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Senior Afghan official survives assassination bid in N. province
KABUL, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Provincial deputy governor of Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz Hamdullah Danishi escaped an assassination attempt unharmed in the neighboring Baghlan province on Friday.
"My convoy was traveling from Kunduz province to northern Balkh province but it was attacked by a roadside bombing and small arm fire carried out by unidentified gunmen in Jangal Bagh area of Baghlan-e-Markazi district in Baghlan province at around noon today," Danishi told Xinhua.
He said three of his guards were slightly injured in the attack in the province 160 km north of capital city of Kabul.
No group has claimed the responsibility for the attack so far.
Violence has been on the rise since Taliban insurgents launched an annual spring offensive on May 3. The Taliban warned people against supporting government and foreign troops.
Taliban killed Chairman of Provincial Council Qazi Sahib Shah in eastern Ghazni province on Wednesday Aug. 29.
A total of 255 civilians including government officials and local elders were killed and 101 others injured in some 237 targeted killing and attacks carried out by the Taliban and other insurgent groups in the first six months of 2012, according to a UN report issued in Kabul earlier this month.
Discussions over soldier deaths not to alter Australian withdrawal timetable
CANBERRA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Despite the discussions over the deaths of five Australian soldiers in Afghanistan on Thursday, the Labor government and the Opposition Coalition are rarely united in staying with the current withdrawal timetable unchanged.
One of the two incidents in Afghanistan was a so-called "green on blue" attack, referring to Afghan soldiers attacking coalition forces.
Senator Scott Ludlam, a Green member, said it was important to critique the political decision that sent Australian soldiers to Afghanistan in the first place. "This is a decision the Taliban and their supporters are taking, advising these young men to join the (army and police), where they are trained and looked after and then at a certain point turn their weapons on their trainers ... this is a strategy."
"The government and Coalition are in agreement with each other and strong disagreement with the vast majority of the Australian population," he said.
Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Andrew Wilkie voiced more intense criticism, accusing former prime ministers John Howard and Kevin Rudd and Prime Minister Julia Gillard of having "blood on their hands".
"Being in Afghanistan now is not in Australia's national interest and was avoidable." He said there had been ample opportunities over the years for Australia's leaders to withdraw troops.
Greg Sheridan, foreign editor with the Australian newspaper, also said in a commentary published Friday that the Australian troops are "no longer serving any military or strategic purpose there."
Nevertheless, Gillard indicated Australia remained committed to the mission in Afghanistan and would not alter its withdrawal timetable, which allows the bulk of Australian forces to come home over the next 12-18 months.
Stephen Smith, Australia's defense minister, said Friday in the western city of Perth that Australia can't and won't stay in Afghanistan forever, but "staying the course is absolutely the right thing to do."
Thursday's tragedy is Australia's worst combat losses since the Vietnam War. However, opposition Leader Tony Abbott warned Friday that Australia could not shirk its responsibilities.
"I don't think Australians want us to be a country ... that cuts and runs," he said. Tony Burke, Federal Environment minister, also said an Australian presence in Afghanistan was in the national interest. "We do need to remember why we are there in the first place," he said, adding, "The Taliban had become a hotbed and a home for terrorism networks around the world, including networks that were killing Australians."
Two Afghan Children Beheaded In Separate Incidents
August 31, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Officials say a 12-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl have been beheaded in two separate incidents in Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the provincial governor said the boy was kidnapped and killed in southern Kandahar Province on August 29, his severed head placed near his body.
The brother of the boy was a member of the local anti-Taliban militia.
A Taliban spokesman, however, denied involvement.
Separately, police in the eastern Kapisa Province said a 6-year-old girl was beheaded on August 30.
The police said they were not sure if the girl was beheaded by her family or by the Taliban.
The murders follow the shooting or beheading of 17 young people attending a party in southern Helmand Province this week.
The Taliban has denied any involvement in that incident as well.
Based on reporting by Reuters and BBC
U.S. Justice Department closes CIA abuse probe without charges
WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday it has closed a criminal investigation into the death of two detainees in the custody of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at overseas locations without charges.
Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that U.S. Attorney John Durham completed the investigation and the department declined prosecution "because the admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt."
Two weeks ahead of the 11th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Thursday's announcement marked the closure of the last active criminal investigation into CIA's treatment of prisoners since the attacks.
Over the past nearly five years, Durham has been leading the criminal investigation into the treatment of 101 detainees in U.S. custody since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The federal prosecutor determined that many of the detainees were never in CIA custody, said Holder.
Durham's initial task was to look into the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the inquiry of which was also closed with no criminal charges. In August, 2009, based on information of alleged CIA mistreatment of detainees, Holder expanded Durham's mandate to a preliminary review of the CIA's interrogation of specific detainees at overseas locations.
In June, 2011, Holder approved Durham's request of a full criminal investigation regarding the death of two individuals while in U.S. custody at overseas locations.
One of the two cases involved the death of Gul Rahman, an Afghan who died in November, 2002, in a CIA facility in Afghanistan known as the Salt Pit. The second involved Manadel al-Jamadi, an Iraqi who died in 2003 at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
The CIA has been under strong criticism for its mistreatment and abuse of prisoners after Sept. 11. Documents showed that the CIA had employed "enhanced techniques" to varying degrees, including stress positions, extreme temperature changes, sleep deprivation and waterboarding in the interrogation of some detainees.
