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NATO service member killed in eastern Afghanistan
Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — NATO says a service member with the international military force in Afghanistan has been killed in an insurgent attack in the eastern part of the country.
The coalition did not release any other details, or disclose the nationality of the soldier, who was killed in one of the most volatile parts of the war-torn nation.
So far this year, 283 international troops have been killed in Afghanistan, including 248 Americans.
Roshan Secures 3G License for Afghanistan
Further expanding innovative data services
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 22, 2012 /CNW/ - Roshan, Afghanistan's leading total communications provider, today announced that the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MCIT) has issued the company with a license that will enable Roshan to further expand and develop its already market-leading, innovative data packages via the 3G platform. Roshan celebrated the issuance of the license in a signing ceremony presided by His Excellency, Minister Amir Zai Sangin and other honorable ministerial dignitaries at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Kabul. Roshan is aiming for a commercial roll out of its 3G service later in the year.
Roshan has brought to market a range of robust data platforms for Afghan individuals and business. Most recently, Roshan launched "Kahkashaan," an innovative galaxy of web portal services that allows customers to access rich content on their mobile phones, including ringtones, pictures, games and applications. The company was also the first to bring Blackberry and M-Paisa mobile money services to Afghanistan.
"We are delighted to introduce 3G technology to Roshan's six million and counting customers, expanding access to data-rich products and converged solutions to meet their needs," said Karim Khoja, chief executive officer of Roshan at the ceremony. "Not only does the license further bolster Roshan's robust and high-performing data services, but it also complements our existing state-of-the-art network that currently offers the widest, most reliable and highest quality coverage across all of Afghanistan's 34 provinces," added Khoja.
"3G technology is vital for the economic growth and development of Afghanistan in a host of different sectors – from education to health to commerce," said His Excellency, Minister Sangin. "In awarding this license to Roshan, we are embracing the mobile broadband revolution, expanding the country's data services and enhancing capacity, aimed at improving the lives of Afghans as they connect with each other and the rest of the world," added Sangin.
About Roshan
Roshan (Telecom Development Company Afghanistan Ltd) is Afghanistan's leading total communications provider with over 6 million active subscribers and a network that covers over 230 cities and towns in all of the country's 34 provinces. Roshan is a true Afghanistan success story, serving as a catalyst for economic growth and actively contributing to the country's long-term development. Since its inception eight years ago, Roshan has invested over $550 million in Afghanistan and is the country's single largest investor and taxpayer, contributing approximately 5 percent of the Afghan government's overall domestic revenue. Roshan directly employs more than 1,300 people, 19 percent of whom are women, and provides indirect employment to more than 30,000 people. Roshan is deeply committed to Afghanistan's reconstruction and development. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), is a major shareholder of Roshan and promotes private initiatives and building conomically sound enterprises in the developing world. Also owned in part by Monaco Telecom International (MTI) and TeliaSonera, Roshan brings international expertise to the country and is committed to the highest standards of network quality and coverage for the people of Afghanistan.
Troop ‘Surge’ in Afghanistan Ends With Mixed Results
New York Times By ROD NORDLAND September 21, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan - The American military says it has now fully withdrawn the last of the 33,000 “surge troops” sent to pacify Afghanistan two years ago, but they are leaving behind an uncertain landscape of rising violence and political instability that threatens to undo considerable gains in security, particularly in the former Taliban strongholds in the south and southwest.
As the troops head for home, a week ahead of schedule, the American coalition and its Afghan partners are bedeviled by a host of problems.
The Taliban and their Haqqani network allies continue to pull off bombings, while insider killings of Americans by Afghan troops have raised tensions between the allies, forcing severe cutbacks in strategically vital training programs. Both governments are arguing publicly over whether to keep battlefield prisoners locked up without trial, while nervous officials on all sides are worrying that riots over an inflammatory anti-Muslim video, which have killed dozens in other countries, will break out in Afghanistan.
Friday’s milestone, which still leaves 68,000 American troops in Afghanistan, was announced on the other side of the planet by the American secretary of defense, Leon E. Panetta, during a trip to New Zealand, while both American and Afghan officials here studiously ignored the moment, at least in public.
Some Afghans supporting the government of President Hamid Karzai boasted that it showed their own forces were ready to take over, while pro-Taliban forces exulted that they were not. But most Afghans just worried about what it would really mean for the final two years of the American presence here.
“What did the surge give us?” a senior American official reflected on Friday, speaking anonymously as a matter of military policy. “We’re going to hit a point where, I won’t say that’s as good as it gets, but now it’s up to them to hold what we gave them. Now, really, it’s Karzai’s turn.”
No one claimed there was not a great deal yet to be done against an insurgency that its foes describe as tenacious and determined. “They’re not going to go away for years,” the senior official said. “Every fighting season the Taliban, or some number of them, come out of the corner and they’re ready to fight again.”
Both American and Afghan officials have acknowledged the seriousness of the so-called green-on-blue attacks, in which this year more than 50 American soldiers were killed at the hands of Afghan allies. The allies’ dispute over how and how long to hold suspected insurgents has led to personal negotiations between President Obama and Mr. Karzai in recent days, while the video parody of the Prophet Muhammad has cast a long shadow over relations between the two countries.
“We were not happy about the arrival of the surge troops, and we are not sad that they left,” said Mohammad Naim Lalai Amirzai, an Afghan Parliament member from Kandahar. “As the American surge ends, the Taliban surge will begin.”
Indeed, some of the most worried voices were raised in the heartland of the surge, in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces in the south and southwest where the 2010 influx of 33,000 fresh United States Marines and Army soldiers largely subdued the Taliban on their home turf.
Post-surge, the capital cities of those provinces are more peaceful than they have been in many years, and the Taliban operate only clandestinely in the rural areas. But operate they still do.
Ten southern districts, of the 400 in Afghanistan, are responsible for 45 percent of all attacks, according to statistics provided by officials of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. According to those statistics, three of the five most active districts over the past 90 days, Panjwai and Zhare in Kandahar, and Nad Ali in Helmand, were also early focuses of the military’s surge efforts.
Nad Ali is adjacent to Marja, where Marines began the first surge-related offensive. In districts once dominated by American troops, then by growing numbers of newly trained Afghan troops alongside them, residents face the prospect that in many cases it will soon be just Afghan forces. In Maiwand district, one such place, where a roadside bomb exploded as recently as Friday morning, an elder named Haji Abdullah Jan said he was worried about what he saw as a lack of commitment from government forces.
“There are soldiers and policemen who are not obeying their commanders,” he said, “but the Taliban are committed to their jobs.” Like many local residents, he likened the insurgents to a crouching tiger, waiting for the moment to pounce.
“At least during the first two years the surge was very successful. It really reversed the Taliban momentum in most parts of Helmand, Kandahar and other southwestern provinces,” said Jawid Kohistani, a Kabul-based military analyst and a former Afghan intelligence chief. “If the achievements of the surge seem ‘fragile and reversible’ today, it is because of the failure of the Afghan security forces and the Afghan government to fill the void and cultivate a good relationship with the locals.”
He was referring to an oft-repeated remark of the previous American commander here, Gen. David H. Petraeus, who presided over much of the surge period, that gains in Afghanistan are “fragile and reversible.”
The senior American official said he disagreed with the Taliban view that “the Americans have all the watches, and we have all the time,” and that they are just biding their time until America’s withdrawal of the rest of its normal combat forces by the end of 2014.
