Low-income tenants and homeless move furniture to Ottawa Recruiting Centre, just 5 days before Throne Speech
MONTREAL, Oct. 9 /CNW Telbec/ - Hundreds of low-income tenants and homeless people will move furniture in front of the Canadian Armed Forces Recruiting Centre, situated right in the middle of downtown Ottawa, not far from the Office of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This action is intended to denounce the growing disproportion between the federal government's humungous military expenditures and the meagre investments aimed at responding to the basic need of housing. The Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU), a Quebec housing coalition of 130 local organizations, including the Outaouais group, Logemen'occupe, are organizing this event, just five days before the Throne Speech that will decide the future of the Harper government, particularly on the issue of whether or not to continue Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan.
Date : Thursday October 11th 2007
Time : 1:30 p.m.: Gathering point and furniture move in front of the
Canadian Armed Forces Recruiting Centre, 66 Slater Street (corner
of Elgin), in Ottawa. Media Availability and Speeches on site
followed by a march to the office of Prime Minister Harper, at the
Langevin Block, corner of Wellington and Elgin.
N.B. Interviews are possible before the demonstration, during a community
lunch which will take place at 11:30 a.m. at the Centre Père-Arthur-Guertin,
16 Bériault Street in Gatineau.
For further information: François Saillant, FRAPRU, (514) 919-2843
(cell), (514) 522-1010; François Roy, Logemen'occupe de l'Outaouais, (613)
277-6507 (cell), (819) 778-1325
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Low income and homeless to Ottawa Recruiting Centre
Afghan Govt, and executions ....
Afghan Government Executes 15 Prisoners
Associated Press Tuesday, October 9, 2007
KABUL, Oct. 8 -- Afghanistan executed 15 prisoners by gunfire, including a man convicted of killing three Western journalists and an Afghan photographer, the chief of prisons said Monday. It was the first time the country had carried out the death penalty in more than three years.
The mass execution took place Sunday evening according to Afghan law, which calls for condemned prisoners to be shot to death, said Abdul Salam Ismat, the prisons chief.
During the 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban government, executions were carried out in public, many of them at the war-shattered Kabul stadium, but the practice stopped after the Islamic extremist movement was ousted from power in a U.S.-led invasion.
The previous execution, in April 2004, had been denounced by the London-based human rights group Amnesty International, which said President Hamid Karzai had assured the group he would institute a moratorium on the death penalty.
Karzai's spokesman, Humayun Hamidzada, would not comment Monday but said last week that the president "has been holding on to these cases because he wants to make sure that justice is served and due process is complete."
The mass execution is likely to complicate relationships between Afghanistan and some NATO members with military forces in the country. International troops often take suspected fighters prisoner and later hand them over to the Afghan government, but some foreign governments would bar that if Afghanistan uses capital punishment.
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The official announcement said Karzai ordered the executions following a decision by a special commission he had set up to review rulings by the Supreme Court.
Tom Koenigs, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said the world body has expressed its concern over use of the death penalty many times.
"The United Nations in Afghanistan has been a staunch supporter of the moratorium on executions observed in Afghanistan in recent years," Koenigs said.
Among those executed was Reza Khan, sentenced for adultery and the slaying of the three foreign journalists and the Afghan photographer in 2001. The four were pulled from their cars, robbed and shot near the eastern city of Jalalabad while traveling toward Kabul, six days after the Taliban had abandoned the capital following heavy U.S. bombing.
Also executed was Farhad, who like many Afghans goes by one name. He was convicted of involvement in the 2005 kidnapping of an Italian aid worker, Clementina Cantoni.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Afghan Attorney General, a resident of Montreal Raids Afghan Television
Please see skyreporter’s film reports on AFGHAN HEROIN , especially The American Connection . And of course AFGHAN NEWS BLUES and AFGHANISTAN’S NEWS MEDIA .
Rogue Attorney General Raids Afghan Television
skyreporter.com from Kabul April 17
Hamid Karzai’s controversial Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabet, who is also a resident of Canada, led a squad of police into the studios of Tolo-TV Tuesday night. Three editors and journalists were arrested, reportedly after being physically assaulted by policemen.
Tolo’s evening newscast had just broadcast a recording of Sabet’s statements earlier in the day to the Afghan Parliament. Sabet claims his speech was misrepresented. However, according to Afghan Foreign Ministry officials critical of the move, the raid and arrests took place in the absence of appropriate warrants.
Afghanistan’s vibrant and assertive new news media has been under increasing pressure by the Western-sponsored Karzai government. But the spectre of paramilitary repression is unprecedented – at least for the current regime. The Taliban government exercised draconian information control, branding television cameras “instruments of Satan.”
Currently, President Karzai’s information minister, Karim Khurram, is drafting a law to curtail media freedoms (see skyreporter’s OUTFLANKED BY FLUNKIES, April 12). He and Sabet last week ordered Tolo TV to remove a popular programming stream from it’s Lemar channel – an order widely seen in the Afghan capital as retaliation for Tolo’s frank coverage of corruption and ineptitude in the Karzai government.
For the past several weeks, skyreporter.com has attempted to obtain comment from Canada’s Foreign Affairs department, and Immigration Canada, about President Karzai’s accident-prone Attorney General. After much delay, only a curt statement came in reply, claiming that Canadian officials played no role in Sabet’s appointment. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office, too, has steadfastly refused to comment on Sabet’s entry into Canada several years ago, and his ongoing Canadian status – despite evidence that Sabet had concealed his past association with extremist groups, and that he had been denied residence in the U.S.
Rogue Afghan Attorney General, who is also a resident of Montreal, leads violent raid on popular TV station
CALGARY, April 17 /CNW/ - Skyreporter.com Reveals Canada's Connection to Kabul Crisis. Five weeks after journalist Arthur Kent launched an investigative series of film reports on his new website, www.skyreporter.com, the shadowy figure at the centre of the anti-narcotics policing scandal at Kabul Airport, Afghanistan's Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabet, has launched
an unprecedented crackdown on the country's burgeoning news media.
Tuesday evening in Kabul, Sabet led a squad of police into the studios and offices of Tolo-TV, Afghanistan's leading private broadcaster and an important source of news for Afghans angered by years of corruption and ineptitude in the Western-sponsored government of Hamid Karzai. Several reporters and editors were reportedly physically abused by Sabet's men. Three
journalists were arrested. Sources indicate that the raid and arrests took place without proper warrants.
Since early March, Arthur Kent has forwarded questions to the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay regarding Sabet's status in Canada. Sabet gained entry during the Taliban era and settled in Montreal - despite his past connections with anti-Western extremist groups in Afghanistan, and having had an earlier application to enter the U.S. denied by American
immigration authorities. Sabet returned to Kabul in 2003, and was nominated by Hamid Karzai last August as Attorney General.
Says Kent: "From Foreign Affairs, from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and from the Prime Minister's office, the silence has been deafening. The last thing the Harper government seems to want to talk about is Abdul Jabar Sabet, of Montreal and Kabul.
"But now, with a media crackdown underway in Kabul, another question looms large: is this the kind of Afghan lawman and government that Canadian troops are fighting and dying for?"
The raid was launched shortly after Tolo TV's evening newscast had featured a recording of Sabet's statements earlier in the day to the Afghan Parliament. Sabet claims his speech was misrepresented.
Kent's skyreporter website includes a film profile of Tolo TV, and a separate tribute to all Afghan journalists. Says Kent: "Afghanistan's vibrant and assertive new news media has been under increasing pressure by the Karzai government. But the spectre of paramilitary repression is unprecedented - at least for the current regime.
"It was the Taliban government that practiced draconian information control, branding television cameras 'instruments of Satan.' Now Sabet, along with President Karzai's information minister, apparently want to turn back the clock on freedom of speech."
Skyreporter.com is an independent website, managed exclusively by Arthur Kent, and features the latest technology for exhibiting video reports online. It was launched March 5th, 2007.
For further information: Adriana Salvia, (416) 274-8711,
Adriana@mondouxsalvia.com; or Jennifer Mondoux, (416) 530-1173,
Jennifer@mondouxsalvia.com
Friday, April 13, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
US in Canada pressing for more commitment in Afghanistan ...