For Afghan Leaders, Facing Death Is A Fact Of Life
NPR By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson August 30, 2012
Almost daily, Taliban assassins target Afghan government officials and community elders with ambushes or bombings. The United Nations says such killings are up more than 50 percent compared to the same period last year.
On Monday, the target was the powerful police chief in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province. A suicide bomber struck the convoy of Gen. Abdul Raziq, who survived the attack and is at a U.S. military hospital recuperating from burns and other injuries.
Strikes like these are a constant concern for officials such as Mohammad Omar, the mayor of Kandahar city, whose office is hidden behind concrete blast walls and razor wire. Any resident who comes to see him is repeatedly patted down and searched.
The measures make the 34-year-old mayor feel safe but unhappy. Omar explains that he hates being cut off from his constituents. They can't come to him easily with their problems. He, in turn, has a hard time figuring out their needs.
Heavy Security Required
Yet even now, Afghan and American security officials who advise him believe the fortresslike compound isn't secure enough, Omar says. They want to build a new security gate for the municipality.
There's good reason for their concerns. Omar's predecessor was assassinated 13 months ago inside the same compound by a suicide bomber with explosives hidden in his turban.
The new mayor says he has received death threats. He holds up his cellphone and displays a contact with a name that is the Afghan word for assassin.
Omar says that's how the caller identified himself when he contacted him last week. The man warned the mayor that he would be killed if he didn't quit his job.
Across town in his heavily guarded home, the new provincial council chief, Ehsan Noorzai, receives similar phone threats. He replaced Ahmed Wali Karzai — the half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a longtime Kandahar strongman — who was also killed 13 months ago.
Noorzai says he often wonders whether he will be next. But he adds that with a bulletproof SUV and dozens of loyal friends serving as bodyguards, he's in better shape than most.
He says tribal elders and lower-ranking government officials across Kandahar province don't have nearly as much protection.
Tamim Nuristani, the governor of Nuristan province in northeast Afghanistan, agrees. He views such attacks as acts of Taliban desperation.
"They are going after officials who are working for the people," he says, adding that the Taliban target "those people who are influential in that area, because they are against the Taliban and they see that they stop their advances."
Despite Risk, Work Goes On
But Nuristani, who once owned a string of pizza parlors in California, is worried. Last month, Taliban militants attacked him twice in the course of 24 hours.
"If this continues, that's going to affect the security, that's going to affect development, that affects good governance," Nuristani says.
Reached by phone, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi boasts that targeted killings are effective. He says his group doesn't view such attacks as killing Afghans; they're considered infidels who work with the NATO-led coalition and turn the country away from its Islamic roots.
Ahmadi says they haven't decided yet whether to stop such killings once Western troops leave.
On the road to Kandahar in a heavily armored convoy, Gov. Tooryalai Wesa, who has survived two assassination attempts, says he's at peace with the prospect of dying if it comes to that.
He, like many officials interviewed here, says Afghans aren't dissuaded from signing up for government posts because of targeted killings.
"The interest in the government is getting higher. Last year or the year before, it was very difficult to recruit people into government," Wesa says. "But now, each week the civilian service announces positions through the media. We receive several hundred [resumes] for the jobs."
Wesa adds that young people in particular are flocking to government work, cutting into the Taliban's recruitment pool.
U.S. facing growing ‘green-on-blue’ challenge
CNN By Ahmad Majidyar, Special to CNN August 30th, 2012
Editor's note: Ahmad Majidyar is a senior research associate at the American Enterprise Institute. The views expressed are his own.
A gunman in an Afghan army uniform killed three Australian soldiers in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday night, the latest in an alarming string of so-called “green-on-blue” attacks that have eroded morale and trust at a critical juncture as foreign troops are withdrawing and transitioning security to the Afghan lead. The deaths bring the number of foreign troops killed by Afghan allies, or by Taliban fighters disguised as them, to 45 this year, most of them Americans.
According to General John R. Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, the Taliban has been responsible for one quarter of these attacks through infiltration, coercion and impersonation. The new threat has been a PR disaster for Kabul and Washington, but a propaganda victory for the Taliban. In his Eid al-Fitr message, the insurgent group’s reclusive leader Mullah Omar claimed his fighters had “cleverly infiltrated in the ranks of the enemy,” and that the Taliban had created the “Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration” department to encourage more defections.
But while the Taliban has played a role, the majority of these attacks have been carried out by disgruntled Afghans with no connection with the insurgents.
One reason is battle fatigue. Afghanistan has already surpassed Vietnam as America’s longest war. For Afghans, the country has been embroiled in ceaseless conflict since the 1978 Soviet-backed coup. Drug addiction and mental disorders among Afghan soldiers and policemen are other key factors. A lack of cultural and religious sensitivity, as well as instances of miscommunication and verbal arguments, has also triggered such attacks. It is not a coincidence that insider attacks sharply increased after the Kandahar massacre and Quran burning by American soldiers earlier this year.
Left unchecked, these attacks have serious implications for the transition plan and NATO’s Afghanistan exit strategy. Insider attacks are particularly worrying because they call into question the most critical pillar of the Obama administration’s Afghanistan strategy, which is to train and build a capable and credible Afghan force that can maintain security and prevent the return of the Taliban and al-Qaeda after foreign troops’ departure in two years. Training and mentoring requires close partnership and is impossible without trust. One damaging effect would be a reduction in joint operations.
