afghanistan's media against Narcotics

CETENAGROUP has been paid millions of dollars to implement a counter narcotics strategy.  The team of the strategy is "Afghanistan’s Media Against Narcotics".

CETENA attempts to harmonize counter narcotic media strategy. They have taken over 34 independent radio station around the country to broadcast their counter narcotic spots.

CETENA pays US$1000 per month for radio stations in exchange for exclusive CETENA advertisement. “Growing poppy is a crime. Government will prosecutor poppy cultivators, if you grow poppy you don’t deserve to live in our society” is a message aired several times in a small radio station in Helmand or Kandahar or Nangarahr “If you are living on poppy money, you are rescuing your life and your family. Afghan government will arrest you and you will spend your life behind bars” government has no control what so ever where this advert is aired and almost everybody grows poppy there. This puts the radio station against the community, especially when it’s not branded. The spot doesn’t say who brings it to the audience. It sounds like it’s a message from the radio station. Opium, like terror, is a dead end for the Afghan people. At an August 9 special narcotic briefing at the State Department, John Walters, director of the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy said that more than 90 percent of the world’s opium is grown in Afghanistan.

its estimated that the total export value of Afghanistan’s opium was $3.1 billion, representing approximately 32 percent of the country’s total ( licit and illicit ) gross domestic product.
“The big money made off of opium in Afghanistan is made by the upper levels of the chain – the warlords, the traffickers, the corrupt individuals who are involved in this,” Walters said. This is why the radio station this campaigns the radio station. The upper levels of the chain are the sort of people that has a lot of influence in the politics and economy, Karzai is scared of them. That is why none has been prosecuted. A police commander in Kabul city told me that he has several times rang officials in the ministry of interior to tell them that he has intercepted tilted window cars with no number plates, transporting opium. The police commander who asked to remain anonymous was advised by senior ministry official to stay off the matter and not to create headache for them. If the government is scared to confront the upper level traffickers why is American putting the local radio in danger.  “suppressing media is the new American policy. the traditional American way of stabbing on the back, they are misleading media to fight the drug problem. A fight which Americans failed and clearly they are not sincere and committed about fighting narcotics, the objective is not eradicating the poppy but eradicating the media by poppy” said an afghan drug analyst, Asarullahaq Hakimi. 

“There is no miracle crop,” Schweich a US official “There’s nothing that really will equal the income you can get from poppy.”  The chief benefit of not growing the opium poppy, which is a highly labor-intensive crop, is the security of not having to deal with corrupt and violent organizations, he said.

Successful and sustainable agricultural endeavors require electricity, roads and market access.  “It’s important,” Schweich added, “to remember there’s a pathway to go from being a subsistence farmer to having a future for your children and your family that’s better off.”

In explaining the U.S. Counternarcotics Strategy for Afghanistan, released August 9, the officials said the United States plans to focus on high-yield crops such as fruits and nuts that come closer than other crops to replacing the income from the poppy.

The 2007 alternative development campaign, for example, with annual expenditures of $120 million to $150 million, includes short-term cash-for-work projects and comprehensive agricultural and business development projects.

 

korean ransom

South Korea's intelligence chief has refused to deny that his government paid a ransom to the Taleban to release 19 hostages last week.
Kim Man-bok admitted to a parliamentary committee that there were undisclosed terms involved in the deal with the Afghan rebels.
there have been persistent media reports alleging that a multi-million dollar ransom was paid.
A Taleban representative in Ghazni province, where the hostages were held, told the BBC the South Korean government paid $20m but two other Taleban sources told the BBC no ransom was paid.
Afghan officials have said a sum slightly under $1m was handed over.
 

 

hundreds of schools remain closed in the south

September 9^th is the international literacy day, in Afghanistan's insurgency-hit southern provinces; there are concerns that hundreds of schools will remain closed due to insecurity.
"At least 300 schools in Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces will not open because of insecurity," Siddiq Patman, deputy minister of education, in addition to this another 180 schools has been torched down by the rebels.

Over six million students, 38 percent of them female, have been registered at schools throughout the country, up to 40 percent of them in the warmer south, the Ministry of Education (MoE) said. In spite of high enrollment rate in the south, there are less students in the upper classes due to high drop out rate. Only a quarter of children make it to the 9^th grade in the south. More than half of school age girls in the south are not enrolled in schools.
Owing to insurgency-related violence and other problems, over 350 schools were closed down in the southern provinces in 2006.

In the southern province of Helmand, where Taliban insurgents control several districts, the education system has been disintegrating over the past four years.
"In 2003 there were 224 functioning schools in Helmand. Now only 90 schools are likely to open on Monday [10 September]," said Taj Mohammad Popal, head of the provincial education department. Since 2005, 36 schools have been burned down and 17 teachers killed in Helmand province

Afghan officials say they cannot operate schools in areas under Taliban control, where girls have been denied the right to education and boys can only attend Islamic study classes at mosques.

Afghanistan's progress in education over the past five years has been praised in some quarters, but over half of all Afghan children (about 3.5 million people) are out of school, the UK-based charity, Oxfam, said in October 2006.

The MoE said 14 schools were torched by insurgents in several provinces between April and May 2007.

radio torched down

Radio sadaiHaqiqat, Salam Watandar partner station in samangan was torched down last night. The radio station was set up by the local youth, mostly consisted home made gears.

They joined SW in 2005.

 

The perpetrator or the cause of the attack is unknown. The station was off air this morning. However it’s said that the station was partly damaged.  

 

The station had had received some threats, mostly from local information and culture authority.

During Zahar Shah’s mourning days SW had some critical programs of his reign which the local authorities didn’t like and ordered the station to stop it.

