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The Afghan Rescue Mission Behind Today's Medal of Honor
Inside a village on the Pakistan border, America's defining values were on display.
Wall Street Journal By BING WEST SEPTEMBER 15, 2011
President Obama will today award the Medal of Honor to Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer. In attendance will be a handful of soldiers and Marines who, one day in September 2009, were abandoned by their chain of command and relied on their own initiative to dislodge a fierce enemy. Their battle has entered military folklore and resulted not only in today's Medal of Honor but in two Navy Crosses, two investigations for dereliction of duty, three letters of severe reprimand, and a recommendation for a second Medal of Honor.
The setting was the remote Afghan village of Ganjigal, on the Pakistan border, where elders had requested aid in repairing a mosque. Hoping to win hearts and minds, a U.S.-trained Afghan battalion agreed to help. At dawn, about 100 Afghan soldiers and a dozen U.S. Marine advisers entered the valley where Ganjigal is found, picking their way up a narrow, rocky wash toward the stone houses dug into the far end.
It was a setup. Hidden inside the houses and along the wash were 60 jihadists from Pakistan. The ambushers opened fire with machine guns, mortars and rockets. Immediately the foot patrol was pinned down and taking casualties.
Back at the valley's entrance, 21-year-old Cpl. Meyer listened to radio calls for artillery fire that were refused by officers at higher headquarters due to concern for endangering villagers. Cpl. Meyer hopped into the gun turret of a Humvee and persuaded a fellow adviser, Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, to drive him straight into the battle.
When the Humvee lurched into the wash, Cpl. Meyer saw the bodies of roughly a dozen Afghan soldiers strewn across the terrain, some dead and others crying. With bullets striking his truck, he leaped out, stuffed five wounded Afghans inside, and then hopped back up behind the machine gun and hammered away as the pulverized vehicle crawled out of the wash.
Leaving the wounded in the rear, Cpl. Meyer and Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez swapped Humvees. This time the enemy was waiting in a dry streambed. Rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun bullets followed Cpl. Meyer as he repeatedly left his armored turret to load the truck with wounded Afghan soldiers. At one point, he shot a tall man with a black beard. When another leapt forward under the barrel of his machine gun, Cpl. Meyer grabbed his M4 rifle and shot him in the head.
"You'll have to kill me," he shouted in the rage of battle (he had expected to be killed, he told me a few days later at his outpost in Afghanistan), "because that's the only way you'll stop me."
When Cpl. Meyer and Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez again dropped off the wounded in the rear, they bumped into a backup American platoon in armored vehicles. The platoon refused to join them, so they went back in for a third time with no backup, driving into a torrent of automatic-weapons fire so a group of trapped American advisers could escape. Cpl. Meyer watched women and children darting among the houses, carrying ammunition to the jihadists.
Cpl. Meyer, a qualified sniper, was hit in the right elbow but continued to shoot left-handed until the feeling returned to his right hand. Over the radio, he listened to Capt. Will Swenson, an Army adviser who remained in the valley to fight, calling repeatedly for artillery fire, only to be rebuffed by headquarters.
Pulling back out, Cpl. Meyer took count. Four advisers were still missing. So he gathered those still willing to risk death. In addition to Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez and Capt. Swenson, an Afghan interpreter and Lt. Ademola Fabayo, another adviser, climbed into the truck with Cpl. Meyer. An Army pilot in a tiny Kiowa helicopter, flying 10 feet above the ground, protected the Humvee from the rear. They drove back into the cauldron a fourth time. After seven hours of fighting, Cpl. Meyer found his four missing comrades, dead. At about the same time, the jihadists had collected their casualties and were trekking back into Pakistan.
Over the following months, two investigations resulted in three letters of reprimand for the unit commanders' failure to provide fire support. Bitterness about the battle and its aftermath lingered among the families of the five dead Americans. While Lt. Fabayo and Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez received the Navy Cross from the Marine Corps, Capt. Swenson quietly resigned from the Army with no recognition for his valor.
Cpl. Meyer protested against that oversight. Last month, Gen. John R. Allen, the new commander in Afghanistan, re-opened the record of that tumultuous day in Ganjigal. Given the four-star general's personal interest, sworn statements attesting to Capt. Swenson's valor were quickly found. Gen. Allen has since forwarded a Medal of Honor recommendation, saying it was the right thing to do despite a lapse of two years.
As for Dakota Meyer, his Medal of Honor citation speaks for itself. Ignoring withering fire, he had carried 12 wounded Afghans to safety and covered the withdrawal of 24 other Americans and Afghans. He had killed at least eight enemy fighters. He would not be refused in battle.
Men do not suddenly acquire unshakable determination to face almost certain death. At the age of four, young Dakota wanted to drive the old tractor on the family farm in Kentucky. His father told him he had to be old enough to turn the hand crank. An hour later, the tractor roared to life—Dakota had repeatedly jumped from the tractor hood onto the crank until it turned over. When he was five, he solemnly assured his grandmother that he would guard her against robbers. A rugged athlete in high school, he also tutored autistic students. He volunteered for Afghanistan as his second combat tour and risked death to rescue Afghans as well as Americans.
Cpl. Meyer set the example, but he could not have succeeded alone. Others of like mind joined him. Their shared tenacity wasn't rooted solely in fighting for their fellow squad members. In fact, the core group at the end of the fight didn't know each other that well. Capt. Swenson had only a passing acquaintance with Cpl. Meyer, while Lt. Fabayo and Sgt. Rodriquez-Chavez lived at a different base.
Today's ceremony should be a source of pride for all Americans, because Ganjigal wasn't about one warrior. Inside that village on the Pakistan border, the defining values of America—individual initiative, comradeship, valor and determination to prevail despite any odds—were on display.
Mr. West, a Marine infantryman in Vietnam, reports regularly from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kabul attackers toted juice, weapons from Pakistan
McClatchy Newspapers By Hashim Shukoor Wednesday, September 14, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - The insurgents who besieged the U.S. Embassy here for nearly 24 hours came prepared for a long standoff: They brought blankets, water bottles and mango juice packaged in Pakistan, which lay strewn on the 13th floor of the unfinished high-rise they'd holed up in.
They carried a sack of hand grenades, too, which Afghan police said also were manufactured in Pakistan. When the fighting was over, Afghan medics found the bodies of six bullet-riddled insurgents, one of whom was so overweight that their stretcher couldn't hold him and he had to be carried off in an old quilt.
Hours after the brazen, daylong assault on the embassy and NATO headquarters finally ended around 9 a.m. Wednesday, the attackers' vantage point, from which the entire city is visible, was stained with blood and littered with bullet casings and scraps of clothing.
It took some 20 hours of often-intense gunfire before Afghan forces, with help from U.S.-led international soldiers and helicopters, subdued the insurgents and cleared the building. No U.S. or Western officials or soldiers were hurt, but officials raised the death toll sharply Wednesday, saying that 16 Afghans had been killed, including five police officers. Eleven insurgents — including at least four suicide bombers who attacked police buildings elsewhere in Kabul — also died, security officials said.