A continuation of insider killings could also produce political costs, and would further erode public support for the war in the U.S. and Europe. About two-thirds of Americans already do not want troops to be fighting in Afghanistan, and more such attacks would create domestic pressure on allied nations to withdraw troops faster than the 2014 timeline. Indeed, troop casualties were one reason countries such as France and New Zealand charted a faster pullout plan.
So, what can be done? First, the Afghan and U.S. governments need to get on the same page over the issue. The Afghan government, contradicting NATO officials’ findings, blames foreign spy agencies, a euphemism for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), for the attacks. Both sides need to agree on what the real causes are and to act in unison to reduce the threat.
To mitigate the Taliban infiltration, both the Afghan and coalition forces need to increase the number of their intelligence and counterintelligence personnel. The Afghan government, meanwhile, needs to implement a more rigorous vetting and recruitment process. More in-depth cultural awareness arrangements for coalition and Afghan forces could also prove useful. NATO officials should also ensure that new security measures are balanced. Too extreme measures could offend the Afghans, widen the gap between the two allies, and increase the level of threat.
The insider attacks are still isolated incidents and do not reflect the overall security situation in Afghanistan – coalition and Afghan forces make hundreds of contacts and conduct joints operations on a daily basis. The Afghan security forces have seen remarkable progress in size and quality over the past two years, and some 350,000 Afghan soldiers and policemen are now responsible for security of more than half the population. But if insider killings continue to rise dramatically, they could potentially derail the overall Afghanistan strategy and undo gains made over a decade of conflict.
Afghans Denounce Cross-Border Shelling From Pakistan
By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan August 30, 2012
Hundreds of Afghans have held a demonstration in Kabul to condemn shelling by Pakistani forces of areas of eastern Afghanistan.
The protesters chanted anti-Pakistani slogans as they marched in one of Kabul's busy bazaars on August 30.
The demonstrators called on the Afghan government to provide weapons to them so they can help defend Konar Province.
Afghan officials say that cross-border artillery fire by Pakistani troops in the area has in some cases targeted civilians, causing injuries and driving residents from their villages.
Earlier this month, President Hamid Karzai raised the issue with his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari.
The two leaders agreed to form a joint delegation to visit the area and investigate the shelling claims. It is not clear whether the commission has yet been formed.
With reporting by Pajhwok.com
We will win in Afghanistan
Despite setbacks, the international effort to bring lasting peace and stability to Afghanistan is working
Guardian.co.uk By James Stavridis Thursday 30 August 2012
Much has been written in the past week regarding Nato's ongoing efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan. It is clear to me that the coalition of 50 nations with troops in Afghanistan today will face formidable challenges over the next few years. However, there has been measurable and substantial progress in three specific areas.
First and foremost, Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for terrorists, which was a primary goal of Nato member states. Second, Nato forces in Afghanistan have been training and operating alongside Afghan national security forces (ANSF) for many years now, and these efforts are delivering tangible results. Three-quarters of Afghan citizens now live in areas increasingly protected by Afghan army and police – who number today close to 350,000.
Indeed, the capability and confidence of the ANSF has improved markedly over the last 18 months, to the point where it is making significant gains in the fight against the Taliban. As a result, this has been a particularly difficult summer for the insurgency, which has seen the elimination of two top-level commanders in the past few days alone. Over the next 28 months this progress will be expanded and solidified, so that the Afghan government will be fully in the lead for security by the end of 2014. This effort is on track and will succeed.
Thirdly, the entire international community has made specific pledges to partner with Afghanistan over the long-term. At the recent Tokyo conference on Afghanistan, over 80 nations made significant commitments to finance the ANSF beyond 2014, and a generous programme of development and support will continue over the next four years.
Afghan society is changing for the better every day. Today, there are more than 8 million children in 15,000 schools across Afghanistan, up from less than 1 million under the Taliban. Of the 8 million, 37% are girls; and of the 175,000 teachers, 30% are women. Mobile phones number over 18m, up from essentially zero under the Taliban. The economy has been growing by 5% annually for the past five years.
At the recent Chicago summit, heads of state and government also confirmed that Nato will stay involved in Afghanistan (in a much smaller but vital training and mentoring role) post-2014, and planning is ongoing now to fulfil that commitment. All of these efforts will provide a firm platform of security and governance upon which the people and government of Afghanistan can build.
I have no doubt that there will still be difficult days ahead. Recent attacks conducted from within the Nato-Afghan security partnership are certainly troubling. That is why we are taking concrete action to ensure we reduce the potential for these incidents in the future. But to put this issue in context, the vast majority of our soldiers continue to have a very different experience on the ground. Every day, over 100,000 coalition forces work successfully alongside their 350,000 ANSF counterparts without incident. The vast majority confirm a solid rapport between partners, and many call each other friends. Side-by-side, Afghan and international security assistance force troops are working to build lasting peace and stability for the people of Afghanistan.
Challenges still lie ahead for our mission here, but the progress in terms of expanding and professionalising the ANSF is indisputable. We are executing this plan together with the Afghans, who are steadily taking charge, and we remain committed to following through with financial and training support post-2014. For these and many other reasons I firmly believe that, despite the many challenges, we will succeed in Afghanistan.
Afghan Army Chief Blames Neighbouring Countries for Insider Attacks
TOLOnews.com Thursday, 30 August 2012
Afghanistan National Army chief Shir Mohammad Karimi blamed the latest deaths of Isaf soldiers at the hands of an Afghan soldier on "neighboring countries" in a speech to the country's security forces.
