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Max Forte's List: Afghanistan: Occupation and Resistance

US Marines train illiterate farmers to be police - Yahoo! News

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Afghanistan farmers police Marines training about 17 hours ago
- SEBASTIAN ABBOT, Associated Press
- KHAN NESHIN, Afghanistan – The U.S. Marines were tense looking for bombs buried near a mud compound in this remote farming town in southern Afghanistan. Their new Afghan police colleagues were little help, joking around and sucking on lollipops meant for local kids.
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- - The government had sent the new group of 13 police to live and train with the Marines just a few days earlier. Most were illiterate young farmers with no formal training who had been plucked off the streets only weeks before.
  - The provincial government fired the last group of police assigned to Khan Neshin after more than half of them failed a drug test, prompting them to rebel by throwing rocks at the Marines. When the police weren't smoking drugs, Afghans complained they were taking goods from the bazaar without paying.
  - The Marines spend their days teaching the recruits the basics of patrolling, sweeping the ground for buried bombs and searching people and vehicles. They prepared for their mission by working with a group of Afghan-Americans in a mock town set up on their base at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Scifo said.
  - A village elder approached the chief of the new police during a recent patrol to complain that security forces should consult with local leaders before searching people's homes. The incident occurred just after Marines and police entered the compound of a suspected Taliban supporter.
Top UN official in Afghanistan to leave in March - AP

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Afghanistan elections Eide UN Galbraith Kunduz airstrike Germany about 17 hours ago
- DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press
- KABUL – The top U.N. official in Afghanistan said Friday he will not renew his contract when it expires in March after a two-year tenure marred by controversy over his handling of the country's fraud-marred presidential election and a deadly attack on U.N. workers.
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- - Eide's tenure was tarnished by allegations from his American deputy, Peter Galbraith, that he was not bullish enough in curbing fraud in the August presidential election, which eventually awarded a second term to Hamid Karzai. Eide denied the charge and said controversy over the election was not linked to his decision not to renew his contract.
  - "The election controversy was between Peter Galbraith and the rest of the international community," he said.
  - Eide leads the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which coordinates the U.N. operation in the country. The U.N. mission is still reeling from a pre-dawn assault Oct. 28 on a guesthouse in Kabul where dozens of U.N. staffers lived. Gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed inside. Five U.N. workers were among those killed.
  - In response, the U.N. in November sent about 600 foreign staff out of the country or into safer quarters inside Afghanistan. The decision followed a drawdown of U.N. operations in neighboring Pakistan. The U.N. said the workers were only being temporarily relocated, but the decision raised questions about whether the world body could operate effectively in the region with war raging on both sides of the border.
  - In northern Afghanistan on Friday, German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg visited Kunduz province where a Sept. 4 airstrike believed to have killed many civilians caused deep anger in Afghanistan and political turbulence in Berlin. German officials have said they plan to negotiate compensation for relatives of the victim
  - German officials, citing a classified NATO report, have said up to 142 people were killed or wounded in the airstrike on two tanker trucks captured by the Taliban. Local Afghan leaders estimated the number of civilian deaths at between 30 and 40.
  - Guttenberg, who called the airstrike "militarily inappropriate," removed the military's chief of staff last month, and the defense minister at the time, Franz Josef Jung, has since resigned from his new job as labor minister.
CBC News - Canada - Most Canadians believe Afghan detainees tortured: poll

Most Canadians oppose extending the mission in Afghanistan.

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Canada Afghanistan opposition poll on 2009-12-10
- Thursday, December 10, 2009
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- - Despite recent testimony from Rick Hillier, the former chief of defence staff, and other top generals before a parliamentary committee, the majority of Canadians believe that some prisoners who were handed to Afghan authorities by the military were tortured, according to a new EKOS poll.
  - Among this group, 83 per cent believe the government was aware there was a strong possibility that prisoners would be tortured.
  - The belief that torture occurred is highest among NDP (71 per cent), Green Party (71 per cent), and Bloc (77 per cent) supporters as well as people in B.C. and Quebec.
  - Only Conservative supporters are slightly less likely to believe that the government was aware that prisoners might be tortured. Even so, nearly 68 per cent of Conservative supporters think the government was aware of that possibility.
  - People with university level education are also more likely to believe that torture occurred compared with those with high school or less education. Those born in Canada are more likely to believe that it occurred than those born outside the country.
  - In terms of the government's level of transparency and disclosure regarding the alleged torture of prisoners, more Canadians are dissatisfied than satisfied.
  - Forty-one per cent of Canadians say they are dissatisfied while 24 per cent are satisfied. Just over 35 per cent have no opinion or are waiting to draw conclusions at this time.
  - the majority of Canadians (52 per cent) oppose extending Canada's mission in that country.
  - This is consistent across all party supporters with the exception of the Conservatives who provide higher levels of support (46 per cent) for extending Canada's mission in Afghanistan if the Americans ask for our help.
  - Those living in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan are more likely than other regions to say they support extending Canada's mission in Afghanistan.
  - Women are more likely to oppose (55 per cent) extending Canada's mission in Afghanistan as are younger Canadians under 25 years old (58 per cent).
Petraeus reveals boost in US counterterror effort - AP