U.S. Turns to Allies for Afghan War Help
April 11, 2007 LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press Writer
QUEBEC CITY, Quebec - The United States is pressing its allies to contribute additional forces, equipment and other resources in Afghanistan for a NATO-led spring offensive against the Taliban.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was to meet with a number of military leaders in Canada late Wednesday and Thursday, was not expected to offer any additional U.S. troops, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
About a half-dozen defense ministers from countries working together in the volatile southern sector of Afghanistan will discuss how to ``fill those last critical pieces that are needed,'' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meetings had not yet taken place.
Among those would be aircraft and helicopters, additional trainers for the Afghanistan security forces, and some increased flexibility in how some troops can be used. Certain forces are limited in how or where they can be used, and those restrictions have been a prime complaint by the U.S. and NATO.
Gates will meet with a number of officials, including military leaders from Britain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark and Romania.
The U.S. now has about 25,000 troops in Afghanistan, including some 14,000 serving in the NATO-led force, which totals 32,000 troops. Earlier this year, Gates ordered the extension of a U.S. brigade in Afghanistan, increasing the American commitment in preparation for what he said should be an allied offensive against the Taliban this spring.
Afghanistan's south is the center of the Taliban insurgency. Last month, NATO-led troops launched their biggest offensive yet in the region aimed at winning over the local population and targeting militants and their supply routes.
Afghan and NATO officials say they expect violence to increase this spring and summer. Last year, Taliban militants set off a record number of suicide and roadside bombs.
Australia announced this week that it plans to nearly double its forces in Afghanistan, adding 400 troops by midyear to its contingent of 550 serving there, and then adding another 50 by the middle of 2008.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Afghan casualties could hurt Tories: pollster
Afghan casualties could hurt Tories: pollster
CTV.ca Apr. 10 2007
If casualties there swing upward, the Afghanistan mission could provide a political liability for the governing Conservatives -- particularly in Quebec, says a pollster.
"The wild card is that this mission is seen to be very closely associated with the U.S., and that's bad political news for (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper," Nick Nanos of SES Research told CTV Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live on Tuesday.
He said Conservative numbers generally tend to soften in Quebec when Afghanistan rises in prominence in the news.
With the Conservatives having tabled a well-received budget on March 19 and two politically friendly parties doing well in the March 26 Quebec provincial election, their fortunes are seen to be on the upswing in Quebec.
Canada's second-most populous province, with 75 federal seats, is a key piece of the Tories' electoral quest to form a majority government.
Ottawa has been aflame with speculation about the possibility of a spring election, given numerous Conservative government spending announcements and the party's attack ads aimed at Liberal Leader Stephane Dion.
The Afghanistan situation has been working to the benefit of the Tories for most of 2007, with no combat-related deaths since Nov. 27, 2006.
That calm was shattered on Easter Sunday when a roadside bomb struck a LAV-III armoured vehicle in western Kandahar province, killing six of 10 Canadian soldiers inside.
"Although Quebecers like clean government, the trust and confidence that Stephen Harper projects, when they seen a prime minister that's very closely aligned with the Americans, they start to get a little nervous," Nanos said.
"And I think if they see casualties on a mission that's perceived to be closely aligned with George Bush, that could be bad news for Stephen Harper."
While Quebecers have supported close economic ties with the U.S., but on foreign policy, "they want to see Canada chart its own course, a course separate from the United States ... and that's when it becomes very tricky for the Conservatives," Nanos said.
The Van Doos
The Van Doos are the storied regiment based in Val Cartier, Quebec.
They have not yet been deployed to Afghanistan, although they are scheduled to ship out in August.
"I was surprised by it," Col. (ret'd) Michel Drapeau, a military analyst, told MDL.
"Either they weren't ready for it, or it could simply be a political decision for whatever reason one could imagine for it."
He thought if the regiment did suffer casualties, "there would be a heightened degree of sensitivity to the loss, perhaps that may translate itself into more opposition to the government for extending the mission."
The Conservatives spearheaded a motion last year to extend the Canadian mission in Afghanistan's Kandahar province until February 2009. The Liberals were fractured in support of it, and the NDP and Bloc Quebecois opposed it.
Stephen Staples, a defence analyst with the Polaris Institute, said Quebec doesn't necessarily go against the grain of Canada, "but the feelings are more pronounced."
He didn't think casualty reports changed peoples' opinions so much as hardened them.
Monday, April 9, 2007
cnd military lock-down of communications
When soldiers die, an internal military process takes over
The GlobeandMail With a report from Canadian Press April 9, 2007
One month ago, Private Kevin Kennedy said he could hardly wait to take on the Taliban. "Everyone is really pumped here this morning," the 20-year-old told The Canadian Press, as 5,000 allied forces prepared to launch a massive assault. "We came here. We've trained for years and we are finally going to go out and do our job and we are ready to do it."
Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, the young soldier's hometown of 1,500 was plunged into mourning by news of his death.
"This is devastating news. There's a lot of broken hearts," said Wayde Rowsell, mayor of St. Lawrence, Nfld. He remembered seeing the young infantryman in a cadet's uniform just a few years ago in high school. Pte. Kennedy came back to the province last Christmas, to see his family, prior to deploying.
"His mom was pretty emotional, like any mom would be if her son was going off to war. . . . It did affect him that his mom was upset, but his ambition was to serve his country," Mr. Rowsell said.
Five other Canadian families were grieving their sons yesterday.
The others were identified as Sergeant Donald Lucas, 31, of Burton, N.B., Corporal Aaron E. Williams, 23, of Lincoln, N.B., and Private David Robert Greenslade, 20, of Saint John.
Also killed were Corporal Christopher Paul Stannix, 24, of Dartmouth, N.S., who was a reservist from the Halifax-based Princess Louise Fusiliers, and a sixth soldier who was not identified at the request of his family.
Most of the soldiers had been based with the Royal Canadian Regiment at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, just outside of Fredericton.
The mayor of the community that surrounds the base, Oromocto, said her town is reeling. "It's going to be one of the greatest shocks to the town of Oromocto -- when you have five, it's a big shock," said Mayor Fay Tidd. The base commander, Colonel Ryan Jestin, told reporters that "It has been an extremely tough day for CFB Gagetown and for the community."
The evening hours of Easter Sunday were tense for many families of Canadian soldiers. By early afternoon, news of the worst combat tragedy suffered by the army in Afghanistan had broken, but the identities of the dead were withheld for many hours.
The public was kept in the dark. And many military families were no better informed.
The Canadian Forces does this by design.
While little is said publicly during the initial hours after deadly attacks, a vast internal machine revs up, stifling communications as scores of military officials work to ensure the bodies of the dead are returned to their loved ones in the most sensitive manner possible.
The military begins by locking down communications from the theatre of action in Afghanistan, specifically because it wants the families of the dead to be notified first through official channels.
Soldiers injured in the attacks, and also those close to the dead, are not to place calls home for fear that leaks will cause news to be broadcast before families are properly notified.
The precautions, however, didn't stop the woman who blogs as "Military Mom at Home" from receiving an ominous phone message yesterday. "We wondered if your son was all right?" a journalist asked, explaining that six soldiers had just been killed overseas.
"I was and still am floored! (This call came before it was broadcast on the news stations.) This is the third time this happened," the outraged military mother wrote in response to the call, placed by an unidentified reporter.
"The first time was after the friendly fire in September . . . and then the second was during Operation Medusa . . . and now today."
This call was less alarming, as her son had just finished his Afghanistan rotation. But "I can only imagine the mother's (father's, sister's, family member's) reaction whose son is currently serving overseas and gets a phone call like this," Military Mom wrote.
The news of yesterday's attacks left army brass and military chaplains in Canada racing to deliver news of fatalities to the immediate families. Padres in Afghanistan also work to comfort soldiers. News of the six dead yesterday arrived as many soldiers had gathered for Easter mass in Afghanistan.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian Forces said last night there were no in-house military experts available to comment on the tragedy, as most people who specialize in comforting families were left to respond to yesterday's attack.
Most of the dead soldiers were infantrymen with the Royal Canadian Regiment -- a century-old infantry division that has distinguished itself from the battle for Vimy Ridge to present times. Officials with the regiment were making comments yesterday.