Karimi said at a graduation ceremony of Afghan forces in Kabul on Thursday that neighbouring counties were trying to undermine the building of the Afghan forces, "paying money to Afghans soldiers and misleading advertising to create problems between Afghan and Nato troops".
His comments were made as three Australian soldiers were shot dead overnight by an Afghan soldier at their base in Uruzgan, bringing to 15 the number of Isaf soldiers killed this month by Afghan allies.
Afghan lawmakers earlier this week also blamed "foreign spy agencies" for the rise of the insider attacks. In both instances, Karimi and the lawmakers are understood to be referring mainly to Pakistan and also to Iran.
More than 140 people, including two women, graduated from the national training academy Thursday.
Officials said that the 140 included graduates who would become part of the Afghan national army, national police and the National Directorate of Security, and some will go on to participate in special operations.
Karimi stressed at the ceremony that security officials were trying to build strong combat troops to prepare for the Nato-led troops withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 when full security responsibility will be handed to Afghans.
Uzbekistan, key to Afghan war drawdown, to ban foreign military bases
Uzbekistan, which is seeking closer ties to the US, may have made the move in a bid to ease concerns of China and Russia, which are both dominant actors in Central Asia.
Christian Science Monitor By Abdujalil Abdurasulov, Contributor August 30, 2012
Almaty, Kazakhstan - Today, Uzbekistan’s upper house of parliament approved a new bill banning any foreign military bases on its territory in what appears to be an effort to appease regional power Moscow.
The bill still has to be signed by Uzbekistan’s president. But it appears to quash growing rumors that Tashkent may allow the US to open a military base in Uzbekistan to replace the major air base in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, which is due to close in 2014. It also raises questions about Uzbekistan’s support of the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan.
The proposed bill will have an impact on US-Uzbekistan military cooperation, says Joshua Foust, an expert on Central Asia. "Uzbekistan has never been friends with the US per se. And this decision can be explained by Uzbekistan's desire not to be portrayed as an American puppet," he says.
Uzbekistan left the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-dominated post-Soviet security alliance, in June. Because CSTO members cannot host a foreign base without consent from the rest of the members many interpreted Uzbekistan’s decision as a step forward to open a US base there. The growing number of visits to Tashkent by US diplomats and high profile state officials seemed to support this view.
Moscow has been expressing concern over Uzbekistan’s rapprochement with the US, and Russian media have been publishing reports about the “New Great Game,” a struggle for the influence in Central Asia.
“Uzbekistan should analyze all repercussions of widening military cooperation with the US,” reported Russia’s popular daily newspaper Kommersant. Regional media reported that the reason for US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake’s visit to Tashkent earlier this month was aimed at securing an agreement on a US base there.
Though Secretary Blake told journalists that the US had no intention of opening a military base in Uzbekistan, his statement didn’t stop speculation.
Uzbekistan hosted an American air base in Karshi Khanabad after 9/11. But when the Bush administration criticized the government after the Andijan massacre in 2005, where Uzbek National Security Service troops fired into a group of protesters killing at least 187 people, the Uzbek government demanded the US vacate the base.
Warming relations with the US
What has happened since then has puzzled and angered human rights activists: Relations between the West and Uzbekistan have steadily improved, and all sanctions imposed on Uzbekistan after 2005 have been lifted one by one, despite its poor human rights record.
One possible reason is that the West has been increasingly dependent on Uzbekistan’s support of the war in Afghanistan. When Pakistan closed the main NATO supply route in November, the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a route that relies on Uzbekistan, took up the slack – about 75 percent of all non-lethal cargo was shipped through the NDN supply route mostly via Uzbekistan. And though the NATO supply route was reopened this summer, a significant portion of materiel is expected to exit Afghanistan via Uzbekistan.
However, it appears as though this new foreign policy decision is aimed at appeasing Moscow, says Sanat Kushkumbaev from the Kazakhstan Institute of Strategic Studies.
“Uzbekistan didn’t make public the entire document, only some bits including the part on foreign bases. This only shows that Uzbekistan is trying to send a message to Russia and its neighbors that Tashkent is not going to make a U-turn and host US bases on its territory.”
Russia is an important trade partner, and its political influence in Central Asia is very strong, so the latest move could simply be Uzbekistan attempting to balance its relationship with Russia.
Still, it does raise some questions on the future of Tashkent’s military cooperation with the US and NATO. May not be what it seems
Experts say it will take some time to see what the ban will mean in practice. Some say the ban on foreign bases might not affect any current contracts with the US. Some observers even suggest that Uzbekistan may still consider hosting a base, but use another name for it and point to the case of the Manas base, which was renamed as a Transit Center after the Kyrgyz government threatened to close it.
Some observers say the new bill may actually signal that Tashkent wants to negotiate the price of its services as Kyrgzstan did in 2009. It may also be looking to raise the fee for the transit of goods going to and from Afghanistan via NDN. This supply route is already proving to be costly and according to the US Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations, in comparison to the Pakistani route, each truck shipped via NDN costs about $10,000 more.
Tashkent-based political analyst Farkhod Tolipov says Uzbekistan's ban is in an effort to prevent militarization in the region. "Any new base will only lead to a geopolitical competition."
But ultimately, he says, "Uzbekistan wants to portray itself as an independent actor in international relations and respond to all sorts of rumors around its foreign policy [including] the US base."