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Afghanistan Petraeus terrorism on 2009-12-10
- ROBERT BURNS and PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press
- WASHINGTON – The rapid U.S. build up in the Afghan war will include more terrorist-hunting forces to chase down militants deemed too extreme to change sides, a top U.S. general revealed on Wednesday.
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- - "There's no question you've got to kill or capture those bad guys that are not reconcilable," Gen. David Petraeus, the chief of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "And we are intending to do that."
  - In his first congressional testimony on President Barack Obama's announced plan to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, Petraeus also cautioned that progress against probably will be slower than during the build up of U.S. forces in Iraq two years ago, and the war will be "harder before it gets easier."
  - "In fact, we actually will be increasing our counterterrorist component of the overall strategy," Petraeus said. He provided no details beyond saying that additional "national mission force elements" would be sent to Afghanistan next spring.
  - Petraeus appeared to be referring to classified units such as the Army's Delta Force that specialize in counterterrorism and that have been used extensively in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who now oversees the Afghan war and is scheduled to testify Thursday before a House committee, previously headed up those units inside Iraq and Afghanistan.
  - In an interview with PBS's Charlie Rose on Wednesday, McChrystal cited a formula for success in the counterterrorism effort he led in Iraq, saying the point is to eliminate the middle levels of terrorist networks like al-Qaida rather than focusing on killing only the most senior leaders.
  - "The president has said that the United States did not choose this war, and he is correct," he said. "But with these troop deployments to Afghanistan, we are choosing the battlefield where we will concentrate most of our available military resources."
    
    "The risk is that we will expend tens of billions of dollars fighting in a strategically less important Afghanistan, while Taliban and al-Qaida leaders become increasingly secure in Pakistan," Lugar said.
  - In Afghanistan, Petraeus forecast an increase in bloodshed next summer. He cited a combination of increased U.S. and NATO military operations against the Taliban and increased turmoil resulting from expected Afghan government actions to combat corruption by replacing "malign actors" within the government.
Kabul mayor still in office despite conviction - AP

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Afghanistan corruption Karzai Kabul Mayor on 2009-12-10
- DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press
- KABUL – President Hamid Karzai's promise to fight the rampant graft and bribery plaguing his government has hit a road bump — right down the street from his palace. Despite a corruption conviction, the mayor of Kabul remains in charge of the Afghan capital.
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- - Karzai has called for an end to a "culture of impunity" and said his government was committed to bringing to justice corrupt officials and abuse of public property
  - Yet the government's inability to block Mayor Abdul Ahad Sahebi from his job underscores the weakness of the Karzai administration.
  - Sahebi was found guilty on Monday of awarding a contract for a city project without competition. An Afghan court sentenced him to four years in jail and ordered him to repay more than $16,000 involved in the contract. Prosecutors have threatened to send police to the mayor's office Thursday if he doesn't step down.
  - The attorney general sent city administration officials a letter stating that the mayor no longer had the right to run the city.
    
    "Tomorrow we will send police to stop him from working," deputy attorney general Fazel Ahmad Faqiryar said Wednesday.
    
    Officials with the Afghan Supreme Court, the nation's highest bench, said they were shocked that Sahebi was back at work.
    
    "Why is he released? Why is he having press conferences?" asked Mohammad Qasim Halimi, chief of administration for the high court. "I don't know, but again I say, the court decision was legal."
    
    Mohammad Yaseen Usmani, the top official in the government's High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption, said the mayor's release pending appeal did not violate any law, but he said that any actions Sahebi attempted to take as mayor would be voided.
CBC News - World - Afghanistan pullout 'daunting': defence chief

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Canada Afghanistan Natynczyk withdrawal on 2009-12-10
- Withdrawing all of Canada's troops and equipment from Afghanistan by 2011 will be a “demanding task,” says Gen. Walter Natynczyk, Canada's chief of defence staff.
- Natynczyk said it's the largest military pullout for Canada since the Korean War and that there’s a wide variety of equipment in Afghanistan, including weapons, ammunition, spare parts material, kitchens and medical facilities.
  