“It’s not like time is on their side,” he said. “They lose their relevance, lose their donors, limit their power at the negotiating table; they’re not just going to hide and wait.”
While Taliban activity has been greatly curtailed by surge forces in the insurgents’ traditional areas in the south and west, they responded by increasing their efforts elsewhere, officials say.
The insurgents also shifted increasingly to the use of roadside bombs and suicide bombers, instead of small arms and ground attacks where they would be outnumbered and outgunned. That greatly increased the number of civilian casualties, more than three-fourths of which are attributed to insurgents’ attacks, according to United Nations figures. For the first time this year, the overall civilian casualties began to decline in number, according to both NATO and United Nations figures, compared with last year.
However, the level of violence remains higher than it had been before the surge forces came. Brig. Gen. Dadan Lawang, the commander of the Afghan National Army’s 201st Corps, said the biggest change of the surge years has been the maturing of an increasingly self-sufficient fighting force.
“Even if more U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, we won’t see any negative impact because our troops are in a very good position to fight the Taliban independently,” he said, adding, “But we need the continuous support of the international community and the United States in particular.”
Reporting was contributed by Habib Zahori, Alissa J. Rubin and Matthew Rosenberg from Kabul, and Thom Shanker from Auckland, New Zealand.
Popular protests: Not the first time
Aljazeera
Not for the first time, Western governments have been caught off-guard by a wave of popular protest in Muslim countries. Things started in Cairo with a grassroots assault on the US embassy. Then, in Libya, the attack on the US Mission in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, left four diplomats dead - including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
Protestors in Tunis and the Yemeni capital Sanaa broke into embassy compounds. In Tunis, they set fire to the American school. Similarly, in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Malaysia and Nigeria, protestors rallied against the budget YouTube clip the Innocence of Muslims. Some protestors believe that its offensive portrayal of Prophet Muhammad is endorsed by the US government.
Most feel that such an anti-Muslim video is a natural product of the US' hedonistic culture and American support for Israel. In short, for many Muslims, the YouTube clip symbolises the US' corrosive influence on their lives and their culture.
Most Western media commentary has compared the current protests with the wildfire reactions to the Danish cartoons mocking Muhammad in early 2006, or the protests against Quran burnings over the last two years. There are striking parallels.
Similarly to the effect of the Innocence of Muslims, which was released on July 2, the publication of the Danish cartoons in late 2005 caused riots only months after they were printed. They led to the bombing of the Danish embassy in Pakistan. In Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, Danish embassies were set on fire.
The proclamation by an obscure Florida pastor, Reverend Terry Jones, of "International Burn a Quran Day" last year led to the storming of a UN mission in Afghanistan and the killing of seven UN workers. Yet, it is arguable that neither episode had a long-lasting impact on US foreign policy.
Embassy protests and the Iranian Revolution
Another parallel is perhaps more important: the protests and attacks on US embassies in the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The events in Iran rippled outward because the spread of television sets allowed more people around the world to know what was happening - this parallels the increased access to the internet and social media which have transformed Muslim societies in the last three years.
In November 1979, hundreds of Islamist students occupied the American embassy in Tehran. It was supposed to be a sit-in lasting a few days. The students were backed by the local police and Revolutionary Guards - but not by the government.
Reportedly, the initial reaction of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, was to order the police to be sent in to "kick out" the students. But the takeover proved to be popular; Khomeini changed tack and the Iranian government took over the building.
As these events unfolded, they were broadcast to the world. To Muslims living under authoritarian US-backed regimes, the televised Iranian revolution overturning the Western-backed Shah seemed to be a forerunner of their own coming deliverance. In December 1979, for example, the US Embassy in Libya was set on fire and its documents were stolen.
The seizure of the US embassy in Tehran permanently scarred US-Iranian relations. The Iranian government held 52 American hostages for 444 days. The occupation of the embassy placed the US president, Jimmy Carter, in an impossible position. Although conservative critics often lambasted Carter for his "softness" towards Iran, he actually adopted a hardline policy.
Iranians living in the US were deported; oil exports from Iran were embargoed; and the US seized Iranian assets and bank accounts. Carter's policy ended in ignominy when he ultimately resorted to tough-guy politics: military action.
A misguided attempt to use Special Forces to rescue the hostages in Tehran went horribly wrong, ending in the loss of six aircraft and the death of eight servicemen. The American electorate kicked Carter out. Ronald Reagan came to power promising to "get tough" with Iran; so his administration backed the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s - another disastrous intervention in the Middle East.
The Arab Spring as crisis and opportunity
Last year's Arab Spring ended decades of dictatorial rule in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. After initial misgivings, the US and its Western allies supported - albeit on a selective basis - the revolutions against the authoritarian rule of their own former clients.
Despite widespread distrust of US policy - primarily the legacy of decades of support for Israel and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - there was a window of opportunity whereby a new, more equal relationship between the US and Muslim countries could encourage regional stability and mark an end to the neo-con adventurism of the Bush years.
But the current crisis threatens to dash these hopes. Like Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, leaders of the new Islamist regimes in the region have to cater to the whims of their supporters to preserve their legitimacy. Sooner or later, they may choose to ride the wave of anti-US feeling by caving in to populist gestures - such as permitting the occupation of an American embassy.
Like Jimmy Carter, President Obama faces an unenviable choice. Either he can tread carefully, using diplomacy and aid to keep his leverage with the new democracies of the region; or he can court popularity at home by giving in to calls for direct action. The signs are not encouraging.
The Republican challenger Mitt Romney has already denounced Obama for his "weak" response. Congressmen have called for the cancellation of US aid to Egypt and Libya. Obama has now ordered very public deployments of warships off the Libyan coast and US Marines to Yemen. Meanwhile, although more diplomatic and humanitarian engagement is needed, the State Department has called on all US citizens to leave Tunisia and Sudan.
We can only hope that, despite the pressures of an election year, President Obama will recognise that the long-term interests of the US lie in building constructive relations with the new democracies of North Africa. Knee-jerk reactions such as withdrawing US citizens, or lashing out in revenge, would threaten to undermine all the positive potential that the Arab Spring holds for changing the US position in the Middle East.
Jason Pack is a researcher of Middle Eastern History at the University of Cambridge. He is president of Libya-Analysis.com .
James Roslington is a PhD candidate in North African History at the University of Cambridge.
Roshan Afghan Premier League a hit with fans
BBC Persian TV By Tahir Qadiry 22 September 2012
Afghans have been glued to their TV sets this week watching the start of their country's first-ever football league season.
It may be a long way from the standards of European football leagues, but the newly created Roshan Afghan Premier League has generated huge excitement and turned people across the country into football fans overnight.
It all started with a single reality TV programme on Afghanistan's main private channel, Tolo: the Maidan-e-Sabz (Green Field) programme offered aspiring footballers the chance to compete for a place in eight newly-formed football teams across Afghanistan.
The participants put their football skills to the test in a series of challenges, including one that involved running through mud and water.
By the end of the series, 18 players had been chosen for each new regional club.
"We want to improve professional football in Afghanistan," said Keramuddin Karim, head of Afghanistan's football federation and a key member of the Green Field TV jury. "It is a new era for Afghanistan's favourite sport, football."
The new teams in the Roshan football league - named after the country's leading telecommunications company, which is jointly sponsoring the operation - have the support of the international governing body of football, Fifa, and the Asian Football Federation.
