight for our rights. We had to
fight against [the Taliban]."
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Back in the classroom, Diba, one of the teachers, led her students in a Dari language lesson. A young girl stood up and covered her head with her scarf. She walked up to the front of the class, giggling all the way. The classroom was filled with girls and a few boys. In the next room, sunlight streamed through the window. 15 girls recited a fable.
The girls of Jelga have a head start in a country where the literacy rate for adult women in rural areas is 7%.
CARE set up the program to help communities provide quality education for their children. In 7 provinces, CARE's relief workers support the establishment of the schools and provide educational supplies. Village education committees hire the teachers, pay their salaries, and manage the schools.
"Basic education satisfies the desire of the Afghan people to educate their children," said Alina Labrada, CARE's spokesperson in Afghanistan. CARE plans to get the Education ministry , now administered by Afghanistan's interim govt, involved in bringing the rest of the country in line with its education program.
"Afghans were well known for their doctors, engineers, and teachers before the Taliban took over. You need to start from the bottom and rebuild the education system from scratch," Labrada said.
With additional funding, Labrada is hopeful of the program's continued success. These first few steps since the
demise of the Taliban govt have had considerable impact on the students and teachers of the school.
"When we were teaching, we would only focus on the door, because we were afraid the Taliban would come and take us away. Now I am happy that I can teach my kids and they can concentrate on their education," said teacher Diba.
A group of young women sat in a semi circle on the porch by the courtyard and were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up.
Farida, a 10-year-old, covered her face with her hands in embarrassment and said, "An
engineer."
12 year old Arerzu spoke with conviction: "A doctor, so that I can help my people."
Khatera, behind her friend, pulled her scarf over her hair and smiled coyly. "I want to be a headmistress like Zubaida and teach girls."
In a country where women's rights have yet to be addressed, 12-year-old Marjan may give voice to many Afghan
women's wishes:
"For the people of Afghanistan, for my nation, I want to be president."
Women risking their lives for education
5.01 ? Eve Ensler Marie Claire¹
… Freshta reports for the RAWA Revolutionary Assoc. of the Women of Afghanistan newsletter & website . More than 2,000 members of this clandestine network provide shelter,
education, and medical services to Afghan women & girls in defiance of the Taliban.
In a city I agree not to name, a driver sympathetic to RAWA's mission takes us down narrow, garbage-strewn streets until we reach an unmarked house.
Behind a gate, unseen from the street, a guard armed with a machine gun stands watch. He lets us inside, where we find clean, ordered classrooms decorated with brightly colored pillows.
RAWA operates a dozen schools like this one in Pakistan, some in desert refugee camps and others in RAWA members' own houses. … Within a week, after an extraordinary intervention on our behalf by the Intl Rescue Committee, we secure visas traveling with global movement to end violence against women V-Day exec. dir. Willa Shalit.
We're escorted by Uma, a sweet 20-year-old woman who has been on only one other mission for RAWA in Afghanistan. If questioned, we agree to say that we are tourists and Uma is our translator. Uma is required to don the suffocating burqa. Willa and I, as foreigners, are permitted to cover ourselves with scarves instead. Notebooks, cameras, and cell phones are banned, but we bring the first 2 anyway.
An armed Pakistani policeman travels with us; when checkpoint officials along the route through the Himalayas seem ready to turn us away, he waves his Russian-made machine gun and they let us pass.
In Afghanistan itself, RAWA runs 65 schools and 33 orphanages, all housed secretly in private homes. The
Pakistani schools face harassment and raids by Taliban sympathizers, but in Afghanistan, both students &
teachers risk death.
RAWA rotates school locations and strictly limits class sizes to avoid detection. … a circuitous route to a RAWA school, a house indistinguishable from the impoverished dwellings that surround it. A young teacher tells me that 35 small classes are held here, teaching science, math, and reading.
The literacy rate among women in Afghanistan is now 4% she tells me; without education, there is no hope of raising a generation strong enough to defy the Taliban.
"The students arrive at different times, one by one," says the teacher. "If someone knocks on the door, we hide the blackboard. The students have so much interest in school. Most don't know it's RAWA but they know that if the Taliban sees them learning, they could die."
I interview the women and write for a few hours in a room illuminated by only a little pocket flashlight; the Taliban has cut off the city's electricity. Then they tell us we must go: If we are seen outside after the 9pm curfew, there will be trouble.
The women hug & kiss us again & again. They plead with us to tell their stories to the world, but they
have no self-pity.
RAWA's founder, a poet and activist named Meena Keshwar Kamal, was 20 years old when she formed the group in 1977 in hopes of gaining equal rights for Afghan women. At the time, this cause was not yet life-or-death:
Women were earning Ph.D.s and working as doctors, lawyers, and teachers.
