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| Positive News from Afganistan -- 26 |
| 11.3.09 |
There is, of course news of the other sort. But the bad news is easy to find and usually much more widely discussed. Here instead is a round up of the positive news stories from 20 February to 6 March 2009 from Afghanistan. I focus on this, not only to attempt to balance the scales in the tone department, but to tweak the noses of those who seem to know all about the costs of these endeavors and nothing of their value.
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PILLAR I: POLITICAL AFFAIRS
US/Coalition Forces
Obama directive expands national security team
Source: AP, PPD-1 27 February 2009 -- President Barack Obama is expanding the membership and reach of his top national security team, in recognition of the increasing role energy, climate and economic issues now play in keeping America safe. The first presidential directive, PPD-1 (released Feb 13 2009) outlines a broader structure for the National Security Council, which was created after 2001 to advise the president on all domestic terrorism issues. The National Security Council has historically been centered on State Department and Pentagon matters, but in a speech at a security conference in Munich, retired Gen. James Jones, Obama's national security adviser, told world leaders that international security is no longer limited to defense and foreign ministries. Instead, he said it now encompasses energy, narco-terrorism, illegal arms shipments and proliferation. Jones is now in charge of setting the NSC agenda and communicating Obama's decisions to the others. Jones will determine when to call White House meetings of policymaking "principals" and will police implementation of assigned tasks. The directive also establishes an elaborate system of interagency policy committees to coordinate analysis and reviews of issues "for consideration by the more senior committees . . . and ensure timely responses to decisions made by the President." Under the new structure, representatives from a broad range of federal agencies -- from Commerce to the Office of Science and Technology Policy -- will be invited to attend meetings when the issue affects their area of expertise. Presidential Policy Directive -1
Gates Cites Goals, Measuring Success as Key in Afghanistan
Source: American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 3, 2009 -- Determining a timetable for withdrawing U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan right now is "impossible," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on 3 March. "We would all like to have a situation in which our mission in Afghanistan has been completed and we can bring our troops home," Gates told reporters. "I do not see that happening any time in the near future. The road to sovereignty in Afghanistan requires short-term goals with a means to measure success for the way forward, Gates said. "I think that the objectives that we have and milestones, in terms of measuring achievement of those objectives, is really a principal focus of the strategy review that is under way on the American side, and where we have been consulting with our partners," Gates said. "And I think we will have a much better idea of the way forward, at least as far as the United States is concerned, when that review is complete."
Officials Announce Upcoming Iraq, Afghanistan Deployments
Source: American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 2, 2009 -- Defense Department officials announced replacement units scheduled for 12-month deployments later this year to Iraq and Afghanistan on 2 March. The 82nd Airborne Division Headquarters from Fort Bragg, N.C., and the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team from Fort Carson, Colo., will begin deploying to Afghanistan in late spring. They are replacing the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters and the division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team from Fort Campbell, Ky., Whitman said. In Afghanistan, about 38,000 U.S. troops and about 19,000 others from 42 different countries make up NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. The U.S. military footprint there will increase by 17,000 as early as this spring. The president approved those additional forces Feb. 17, stating that responsible drawdown forces in Iraq will provide the flexibility to shift forces to Afghanistan.
Security, Development Intertwine in Afghanistan War
Source: American Forces Press Service FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARDEZ, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2009 -- What appears a dichotomy is the balance coalition forces must strike as they promise both security and development in a country ravaged by war and racked with poverty -- its people torn between supporting a deeply ingrained insurgency offering survival, or a shaky, upstart government that promises hope for the future. And somewhere in that balance is where coalition forces hope to find victory. "In this fight, dollars are bullets. Development is just as important as security," Cullison said. "You can’t have security without development and you can’t have development without security. Cullison heads the civil affairs efforts for the Paktia Provincial Reconstruction Team here. He also serves as the executive officer for the 80-person team. This is a region that has long been controlled by varying local tribes with little interest, or trust, in a regional government. The rugged mountain passes serve as a passageway and staging area for enemy fighters traveling from the Pakistan border into Afghanistan. Cullison said that his team’s job is to separate the people of Afghanistan from the insurgency that works to undermine coalition efforts and the development of a central government.