All the matches are played in a new 5,000-seater football stadium in the capital.
The first match kicked off on Tuesday, with Kandahar's Atalan-e-Maiwand roundly beating Shaheen Asmaee from Kabul.
"We had space for 5,000 people, but more than 10,000 turned up," said Mr Karim.
"They were shouting, cheering up and even crying during one of the first ever league matches in their country."
There is a long tradition of playing football in Afghanistan, despite the interruptions of war.
The Afghan Football Federation was set up in 1933 and it joined Fifa in 1948; the national team played its first-ever match against European opposition at the London Olympic Games in 1948, losing 6-0 to Luxembourg.
But the Soviet invasion on Afghanistan in 1979 and the ensuing civil war put an end to international football for more than two decades.
The Afghan national team eventually returned to the international arena in 2002, when they played South Korea in the Asian Games, losing 2-0.
Lions of Khurasan
They had better luck in the Asian Cup the following year, beating Kyrgyzstan, but this was followed by a run of losses until 2011, when they were runners-up in the South Asian Games in Delhi.
The result was their best-ever and they were dubbed the Lions of Khurasan, a nickname which has stuck.
Evidence that the launch of the new Afghan football league has sparked a new wave of enthusiasm for the game is clearly seen in the decision by one expatriate to start a website updating the results of the league to the outside world.
For the fans, football provides a welcome relief from the violence and suicide attacks which are reported daily on the news.
"I am so lucky to be sitting here and watching my country's football league," said Jamshid Aziz, a university student in Kabul.
"It feels like I'm watching Barcelona playing Real Madrid. I know that sounds like an exaggeration but who would have believed we would see something like this in Afghanistan one day?"
Afghan women are getting in on the act too - the women's national team has recently had a run of good results.
Feeling of togetherness
Kabul student Samira Haidari, 19, says that football has replaced Bollywood soap operas as her television favourite.
"I am a big fan of football, I welcome this event in my country and I follow every bit of it on TV," she told the BBC. "I really hope to watch it live in the stadium soon."
When it comes to salaries though, Afghan football teams are certainly in a different league from Barcelona or Real Madrid.
None of the players have contracts - they are only paid basic expenses. Teams get their board and lodging paid and players from outside Kabul also get a tiny daily allowance.
"We pay them 500 Afghanis ($10;£6) for their expenses," says Mr Karim of the football federation.
"I know it's not very much, but if they play well and shine it could open a new chapter in their lives."
Although the players know all about the multi-million pound salaries and contracts of the world's leading footballers, they say that for now, money does not matter.
"I would never have dreamed that it could be possible to play in front of such a big crowd who all have smiles on their faces," says Mujtaba Faiz, who plays for Kabul.
"For the moment, that's all I want."
But there is good news for the teams that come first, second and third in the new league.
The victors will win a grand prize of $150,000 (£92,000) and some players will be offered the chance to join the national team, which is mostly made up of players from Kabul, many of whom are playing in the Roshan league. As yet, no Afghan team members play overseas.
The newly-formed league runs until the middle of October, but many Afghans hope that the feeling of togetherness that football seems to be generating across the country will last much longer.
Time to be honest about Afghanistan
Financial Times By Rory Stewart September 21, 2012
More than 50 US and British soldiers have been killed by their Afghan partners this year. The attacks have been described as Taliban infiltration of the police, which could be addressed by better vetting. But the very words “Taliban”, “police”, and “vetting” are misleading.
Insofar as it is possible to understand the motives of the attackers (almost all are killed immediately) it seems that only a quarter have any connection to the Taliban. The “police” in question are a hastily formed, poorly trained militia. Ninety-two out of 100 recruits in a Helmand unit I visited last year were unable to write their own name, or recognise numbers up to 10. Their five weeks of training amounted to little more than weapons-firing and basic literacy. Thirty per cent of recruits deserted that year. With up to 10,000 villagers recruited in a month, “vetting” was not a serious option.
This gap between the language of policy makers and the reality is typical. It is time to be honest about Afghanistan: we face a desperate situation and an intolerable choice.
If the US, Britain and their allies leave Afghanistan, there will be chaos and perhaps civil war. The economy will falter and the Afghan government will probably be unable to command the loyalty or support of its people. The Taliban could significantly strengthen their position in the south and east, and attack other areas. Powerful men, gorged on foreign money, extravagantly armed and connected to the deepest veins of corruption and gangsterism, will flex their muscles. For all these reasons departure will feel – rightly – like a betrayal of Afghans and of the soldiers who have died.
But keeping foreign troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 will not secure the country’s future either. Every year since 2004, generals and politicians have acknowledged a disastrous situation, produced a new strategy and demanded new resources. They have tried “ink-spots” and “development zones”; counterinsurgency and nation-building; partnering and mentoring; military surges, civilian surges and reconciliation. Generals and ministers called 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 “decisive” years in Afghanistan. None was. None will be.
We may wonder why politicians and soldiers have insisted for so long that things are improving. We have been isolated from Afghan reality, and obsessed with misleading jargon. But it is not all the west’s fault. Afghanistan is poor, fragmented and traumatised; and blame should also be put on the Afghan government and on neighbours such as Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of brains and hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested over a decade in understanding failure, without overcoming it. The culture and behaviour of foreign troops, diplomats, Afghans, the Kabul government and Pakistan are not likely to change in the next two years. What we have seen is roughly what we will get.
In the absence of “victory”, three alternative strategies have been proposed: training the Afghan security forces, political settlement with the Taliban and a regional solution. But training Afghan forces, which cost $12bn in 2010 alone, will not guarantee their future loyalty to a Kabul government. Two years and many regional conferences have passed since the formation of the Afghan Higher Peace council, and the clear Nato endorsement of reconciliation: but there is no sign that insurgents, the Kabul government or its neighbours will reach a deal, or feel much desire so to do. So there is no military solution, and no political solution either. Nor will there be before the troops leave. We will have to deal for decades with a troubled Afghanistan, which is not likely in my lifetime to be as wealthy as Libya, as effectively governed as Iraq, as educated as Syria, or as institutionally mature as Pakistan.
What then? The point is not what the US and its allies ought to do but what they can. We have reached the limit of our knowledge, power and legitimacy. Whatever the west feels obliged to do, it is not capable of bringing a political or military solution. That task will be for Afghans. The west should continue financial support, so the Kabul government does not collapse, as it did in 1991, and give enough military support – air power in nearby bases, for example – to prevent the Taliban mobilising tanks and aircraft, as they did in 1995. But this is support, not a solution. Honesty about this will be the start of better policy.
In the best case, removing almost 200,000 foreign soldiers and civilian contractors may force the Afghan government to assume responsibility; allow the insurgents and neighbours to recognise their relative weaknesses; and provide a basis for a political solution. I believe Afghans can find such a thing. But it is not certain. What is certain is that foreigners haven’t, and now can’t.
The writer is a Conservative member of the UK parliament and author of ‘Can Intervention Work?’
Drones capture mountain scenery in Pakistan
By REBECCA SANTANA | Associated Press
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The use of drones in Pakistan normally brings to mind images of U.S. spy planes attacking tribal areas. But drones now are being used to capture a different kind of picture in the country — showing some of the world's highest mountains being scaled by world-class climbers through some of Earth's thinnest air.
Drones, or remote-controlled aircraft, have long been the domain of the American military and are used extensively in Pakistan's tribal areas near the Afghanistan border to spy on and target militants. Recently, however, civilians have increasingly turned to drones to shoot ground-breaking footage of adventure sports.