If they wore the burqa, it was out of religious preference, not in obedience to national law. But in 1979, Soviet troops invaded the country to back the communist govt then in power, and Islamic & tribal groups known as jihadi mounted armed opposition.
RAWA staged public protests opposing the communists and the jihadi with equal passion, and Meena paid for it with her life. In 1987, she was killed in her home in Quetta, Pakistan, by the Afghan KGB and their fundamentalist
accomplices. After her death, RAWA members went underground, …
"On Fridays," Freshta, 26, says, "the Taliban closes the shops & streets in Kabul and force all the people,
children included, into a stadium. They are forced to watch as thieves have their hands cut off and are hung from
trees.
Yet the Taliban is what has made these people so poor they must steal. I have seen women stoned to death in the stadium for refusing arranged marriages. The Taliban sells popcorn before these events; executions become entertainment for children."
She reports on other atrocities: A 6-year-old girl beaten for carrying schoolbooks in public. 2 cousins, a boy & a girl, were buried alive for talking in the bazaar. Commanders abduct & rape girls.
"The girls don't want to be interviewed," Freshta says, "because they are ashamed. I interview their mothers, who usually say, 'Our daughters are dead to us.'"
… as we drive back to Pakistan a few days later, our car gets stopped by a member of the dreaded Dept for
Promotion of Virtue & Prevention of Vice (DPVPV). He is huge & raging, a mass of long hair &
dirty beard. He sees I'm covered but not wearing a burqa, and he orders me out of the car. He is clutching a
wooden paddle, attached to which is a long, flat, wide leather whip used for flogging.
I recall the black & blue ankles of a woman I met at that first RAWA school, and the way she still had trouble
walking. I stare at him. He stares at me. Suddenly, our driver leaps out of the car, hysterical, giving Mr. Taliban all
kinds of visas & explanations. As a result, he lets us go. One minute out of his sight, our driver begins
laughing wildly, as one might after a near-death experience.
Uma confesses that it was the first time she had seen a member of the DPVPV in the flesh; it made the struggle real for her. But Willa is quiet, very quiet. She keeps the cloth on her face for quite some time, even after we walk back over the border into Pakistan.
Afghan teacher is dragged from his house, beheaded
1.5.06 Carlotta Gall NY Times
Kabul, Afghanistan Suspected Taliban insurgents dragged a high school teacher from his house and beheaded him, Afghan officials said yesterday. The headless body of Abdul Habib, a teacher at one of the two high schools in Zabol province, the Sheik Mathi Baba School, was found yesterday morning
Gunmen broke into his house near the provincial capital, Qalat, and killed him late Tuesday night, said a spokesman for the provincial governor, Gulab Shah Alikhel. "It was the work of Afghanistan's enemies," he said, the term officials use for Taliban insurgents and other Islamic militants.
The killing follows a spate of attacks on teachers, mullahs, community elders and aid workers in recent months.
Mullah Naqibullah, a tribal elder in Kandahar province, said in a recent interview that the attacks were aimed at undermining public trust in the Afghan govt. "Killing one educated person is as effective as killing dozens of ordinary people," he said. "The Taliban are very dangerous and have become more dangerous."
The education director of Zabol, Nabi Khushal, blamed the Taliban for the beheading, saying the insurgents had occasionally put up posters around Qalat demanding that schools for girls be closed and threatening to kill teachers, The Associated Press reported. "Only the Taliban are against girls being educated," Khushal said.
Taliban govt was ousted in late 2001, but insurgents associated with the group continue to be active in southern Afghanistan. The only two high schools operating in Zabol province are in Qalat. Khushal said 100 of the province's 170 registered schools had closed over the past two or three years because of security fears, mostly in outlying districts. Of Zabol's 35,000 students, only 2,700 are girls, he said.
The killing came the same day an Afghan aid worker was killed as he was praying in a mosque in neighboring Helmand province. He was slain by 2 gunmen who escaped on a motorbike. In December, a teacher was dragged out of his classroom by gunmen who arrived on a motorbike and shot and killed him in Helmand province.
Hairdresser Deborah Rodriguez from Holland MI went to Kabul, Afghanistan, an ex-prison guard with spiky red hair and long fingernails who's often seen pulling hard on a cigarette, offending even those Afghans who don't support the Taliban but a heart of gold and a soft-as-mush interior interacting with a different traumatized Afghan woman each week.
After 9.11.01, she ended up with an Afghan husband (Sam, an Afghan businessman with another wife and 8 children in Saudi Arabia) and a commitment to live in Kabul and train Afghan women to become beauty salon operators.
Somehow Rodriguez, who certainly has the hairdresser's gift for entertaining and confidential gab, manages to make it all seem almost reasonable.