Military logistics experts shave started the process of repatriating the remains into Canada. Usually, the journey home begins with a memorial service attended by members of all of the allied forces serving in Afghanistan. Then, a military plane leaves Afghanistan, transiting through Germany, where it is met by Canadian undertakers.
The slain soldiers' closest friends escort the bodies to Canada, where the plane lands at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.
Military officials and politicians usually attend a ceremony at the base, before the bodies undergo autopsies in Toronto.
After that, the remains of the soldiers are finally returned to their families, who launch their own ceremonies to commemorate the dead.
These funerals are days, perhaps weeks, away. But, yesterday, everyone from the Prime Minister on down to scores of Canadian civilians were commending the fallen for their sacrifice.
Pte. Robert Costall's Death in AFG: Closer to Report on friendly fire probe
U.S. army completes friendly fire probe into killings of U.S., Canadian soldiers
April 06, 2007 The Canadian Press 2007
MONTPELIER, Vt. — The U.S. army has completed a probe into whether a Vermont National Guardsman and a Canadian soldier were killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan during a fierce night-time battle just over a year ago, a Guard official said Friday.
But the results of the investigation into the March 29, 2006 death of Master Sgt. Tom Stone and Canadian soldier Pte. Robert Costall won’t be released until Stone’s family has been briefed about the findings, said Guard spokesman Capt. Keith Davio.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian Defence Department was checking Friday to see if a similar briefing would be given to Costall’s family.
The delay in the release of the results was due to the nature of the incident, Davio said.
“The biggest thing is it involves the three different governments,” the U.S., Canada and Afghanistan, said Davio. “Specifically what took so long, we don’t know that yet.”
Stone and Costall died during the firefight that followed a Taliban attack on a base in a remote part of southern Afghanistan. The attack that was repelled by U.S., Canadian and Afghan soldiers.
A week later, the Vermont National Guard announced that a friendly fire investigation was under way to determine if Stone and Costall were killed by their allies.
The possibility that Costall, a 22-year-old machine gunner, died as a result of friendly fire was raised by his wounded buddies when the multinational brigade commander, Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, visited them in hospital.
The troops told Fraser they had been hit by fire from their own side as they rushed to take up position in one corner of the arid, hilltop base overlooking the village of Sangin.
Costal, who was born in Thunder Bay, Ont., and grew up in Gibsons, B.C., was part of a quick-reaction force that was rushed to the outpost, which was in danger of being overrun by insurgents and militias belonging to local drug lords.
Aside from Costall and Stone, three other Canadian soldiers were wounded in the firefight. At least eight Afghan National Army soldiers were killed, along with as many as 32 insurgents.
Stone’s longtime companion, Rose Loving of Tunbridge, has said she was told by U.S. soldiers who were there that Stone was killed by friendly fire. She says she’s frustrated because the army wasn’t being forthcoming about its investigation.
She has been working with U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy to get the army to finish the investigation and release the results.
In January and again last month, Leahy, (D.Vt.), wrote to the Secretary of the army asking him to tell Stone’s family what happened. In the second letter, Leahy said the army’s handling of the situation seemed insensitive.
“We owe our service personnel support when we send them into harm’s way,” he said in a statement Friday. “But, we also owe support to them when they come home, and to their families when they don’t come back. I’m disappointed with how this has been handled by the army.”
Loving said she expected to be briefed later this month.
“This is the first real information we have heard in over a year,” she said in an e-mail message.
Stone, 52, of Tunbridge, joined the army after graduating from high school in 1971, in part to try to learn what happened to his older brother, a freelance photographer who disappeared in Cambodia in 1970 along with Sean Flynn, the son of actor Errol Flynn.
The two were never seen again and are believed to have been killed by communist guerrillas.
Stone was in and out of the military several times over the years and in the interim spent eight years walking around the world. He was on his third tour in Iraq when he was killed.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
$1,900 Cdn reward for Nato's killed
Afghan leader claims cash rewards offered to kill NATO soldiers
Jonathan Fowlie, CanWest News Service April 5
MAYWAND, Afghanistan — The leader of an Afghan district claims the Pakistani secret police are offering cash rewards to anyone who uses an explosive device to injure or kill a NATO soldier.
"I have heard the Pakistan ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) is openly giving money for people that are laying mines," said Haji Saifullah, district leader for Maywand — a desert region in the northwest sector of Kandahar province.
"If the mine goes off on coalition forces they are going to get more money, if they go off on (Afghanistan National Army soldiers) they are going to get middle-class money and if it is going off on police they are going to get less money," he added, while speaking through an interpreter provided by the Canadian military.
CanWest News Service could not independently verify Saifullah’s comments on Wednesday, and the district leader did not provide any direct evidence.
In Wednesday’s interview, Saifullah said he has been told a successful bomber will get roughly $1,900 Cdn if he kills a member of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, and about $380 Cdn for members of the Afghan forces.
He added he has heard a bomber will get half those amounts if he is able to simply hit a convoy with an explosive device.
Canadian forces have been working in the area since March 6 as part of Operation Achilles — a mission meant to stabilize neighbouring Helmund Province so work can begin on a large dam that will help with irrigation and power.
Saifullah said unless new irrigation systems are installed, farmers in the area will continue to grow poppies on their land.
"If they grow something else, like corn or wheat they are not going to get money," he said. "They’d like to grow something else but because of the expense of water they cannot afford that," he added. "Therefore they have to grow poppies."
Saifullah also lauded Canada for it’s commitment to the Afghan mission and for the sacrifices it has made.
"I am thankful for all Canadians that you are operating in Afghanistan," he said. "For those soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan, we are praying for those people.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
O'connor and his pile of ....
Canada in for the long haul in Afghanistan: O'Connor
Tuesday, April 3, 2007 | CBC News
Afghanistan is a "success story" and Canada will have a presence in the country until the progress made cannot be reversed by Taliban extremists, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Tuesday.
"Afghanistan is improving," O'Connor told reporters in Montreal after a luncheon speech. "There are 37 countries in there. There's a lot of aid and a lot of effort going in to build that country up."
In his speech, sponsored by the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, O'Connor said Canada is making a major contribution to the international effort to restore peace and stability in Afghanistan.
"It is because of the continuing threat posed by these extremists that the Canadian Forces remain a vital part of this mission," he said.
"This government will support the mission — by our words and by our actions — until the progress in Afghanistan becomes irreversible."
Asked by reporters later to explain exactly how long Canada will stay in Afghanistan, O'Connor said Canada has pledged support over the next two to five years in the form of both troops and development aid.
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He said Canada has committed itself to having troops in the country until February 2009 and to contributing millions in assistance through the Canadian International Development Agency until 2011.
"We'll watch this year the progress," he said.
O'Connor added the government will make a decision next year whether the Afghan mission needs to be extended beyond its existing mandate.
Afghanistan, he said, should not be mixed up with Iraq.
"Afghanistan is a success story," he said. "This is a democracy and we are helping to support the government."
Partial return to normalcy
The defence minister said in his speech that, judging from a recent trip to Afghanistan, life is returning to normal in some areas.
"This time, villages appeared more active. Life is returning to places that seemed deserted before," he said.
But he cautioned that the Taliban is trying to sabotage any progress made and that is why Canada needs to continue to have a presence in the country.
A handful of anti-war protesters interrupted his speech at a hotel at one point, but police quickly ushered the small group out.
Outside, several more protesters demanded Canada withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
Canada has more than 2,000 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, with the majority in the southern province of Kandahar. Forty-five Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since Canada sent troops to the troubled country in early 2002.
Canada has committed close to $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan over 10 years ending in 2011.
The federal government says, at the end of the 2006-2007 fiscal year, Canada will have invested nearly $600 million since the fall of the Taliban to help Afghans rebuild their country.
The Montreal Council on Foreign Relations is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting greater knowledge of international affairs.
Monday, April 2, 2007
UK military, grow beards to win Afghans ...