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
KABUL, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Provincial deputy governor of Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz Hamdullah Danishi escaped an assassination attempt unharmed in the neighboring Baghlan province on Friday.
"My convoy was traveling from Kunduz province to northern Balkh province but it was attacked by a roadside bombing and small arm fire carried out by unidentified gunmen in Jangal Bagh area of Baghlan-e-Markazi district in Baghlan province at around noon today," Danishi told Xinhua.
He said three of his guards were slightly injured in the attack in the province 160 km north of capital city of Kabul.
No group has claimed the responsibility for the attack so far.
Violence has been on the rise since Taliban insurgents launched an annual spring offensive on May 3. The Taliban warned people against supporting government and foreign troops.
Taliban killed Chairman of Provincial Council Qazi Sahib Shah in eastern Ghazni province on Wednesday Aug. 29.
A total of 255 civilians including government officials and local elders were killed and 101 others injured in some 237 targeted killing and attacks carried out by the Taliban and other insurgent groups in the first six months of 2012, according to a UN report issued in Kabul earlier this month.
Discussions over soldier deaths not to alter Australian withdrawal timetable
CANBERRA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Despite the discussions over the deaths of five Australian soldiers in Afghanistan on Thursday, the Labor government and the Opposition Coalition are rarely united in staying with the current withdrawal timetable unchanged.
One of the two incidents in Afghanistan was a so-called "green on blue" attack, referring to Afghan soldiers attacking coalition forces.
Senator Scott Ludlam, a Green member, said it was important to critique the political decision that sent Australian soldiers to Afghanistan in the first place. "This is a decision the Taliban and their supporters are taking, advising these young men to join the (army and police), where they are trained and looked after and then at a certain point turn their weapons on their trainers ... this is a strategy."
"The government and Coalition are in agreement with each other and strong disagreement with the vast majority of the Australian population," he said.
Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Andrew Wilkie voiced more intense criticism, accusing former prime ministers John Howard and Kevin Rudd and Prime Minister Julia Gillard of having "blood on their hands".
"Being in Afghanistan now is not in Australia's national interest and was avoidable." He said there had been ample opportunities over the years for Australia's leaders to withdraw troops.
Greg Sheridan, foreign editor with the Australian newspaper, also said in a commentary published Friday that the Australian troops are "no longer serving any military or strategic purpose there."
Nevertheless, Gillard indicated Australia remained committed to the mission in Afghanistan and would not alter its withdrawal timetable, which allows the bulk of Australian forces to come home over the next 12-18 months.
Stephen Smith, Australia's defense minister, said Friday in the western city of Perth that Australia can't and won't stay in Afghanistan forever, but "staying the course is absolutely the right thing to do."
Thursday's tragedy is Australia's worst combat losses since the Vietnam War. However, opposition Leader Tony Abbott warned Friday that Australia could not shirk its responsibilities.
"I don't think Australians want us to be a country ... that cuts and runs," he said. Tony Burke, Federal Environment minister, also said an Australian presence in Afghanistan was in the national interest. "We do need to remember why we are there in the first place," he said, adding, "The Taliban had become a hotbed and a home for terrorism networks around the world, including networks that were killing Australians."
Two Afghan Children Beheaded In Separate Incidents
August 31, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Officials say a 12-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl have been beheaded in two separate incidents in Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the provincial governor said the boy was kidnapped and killed in southern Kandahar Province on August 29, his severed head placed near his body.
The brother of the boy was a member of the local anti-Taliban militia.
A Taliban spokesman, however, denied involvement.
Separately, police in the eastern Kapisa Province said a 6-year-old girl was beheaded on August 30.
The police said they were not sure if the girl was beheaded by her family or by the Taliban.
The murders follow the shooting or beheading of 17 young people attending a party in southern Helmand Province this week.
The Taliban has denied any involvement in that incident as well.
Based on reporting by Reuters and BBC
U.S. Justice Department closes CIA abuse probe without charges
WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday it has closed a criminal investigation into the death of two detainees in the custody of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at overseas locations without charges.
Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that U.S. Attorney John Durham completed the investigation and the department declined prosecution "because the admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt."
Two weeks ahead of the 11th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Thursday's announcement marked the closure of the last active criminal investigation into CIA's treatment of prisoners since the attacks.
Over the past nearly five years, Durham has been leading the criminal investigation into the treatment of 101 detainees in U.S. custody since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The federal prosecutor determined that many of the detainees were never in CIA custody, said Holder.
Durham's initial task was to look into the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, the inquiry of which was also closed with no criminal charges. In August, 2009, based on information of alleged CIA mistreatment of detainees, Holder expanded Durham's mandate to a preliminary review of the CIA's interrogation of specific detainees at overseas locations.
In June, 2011, Holder approved Durham's request of a full criminal investigation regarding the death of two individuals while in U.S. custody at overseas locations.
One of the two cases involved the death of Gul Rahman, an Afghan who died in November, 2002, in a CIA facility in Afghanistan known as the Salt Pit. The second involved Manadel al-Jamadi, an Iraqi who died in 2003 at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
The CIA has been under strong criticism for its mistreatment and abuse of prisoners after Sept. 11. Documents showed that the CIA had employed "enhanced techniques" to varying degrees, including stress positions, extreme temperature changes, sleep deprivation and waterboarding in the interrogation of some detainees.