The 14-story high-rise is a few hundred yards from the fortress-like U.S. Embassy compound. Both are in Kabul's high-security diplomatic enclave, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said Wednesday that roughly six or seven rocket-propelled grenades had struck within the embassy's perimeter. It was the second major assault on foreign forces in less than a week, and again underscored the challenges facing Afghan security forces as the U.S-led international coalition begins drawing down its forces.
Crocker downplayed the seriousness of the incident, calling it "harassment rather than a direct attack."
"This really is not a very big deal," Crocker said Wednesday. He called it "a hard day for the embassy and my staff, who behaved with enormous courage and dedication, but look, you know, a half a dozen RPG rounds from 800 meters away ... if that's the best they can do, you know, I think it's actually a statement of their weakness."
Crocker blamed the attack on the Pakistani-based Haqqani network, which has links to the Taliban. He said it highlighted the need for Pakistan and U.S. forces to "bring these groups under control" and go after its havens in Pakistan's tribal areas.
"It's tough when you're trying to fight an insurgency that has a lot of support outside the national borders," Crocker said. "But again, if this is the best they can do, I find both their lack of ability and capacity — and the ability of Afghan forces to respond to it — actually encouraging in this whole transition process."
Afghan police also discovered and defused a minibus packed with explosives that they said had been part of the attack. Inside the bus they found burqas, which they said the insurgents had worn to disguise themselves as women to get through security checkpoints.
At the scene of the attack, Afghan police officers, too, said that the insurgents were Pakistani, right down to the sandals they wore. A police officer named Qubat, who like many Afghans uses just one name, displayed a hand grenade that he said was made in Pakistan, along with the bullets and RPGs the attackers used.
The heavyset insurgent, who lay facedown next to the staircase between the 12th and 13th floors, wore a dark-green vest and the loose white trousers known as shalwar, which were stained with blood. He had bullet wounds in his arms and his lower legs.
Barely two hours after the attack, dozens of Afghans — from middle-aged men to young children — had gathered at the building and were looking up toward the 13th floor.
A group of senators from the Afghan parliament's Defense Committee were visiting the site and congratulated the Afghan police on their bravery
"We thank the police for their actions. They did what was needed," said Mohammad Daud Eshas, a senator from the southern province of Zabul. "For those martyred in the attack, we express condolences for their family. The police showed they now can defend their country. We do not need anyone (else) if we have such police."
Other Afghans, however, said the incident terrified them.
"The sound of RPGs and AK-47 continued until 4 a.m. My family and I did not sleep the whole night," said Haseeb Parwani, a 15-year-old boy who lives across the street in a Soviet-built apartment block.
Nasir Ameeni, another neighbor, said Afghan and coalition forces had deployed helicopters to fire on the insurgents and that the battle went on well into the morning.
The half-finished high-rise, which has been under construction off Kabul's main Jalalabad Road for about two years, is the project of a private developer who planned to turn it into offices, residents said. But its prime location in the well-guarded Wazir Akbar Khan area and the fact that its top floors overlooked the U.S. Embassy and NATO compounds made it obvious even to passers-by that insurgents could use it one day.
Many such projects in fast-growing Kabul are in violation of the city's master plan and therefore illegal. The legal status of the high-rise couldn't immediately be determined.
(Shukoor is a McClatchy special correspondent.)
Pakistan: US Remarks on Counterterrorism Are “Out of Line”
VOA News September 15, 2011
Pakistan says U.S. criticism of the country's efforts targeting militants works against counterterrorism cooperation between the two allies.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Pakistan Wednesday that the United States would “do everything we can” to defend American forces in Afghanistan from Pakistan-based militants.
U.S. officials suspect the militant Haqqani network — based in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region — was behind Tuesday's 20-hour assault on the Afghan capital. In the deadly attack, militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul.
Panetta said Washington has repeatedly urged Islamabad to “exercise its influence” to prevent militants from launching attacks in Afghanistan and then fleeing to safe havens across the border in Pakistan. The U.S. defense secretary said little progress has been made.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry hit back at Panetta's comments. Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua said the remarks were “out of line” with the kind of cooperation that exists between the two countries.
The Pakistani military has been involved in a multi-year campaign against domestic Taliban elements located mostly in the mountainous northwest. Pakistan says its citizens and security forces have borne the brunt of the war on terror with thousands killed over the years in militant violence.
U.S. officials have long urged Islamabad to expand its operation against other groups, such as the Haqqani network, which has ties to both the Taliban and al-Qaida.
Pakistani officials insist that they want to solidify their gains before tackling the North Waziristan tribal area, where the Haqqani network is said to be based.
Analysts also say the back-and-forth in relations between the two countries has been further complicated since the covert U.S. raid deep into Pakistan killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in May. The United States conducted the raid without telling Pakistan in advance, partly due to fears that someone might warn bin Laden.
Jalaluddin Haqqani – the real threat in Afghanistan
The Globe and Mail By sonia verma Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2011
He has been a guest at the White House, served as one of the CIA’s chief assets in its war against the Soviets in Afghanistan and was once referred to by Congressman Charlie Wilson as “goodness personified.”
But today, Jalaluddin Haqqani presides over the most defiant insurgent network threatening Afghanistan.
Blamed for Tuesday’s audacious assault on the U.S. embassy in Kabul, and a surge of similarly spectacular attacks, the Haqqani network has emerged as the most potent and unpredictable force in the decade-long war in Afghanistan.
“They are expanding their frontiers. They run purely on intimidation and violence,” said Matthew DuPee, an Afghan security specialist at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
“They are going to be the primary threat for the foreseeable future. Kabul will be a primary target.”
The Haqqani network is a group of roughly 3,000 fighters based out of North Waziristan in Pakistan and three of Afghanistan’s eastern provinces. Al-Qaeda’s connection to the insurgency in Afghanistan is found within its ranks in the form of a small number of fighters.
Although they represent a small slice of the insurgency, their Iraq-style attacks on high-profile targets such as the U.S. embassy have transformed the nature of the conflict.
They have been implicated in practically all of the recent brazen assaults in Kabul. They have claimed responsibility for attacks on India’s embassy, bolstering assertions that they act as an agent of Pakistani interests, which in turn protect them.
Mr. Haqqani, a revered mujahadeen commander during the U.S.-backed war against the Soviets, is now elderly, frail and thought to be suffering from lupus based on a noticeable tremor in his last videotaped address broadcast in 2008.
Hailing from a Pashtun tribe from Paktia province, he has carved out a sanctuary for himself in North Waziristan, where he lives in a sprawling mansion, regularly attends the local mosque and oversees a trucking and warehouse business, as well as cross-border smuggling operations.
The United States has targeted the Haqqani base with failed drone strikes while increasing pressure on Pakistan to crack down on the family. But besides the arrest of Nasruddin Haqqani – a minor figure – in December of last year, the family has enjoyed relative immunity from Pakistani security forces, elements of which reportedly view them as a way of wielding influence in Kabul in any kind of political settlement to the conflict. Pakistan has denied supporting the Haqqanis.
Even when he was younger, Mr. Haqqani held multiple allegiances. While on the CIA payroll, he is reported to have helped protect Osama bin Laden, who at the time was mustering his own forces to overthrow the Soviets.
Mr. Haqqani allied himself with the Taliban just before the movement swept to power in Kabul, serving as both a military commander and minister in the Taliban government.