  He said there are also more than 1,200 vehicles and several thousand sea containers “full of stuff.”
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- - Natynczyk said the Forces will have to start bringing contractors in by the summer of 2010 in order to get everything home in July 2011, the end date of the military mission as dictated by a parliamentary motion.
  - The team is also determining what material and equipment should be disposed of, what should be sold off and what should be donated to the Afghans or allies, he said.
  - There are 2,800 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, based primarily in Kandahar province.
    
    Natynczyk repeated that all soldiers will be out of Afghanistan by 2011.
  - The government has insisted Canada's military mission will end in 2011. But its ministers and staff — including Defence Minister Peter MacKay — have suggested Canadian soldiers could remain in Afghanistan beyond that deadline, though perhaps not in combat.
Kucinich: The War Is a Threat to Our National Security | CommonDreams.org

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Afghanistan opposition withdrawal Dennis_Kucinich on 2009-12-09
- December 3, 2009
- WASHINGTON - December 3 - Following a speech on the Floor of the House of Representative, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement:
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- - "America is in the fight of its life and that fight is not in Afghanistan -- its here. We are deeply in debt. Our GDP is down. Our manufacturing is down. Our savings are down. The value of the dollar is down. Our trade deficit is up. Business failures are up. Bankruptcies are up.
  - "The war is a threat to our national security. We'll spend over one $100 billion next year to bomb a nation of poor people while we reenergize the Taliban, destabilize Pakistan, deplete our army and put more of our soldiers' lives on the line. Meanwhile, back here in the USA, 15 million people are out of work. People are losing their jobs, their health care, their savings, their investments, and their retirement security. $13 trillion in bailouts for Wall Street, trillions for war; when are we going to start taking care of things here at home?"
Afghanistan: Vietnam all over again

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Afghanistan Vietnam surge Obama McChrystal Taliban COIN on 2009-12-09
- By Hugh Gusterson |
  1 December 2009
- The more people invest in war, the more vindication they seek from it. This is the logic of escalation, the path we have now chosen in Afghanistan. LBJ understood this, and he was broken by it."
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- - Obama is clearly aware of the perils of being LBJ, but he thinks he can avoid them. In fact, in his speech to the nation last night, he explicitly took issue with those who liken Afghanistan to Vietnam.
  - The generals believe that more U.S. (and Afghan) troops will act like a weight that will, if it is large enough, crush the insurgency.
  - First, there will always be empty space into which the insurgency can move and regroup. If there are too many U.S. troops in Helmand province, the Taliban will lie low there and pop up somewhere else instead.
  - the weight of U.S. force won't crush the insurgency but displace it--just as all of those U.S. resources devoted to eradicating cocaine trafficking in Latin America have only succeeded in displacing cocaine cultivation and production from one province or country to another.
  - Second, the more U.S. troops there are in Afghanistan, the more provocative incidents and resentment there will be, and this will help the Taliban to recruit. More U.S. troops equals more Taliban recruits. And that equation leads to this escalatory arithmetic: More Taliban looking for people to shoot plus more U.S. troops to be shot at equals more body bags at Dover Air Force Base. This won't look like victory to the U.S. people.
  - To make things worse, Obama has given the Taliban an incentive to fight on by declaring a deadline to start exiting Afghanistan. While this may be necessary to quiet the growing ranks of Obama supporters (or should that be former supporters?) disillusioned with the White House's blank checks to the military, it tells the Taliban that, if they can just hang on until a certain date, they have won.
Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan | The White House

