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Exclusive: Taliban, Pakistan in peace talks
Reuters By Michael Georgy and Qasim Nauman Mon Nov 21, 2011
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Taliban movement, a major security threat to the country, is holding exploratory peace talks with the U.S.-backed government, a senior Taliban commander and mediators told Reuters on Monday.
The discussions are focused on the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border and could be expanded to try to reach a comprehensive deal.
The Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, made several demands, including the release of prisoners, said the commander.
An ethnic Pashtun tribal mediator described the talks as "very difficult."
The United States, the source of billions of dollars of aid vital for Pakistan's military and feeble economy, may not look kindly on peace talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it has labeled a terrorist group.
Past peace pacts with the TTP have failed to bring stability, and merely gave the umbrella group time and space to consolidate, launch fresh attacks and impose their austere version of Islam on segments of the population.
"Yes, we have been holding talks but this is just an initial phase. We will see if there is a breakthrough," said the senior Taliban commander, who asked not to be identified.
"Right now, this is at the South Waziristan level. If successful, we can talk about a deal for all the tribal areas," he said, referring to Pashtun lands along the Afghan border.
The TTP, which is allied with the Afghan Taliban movement fighting U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, is entrenched in the unruly areas along the porous border.
Pakistan has come under pressure to eradicate militancy since U.S. special forces in May killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani town, where he had apparently been living for years.
Pakistan's government and military have said they had no idea bin Laden was in Pakistan and have yet to explain the intelligence gap.
The operation enraged Pakistan's military, which said it was a violation of sovereignty, and then reduced cooperation on intelligence critical for U.S. efforts to stabilize the region as it winds down combat operations in Afghanistan.
Speculation on peace talks has been rife since the government said in a September all-party conference on a crisis in relations with the United States that it would attempt negotiations with militants to bring peace.
"We never wanted to fight to begin with," said the senior Taliban commander. "Our aim was to rid Afghanistan of foreign forces. But the Pakistani government, by supporting America, left us no choice but to fight."
Since bin Laden's death, the TTP has vowed to attack Western targets abroad.
Pakistani military and government officials were not immediately available for comment.
"This is a very difficult stage. We have had three rounds in the last two months, but there seems to be no result," said one of the tribal elders involved in the talks.
"It is too difficult to say if there will be a breakthrough, but we are moving in the right direction."
OVERSEAS AMBITIONS
The TTP was formed in 2007 and is blamed for many of the suicide bombings across nuclear-armed Pakistan, one of the world's most unstable, but strategically important countries.
Its founder, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed by a U.S. drone aircraft missile strike in northwest Pakistan in 2009.
The group has staged audacious attacks on government installations, even army headquarters near the capital, and the violence has also killed many civilians.
While its activities have been almost entirely confined to Pakistan, the TTP has shown an interest in expanding its range under the banner of al Qaeda.
A suicide bombing at a U.S. base in Afghanistan's Khost province in 2009, carried out by a Jordanian national, killed seven Central Intelligence Agency employees.
In video footage released after the attack, the bomber was shown sitting with TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud, a stark illustration of growing links between the Pakistani insurgents and foreign militants.
A Pakistani-born American who tried to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square last year told a U.S. court he got bomb-making training and funding from the Pakistani Taliban.
The TTP staged a series of attacks to avenge bin Laden's death. They claimed responsibility for an attack on a naval base in Pakistan's biggest city and commercial capital Karachi in May which embarrassed the powerful military.
(Editing by Chris Allbritton and Robert Birsel)
Afghan Team To Visit Pakistan For Probe Of Rabbani Assassination
November 21, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A spokesman for the Afghan president says Afghanistan is sending an official delegation to Pakistan to investigate the killing of Kabul peace envoy and former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Spokesman Aimal Faizi says Pakistan has agreed to accept the delegation, including officials from Kabul's defense and interior ministries and its intelligence service.
The team could leave for Islamabad as soon as November 22.
Rabbani's assassination at his Kabul home in September by a turban bomber has stalled efforts to talk peace with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials say the killing was planned in Pakistan and carried out by a Pakistani suicide bomber.
Pakistan initially refused to cooperate in the probe. But Islamabad agreed to accept the Kabul delegation after pressure from Afghan and Turkish officials at a conference in Istanbul earlier this month.
compiled from agency reports
Abdullah: No Permanent Bases Good for Afghanistan
TOLOnews.com Sunday, 20 November 2011
Leader of Change and Hope Coalition, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, on Sunday said no country'spermanent military bases are good for Afghanistan.
But Dr Abdullah said long-term strategic partnership with the United States and other countries will be in the interest of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Mr Abdullah once again emphasised that the Traditional Jirga held to discuss strategic partnership with the US was unconstitutional.
"The Jirga was something fabricated by Mr Karzai. It was unconstitutional. After all the discussions, it was not clear at the end whether it was consultation, a decree or a resolution," Dr Abdullah said.
The Afghan government has frequently stressed that Afghan soil shall not be used against any country, but some Afghan politicians have said permanent military bases will not benefit Afghanistan.
"No country's permanent bases are in the interest of Afghanistan. Afghanistan needs to attract international assistance, but it has to be done based on the law," Dr Abdullah said.
"If any agreement is reached, the Afghan parliament should be informed and make the final decision," he added.
The recently held Traditional Jirga of 2,000 participants backed the signing of a long-term strategic partnership with the United States.
The Afghan Senate House also said described the Jirga as a big achievement for the Afghan government.
The Senate called on the Afghan government to refer the resolution of the Jirga to the Afghan parliament for approval.
U.S. Hails Afghan View on Presence
Wall Street Journal By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV NOVEMBER 21, 2011
KABUL - The U.S. said it was "heartened" by Saturday's decision of the Loya Jirga, a four-day gathering of some 2,000 Afghan representatives, to endorse President Hamid Karzai's plan for an agreement on a long-term American military presence, even though the meeting set several conditions that could end up torpedoing the deal.
The Loya Jirga decision, however, sparked student protests on Sunday in the eastern city of Jalalabad, and was roundly condemned by the Taliban. "These resolutions will be a catalyst for stirring regional sensitivities and will make unfortunate Afghanistan a center of tumult for a long period," the insurgent movement said Sunday.
Most participants in the Loya Jirga had been selected by government officials, and their support for Mr. Karzai was never in doubt. Yet the conference's conditions for a deal with the U.S.—which included a demand that U.S. troops be subject to Afghan courts—hardened Mr. Karzai's already-tough negotiating position even further.
The Loya Jirga's decision is nonbinding, Afghan officials say. But the Afghan president described its declaration as "the voice of the Afghan people to the Afghan government" and pledged to abide by the gathering's recommendations. "We accept your guidance, and we will act according to your advice," he told the delegates.
The U.S. and Afghanistan have been negotiating over the past nine months on the planned strategic agreement, which aims to outline what American military and civilian presence will remain in Afghanistan after most foreign troops leave in 2014. The talks have stumbled over Mr. Karzai's demands that the U.S.-led coalition forces immediately cease night raids, home searches and detentions of insurgent suspects, practices that coalition commanders say are vital for the campaign against the Taliban.