After the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, Mr. Haqqani rejected an offer from President Hamid Karzai to serve as his prime minister and at one point topped the CIA’s ‘hit list’ along with Mr. bin Laden.
He withdrew to North Waziristan, where he expanded his network, recruiting from the ranks of Afghan refugees and Pakistani madrassas in the tribal regions.
As Mr. Haqqani’s health fails, it is understood that he has transferred command of the network’s military operations to his son, Sirajjudin, who is in his mid- to late-30s and is considered more of a hard-line Islamist than his father.
“The son has picked up right where the father left off,” Mr. DuPee said.
The Haqqani network’s original goal – to regain full control over its traditional bases in Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces – has morphed into something more ambitious, analysts say.
In part, they’ve leveraged the diminishing influence of the Taliban’s Quetta Shura to assert a broader claim on Afghanistan. And while the Taliban has softened its tone in recent years – asserting, for instance, that girls should be allowed to go to school – in an attempt to win loyalty among Afghans, the Haqqanis rule by fear.
“Their pool of fighters has stayed the same for years, but they are trying to assert their control in much bolder ways,” Mr. DuPee explained.
Their attacks have become signature: A breach of a security perimeter by insurgents disguised as security forces, or as women, followed by the storming of a high-profile target.
Formally at least, they identify as part of the Taliban movement. They are loyal to its spiritual leader Mullah Omar. When they issue a statement, the Haqqanis use letterhead embossed with “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” further indicating an alliance with the Taliban.
But the prospect of a peace deal with the Taliban has caused Afghan and Western leaders to overstate the distinction between the two.
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, on Wednesday played down the attack on his embassy, shifting the blame away from the Taliban who have claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The information available to us is that these attackers [are] part of the Haqqani network; they enjoy safe haven in northern Waziristan,” Mr. Crocker told reporters in Kabul.
Mr. DuPee says such a distinction does not reflect the reality that the Haqqanis’ influence is growing within the Taliban movement.
“There’s an acute attempt [on the part of Western and Afghan officials] to separate this group from the Taliban proper, which they want to engage, because the prospect of peace with a movement that included the Haqannis would be too unpalatable for everyone,” he said.
US embassy attack raises doubts over Kabul police
The Independent By Julius Cavendish Thursday, 15 September 2011
Kabul - The top US diplomat in Afghanistan said yesterday that a 20-hour battle with insurgents that left 11 civilians dead was "not a very big deal" as he sought to downplay the extent of the chaos brought to the heart of Kabul.
Ryan Crocker blamed the Pakistan-based Haqqani network for the raid, which ended only after sorties by helicopter gunships against insurgent positions and raids on a 12-storey building they used as a hideout.
Mr Crocker argued that "half a dozen rocket-propelled grenade rounds from 800 metres [away from the US Embassy], that isn't Tet [offensive] – that's harassment. If that's the best they can do, I think it's actually a statement of their weakness."
The sophisticated raid saw 11 militants smuggle large quantities of ammunition and weapons past police checkpoints and has fanned speculation in Kabul that it must have been carried out with the collusion of security forces. It has increased scepticism that Afghan forces are ready to take responsibility for their country from Nato.
The militants appear to have planned the assault for weeks, officials say, posing as labourers to stockpile weapons and munitions in the half-constructed shopping centre they occupied. It had views of Nato headquarters, the US embassy and other high-profile targets and was less than a mile from the diplomatic enclave and presidential palace.
On the day of the attack the insurgents arrived in a van, disguised in burkas, and killed a police commander and a secret service official who were stationed outside the building.
Once inside they held off a police rapid reaction force for almost eight hours. A team of New Zealand special forces and an Afghan counter-terrorism squad had to fight their way through the maze of lift shafts and annexes on each floor.
Nato and Afghan helicopter gunships fired into the building but the attack did not end until yesterday morning when the last two militants were killed on the 10th floor.
Heavily armed insurgents who launched a similar attack in June on a hotel in Kabul were later revealed by Afghanistan's spy service to have had help from the police.
"There was almost certainly either a breakdown in security among the Afghans with responsibility for Kabul or an intelligence failure," said Andrew Exum, a fellow at the Centre for a New American Security.
The siege was an embarrassment for Nato and its Afghan partners. Diplomatic sources in Kabul ridiculed the statement by the Nato chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, that "the enemies of Afghanistan have not succeeded and... will not derail transition."
"What will it take before anyone admits that things may need a rethink?" asked one senior diplomat.
Rock Musicians To Play 'Stealth Fest' Shows in Kabul, Despite Taliban Attacks
September 15, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Organizers of Afghanistan's first rock music festival since 1975 say they are going ahead with a month of concerts and music workshops starting in Kabul today, despite a brazen Taliban attack in the capital this week that caused some venues to close their doors to the musicians.
Festival organizer Travis Beard told RFE/RL the shows are being promoted using an "underground stealth fest" strategy -- with dates and locations announced at the last minute to young Afghan rock fans using text messages, e-mails, and social networking websites.
More than 12 rock groups from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Central Asia are scheduled to perform in Kabul during the next month.
Rock venues in New York are replicating the "stealth fest" strategy for mirror events that also are part of the music festival.
Stepping up the fight against polio
KABUL, 15 September 2011 (IRIN) - Afghanistan is intensifying efforts to eradicate polio by the end of next year, but security remains a major challenge especially in the southern provinces where the virus is localized, says a health expert.
“We are focusing on four priority areas - improving access to children in conflict-affected areas, maintaining a polio-free status in areas that are now virus-free, focusing on mobile groups especially repatriated refugees and displaced populations, and maintaining close coordination with Pakistan to avoid the ping-pong movement of the virus across the border,” said Arshad Quddus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO) polio programme in Afghanistan.
Polio remains endemic in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Chad, according to WHO. So far this year, 13 cases have been reported in seven districts in Kandahar, Helmand and Farah provinces. Most were children under two.
According to the Health Ministry, focusing on the southern region involves concerted efforts to reach all children in conflict-affected areas. Priority is also given to immunization in southern and eastern border regions, it said in a statement.
Government data shows that 85 percent of the population now live in polio-free areas, but the virus is still circulating in 13 districts, including the seven where recent cases have been detected.
Insecurity in the polio-affected districts, according to health workers in Kabul, makes supervision and monitoring of eradication campaigns difficult. People in these areas also tend to have low literacy rates, poor hygiene practices and low awareness of the benefits of vaccination.
“From 2001, we shifted from a centre-based strategy to house-to-house campaigns with well-defined service delivery structures. Since then, there has been success… Experts believe that Afghanistan is on the brink of eradication,” Quddus said in Kabul.
But in May, thousands of children missed out on vaccination in the southern region, especially Zabul Province, because anti-government elements refused to allow the campaign, according to WHO’s National Surveillance Cell.
In June, another 101,085 children under five could not be reached in the same region due to “insecurity and prevention of Taliban in the areas they control”, according to the Surveillance Cell.
Despite the setbacks, officials are upbeat ahead of another nationwide campaign to be launched on 17 September by President Hamid Karzai. Targeting 7.8 million children, the campaign has enlisted 55,000 personnel and volunteers.