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Afghanistan Obama imperialism surge NATO Pakistan al-Qaeda Taliban speech on 2009-12-06 and saved by 5 people
- December 01, 2009
- Eisenhower Hall Theatre, United States Military Academy at West Point, West Point, New York
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- - it's important to recall why America and our allies were compelled to fight a war in Afghanistan in the first place. We did not ask for this fight. On September 11, 2001, 19 men hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 people. They struck at our military and economic nerve centers. They took the lives of innocent men, women, and children without regard to their faith or race or station. Were it not for the heroic actions of passengers onboard one of those flights, they could have also struck at one of the great symbols of our democracy in Washington, and killed many more.
  - Just days after 9/11, Congress authorized the use of force against al Qaeda and those who harbored them -- an authorization that continues to this day. The vote in the Senate was 98 to nothing.
  - The vote in the House was 420 to 1.
  - For the first time in its history, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization invoked Article 5 -- the commitment that says an attack on one member nation is an attack on all.
  - And the United Nations Security Council endorsed the use of all necessary steps to respond to the 9/11 attacks. America, our allies and the world were acting as one to destroy al Qaeda’s terrorist network and to protect our common security.
  - Under the banner of this domestic unity and international legitimacy -- and only after the Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden -- we sent our troops into Afghanistan.
  - A place that had known decades of fear now had reason to hope.
  - At a conference convened by the U.N., a provisional government was established under President Hamid Karzai. And an International Security Assistance Force was established to help bring a lasting peace to a war-torn country.
  - After escaping across the border into Pakistan in 2001 and 2002, al Qaeda’s leadership established a safe haven there.
  - Although a legitimate government was elected by the Afghan people, it's been hampered by corruption, the drug trade, an under-developed economy, and insufficient security forces.
  - Afghanistan is not lost, but for several years it has moved backwards. There's no imminent threat of the government being overthrown, but the Taliban has gained momentum.
  - Al Qaeda has not reemerged in Afghanistan in the same numbers as before 9/11, but they retain their safe havens along the border.
  - And as Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home.
  - So, no, I do not make this decision lightly. I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of violent extremism practiced by al Qaeda. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak.
  - Of course, this burden is not ours alone to bear. This is not just America's war. Since 9/11, al Qaeda’s safe havens have been the source of attacks against London and Amman and Bali. The people and governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan are endangered. And the stakes are even higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan, because we know that al Qaeda and other extremists seek nuclear weapons, and we have every reason to believe that they would use them.
  - Because this is an international effort, I've asked that our commitment be joined by contributions from our allies. Some have already provided additional troops, and we're confident that there will be further contributions in the days and weeks ahead. Our friends have fought and bled and died alongside us in Afghanistan. And now, we must come together to end this war successfully. For what's at stake is not simply a test of NATO's credibility -- what's at stake is the security of our allies, and the common security of the world.
  - Second, we will work with our partners, the United Nations, and the Afghan people to pursue a more effective civilian strategy, so that the government can take advantage of improved security.
  - We'll support Afghan ministries, governors, and local leaders that combat corruption and deliver for the people. We expect those who are ineffective or corrupt to be held accountable. And we will also focus our assistance in areas -- such as agriculture -- that can make an immediate impact in the lives of the Afghan people.
  - Third, we will act with the full recognition that our success in Afghanistan is inextricably linked to our partnership with Pakistan.
  - We're in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through that country. But this same cancer has also taken root in the border region of Pakistan. That's why we need a strategy that works on both sides of the border.
  - These are the three core elements of our strategy: a military effort to create the conditions for a transition; a civilian surge that reinforces positive action; and an effective partnership with Pakistan.
  - First, there are those who suggest that Afghanistan is another Vietnam. They argue that it cannot be stabilized, and we're better off cutting our losses and rapidly withdrawing. I believe this argument depends on a false reading of history. Unlike Vietnam, we are joined by a broad coalition of 43 nations that recognizes the legitimacy of our action. Unlike Vietnam, we are not facing a broad-based popular insurgency. And most importantly, unlike Vietnam, the American people were viciously attacked from Afghanistan, and remain a target for those same extremists who are plotting along its border. To abandon this area now -- and to rely only on efforts against al Qaeda from a distance -- would significantly hamper our ability to keep the pressure on al Qaeda, and create an unacceptable risk of additional attacks on our homeland and our allies.
  - Second, there are those who acknowledge that we can't leave Afghanistan in its current state, but suggest that we go forward with the troops that we already have. But this would simply maintain a status quo in which we muddle through, and permit a slow deterioration of conditions there. It would ultimately prove more costly and prolong our stay in Afghanistan, because we would never be able to generate the conditions needed to train Afghan security forces and give them the space to take over.
  - Finally, there are those who oppose identifying a time frame for our transition to Afghan responsibility. Indeed, some call for a more dramatic and open-ended escalation of our war effort -- one that would commit us to a nation-building project of up to a decade. I reject this course because it sets goals that are beyond what can be achieved at a reasonable cost, and what we need to achieve to secure our interests. Furthermore, the absence of a time frame for transition would deny us any sense of urgency in working with the Afghan government. It must be clear that Afghans will have to take responsibility for their security, and that America has no interest in fighting an endless war in Afghanistan.
  - We've failed to appreciate the connection between our national security and our economy. In the wake of an economic crisis, too many of our neighbors and friends are out of work and struggle to pay the bills. Too many Americans are worried about the future facing our children. Meanwhile, competition within the global economy has grown more fierce. So we can't simply afford to ignore the price of these wars.
  - But as we end the war in Iraq and transition to Afghan responsibility, we must rebuild our strength here at home. Our prosperity provides a foundation for our power. It pays for our military. It underwrites our diplomacy. It taps the potential of our people, and allows investment in new industry. And it will allow us to compete in this century as successfully as we did in the last. That's why our troop commitment in Afghanistan cannot be open-ended -- because the nation that I'm most interested in building is our own.
  - So as a result, America will have to show our strength in the way that we end wars and prevent conflict -- not just how we wage wars. We'll have to be nimble and precise in our use of military power. Where al Qaeda and its allies attempt to establish a foothold -- whether in Somalia or Yemen or elsewhere -- they must be confronted by growing pressure and strong partnerships.
  - And we can't count on military might alone. We have to invest in our homeland security, because we can't capture or kill every violent extremist abroad. We have to improve and better coordinate our intelligence, so that we stay one step ahead of shadowy networks.
  - We will have to take away the tools of mass destruction.
  - We'll have to use diplomacy, because no one nation can meet the challenges of an interconnected world acting alone. I've spent this year renewing our alliances and forging new partnerships. And we have forged a new beginning between America and the Muslim world -- one that recognizes our mutual interest in breaking a cycle of conflict, and that promises a future in which those who kill innocents are isolated by those who stand up for peace and prosperity and human dignity.
  - And finally, we must draw on the strength of our values -- for the challenges that we face may have changed, but the things that we believe in must not. That's why we must promote our values by living them at home -- which is why I have prohibited torture and will close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
  - Since the days of Franklin Roosevelt, and the service and sacrifice of our grandparents and great-grandparents, our country has borne a special burden in global affairs. We have spilled American blood in many countries on multiple continents. We have spent our revenue to help others rebuild from rubble and develop their own economies. We have joined with others to develop an architecture of institutions -- from the United Nations to NATO to the World Bank -- that provide for the common security and prosperity of human beings.
  - But more than any other nation, the United States of America has underwritten global security for over six decades
  - We have not always been thanked for these efforts, and we have at times made mistakes.
  - For unlike the great powers of old, we have not sought world domination. Our union was founded in resistance to oppression. We do not seek to occupy other nations. We will not claim another nation’s resources or target other peoples because their faith or ethnicity is different from ours. What we have fought for -- what we continue to fight for -- is a better future for our children and grandchildren. And we believe that their lives will be better if other peoples’ children and grandchildren can live in freedom and access opportunity.
  - In the end, our security and leadership does not come solely from the strength of our arms. It derives from our people -- from the workers and businesses who will rebuild our economy; from the entrepreneurs and researchers who will pioneer new industries; from the teachers that will educate our children, and the service of those who work in our communities at home; from the diplomats and Peace Corps volunteers who spread hope abroad; and from the men and women in uniform who are part of an unbroken line of sacrifice that has made government of the people, by the people, and for the people a reality on this Earth.
  - It's easy to forget that when this war began, we were united -- bound together by the fresh memory of a horrific attack, and by the determination to defend our homeland and the values we hold dear. I refuse to accept the notion that we cannot summon that unity again.
Afghanistan – raise, fold or call? | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