This summer a Swiss expedition used remote-controlled helicopters to shoot rare footage of climbers on the Karakoram, one of the world's most demanding and formidable mountain ranges.
"People are going to see footage from the Karakoram that no human being has ever seen," said Corey Rich, a photographer and videographer from Lake Tahoe, California, who was on the expedition.
The expedition was a joint project between outdoor clothing and equipment company Mammut, and Dedicam, a firm that specializes in using remote-controlled helicopters to shoot video. Their goal: to document world-class mountaineer David Lama and his climbing partner Peter Ortner as they climbed Trango Tower. The sheer granite tower in the Baltoro Glacier is more than 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) above sea level and is one of the most technically difficult climbs in the world.
Filmmakers long have used helicopters to capture aerial footage of climbers — as well as other extreme sport athletes like surfers and skiers —that is hard to capture from the ground. But helicopters are costly and can be dangerous if they crash or get too close to the people on the ground. Additionally, their beating rotors often kick up dust, snow and wind — and can push climbers off balance.
Drones, which can weigh just a few kilograms (pounds) and cost between $1,000 and $40,000, are a fraction of the size and cost of the helicopters traditionally used in adventure photography. Newer models tend to have all of their rotors facing into the sky, making them look a bit like a mechanical flying spider or insect.
The main concern for the summertime expedition was how — and if — the drone would perform in Pakistan's rugged conditions and high altitude.
"The main challenge was that the air is much thinner, and we didn't know how the flight controls would work with this and the propellers and motors," said drone operator Remo Masina, from Lucerne, Switzerland. He brought two drones on the Pakistan expedition — one with four propellers and another with six. From the ground, he flew them with a handheld console that resembles a video game console, and wore goggles to let him see the camera's view.
Another challenge was to find the climbers on the mountain. Tracing the planned trek route, Masina directed the drone up the mountain until he spotted them — more than a mile (roughly 2,000 meters) away.
The result was stunning images of the Karakoram and the climbers making it to the top.
Experienced climbers say the Karakoram puts the rest of the world's mountain ranges to shame. Neighboring Nepal has Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, but Pakistan has four of the world's 14 peaks that soar to more than 8,000 meters (26,246 feet) above sea level, including the second highest mountain on earth, K-2.
Lama and Ortner said climbing the legendary Pakistan mountains was an amazing experience.
"Here there are so many mountains, and so many difficult mountains, and mountains that haven't been climbed," said Lama. "That's probably why the Karakoram is known as paradise for us."
This year has been particularly successful for Pakistan's climbing industry, which plummeted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the U.S.
In addition to hosting the renowned Lama for the first time, Nazir Sabir, Pakistan's elder statesman of climbing who was the country's first person to scale Everest, said 30 climbers summited K-2 in 2012, the first summits from the Pakistani side of the mountain since 11 people died trying in 2008.
And the drone footage obtained during Lama and Ortner's climb will expose even more viewers to the legendary Karakoram mountain range.
Drones also increasingly are being used in other adventure sports to push conventional photography boundaries. Cameras on drones have been used to capture video of surfers on Hawaii's North Shore and to chase mountain bikers speeding down mountain trails.
"I've filmed anything from kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, to track and field to just casual walking," said photographer and videographer Mike Hagadorn, who has begun to build his own drones to support his Colorado-based firm, Cloud Level Media. "Anything you can dream of — and as long as you don't crash — you can make it happen."
Experts predict drone cameras eventually will become an integral part of every sports shoot. But for now, they're definitely a novelty. The Swiss team filming Lama said villagers in Pakistan stood in awe, staring at the drones as they buzzed around, whenever he used one on the expedition.
"We were trying to do this shot that showed this quaint village," Rich said. "But every single person in the shot is standing, stopped in the street, looking up at the helicopter."
One Afghan Girl's Healing Journey To The U.S.
NPR By Gloria Hillard September 21, 2012
There is limited medical infrastructure in war-torn Afghanistan, so severely wounded children are sometimes brought to the U.S. for medical care. Doctors in America say that for one little girl, her struggle to stay alive for three years until finding her way from central Afghanistan to a hospital in Los Angeles is nothing short of a miracle.
Her name is Arefa, and she's 6 years old. Like a lot of girls her age, she loves coloring, animals and ice cream. But this small girl in Hello Kitty shoes is from a nomadic tribe in Afghanistan, and for her entire life, she's known nothing but war.
When she was 3, her family's tent in Afghanistan was engulfed in flames from an IED. She was severely injured, suffering third-degree burns over much of her body and a life-threatening wound on the top of her head. Her family kept her alive for three years with very little medical attention.
"As the family moved from place to place, they often spoke of the wounds of the child, and this finally reached the ears of someone who told them Americans might help," Patsy Wilson of Solace for the Children writes in an email to NPR.
When U.S. troops saw the girl earlier this year, they got in touch with Solace for the Children, a group that has been working to bring wounded children of war to the U.S. for medical treatment.
"Some soldiers found her and said she was in a lot of pain still," says Jami Valentine, who along with her sister, Staci Freeman, have been Arefa's host family in Southern California since June.
Neither Arefa's mother, who was also injured in the blast, nor her father came with her to the U.S., as parents of children involved with the group do not make the trip with their kids.
Valentine says at first she didn't think she was up to the task. And then she saw Arefa's picture.
"Somehow her eyes connected with me even through the pictures. And it was this picture of sadness and strength all the same time, and I thought, 'How could I say no to this little girl?' " Valentine says.
She says that according to Arefa's doctor, it was just in time. "He has a very tender spot for her because he feels like she's unique, she's special, because medically she shouldn't be here," Valentine says.
When she arrived in the U.S., Arefa needed skin-graft surgery for the top of her head. The sisters recall the morning when she was able, for the first time, to touch her head and not feel pain.
"She laughed like this kind of joy laugh, and then she said, 'Thank you, doctors, and thank you, Staci and Jami,' " Freeman says.
Valentine says the girl is a continuing source of amazement. For instance, she marvels at the amount of English Arefa learned in just three months. "We were sitting in the car one day, and out the blue she goes, 'Come on, let's go!' " Valentine says. "It makes me laugh. It catches me off guard every time."
Healing takes many forms. Her host family says the night terrors have thankfully ceased, but they still closely monitor the television. One day early in her stay, a news story came on that showed soldiers with guns. "We couldn't turn the channel fast enough," Valentine says.
In her native Pashto and frantic pantomime, Arefa told them her story of what happened the day of the blast.
"Staci and I would sit, and we would listen, and we would just feel brokenhearted. We know she was unleashing everything she'd been through," Valentine says.
Arefa is scheduled to return to her family in Afghanistan soon.
"There's an element where we desperately want for her to be united with her family, because she talks about them, and I know she misses them. And then there's this real reality where I feel our space is going to get really quiet," Valentine says. "So somehow it all combines together, so I have no doubt it's going to be very sad."
Arefa will still need medical care. The fingers on her hands are disfigured, and scar tissue prevents her from being able to close her eyes when she sleeps. And she returns to an uncertain future in her war-torn homeland.
The women caring for Arefa see that the little girl — who only knew war and who was in pain for half of her life — is experiencing a childhood that she has fully embraced. While in California, she has grown to love swimming, the beach and her nearby playground.