For Afghan Leaders, Facing Death Is A Fact Of Life
NPR By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson August 30, 2012
Almost daily, Taliban assassins target Afghan government officials and community elders with ambushes or bombings. The United Nations says such killings are up more than 50 percent compared to the same period last year.
On Monday, the target was the powerful police chief in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province. A suicide bomber struck the convoy of Gen. Abdul Raziq, who survived the attack and is at a U.S. military hospital recuperating from burns and other injuries.
Strikes like these are a constant concern for officials such as Mohammad Omar, the mayor of Kandahar city, whose office is hidden behind concrete blast walls and razor wire. Any resident who comes to see him is repeatedly patted down and searched.
The measures make the 34-year-old mayor feel safe but unhappy. Omar explains that he hates being cut off from his constituents. They can't come to him easily with their problems. He, in turn, has a hard time figuring out their needs.
Heavy Security Required
Yet even now, Afghan and American security officials who advise him believe the fortresslike compound isn't secure enough, Omar says. They want to build a new security gate for the municipality.
There's good reason for their concerns. Omar's predecessor was assassinated 13 months ago inside the same compound by a suicide bomber with explosives hidden in his turban.
The new mayor says he has received death threats. He holds up his cellphone and displays a contact with a name that is the Afghan word for assassin.
Omar says that's how the caller identified himself when he contacted him last week. The man warned the mayor that he would be killed if he didn't quit his job.
Across town in his heavily guarded home, the new provincial council chief, Ehsan Noorzai, receives similar phone threats. He replaced Ahmed Wali Karzai — the half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a longtime Kandahar strongman — who was also killed 13 months ago.
Noorzai says he often wonders whether he will be next. But he adds that with a bulletproof SUV and dozens of loyal friends serving as bodyguards, he's in better shape than most.
He says tribal elders and lower-ranking government officials across Kandahar province don't have nearly as much protection.
Tamim Nuristani, the governor of Nuristan province in northeast Afghanistan, agrees. He views such attacks as acts of Taliban desperation.
"They are going after officials who are working for the people," he says, adding that the Taliban target "those people who are influential in that area, because they are against the Taliban and they see that they stop their advances."
Despite Risk, Work Goes On
But Nuristani, who once owned a string of pizza parlors in California, is worried. Last month, Taliban militants attacked him twice in the course of 24 hours.
"If this continues, that's going to affect the security, that's going to affect development, that affects good governance," Nuristani says.
Reached by phone, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi boasts that targeted killings are effective. He says his group doesn't view such attacks as killing Afghans; they're considered infidels who work with the NATO-led coalition and turn the country away from its Islamic roots.
Ahmadi says they haven't decided yet whether to stop such killings once Western troops leave.
On the road to Kandahar in a heavily armored convoy, Gov. Tooryalai Wesa, who has survived two assassination attempts, says he's at peace with the prospect of dying if it comes to that.
He, like many officials interviewed here, says Afghans aren't dissuaded from signing up for government posts because of targeted killings.
"The interest in the government is getting higher. Last year or the year before, it was very difficult to recruit people into government," Wesa says. "But now, each week the civilian service announces positions through the media. We receive several hundred [resumes] for the jobs."
Wesa adds that young people in particular are flocking to government work, cutting into the Taliban's recruitment pool.
U.S. facing growing ‘green-on-blue’ challenge
CNN By Ahmad Majidyar, Special to CNN August 30th, 2012
Editor's note: Ahmad Majidyar is a senior research associate at the American Enterprise Institute. The views expressed are his own.
A gunman in an Afghan army uniform killed three Australian soldiers in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday night, the latest in an alarming string of so-called “green-on-blue” attacks that have eroded morale and trust at a critical juncture as foreign troops are withdrawing and transitioning security to the Afghan lead. The deaths bring the number of foreign troops killed by Afghan allies, or by Taliban fighters disguised as them, to 45 this year, most of them Americans.
According to General John R. Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, the Taliban has been responsible for one quarter of these attacks through infiltration, coercion and impersonation. The new threat has been a PR disaster for Kabul and Washington, but a propaganda victory for the Taliban. In his Eid al-Fitr message, the insurgent group’s reclusive leader Mullah Omar claimed his fighters had “cleverly infiltrated in the ranks of the enemy,” and that the Taliban had created the “Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration” department to encourage more defections.
But while the Taliban has played a role, the majority of these attacks have been carried out by disgruntled Afghans with no connection with the insurgents.
One reason is battle fatigue. Afghanistan has already surpassed Vietnam as America’s longest war. For Afghans, the country has been embroiled in ceaseless conflict since the 1978 Soviet-backed coup. Drug addiction and mental disorders among Afghan soldiers and policemen are other key factors. A lack of cultural and religious sensitivity, as well as instances of miscommunication and verbal arguments, has also triggered such attacks. It is not a coincidence that insider attacks sharply increased after the Kandahar massacre and Quran burning by American soldiers earlier this year.
Left unchecked, these attacks have serious implications for the transition plan and NATO’s Afghanistan exit strategy. Insider attacks are particularly worrying because they call into question the most critical pillar of the Obama administration’s Afghanistan strategy, which is to train and build a capable and credible Afghan force that can maintain security and prevent the return of the Taliban and al-Qaeda after foreign troops’ departure in two years. Training and mentoring requires close partnership and is impossible without trust. One damaging effect would be a reduction in joint operations.