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Afghanistan video Rory_Stewart on 2009-12-06
Is President Obama’s Surge a Trap? by Cynthia McKinney | International Peace Movement

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Afghanistan Obama surge opposition on 2009-12-04
- Last night, President Obama announced both his decision to add 30,000 U.S. troops to the mire in Afghanistan and his desire to see other countries and N.A.T.O. match his surge. Thanks to U.S. taxpayers, mercenaries will continue to be a part of the foreign presence in Afghanistan. The Republicans support the President’s move and are expected to reward President Obama with the bulk of their Congressional votes to pass his plan.
- In unprecedented numbers, voters in the United States of all previous political persuasions went to the polls and invested their dreams and, most importantly, their votes in the “hope” and “change” promised by the Obama campaign.
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- - But in light of the President’s defense of Bush Administration war crimes and torture in U.S. courts, the transfer of trillions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars to the wealthy banking elite, continued spying on environmental and peace activists as well as support for the extension of the Patriot Act, and removal of Medicare-for-all (single payer) as a central feature of proposed health care reform, Obama voters are rethinking their support.
  - Already, according to a Daily Koss report written by Steve Singiser: “Two in five Democratic voters either consider themselves unlikely to vote at this point in time, or have already made the firm decision to remove themselves from the 2010 electorate pool. Indeed, Democrats were three times more likely to say that they will ‘definitely not vote’ in 2010 than are Republicans.”
  - War-weary voters in this country are committed to peace. They reject the notion, as put forward by Vice President Dick Cheney that “the American way of life” is something worth fighting for when that means that war becomes an energy policy.
  - U.S. policy is not only guided by pipeline politics. There is also the consideration of chessboard geo-positioning necessary to contain Russia, China, and ensure U.S. empire—for those inclined to traditional Cold Warrior “containment” thinking. Apparently, behind what some are calling a “shadow war in Muslim lands,” are targeted assassination teams that have wreaked tri-border havoc in Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Key to Afghan crisis: tea and education | csmonitor.com