AF Personnel to Grow Beards for Afghan Deployment
UK Ministry of Defence | Apr 2, 2007 DefenceTalk
RAF Regiment Personnel to Grow Beards for Afghan Deployment
Several newspapers report that personnel from 51 Squadron RAF Regiment are growing beards in preparation for their forthcoming deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan. The Squadron, based at RAF Lossiemouth in Morayshire, requested permission from senior officers in order to help them win hearts and minds of local Afghans, for whom a beard is a symbol of stature and masculinity. Squadron Leader Tony Brown, Officer
Squadron Leader Tony Brown, Officer Commanding 51 Sqn, said:
"It is essential that we win the hearts and minds of the local people, the majority of whom are friendly towards the NATO forces. In the rural south where we will be, beards are a big thing culturally and represent strength and virility. Beards engender a lot of respect in the local community and this may help to open doors and give us a rapport with the local population."
Thursday, March 29, 2007
hillier, lies or truth?
Afghan experts contradict Hillier’s optimistic claims
Andrew Mayeda, CanWest News Service March 29, 2007
OTTAWA — Two leading experts on Afghanistan painted a sobering picture of the conditions there Thursday, arguing support among Afghans for NATO forces is plummeting, the U.S.-driven policy of poppy eradication is wrongheaded, and the war might not be winnable in its present form.
U.S. scholar Barnett Rubin and Gordon Smith, Canada's former ambassador to NATO, delivered their withering comments to a parliamentary committee only days after Canada's top military commander, Gen. Rick Hillier, touted the progress being made in Afghanistan.
Hillier, the chief of defence staff, this week predicted Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan should soon see a rise in attacks from the Taliban. But he insisted on using the term "surge" rather than "offensive."
He also noted many Afghans are moving back into their homes in districts west of Kandahar following a Canadian-led NATO offensive last fall.
But Rubin, who has been to Afghanistan 29 times and followed it for more than two decades, said Thursday that many Afghans are growing frustrated with the pace of Western efforts to stabilize the country.
"They're not at all happy. Support for both the international presence and the government has plummeted in the past year or so," he told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.
He said Afghans aren't seeing the results of promises by the United States and NATO, which took over the mission in 2003, to increase security, establish democracy and improve the economy.
"The main complaint that I hear from Afghans is not that we're imposing something on them that we don't want, but that we haven't delivered what they think we promised."
Rubin recently published an article in Foreign Affairs magazine warning Afghanistan "is at risk of collapsing into chaos." In the article, he blasts the U.S. government for underestimating the influence of Pakistan, which he accuses of providing "safe haven" to the Taliban.
"There certainly [is] in Pakistan very obvious infrastructure of support for the insurgency," including madrassa religious schools and insurgent training camps, Rubin said Thursday.
He also noted reports that the Taliban are receiving support from the Pakistani intelligence agency, known as ISI, although he cautioned such reports are difficult to verify.
Smith, meanwhile, threw cold water on Hillier's suggestion that Canadian troops are facing a weakened enemy.
There is evidence that al-Qaeda-affiliated militants, who often fight alongside the Taliban, are actually gaining strength, said Smith, now executive director of the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria.
"The al-Qaeda problem has not gone away," he told the committee. "It's important that we not forget the original motivation for going to Afghanistan, and that was to deal with al-Qaeda."
Smith recently released a critical report of his own, entitled "Canada in Afghanistan: Is it Working?" He questions whether NATO can achieve its stated goals, even within a period of 10 years. Canada has committed to maintain its military presence until 2009.
"If we're serious, and we've got to be serious, we'll be there for a long time," he said.
Smith argues NATO needs to increase its troop commitment, while deploying development aid more effectively and opening political negotiations with the Taliban.
He is also harshly critical of the policy, favoured by the United States, of eradicating poppy crops to curb the drug trade.
He said NATO needs to create a market so Afghan farmers can sell their opium for legal use in medical products, such as morphine, or establish financial incentives so that farmers can become less dependent on the heroin market.
which story is true?
NATO troops earn resentment of frustrated Afghans
or
ISAF refutes Reuters’ claim of 60 civilians killed in Kandahar Province in January
NATO troops earn resentment of frustrated Afghans
Mar 27, 2007 David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan are beginning to draw the resentment of Afghans fed up with growing civilian casualties and the lack of material progress in their lives, experts say.
Resentment has posed special problems in the south, where villagers who have suffered from Western military firepower have responded to the Taliban's call to arms against foreign troops and the government of President Hamid Karzai, the experts said.
"There is growing resentment because of the kinds of military operations that have been carried out, not because of the international troop presence," Samina Ahmed, South Asia project director for International Crisis Group think tank, said this week in an interview.
Ahmed, who is based in Pakistan and travels frequently to Afghanistan, cited bombing raids based on faulty intelligence that have killed innocent villagers and shootings of innocent civilians by panicky troops as especially damaging to Afghan support for Western forces.
"What has also led to greater resentment is the fact that Kabul is not delivering," she added, referring to the Afghan government's difficulty in providing services to the people.
The United States provides about 27,000 of the 45,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, some in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and the rest under a separate U.S.-led coalition.
Pentagon and NATO officials cited opinion polls, however, that show a large majority of Afghans favoring foreign troops and only a small fraction of support for the Taliban
"There is no doubt that the population supports the presence of international troops," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.
Added Pentagon spokesman, Air Force Lt. Col. Todd Vician: "Support for the Taliban has not increased. I think the majority see the Taliban for what they are or what they bring to Afghanistan, which is brutality."
AFGHANISTAN'S DIRECTION
But polling data has also shown Afghan support for international troops slipping in 2006 as the populace has grown less optimistic about the country's direction.
Violence in Afghanistan last year was the worst since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001. About one-quarter of the 4,000 people killed in 2006 were civilians.
NATO, U.S. commanders and Afghan leaders have said the Taliban insurgency cannot be defeated unless reconstruction brings the new jobs and economic progress that were widely anticipated after the former Taliban rulers were ousted.
But David Edwards, a U.S. anthropologist regarded as an expert on the origins of the Taliban, said reconstruction has been overshadowed by rampant corruption, meager international donations and poverty in a country where the unemployment rate is about 40 percent.
"It's important to understand that Americans have come to be seen as an occupying power," Edwards, an author who has traveled widely in Afghanistan, said at a Monday forum sponsored by the Pakistani Embassy in Washington
"It's a way in which the Taliban has come to gain supporters," added Edwards, who said there is evidence that the Taliban pays its members better than Afghanistan's national army pays its soldiers.
The warnings about eroding support came as NATO commanders conducted a spring offensive code-named Operation Achilles against Taliban strongholds in a bid to pre-empt an expected warmer weather seasonal campaign by Islamist militants.
With fighting expected to be heavy again in 2007, Afghans have complained more loudly about the effects of combat as NATO has poured more troops into the effort to thwart the Taliban.
Scores of civilians have died during NATO operations this year. About 60 people, including women and children, were killed by NATO planes during fighting in the southern province of Kandahar in January during an important Muslim holiday.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray in Washington, Mark John in Brussels and Terry Friel in Kabul)
ISAF refutes Reuters’ claim of 60 civilians killed in Kandahar Province in January
Release # 2007-249 29 March 2007
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – In a story, headlined “NATO Troops earn resentment of frustrated Afghans,” dated 27 March 2007, Reuters reported that “About 60 people including innocent women and children, were killed by NATO planes during fighting in the southern province of Kandahar in January during an important Muslim holiday.” The Reuters story also claims, according to a source, that “panicky” ISAF soldiers have killed innocent people.
A thorough review of both battle damage assessments and claims put forward for January 2007 does not corroborate the numbers reported in the Reuters story. As a result, ISAF refutes the claim made by Reuters.
As for the specific allegation that NATO planes killed 60 innocent Afghans in Kandahar Province in January, it is important to note that ISAF did not launch any major air strike offensives during that month in Kandahar Province. The majority of air strikes in the province of Kandahar occurred in the initial stages of Operation Baaz Tsuka, specifically on 13 and 19 December 2006. During these strikes, our battle damage assessments did not reveal any innocent Afghans killed. Our records do show, however, that ISAF operations may have injured some civilians in December 2006 and these claims, which were filed in January 2007, are still being processed.
ISAF takes extraordinary measures to prevent any type of collateral damage and operates on the principal of avoiding any and all civilian casualties during operations. This has been a long standing practise and ISAF continues to apply this principle rigorously.