Afghanistan Fight Turns to Economy, Governance
Source: Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs 3 March 2009 FORWARD OPERATING BASE AIRBORNE, Afghanistan -- The 3rd BCT runs the overarching Task Force Spartan, made up of more than 2,700 10th Mountain Division soldiers. More than 30 percent are veterans of the division's last deployment to Afghanistan in 2007. The base is outside of Maydan Shahr, the provincial capital. The 10th Mountain troops have tripled the area's combat firepower, but the attacks they are waging now are aimed at building infrastructure, helping legitimize the provincial government and pumping much-needed money into the barren economy. "It's an economic war. The enemy here ... he's just looking for a job," Army Col. David Haight, the 3rd BCT commander, said. The soldiers are patrolling the villages daily, talking to locals and building relationships with tribal leaders. Haight predicts that by the time enemy fighters return to this area in the spring, his forces will have established roots in the communities, forcing insurgents to make a choice. The fight is not so much ideological as it is economic, senior military officials say. And while coalition forces are prepared to wage a toe-to-toe fight against enemy fighters, they are more inclined to focus on nontraditional means of separating
Coalition, Afghans Kill One, Detain Four Taliban Bomb Suspects
Source: American Forces Press Service KABUL, Afghanistan, March 5, 2009 -- Afghan and coalition forces killed one militant and detained four others during operations to disrupt the Taliban and Haqqani terrorist group networks in Afghanistan’s Kandahar and Khowst provinces on 5 March , military officials reported. In Kandahar’s Maywand district, Afghan and coalition forces disabled a bomb-making network run by Taliban operatives.
400 Kentucky Soldiers Return Home From Afghanistan
Source: The Kentucky Post 6 March 2009 -- The Independent of Ashland reports that 400 soldiers from the 201st Engineer Battalion arrived by bus on 5 March evening at the Boyd County Middle School Gymnasium in Ashland. The battalion consists of units from Ashland, Olive Hill, Cynthiana and Prestonsburg.
U.S. Policies
US calls for high-level Afghanistan conference on March 31
Source: AFP 5 March 2009 -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on 5 March for a high-level conference on Afghanistan at the end of the month, as Washington winds up a review of how to combat the Taliban-led insurgency. She did not say where the meeting would be held, but only that Afghan and Pakistani officials would be invited, with NATO allies, donors, international organisations and "key regional and strategic" nations. The conference would take place days before a summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation leaders in early April, but not be a NATO event.
U.S. to invite Iran to Afghanistan meet: Clinton
Source: Reuters 6 March 2009, BRUSSELS -- In its first public overture to Tehran, the Obama administration intends to invite Iran to an international conference on Afghanistan planned for this month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on 5 March. President Barack Obama, in a dramatic turnaround from Bush administration policy, has said the United States wants to engage Iran on a range of issues and the conference invitation would be the start of diplomatic outreach to Tehran.
Clinton pushes NATO allies for united strategy on Afghanistan
Source: CSM 6 March 2009, PARIS -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a "fresh start" with Russia on her first visit to Europe, affirming Vice President Joe Biden's recent call to push a US "reset button" with Moscow. America's top diplomat met NATO ministers ahead of a key April summit -- one expected to solidify what is being called a more "realistic" alliance strategy on the troubled mission in Afghanistan. Mrs. Clinton, after trips to Asia and the Middle East, is in Brussels to take the pulse of "the Western family," as a French analyst put it, and to meet allies.
White House backs Bush proposal to allow some tax-free imports from Afghanistan, Pakistan
Source: AP 4 March 2009, WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is backing a proposal initiated under President George W. Bush that would allow poor tribal regions in Pakistan and Afghanistan to sell clothing and goods they make to U.S. buyers tax-free. A group of House lawmakers, led by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, reintroduced legislation on 4 March that would enable the president to designate "Reconstruction Opportunity Zones" inside the two countries from which goods could be imported into the U.S. duty-free.