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Afghanistan Greg_Mortenson Mortenson schools Taliban COIN on 2009-12-04 and saved by 4 people
- Greg Mortenson, author of 'Three Cups of Tea,' says success lies in building trust and schools in rural Afghanistan.
- By Todd Wilkinson
  | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
  
  from the December 4, 2009 edition
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- - The cause of religious extremism and distortion of the writings of the Koran is ignorance, illiteracy, and joblessness, he
    says. They all can be blunted by education. But classrooms can only rise if the local population has a stake in their success.
  - "The Taliban succeeds because it disrupts social order at the local level by severing the learning relationship kids have
    with shuras [tribal councils]," he explains. "When you do that, you erase not only the importance of local history and identity, but
    you destroy the ability of the shuras and mullahs [religious leaders] to have positive influences on young people."
  - Adm. Mike Mullen, President Obama's handpicked chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, found a copy of "Three Cups of Tea"
    awaiting him on his nightstand. It had been placed there by his wife, Deborah. "Three Cups of Tea" also reached the hands
    of Gen. David Petraeus, leader of the US Central Command, and Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who recently requested 40,000 additional
    troops. It is required reading for US officers in the region.
  - Mullen and Petraeus summoned Mortenson to meetings at the Pentagon, and he used maps to give them a virtual tour of the country,
    pointing out some areas that have been virtually impenetrable to US ground forces, telling them the names of shuras and mullahs
    they needed to contact.
  - "Many of the elders I know are really angry at the Americans," Mortenson says. "It has less to do with our presence and more
    to do with the huge outcries caused by drones and bombers attacking suspected Taliban hangouts but killing a lot of innocent
    people."
  - What mystified Mullen was how Mortenson was able to build schools in places where the US has suffered its stiffest resistance
    and casualties.
    
    Add Sticky Note
  - Just one of Mortenson's schools has been attacked by the Taliban at a time when fundamentalists opposed to
    women's empowerment have violently tried to thwart girls' education.
  - Since 2007, according to UNICEF, 850 schools have been bombed, burned, or destroyed in Afghanistan and 600 in neighboring
    Pakistan. Former President Clinton has said of Mortenson: "He is effective in an area where Americans are not popular, because
    he relates to people as human beings."
  - Mullen accepted Mortenson's invitation to open a girls' school this past July in the Panjshir Valley, and he saw firsthand
    the impact – but only after Mullen sat amid a circle of elders and drank tea.
  - The Central Asia Institute, Mortenson's nonprofit organization, provides 50 percent of the funding, which must be matched
    by in-kind contributions of materials and local sweat equity. "The community must want the school," he says. "It's not ours
    to give them. What they're really doing is consciously choosing to create a different future."
  - Mortenson stops short of condemning the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whose reelection was marred by fraud,
    but he says asking people to accept the primacy of a central government runs counter to thousands of years of history.
  - This is not a war that will be won with superior firepower, Kolenda says. "You must work on the smaller issues first to build
    mutual respect and credibility," he says. "Once you reach that point and all parties are confident in the relationship, then
    you can move on to more sensitive issues. Insurgents tend to prey on disaffected groups and communities."
  - "The extremists are small in number," Mr. Ali says. "They can be minimized. If the people have opportunities for jobs, to
    own land, and go to school, most of the problems with the Taliban will go away."
    
    Add Sticky Note
Pakistani News Outlets Condemn Obama’s Plan - At War Blog - NYTimes.com

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Afghanistan Pakistan surge opposition on 2009-12-04
- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Obama’s speech at West Point was broadcast here on Wednesday, so coverage and comment in the Pakistani press crested on Thursday. In this nation, where sentiment is strong against America, most of the headlines were ominous.
- Jang, the most widely read Urdu daily, led with the headline “Approval of increasing drone strikes in Pakistan,” while adding that the United States would “increase pressure on a weak Zardari government” and be “expanding covert operations.”
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- - Initially, the exit plan as announced by President Obama was greeted with pronouncements that Afghanistan, the “graveyard of empires,” had claimed another world power. Some analysts earlier in the day tried to give a positive spin, claiming that Pakistan’s role was pivotal in sorting out the mess in Afghanistan.
Clinton says allies can help turn the Afghan tide - AP