Although planted firmly in Michigan for most of her life, Rodriguez had a yearning for both a larger world and a higher purpose that led her to take disaster relief training 2 months before 9.11.01
Shortly thereafter she hears that aid workers are needed in Afghanistan and quickly signs up. She imagined she'd spend a month "bandaging wounds, splinting broken limbs, clambering over rubble, and helping people who were still hiding from the Taliban climb into daylight."
The reality is that, once in Kabul, no one knew what to do with her. Unlike the medics, engineers, and nutritionists with whom she had traveled, her skills serve no clear purpose in Kabul. Even worse, Rodriguez suspects, her colleagues, many of whom are affiliated with Christian churches, are uncomfortable with her appearance. Perhaps, they suggest, she had best stay indoors and pray for them.
But Rodriguez doesn't have a stay-at-home personality. Before long she is out walking where she's been told not to walk and making all sorts of Afghan friends. As she learns more of Kabul, a city she describes as "dense with sadness", and its residents it becomes clear to her that her hairdressing profession is one of the few truly viable options for would-be female Afghan entrepreneurs.
There's a huge demand for such services, as many Afghan women sport elaborate hair and makeup styles under their burqas. At the same time, it's work that can be done entirely in female company, a necessity in a segregated society.
Soon, Rodriguez decides to open a school to teach Afghan women the skills they'd need to open their own salons. No shrinking violet, she petitions US beauty supply manufacturers for help, and easily raises a half-million dollars in donations.
Of course, nothing about implementing Rodriguez's plan is easy, and this is where Sam proves indispensable. As unlikely a match as they are, he at least admires and supports her goals.
When they first met, she explained to him that as a wife she would be a partner and not a servant, he insists, "I see this kind of wife on television and I want one."
But most of the credit for coping falls to Rodriguez herself. Ever inventive, she engages Afghan woman in hair dying by asking them to see unwanted hair pigment as Satan, who must be vanquished.
She comes to find it normal to direct people to her home by telling them to turn right at the bombed-out movie theater and then continue along the street with all the dead cows. She accepts and even romanticizes a husband so exhausted by her emotional needs that he pays a proxy to talk to her. Compared with Rodriguez's ex back in the US and the husbands of many of her students, Sam is a gem.
But perhaps best about Rodriguez is her refusal to either patronize her beloved Afghan students whose heart-rending stories are woven throughout the book or to drape herself in too much of a hero's mantle.
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing much good here at all," she writes, acknowledging the limited degree to which any Westerner can fully grasp the complexities of Afghan life.
What she does know for sure, she says, is that the courage and strength she has seen in Afghan women have become her inspiration. They are moving toward the light, she tells us, and that makes it all the more poignant when, at the book's uncertain ending, Rodriguez begs the rest of us to "look, watch, and make sure nothing puts out that light again."
Slowly, burqas come off in Kabul
Women hope for progress but remain cautious
1.23.02 M.Fazel NBC News
UN Development Fund for Women S.Asiaemail
Supports women's groups in region incl Asmita Resource Ctr for Women, Secunderabad, member of National
Alliance of Women (NAWO), to hold 2 day National Debate on Reservation for Women in Politics in Hyderabad
Sept. 1998.
Miami A Florida judge is to rule next week if a Muslim woman must remove her veil for her driver's
licence photo, after both sides presented their closing arguments today in the unusual case. Citing her religious
beliefs, Sultaana Freeman, 35, took the state of Florida to court after she was denied a driver's licence because
she refused to be photographed without her "niqab", a veil that leaves only her eyes uncovered.
"You can expect a ruling probably by the end of next week," Judge Janet Thorpe said after hearing closing
arguments in the non-jury trial in Orlando. Freeman's atty Howard Marks insisted the state must respect his client's
refusal to be photographed w/o her veil because keeping her face covered in public was an integral part of her
religious beliefs. "There is no more fundamental liberty than the right to free exercise of religion. This is what this
country was founded upon," he said. "Let's respect my client's religious liberties … and demand the state
issue a driver's licence with a niqab picture."
Asst Atty General Jason Vail insisted it was crucial to public safety that a driver's licence should have a full-face
photo of its owner, since it was commonly used for identification purposes. "It is a good system, it protects people,
and the photograph is the heart of the system," he said.
The state argued that legitimate public safety concerns should override Freeman's individual rights, particularly
given 9.11.01. U.S. citizen Freeman who converted to
Islam in 1997, appeared in court for the third consecutive day today wearing a long black robe & niqab.
Civil rights & privacy advocates w/ American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have backed Freeman's lawsuit.
Kabul Post Taliban, a new govt is reconstructing Afghanistan. Yet many of Kabul's women aren't
ready to give up the burqa, traditional full-length covering long associated with hard-line Islam requirment that
women wear it or face potentially brutal punishment.