"She walks though each day with joy," Valentine says.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — NATO says a service member with the international military force in Afghanistan has been killed in an insurgent attack in the eastern part of the country.
The coalition did not release any other details, or disclose the nationality of the soldier, who was killed in one of the most volatile parts of the war-torn nation.
So far this year, 283 international troops have been killed in Afghanistan, including 248 Americans.
Roshan Secures 3G License for Afghanistan
Further expanding innovative data services
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 22, 2012 /CNW/ - Roshan, Afghanistan's leading total communications provider, today announced that the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MCIT) has issued the company with a license that will enable Roshan to further expand and develop its already market-leading, innovative data packages via the 3G platform. Roshan celebrated the issuance of the license in a signing ceremony presided by His Excellency, Minister Amir Zai Sangin and other honorable ministerial dignitaries at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Kabul. Roshan is aiming for a commercial roll out of its 3G service later in the year.
Roshan has brought to market a range of robust data platforms for Afghan individuals and business. Most recently, Roshan launched "Kahkashaan," an innovative galaxy of web portal services that allows customers to access rich content on their mobile phones, including ringtones, pictures, games and applications. The company was also the first to bring Blackberry and M-Paisa mobile money services to Afghanistan.
"We are delighted to introduce 3G technology to Roshan's six million and counting customers, expanding access to data-rich products and converged solutions to meet their needs," said Karim Khoja, chief executive officer of Roshan at the ceremony. "Not only does the license further bolster Roshan's robust and high-performing data services, but it also complements our existing state-of-the-art network that currently offers the widest, most reliable and highest quality coverage across all of Afghanistan's 34 provinces," added Khoja.
"3G technology is vital for the economic growth and development of Afghanistan in a host of different sectors – from education to health to commerce," said His Excellency, Minister Sangin. "In awarding this license to Roshan, we are embracing the mobile broadband revolution, expanding the country's data services and enhancing capacity, aimed at improving the lives of Afghans as they connect with each other and the rest of the world," added Sangin.
About Roshan
Roshan (Telecom Development Company Afghanistan Ltd) is Afghanistan's leading total communications provider with over 6 million active subscribers and a network that covers over 230 cities and towns in all of the country's 34 provinces. Roshan is a true Afghanistan success story, serving as a catalyst for economic growth and actively contributing to the country's long-term development. Since its inception eight years ago, Roshan has invested over $550 million in Afghanistan and is the country's single largest investor and taxpayer, contributing approximately 5 percent of the Afghan government's overall domestic revenue. Roshan directly employs more than 1,300 people, 19 percent of whom are women, and provides indirect employment to more than 30,000 people. Roshan is deeply committed to Afghanistan's reconstruction and development. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), is a major shareholder of Roshan and promotes private initiatives and building conomically sound enterprises in the developing world. Also owned in part by Monaco Telecom International (MTI) and TeliaSonera, Roshan brings international expertise to the country and is committed to the highest standards of network quality and coverage for the people of Afghanistan.
Troop ‘Surge’ in Afghanistan Ends With Mixed Results
New York Times By ROD NORDLAND September 21, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan - The American military says it has now fully withdrawn the last of the 33,000 “surge troops” sent to pacify Afghanistan two years ago, but they are leaving behind an uncertain landscape of rising violence and political instability that threatens to undo considerable gains in security, particularly in the former Taliban strongholds in the south and southwest.
As the troops head for home, a week ahead of schedule, the American coalition and its Afghan partners are bedeviled by a host of problems.
The Taliban and their Haqqani network allies continue to pull off bombings, while insider killings of Americans by Afghan troops have raised tensions between the allies, forcing severe cutbacks in strategically vital training programs. Both governments are arguing publicly over whether to keep battlefield prisoners locked up without trial, while nervous officials on all sides are worrying that riots over an inflammatory anti-Muslim video, which have killed dozens in other countries, will break out in Afghanistan.
Friday’s milestone, which still leaves 68,000 American troops in Afghanistan, was announced on the other side of the planet by the American secretary of defense, Leon E. Panetta, during a trip to New Zealand, while both American and Afghan officials here studiously ignored the moment, at least in public.
Some Afghans supporting the government of President Hamid Karzai boasted that it showed their own forces were ready to take over, while pro-Taliban forces exulted that they were not. But most Afghans just worried about what it would really mean for the final two years of the American presence here.
“What did the surge give us?” a senior American official reflected on Friday, speaking anonymously as a matter of military policy. “We’re going to hit a point where, I won’t say that’s as good as it gets, but now it’s up to them to hold what we gave them. Now, really, it’s Karzai’s turn.”
No one claimed there was not a great deal yet to be done against an insurgency that its foes describe as tenacious and determined. “They’re not going to go away for years,” the senior official said. “Every fighting season the Taliban, or some number of them, come out of the corner and they’re ready to fight again.”
Both American and Afghan officials have acknowledged the seriousness of the so-called green-on-blue attacks, in which this year more than 50 American soldiers were killed at the hands of Afghan allies. The allies’ dispute over how and how long to hold suspected insurgents has led to personal negotiations between President Obama and Mr. Karzai in recent days, while the video parody of the Prophet Muhammad has cast a long shadow over relations between the two countries.
“We were not happy about the arrival of the surge troops, and we are not sad that they left,” said Mohammad Naim Lalai Amirzai, an Afghan Parliament member from Kandahar. “As the American surge ends, the Taliban surge will begin.”
Indeed, some of the most worried voices were raised in the heartland of the surge, in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces in the south and southwest where the 2010 influx of 33,000 fresh United States Marines and Army soldiers largely subdued the Taliban on their home turf.
Post-surge, the capital cities of those provinces are more peaceful than they have been in many years, and the Taliban operate only clandestinely in the rural areas. But operate they still do.
Ten southern districts, of the 400 in Afghanistan, are responsible for 45 percent of all attacks, according to statistics provided by officials of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. According to those statistics, three of the five most active districts over the past 90 days, Panjwai and Zhare in Kandahar, and Nad Ali in Helmand, were also early focuses of the military’s surge efforts.
Nad Ali is adjacent to Marja, where Marines began the first surge-related offensive. In districts once dominated by American troops, then by growing numbers of newly trained Afghan troops alongside them, residents face the prospect that in many cases it will soon be just Afghan forces. In Maiwand district, one such place, where a roadside bomb exploded as recently as Friday morning, an elder named Haji Abdullah Jan said he was worried about what he saw as a lack of commitment from government forces.
“There are soldiers and policemen who are not obeying their commanders,” he said, “but the Taliban are committed to their jobs.” Like many local residents, he likened the insurgents to a crouching tiger, waiting for the moment to pounce.
“At least during the first two years the surge was very successful. It really reversed the Taliban momentum in most parts of Helmand, Kandahar and other southwestern provinces,” said Jawid Kohistani, a Kabul-based military analyst and a former Afghan intelligence chief. “If the achievements of the surge seem ‘fragile and reversible’ today, it is because of the failure of the Afghan security forces and the Afghan government to fill the void and cultivate a good relationship with the locals.”
He was referring to an oft-repeated remark of the previous American commander here, Gen. David H. Petraeus, who presided over much of the surge period, that gains in Afghanistan are “fragile and reversible.”
The senior American official said he disagreed with the Taliban view that “the Americans have all the watches, and we have all the time,” and that they are just biding their time until America’s withdrawal of the rest of its normal combat forces by the end of 2014.