“It is a community-based approach because of security and difficult terrain,” Quddus explained. “Mullahs, teachers and community elders are all involved. We also maintain a highly sensitive surveillance system that can detect children with paralysis even in places where we cannot reach.”
Afghanistan ratifies Convention on Cluster Munitions
Tehran, Sept 14, IRNA – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) welcomes Afghanistan's ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
According to a press release issued by the ICRC, the instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon in New York on September 8.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was originally opened for signature on December 3, 2008 in Oslo, prohibits the use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention or transfer of cluster munitions.
In addition, states possessing or affected by cluster munitions are required to take action to destroy stockpiles, to clear cluster munition remnants and to provide assistance for victims. The Second Meeting of States Parties to the Convention is currently taking place in Beirut.
The president of the ICRC, Jakob Kellenberger, speaking at the signing conference in Oslo in 2008 said: 'The signing of this Convention by so many states is evidence that the suffering of victims and affected countries has not gone unnoticed.'
'The convention will establish that these are prohibited weapons and become a bulwark against their further proliferation,' he said. Although the signing of the convention was an important success in itself, the ICRC president emphasized that the true measure of achievement would be how the lives of victims of cluster munitions and their communities change in the months and years to come.
The ICRC stands ready to offer Afghanistan its expertise to help ensure that the provisions of the convention are fully implemented.
Afghanistan's ratification brings to 62 the number of states that are party to the convention, with the biggest number being in Africa, followed by Europe and the Americas. Two countries in Asia – Japan and Laos – and three in the Pacific region – Fiji, the Cook Islands and New Zealand – are also States Parties.
Afghanistan Must Put Pettiness Aside, Ex Diplomat Samad Says
TOLOnews.com By Omar Samad Thursday, 15 September 2011
This opinion is brought to your attention with no ulterior motives in mind.
Pakistan recently published an important document entitled "Pakistan, the United States and the End Game in Afghanistan: Perceptions of Pakistan's Foreign Policy Elite," which needs thorough study, analysis, open discussion and thoughtful reaction by Afghans, who share basic national interests and shared values.
However, there seems to have been little said or written about the report in Afghan circles in Kabul or elsewhere. I have come across a few references concerning the basic thrust of the report in the Kabul media and a few knee-jerk reactions, but little else.
It seems that the content of this analysis and policy recommendations paper (written in conjunction with visiting fellows affiliated with the United States Institute of Peace) reflects the evolving thinking among Pakistan's ruling establishment. Should it not concern us since it addresses not only bilateral relations, but also Afghan sovereignty, national security and our future as a dignified nation state?
It appears that we are busy with less significant matters. Should we not finally put aside for a moment our petty bickering and politicking, and our insignificant, yet harmful, jealousies and rivalries to find the peace of mind necessary to brainstorm about vital national interests and strategic denominators?
We have fallen into the quicksand of mutual neutralization, and derive great pleasure from it, while others are talking about our "endgame," promoting their interests, and using our dismal conditions to their advantage.
People would like to hear from our policymakers and intellectuals, as well as those who are part of the think tank and analysis world, about what they think regarding the specifics of this paper: how does it change (or not change) our direction? How does Afghanistan formulate a response or counter-argument through consultation, debate and co-ordination? What mechanisms are there to inform our public and relay the Afghan viewpoint to the world community?
Of course, there are pre-requisites involved for all these questions that make it even more necessary to put our minds into seeking a "grand common Afghan strategy" where our national interests are defined and, given our differences - political and personal - where we strive to formulate a common vision for our country.
The year-long tensions involving the three branches of government are untenable. Those who instigated and propagated the crisis by using unlawful political methods need to realise the harm they have inflicted upon the national good, and desist from further enticement.
Further delay in pulling back from crisis mode and initiating a grand dialogue within the country and with our key international backers will put us at great risk, giving more space to those who do not have the best interests of the country at heart.
Not only have countries like Pakistan and others established effective lobbies in key Western nations to defend their fundamental interests, but a quick glance demonstrates that almost every reputable Western think tank and academic institution has either a scholar or former high official from these nations involved as consultant, fellow or researcher of some sort.
Unfortunately, another glance shows that Afghans have neither a credible lobby, nor any other type of presence, which is so sorely needed during these critical times in the key western countries.
Some will claim that we should be proud to have more than 70 diplomatic/consular representations overseas doing the bidding for our cause - been there and done that as a former diplomat for almost 10 years! To my chagrin, I can claim that our foreign policy institution needs reinvigoration and serious reform; much of its capacity has diminished over the past few years. Whatever discourse and policymaking exists, it is all centred on one very limited clique with little creative input or balanced feedback involved.
How much longer can this state of affairs continue? Now is the time to come to our senses and re-engage in a sincere and game-free intra-Afghan deliberation aimed at defining and defending the country's fundamental interests.
Omar Samad was Ambassador to France (2009-2011), Canada (2004-2009) and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2001-2004).
Afghanistan’s Embattled Helmand Region Holds Rare-Earth Elements
Bloomberg By Terry Atlas Sep 14, 2011
Afghanistan’s Helmand province, scene of some of the heaviest fighting between U.S. forces and the Taliban, holds at least 1 million metric tons of rare-earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The deposits in the geological formation known as the Khanneshin carbonatite are comparable in quality to commercially exploited deposits in Bayan Obo, China, and Mountain Pass, California, the USGS said today in a statement.
“This is just one more piece of evidence that Afghanistan’s mineral sector has a bright future,” said Regina Dubey, acting director of Department of Defense’s Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, which funded the study.
“The international mining community is beginning to realize Afghanistan’s extraordinary mineral potential,” she said in a statement.
Rare-earth-based magnets and materials are used in Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM)’s BlackBerrys, Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)’s Prius cars, and military radar. Lanthanum is used in hybrid engines and metal alloys, and cerium is used in petroleum refining.
A preliminary USGS resource assessment, published in 2007, estimated about 1.5 million metric tons of potential rare-earth element resources in all of southern Afghanistan. The estimate of about 1 million metric tons in just the Khanneshin carbonatite verifies the 2007 USGS prediction and confirms the unpublished work of Soviet scientists, the USGS said. Barium and Uranium
In addition to high concentrations of rare-earth elements, the deposit has significant concentrations of barium, strontium, phosphorus, and uranium, the USGS said. The primary area of mineralization covers approximately 0.74 square kilometers (0.29 square miles), according to the USGS report.
“The potential that these findings have for the future well-being of the Afghan people is significant,” Ambassador Marc Grossman, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in the statement. “The United States will continue to support the Government of Afghanistan’s efforts to develop these resources through private-sector investment in a responsible, transparent, and sustainable manner that benefits the Afghan people, expands markets, and promotes regional prosperity.”
China holds a total of 36 million metric tons of rare- earths reserves, or 36 percent of world resources, followed by Russia with 19 million metric tons and the U.S. with 13 million metric tons, according to a Sept. 30, 2010, Congressional Research Service report.
More than 95 percent of global production of rare-earth elements now comes from China, which in 2010 exported approximately 30,000 metric tons of such products, according to the USGS. New mines are being developed in Australia, and projects exploring the feasibility of economic production of other deposits are under way in the United States, Australia, and Canada, the agency said.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
Inside a village on the Pakistan border, America's defining values were on display.