It is equally important to note that in addition to conducting battle damage assessments, ISAF works closely with the Government of Afghanistan through a detailed process by which evidence and claims can be put forward by Afghans in cases where innocent people are killed or collateral damage was caused.
“Every Afghan killed in this conflict is one Afghan too many,” stated Major General Ton van Loon, Commander of Regional Command South. “Local
Afghans in areas where we are currently conducting operations have clearly told us that they are essentially held hostage by Taliban extremists. Our operations are therefore planned as such and we take every possible precaution to prevent the accidental killing or injuring of local Afghans. If this means cancelling or delaying operations, then this is what I will continue to do,” he added.
Regarding claims by Reuters that the “panicking” actions of ISAF troops have killed innocent people during battles, ISAF stands firmly behind its troops who, to the contrary, have not only demonstrated courage in the performance of their duty but have repeatedly demonstrated restraint during battles with extremists. ISAF troops demonstrated restraint in occasions such as on 7 February in the Kajaki area where extremists used children to cover their retreat, causing ISAF forces to stop engaging the enemy. Similarly, they showed control in the Garmsir area on 7 March when extremists sought refuge in a Mosque, temporarily causing ISAF forces to cease fighting until extremists started engaging from the Mosque. During the same operation, ISAF troops ceased fire on the enemy who took refuge where innocent Afghans were believed to be residing.
In contrast to the restraint of ISAF forces, suicide attacks targeting Afghan National Security Forces or ISAF troops often kill innocent civilian bystanders. For 2007 alone, these indiscriminate attacks, often launched by extremists in crowded areas, have killed 25 local Afghan civilians and wounded more than 60 others. For the month of March alone, 18 innocent Afghans have been killed and more than 12 innocent Afghans have been wounded as the direct result of enemy improvised explosive device attacks.
ISAF Public Information Office
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Afghanistan: Tightening Grip on Media
Afghanistan: Tightening Grip on Media
ALISA TANG Associated Press Writer March 27, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan — Political talk show host Razaq Mamoon never held back with the cameras rolling. He railed at former warlords now in government and accused Afghanistan's Parliament of being a den of war criminals and drug smugglers.
Not surprisingly, he caught the attention of government leaders.
"I started receiving messages from them: 'We don't know who you're with or who you're against. You attack everybody,'" Mamoon said.
His employer, Tolo TV, came under intense pressure from government ministers, and soon Mamoon was fired, he said. His popular round-table news program "Gaftmon" _ or "Hardtalk" _ was yanked from the air.
Hailed as a major success of five years of democracy-building, media freedom in Afghanistan is under increasing pressures, including a proposed law that would cripple media rights, and threats and physical abuse of journalists by government and military officials.
"Effectively we've moved from an open media environment to a state-controlled media environment, which is a considerable turnaround from the direction media was heading in Afghanistan up until 2005-06," said Adrian Edwards, spokesman of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
The Afghan media has changed radically since Taliban times, when there were no television stations and only a handful of newspapers that were completely state-controlled. There was just one Taliban radio station _ broadcasting news and religious poetry but no music.
Now there are more than 40 private radio stations, seven TV networks, and more than 350 newspapers and magazines registered with the information ministry. Afghan TV broadcasts everything from breaking news to cooking shows and the local version of "American Idol."
But critics say the new legislation, expected to be debated in Parliament within weeks, is an ominous sign that Afghanistan's experiment with open media is on borrowed time.
Fazil Sangcharaki, chief of the Afghan Journalists' Association and former deputy information minister, said the proposed law is being pushed by former warlords-turned-politicians who would rather have past deeds be forgotten, and by Islamists worried the media is corrupting the Afghan people.
If passed, it would give the Ministry of Information and Culture direct control of state-owned Radio and Television Afghanistan (RTA) and increased power over private media. It would even make it possible to jail journalists like Mamoon for reporting news deemed "humiliating and offensive."
Many journalists see it as a reaction to reporting on corruption and war crimes, and an attempt by President Hamid Karzai's elected government _ that succeeded the fundamentalist Taliban regime that fell in late 2001 _ to reel in the free press.
"The government was not happy with my investigative work," Mamoon said at the office of Emroz, the new media company where he now works. "The government is facing criticism, which is new for them. It is embarrassed."
The proposed law would turn RTA into a "state propaganda tool," Edwards said. The information minister would be granted the power to appoint and pay commissioners who regulate the media.
"You don't want to have a minister of information who can literally haul in journalists or influence private media through salaries of commissioners ... That would be worrying in any country," Edwards said.
Several vaguely worded prohibitions in the law could be used to black out almost any news story.
It would prohibit the "propagation of religions other than the holy religion of Islam"; stories that "affect the stability, national security and territorial integrity of the country," and "articles and topics that harm the physical, spiritual and moral well-being of people, especially children and adolescents."
UNAMA officials and others lobbying for press freedom have met with President Karzai and Information Minister Abdul Karim Khurram, but the outcome for the media is not clear.
Halim Tanweer, Khurram's media advisor, said the information ministry believes "100 percent" in free speech and a free press.
"We broadcast any news in the national interest of the Afghan people," Tanweer said. "We are trying to be impartial. (State TV) does not work for the government."
However, evidence of efforts to muffle the media is rapidly piling up.
_ On Feb. 22 in the western city of Herat, Afghan police beat and confiscated the camera of an Ariana Television cameraman Eshaq Quraishi, who was filming a victim wounded by police gunfire at a protest, according to Afghan press rights organization Nai. A report by Nai quoted Herat police chief Ahmad Shafiq Fazli as saying that Quraishi "was not beaten up by the police ... and their camera was stolen by protesters."
_ And in a sign it's not just Afghan authorities constraining the press, U.S. troops deleted the photos and video of Afghan journalists _ including a freelance photographer and a cameraman of The Associated Press _ covering the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack March 4 in eastern Afghanistan.
_ In Kabul, RTA television reporter Besoodi Forgh was dealt two black eyes by a team of seven men from the information ministry, he said. The men showed up in his newsroom late last month and accused him of spying for Iran. Two men held his hands behind his back, and one man punched him four times in the face and three times on back of the head.
"I'm not a spy. I've never even been to Iran," he said.
He was fired.
But in a sign that Afghan journalists won't bow down quietly, he's gone public about his ordeal. Mamoon also said he would stand up for his professional rights, "even if it costs me my life," although he remains pessimistic about the future.
"The government has lost the trust of the Afghan media. The media is wondering who will defend us now? We have nobody," Mamoon said. "This is very dangerous for Afghanistan's democracy. There is no difference between Taliban times and now."
___
Associated Press writers Amir Shah and Jason Straziuso contributed to this report.
Nato, more afghan resentment
NATO troops earn resentment of frustrated Afghans
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - Foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan are beginning to draw the resentment of Afghans fed up with growing civilian casualties and the lack of material progress in their lives, experts say.
Resentment has posed special problems in the south, where villagers who have suffered from Western military firepower have responded to the Taliban's call to arms against foreign troops and the government of President Hamid Karzai, the experts said.
"There is growing resentment because of the kinds of military operations that have been carried out, not because of the international troop presence," Samina Ahmed, South Asia project director for International Crisis Group think tank, said this week in an interview.
Ahmed, who is based in Pakistan and travels frequently to Afghanistan, cited bombing raids based on faulty intelligence that have killed innocent villagers and shootings of innocent civilians by panicky troops as especially damaging to Afghan support for Western forces.
"What has also led to greater resentment is the fact that Kabul is not delivering," she added, referring to the Afghan government's difficulty in providing services to the people.
The United States provides about 27,000 of the 45,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, some in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and the rest under a separate U.S.-led coalition.
Pentagon and NATO officials cited opinion polls, however, that show a large majority of Afghans favoring foreign troops and only a small fraction of support for the Taliban.
"There is no doubt that the population supports the presence of international troops," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.
Added Pentagon spokesman, Air Force Lt. Col. Todd Vician: "Support for the Taliban has not increased. I think the majority see the Taliban for what they are or what they bring to Afghanistan, which is brutality."
AFGHANISTAN'S DIRECTION
But polling data has also shown Afghan support for international troops slipping in 2006 as the populace has grown less optimistic about the country's direction.