A continuation of insider killings could also produce political costs, and would further erode public support for the war in the U.S. and Europe. About two-thirds of Americans already do not want troops to be fighting in Afghanistan, and more such attacks would create domestic pressure on allied nations to withdraw troops faster than the 2014 timeline. Indeed, troop casualties were one reason countries such as France and New Zealand charted a faster pullout plan.
So, what can be done? First, the Afghan and U.S. governments need to get on the same page over the issue. The Afghan government, contradicting NATO officials’ findings, blames foreign spy agencies, a euphemism for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), for the attacks. Both sides need to agree on what the real causes are and to act in unison to reduce the threat.
To mitigate the Taliban infiltration, both the Afghan and coalition forces need to increase the number of their intelligence and counterintelligence personnel. The Afghan government, meanwhile, needs to implement a more rigorous vetting and recruitment process. More in-depth cultural awareness arrangements for coalition and Afghan forces could also prove useful. NATO officials should also ensure that new security measures are balanced. Too extreme measures could offend the Afghans, widen the gap between the two allies, and increase the level of threat.
The insider attacks are still isolated incidents and do not reflect the overall security situation in Afghanistan – coalition and Afghan forces make hundreds of contacts and conduct joints operations on a daily basis. The Afghan security forces have seen remarkable progress in size and quality over the past two years, and some 350,000 Afghan soldiers and policemen are now responsible for security of more than half the population. But if insider killings continue to rise dramatically, they could potentially derail the overall Afghanistan strategy and undo gains made over a decade of conflict.
Afghans Denounce Cross-Border Shelling From Pakistan
By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan August 30, 2012
Hundreds of Afghans have held a demonstration in Kabul to condemn shelling by Pakistani forces of areas of eastern Afghanistan.
The protesters chanted anti-Pakistani slogans as they marched in one of Kabul's busy bazaars on August 30.
The demonstrators called on the Afghan government to provide weapons to them so they can help defend Konar Province.
Afghan officials say that cross-border artillery fire by Pakistani troops in the area has in some cases targeted civilians, causing injuries and driving residents from their villages.
Earlier this month, President Hamid Karzai raised the issue with his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari.
The two leaders agreed to form a joint delegation to visit the area and investigate the shelling claims. It is not clear whether the commission has yet been formed.
With reporting by Pajhwok.com
We will win in Afghanistan
Despite setbacks, the international effort to bring lasting peace and stability to Afghanistan is working
Guardian.co.uk By James Stavridis Thursday 30 August 2012
Much has been written in the past week regarding Nato's ongoing efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan. It is clear to me that the coalition of 50 nations with troops in Afghanistan today will face formidable challenges over the next few years. However, there has been measurable and substantial progress in three specific areas.
First and foremost, Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for terrorists, which was a primary goal of Nato member states. Second, Nato forces in Afghanistan have been training and operating alongside Afghan national security forces (ANSF) for many years now, and these efforts are delivering tangible results. Three-quarters of Afghan citizens now live in areas increasingly protected by Afghan army and police – who number today close to 350,000.
Indeed, the capability and confidence of the ANSF has improved markedly over the last 18 months, to the point where it is making significant gains in the fight against the Taliban. As a result, this has been a particularly difficult summer for the insurgency, which has seen the elimination of two top-level commanders in the past few days alone. Over the next 28 months this progress will be expanded and solidified, so that the Afghan government will be fully in the lead for security by the end of 2014. This effort is on track and will succeed.
Thirdly, the entire international community has made specific pledges to partner with Afghanistan over the long-term. At the recent Tokyo conference on Afghanistan, over 80 nations made significant commitments to finance the ANSF beyond 2014, and a generous programme of development and support will continue over the next four years.
Afghan society is changing for the better every day. Today, there are more than 8 million children in 15,000 schools across Afghanistan, up from less than 1 million under the Taliban. Of the 8 million, 37% are girls; and of the 175,000 teachers, 30% are women. Mobile phones number over 18m, up from essentially zero under the Taliban. The economy has been growing by 5% annually for the past five years.
At the recent Chicago summit, heads of state and government also confirmed that Nato will stay involved in Afghanistan (in a much smaller but vital training and mentoring role) post-2014, and planning is ongoing now to fulfil that commitment. All of these efforts will provide a firm platform of security and governance upon which the people and government of Afghanistan can build.
I have no doubt that there will still be difficult days ahead. Recent attacks conducted from within the Nato-Afghan security partnership are certainly troubling. That is why we are taking concrete action to ensure we reduce the potential for these incidents in the future. But to put this issue in context, the vast majority of our soldiers continue to have a very different experience on the ground. Every day, over 100,000 coalition forces work successfully alongside their 350,000 ANSF counterparts without incident. The vast majority confirm a solid rapport between partners, and many call each other friends. Side-by-side, Afghan and international security assistance force troops are working to build lasting peace and stability for the people of Afghanistan.
Challenges still lie ahead for our mission here, but the progress in terms of expanding and professionalising the ANSF is indisputable. We are executing this plan together with the Afghans, who are steadily taking charge, and we remain committed to following through with financial and training support post-2014. For these and many other reasons I firmly believe that, despite the many challenges, we will succeed in Afghanistan.
Afghan Army Chief Blames Neighbouring Countries for Insider Attacks
TOLOnews.com Thursday, 30 August 2012
Afghanistan National Army chief Shir Mohammad Karimi blamed the latest deaths of Isaf soldiers at the hands of an Afghan soldier on "neighboring countries" in a speech to the country's security forces.