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Afghanistan surge NATO Clinton Rasmussen on 2009-12-04
- ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer
- BRUSSELS – Some two dozen countries will send an estimated 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan next year, the chief of NATO said Friday as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told her allied counterparts that an infusion of forces is crucial to turning the tide in the long war.
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- - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark told reporters at NATO headquarters that at least 25 nations would provide the additional forces in Afghanistan in 2010, "with more to come." And he said the 44 countries now involved are "absolutely united" in their commitment to seeing the eight-year war through to a successful outcome.
  - The troop estimate was 2,000 higher than the 5,000-strong pledges that Ramussen cited Tuesday, after President Barack Obama announced his decision to bolster the United States' war effort. Obama said he will send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan by next fall.
  - "The strongest message in the room today was solidarity," Rasmussen said. "Nations are backing up their words with deeds."
  - U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, the top NATO and U.S. commander in Europe, said in an Associated Press interview during a break in the talks that he believes several thousand more non-U.S. troops may be contributed next year, in addition to the 7,000 cited by Fogh Rasmussen.
  - "The need for additional forces is urgent, but their presence will not be indefinite," she told the North Atlantic Council, NATO's highest political council.
    
    She cited President Barack Obama's pledge on Tuesday to begin withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011.
    
    "At that time, we will begin to transfer authority and responsibility to Afghan security forces removing combat forces from Afghanistan over time with the assurance that Afghanistan's future, and ours, is secure," Clinton said, according to a copy of her prepared remarks to the closed-door meeting.
  - Fogh Rasmussen made a similar point.
    
    "Transition (to Afghan control) does not mean exit," he said.
  - "Today, our people are weary of war," she said. "But we cannot ignore reality. The extremists continue to target innocent people and sow destruction across continents. From the remote mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, they plot future attacks. As Secretary General Rasmussen said earlier this week, `This is our fight, together.' And we must finish it together."
  - "I look forward to discussing further commitments with many of you today and in the coming days," she said. "Additional troops, enhanced support for the vital training mission, and added civilian assistance will help deny al-Qaida a safe haven, reverse the Taliban's momentum, and strengthen the capacity of the Afghans to take responsibility for their own security."
  - "Even as we signal resolve through the deployment of additional forces and a long-term civilian commitment, we want to send a signal that our combat presence is not permanent, and to provide a sense of urgency to the Afghans to do for themselves what we know they're capable of doing," she said.
    
    "But I want to stress that this timeframe does not mean that we can or will end our commitment to Afghanistan, Pakistan, or the region. Our political, economic, and diplomatic presence in the region will endure. I know that this has not always been the case in the past, but we intend the future to be different than the past."
  - The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, sketched out the threat to Europe posed by Afghanistan's instability.
    
    "We all know that in the 1990s, Afghanistan was the incubator of international terrorism, the incubator of choice for global jihad," he said. "The badlands of the Afghan-Pakistan border are a threat to people everywhere, whatever their religion, and that's why it's very important that we make progress."
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Afghanistan nation_building on 2009-12-04
US Marines launch large offensive - AP

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Afghanistan offensive surge on 2009-12-04 and saved by 2 people
- ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press
- KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S. Marines and Afghan troops Friday launched the first offensive since President Barack Obama announced an American troop surge, striking against Taliban communications and supply lines in a southern insurgent stronghold, a military spokesman said.
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- - Hundreds of troops from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines and the Marine reconnaissance unit Task Force Raider were dropped by helicopter and MV-22 Osprey aircraft behind Taliban lines in the northern end of the Now Zad Valley of Helmand province, scene of heavy fighting last summer, according to Marine spokesman Maj. William Pelletier.
  - A second, larger force pushed northward from the Marines' Forward Operating Base in Now Zad, Pelletier said. Combat engineers were forcing a corridor through Taliban minefields with armored steamrollers and explosives, Pelletier said.
  - In all, about 1,000 Marines as well as Afghan troops were taking part in the operation, known as "Cobra's Anger," he said.
  - America's European allies will send an estimated 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan next year "with more to come," NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced Friday.
  - Most of the new troops are expected to be sent to southern Afghanistan, including Helmand, where Taliban influence is strongest.
  - The new offensive aims to cut off the Taliban communication routes through Helmand and disrupt their supply lines, especially those providing explosives for the numerous lethal roadside bombs that litter the area.
  - "Right now, the enemy is confused and disorganized," Pelletier said by telephone from Camp Leatherneck, the main Marines base in Helmand. "They're fighting, but not too effectively."
CBC News - World - NATO to send more troops to Afghanistan, U.S. envoy predicts