“It’s not like time is on their side,” he said. “They lose their relevance, lose their donors, limit their power at the negotiating table; they’re not just going to hide and wait.”
While Taliban activity has been greatly curtailed by surge forces in the insurgents’ traditional areas in the south and west, they responded by increasing their efforts elsewhere, officials say.
The insurgents also shifted increasingly to the use of roadside bombs and suicide bombers, instead of small arms and ground attacks where they would be outnumbered and outgunned. That greatly increased the number of civilian casualties, more than three-fourths of which are attributed to insurgents’ attacks, according to United Nations figures. For the first time this year, the overall civilian casualties began to decline in number, according to both NATO and United Nations figures, compared with last year.
However, the level of violence remains higher than it had been before the surge forces came. Brig. Gen. Dadan Lawang, the commander of the Afghan National Army’s 201st Corps, said the biggest change of the surge years has been the maturing of an increasingly self-sufficient fighting force.
“Even if more U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, we won’t see any negative impact because our troops are in a very good position to fight the Taliban independently,” he said, adding, “But we need the continuous support of the international community and the United States in particular.”
Reporting was contributed by Habib Zahori, Alissa J. Rubin and Matthew Rosenberg from Kabul, and Thom Shanker from Auckland, New Zealand.
Popular protests: Not the first time
Aljazeera
Not for the first time, Western governments have been caught off-guard by a wave of popular protest in Muslim countries. Things started in Cairo with a grassroots assault on the US embassy. Then, in Libya, the attack on the US Mission in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, left four diplomats dead - including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
Protestors in Tunis and the Yemeni capital Sanaa broke into embassy compounds. In Tunis, they set fire to the American school. Similarly, in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Malaysia and Nigeria, protestors rallied against the budget YouTube clip the Innocence of Muslims. Some protestors believe that its offensive portrayal of Prophet Muhammad is endorsed by the US government.
Most feel that such an anti-Muslim video is a natural product of the US' hedonistic culture and American support for Israel. In short, for many Muslims, the YouTube clip symbolises the US' corrosive influence on their lives and their culture.
Most Western media commentary has compared the current protests with the wildfire reactions to the Danish cartoons mocking Muhammad in early 2006, or the protests against Quran burnings over the last two years. There are striking parallels.
Similarly to the effect of the Innocence of Muslims, which was released on July 2, the publication of the Danish cartoons in late 2005 caused riots only months after they were printed. They led to the bombing of the Danish embassy in Pakistan. In Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, Danish embassies were set on fire.
The proclamation by an obscure Florida pastor, Reverend Terry Jones, of "International Burn a Quran Day" last year led to the storming of a UN mission in Afghanistan and the killing of seven UN workers. Yet, it is arguable that neither episode had a long-lasting impact on US foreign policy.
Embassy protests and the Iranian Revolution
Another parallel is perhaps more important: the protests and attacks on US embassies in the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The events in Iran rippled outward because the spread of television sets allowed more people around the world to know what was happening - this parallels the increased access to the internet and social media which have transformed Muslim societies in the last three years.
In November 1979, hundreds of Islamist students occupied the American embassy in Tehran. It was supposed to be a sit-in lasting a few days. The students were backed by the local police and Revolutionary Guards - but not by the government.
Reportedly, the initial reaction of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, was to order the police to be sent in to "kick out" the students. But the takeover proved to be popular; Khomeini changed tack and the Iranian government took over the building.
As these events unfolded, they were broadcast to the world. To Muslims living under authoritarian US-backed regimes, the televised Iranian revolution overturning the Western-backed Shah seemed to be a forerunner of their own coming deliverance. In December 1979, for example, the US Embassy in Libya was set on fire and its documents were stolen.
The seizure of the US embassy in Tehran permanently scarred US-Iranian relations. The Iranian government held 52 American hostages for 444 days. The occupation of the embassy placed the US president, Jimmy Carter, in an impossible position. Although conservative critics often lambasted Carter for his "softness" towards Iran, he actually adopted a hardline policy.
Iranians living in the US were deported; oil exports from Iran were embargoed; and the US seized Iranian assets and bank accounts. Carter's policy ended in ignominy when he ultimately resorted to tough-guy politics: military action.
A misguided attempt to use Special Forces to rescue the hostages in Tehran went horribly wrong, ending in the loss of six aircraft and the death of eight servicemen. The American electorate kicked Carter out. Ronald Reagan came to power promising to "get tough" with Iran; so his administration backed the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s - another disastrous intervention in the Middle East.
The Arab Spring as crisis and opportunity
Last year's Arab Spring ended decades of dictatorial rule in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. After initial misgivings, the US and its Western allies supported - albeit on a selective basis - the revolutions against the authoritarian rule of their own former clients.
Despite widespread distrust of US policy - primarily the legacy of decades of support for Israel and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - there was a window of opportunity whereby a new, more equal relationship between the US and Muslim countries could encourage regional stability and mark an end to the neo-con adventurism of the Bush years.
But the current crisis threatens to dash these hopes. Like Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, leaders of the new Islamist regimes in the region have to cater to the whims of their supporters to preserve their legitimacy. Sooner or later, they may choose to ride the wave of anti-US feeling by caving in to populist gestures - such as permitting the occupation of an American embassy.
Like Jimmy Carter, President Obama faces an unenviable choice. Either he can tread carefully, using diplomacy and aid to keep his leverage with the new democracies of the region; or he can court popularity at home by giving in to calls for direct action. The signs are not encouraging.
The Republican challenger Mitt Romney has already denounced Obama for his "weak" response. Congressmen have called for the cancellation of US aid to Egypt and Libya. Obama has now ordered very public deployments of warships off the Libyan coast and US Marines to Yemen. Meanwhile, although more diplomatic and humanitarian engagement is needed, the State Department has called on all US citizens to leave Tunisia and Sudan.
We can only hope that, despite the pressures of an election year, President Obama will recognise that the long-term interests of the US lie in building constructive relations with the new democracies of North Africa. Knee-jerk reactions such as withdrawing US citizens, or lashing out in revenge, would threaten to undermine all the positive potential that the Arab Spring holds for changing the US position in the Middle East.
Jason Pack is a researcher of Middle Eastern History at the University of Cambridge. He is president of Libya-Analysis.com .
James Roslington is a PhD candidate in North African History at the University of Cambridge.
Roshan Afghan Premier League a hit with fans
BBC Persian TV By Tahir Qadiry 22 September 2012
Afghans have been glued to their TV sets this week watching the start of their country's first-ever football league season.
It may be a long way from the standards of European football leagues, but the newly created Roshan Afghan Premier League has generated huge excitement and turned people across the country into football fans overnight.
It all started with a single reality TV programme on Afghanistan's main private channel, Tolo: the Maidan-e-Sabz (Green Field) programme offered aspiring footballers the chance to compete for a place in eight newly-formed football teams across Afghanistan.
The participants put their football skills to the test in a series of challenges, including one that involved running through mud and water.
By the end of the series, 18 players had been chosen for each new regional club.
"We want to improve professional football in Afghanistan," said Keramuddin Karim, head of Afghanistan's football federation and a key member of the Green Field TV jury. "It is a new era for Afghanistan's favourite sport, football."
The new teams in the Roshan football league - named after the country's leading telecommunications company, which is jointly sponsoring the operation - have the support of the international governing body of football, Fifa, and the Asian Football Federation.
