Ahead of today's meeting of Obama's national security team to discuss Afghan war strategy, Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and a member of the war council, sent a pair of classified cables to Washington expressing deep reservations about the possibility of sending more U.S. troops to the country.
Eikenberry's concerns about the deployment of more troops centered around Afghan President Hamid Karzai's unwillingness to clamp down on rampant corruption throughout the country, a situation that has helped the Taliban re-establish itself there, the Post states.
Eikenberry's memos were skeptical of plans to send more troops until Karzai's government steps up its efforts to root out corruption.
But Karzai''s corruption is not the only thing keeping the Taliban in business, according to an explosive new story by reporter Aram Roston for The Nation.
The Nation alleges that hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military funds are making their way to Afghan insurgents, including the Taliban. Roston reports that the U.S. is paying off insurgents to persuade them from attacking U.S. supply lines.
This is interestting because the US was paying the Taliban $50 million to keep the poppy crop under control. Now we are paying millions more to the Taliban in protection money to secure the US supply lines. In addition, the Russians have offered to fly supplies into Afghanistan that would save the US money if we started using this option.
In this grotesque carnival, the US military's contractors are forced to pay suspected insurgents to protect American supply routes. It is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting.
This is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount of money for the Taliban. "It's a big part of their income," one of the top Afghan government security officials told The Nation in an interview. In fact, US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon's logistics contracts--hundreds of millions of dollars--consists of payments to insurgents.
Read more from the Nation: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston
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About 43 per cent of Pakistanis support dialogue with the Taliban, the survey said [AFP]
The resentment was made clearer when residents were asked about the Pakistan's military efforts to tackle the Taliban.
However, when asked if they support or oppose the US military's drone attacks against what Washington claims are Taliban and al-Qaeda targets, only nine per cent of respondents reacted favourably.
Most Britons believe the war in Afghanistan is "unwinnable" and want troops pulled out, according to a newspaper opinion poll.Fifty-eight per cent see the offensive against the Taliban as a lost cause, while 52 per cent want the troops withdrawn from Afghanistan, the poll commissioned by the Independent indicated.
The ComRes telephone poll of 1,008 Britons, which was conducted between July 24 and 26, came as the bodies of four British soldiers were flown home to a UK airbase on Tuesday.
The troops were among 22 UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan this month, bringing the total number of service personnel to have died in the conflict since 2001 to 191.
Lacking equipment
About 75 per cent believe British troops lack the equipment they need to perform their role in Afghanistan safely, compared to 16 per cent who think they have adequate resources, the poll said.
However, 60 per cent of those polled do not think more troops and resources should be sent to the front line.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/07/2009728181223572146.html
The Taliban in Afghanistan has issued a book laying down a code of conduct for its fig  hters.Al Jazeera has obtained a copy of the book which further indicates that Mullah Omar, the movement's leader, wants to centralise its operations. The book, with 13 chapters and 67 articles, lays out what one of the most secretive organisations in the world today, can and cannot do. It talks of limiting suicide attacks, avoiding civilian casualties and winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the local civilian population. James Bays, our correspondent in Afghanistan, said every fighter is being issued the pocket book entitled "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Rules for Mujahideen". Our correspondent said the book sheds considerable light on the structure, organisation and aims of the group. In the book, Mullah Omar is quoted as saying that creating a new mujahideen group or battalion is forbidden. "If unofficial groups or irregular battalions refuse to join the formal structure, they should be disbanded," says Omar. So far, individual Taliban commanders have had a fair degree of autonomy, often deciding what operations to conduct and how to run the territory that they control. Our correspondent said the regulations seem to be an attempt by Mullah Omar to bring all of the Taliban under his control. "We have in the past had a lot of different groups in Afghanistan operating under the umbrella of the Taliban," Bays said. "But it says in these regulations that if you find an irregular battalion that is not obeying orders then what you have to do is find that battalion and then disarm them." Suicide bombing rules While the Taliban have repeatedly used suicide bombings across Afghanistan, the book now says that they should be used only on high and important targets. "A brave son of Islam should not be used for lower and useless targets. The utmost effort should be made to avoid civilian casualties," the book says. There are now clear guidelines on how the Taliban will treat its prisoners as well. "Whenever any official, soldier, contractor or worker of the slave government is captured, these prisoners cannot be attacked or harmed," it says. "The decision on whether to seek a prisoner exchange or to release the prisoner with strong guarantees will be made by the provincial leader. "Releasing prisoners in exchange for money is strictly prohibited." The book further states that if a "military infidel" is captured, the decision on whether to kill, release or exchange the hostage is only to be made by the Imam, a reference to Mullah Omar, or deputy Imam. Winning hearts The book makes it clear that it is the duty of every fighter to win over the local population. "The mujahideen have to behave well and show proper treatment to the nation, in order to bring the hearts of civilian Muslims closer to them. "The mujahideen must avoid discrimination based on tribal roots, language or geographic background." Our correspondent said the reference to winning over the hearts of the Afghan people is very similar to language used by Nato-led military forces in the country. "Recently the Nato commander here issued a new tactical directive saying that civilians should not be bombed - almost the same words in these regulations to Taliban fighters," Bays said. "Both sides [are] trying to win over the civilian population in their area." The release of the rule book comes less than a month before Afghans head to the polls for a presidential election, which the Taliban has deemed an illegitimate system imposed by foreigners. The timing may be just a coincidence, however, as rival presidential candidates detail their manifestos and the Taliban makes an effort to win over the Afghan public. source: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/07/20097278348124813.html Get 30 days of free traffic analysis simply by going to Web-Stat: http://www.web-stat.com/?id=2955 Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/IGiu Improve blog traffic with TrafficG http://trafficg.com/splash/splash01.php?uid=eelder1 Netcraft rank: 30670 |
In 2007 193,000 hectares of opium was cultivated. In 2008 the number has dropped by 19 per cent to 157,000 hectares.