The list of conditions adopted by the Loya Jirga, while reiterating Mr. Karzai's demands, also included a requirement that American citizens have no immunity for committing crimes and "should be tried inside Afghanistan in accordance with the country's laws."
The issue of immunity for U.S. service members from local prosecution was the deal-breaker in American attempts to negotiate a military agreement in Iraq, prompting President Barack Obama to order the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from that country by year's end.
The strategic-partnership agreement currently under negotiation, Western diplomats say, isn't supposed to address the issue of immunity. Details of the American troops' legal status are expected to be outlined in future negotiations over a status-of-forces agreement.
The Loya Jirga also stipulated that the U.S. presence after 2014 should be limited to 10 years, that U.S. bases should be outside urban areas and that these facilities shouldn't be used against neighboring countries such as Iran or Pakistan.
The Afghan parliament, dominated by opponents of Mr. Karzai, has declared the gathering unconstitutional, even though most lawmakers ended up attending it. The Afghan government says it will submit the pact to parliament once the negotiations conclude.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said Sunday that it recognizes the Loya Jirga as "a traditional Afghan institution for which we have great respect." The Embassy added in a statement that the U.S. expects the negotiations "will result in an outcome that affirms a long-term strategic partnership between the United States and Afghanistan."
The conference, held amid extraordinary security, unfolded without major incidents, despite Taliban promises to disrupt the gathering and punish its participants. —Ziaulhaq Sultani and Habib Khan Totakhil contributed to this article.
Afghanistan: what happens when we leave?
Thomas Harding, the Daily Telegraph’s defence correspondent, has returned from his 12th visit to Afghanistan since British troops deployed to Helmand province five years ago. Here, he reflects on what has been achieved.
Telegraph.co.uk By Thomas Harding 21 Nov 2011
November is when we traditionally remember our war dead, and this month looks like being the worst of the year for British fatalities in Afghanistan: five soldiers have so far been killed in Helmand. And yet, amid the tragic loss of life, things are going well in this once troubled region. Indeed, politicians and military dignitaries travel from Kabul to marvel at the political progress and examine the province’s “model” Afghan army brigade.
But some of the biggest changes are in the rural economy. Lined up along the roads of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah are fleets of new imported Massey Ferguson tractors waiting to be bought by wealthy farmers. Farming is on the cusp of a boom. The ploughs are churning the fertile fields fed by an inexhaustible supply of water, allowing the crops to flourish under the unrelenting sun. With political stability offered by Nato and Afghan forces, Helmand’s 180,000 farmers are able to sow pomegranates and carrots rather than opium poppies.
Moreover, stability means the roads can be upgraded, cutting journeys to market from two hours to 20 minutes, and helping to spread ideas about how to increase production. Instead of throwing carrot seeds across the fields, farmers now make neat heaped rows of earths. The result? A jerub (half an acre) that once produced four tons of carrots now yields eight tons. The same is true of grape production – mainly used for raisins – where crops will increase by 70 per cent once farmers use trellising rather than allowing the fruit to mature on the ground, prey to mould and insects. Such advances are turning the population away from the Taliban and enticing them into the Afghan government’s camp. Stability means fertility and that leads to profit. After 30 years of conflict, that argument has a powerful appeal.
Two years ago or more, the Army sought to give the impression that all its operations were conducted jointly with Afghan troops. In reality, the latter comprised just a few sullen soldiers tagging along at the back of a patrol. But, again, things are different now. The Afghans power ahead on military operations, taking greater risks and more casualties. The Afghan local police force – previously viewed as potentially another armed militia – has gradually taken shape. Young, jobless men are given a little training and ordered to guard their area against the Taliban. Not only does this deny the insurgents recruits, but it also reassures the population with an “armed Neighbourhood Watch”. The British have also been adept at fostering good relations. Brig Patrick Sanders, the commander in Helmand, invited his opposite number, Brig-Gen Sheren Shah, and the chief of police, Gen Hakim Angar, to his Wiltshire home to meet his family. Hospitality is important in Afghan society and the gesture cemented a key relationship.
But for all this progress, uncertainty hangs over Helmand – an unease reminiscent of 1989, when Soviet forces suddenly withdrew, taking everything with them bar the rope used to hang the puppet president left behind. Those who had thrown in their lot with the Russians were left seriously exposed. Now, for the first time in all the years that I have been visiting Afghanistan, memories of 1989 are once more being invoked as Nato begins the countdown to its withdrawal at the end of 2014.
“The Afghans have to realise that we are leaving and need to get a grip on themselves,” one officer told me. “They are like a person who can walk but has become too used to having the crutch.” The phrases now in vogue include “weaning the Afghans off Nato” and “not creating a dependency culture.” A political adviser shared the sentiments. “They know it’s coming, and they know they have got to start to get ready for it.” The US Marine Corps, responsible for much of the stability in Helmand, is planning to drop to as low as 6,000 troops within the next 10 months. Soon after, Britain is expected to start reducing its force of almost 10,000.
With a presidential election approaching, Barack Obama will want the fillip provided by a dramatic cut in the 100,000-strong US force beyond the 33,000 earmarked for exit next September.
All this talk of withdrawal leaves the Afghan leadership feeling nervous, notwithstanding US promises to leave behind sufficient firepower to back up local forces.
“If British and American forces leave, this will have a negative effect on security. It will be 1989 again,” Gen Sheren Shah told me. Capt Khaidar Mohammad was more direct. “How do I feel about ISAF leaving? If they leave, then the Taliban will still dominate and the people will say God defeated them and the Taliban will come to England and make explosions.”
In America, there is an intense debate between the White House and the Pentagon over how quickly troops should depart and what they should leave behind. Many in the military look back at the sacrifices in Iraq and wonder what there is to show for their efforts. They don’t want to ask the same question about Afghanistan and are loath to throw away their gains to help President Obama’s re-election.
So, what will be Nato’s legacy? The police, on whom security will largely depend, are not the most trustworthy bunch. One police station had to be disbanded after officers robbed and murdered the owner of a new Shogun car carrying £1,500 in cash. At another station I visited with an Army officer, the reception from the commander was cordial at best. “He’s probably in the pay of the Taliban,” the officer quietly told me. “We just don’t tell him much at a tactical level.”
But for all that, the Army can leave Helmand with its head held high. When it has been given the right number of troops and helicopters it has been able to do the job. It has learnt much about modern counter insurgency – using the soft power of governance, local consent and finding out what the population really want.
Furthermore, the British soldier has been shown to be as doughty and dependable as ever – though the danger now is for standards to slip when the end is in sight. “Two years of good work could be lost by a few indiscriminate live rounds,” said Major Rob Hadderwick, of the Black Watch, in the now tamed Nad-e-Ali south area. “The question soldiers have to ask is 'what’s in the background’. They have to understand whether the death of one Taliban is worth the damage to security and is too high a cost. People also hear a firefight and lose their faith in security and their belief that the government of Afghanistan is providing stability.” The gunners have even stopped firing 105mm illumination rounds because the noise upsets the locals at night.