U.S., Britain Share Common Goals in Afghanistan, Obama Says
Source: American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 3, 2009 -- As the United States conducts a comprehensive review of its Afghanistan strategy, President Barack Obama said he’s confident Great Britain will remain its strongest partner in putting that strategy into effect. Brown is the first European leader to visit the White House since Obama took office. While the session focused largely on the global economic crisis, Obama and Brown also discussed Iran’s nuclear program, global warming and the war in Afghanistan.
NATO & PRTs
NATO Foreign Ministers discuss Afghanistan
Source: NATO 5 March 2009 - During a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, Ministers reviewed the current political and military situation in Afghanistan, focusing on upcoming presidential elections, the training and development of the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF), and closer cooperation in Afghanistan among donors and international organizations. On the presidential elections, Ministers stressed the importance for NATO to assist the Afghan Government in providing the security required to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections. Allies recognize that more effort needs to be made to train, sustain, and expand the ANSF, in particular the Afghanistan National Police. While acknowledging the substantial progress made to date in training the ANSF, Ministers concurred that more remains to be done, and that the ANSF is the key to military success in Afghanistan.
NATO Commander Notes "Warming of Relations" Between Pakistan, Afghanistan
Source: American Forces Press Service MONS, Belgium, March 5, 2009 -- U.S. Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe, noted improving relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan on 5 March, and he expressed the hope for continued progress. U.S. He met with Pakistani journalists to answer questions about the future and scope of NATO operations in the Pakistan and Afghanistan region. Craddock said how increased collaboration among NATO forces and those of Pakistan and Afghanistan has helped NATO’s International Security Assistance Force gain situational awareness for controlling Afghan borders. But while improvements have been made and cooperation has increased, he acknowledged, much remains to be done to complete the mission. "We have to improve cooperation and push hard not just for military tripartite meetings, but political tripartite meetings which could also be helpful," he said. A key concern is discouraging insurgents from seeking "safe haven" within Pakistan, Craddock told the group.
Team Provides Medical Care to Afghan Students, Villagers
Source: American Forces Press Service BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, March 3, 2009 -- The provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province conducted a medical assistance mission at the Hope of Mother School and Clinic in the province’s Surkh Rod district Feb. 24. In about three hours, the team’s medics and an Afghan doctor treated more than 120 people, including students from the school and people from the surrounding villages. In addition to the treatments, the team provided older patients with preventive health care lessons and gave selected leftover medicine to the clinic for future use by a local physician.
Coalition Troops Care for Afghan People
Source: American Forces Press Service KABUL, Afghanistan, March 2, 2009 -- The hope for a healthier life is growing stronger in Afghanistan’s Oruzgan province, thanks to the care of health care workers from around the world. Medical professionals from the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan, U.S. police mentoring team, Danish Provincial Reconstruction Team, the French military and Afghanistan are working together to operate clinics in the province’s Deh Rawod district. For basic medical treatment, patients are treated at a centralized clinic, which sees about 300 to 400 people a week, officials said. Some of the ailments treated include body aches, colds, flu, nausea, skin and muscle infections, gastrointestinal reflux disease and kidney infections.
New Roads to Open Up Eastern Afghanistan Province
Source: American Forces Press Service FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARDEZ, Afghanistan, Feb. 27, 2009 -- Few improved roads across the rural and mountainous Paktia province all but stop any real efforts for development here. But over the next few years, hundreds of miles of roads built to connect the commerce and governmental hubs will change that, cutting new paths across the province from north to south, east to west, officials with the Paktia Provincial Reconstruction Team said. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to build roads here over the next few years, Air Force Capt. Shawn Kreuzberger, an engineer with the PRT, said. The entire spine road is a partnership between the PRT, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Army Corps of Engineers, each working on a leg of the road that will stretch to the Pakistan border. Also, a paved road that connects the province from north to south is under construction. When both are finished, the provincial capital of Gardez City will sit at the intersection.