Karimi said at a graduation ceremony of Afghan forces in Kabul on Thursday that neighbouring counties were trying to undermine the building of the Afghan forces, "paying money to Afghans soldiers and misleading advertising to create problems between Afghan and Nato troops".
His comments were made as three Australian soldiers were shot dead overnight by an Afghan soldier at their base in Uruzgan, bringing to 15 the number of Isaf soldiers killed this month by Afghan allies.
Afghan lawmakers earlier this week also blamed "foreign spy agencies" for the rise of the insider attacks. In both instances, Karimi and the lawmakers are understood to be referring mainly to Pakistan and also to Iran.
More than 140 people, including two women, graduated from the national training academy Thursday.
Officials said that the 140 included graduates who would become part of the Afghan national army, national police and the National Directorate of Security, and some will go on to participate in special operations.
Karimi stressed at the ceremony that security officials were trying to build strong combat troops to prepare for the Nato-led troops withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 when full security responsibility will be handed to Afghans.
Uzbekistan, key to Afghan war drawdown, to ban foreign military bases
Uzbekistan, which is seeking closer ties to the US, may have made the move in a bid to ease concerns of China and Russia, which are both dominant actors in Central Asia.
Christian Science Monitor By Abdujalil Abdurasulov, Contributor August 30, 2012
Almaty, Kazakhstan - Today, Uzbekistan’s upper house of parliament approved a new bill banning any foreign military bases on its territory in what appears to be an effort to appease regional power Moscow.
The bill still has to be signed by Uzbekistan’s president. But it appears to quash growing rumors that Tashkent may allow the US to open a military base in Uzbekistan to replace the major air base in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, which is due to close in 2014. It also raises questions about Uzbekistan’s support of the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan.
The proposed bill will have an impact on US-Uzbekistan military cooperation, says Joshua Foust, an expert on Central Asia. "Uzbekistan has never been friends with the US per se. And this decision can be explained by Uzbekistan's desire not to be portrayed as an American puppet," he says.
Uzbekistan left the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-dominated post-Soviet security alliance, in June. Because CSTO members cannot host a foreign base without consent from the rest of the members many interpreted Uzbekistan’s decision as a step forward to open a US base there. The growing number of visits to Tashkent by US diplomats and high profile state officials seemed to support this view.
Moscow has been expressing concern over Uzbekistan’s rapprochement with the US, and Russian media have been publishing reports about the “New Great Game,” a struggle for the influence in Central Asia.
“Uzbekistan should analyze all repercussions of widening military cooperation with the US,” reported Russia’s popular daily newspaper Kommersant. Regional media reported that the reason for US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake’s visit to Tashkent earlier this month was aimed at securing an agreement on a US base there.
Though Secretary Blake told journalists that the US had no intention of opening a military base in Uzbekistan, his statement didn’t stop speculation.
Uzbekistan hosted an American air base in Karshi Khanabad after 9/11. But when the Bush administration criticized the government after the Andijan massacre in 2005, where Uzbek National Security Service troops fired into a group of protesters killing at least 187 people, the Uzbek government demanded the US vacate the base.
Warming relations with the US
What has happened since then has puzzled and angered human rights activists: Relations between the West and Uzbekistan have steadily improved, and all sanctions imposed on Uzbekistan after 2005 have been lifted one by one, despite its poor human rights record.
One possible reason is that the West has been increasingly dependent on Uzbekistan’s support of the war in Afghanistan. When Pakistan closed the main NATO supply route in November, the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a route that relies on Uzbekistan, took up the slack – about 75 percent of all non-lethal cargo was shipped through the NDN supply route mostly via Uzbekistan. And though the NATO supply route was reopened this summer, a significant portion of materiel is expected to exit Afghanistan via Uzbekistan.
However, it appears as though this new foreign policy decision is aimed at appeasing Moscow, says Sanat Kushkumbaev from the Kazakhstan Institute of Strategic Studies.
“Uzbekistan didn’t make public the entire document, only some bits including the part on foreign bases. This only shows that Uzbekistan is trying to send a message to Russia and its neighbors that Tashkent is not going to make a U-turn and host US bases on its territory.”
Russia is an important trade partner, and its political influence in Central Asia is very strong, so the latest move could simply be Uzbekistan attempting to balance its relationship with Russia.
Still, it does raise some questions on the future of Tashkent’s military cooperation with the US and NATO. May not be what it seems
Experts say it will take some time to see what the ban will mean in practice. Some say the ban on foreign bases might not affect any current contracts with the US. Some observers even suggest that Uzbekistan may still consider hosting a base, but use another name for it and point to the case of the Manas base, which was renamed as a Transit Center after the Kyrgyz government threatened to close it.
Some observers say the new bill may actually signal that Tashkent wants to negotiate the price of its services as Kyrgzstan did in 2009. It may also be looking to raise the fee for the transit of goods going to and from Afghanistan via NDN. This supply route is already proving to be costly and according to the US Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations, in comparison to the Pakistani route, each truck shipped via NDN costs about $10,000 more.
Tashkent-based political analyst Farkhod Tolipov says Uzbekistan's ban is in an effort to prevent militarization in the region. "Any new base will only lead to a geopolitical competition."
But ultimately, he says, "Uzbekistan wants to portray itself as an independent actor in international relations and respond to all sorts of rumors around its foreign policy [including] the US base."
www.afghanistannewscenter.com