14/12/07

Ministers in debate on Afghanistan
The Press Association –
Defence and foreign ministers from eight countries are to gather in Edinburgh to discuss the latest situation in Afghanistan. Heavy security is expected to …
ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5
i7FEdtreZHaCXyHIbDyZg8mWq2qA

Soldiers ‘hail success of talks with the Taliban’
Independent – London,England,UK
By Kim Sengupta Secret talks between British officials and elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan have delivered significant military and strategic …
news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3249903.ece

Afghanistan allies ‘must do more’
BBC News – UK
By Alan Little Many Nato allies are failing to pull their weight in the battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said. …
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7143610.stm

US, NATO Troop Levels in Afghanistan
The Associated Press –
US troop levels in Afghanistan have peaked this year at about 26000, as officials tried to push NATO countries to take on more security responsibility, …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i69JOn
WOCCaH6hZgz-N-zqT4mIxQD8TGPNG80

Kite Runner controversy flies over head of Kandahar shopkeeper
The Canadian Press –
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Though his wife may scoff, Abdul Wail isn’t ashamed to admit that at 52 years old his passion for kite flying continues to soar. …
canadianpress.google.com/article/
ALeqM5gA1iH86CenuSi-nvqZkoIftDtIig

Browne issues plea over Afghanistan
The Press Association –
Defence Secretary Des Browne called on other countries to help “share the burden” of dealing with Afghanistan. Mr Browne spoke as defence and foreign …
ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM
5i7FEdtreZHaCXyHIbDyZg8mWq2qA

‘Upsurge’ in Afghanistan support
BBC News – UK
The British commander in Afghanistan, Brigadier Andrew Mackay, has said there is more public support for the campaign there than for Iraq operations. …
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7144024.stm

Returning to Afghanistan, with a heavy heart
Boston Globe – United States
… Kabul before the fall – before the Soviet tanks rolled in, before the Taliban took over, back when Afghanistan’s soul belonged to more than its mullahs. …
www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2007/1
2/14/returning_to_afghanistan_with_a_heavy_heart

S Korean troops end mission in Afghanistan
Xinhua – China
14 (Xinhua) — South Korea completed the withdrawal of its military troops from Afghanistan on Friday, wrapping up the 70-month-long mission in the Asian …
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/14/content_7252083.htm

Chief Says NATO No Global Police Force
The Associated Press –
TOKYO (AP) — There are signs of improvement in Afghanistan, but NATO will not pull its troops out of the country anytime soon, the organization’s leader …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5izjEyry
NP1jzu9PJSFRQurNvE05wD8TH3EI80

Boy, grandmother executed by militants as US spies
Melbourne Herald Sun – Australia
They are now waging a growing insurgency that features suicide bombings, similar to those carried out in Iraq but unheard of during Afghanistan’s resistance …
www.news.com.au/heraldsun/
story/0,21985,22926097-663,00.html

Roadsides just another battlefield for people of Afghanistan
The Age – Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
As Afghanistan has headed into its bitterly cold winter, the Taliban have retreated from direct combat operations and have resorted to roadside bombs to …
www.theage.com.au/news/national/roadsides-just-another-
battlefield-for-people-of-afghanistan/2007/12/14/1197568264936.html

Siraj Haqqani’s deputy killed in Afghanistan
By Bill Roggio
US forces in eastern Afghanistan have killed the second senior member of Taliban commander Siraj Haqqani’s powerful network. Combined Joint Task Force-82 (CJTF-82) has confirmed that Mullah Sangeen, Siraj’s deputy, was killed in an …
www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/12/siraj_haqqanis_deput.php

Freedom Watch Afghanistan – Dec. 13
This edition features stories on the visit by Lt. Gen. Helland to Afghanistan, a free Korean hospital to be closed and Soldiers who volunteer to assist with holiday mail in Afghanistan. Hosted by Tech Sgt. Deb Decker.
www.dvidshub.net/podcast.m4v?id=1041