U.S. Soldiers Open Road, Transfer Security in Eastern Afghanistan
Source: American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2009 -- Even a short road goes a long way in Afghanistan. The opening of a seven-mile road in eastern Afghanistan’s Konar province is affording critical transportation for residents and allowing coalition forces to transfer some security operations to the Afghanistan government. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force announced the opening of the $3.9 million road in Deywagal Valley and the closing of its Combat Outpost Seray, which provided security to the construction crew, in Feb. 5 ceremonies in the province. The new road --- more than two years in the making -- is the latest project for the Konar Provincial Reconstruction Team and the 1st Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
Coalition, Afghans Find Goodwill at Traditional Afghan Games
Source: American Forces Press Service KABUL, Afghanistan, March 3, 2009 -- As U.S. forces and their NATO counterparts here were thinking recently about ways to win the trust and cooperation of local people in their fight against radical insurgents, village elders suggested a way to come together in common interest: a sporting event. Such was the start of the Feb. 20 "do-rah" games in the Deh Rawood district of Afghanistan’s Oruzgan province. For some, it was the chance to see a familiar game played against other villagers. For others, it was the opportunity of a lifetime to watch a sport rarely seen by foreigners. With security greatly improved in what had been one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan, some 1,500 people participated in or came out to watch the five-hour event, hosted by coalition civil affairs soldiers in partnership with Afghan soldiers and police. Civil affairs coordinated the setup of the games and provided funding for prizes and refreshments. Villagers created the field and Afghan forces provided security. The request for participants went out across the district and people were excited to take part, Deh Rawood Police Chief Omar Kahn Ankalm said.
PRT completes four projects in Herat
Source: NATO 3 March 2009 KABUL, Afghanistan -- Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Herat recently completed an expansion of a local kindergarten, one in a series of four projects in support of the Afghan Social Affairs Department. The Civil Military Affairs team, led by the Captain Mirko Radi, also constructed three professional centres apart from the expansion of the kindergarten. These projects will help widowed women, handicapped persons and abandoned children.
Australia expected to send more troops to Afghanistan
Source: Xinhuanet CANBERRA, March 3 -- Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said on 3 March he would not be surprised if the U.S. requests Australia to deploy more troops to Afghanistan. The subject of Afghanistan is likely to come up when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and U.S. President Barack Obama meet in Washington on March 24. Australia has 1,100 troops in Afghanistan, which is the largest contribution of non-NATO nations.
Afghan Forces
Afghan Security Forces Shoulder More Responsibility
Source: American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 5, 2009 -- The Afghan National Army continues to improve as it assumes more security responsibility, Army Maj. Gen. Richard P. Formica, Commander of the Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, responsible for Afghan national security force growth and training, said on 5 March. Since its inception about six years ago, the corps of Afghan soldiers has grown to an 80,000-strong force that increasingly takes the lead role in security operations, he said. He acknowledged that progress with the army has outpaced progress with the police. "As we look out towards 2009 and into 2010, we must sustain the momentum that is with the Afghan National Army while adding focus to the Afghan National Police," he told reporters. Appearing with Formica, who assumed command in November, was Canadian army Brig. Gen. Alan Howard, assistant commanding general for Afghan National Army development. Howard, who has helped to oversee Afghan National Army development for nearly a year, said the army has undergone an "amazing evolution," has garnered the respect of the local populace and continues to expand its capabilities. In recent weeks, the Afghan army has shown its humanitarian capabilities, assisting flood victims in northern Afghanistan and acting as first responders in some cases of domestic crises, Howard said.
Afghan security forces, supported by ISAF, discover weapons in Sangin
Source: NATO 4 March 2009, KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), supported by International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF), recently conducted the latest in the Operation GHARTSE PALANG series, targeting known facilitators of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and disrupting the flow of enemy weapons and funding in Helmand Province’s Sangin area. In a demonstration of their growing skill and capacity, the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) worked closely with ISAF in the planning of the operation and developing intelligence on compounds in the Charkak Shayla Wadi and Sangin bazaar areas.
300 additional ANP officers ready to hit the streets
Source: NATO 3 March 2009, KABUL, Afghanistan -- More than 300 Afghan National Police (ANP) officers recently completed intensive training focused on improving core skills and their capacity to provide security for the Nad e’Ali, Gereshk and Lashkar Gah areas of Helmand province. The officers were selected to take part in the eight-week Focused District Development (FDD) training programme, a national scheme in partnership with the Afghan Interior Ministry and U.S. State Department. This is the sixth time the course has been undertaken.