Violence in Afghanistan last year was the worst since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001. About one-quarter of the 4,000 people killed in 2006 were civilians.
NATO, U.S. commanders and Afghan leaders have said the Taliban insurgency cannot be defeated unless reconstruction brings the new jobs and economic progress that were widely anticipated after the former Taliban rulers were ousted.
But David Edwards, a U.S. anthropologist regarded as an expert on the origins of the Taliban, said reconstruction has been overshadowed by rampant corruption, meager international donations and poverty in a country where the unemployment rate is about 40 percent.
"It's important to understand that Americans have come to be seen as an occupying power," Edwards, an author who has traveled widely in Afghanistan, said at a Monday forum sponsored by the Pakistani Embassy in Washington.
"It's a way in which the Taliban has come to gain supporters," added Edwards, who said there is evidence that the Taliban pays its members better than Afghanistan's national army pays its soldiers.
The warnings about eroding support came as NATO commanders conducted a spring offensive code-named Operation Achilles against Taliban strongholds in a bid to pre-empt an expected warmer weather seasonal campaign by Islamist militants.
With fighting expected to be heavy again in 2007, Afghans have complained more loudly about the effects of combat as NATO has poured more troops into the effort to thwart the Taliban.
Scores of civilians have died during NATO operations this year. About 60 people, including women and children, were killed by NATO planes during fighting in the southern province of Kandahar in January during an important Muslim holiday.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray in Washington, Mark John in Brussels and Terry Friel in Kabul)
Iraq exit dance has lessons for Canada
Iraq exit dance has lessons for Canada
March 27, 2007 The Toronto Star Richard Gwyn
In itself, the bill passed last week by the U.S. House of Representatives requiring the withdrawal from Iraq of most American troops by the end of 2008 is little more than a gesture.
President George W. Bush has already said he will veto it.
Yet there is a good reason for Canadians to keep a close eye on the progress of these political struggles and also of manoeuvrings between the White House and Congress and between the Democrats and Republicans.
This reason is that what's happening there today may well happen to us in a few years time.
There, the source of the challenge confronting the political system is Iraq; here, it will be Afghanistan.
The comparisons aren't exact. Canadians haven't been deceived, by either the incumbent Conservative government or its Liberal predecessor, about the reasons Canadian soldiers are in Afghanistan.
There has been here no explicit expression of public opinion about the war in Afghanistan, unlike the anti-Iraq war vote in the U.S.'s mid-term elections.
Even the regular polls don't show strong public opposition to Canadian troops in Afghanistan, and do show strong support for our troops. But it also shows unease about what might happen there.
This won't last, though, entirely aside from the possibility of casualties in the intense fighting predicted for this spring.
We are committed to staying to mid-2009. Unless, by then, the Taliban is clearly in retreat and the government in Kabul is clearly gaining popular support, extending the mission would be extremely difficult.
In fact, neither mark is likely to be achieved by 2009. In terms of "nation-building" Afghanistan is at least a 10-year project, and quite possibly a 20-year one.
Staying on, therefore, would look like committing our troops to an eternity of fighting.
This is when the crunch will happen. There's really no way to get out of one of these kinds of conflicts except to randomly declare a victory and then to bring the troops home.
This is what Bush is now doing. His "surge' of extra troops is likely to quieten things down in Baghdad. So, shortly before leaving office, he will be able to declare a victory and blame everything thereafter on the Iraqi government.
Except that, as soon as the U.S. troops leave in large numbers, the insurgents and the Sunni will themselves surge right back into Baghdad.
Our situation is more complicated. Fighting the Taliban is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) responsibility. But major NATO members, such as France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, are standing on the sidelines.
A Canadian withdrawal in 2009 would thus leave a huge hole. The Dutch, who, like us, are actually fighting, may well use our withdrawal as cover for them to do the same.
Thus, a Canadian withdrawal might precipitate a general withdrawal even if – unlike in Iraq – the circumstances don't really warrant it.
On the one hand, some of the current news from Afghanistan is extremely worrying. The international think-tank, the Senlis Council, has just reported a sharp increase in support, to close to one-in-three for the Taliban in the south, where the Canadian troops are.
Also, United Nations anti-drug chief Antonio Maria Costa has reported that the alliance between drug lords and the terrorists is "stronger than ever."
On the other hand, education and health care in the country have definitely improved, some 3 million refugees have returned home, and Kabul's streets are now packed with traders.
The clichéd phrase that always gets dredged up at this point is "an exit strategy." In fact, as shown by the way the Democrats stretched their withdrawal deadline into late 2008, a key component of any exit strategy is a stay-for-a-bit-longer strategy.
Soon we are going to be tested politically in a way that we haven't been in decades.
The same imperatives as now apply in Washington – of pretending victory in order to avoid the humiliation of admitting defeat, and of bringing our soldiers safely home but of not turning our backs on their sacrifices – will apply here.
Watching the drama now unfolding in Washington may be a useful way to spot the impending dangers and opportunities.
Of course, what we may mostly learn by watching Washington will be to do the exact opposite.
Monday, March 26, 2007
NATO insulting segragration with Afghans
pathetic
NATO's potty rules shut out Afghans
JOE FRIESEN Globe and Mail March 26
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Under a bizarre policy that echoes the days of segregation in the United States, Afghans who work at the NATO base at Kandahar Airfield must use separate toilets marked "local nationals only."
Several Afghans told The Globe and Mail the practice is insulting, but they are dependent on NATO for their livelihoods and reluctant to speak out.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Blevins, the U.S. officer in charge of administrative contracts, said the segregated toilet policy exists because the bathroom habits of the Afghans are different from those of the North Americans and Europeans who work at the base.
"We've always had this policy," Lt.-Col. Blevins said. "It's not based on a racial thing; it's just how they use the toilets. They're not used to toilets. They use squats, or holes in the ground."
One Afghan, who has worked at the base for five years as an interpreter, laughed at this suggestion.
He can't give his name because he works with the coalition and is afraid of being targeted by insurgents.
"I don't see any reason for separate bathrooms," he said. "Everybody is human, so it should be one [toilet]."
He said that foreign soldiers told him they wouldn't use the same toilets as Afghans because they are afraid of catching something contagious.
"Soldiers say they're scared of local people who might have disease," he said. "Personally, I [do] not like that, but this is the way of the army so you have to respect that."
The issue came to light when a Globe reporter tried to use the toilets near the main gate at Kandahar Airfield. The guard on duty directed the reporter to toilets 30 metres away, saying the ones directly in front of him were for the Afghans.
Lt.-Col. Blevins said he thinks of the policy as a cultural accommodation, and it makes life easier for the cleaners.
"When they [the Afghans] use our port-a-potties, they stand on the seats and it causes quite a mess," he said. "I think it's just a cultural thing."
The toilets reserved for Afghans typically have the words "local nationals" written on the door, and are a different colour than the ones reserved for non-Afghans. The toilets look the same on the inside, except the plastic seat is sometimes removed from the local national toilets. Afghans say there aren't enough toilets to accommodate them, and theirs aren't as well cleaned as the ones reserved for foreigners.
"It's not fair," said Qaseem, an Afghan interpreter who works at the base.
He said some foreigners will use the local bathrooms when the lines are long and it suits them, but local Afghans can't use the bathrooms reserved for the foreigners.
"Some of the army guys, they use the local bathroom, so we should be able to use their bathrooms, too."
As he speaks, his uncle comes over to say that the separate bathrooms are very nice, and that he's grateful to NATO for coming to Afghanistan and he hopes they will stay a long time.
Other Afghans who stand in line waiting to be searched as they leave the NATO base said they can accept having to use separate bathrooms and don't see it as a significant hardship.
A few Afghan employees have the privilege of being able to use either set of toilets because they have worked with the coalition long enough to be considered trusted agents.
Qaseem said the problem comes down to the way Afghans use water to clean themselves before praying. The foreigners don't like it, he said.
Lt.-Col. Blevins said there can be problems if water bottles, used by the Afghans in their ablutions, have to be fished out of the toilets. Although Afghans are strongly encouraged to use the toilets marked "local nationals only," they wouldn't be prevented from using another bathroom in an emergency, he said.