German general: we should do more in Afghanistan
By bosco.david@gmail.com (David Bosco)
Der Spiegel online has posted a candid interview with Germany’s top military officer in Afghanistan. He admits that Germany needs to do more, mainly by getting rid of the caveats that restrict where German soldiers can go and what …
blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/7361

US Pleads for Help in Afghanistan
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates yesterday pleaded with NATO allies to play a bigger combat role in Afghanistan. “I would like for all of the allies to be involved in a comprehensive strategy,” Gates said at a NATO meeting in …
www.newser.com/story/14090.html?rss=y

US seeks help in Afghanistan
By admin
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday pushed European allies for more troops to re-energize efforts in southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency has increased its attacks in the 18 months …
fairproxy.com/2007/12/14/us-seeks-help-in-afghanistan/

Clarifying Expectations in Afghanistan
By Herschel Smith
Actually, with seven US soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division wounded, this constitutes a casualty ratio of 10:1 or slightly greater, which is routine in both Afghanistan and Iraq. To be precise, hundreds of Taliban were said to be …
www.captainsjournal.com/2007/12
/14/clarifying-expectations-in-afghanistan/

US wants more ally contribution in Afghanistan
United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates has accused some NATO allies of failing to pull their weight in the battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/14/2119508.htm

Conflict and land issues in Sudan and Afghanistan
By G. M. Srb; A. Strand
This brief uses examples from Sudan and Afghanistan to highlight the role that land issues have played both in causing poverty and in driving and sustaining …
www.eldis.org/go/display&type=Document&id=34497

Afghanistan allies ‘must do more’
Many Nato allies are failing to pull their weight in the battle with the Taleban in Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said.
digg.com/politics/Afghanistan_allies_must_do_more

Firefight After RPG Hits Humvee – Afghanistan
“RPG hit the truck behind us and we needed to turn around.” (Crap filming, good audio)
www.liveleak.com/view?i=3cc_1197548995

Shushing Victory In Afghanistan
War On Terror: Coalition forces captured the Taliban’s biggest stronghold on Tuesday in a major military victory. Funny, isn’t it, how the good…
www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?secid=1501&status=
article&id=282442911615089&secure=1&show=1&rss=1

US Defense Secretary Critical of NATO Allies
By Human Security Report Project
Gates sharply criticized NATO countries yesterday for not supplying urgently needed trainers, helicopters and infantry for Afghanistan as violence escalates there, vowing not to let the alliance ‘off the hook. …
www.afghanconflictmonitor.org/2007/12/us-defense-secr.html

Canadian Troops Bringing Back ‘Super Bug’ From Afghanistan …
By leftdog(leftdog)
“Federal authorities are warning hospitals across the country to beware a highly drug-resistant bacterium that wounded troops are bringing back from Afghanistan — and which could inadvertently be spread to civilian patients.” …
buckdogpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/12/
canadian-troops-bringing-back-super-bug.html

Opium is a ‘Low Risk Crop in a High Risk Environment’
By Human Security Report Project
David Mansfield and Adam Pain, ‘Evidence from the Field: Understanding Changing Levels of Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan’, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, November 2007. EXCERPT: “The reasons behind changing levels of …
www.afghanconflictmonitor.org/2007/12/opium-is-a-low.html

Iraq/Afghanistan vets: Dept of Defense penalizing wounded veterans
By Craig Newmark
Hey, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is doing a lot of heavy lifting for a lot of troops who are being abused by politicians in high office. For example, some wounded vets aren’t getting their full enlistment bonuses: …
www.cnewmark.com/2007/12/iraqafghanistan.html

Everyday Afghanistan
Don’t miss this beautiful slideshow of Afghanistan on The Atlantic’s website, based off of Sarah Chayes’s feature story on “How the author helped Afghans build a thriving soap and body-oil business—and overcame the incompetence of …
matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/arch
ives/2007/12/everyday_afghanistan.php