Security Threats
Taliban
"Up to 15,000 Taliban in Afghanistan"
Source: Pak Tribune 28 February 2009, WASHINGTON -- The Afghan interior minister said on 28 February that 10,000 to 15,000 Taliban were fighting in the nation, offering a rare estimate on the insurgency which the new US administration has vowed to tackle. Minister Hanif Atmar dismissed the strength of the insurgents, saying a wave of high-profile attacks showed the desperation of the Taliban movement. Atmar, in Washington for a three-way dialogue with the US and Pakistan on a new "war on terror" strategy, said the Taliban insurgents were operating in up to 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
Narcotics
Drug Smugglers Arrested in Herat
Source: Pak Tribune 3 March 2009 Quqnoos -- National Security Directorate (NSD) forces arrested three drug-smugglers with 133 kgs of crystal drugs from a house in Herat. The crystal drugs were kept secret inside a well, NSD staff said. Residents of Herat are worried from militant drug-smugglers who are using residential areas for their activities. Security forces are continuing their investigations about the issue.
DEMOCRACY & JUSTICE
Governance
Afghan commission rejects Karzai, sets election for August
Source: McClatchy.com 4 March 2009, KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission on 4 March confirmed that the country's second democratic election would be held on Aug. 20, rejecting President Hamid Karzai's call for the vote to be moved up by at least four months. The decision, however, failed to resolve the question of Karzai's status during the period between May 22, when his five-year term ends under the Constitution, and the election. The issue will be the subject of intense bargaining between Karzai and his political opponents, who're likely to demand that he be replaced by an interim president or guarantee that he won't use his office to bolster his re-election campaign.
PILLAR II: RELIEF, RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION
Reconstruction & Aid
ADB forges new aid plan for Afghanistan
Source: AFP MANILA, March 6, 2009 -- The Asian Development Bank and Afghan government have completed a new "country partnership strategy" that will cover aid to the war-torn, landlocked nation from 2009 to 2013, the ADB said 6 March. The strategy "retains a sharp focus on investments that will bolster the country's energy, transport, and irrigation sectors," the ADB said in a statement from its headquarters in the Philippine capital.
New Technology Users Are Boosting in Afghanistan
Source: Pak Tribune 26 February Quqnoos -- Some shopkeepers say that the numbers of new technology users have increased by 80 percent in Afghanistan. The usages of new technology, especially computers, Internet, Mobiles and other developed equipments have tremendously increased in the country. People, especially youths believe that these equipments have created many facilities for them; therefore they spend most of their time using these equipments. The new technology users say these equipments have turned the world into a "small village".
Education & Training
New educational year begins in Afghanistan
Source: Xinhaunet KABUL, March 5 -- Afghanistan's new educational year formally started on 5 March with beating the bill by President Hamid Karzai in a local school here in the Afghan capital. "There is no bigger enmity and cruelty than preventing Afghan girls and boys from going to school," Karzai told an audience of hundreds of people including teachers in his opening remarks. Currently over 6 million children, with 35 percent of them girls, go to school while 5.3 million more are said to have been deprived of education due to security and social problems. Over 200 schools mostly in the southern region where Taliban are active have been closed down due to security problems over the past couple of years.
Culture
Undaunted, Bamiyan Province Ponders Tourism Possibilities
Source: Eurasinet 6 March 2009 -- Investing in tourism at a time when most predict increasing violence in Afghanistan may seem counter-intuitive. But officials and non-governmental organization activists in Afghanistan’s central province of Bamiyan are doing exactly that. They say they are determined not to let development be held hostage to the ’gloom-and-doom’ scenario facing most of the country. The province, which recently received a grant of $1.2 million from New Zealand’s government, has launched an eco-tourism development initiative that hopes to build a sustainable visitor environment, putting the livelihood of the people at the centre of the policy. Implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in coordination with the provincial government, the project seeks to ensure preservation of the region’s unique natural and cultural heritage while helping locals enhance their skills to meet the demands of visiting tourists.Labels: Positive News: Afghanistan |
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