But in central Helmand, where the Taliban is still strong in pockets, fighting can be intense. One platoon from the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment saw 21 contacts with the enemy in 27 days. Death and serious injury remain an occupational hazard. There is also the question of what happens to the Army. By 2015, it will have been on operations for a dozen years with little time to think of much else. One soldier in five will return home to jobs that no longer exist. Others will find allowances have been cut and pensions weakened. So, has it been worthwhile?
It is too early to tell. True, the experience of battle has left the Army functioning as well as at any time in the past 60 years. But will it make a lasting difference to Afghanistan after the foreign troops have gone? The fear is that long after they have re-entered civilian life, veterans of this conflict will be left wondering what it was all for.
American Plastic Surgeon Sets Up Program to Help Afghans
VOA News November 20, 2011 Jennifer Glasse
Kabul - An American doctor is setting up a program to train Afghan medical teams to perform complex plastic surgery, something Afghanistan needs. It has a high number of burn victims, war injuries and birth defects.
American plastic surgeon Kaveh Alizadeh looks at a birth defect on an Afghan baby just 12 hours old. Its spinal cord developed outside its body, probably because the mother didn't eat right during pregnancy. Correcting the defect is the kind of surgery Alizadeh hopes to teach his Afghan counterparts.
"The special circumstance in Afghanistan is that you have a country of 29 million and there's really 2 well-trained plastic surgeons that are both in the Kabul area," he said.
Alizadeh plans to return here in January with two other surgeons and a medical team to perform 30-40 complex plastic surgeries and in the process, teach Afghans how to do them.
Afghanistan not only needs plastic surgeons, but all kinds of medical staff. The country's health care system has made great strides since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago, but there is still a shortage of facilities and qualified medical workers.
"We want to bring in the expertise from the U.S., the local hospital that's here as well as the help with the Ministry of Public Health, to create a curriculum for educational program for plastic surgeons so that they can be trained and take care of some of these complex cases," said Dr. Alizadeh.
Medical student Breshna Rahimy welcomes the opportunity to work with the Americans. "So we need them to train us, because they are here for a short time and we are here for the whole life so we need to be expert and know everything very good. And the same medical helps that are outside the country, we want it inside the country. We have the ability, but we don't have the chances," she said.
The medical director of the hospital that will host a number of the surgeries echoes Rahimy's sentiments. Dr. Rick Manning says training Afghans is key to ensuring the future of the country. "They live here, they know the culture, they're the ones who are going to be here for generations to come. If we are not into training we don't want to be here," he said.
But he says one of the biggest problems facing Afghanistan's health care system is the system itself. "The biggest challenge is after we train people to keep them here, because they get frustrated. You know they're trained, they have all these skills and they work in a system that's corrupt, not allowing them to use their skills, so then we have to find ways for them to stay in country to continue to educate their next generation," he said.
Alizadeh says in his project, the learning will not be a one-way process. "We run some of the major centers back in New York and we never get an opportunity to see things of this magnitude, so I think it will be a great collaboration. We're going to learn as much as the local surgeons," he said.
He emphasizes the important element is not the operations, but the learning experience. "The surgeries will always be around. I think creating the infrastructure so that the locals can take care of those cases is really going to be our legacy," he said.
The Americans will continue to help mentor their Afghan colleagues even after returning to the United States through weekly Internet video conference calls.
In Afghanistan 'through decade at least'
The Canberra Times BY STAFF REPORTERS 21 Nov, 2011
Australia could begin drawing down its forces in Afghanistan even sooner than expected, but soldiers will remain in the country “through this decade at least”, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.
In an address to Parliament this afternoon, Ms Gillard said the timing to hand over security in Urzgan province – where Australians have been based for many years – was not yet decided.
“But given the progress we now see, it may well be complete before the end of 2014,” he said.
“And once our mission to train and mentor the 4th Brigade is complete, we will draw down the number of ADF personnel in the country.”
She said the Government had begun “post-transition planning” and Australia would “seek an enduring relationship with Afghanistan beyond 2014 as Afghanistan takes on responsibility for its own security and governance”.
“After 2014 we will continue to maintain links with Uruzgan, a province in which we have invested so much. But our role will also have a national focus,” she said.
“Substantial development assistance and an AusAID presence, including Afghanistan-based official aid personnel.
“We also expect to continue defence training to continue building the capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces – and for the Australian Federal Police to keep training the Afghan National Police.”
It is also considering keeping special forces in Afghanistan past 2014.
Ms Gillard said Australia would not abandon Afghanistan.
“We will be engaged through this decade at least,” she said.
“With Afghan authorities in charge of their own security, the nature of the international effort in Afghanistan will change.
“International military forces will reduce in number. The forces that remain will focus on training and support for the Afghan National Security Forces and on counterterrorism.”
In the meantime, international forces were working towards handing over responsibility to Afghan forces. Training was on track to allowing this to happen in 2014.
“Australian forces have already handed over 11 patrol or forward operating bases to Afghan lead,” she said.
Ms Gillard said that Australians knew that conflict brought “days of sorrow as well as days of progress”and more of these lay ahead.
“It is right that in hard moments our hearts ache for all that is lost and all there is still to lose. Of course, we know that in an imperfect world, there is no perfect way," she said.
“It is right that we do all that we can, with all that we have, to defend Australia and its national interests. This is the world we live in. It has not become a perfect world in this last year.”
She said the international strategy in Afghanistan, focused on counter-insurgency and transition to local control, was sound
“Our mission in Uruzgan as part of the international strategy is clear: protecting the Afghan people, training the Afghan security forces and building the government’s capacity,” she said.
Ms Gillard said people wanted to know more about the daily work of Australians in Afghanistan.
“The moving and now sadly familiar images of ramp ceremonies overseas and funerals at home are a very real part of the story of the war – but they are not the whole story,’’ she said.
“We owe it to our troops, and to our nation, to understand the whole.”
She said two thirds of the 1550 people deployed to Afghanistan at any one time were based in Uruzgan.
“Many of the Australians currently there arrived at the end of June and will be deployed until around March next year,’’ she said.
“With rotations, nearly four and a half thousand Australian Defence Force personnel will spend time in Afghanistan this year. Many will be on their second and third deployments - some will have been to Afghanistan many times.”
Australians were mentoring Afghan soldiers, removing roadside bombs and had been involved in hundreds of firefights this year.
“To support these operations, they maintain forward or patrol bases, across the province, in some cases as far as seventy five kilometres from our main base at Tarin Kot,” she said.
“And they join operations outside the province too, cutting the so-called ‘rat runs’, the routes which provide support and supply to insurgents in Uruzgan.“
Special forces soldiers were also targeting insurgent leaders and bomb makers, as well as disrupting the drug trade.
Ms Gillard said there were also 20 Australian Federal Police officers training Afghans in local policing work.
“Every day, Australians are working to strengthen institutions and deliver basic services as well,’’ she said.
Diplomats in Kabul were also working with the Afghan government and there were 12 AusAID staff in the country at any one time, plus there were officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Australian aid was funding primary schools, training farmers and offering small loans to help rural households develop their own small businesses and economic independence.
“They help remove land mines and teach locals about the risk of mines. They distribute saplings and plant trees,’’ she said.
This work was being done because “no insurgency is ever defeated by military force alone”.