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Afghanistan surge Canada NATO on 2009-12-04
- Thursday, December 3, 2009
- "We have been very gratified by the strong support of our European allies for President Obama's policy," Holbrooke, the president's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told journalists Thursday.
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- - "I understand that the war is unpopular," Holbrooke said. "It's a long way off, and there's the legacy of Iraq and Vietnam."
  - Italy — which has 2,800 troops in Afghanistan — announced that it will increase its contingent by about 1,000 soldiers starting next year.
  - Armenia also announced it would send a small contingent of 40 troops to Afghanistan early next year, its first deployment as part of the international coalition.
  - The Canadian government has said repeatedly that it remains committed to respecting a motion passed in the House of Commons to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by December 2011.
CBC News - World - Canada welcomes U.S. forces boost

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Afghanistan surge Canada COIN NATO on 2009-12-04
- American forces to augment Canadian troops in Arghandab region
- Wednesday, December 2, 2009
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- - Canada's foreign affairs minister welcomes Barack Obama's announcement of 30,000 more American troops in Afghanistan, saying it would allow Canada to focus on its priorities before a planned pullout in 2011.
  - Lawrence Cannon, speaking during a teleconference Wednesday morning, said Canada remained committed to respecting a motion passed in the House of Commons to withdraw from Afghanistan by December 2011.
  - "Our position is clear," he said. "We will respect the motion to the letter."
  - Cannon said the additional U.S. troops would allow Canada to bolster efforts in three signature projects in Kandahar province:
    
    Vaccination of hundreds of thousands of Afghan children for polio.
    Construction of area schools.
    Rehabilitation of the Dhala Dam and irrigation system.
  - Training a top priority: Afghan ambassador
    
    Jawed Ludin, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada, said training Afghanistan's soldiers should be the primary function of both Canadian and U.S. troops until their departure.
    
    "The surge is not just about combat operations and extra troops, it's about making sure that the Afghan forces are ready as soon as possible to take over, and that involves training," Ludin told CBC News.
CBC News - World - Taliban defiant in face of U.S. troop surge

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Afghanistan surge Taliban on 2009-12-04
- Wednesday, December 2, 2009
- The Taliban vowed to step up their fight in Afghanistan after U.S. President Barack Obama announced 30,000 more American soldiers would go to the country.
  
  In a message sent via email on Wednesday, the Taliban said their resolve will be strengthened by the increase in foreign troops.
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- - "This strategy by the enemy will not benefit them. However many more troops the enemy sends against our Afghan mujahedeen, they are committed to increasing the number of mujahedeen and strengthen their resistance," the Taliban said.
  - "We must deny al-Qaeda a safe haven," Obama said during a speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. "We must reverse the Taliban's momentum.… And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan's security forces and government."
  - Just hours after Obama's speech, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Europe and other allies of the United States will send another 5,000 soldiers to Afghanistan in 2010.
    
    "This is our fight together," said Rasmussen. "We must finish it together."
    
    "What is happening in Afghanistan poses a clear and present danger to the citizens of all our countries," he said.
CBC News - World - Afghan strategy proves tough sell on Capitol Hill

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Afghanistan Karzai Clinton Gates McCain McChrystal surge Obama on 2009-12-04
- Wednesday, December 2, 2009
- U.S. President Barack Obama sent his top guns to Capitol Hill Wednesday to sell his new strategy for the war in Afghanistan — but they had trouble convincing congressional committee members the plan will work.
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- - "Will we withdraw our forces based on conditions on the ground or based on an arbitrary date?" McCain asked. "It's got to be the appropriate conditions or it's got to be an arbitrary date — you can't have both."
  - "We will have a thorough review in December 2010. If it appears the strategy's not working and that we are not going to be able to transition in 2011 then we will take a hard look at the strategy itself."
    
    But McCain was not placated: "Then it makes no sense for him [Obama] to have announced the date."
  - Asked later why any withdrawal date had been set, Gates admitted that American public opinion, which has soured on the war, played a role. Yet in an interview Wednesday morning, Vice-President Joe Biden flatly denied political calculations had anything to do with it.
  - "The purpose is to make it clear to [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai and his government — who up til now has been unwilling to step up to the ball [and] look to us for everything — that fellas, you got to step up to the ball."
    
    However, that stern message was muddied when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted to senators that Karzai wasn't all that bad.
    
    "He pledged to combat corruption, improve governance and deliver for the people of his country. His words were long in coming but they were welcome.

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Max Forte

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The continued Western occupation of Afghanistan and Afghan resistance movements.

Updated about 17 hours ago
Created on 2009-07-26

Category: Government & Politics

Afghanistan occupation resistance insurgency COIN imperialism colonialism liberation

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Max Forte

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Max Forte's List: Afghanistan: Occupation and Resistance

Training a top priority: Afghan ambassador

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