There are also security issues to be considered, he said. Some foreign-only bathrooms are close to the soldiers' sleeping quarters, which need to be protected.
More than 1,200 local people come through the gates of Kandahar Airfield most days, according to the Canadian guards who operate the main entrance.
They work in a variety of jobs, from manual labour to translation. They are the Afghans who, in a conflict increasingly characterized as a battle for hearts and minds, have the most direct contact with coalition forces.
Relations between the workers and military personnel range from collegial friendships to wariness and suspicion. Translators, partly because they speak English, can become quite close to some officers, while labourers required to have a permanent military escort are not treated with the same consideration.
They are hired under an Afghans-first policy, which seeks to employee as many local people as possible to ensure they see the economic benefits of the foreign presence.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Military lawyers defy O'Connor ... hum.....???
Military lawyers defy O'Connor on detainees policy
March 23, 2007 | CBC News
Defence Department lawyers are trying to block investigations into the way Canadian troops handle detainees in Afghanistan, even though the defence minister has promised they would go ahead.
Minister of Defence Gordon O'Connor told MPs earlier this week that an independent commission would review allegations that military police broke the law when they turned Afghan prisoners over to the Afghan government, knowing they might be tortured.
But lawyers working for O'Connor's own department are now at odds with him.
A spokesman for the Canadian Forces legal office said lawyers are reviewing whether an independent commission would be overstepping its bounds by reviewing how Afghan detainees are treated. The lawyers may pursue legal action to stop such an investigation.
Stanley Blythe, who is working for the independent commission, sees no reason the review should not carry on. "We see this as our job, certainly. And they [defence ministry lawyers] see this as apparently not our job," he said.
A Defence Department spokesman told the CBC on Friday there was a "technical issue" to resolve and military lawyers are still reviewing how to stop the investigation in spite of O'Connor's decision.
Still, a source close to the minister said O'Connor will not back down from his word.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
o'Connor should be given the boot
O'Connor under fire despite apology
NDP, Bloc say defence minister must go for blunders on monitoring of detainees
March 20, 2007 TheTorontoStar
OTTAWA–Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor has formally apologized for wrongly claiming Canada was monitoring the treatment of Afghan detainees through the International Committee of the Red Cross.
O'Connor admitted to Parliament yesterday the non-governmental organization "is under no obligation to share information with Canada on the treatment of detainees" and only shares any information – damning or not – with the government of Afghanistan.
"I fully and without reservation apologize to the House for providing inaccurate information to members," said O'Connor. "The answers I gave were provided in good faith."
But O'Connor's assertion that he "inadvertently" misled the Commons in repeated statements over the past few months drew derision and calls for his resignation from critics.
"He's either woefully ill-informed or he's misleading the House," said Dawn Black, the New Democrats' defence critic.
"If he was in the army, he'd be court-martialled," added Bloc Québécois House leader Michel Gauthier.
They said the Geneva convention on the treatment of detainees, which outlines the role of the Red Cross or Red Crescent in visiting detainees, is part of basic military training in the laws of war and O'Connor, a former brigadier-general, must have been aware of it.
The New Democratic Party and the Bloc called for O'Connor's immediate resignation, saying he has failed to negotiate better protection for detainees than was contained in an agreement Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, signed with the Afghan government in 2005.
Unlike NATO allies such as Denmark, Britain and the Netherlands, Canada has no way of monitoring the prisoners its troops capture and hand over to Afghan forces, said Black (New Westminster-Coquitlam).
"It leaves our own men and women in the Canadian Forces in some jeopardy," she said.
"For instance, four detainees they can't find now. What does that mean? Are they back fighting, perhaps against Canadians? Are they planting (bombs) right now against Canadian men and women? Have they been killed? Have they been tortured? I mean we simply don't know and that's not good enough. It's enough reason for the minister to resign."
After reading a prepared statement in the Commons in the morning, O'Connor appeared rattled during an onslaught of questions from opposition critics yesterday afternoon. He searched for words and was prompted by seatmates in his responses. He deferred to three other senior ministers to answer questions on his behalf.
When O'Connor did answer, he said over and over again that Canada has now asked the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission to monitor any "mistreatment" of detainees, and vowed he would not interfere with any of four ongoing investigations into allegations of mistreatment of detainees.
University of Ottawa lawyer Amir Attaran, who first raised questions about the treatment of detainees handed over by Canadian soldiers, said both O'Connor and Hillier should resign – O'Connor for misleading the House and Hillier for having signed the detainee agreement without monitoring ability.
The Liberals did not call for O'Connor to resign, saying that for now they want more than "small and dull answers" from the defence minister.
Monday, March 19, 2007
NATO Irritated by New American ISAF Commander
NATO Irritated by New American ISAF Commander
SPIEGEL staff March 19, 2007
The German government and NATO's North Atlantic Council have criticized US General Dan McNeill, the new NATO commander in Afghanistan. McNeill has been operating too independently and has been too brash in his choice of words, critics say.
The German government and the North Atlantic Council in Brussels are unhappy with US General Dan McNeill, who took over as commander of the 36,000-strong NATO-led force in Afghanistan in early February.
McNeill launched last week's "Operation Achilles" offensive against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan without informing NATO headquarters in Brussels and the allied NATO powers.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and several ambassadors complained that McNeill had surged ahead on his own authority. They criticized him for declaring that the operation, which was originally planned just to protect a water dam, was a "spring offensive."
Government officials in Berlin were particularly irritated by reports that the US general is skeptical about coordinated civilian and military reconstruction efforts, an approach that Germany and many other partners support.
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US General John Craddock, has expressed regret about McNeill's behavior, say sources in Brussels.
Dutch to leave afghanistan ... less than 50% public support on being in afghanistan! ...
Dutch military chief opposes extension to mission in Afghanistan
March 16, 2007 March 19 Pakistan News Service
NETHERLAND: Dutch troops in Afghanistan should return home after their mandate expires in a year's time, Dutch Commander of the Armed Forces Dick Berlijn has told Dutch newspaper the Algemeen Dagblad.
Berlijn said Dutch troops' mission in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan must be taken over at that time by another NATO country, the newspaper reported.
The remarks ran contrary to the United States' repeated calls in recent months for more troops contributions to Afghanistan from NATO allies. Up to now only Britain has agreed to send reinforcements to the Asian country.
The Netherlands has about 2,200 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Along with Britain, Canada and the United States, the Netherlands has been responsible for southern Afghanistan since last August.
Berlijn said that bringing the troops back after their two-year mission is completed will avoid excessive pressure on the military.
He said the smaller specialized units like the helicopter group and the engineering corps are bearing heavy burdens and troops of these units have to travel to Afghanistan more frequently to relieve the units there than the infantry.
An opinion poll late last year showed that the Dutch public was extremely skeptical about the mission in Uruzgan, with less than half of the population believing that the Dutch forces should be in Afghanistan.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
ouch!
Taliban chop noses, ears of drivers
Reuters, Asadabad March 18
Taliban guerrillas chopped noses and ears of at least five truck drivers in eastern Afghanistan as punishment for transporting supplies to US-led troops, officials and residents said on Sunday.
The drivers were part of a convoy headed for a coalition military base when they were attacked in the province of Nuristan on Saturday.
"The number of drivers who had their noses and ears cut varies, it is between five and eight," Ghulam-ullah, the police chief of Nuristan who uses only one name, said citing locals and officials in the area.
Several trucks were destroyed in the attack.
Ousted from power in 2001 in a US-led invasion, the Taliban have launched what they call a holy war against Western troops and the government in Kabul.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
oh we support our military alright ; monument snuffed.
Canuck soldier monument snuffed out
TOM VAN DUSEN, SPECIAL TO SUN MEDIA March 17, 2007
PETAWAWA -- A plan to erect an eternal flame monument at CFB Petawawa honouring the contribution of Canadian troops in war zones has been snuffed out after an intensive five-month campaign.
Lead organizer Dianne Collier said the demise of the Eternal Flame Project primarily over a site dispute has left her committee members "reeling in disbelief."
"Once more, military families have been shafted. My committee and I have been shafted. We have completely dedicated ourselves to creating a monument that any community would be proud to have."