“The international strategy supports the Afghan Government’s efforts for reconciliation,’’ she said.
“We support reconciliation and the reintegration of insurgents who are prepared to lay down their arms, renounce violence and terrorism and respect Afghanistan’s constitution.”
Ms Gillard said international forces had made gains in Afghanistan, but these gains needed to be consolidated.
“Despite our successes, the Taliban is not yet defeated. But there is progress on the ground,” she said.
“The 4th Brigade is becoming more capable and professional. So is the Afghan National Army as a whole.”
Afghan medics trained by Australians were about to deploy to patrol bases, and the Afghan National Police’s crime scene and evidence collection procedures have improved.
Ms Gillard said Australia had lost 32 Australians in its decade in Afghanistan, including 11 in the past year.
“They are not our only casualties. Our wounded – and their families – have suffered terribly as well. More than 200 Australians have been wounded in action in Afghanistan,” she said.
These people had suffered “amputations, fractures, gunshot and fragmentation wounds, hearing loss ‘mild traumatic brain injury’ lacerations and contusions, concussion and traumatic brain injury, penetrating fragments and multiple severe injuries.”
“Many will not serve again. Some will not walk again. Not one will be forgotten,” she said.
She said Australia was determined that recent attacks on diggers by Afghan soldiers would not erode trust.
Several soldiers have been killed and even more wounded in the attacks.
“We must not allow attacks like these to strike at the core of our training and mentoring mission in Afghanistan,” she said.
Australian PM flags early end to Afghan mission
Associated Press By ROD McGUIRK 21/11/2011
CANBERRA, Australia - Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Monday that the Australian military training mission in Afghanistan could be completed before the 2014 target date, after an Afghan army commander told a newspaper that Australian troops should be withdrawn immediately.
Gillard's speech to Parliament raises the possibility that the Australian troop withdrawal could begin within the next three years.
Gillard said her government had no timetable for the Australian military's primary objective of training an Afghan National Army brigade to take responsibility for security in Uruzgan province.
"But given the progress we now see, it may well be complete before the end of 2014," she said.
The commander of the Afghan troops being trained by the Australians, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Zafar Khan, told The Age newspaper in an interview published Monday that the mentors should go immediately, leaving behind modern equipment including mine detectors, night vision goggles and medical evacuation helicopters.
"Three years is too much time for the Australians to stay here," Zafar told the newspaper through an interpreter at his Tarin Kowt headquarters in Uruzgan.
He could not immediately be contacted by The Associated Press on Monday for comment.
Australia has 1,550 troops in Afghanistan, the largest force provided by any country outside NATO. Thirty-two Australian soldiers have been killed in the conflict.
Australia's military deployment in Afghanistan maintains bipartisan political support, but opinion polls show the popularity of the commitment among the Australian public is plummeting with the rising death toll.
Afghan insurgents tracked by Cornish helicopter crews
20 November 2011 BBC News
Helicopters and crews from RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall have captured more than seven tonnes of explosives while on operations in Afghanistan.
The Culdrose squadron, based at Camp Bastion, has also seized drugs worth more than £10m.
In the last two weeks the squadron has passed on 70 intelligence tip-offs to ground troops to follow up.
The squadron is using cutting-edge radar equipment on its Sea King helicopters to track insurgents.
The Culdrose squadron, known as the Baggers, is flying up to 50 hours a week using specialist radar in a giant sack on the side of the helicopters, which follows the movements of insurgents on the ground.
In one instance, the squadron directed troops to three men in a truck which was carrying opium with a street value of £1m, while £250,000 of heroin was found on another vehicle.
Commander Pat Douglas, from Culdrose, said: "We may be only operating over Helmand and environs, but the impact of what we do spreads across the entire country.
"Every single time a vehicle we've tracked is stopped, and drugs or explosives are found by ground forces, we are making things a percentage safer for Afghan civilians and the forces who are protecting them."
The squadron has been in Afghanistan since May 2009.
Afghan Tradition Makes Room For Girls
November 21, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty By Frud Bezhan, Salih Mohammad Salih
"Say three amens," shouts a bearded old man, reading from a weathered book of poetry.
"A girl was born into this world as beautiful as the moon in the sky;
Pray for her as she is a flower blossoming in the spring;
She is like a beaming light that has brightened this house;
She is an angel that has come to us from the land of fairytales."
"Say three amens," he roars again.
In reciting the words of the recently written poem, the community elder is doing more than celebrating the birth of a daughter to Ahmad Mohammadyor, a local writer. He is challenging long-entrenched patriarchal tradition in southern Afghanistan.
There, the birth of a girl is often cause for shame, not celebration. And traditional ceremonies called nashrah, which mark the birth of a child, are reserved for boys.
Mohammadyor, who authored the poem to honor his daughter's arrival, notes that in many parts of Afghanistan only boys can inherit a father's wealth and pass down the family name.
"In backward societies, women have always been considered inferior," he says. "Unfortunately, in our society they are not even treated like human beings. The international community and some of our leaders preach the rights of women, but in reality some of them don't practice this. A good example is those who talk about education, but they don't even allow their own daughters to go to school."
Breaking Tradition Of Male Domination
Through his nashrah poem, Mohammadyor hopes to help break the tradition of male domination in his home region. The ritual of nashrah goes back hundreds of years in Afghanistan, but today is primarily performed in Kandahar, in the south of the country.
The ceremony gathers dozens of family members, friends, and neighbors as they celebrate a new birth in the community. The ceremony begins with a pious member of the family reciting folkloric poetry and goodwill prayers, followed by a feast, music, and, dancing.
The poems that are read out at the ceremony honor the newborn and also contain advice for parents on how to raise the child to be a valuable member of society.
One of the poems preaches:
"It is up to you to keep this light going; Keep it safe until it beams brighter; Until it lights this house and the whole neighborhood; Accept this gift and be thankful to God."
In a patriarchal society like that of Afghanistan there is significant social pressure to have sons. In some cases, this has even led Afghan families to disguise their daughters as sons.
Without a son, some families decide to invent one, typically by cutting a daughter's hair and dressing her in boys' clothing. In most cases, girls return to womanhood once they reach puberty.
The practice is driven mostly by economic necessity, social pressure, and sometimes a superstition that doing it can lead to the birth of a real boy in the future.
Age-Old Discrimination
A pretend son, called bacha posh in Dari, can improve a family's reputation. It also makes it easier for a girl to receive an education, work outside the home, and even accompany women in public, freedoms that are rare for girls in a country where men and women are strictly segregated in public life.
Mohammadyor says that such practices are often fueled by a lack of knowledge and traditional prejudices against women. He says it is up to the educated segments of society to change these traditions and "pave the way for a positive future."
"Instead of preaching to others about gender equality, they should first lead by example and act on their ideas," he says. "Only then will people trust their words and follow them by example."
For Mohammadyor, performing the nashrah ritual for his daughter is his small contribution to changing the many age-old traditions that continue to discriminate against women in Afghanistan.
"Having a daughter is a blessing from God and gives one a unique happiness in life," he says. "Daughters are the source of love and the sweetest gift that a father can receive."
RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Homayoon Shinwary contributed to this report
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
Reuters By Michael Georgy and Qasim Nauman Mon Nov 21, 2011
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Taliban movement, a major security threat to the country, is holding exploratory peace talks with the U.S.-backed government, a senior Taliban commander and mediators told Reuters on Monday.
The discussions are focused on the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border and could be expanded to try to reach a comprehensive deal.
The Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, made several demands, including the release of prisoners, said the commander.
An ethnic Pashtun tribal mediator described the talks as "very difficult."
The United States, the source of billions of dollars of aid vital for Pakistan's military and feeble economy, may not look kindly on peace talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it has labeled a terrorist group.
Past peace pacts with the TTP have failed to bring stability, and merely gave the umbrella group time and space to consolidate, launch fresh attacks and impose their austere version of Islam on segments of the population.
"Yes, we have been holding talks but this is just an initial phase. We will see if there is a breakthrough," said the senior Taliban commander, who asked not to be identified.
"Right now, this is at the South Waziristan level. If successful, we can talk about a deal for all the tribal areas," he said, referring to Pashtun lands along the Afghan border.
The TTP, which is allied with the Afghan Taliban movement fighting U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, is entrenched in the unruly areas along the porous border.
Pakistan has come under pressure to eradicate militancy since U.S. special forces in May killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani town, where he had apparently been living for years.
Pakistan's government and military have said they had no idea bin Laden was in Pakistan and have yet to explain the intelligence gap.
The operation enraged Pakistan's military, which said it was a violation of sovereignty, and then reduced cooperation on intelligence critical for U.S. efforts to stabilize the region as it winds down combat operations in Afghanistan.
Speculation on peace talks has been rife since the government said in a September all-party conference on a crisis in relations with the United States that it would attempt negotiations with militants to bring peace.
"We never wanted to fight to begin with," said the senior Taliban commander. "Our aim was to rid Afghanistan of foreign forces. But the Pakistani government, by supporting America, left us no choice but to fight."
Since bin Laden's death, the TTP has vowed to attack Western targets abroad.
Pakistani military and government officials were not immediately available for comment.
"This is a very difficult stage. We have had three rounds in the last two months, but there seems to be no result," said one of the tribal elders involved in the talks.
"It is too difficult to say if there will be a breakthrough, but we are moving in the right direction."
OVERSEAS AMBITIONS
The TTP was formed in 2007 and is blamed for many of the suicide bombings across nuclear-armed Pakistan, one of the world's most unstable, but strategically important countries.
Its founder, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed by a U.S. drone aircraft missile strike in northwest Pakistan in 2009.
The group has staged audacious attacks on government installations, even army headquarters near the capital, and the violence has also killed many civilians.
While its activities have been almost entirely confined to Pakistan, the TTP has shown an interest in expanding its range under the banner of al Qaeda.
A suicide bombing at a U.S. base in Afghanistan's Khost province in 2009, carried out by a Jordanian national, killed seven Central Intelligence Agency employees.
In video footage released after the attack, the bomber was shown sitting with TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud, a stark illustration of growing links between the Pakistani insurgents and foreign militants.
A Pakistani-born American who tried to set off a car bomb in New York's Times Square last year told a U.S. court he got bomb-making training and funding from the Pakistani Taliban.
The TTP staged a series of attacks to avenge bin Laden's death. They claimed responsibility for an attack on a naval base in Pakistan's biggest city and commercial capital Karachi in May which embarrassed the powerful military.
(Editing by Chris Allbritton and Robert Birsel)
Afghan Team To Visit Pakistan For Probe Of Rabbani Assassination
November 21, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A spokesman for the Afghan president says Afghanistan is sending an official delegation to Pakistan to investigate the killing of Kabul peace envoy and former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Spokesman Aimal Faizi says Pakistan has agreed to accept the delegation, including officials from Kabul's defense and interior ministries and its intelligence service.
The team could leave for Islamabad as soon as November 22.
Rabbani's assassination at his Kabul home in September by a turban bomber has stalled efforts to talk peace with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials say the killing was planned in Pakistan and carried out by a Pakistani suicide bomber.
Pakistan initially refused to cooperate in the probe. But Islamabad agreed to accept the Kabul delegation after pressure from Afghan and Turkish officials at a conference in Istanbul earlier this month.
compiled from agency reports
Abdullah: No Permanent Bases Good for Afghanistan
TOLOnews.com Sunday, 20 November 2011
Leader of Change and Hope Coalition, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, on Sunday said no country'spermanent military bases are good for Afghanistan.
But Dr Abdullah said long-term strategic partnership with the United States and other countries will be in the interest of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Mr Abdullah once again emphasised that the Traditional Jirga held to discuss strategic partnership with the US was unconstitutional.
"The Jirga was something fabricated by Mr Karzai. It was unconstitutional. After all the discussions, it was not clear at the end whether it was consultation, a decree or a resolution," Dr Abdullah said.
The Afghan government has frequently stressed that Afghan soil shall not be used against any country, but some Afghan politicians have said permanent military bases will not benefit Afghanistan.
"No country's permanent bases are in the interest of Afghanistan. Afghanistan needs to attract international assistance, but it has to be done based on the law," Dr Abdullah said.
"If any agreement is reached, the Afghan parliament should be informed and make the final decision," he added.
The recently held Traditional Jirga of 2,000 participants backed the signing of a long-term strategic partnership with the United States.
The Afghan Senate House also said described the Jirga as a big achievement for the Afghan government.
The Senate called on the Afghan government to refer the resolution of the Jirga to the Afghan parliament for approval.
U.S. Hails Afghan View on Presence
Wall Street Journal By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV NOVEMBER 21, 2011
KABUL - The U.S. said it was "heartened" by Saturday's decision of the Loya Jirga, a four-day gathering of some 2,000 Afghan representatives, to endorse President Hamid Karzai's plan for an agreement on a long-term American military presence, even though the meeting set several conditions that could end up torpedoing the deal.
The Loya Jirga decision, however, sparked student protests on Sunday in the eastern city of Jalalabad, and was roundly condemned by the Taliban. "These resolutions will be a catalyst for stirring regional sensitivities and will make unfortunate Afghanistan a center of tumult for a long period," the insurgent movement said Sunday.
Most participants in the Loya Jirga had been selected by government officials, and their support for Mr. Karzai was never in doubt. Yet the conference's conditions for a deal with the U.S.—which included a demand that U.S. troops be subject to Afghan courts—hardened Mr. Karzai's already-tough negotiating position even further.
The Loya Jirga's decision is nonbinding, Afghan officials say. But the Afghan president described its declaration as "the voice of the Afghan people to the Afghan government" and pledged to abide by the gathering's recommendations. "We accept your guidance, and we will act according to your advice," he told the delegates.
The U.S. and Afghanistan have been negotiating over the past nine months on the planned strategic agreement, which aims to outline what American military and civilian presence will remain in Afghanistan after most foreign troops leave in 2014. The talks have stumbled over Mr. Karzai's demands that the U.S.-led coalition forces immediately cease night raids, home searches and detentions of insurgent suspects, practices that coalition commanders say are vital for the campaign against the Taliban.