Afghanistan – We are so-oooo past 3-D
By Alison(Alison)
“Canada’s aid agency will have 35 professional staff working in Afghanistan by April 2008, up from 10 in 2006. Five foreign affairs personnel, six from CIDA, 10 from the RCMP and two from Correctional Services Canada positions. …
creekside1.blogspot.com/2007/12/afghan
istan-we-are-so-o-o-o-o-past-3-d.html

13/12/07

13/12/07

UK sees role for Taliban in Afghanistan
Globe and Mail – Canada
LONDON — Britain will support deals with Taliban insurgents to give them places in Afghanistan’s new government and military, British Prime Minister Gordon …
www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM
.20071213.wafghan13/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

From Afghanistan with love
San Luis Obispo Tribune – San Luis Obispo,CA,USA
By Sarah Linn Renowned kite maker Noor Agha, 52, with a kite for an American client, at his house in Kabul, Afghanistan. His daughter Sobra, 6, watches. …
www.sanluisobispo.com/ticket/story/218722.html

S. Korean troops to exit Afghanistan this week
USA Today – USA
SEOUL (AP) — South Korean troops will return home this week from Afghanistan, the military said Thursday, ending the country’s five-year contribution to the …
www.usatoday.com/news/world/200
7-12-13-s-korea-afghanistan_N.htm

US Repatriates 15 Guantanamo Prisoners To Afghanistan, Sudan
Radio Free Afghanistan – Afghanistan
The Defense Department said 13 men were transferred to Afghanistan and two to Sudan. The United States has repatriated more than 480 Guantanamo prisoners. …
www.azadiradio.org/en/news/2007/12/F17
B1D5A-5F04-442C-A268-85370307301B.ASP

Controversial Film ‘The Kite Runner’ Hits Movie Screens
Voice of America – USA
By Alan Silverman Novelist Khaled Hosseini’s international best-seller set in 1970s Afghanistan and present-day America has been made into a Hollywood …
www.voanews.com/english/2007-12-12-voa60.cfm

Afghanistan closes border at Chaman
Pakistan Dawn – Karachi,Pakistan
Pakistan has put security on high alert along borders with Afghanistan and Iran to stop smuggling of wheat and flour to overcome acute shortage of flour in …
www.dawn.com/2007/12/13/top15.htm

Testifying Before Congress on the Issue of Veterans’ Suicides
Yahoo! News – USA
At 10:00am today, Todd Bowers, Director of Government Affairs for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), testified before Congress about the issue …
news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20071212/cm_huffpost/076462

US to Cut 10 Percent of Diplomatic Posts Next Year
Washington Post – United States
Those positions and nearly 100 “high priority” jobs in Afghanistan have now been filled for next year — making them virtually the only US embassies in the …
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007
/12/12/AR2007121201186.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Army recruitment stepped up in Afghanistan
Telegraph.co.uk – United Kingdom
By Thomas Harding and James Kirkup Britain will have to recruit more soldiers to sustain a prolonged military mission in Afghanistan, the Prime Minister has …
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jht
ml?xml=/news/2007/12/13/wafghan113.xml

Gates Wants NATO to Reorganize Afghanistan Mission (Update1)
Bloomberg – USA
Rebel attacks have more than doubled in southern Afghanistan in the past year and nato’s international force is short of three infantry battalions, …
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2
0601087&sid=aOgd3_WiFGoY&refer=home

Data Sought on Veterans’ Suicide
The Associated Press –
Awareness of suicide among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was heightened earlier this year when the Army said its suicide rate in 2006 rose to 17.3 per …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXJt3z4
_ecd5RO1rC7zdRmc6I7QQD8TG7E682

Filmmakers Take Risks for ‘Kite Runner’
San Francisco Chronicle – CA, USA
Hosseini said the children were cast during a more stable time in Afghanistan, and he believed their concern arose as violence escalated in the last year. …
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n
/a/2007/12/12/entertainment/e160417S57.DTL