All the matches are played in a new 5,000-seater football stadium in the capital.
The first match kicked off on Tuesday, with Kandahar's Atalan-e-Maiwand roundly beating Shaheen Asmaee from Kabul.
"We had space for 5,000 people, but more than 10,000 turned up," said Mr Karim.
"They were shouting, cheering up and even crying during one of the first ever league matches in their country."
There is a long tradition of playing football in Afghanistan, despite the interruptions of war.
The Afghan Football Federation was set up in 1933 and it joined Fifa in 1948; the national team played its first-ever match against European opposition at the London Olympic Games in 1948, losing 6-0 to Luxembourg.
But the Soviet invasion on Afghanistan in 1979 and the ensuing civil war put an end to international football for more than two decades.
The Afghan national team eventually returned to the international arena in 2002, when they played South Korea in the Asian Games, losing 2-0.
Lions of Khurasan
They had better luck in the Asian Cup the following year, beating Kyrgyzstan, but this was followed by a run of losses until 2011, when they were runners-up in the South Asian Games in Delhi.
The result was their best-ever and they were dubbed the Lions of Khurasan, a nickname which has stuck.
Evidence that the launch of the new Afghan football league has sparked a new wave of enthusiasm for the game is clearly seen in the decision by one expatriate to start a website updating the results of the league to the outside world.
For the fans, football provides a welcome relief from the violence and suicide attacks which are reported daily on the news.
"I am so lucky to be sitting here and watching my country's football league," said Jamshid Aziz, a university student in Kabul.
"It feels like I'm watching Barcelona playing Real Madrid. I know that sounds like an exaggeration but who would have believed we would see something like this in Afghanistan one day?"
Afghan women are getting in on the act too - the women's national team has recently had a run of good results.
Feeling of togetherness
Kabul student Samira Haidari, 19, says that football has replaced Bollywood soap operas as her television favourite.
"I am a big fan of football, I welcome this event in my country and I follow every bit of it on TV," she told the BBC. "I really hope to watch it live in the stadium soon."
When it comes to salaries though, Afghan football teams are certainly in a different league from Barcelona or Real Madrid.
None of the players have contracts - they are only paid basic expenses. Teams get their board and lodging paid and players from outside Kabul also get a tiny daily allowance.
"We pay them 500 Afghanis ($10;£6) for their expenses," says Mr Karim of the football federation.
"I know it's not very much, but if they play well and shine it could open a new chapter in their lives."
Although the players know all about the multi-million pound salaries and contracts of the world's leading footballers, they say that for now, money does not matter.
"I would never have dreamed that it could be possible to play in front of such a big crowd who all have smiles on their faces," says Mujtaba Faiz, who plays for Kabul.
"For the moment, that's all I want."
But there is good news for the teams that come first, second and third in the new league.
The victors will win a grand prize of $150,000 (£92,000) and some players will be offered the chance to join the national team, which is mostly made up of players from Kabul, many of whom are playing in the Roshan league. As yet, no Afghan team members play overseas.
The newly-formed league runs until the middle of October, but many Afghans hope that the feeling of togetherness that football seems to be generating across the country will last much longer.
Time to be honest about Afghanistan
Financial Times By Rory Stewart September 21, 2012
More than 50 US and British soldiers have been killed by their Afghan partners this year. The attacks have been described as Taliban infiltration of the police, which could be addressed by better vetting. But the very words “Taliban”, “police”, and “vetting” are misleading.
Insofar as it is possible to understand the motives of the attackers (almost all are killed immediately) it seems that only a quarter have any connection to the Taliban. The “police” in question are a hastily formed, poorly trained militia. Ninety-two out of 100 recruits in a Helmand unit I visited last year were unable to write their own name, or recognise numbers up to 10. Their five weeks of training amounted to little more than weapons-firing and basic literacy. Thirty per cent of recruits deserted that year. With up to 10,000 villagers recruited in a month, “vetting” was not a serious option.
This gap between the language of policy makers and the reality is typical. It is time to be honest about Afghanistan: we face a desperate situation and an intolerable choice.
If the US, Britain and their allies leave Afghanistan, there will be chaos and perhaps civil war. The economy will falter and the Afghan government will probably be unable to command the loyalty or support of its people. The Taliban could significantly strengthen their position in the south and east, and attack other areas. Powerful men, gorged on foreign money, extravagantly armed and connected to the deepest veins of corruption and gangsterism, will flex their muscles. For all these reasons departure will feel – rightly – like a betrayal of Afghans and of the soldiers who have died.
But keeping foreign troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 will not secure the country’s future either. Every year since 2004, generals and politicians have acknowledged a disastrous situation, produced a new strategy and demanded new resources. They have tried “ink-spots” and “development zones”; counterinsurgency and nation-building; partnering and mentoring; military surges, civilian surges and reconciliation. Generals and ministers called 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 “decisive” years in Afghanistan. None was. None will be.
We may wonder why politicians and soldiers have insisted for so long that things are improving. We have been isolated from Afghan reality, and obsessed with misleading jargon. But it is not all the west’s fault. Afghanistan is poor, fragmented and traumatised; and blame should also be put on the Afghan government and on neighbours such as Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of brains and hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested over a decade in understanding failure, without overcoming it. The culture and behaviour of foreign troops, diplomats, Afghans, the Kabul government and Pakistan are not likely to change in the next two years. What we have seen is roughly what we will get.
In the absence of “victory”, three alternative strategies have been proposed: training the Afghan security forces, political settlement with the Taliban and a regional solution. But training Afghan forces, which cost $12bn in 2010 alone, will not guarantee their future loyalty to a Kabul government. Two years and many regional conferences have passed since the formation of the Afghan Higher Peace council, and the clear Nato endorsement of reconciliation: but there is no sign that insurgents, the Kabul government or its neighbours will reach a deal, or feel much desire so to do. So there is no military solution, and no political solution either. Nor will there be before the troops leave. We will have to deal for decades with a troubled Afghanistan, which is not likely in my lifetime to be as wealthy as Libya, as effectively governed as Iraq, as educated as Syria, or as institutionally mature as Pakistan.
What then? The point is not what the US and its allies ought to do but what they can. We have reached the limit of our knowledge, power and legitimacy. Whatever the west feels obliged to do, it is not capable of bringing a political or military solution. That task will be for Afghans. The west should continue financial support, so the Kabul government does not collapse, as it did in 1991, and give enough military support – air power in nearby bases, for example – to prevent the Taliban mobilising tanks and aircraft, as they did in 1995. But this is support, not a solution. Honesty about this will be the start of better policy.
In the best case, removing almost 200,000 foreign soldiers and civilian contractors may force the Afghan government to assume responsibility; allow the insurgents and neighbours to recognise their relative weaknesses; and provide a basis for a political solution. I believe Afghans can find such a thing. But it is not certain. What is certain is that foreigners haven’t, and now can’t.
The writer is a Conservative member of the UK parliament and author of ‘Can Intervention Work?’
Drones capture mountain scenery in Pakistan
By REBECCA SANTANA | Associated Press
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The use of drones in Pakistan normally brings to mind images of U.S. spy planes attacking tribal areas. But drones now are being used to capture a different kind of picture in the country — showing some of the world's highest mountains being scaled by world-class climbers through some of Earth's thinnest air.
Drones, or remote-controlled aircraft, have long been the domain of the American military and are used extensively in Pakistan's tribal areas near the Afghanistan border to spy on and target militants. Recently, however, civilians have increasingly turned to drones to shoot ground-breaking footage of adventure sports.