The list of conditions adopted by the Loya Jirga, while reiterating Mr. Karzai's demands, also included a requirement that American citizens have no immunity for committing crimes and "should be tried inside Afghanistan in accordance with the country's laws."
The issue of immunity for U.S. service members from local prosecution was the deal-breaker in American attempts to negotiate a military agreement in Iraq, prompting President Barack Obama to order the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from that country by year's end.
The strategic-partnership agreement currently under negotiation, Western diplomats say, isn't supposed to address the issue of immunity. Details of the American troops' legal status are expected to be outlined in future negotiations over a status-of-forces agreement.
The Loya Jirga also stipulated that the U.S. presence after 2014 should be limited to 10 years, that U.S. bases should be outside urban areas and that these facilities shouldn't be used against neighboring countries such as Iran or Pakistan.
The Afghan parliament, dominated by opponents of Mr. Karzai, has declared the gathering unconstitutional, even though most lawmakers ended up attending it. The Afghan government says it will submit the pact to parliament once the negotiations conclude.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said Sunday that it recognizes the Loya Jirga as "a traditional Afghan institution for which we have great respect." The Embassy added in a statement that the U.S. expects the negotiations "will result in an outcome that affirms a long-term strategic partnership between the United States and Afghanistan."
The conference, held amid extraordinary security, unfolded without major incidents, despite Taliban promises to disrupt the gathering and punish its participants. —Ziaulhaq Sultani and Habib Khan Totakhil contributed to this article.
Afghanistan: what happens when we leave?
Thomas Harding, the Daily Telegraph’s defence correspondent, has returned from his 12th visit to Afghanistan since British troops deployed to Helmand province five years ago. Here, he reflects on what has been achieved.
Telegraph.co.uk By Thomas Harding 21 Nov 2011
November is when we traditionally remember our war dead, and this month looks like being the worst of the year for British fatalities in Afghanistan: five soldiers have so far been killed in Helmand. And yet, amid the tragic loss of life, things are going well in this once troubled region. Indeed, politicians and military dignitaries travel from Kabul to marvel at the political progress and examine the province’s “model” Afghan army brigade.
But some of the biggest changes are in the rural economy. Lined up along the roads of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah are fleets of new imported Massey Ferguson tractors waiting to be bought by wealthy farmers. Farming is on the cusp of a boom. The ploughs are churning the fertile fields fed by an inexhaustible supply of water, allowing the crops to flourish under the unrelenting sun. With political stability offered by Nato and Afghan forces, Helmand’s 180,000 farmers are able to sow pomegranates and carrots rather than opium poppies.
Moreover, stability means the roads can be upgraded, cutting journeys to market from two hours to 20 minutes, and helping to spread ideas about how to increase production. Instead of throwing carrot seeds across the fields, farmers now make neat heaped rows of earths. The result? A jerub (half an acre) that once produced four tons of carrots now yields eight tons. The same is true of grape production – mainly used for raisins – where crops will increase by 70 per cent once farmers use trellising rather than allowing the fruit to mature on the ground, prey to mould and insects. Such advances are turning the population away from the Taliban and enticing them into the Afghan government’s camp. Stability means fertility and that leads to profit. After 30 years of conflict, that argument has a powerful appeal.
Two years ago or more, the Army sought to give the impression that all its operations were conducted jointly with Afghan troops. In reality, the latter comprised just a few sullen soldiers tagging along at the back of a patrol. But, again, things are different now. The Afghans power ahead on military operations, taking greater risks and more casualties. The Afghan local police force – previously viewed as potentially another armed militia – has gradually taken shape. Young, jobless men are given a little training and ordered to guard their area against the Taliban. Not only does this deny the insurgents recruits, but it also reassures the population with an “armed Neighbourhood Watch”. The British have also been adept at fostering good relations. Brig Patrick Sanders, the commander in Helmand, invited his opposite number, Brig-Gen Sheren Shah, and the chief of police, Gen Hakim Angar, to his Wiltshire home to meet his family. Hospitality is important in Afghan society and the gesture cemented a key relationship.
But for all this progress, uncertainty hangs over Helmand – an unease reminiscent of 1989, when Soviet forces suddenly withdrew, taking everything with them bar the rope used to hang the puppet president left behind. Those who had thrown in their lot with the Russians were left seriously exposed. Now, for the first time in all the years that I have been visiting Afghanistan, memories of 1989 are once more being invoked as Nato begins the countdown to its withdrawal at the end of 2014.
“The Afghans have to realise that we are leaving and need to get a grip on themselves,” one officer told me. “They are like a person who can walk but has become too used to having the crutch.” The phrases now in vogue include “weaning the Afghans off Nato” and “not creating a dependency culture.” A political adviser shared the sentiments. “They know it’s coming, and they know they have got to start to get ready for it.” The US Marine Corps, responsible for much of the stability in Helmand, is planning to drop to as low as 6,000 troops within the next 10 months. Soon after, Britain is expected to start reducing its force of almost 10,000.
With a presidential election approaching, Barack Obama will want the fillip provided by a dramatic cut in the 100,000-strong US force beyond the 33,000 earmarked for exit next September.
All this talk of withdrawal leaves the Afghan leadership feeling nervous, notwithstanding US promises to leave behind sufficient firepower to back up local forces.
“If British and American forces leave, this will have a negative effect on security. It will be 1989 again,” Gen Sheren Shah told me. Capt Khaidar Mohammad was more direct. “How do I feel about ISAF leaving? If they leave, then the Taliban will still dominate and the people will say God defeated them and the Taliban will come to England and make explosions.”
In America, there is an intense debate between the White House and the Pentagon over how quickly troops should depart and what they should leave behind. Many in the military look back at the sacrifices in Iraq and wonder what there is to show for their efforts. They don’t want to ask the same question about Afghanistan and are loath to throw away their gains to help President Obama’s re-election.
So, what will be Nato’s legacy? The police, on whom security will largely depend, are not the most trustworthy bunch. One police station had to be disbanded after officers robbed and murdered the owner of a new Shogun car carrying £1,500 in cash. At another station I visited with an Army officer, the reception from the commander was cordial at best. “He’s probably in the pay of the Taliban,” the officer quietly told me. “We just don’t tell him much at a tactical level.”
But for all that, the Army can leave Helmand with its head held high. When it has been given the right number of troops and helicopters it has been able to do the job. It has learnt much about modern counter insurgency – using the soft power of governance, local consent and finding out what the population really want.
Furthermore, the British soldier has been shown to be as doughty and dependable as ever – though the danger now is for standards to slip when the end is in sight. “Two years of good work could be lost by a few indiscriminate live rounds,” said Major Rob Hadderwick, of the Black Watch, in the now tamed Nad-e-Ali south area. “The question soldiers have to ask is 'what’s in the background’. They have to understand whether the death of one Taliban is worth the damage to security and is too high a cost. People also hear a firefight and lose their faith in security and their belief that the government of Afghanistan is providing stability.” The gunners have even stopped firing 105mm illumination rounds because the noise upsets the locals at night.