The Armed Forces wife is so disappointed, she's planning to retire after 18 years of a "frustrating uphill climb" supporting military families in various ways.
"I don't have the desire or the health to continue to butt heads with people who say one thing but mean the opposite. Talk is cheap and, as always, actions speak louder than words."
Collier's committee had been trying to raise $20,000 to construct the 8-ft. granite monument in existing Home Fires Park overlooking the Ottawa River. The flame would symbolize the fact wives and mothers have traditionally kept the home fires burning while their loved ones were away on the battle front.
However, Collier said, a civilian with control over the park and Base Command have decided the site shouldn't accommodate the eternal flame.
"It boggles the mind how a civilian with no connection to the base has been given complete control of a park created by a committee of local residents that sits inside CFB Petawawa on DND property," Collier said.
She also said the Base Commander won't cover future gas costs to keep the flame alight.
"I would not have gone ahead with the project without his assurance as it would have been pointless," she said.
Base Commander Lt.-Col. Dave Rundle could not be immediately reached because he is away on leave for March Break until tomorrow.
Collier said people from across Canada and the U.S. have embraced the project for "our hurting community ... but all of that has gone down the drain."
Contributions will be returned unless the committee is advised they should be redirected to the Sapper McTeague Wounded Warrior Fund.
Top-heavy military throws spending off-balance
Top-heavy military throws spending off-balance Money poured into bureaucracy instead of missions, retired colonel says
Tim Naumetz, The Ottawa Citizen March 17, 2007
The "brass to bayonets" balance in the Canadian Forces has tipped to the point there is nearly one officer for every three members of the enlisted ranks, Defence Department figures show.
Forty years ago, before years of budget cuts and troop reductions, the ratio was approximately one officer for every five enlisted members, according to a historical comparison the department provided to the Citizen.
The accounts show that in 1964, the Canadian Forces totalled 95,379 enlisted personnel and 18,986 commissioned officers in the regular services.
Last month, the figures were 48,555 enlisted and 14,804 officers.
There are 79 generals, but captains make up the largest single cohort at 5,827.
The result, says a senior military analyst, is that the Canadian Forces spends too much on infrastructure, red tape and bureaucracy instead of the foot soldiers and lower ranks required to sustain a major operation such as the Kandahar battle group in Afghanistan.
Retired army colonel Brian MacDonald said the recent numbers confirm the Forces has done little to adjust the lopsided ratio of officers to enlisted personnel that began after the Trudeau government unified the navy, air force and army into one service in 1968.
The Canadian Forces applied the higher officer-to-soldier ratio of the air force to the other two branches and the imbalance was exaggerated in the 1990s when reductions were implemented through a recruitment freeze, says Mr. MacDonald.
He said the ratio of officers to enlisted personnel is higher in Canada than the U.S. and Britain.
"We have the only army in the world using captains as platoon commanders," Mr. MacDonald said, explaining the normal rank for that job is lieutenant.
Mr. MacDonald added Canada has too many army bases, which creates more demand for officers for administration and infrastructure.
If the Conservative government keeps a promise to establish new "territorial-defence" battalions across the country, the number of bases would increase.
"One of my fears would be that you would be simply creating new administrative structures and your tooth-to-tail ratio might go in the wrong direction," Mr. MacDonald said.
"It costs you a lot more money in pay," he added, saying training and support for officers through their careers is also more costly than for lower ranks.
The Afghanistan mission has exaggerated the effects of low numbers in the ranks and, combined with the recruitment freeze in the 1990s, has made it difficult to ramp up recruitment now because of a shortage of non-commissioned officers for training, says NDP defence critic Dawn Black.
"They talk about wanting to increase recruitment, then they tell you they can't do it to the numbers they want because they haven't got the trainers here, they're in Afghanistan," Ms. Black said.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
deception / contradiction on civilian deaths in afghanistan; how much would it cost for the US to pay out to the casulties of iraq?
U.S. Makes Payment in Afghan Boy's Death
March 15, 2007
CHINAR, Afghanistan (AP) - The American colonel bowed his head at the fresh dirt graves of three young boys marked by brightly colored martyrs' flags Wednesday. Then he sat down next to the boys' fathers, expressed his condolences and handed them an envelope full of cash.
Lt. Col. Brian Mennes, commander of a paratrooper regiment in the 82nd Airborne Division, said his visit to a simple mud-brick home was a sign of respect and an attempt to mend relations after the boys were mistakenly killed during the latest NATO offensive.
``I doubt many countries in the world, particularly that have been fighting here, go to these lengths to show the people we're sorry when bad things happen, even in very complex situations when you have the enemy fighting among the people,'' he said.
``I doubt the Soviets did this,'' he added, referring to fighting during the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
The display of sorrow - and compensation - was part of a campaign to calm Afghan anger over civilian deaths. While the U.S. made payments after a military truck crash last May set off rioting in Kabul, any restitution for deaths of civilians from combat haven't been publicized.
The three youngsters were killed by an airstrike Saturday. Mennes said his unit, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, launched an attack after intelligence indicated Taliban fighters had gathered.
Civilian deaths have been a growing problem during the U.S. and NATO fight against a resurgent Taliban. President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly pleaded with Western forces to avoid harming innocent Afghans, fearing deaths will turn people against the international effort and breed vengeance among aggrieved tribal families.
An Associated Press tally indicates the deaths of about 40 civilians this year could be attributed to NATO or U.S. action, based on figures from military and Afghan officials. That is out of a total of 83 civilian deaths from combat counted by AP.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch estimates more than 100 Afghan civilians were killed during assaults by NATO and the U.S.-led coalition in 2006. AP counted 512 civilian combat deaths last year.
Earlier this month, Afghan witnesses and officials said U.S. military action may have killed up to 19 civilians in one day - up to 10 shot by Marines after being attacked by a suicide bomber March 5 and nine killed in an airstrike when Taliban fighters took refuge in a home.
U.S. commanders say Taliban fighters often attack American troops and then hide in civilian homes, putting women and children in harm's way as they try to escape retaliation, or even to cause the deaths of innocent people as a way to kindle anger against foreign troops.
Mennes said it was possible the three boys killed Saturday were used as human shields. It wasn't known whether any Taliban fighters died in the airstrike, and he declined to share more details, citing military security.
``I can't say conclusively'' that the kids were used as human shields, he said. ``But the Taliban does fight among the people.''
The 82nd Airborne paratroopers in this mountainous region straddling Helmand and Kandahar provinces are providing a security cordon for the heart of NATO's newest offensive, Operation Achilles. British soldiers are doing the heaviest fighting just across a mountain pass from Chinar in Helmand province.
The Americans are the first international soldiers stationed in the area since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. U.S. commanders describe this as Taliban country, and lush green opium poppy fields grow everywhere - including across from Chinar's police station.
After a lunch with local elders at Chinar's police compound, Mennes walked through the village accompanied by a security detail.
As children peeked from behind doors, the U.S. contingent stopped at the village cemetery, where three fresh mounds were covered in stones and marked by six tall sticks with colored pieces of cloth tied to them - a sign that a ``martyr'' was buried there.
Four elderly men in turbans said a short prayer, then Mennes, his command sergeant major and an Afghan army commander met with the fathers of the dead boys, two of whom were brothers.
A prayer was said by one of 15 turbaned men squinting into a setting sun, and the Afghan officer told the gathered men: ``May God bless the boys and God bless the family and may no tragedy like this happen again.''
``I know there is nothing we can do to ease your pain,'' Mennes told the fathers, one of whom continually dabbed his eyes with his scarf. ``We just came to express our condolences and compensate a little bit for the loss.''
Earlier, Mennes gave the family $600 to buy food for visiting friends and relatives. On Wednesday, he gave the fathers $6,000 more, telling them the $2,000 gift for each child was on behalf of the Afghan government.
U.S. soldiers patrolling in the valley earlier ran over a farmer's crops in the area, and Mennes said he would also be paid compensation.
He said soldiers try to be ``polite and respectful'' during missions, and try to make up for it when things go wrong. He said he is always aware of the human aspect of war.
``This is not like going to work at Wal-Mart,'' Mennes said. ``Everything we do affects so many people. We try to stay extremely conscious of the effects we have both on our enemy and the people we're trying to help.''