Wall Street Journal By BING WEST SEPTEMBER 15, 2011
President Obama will today award the Medal of Honor to Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer. In attendance will be a handful of soldiers and Marines who, one day in September 2009, were abandoned by their chain of command and relied on their own initiative to dislodge a fierce enemy. Their battle has entered military folklore and resulted not only in today's Medal of Honor but in two Navy Crosses, two investigations for dereliction of duty, three letters of severe reprimand, and a recommendation for a second Medal of Honor.
The setting was the remote Afghan village of Ganjigal, on the Pakistan border, where elders had requested aid in repairing a mosque. Hoping to win hearts and minds, a U.S.-trained Afghan battalion agreed to help. At dawn, about 100 Afghan soldiers and a dozen U.S. Marine advisers entered the valley where Ganjigal is found, picking their way up a narrow, rocky wash toward the stone houses dug into the far end.
It was a setup. Hidden inside the houses and along the wash were 60 jihadists from Pakistan. The ambushers opened fire with machine guns, mortars and rockets. Immediately the foot patrol was pinned down and taking casualties.
Back at the valley's entrance, 21-year-old Cpl. Meyer listened to radio calls for artillery fire that were refused by officers at higher headquarters due to concern for endangering villagers. Cpl. Meyer hopped into the gun turret of a Humvee and persuaded a fellow adviser, Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, to drive him straight into the battle.
When the Humvee lurched into the wash, Cpl. Meyer saw the bodies of roughly a dozen Afghan soldiers strewn across the terrain, some dead and others crying. With bullets striking his truck, he leaped out, stuffed five wounded Afghans inside, and then hopped back up behind the machine gun and hammered away as the pulverized vehicle crawled out of the wash.
Leaving the wounded in the rear, Cpl. Meyer and Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez swapped Humvees. This time the enemy was waiting in a dry streambed. Rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun bullets followed Cpl. Meyer as he repeatedly left his armored turret to load the truck with wounded Afghan soldiers. At one point, he shot a tall man with a black beard. When another leapt forward under the barrel of his machine gun, Cpl. Meyer grabbed his M4 rifle and shot him in the head.
"You'll have to kill me," he shouted in the rage of battle (he had expected to be killed, he told me a few days later at his outpost in Afghanistan), "because that's the only way you'll stop me."
When Cpl. Meyer and Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez again dropped off the wounded in the rear, they bumped into a backup American platoon in armored vehicles. The platoon refused to join them, so they went back in for a third time with no backup, driving into a torrent of automatic-weapons fire so a group of trapped American advisers could escape. Cpl. Meyer watched women and children darting among the houses, carrying ammunition to the jihadists.
Cpl. Meyer, a qualified sniper, was hit in the right elbow but continued to shoot left-handed until the feeling returned to his right hand. Over the radio, he listened to Capt. Will Swenson, an Army adviser who remained in the valley to fight, calling repeatedly for artillery fire, only to be rebuffed by headquarters.
Pulling back out, Cpl. Meyer took count. Four advisers were still missing. So he gathered those still willing to risk death. In addition to Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez and Capt. Swenson, an Afghan interpreter and Lt. Ademola Fabayo, another adviser, climbed into the truck with Cpl. Meyer. An Army pilot in a tiny Kiowa helicopter, flying 10 feet above the ground, protected the Humvee from the rear. They drove back into the cauldron a fourth time. After seven hours of fighting, Cpl. Meyer found his four missing comrades, dead. At about the same time, the jihadists had collected their casualties and were trekking back into Pakistan.
Over the following months, two investigations resulted in three letters of reprimand for the unit commanders' failure to provide fire support. Bitterness about the battle and its aftermath lingered among the families of the five dead Americans. While Lt. Fabayo and Sgt. Rodriguez-Chavez received the Navy Cross from the Marine Corps, Capt. Swenson quietly resigned from the Army with no recognition for his valor.
Cpl. Meyer protested against that oversight. Last month, Gen. John R. Allen, the new commander in Afghanistan, re-opened the record of that tumultuous day in Ganjigal. Given the four-star general's personal interest, sworn statements attesting to Capt. Swenson's valor were quickly found. Gen. Allen has since forwarded a Medal of Honor recommendation, saying it was the right thing to do despite a lapse of two years.
As for Dakota Meyer, his Medal of Honor citation speaks for itself. Ignoring withering fire, he had carried 12 wounded Afghans to safety and covered the withdrawal of 24 other Americans and Afghans. He had killed at least eight enemy fighters. He would not be refused in battle.
Men do not suddenly acquire unshakable determination to face almost certain death. At the age of four, young Dakota wanted to drive the old tractor on the family farm in Kentucky. His father told him he had to be old enough to turn the hand crank. An hour later, the tractor roared to life—Dakota had repeatedly jumped from the tractor hood onto the crank until it turned over. When he was five, he solemnly assured his grandmother that he would guard her against robbers. A rugged athlete in high school, he also tutored autistic students. He volunteered for Afghanistan as his second combat tour and risked death to rescue Afghans as well as Americans.
Cpl. Meyer set the example, but he could not have succeeded alone. Others of like mind joined him. Their shared tenacity wasn't rooted solely in fighting for their fellow squad members. In fact, the core group at the end of the fight didn't know each other that well. Capt. Swenson had only a passing acquaintance with Cpl. Meyer, while Lt. Fabayo and Sgt. Rodriquez-Chavez lived at a different base.
Today's ceremony should be a source of pride for all Americans, because Ganjigal wasn't about one warrior. Inside that village on the Pakistan border, the defining values of America—individual initiative, comradeship, valor and determination to prevail despite any odds—were on display.
Mr. West, a Marine infantryman in Vietnam, reports regularly from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kabul attackers toted juice, weapons from Pakistan
McClatchy Newspapers By Hashim Shukoor Wednesday, September 14, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - The insurgents who besieged the U.S. Embassy here for nearly 24 hours came prepared for a long standoff: They brought blankets, water bottles and mango juice packaged in Pakistan, which lay strewn on the 13th floor of the unfinished high-rise they'd holed up in.
They carried a sack of hand grenades, too, which Afghan police said also were manufactured in Pakistan. When the fighting was over, Afghan medics found the bodies of six bullet-riddled insurgents, one of whom was so overweight that their stretcher couldn't hold him and he had to be carried off in an old quilt.
Hours after the brazen, daylong assault on the embassy and NATO headquarters finally ended around 9 a.m. Wednesday, the attackers' vantage point, from which the entire city is visible, was stained with blood and littered with bullet casings and scraps of clothing.
It took some 20 hours of often-intense gunfire before Afghan forces, with help from U.S.-led international soldiers and helicopters, subdued the insurgents and cleared the building. No U.S. or Western officials or soldiers were hurt, but officials raised the death toll sharply Wednesday, saying that 16 Afghans had been killed, including five police officers. Eleven insurgents — including at least four suicide bombers who attacked police buildings elsewhere in Kabul — also died, security officials said.