But in central Helmand, where the Taliban is still strong in pockets, fighting can be intense. One platoon from the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment saw 21 contacts with the enemy in 27 days. Death and serious injury remain an occupational hazard. There is also the question of what happens to the Army. By 2015, it will have been on operations for a dozen years with little time to think of much else. One soldier in five will return home to jobs that no longer exist. Others will find allowances have been cut and pensions weakened. So, has it been worthwhile?
It is too early to tell. True, the experience of battle has left the Army functioning as well as at any time in the past 60 years. But will it make a lasting difference to Afghanistan after the foreign troops have gone? The fear is that long after they have re-entered civilian life, veterans of this conflict will be left wondering what it was all for.
American Plastic Surgeon Sets Up Program to Help Afghans
VOA News November 20, 2011 Jennifer Glasse
Kabul - An American doctor is setting up a program to train Afghan medical teams to perform complex plastic surgery, something Afghanistan needs. It has a high number of burn victims, war injuries and birth defects.
American plastic surgeon Kaveh Alizadeh looks at a birth defect on an Afghan baby just 12 hours old. Its spinal cord developed outside its body, probably because the mother didn't eat right during pregnancy. Correcting the defect is the kind of surgery Alizadeh hopes to teach his Afghan counterparts.
"The special circumstance in Afghanistan is that you have a country of 29 million and there's really 2 well-trained plastic surgeons that are both in the Kabul area," he said.
Alizadeh plans to return here in January with two other surgeons and a medical team to perform 30-40 complex plastic surgeries and in the process, teach Afghans how to do them.
Afghanistan not only needs plastic surgeons, but all kinds of medical staff. The country's health care system has made great strides since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago, but there is still a shortage of facilities and qualified medical workers.
"We want to bring in the expertise from the U.S., the local hospital that's here as well as the help with the Ministry of Public Health, to create a curriculum for educational program for plastic surgeons so that they can be trained and take care of some of these complex cases," said Dr. Alizadeh.
Medical student Breshna Rahimy welcomes the opportunity to work with the Americans. "So we need them to train us, because they are here for a short time and we are here for the whole life so we need to be expert and know everything very good. And the same medical helps that are outside the country, we want it inside the country. We have the ability, but we don't have the chances," she said.
The medical director of the hospital that will host a number of the surgeries echoes Rahimy's sentiments. Dr. Rick Manning says training Afghans is key to ensuring the future of the country. "They live here, they know the culture, they're the ones who are going to be here for generations to come. If we are not into training we don't want to be here," he said.
But he says one of the biggest problems facing Afghanistan's health care system is the system itself. "The biggest challenge is after we train people to keep them here, because they get frustrated. You know they're trained, they have all these skills and they work in a system that's corrupt, not allowing them to use their skills, so then we have to find ways for them to stay in country to continue to educate their next generation," he said.
Alizadeh says in his project, the learning will not be a one-way process. "We run some of the major centers back in New York and we never get an opportunity to see things of this magnitude, so I think it will be a great collaboration. We're going to learn as much as the local surgeons," he said.
He emphasizes the important element is not the operations, but the learning experience. "The surgeries will always be around. I think creating the infrastructure so that the locals can take care of those cases is really going to be our legacy," he said.
The Americans will continue to help mentor their Afghan colleagues even after returning to the United States through weekly Internet video conference calls.
In Afghanistan 'through decade at least'
The Canberra Times BY STAFF REPORTERS 21 Nov, 2011
Australia could begin drawing down its forces in Afghanistan even sooner than expected, but soldiers will remain in the country “through this decade at least”, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.
In an address to Parliament this afternoon, Ms Gillard said the timing to hand over security in Urzgan province – where Australians have been based for many years – was not yet decided.
“But given the progress we now see, it may well be complete before the end of 2014,” he said.
“And once our mission to train and mentor the 4th Brigade is complete, we will draw down the number of ADF personnel in the country.”
She said the Government had begun “post-transition planning” and Australia would “seek an enduring relationship with Afghanistan beyond 2014 as Afghanistan takes on responsibility for its own security and governance”.
“After 2014 we will continue to maintain links with Uruzgan, a province in which we have invested so much. But our role will also have a national focus,” she said.
“Substantial development assistance and an AusAID presence, including Afghanistan-based official aid personnel.
“We also expect to continue defence training to continue building the capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces – and for the Australian Federal Police to keep training the Afghan National Police.”
It is also considering keeping special forces in Afghanistan past 2014.
Ms Gillard said Australia would not abandon Afghanistan.
“We will be engaged through this decade at least,” she said.
“With Afghan authorities in charge of their own security, the nature of the international effort in Afghanistan will change.
“International military forces will reduce in number. The forces that remain will focus on training and support for the Afghan National Security Forces and on counterterrorism.”
In the meantime, international forces were working towards handing over responsibility to Afghan forces. Training was on track to allowing this to happen in 2014.
“Australian forces have already handed over 11 patrol or forward operating bases to Afghan lead,” she said.
Ms Gillard said that Australians knew that conflict brought “days of sorrow as well as days of progress”and more of these lay ahead.
“It is right that in hard moments our hearts ache for all that is lost and all there is still to lose. Of course, we know that in an imperfect world, there is no perfect way," she said.
“It is right that we do all that we can, with all that we have, to defend Australia and its national interests. This is the world we live in. It has not become a perfect world in this last year.”
She said the international strategy in Afghanistan, focused on counter-insurgency and transition to local control, was sound
“Our mission in Uruzgan as part of the international strategy is clear: protecting the Afghan people, training the Afghan security forces and building the government’s capacity,” she said.
Ms Gillard said people wanted to know more about the daily work of Australians in Afghanistan.
“The moving and now sadly familiar images of ramp ceremonies overseas and funerals at home are a very real part of the story of the war – but they are not the whole story,’’ she said.
“We owe it to our troops, and to our nation, to understand the whole.”
She said two thirds of the 1550 people deployed to Afghanistan at any one time were based in Uruzgan.
“Many of the Australians currently there arrived at the end of June and will be deployed until around March next year,’’ she said.
“With rotations, nearly four and a half thousand Australian Defence Force personnel will spend time in Afghanistan this year. Many will be on their second and third deployments - some will have been to Afghanistan many times.”
Australians were mentoring Afghan soldiers, removing roadside bombs and had been involved in hundreds of firefights this year.
“To support these operations, they maintain forward or patrol bases, across the province, in some cases as far as seventy five kilometres from our main base at Tarin Kot,” she said.
“And they join operations outside the province too, cutting the so-called ‘rat runs’, the routes which provide support and supply to insurgents in Uruzgan.“
Special forces soldiers were also targeting insurgent leaders and bomb makers, as well as disrupting the drug trade.
Ms Gillard said there were also 20 Australian Federal Police officers training Afghans in local policing work.
“Every day, Australians are working to strengthen institutions and deliver basic services as well,’’ she said.
Diplomats in Kabul were also working with the Afghan government and there were 12 AusAID staff in the country at any one time, plus there were officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Australian aid was funding primary schools, training farmers and offering small loans to help rural households develop their own small businesses and economic independence.
“They help remove land mines and teach locals about the risk of mines. They distribute saplings and plant trees,’’ she said.
This work was being done because “no insurgency is ever defeated by military force alone”.