NATO winning in Afghanistan: Brown
ABC Online – Australia
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says NATO forces are winning the battle against the insurgency in Afghanistan. Mr Brown says the 38 nations fighting in …
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117411.htm?section=world

US defense chief to visit Scotland for meeting on Afghanistan
Xinhua – China
12 (Xinhua) — US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is heading to Scotland on Wednesday to attend a meeting on Afghanistan as he urged North Atlantic Treaty …
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/13/content_7236660.htm

Two NATO soldiers killed, three others wounded in E Afghanistan
Xinhua – China
“These soldiers gave their lives in order to provide a safe and secure environment for the people of Afghanistan,” said Brig. Gen. …
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/13/content_7236657.htm

Brown outlines uk’s role in future of Afghanistan
Guardian Unlimited – UK
Gordon Brown meets troops at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan earlier this week. Photograph: Pool/Getty Images Britain will boost aid for Afghanistan’s development …
www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,222
6256,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

Passage of Defense Policy Bill Nears
The Associated Press –
The bill has several provisions intended to increase the oversight of contractors and the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanistan. More specifically, it would …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5idcsR
SLw6_ppJCceAZXPgvBEfojgD8TG4L880

15 Guantanamo prisoners transferred to Afghanistan, Sudan
AFP –
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Fifteen detainees at the US “war on terror” camp in Guantanamo, Cuba, have been transferred to Afghanistan and Sudan, the Pentagon said …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFtXLbKd9JaDFCBg-xmfmXLS8pcA

6 Afghans Killed in Mine Blast
The Associated Press –
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A civilian car hit a freshly planted land mine in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing six people and wounding six others, …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i8dGftYb
0s4XWdUMRdIVs3vh1CKAD8TGH6204

NATO Chief Hopes Japan to Paly Bigger Role in Afghanistan
Voice of America – USA
By VOA News NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says he hopes Japan will assume a bigger role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, …
www.voanews.com/english/2007-12-13-voa13.cfm

India to invest Rs. 7.5 bn in Delaram-Zaranj road in Afghanistan
Economic Times – Gurgaon,Haryana,India
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet toady gave its approval for up-gradation/construction of road from Zaranj to Delaram in Afghanistan at the cost of Rs.746.79 …
economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infrastructure/India_to_invest
_Rs_75_bn_in_Delaram-Zaranj_road_in_Afghanistan/articleshow
/2620072.cms

Shots In the Arm Spread HIV in Afghanistan
By Nasim Fekrat?(Nasim Fekrat?)
Faizullah Kakar , Afghanistan ‘s Deputy Minister of Public Health, has said in interviews that the numbers of HIV-infected persons is higher than the numbers given. Kakar says that seven people have currently been reported as having …
www.afghanlord.org/2007/12/shots-
in-arm-spread-hiv-in-afghanistan.html

Christmas miracle needed to get care package to Canadian troops in …
By Canada Free Press(Canada Free Press)
What a let down that 1700 care packages lovingly prepared by Montreal-area residents and community groups destined for Canadian troops in Afghanistan, won’t be getting there. The Christmas care packages for soldiers have been grounded …
canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/950#When:08:24:29

Roadside bomb kills six in Afghanistan
Six passengers in a minibus have been killed in the Afghanistan
province of Uruzgan after a roadside bomb exploded. Six others were injured. The attack took place in the district Tarin Kowt, where around 1200 Dutch soldiers are …
www.radionetherlands.nl/news/international/
5557826/Roadside-bomb-kills-six-in-Afghanistan

Oz Says Euros are Slacking in Afghanistan
By Wolf Pangloss
Australia’s new Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon will deliver a blunt message to NATO countries meeting in Scotland on Friday, telling them that there will be no more Australian troops sent to Afghanistan until European countries …
wolfpangloss.wordpress.com/2007/12/13/
oz-says-euros-are-slacking-in-afghanistan/