The 14-story high-rise is a few hundred yards from the fortress-like U.S. Embassy compound. Both are in Kabul's high-security diplomatic enclave, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said Wednesday that roughly six or seven rocket-propelled grenades had struck within the embassy's perimeter. It was the second major assault on foreign forces in less than a week, and again underscored the challenges facing Afghan security forces as the U.S-led international coalition begins drawing down its forces.
Crocker downplayed the seriousness of the incident, calling it "harassment rather than a direct attack."
"This really is not a very big deal," Crocker said Wednesday. He called it "a hard day for the embassy and my staff, who behaved with enormous courage and dedication, but look, you know, a half a dozen RPG rounds from 800 meters away ... if that's the best they can do, you know, I think it's actually a statement of their weakness."
Crocker blamed the attack on the Pakistani-based Haqqani network, which has links to the Taliban. He said it highlighted the need for Pakistan and U.S. forces to "bring these groups under control" and go after its havens in Pakistan's tribal areas.
"It's tough when you're trying to fight an insurgency that has a lot of support outside the national borders," Crocker said. "But again, if this is the best they can do, I find both their lack of ability and capacity — and the ability of Afghan forces to respond to it — actually encouraging in this whole transition process."
Afghan police also discovered and defused a minibus packed with explosives that they said had been part of the attack. Inside the bus they found burqas, which they said the insurgents had worn to disguise themselves as women to get through security checkpoints.
At the scene of the attack, Afghan police officers, too, said that the insurgents were Pakistani, right down to the sandals they wore. A police officer named Qubat, who like many Afghans uses just one name, displayed a hand grenade that he said was made in Pakistan, along with the bullets and RPGs the attackers used.
The heavyset insurgent, who lay facedown next to the staircase between the 12th and 13th floors, wore a dark-green vest and the loose white trousers known as shalwar, which were stained with blood. He had bullet wounds in his arms and his lower legs.
Barely two hours after the attack, dozens of Afghans — from middle-aged men to young children — had gathered at the building and were looking up toward the 13th floor.
A group of senators from the Afghan parliament's Defense Committee were visiting the site and congratulated the Afghan police on their bravery
"We thank the police for their actions. They did what was needed," said Mohammad Daud Eshas, a senator from the southern province of Zabul. "For those martyred in the attack, we express condolences for their family. The police showed they now can defend their country. We do not need anyone (else) if we have such police."
Other Afghans, however, said the incident terrified them.
"The sound of RPGs and AK-47 continued until 4 a.m. My family and I did not sleep the whole night," said Haseeb Parwani, a 15-year-old boy who lives across the street in a Soviet-built apartment block.
Nasir Ameeni, another neighbor, said Afghan and coalition forces had deployed helicopters to fire on the insurgents and that the battle went on well into the morning.
The half-finished high-rise, which has been under construction off Kabul's main Jalalabad Road for about two years, is the project of a private developer who planned to turn it into offices, residents said. But its prime location in the well-guarded Wazir Akbar Khan area and the fact that its top floors overlooked the U.S. Embassy and NATO compounds made it obvious even to passers-by that insurgents could use it one day.
Many such projects in fast-growing Kabul are in violation of the city's master plan and therefore illegal. The legal status of the high-rise couldn't immediately be determined.
(Shukoor is a McClatchy special correspondent.)
Pakistan: US Remarks on Counterterrorism Are “Out of Line”
VOA News September 15, 2011
Pakistan says U.S. criticism of the country's efforts targeting militants works against counterterrorism cooperation between the two allies.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Pakistan Wednesday that the United States would “do everything we can” to defend American forces in Afghanistan from Pakistan-based militants.
U.S. officials suspect the militant Haqqani network — based in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region — was behind Tuesday's 20-hour assault on the Afghan capital. In the deadly attack, militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the U.S. Embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul.
Panetta said Washington has repeatedly urged Islamabad to “exercise its influence” to prevent militants from launching attacks in Afghanistan and then fleeing to safe havens across the border in Pakistan. The U.S. defense secretary said little progress has been made.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry hit back at Panetta's comments. Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua said the remarks were “out of line” with the kind of cooperation that exists between the two countries.
The Pakistani military has been involved in a multi-year campaign against domestic Taliban elements located mostly in the mountainous northwest. Pakistan says its citizens and security forces have borne the brunt of the war on terror with thousands killed over the years in militant violence.
U.S. officials have long urged Islamabad to expand its operation against other groups, such as the Haqqani network, which has ties to both the Taliban and al-Qaida.
Pakistani officials insist that they want to solidify their gains before tackling the North Waziristan tribal area, where the Haqqani network is said to be based.
Analysts also say the back-and-forth in relations between the two countries has been further complicated since the covert U.S. raid deep into Pakistan killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in May. The United States conducted the raid without telling Pakistan in advance, partly due to fears that someone might warn bin Laden.
Jalaluddin Haqqani – the real threat in Afghanistan
The Globe and Mail By sonia verma Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2011
He has been a guest at the White House, served as one of the CIA’s chief assets in its war against the Soviets in Afghanistan and was once referred to by Congressman Charlie Wilson as “goodness personified.”
But today, Jalaluddin Haqqani presides over the most defiant insurgent network threatening Afghanistan.
Blamed for Tuesday’s audacious assault on the U.S. embassy in Kabul, and a surge of similarly spectacular attacks, the Haqqani network has emerged as the most potent and unpredictable force in the decade-long war in Afghanistan.
“They are expanding their frontiers. They run purely on intimidation and violence,” said Matthew DuPee, an Afghan security specialist at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
“They are going to be the primary threat for the foreseeable future. Kabul will be a primary target.”
The Haqqani network is a group of roughly 3,000 fighters based out of North Waziristan in Pakistan and three of Afghanistan’s eastern provinces. Al-Qaeda’s connection to the insurgency in Afghanistan is found within its ranks in the form of a small number of fighters.
Although they represent a small slice of the insurgency, their Iraq-style attacks on high-profile targets such as the U.S. embassy have transformed the nature of the conflict.
They have been implicated in practically all of the recent brazen assaults in Kabul. They have claimed responsibility for attacks on India’s embassy, bolstering assertions that they act as an agent of Pakistani interests, which in turn protect them.
Mr. Haqqani, a revered mujahadeen commander during the U.S.-backed war against the Soviets, is now elderly, frail and thought to be suffering from lupus based on a noticeable tremor in his last videotaped address broadcast in 2008.
Hailing from a Pashtun tribe from Paktia province, he has carved out a sanctuary for himself in North Waziristan, where he lives in a sprawling mansion, regularly attends the local mosque and oversees a trucking and warehouse business, as well as cross-border smuggling operations.
The United States has targeted the Haqqani base with failed drone strikes while increasing pressure on Pakistan to crack down on the family. But besides the arrest of Nasruddin Haqqani – a minor figure – in December of last year, the family has enjoyed relative immunity from Pakistani security forces, elements of which reportedly view them as a way of wielding influence in Kabul in any kind of political settlement to the conflict. Pakistan has denied supporting the Haqqanis.
Even when he was younger, Mr. Haqqani held multiple allegiances. While on the CIA payroll, he is reported to have helped protect Osama bin Laden, who at the time was mustering his own forces to overthrow the Soviets.
Mr. Haqqani allied himself with the Taliban just before the movement swept to power in Kabul, serving as both a military commander and minister in the Taliban government.