“The international strategy supports the Afghan Government’s efforts for reconciliation,’’ she said.
“We support reconciliation and the reintegration of insurgents who are prepared to lay down their arms, renounce violence and terrorism and respect Afghanistan’s constitution.”
Ms Gillard said international forces had made gains in Afghanistan, but these gains needed to be consolidated.
“Despite our successes, the Taliban is not yet defeated. But there is progress on the ground,” she said.
“The 4th Brigade is becoming more capable and professional. So is the Afghan National Army as a whole.”
Afghan medics trained by Australians were about to deploy to patrol bases, and the Afghan National Police’s crime scene and evidence collection procedures have improved.
Ms Gillard said Australia had lost 32 Australians in its decade in Afghanistan, including 11 in the past year.
“They are not our only casualties. Our wounded – and their families – have suffered terribly as well. More than 200 Australians have been wounded in action in Afghanistan,” she said.
These people had suffered “amputations, fractures, gunshot and fragmentation wounds, hearing loss ‘mild traumatic brain injury’ lacerations and contusions, concussion and traumatic brain injury, penetrating fragments and multiple severe injuries.”
“Many will not serve again. Some will not walk again. Not one will be forgotten,” she said.
She said Australia was determined that recent attacks on diggers by Afghan soldiers would not erode trust.
Several soldiers have been killed and even more wounded in the attacks.
“We must not allow attacks like these to strike at the core of our training and mentoring mission in Afghanistan,” she said.
Australian PM flags early end to Afghan mission
Associated Press By ROD McGUIRK 21/11/2011
CANBERRA, Australia - Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Monday that the Australian military training mission in Afghanistan could be completed before the 2014 target date, after an Afghan army commander told a newspaper that Australian troops should be withdrawn immediately.
Gillard's speech to Parliament raises the possibility that the Australian troop withdrawal could begin within the next three years.
Gillard said her government had no timetable for the Australian military's primary objective of training an Afghan National Army brigade to take responsibility for security in Uruzgan province.
"But given the progress we now see, it may well be complete before the end of 2014," she said.
The commander of the Afghan troops being trained by the Australians, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Zafar Khan, told The Age newspaper in an interview published Monday that the mentors should go immediately, leaving behind modern equipment including mine detectors, night vision goggles and medical evacuation helicopters.
"Three years is too much time for the Australians to stay here," Zafar told the newspaper through an interpreter at his Tarin Kowt headquarters in Uruzgan.
He could not immediately be contacted by The Associated Press on Monday for comment.
Australia has 1,550 troops in Afghanistan, the largest force provided by any country outside NATO. Thirty-two Australian soldiers have been killed in the conflict.
Australia's military deployment in Afghanistan maintains bipartisan political support, but opinion polls show the popularity of the commitment among the Australian public is plummeting with the rising death toll.
Afghan insurgents tracked by Cornish helicopter crews
20 November 2011 BBC News
Helicopters and crews from RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall have captured more than seven tonnes of explosives while on operations in Afghanistan.
The Culdrose squadron, based at Camp Bastion, has also seized drugs worth more than £10m.
In the last two weeks the squadron has passed on 70 intelligence tip-offs to ground troops to follow up.
The squadron is using cutting-edge radar equipment on its Sea King helicopters to track insurgents.
The Culdrose squadron, known as the Baggers, is flying up to 50 hours a week using specialist radar in a giant sack on the side of the helicopters, which follows the movements of insurgents on the ground.
In one instance, the squadron directed troops to three men in a truck which was carrying opium with a street value of £1m, while £250,000 of heroin was found on another vehicle.
Commander Pat Douglas, from Culdrose, said: "We may be only operating over Helmand and environs, but the impact of what we do spreads across the entire country.
"Every single time a vehicle we've tracked is stopped, and drugs or explosives are found by ground forces, we are making things a percentage safer for Afghan civilians and the forces who are protecting them."
The squadron has been in Afghanistan since May 2009.
Afghan Tradition Makes Room For Girls
November 21, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty By Frud Bezhan, Salih Mohammad Salih
"Say three amens," shouts a bearded old man, reading from a weathered book of poetry.
"A girl was born into this world as beautiful as the moon in the sky;
Pray for her as she is a flower blossoming in the spring;
She is like a beaming light that has brightened this house;
She is an angel that has come to us from the land of fairytales."
"Say three amens," he roars again.
In reciting the words of the recently written poem, the community elder is doing more than celebrating the birth of a daughter to Ahmad Mohammadyor, a local writer. He is challenging long-entrenched patriarchal tradition in southern Afghanistan.
There, the birth of a girl is often cause for shame, not celebration. And traditional ceremonies called nashrah, which mark the birth of a child, are reserved for boys.
Mohammadyor, who authored the poem to honor his daughter's arrival, notes that in many parts of Afghanistan only boys can inherit a father's wealth and pass down the family name.
"In backward societies, women have always been considered inferior," he says. "Unfortunately, in our society they are not even treated like human beings. The international community and some of our leaders preach the rights of women, but in reality some of them don't practice this. A good example is those who talk about education, but they don't even allow their own daughters to go to school."
Breaking Tradition Of Male Domination
Through his nashrah poem, Mohammadyor hopes to help break the tradition of male domination in his home region. The ritual of nashrah goes back hundreds of years in Afghanistan, but today is primarily performed in Kandahar, in the south of the country.
The ceremony gathers dozens of family members, friends, and neighbors as they celebrate a new birth in the community. The ceremony begins with a pious member of the family reciting folkloric poetry and goodwill prayers, followed by a feast, music, and, dancing.
The poems that are read out at the ceremony honor the newborn and also contain advice for parents on how to raise the child to be a valuable member of society.
One of the poems preaches:
"It is up to you to keep this light going; Keep it safe until it beams brighter; Until it lights this house and the whole neighborhood; Accept this gift and be thankful to God."
In a patriarchal society like that of Afghanistan there is significant social pressure to have sons. In some cases, this has even led Afghan families to disguise their daughters as sons.
Without a son, some families decide to invent one, typically by cutting a daughter's hair and dressing her in boys' clothing. In most cases, girls return to womanhood once they reach puberty.
The practice is driven mostly by economic necessity, social pressure, and sometimes a superstition that doing it can lead to the birth of a real boy in the future.
Age-Old Discrimination
A pretend son, called bacha posh in Dari, can improve a family's reputation. It also makes it easier for a girl to receive an education, work outside the home, and even accompany women in public, freedoms that are rare for girls in a country where men and women are strictly segregated in public life.
Mohammadyor says that such practices are often fueled by a lack of knowledge and traditional prejudices against women. He says it is up to the educated segments of society to change these traditions and "pave the way for a positive future."
"Instead of preaching to others about gender equality, they should first lead by example and act on their ideas," he says. "Only then will people trust their words and follow them by example."
For Mohammadyor, performing the nashrah ritual for his daughter is his small contribution to changing the many age-old traditions that continue to discriminate against women in Afghanistan.
"Having a daughter is a blessing from God and gives one a unique happiness in life," he says. "Daughters are the source of love and the sweetest gift that a father can receive."
RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Homayoon Shinwary contributed to this report
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