3 months later, many women in the capital find it hard to break from burqa tradition. It remains a shield, however
fragile, against an uncertain future. On the streets of the city, burqas are ubiquitous. In rural areas, millions of
Afghan women continue to wear the burqa out of a tradition pre-dating the Taliban. But in Kabul, there are some
tangible differences since the exit of the oppressive regime. Under Taliban law, though it wasn't always enforced,
women couldn't step out of their homes without being accompanied by a male relative. Now, there are more women
out on the streets. And many of them are on their own. Also, the earlier wariness about lifting the veil away from
their faces in public is gradually melting away.
"I don't want to wear the burqa," said 26-year-old Nasir. "But I am just waiting for someone else to take it off first,
make the break with tradition." Nasir is one of scores of women flocking to Kabul University to resume studies
interrupted by the Taliban. For her & many others, however, breaking with tradition has nothing to do with
religion. She has signed up to study Islamic law. Islam, she said, is a religion "that has the utmost respect for
women and also provides for women's rights." Peace in Afghanistan is the best guarantor of women's
rights, said Suhaila Seddiqui, one of 2 women named to interim Afghan govt appointed 12.22.01 and lead by
Hamid Karzai.
She denied that women are underrepresented in the new govt, established with the blessing of the
intl community.
An initiative to boost the infrastructure, dozens of nations donated around $4.5 billion to help Karzai's govt rebuild
the country and end years of violence. "Once we have peace, only then can we guarantee everyone's rights, incl
women's rights," Seddiqui said. "The important first steps have been taken in this transitional period."
Women of Afghanistan are not taking any chances. They are optimistic, but they are also biding their
time. "This time, there must be a result," said Nazima, 28, who wants an education for her daughter. "We need our
children to become educated, we need normal ways of making a living because we didn't used to be beggars." If
Nazima's sentiments are any indication, Kabul is likely to regain its reputation as the most liberal Afghan city.
Over the years, venerable National Geographic magazine covers had many indelible images, including a hauntingly
beautiful young Afghan woman. Since17 years ago, she's become a kind of lost poster child for that beleaguered
nation. "It was beyond, I think, the person in it," says National Geographic host Boyd Matson. "It was what she
represented, a symbol of a people who were in a struggle and desperate for survival." Veteran National Geographic
photographer Steve McCurry took the photograph in a Pakistani refugee camp in 1984. "I don't think a day has
gone by in the last 17 years that I haven't received a letter, request or phone call asking, 'Where is she,'" says
McCurry. And ever since, McCurry has tried to find her. He was told it was impossible, that she had either
disappeared in the camps or had died. Finally, in January, he made one last appeal in the camp where the photo
was taken. "We're doing that with the magazine, carrying it around the streets of Pakistan," says Matson, "saying,
'Do you know this woman?'
And suddenly a guy says, 'I grew up next to her!' " McCurry was even more stunned when the neighbor returned
with the girl's brother. "He went into Afghanistan," says McCurry. "We thought, 'We'll never see him again.' And lo
and behold, he came back with his sister. It was a miracle."
For the woman, Sharbat Gula, the photo was a revelation but not a surprise. "She said: 'I've never seen it before.
But that's definitely me.' And she remembered it so vividly because it's the only day in her life her picture had ever
been taken," says Matson. Now a wife & mother, she lives in a remote Afghan village, prays, wears a burqa
and draws water from wells. "Life is very difficult for her," says McCurry. "I think she has survived remarkably well."
But is she the right person? National Geographic hired experts to electronically scan the irises of the original and
new photos. "And after going through all their calculations, they came up 99.9% sure this is the same
person," says Matson. 18 years later, "I think she certainly is an icon, I think she is emblematic of the Afghan spirit,
the Afghan people and the fortitude of these people, the will to survive," says McCurry.
Bush's remarks also appeared to undercut Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has been lobbying for overtures
toward Iran. Powell said he still wants Iran to begin a dialogue with the U.S. "We want the best for the people of
Iran," Powell told a Senate hearing. He added that he hopes reform leaders will prevail. As recently as January, the Bush administration had been considering ending U.S. opposition to Iran's membership in the World Trade
Organization. Iranians say membership would boost reform. 
Afghan school emerges from hiding
And suddenly a guy says, 'I grew up next to her!' " McCurry was even more stunned when the neighbor returned
with the girl's brother. "He went into Afghanistan," says McCurry. "We thought, 'We'll never see him again.' And lo
and behold, he came back with his sister. It was a miracle."
The tension in the air subsided when the word came through. "How come you can't tell a vehicle from a
camel?" asked one Marine in a company control center, a hole in the sand. "One has wheels, the other
has legs," another Marine threw in. "I can't believe we're chasing damn camels around the desert," said
another. Some of the Marines on the line reported that a camel poked its nose into their fighting hole the
previous night and Marine spokesman Captain Stuart Upton said shots had been fired to scare it away
from the airstrip. It was not clear if the camel that sparked the morning alert was the same one.