After the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, Mr. Haqqani rejected an offer from President Hamid Karzai to serve as his prime minister and at one point topped the CIA’s ‘hit list’ along with Mr. bin Laden.
He withdrew to North Waziristan, where he expanded his network, recruiting from the ranks of Afghan refugees and Pakistani madrassas in the tribal regions.
As Mr. Haqqani’s health fails, it is understood that he has transferred command of the network’s military operations to his son, Sirajjudin, who is in his mid- to late-30s and is considered more of a hard-line Islamist than his father.
“The son has picked up right where the father left off,” Mr. DuPee said.
The Haqqani network’s original goal – to regain full control over its traditional bases in Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces – has morphed into something more ambitious, analysts say.
In part, they’ve leveraged the diminishing influence of the Taliban’s Quetta Shura to assert a broader claim on Afghanistan. And while the Taliban has softened its tone in recent years – asserting, for instance, that girls should be allowed to go to school – in an attempt to win loyalty among Afghans, the Haqqanis rule by fear.
“Their pool of fighters has stayed the same for years, but they are trying to assert their control in much bolder ways,” Mr. DuPee explained.
Their attacks have become signature: A breach of a security perimeter by insurgents disguised as security forces, or as women, followed by the storming of a high-profile target.
Formally at least, they identify as part of the Taliban movement. They are loyal to its spiritual leader Mullah Omar. When they issue a statement, the Haqqanis use letterhead embossed with “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” further indicating an alliance with the Taliban.
But the prospect of a peace deal with the Taliban has caused Afghan and Western leaders to overstate the distinction between the two.
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, on Wednesday played down the attack on his embassy, shifting the blame away from the Taliban who have claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The information available to us is that these attackers [are] part of the Haqqani network; they enjoy safe haven in northern Waziristan,” Mr. Crocker told reporters in Kabul.
Mr. DuPee says such a distinction does not reflect the reality that the Haqqanis’ influence is growing within the Taliban movement.
“There’s an acute attempt [on the part of Western and Afghan officials] to separate this group from the Taliban proper, which they want to engage, because the prospect of peace with a movement that included the Haqannis would be too unpalatable for everyone,” he said.
US embassy attack raises doubts over Kabul police
The Independent By Julius Cavendish Thursday, 15 September 2011
Kabul - The top US diplomat in Afghanistan said yesterday that a 20-hour battle with insurgents that left 11 civilians dead was "not a very big deal" as he sought to downplay the extent of the chaos brought to the heart of Kabul.
Ryan Crocker blamed the Pakistan-based Haqqani network for the raid, which ended only after sorties by helicopter gunships against insurgent positions and raids on a 12-storey building they used as a hideout.
Mr Crocker argued that "half a dozen rocket-propelled grenade rounds from 800 metres [away from the US Embassy], that isn't Tet [offensive] – that's harassment. If that's the best they can do, I think it's actually a statement of their weakness."
The sophisticated raid saw 11 militants smuggle large quantities of ammunition and weapons past police checkpoints and has fanned speculation in Kabul that it must have been carried out with the collusion of security forces. It has increased scepticism that Afghan forces are ready to take responsibility for their country from Nato.
The militants appear to have planned the assault for weeks, officials say, posing as labourers to stockpile weapons and munitions in the half-constructed shopping centre they occupied. It had views of Nato headquarters, the US embassy and other high-profile targets and was less than a mile from the diplomatic enclave and presidential palace.
On the day of the attack the insurgents arrived in a van, disguised in burkas, and killed a police commander and a secret service official who were stationed outside the building.
Once inside they held off a police rapid reaction force for almost eight hours. A team of New Zealand special forces and an Afghan counter-terrorism squad had to fight their way through the maze of lift shafts and annexes on each floor.
Nato and Afghan helicopter gunships fired into the building but the attack did not end until yesterday morning when the last two militants were killed on the 10th floor.
Heavily armed insurgents who launched a similar attack in June on a hotel in Kabul were later revealed by Afghanistan's spy service to have had help from the police.
"There was almost certainly either a breakdown in security among the Afghans with responsibility for Kabul or an intelligence failure," said Andrew Exum, a fellow at the Centre for a New American Security.
The siege was an embarrassment for Nato and its Afghan partners. Diplomatic sources in Kabul ridiculed the statement by the Nato chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, that "the enemies of Afghanistan have not succeeded and... will not derail transition."
"What will it take before anyone admits that things may need a rethink?" asked one senior diplomat.
Rock Musicians To Play 'Stealth Fest' Shows in Kabul, Despite Taliban Attacks
September 15, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Organizers of Afghanistan's first rock music festival since 1975 say they are going ahead with a month of concerts and music workshops starting in Kabul today, despite a brazen Taliban attack in the capital this week that caused some venues to close their doors to the musicians.
Festival organizer Travis Beard told RFE/RL the shows are being promoted using an "underground stealth fest" strategy -- with dates and locations announced at the last minute to young Afghan rock fans using text messages, e-mails, and social networking websites.
More than 12 rock groups from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Central Asia are scheduled to perform in Kabul during the next month.
Rock venues in New York are replicating the "stealth fest" strategy for mirror events that also are part of the music festival.
Stepping up the fight against polio
KABUL, 15 September 2011 (IRIN) - Afghanistan is intensifying efforts to eradicate polio by the end of next year, but security remains a major challenge especially in the southern provinces where the virus is localized, says a health expert.
“We are focusing on four priority areas - improving access to children in conflict-affected areas, maintaining a polio-free status in areas that are now virus-free, focusing on mobile groups especially repatriated refugees and displaced populations, and maintaining close coordination with Pakistan to avoid the ping-pong movement of the virus across the border,” said Arshad Quddus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO) polio programme in Afghanistan.
Polio remains endemic in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Chad, according to WHO. So far this year, 13 cases have been reported in seven districts in Kandahar, Helmand and Farah provinces. Most were children under two.
According to the Health Ministry, focusing on the southern region involves concerted efforts to reach all children in conflict-affected areas. Priority is also given to immunization in southern and eastern border regions, it said in a statement.
Government data shows that 85 percent of the population now live in polio-free areas, but the virus is still circulating in 13 districts, including the seven where recent cases have been detected.
Insecurity in the polio-affected districts, according to health workers in Kabul, makes supervision and monitoring of eradication campaigns difficult. People in these areas also tend to have low literacy rates, poor hygiene practices and low awareness of the benefits of vaccination.
“From 2001, we shifted from a centre-based strategy to house-to-house campaigns with well-defined service delivery structures. Since then, there has been success… Experts believe that Afghanistan is on the brink of eradication,” Quddus said in Kabul.
But in May, thousands of children missed out on vaccination in the southern region, especially Zabul Province, because anti-government elements refused to allow the campaign, according to WHO’s National Surveillance Cell.
In June, another 101,085 children under five could not be reached in the same region due to “insecurity and prevention of Taliban in the areas they control”, according to the Surveillance Cell.
Despite the setbacks, officials are upbeat ahead of another nationwide campaign to be launched on 17 September by President Hamid Karzai. Targeting 7.8 million children, the campaign has enlisted 55,000 personnel and volunteers.