This summer a Swiss expedition used remote-controlled helicopters to shoot rare footage of climbers on the Karakoram, one of the world's most demanding and formidable mountain ranges.
"People are going to see footage from the Karakoram that no human being has ever seen," said Corey Rich, a photographer and videographer from Lake Tahoe, California, who was on the expedition.
The expedition was a joint project between outdoor clothing and equipment company Mammut, and Dedicam, a firm that specializes in using remote-controlled helicopters to shoot video. Their goal: to document world-class mountaineer David Lama and his climbing partner Peter Ortner as they climbed Trango Tower. The sheer granite tower in the Baltoro Glacier is more than 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) above sea level and is one of the most technically difficult climbs in the world.
Filmmakers long have used helicopters to capture aerial footage of climbers — as well as other extreme sport athletes like surfers and skiers —that is hard to capture from the ground. But helicopters are costly and can be dangerous if they crash or get too close to the people on the ground. Additionally, their beating rotors often kick up dust, snow and wind — and can push climbers off balance.
Drones, which can weigh just a few kilograms (pounds) and cost between $1,000 and $40,000, are a fraction of the size and cost of the helicopters traditionally used in adventure photography. Newer models tend to have all of their rotors facing into the sky, making them look a bit like a mechanical flying spider or insect.
The main concern for the summertime expedition was how — and if — the drone would perform in Pakistan's rugged conditions and high altitude.
"The main challenge was that the air is much thinner, and we didn't know how the flight controls would work with this and the propellers and motors," said drone operator Remo Masina, from Lucerne, Switzerland. He brought two drones on the Pakistan expedition — one with four propellers and another with six. From the ground, he flew them with a handheld console that resembles a video game console, and wore goggles to let him see the camera's view.
Another challenge was to find the climbers on the mountain. Tracing the planned trek route, Masina directed the drone up the mountain until he spotted them — more than a mile (roughly 2,000 meters) away.
The result was stunning images of the Karakoram and the climbers making it to the top.
Experienced climbers say the Karakoram puts the rest of the world's mountain ranges to shame. Neighboring Nepal has Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, but Pakistan has four of the world's 14 peaks that soar to more than 8,000 meters (26,246 feet) above sea level, including the second highest mountain on earth, K-2.
Lama and Ortner said climbing the legendary Pakistan mountains was an amazing experience.
"Here there are so many mountains, and so many difficult mountains, and mountains that haven't been climbed," said Lama. "That's probably why the Karakoram is known as paradise for us."
This year has been particularly successful for Pakistan's climbing industry, which plummeted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the U.S.
In addition to hosting the renowned Lama for the first time, Nazir Sabir, Pakistan's elder statesman of climbing who was the country's first person to scale Everest, said 30 climbers summited K-2 in 2012, the first summits from the Pakistani side of the mountain since 11 people died trying in 2008.
And the drone footage obtained during Lama and Ortner's climb will expose even more viewers to the legendary Karakoram mountain range.
Drones also increasingly are being used in other adventure sports to push conventional photography boundaries. Cameras on drones have been used to capture video of surfers on Hawaii's North Shore and to chase mountain bikers speeding down mountain trails.
"I've filmed anything from kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, to track and field to just casual walking," said photographer and videographer Mike Hagadorn, who has begun to build his own drones to support his Colorado-based firm, Cloud Level Media. "Anything you can dream of — and as long as you don't crash — you can make it happen."
Experts predict drone cameras eventually will become an integral part of every sports shoot. But for now, they're definitely a novelty. The Swiss team filming Lama said villagers in Pakistan stood in awe, staring at the drones as they buzzed around, whenever he used one on the expedition.
"We were trying to do this shot that showed this quaint village," Rich said. "But every single person in the shot is standing, stopped in the street, looking up at the helicopter."
One Afghan Girl's Healing Journey To The U.S.
NPR By Gloria Hillard September 21, 2012
There is limited medical infrastructure in war-torn Afghanistan, so severely wounded children are sometimes brought to the U.S. for medical care. Doctors in America say that for one little girl, her struggle to stay alive for three years until finding her way from central Afghanistan to a hospital in Los Angeles is nothing short of a miracle.
Her name is Arefa, and she's 6 years old. Like a lot of girls her age, she loves coloring, animals and ice cream. But this small girl in Hello Kitty shoes is from a nomadic tribe in Afghanistan, and for her entire life, she's known nothing but war.
When she was 3, her family's tent in Afghanistan was engulfed in flames from an IED. She was severely injured, suffering third-degree burns over much of her body and a life-threatening wound on the top of her head. Her family kept her alive for three years with very little medical attention.
"As the family moved from place to place, they often spoke of the wounds of the child, and this finally reached the ears of someone who told them Americans might help," Patsy Wilson of Solace for the Children writes in an email to NPR.
When U.S. troops saw the girl earlier this year, they got in touch with Solace for the Children, a group that has been working to bring wounded children of war to the U.S. for medical treatment.
"Some soldiers found her and said she was in a lot of pain still," says Jami Valentine, who along with her sister, Staci Freeman, have been Arefa's host family in Southern California since June.
Neither Arefa's mother, who was also injured in the blast, nor her father came with her to the U.S., as parents of children involved with the group do not make the trip with their kids.
Valentine says at first she didn't think she was up to the task. And then she saw Arefa's picture.
"Somehow her eyes connected with me even through the pictures. And it was this picture of sadness and strength all the same time, and I thought, 'How could I say no to this little girl?' " Valentine says.
She says that according to Arefa's doctor, it was just in time. "He has a very tender spot for her because he feels like she's unique, she's special, because medically she shouldn't be here," Valentine says.
When she arrived in the U.S., Arefa needed skin-graft surgery for the top of her head. The sisters recall the morning when she was able, for the first time, to touch her head and not feel pain.
"She laughed like this kind of joy laugh, and then she said, 'Thank you, doctors, and thank you, Staci and Jami,' " Freeman says.
Valentine says the girl is a continuing source of amazement. For instance, she marvels at the amount of English Arefa learned in just three months. "We were sitting in the car one day, and out the blue she goes, 'Come on, let's go!' " Valentine says. "It makes me laugh. It catches me off guard every time."
Healing takes many forms. Her host family says the night terrors have thankfully ceased, but they still closely monitor the television. One day early in her stay, a news story came on that showed soldiers with guns. "We couldn't turn the channel fast enough," Valentine says.
In her native Pashto and frantic pantomime, Arefa told them her story of what happened the day of the blast.
"Staci and I would sit, and we would listen, and we would just feel brokenhearted. We know she was unleashing everything she'd been through," Valentine says.
Arefa is scheduled to return to her family in Afghanistan soon.
"There's an element where we desperately want for her to be united with her family, because she talks about them, and I know she misses them. And then there's this real reality where I feel our space is going to get really quiet," Valentine says. "So somehow it all combines together, so I have no doubt it's going to be very sad."
Arefa will still need medical care. The fingers on her hands are disfigured, and scar tissue prevents her from being able to close her eyes when she sleeps. And she returns to an uncertain future in her war-torn homeland.
The women caring for Arefa see that the little girl — who only knew war and who was in pain for half of her life — is experiencing a childhood that she has fully embraced. While in California, she has grown to love swimming, the beach and her nearby playground.
"She walks though each day with joy," Valentine says.
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