Security Situation in Afghanistan
With violence on the rise in Afghanistan, US government officials are expressing concerns over the security situation there and the role played by NATO allies. We’ll look at threat from the Taliban and al-Qaeda and British Prime …
wamu.org/programs/dr/07/12/13.php#18740

Afghanistan statement
By Tom
Gordon Brown led off on a statement on Afghanistan (I’m afraid I can’t find a link right now). David Cameron and Vince Cable answered for their parties. The Speaker viewed it with such seriousness that he allowed an hour of chamber time …
www.tom-watson.co.uk/?p=1697

Shots In the Arm Spread HIV in Afghanistan
PJM Kabul: HIV/AIDS cases in Afghanistan have already increased threefold from last year. Nasim Fekrat says the number will only go up if nothing is done to curtail drug addiction in the country.
pajamasmedia.com/2007/12/hiv_spreads_in_afghanistan.php

Photo: Medieval minarets are seen in the western city of Herat …
By dancewater(dancewater)
(Ahmad Fahim/Reuters) Security Incidents for December 7, 2007 The air strikes by NATO-led forces killed 17 Taliban fighters in western Afghanistan on Thursday, as another in a series of bomb blasts around Kabul damaged a German aid …
newsaboutafghanistan.blogspot.com/2007/
12/photo-medieval-minarets-are-seen-in.html

Hearing: Security and Stability in Afghanistan
By Celest(Rashad)
Tuesday, the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing entitled “Security and Stability in Afghanistan: Status of US Strategy and Operations and the Way Ahead.” The witnesses were the Honorable Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense, …
blog.pomed.org/2007/12/hearing-security-and-stability-in_12.html

Brown announces plans for Afghanistan
Gordon Brown has set out his strategy for redeveloping Afghanistan, saying the UK will “not enter into any negotiations” with insurgents.
video.uk.msn.com/v/en-gb/v.htm?g=44a4c
4ff-0652-40a2-8b41-00affece82d2&f=en-gb&fg=rss

Slovakia to Increase Afghan Troop Commitment
By Human Security Report Project
EXCERPT: “Slovakia will definitively withdraw all troops from Iraq after almost four and a half years, and send more soldiers to NATO operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, the Slovak parliament confirmed on Tuesday. …
www.afghanconflictmonitor.org/2007/12/slovakia-to-inc.html

Fighting Afghanistan’s poppy curse
By David Blair(David Blair)
How do you stop Afghanistan from being the source of most of the world’s opium? Gordon Brown’s statement to the Commons today touched on this subject, but failed to provide much detail. Broadly speaking, there are three options. …
blogs.telegraph.co.uk/foreign/davidblair
/dec07/stemmingafghansdeadlycrop.htm

NATO winning in Afghanistan: Brown
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says NATO forces are winning the battle against the insurgency in Afghanistan.
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/13/2117411.htm

Airmen light up Afghanistan camp with holiday cheer
By afnews@afnews.af.mil (Capt. Michael Meridith )
8 amidst the snow-capped peaks of Afghanistan and thousands of miles from home. A switch was pulled illuminating a 30-foot wreath and 1200 feet of holiday lights draped across the control tower in Camp Cunningham here. …
www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123078973

Afghanistan
By Rami Zurayk(Rami Zurayk)
“After former NPR reporter Sarah Chayes reported on the fall of the Taliban in 2001, she decided to stay in Afghanistan as the country was being rebuilt. In 2005, she established the Arghand Cooperative, a business that sells local …
landandpeople.blogspot.com/2007/12/afghanistan.html

50+ Taliban Members Killed in Sangin, Afghanistan
The Defence Ministry in Afghanistan confirmed on the 12th December that a two-day long battle, which took place in Sangin, Helmand Province, has resulted in the deaths of over 50 members of the Taliban. The militants involved had fled …
www.armedforces-int.com/news/2007/12/12/50-
taliban-members-killed-in-sangin-afghanistan.asp