“It is a community-based approach because of security and difficult terrain,” Quddus explained. “Mullahs, teachers and community elders are all involved. We also maintain a highly sensitive surveillance system that can detect children with paralysis even in places where we cannot reach.”
Afghanistan ratifies Convention on Cluster Munitions
Tehran, Sept 14, IRNA – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) welcomes Afghanistan's ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
According to a press release issued by the ICRC, the instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon in New York on September 8.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was originally opened for signature on December 3, 2008 in Oslo, prohibits the use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention or transfer of cluster munitions.
In addition, states possessing or affected by cluster munitions are required to take action to destroy stockpiles, to clear cluster munition remnants and to provide assistance for victims. The Second Meeting of States Parties to the Convention is currently taking place in Beirut.
The president of the ICRC, Jakob Kellenberger, speaking at the signing conference in Oslo in 2008 said: 'The signing of this Convention by so many states is evidence that the suffering of victims and affected countries has not gone unnoticed.'
'The convention will establish that these are prohibited weapons and become a bulwark against their further proliferation,' he said. Although the signing of the convention was an important success in itself, the ICRC president emphasized that the true measure of achievement would be how the lives of victims of cluster munitions and their communities change in the months and years to come.
The ICRC stands ready to offer Afghanistan its expertise to help ensure that the provisions of the convention are fully implemented.
Afghanistan's ratification brings to 62 the number of states that are party to the convention, with the biggest number being in Africa, followed by Europe and the Americas. Two countries in Asia – Japan and Laos – and three in the Pacific region – Fiji, the Cook Islands and New Zealand – are also States Parties.
Afghanistan Must Put Pettiness Aside, Ex Diplomat Samad Says
TOLOnews.com By Omar Samad Thursday, 15 September 2011
This opinion is brought to your attention with no ulterior motives in mind.
Pakistan recently published an important document entitled "Pakistan, the United States and the End Game in Afghanistan: Perceptions of Pakistan's Foreign Policy Elite," which needs thorough study, analysis, open discussion and thoughtful reaction by Afghans, who share basic national interests and shared values.
However, there seems to have been little said or written about the report in Afghan circles in Kabul or elsewhere. I have come across a few references concerning the basic thrust of the report in the Kabul media and a few knee-jerk reactions, but little else.
It seems that the content of this analysis and policy recommendations paper (written in conjunction with visiting fellows affiliated with the United States Institute of Peace) reflects the evolving thinking among Pakistan's ruling establishment. Should it not concern us since it addresses not only bilateral relations, but also Afghan sovereignty, national security and our future as a dignified nation state?
It appears that we are busy with less significant matters. Should we not finally put aside for a moment our petty bickering and politicking, and our insignificant, yet harmful, jealousies and rivalries to find the peace of mind necessary to brainstorm about vital national interests and strategic denominators?
We have fallen into the quicksand of mutual neutralization, and derive great pleasure from it, while others are talking about our "endgame," promoting their interests, and using our dismal conditions to their advantage.
People would like to hear from our policymakers and intellectuals, as well as those who are part of the think tank and analysis world, about what they think regarding the specifics of this paper: how does it change (or not change) our direction? How does Afghanistan formulate a response or counter-argument through consultation, debate and co-ordination? What mechanisms are there to inform our public and relay the Afghan viewpoint to the world community?
Of course, there are pre-requisites involved for all these questions that make it even more necessary to put our minds into seeking a "grand common Afghan strategy" where our national interests are defined and, given our differences - political and personal - where we strive to formulate a common vision for our country.
The year-long tensions involving the three branches of government are untenable. Those who instigated and propagated the crisis by using unlawful political methods need to realise the harm they have inflicted upon the national good, and desist from further enticement.
Further delay in pulling back from crisis mode and initiating a grand dialogue within the country and with our key international backers will put us at great risk, giving more space to those who do not have the best interests of the country at heart.
Not only have countries like Pakistan and others established effective lobbies in key Western nations to defend their fundamental interests, but a quick glance demonstrates that almost every reputable Western think tank and academic institution has either a scholar or former high official from these nations involved as consultant, fellow or researcher of some sort.
Unfortunately, another glance shows that Afghans have neither a credible lobby, nor any other type of presence, which is so sorely needed during these critical times in the key western countries.
Some will claim that we should be proud to have more than 70 diplomatic/consular representations overseas doing the bidding for our cause - been there and done that as a former diplomat for almost 10 years! To my chagrin, I can claim that our foreign policy institution needs reinvigoration and serious reform; much of its capacity has diminished over the past few years. Whatever discourse and policymaking exists, it is all centred on one very limited clique with little creative input or balanced feedback involved.
How much longer can this state of affairs continue? Now is the time to come to our senses and re-engage in a sincere and game-free intra-Afghan deliberation aimed at defining and defending the country's fundamental interests.
Omar Samad was Ambassador to France (2009-2011), Canada (2004-2009) and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2001-2004).
Afghanistan’s Embattled Helmand Region Holds Rare-Earth Elements
Bloomberg By Terry Atlas Sep 14, 2011
Afghanistan’s Helmand province, scene of some of the heaviest fighting between U.S. forces and the Taliban, holds at least 1 million metric tons of rare-earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The deposits in the geological formation known as the Khanneshin carbonatite are comparable in quality to commercially exploited deposits in Bayan Obo, China, and Mountain Pass, California, the USGS said today in a statement.
“This is just one more piece of evidence that Afghanistan’s mineral sector has a bright future,” said Regina Dubey, acting director of Department of Defense’s Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, which funded the study.
“The international mining community is beginning to realize Afghanistan’s extraordinary mineral potential,” she said in a statement.
Rare-earth-based magnets and materials are used in Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM)’s BlackBerrys, Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)’s Prius cars, and military radar. Lanthanum is used in hybrid engines and metal alloys, and cerium is used in petroleum refining.
A preliminary USGS resource assessment, published in 2007, estimated about 1.5 million metric tons of potential rare-earth element resources in all of southern Afghanistan. The estimate of about 1 million metric tons in just the Khanneshin carbonatite verifies the 2007 USGS prediction and confirms the unpublished work of Soviet scientists, the USGS said. Barium and Uranium
In addition to high concentrations of rare-earth elements, the deposit has significant concentrations of barium, strontium, phosphorus, and uranium, the USGS said. The primary area of mineralization covers approximately 0.74 square kilometers (0.29 square miles), according to the USGS report.
“The potential that these findings have for the future well-being of the Afghan people is significant,” Ambassador Marc Grossman, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in the statement. “The United States will continue to support the Government of Afghanistan’s efforts to develop these resources through private-sector investment in a responsible, transparent, and sustainable manner that benefits the Afghan people, expands markets, and promotes regional prosperity.”
China holds a total of 36 million metric tons of rare- earths reserves, or 36 percent of world resources, followed by Russia with 19 million metric tons and the U.S. with 13 million metric tons, according to a Sept. 30, 2010, Congressional Research Service report.
More than 95 percent of global production of rare-earth elements now comes from China, which in 2010 exported approximately 30,000 metric tons of such products, according to the USGS. New mines are being developed in Australia, and projects exploring the feasibility of economic production of other deposits are under way in the United States, Australia, and Canada, the agency said.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com