Will keep you posted

 

UN celebrating peace day

I just saw some correspondence from UN office in Afghanistan, they are trying to encourage Afghan media to celebrate peace day. The UN’s motto is “what are you doing for peace” in a few posts I will try to see how much UN has done for peace in Afghanistan. I believe the UN has been the biggest threat to Afghan peace and it hasn’t done enough to ensure peace or even when it has intervened, UN middling has been total political and resulted in worsening the situation.

 

UN and Geneva peace Accord:

 

Still, as the Cold War drew to a close, Afghanistan seemed close to solving its internal strife. In accordance with the 1988 Geneva Accords, the Soviet Union withdrew all of its troops as of February 15 1989. Further, the United Nations appeared to have achieved the beginnings of a legitimate regime. But instead of experiencing a transition to a stable government and despite Najibullah.s resignation, Afghanistan plummeted into civil war. The Mujahideen had splintered, regional powers supported different actors and both Russia and the USA retreated from Afghanistan’s internal strife, both powers instead focusing on after effects of the Soviet Union’s disintegration as well as other more strategically relevant crises. So, Afghanistan degenerated into political anarchy and rampant violence, the United Nations would seem a likely actor to return order and stability. Indeed, it is written into the Charter of the United Nations for the member countries .to unite [their] strength to maintain international peace and security. Along a spectrum of possibilities, there are two general methods for the UN to address such crises: mediation and peace enforcement. But each possesses deficiencies, and the events in Afghanistan demonstrate these flaws. According to Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady, Afghan finance minister, the four major influences on chances of success through mediation are the nature of dispute, the disputant’s characteristics, the attributes of mediator and the strategy of mediation. Ahady continues, arguing that since 1982, the UN had used this technique to address the conflict in Afghanistan, but when attempting to negotiate a transition regime, the UN faced insurmountable obstacles in each of these categories. First, regarding the nature of the dispute, there is generally a smaller probability of success when the mediation concerns a sovereignty transfer. This is due to the complications in convincing an armed group to relinquish its hold on power. After achieving the Soviet withdrawal, the United Nations had begun to work towards the creation of a legitimate government formed by a coalition of the rebel warlords, with the intention of replacing the Najibullah government. Beyond the inherent difficulties in convincing Najibullah to resign, the Mujahideen also refused to view the regime as legitimate. Thus, they denounced any negotiations or power sharing schemes that involved Najibullah remaining in power, arguing that the Soviet client regime was so obviously illegitimate that they would not even acknowledge it by engaging in dialogue. For the second aspect, the characteristics of the belligerents, Ahady argues that when power is not balanced, or even perceived not to be imbalanced, mediation will likely be resisted. This affected the Afghanistan situation because with the assistance provided by regional actors, and the USA prior to 1991, the Mujahideen had the upper hand in an unequal of distribution of power. Therefore, in addition to their argument that the illegitimate government deserved no recognition, the Mujahideen likewise had no motivating factor to consent to a UN arrangement. This, however, might have been overcome with foreign pressure, but since American intelligence predicted that Pakistan would continue to support the resistance and that any drop in support for the rebels would result in the triumph of the Soviet puppet regime, the USA decided against pressuring. The Najibullah regime eventually did collapse in 1991, and with the widespread availability of small arms, the state fragmented as power shifted to various Mujahideen warlords across the country. In fact, it is estimated that that by 1992, 2 million weapons were in circulation, acting as a kind of currency and working to sustain the stalemate between the rival factors. Despite this movement towards an actual balance of power, with the military support from international actors, each warlord believed he was stronger than the other rebels. As such, the downfall of the regime .frustrated a UN plan for a peaceful transfer of power from the communist regime to a transitional government, led to an intense power struggle among the Mujahideen groups who had taken over different parts of the country and seized or looted weapons and heavy equipment. The third aspect describes the strategy of the mediator and as Ahady maintains, it can take one of three forms, facilitation, formulation, and manipulation. Of the three, not only does manipulation have the best chance at success, but it is also necessary in instances of high tensions and conflict. For a facilitating strategy, the mediator would simply provide the forum for discussion. Formulation would then involve suggestions by the mediator for the consideration of the disputants. Manipulation though, would occur when the mediator compels the two sides to accept an agreement. The two former options are quite passive; they will function best in situations where all sides are eager to reach an agreement. The latter strategy is required when the disputants are verbally or physically hostile towards one another, and so with the extremely high levels of tensions in Afghanistan, the United Nations would have to use manipulation

as a strategy.

 

This in fact leads to the fourth aspect of mediation, the characteristics of the mediator because for a successful manipulation strategy, the mediator must possess enough leverage to change the cost-benefit calculation of the disputants. Afghanistan had achieved true anarchy with warring Mujahideen forces in control of billions of dollars worth of modern weapons and access to millions of dollars in cash from the drug trade. So for the United Nations mediation efforts to succeed, a strategy of manipulation would have to be backed by credible leverage. However, the UN was forced to confront more than just a country filled with military arms and warring clan factions. Following the disengagement of the superpowers, the other interested states entered the political vacuum left behind. These states possessed conflicting views and goals for Afghanistan, and because each actor had a different objective, it became increasingly difficult for them to work together. Moreover, these states no longer had pressure from the USA to cooperate in achieving a settlement, and consequently, "driven by competing interests in Afghanistan and the region, neighboring countries and other foreign states and non-state players supported rival factions in the Afghan civil war, further reducing the UN’s chances for a negotiated settlement. Had the USA instead chosen to put pressure on one or more of its allies, the UN might have possessed the leverage necessary to manipulate negotiations into a political settlement. But the Soviet withdrawal represented, according to Undersecretary of State Michael Armacost, restoration of the strategic balance of the region.. And while it has been argued that even as late as 1992, the USA could have successfully used its position to compel the Mujahideen and regional states to follow the United Nations, the American fundamental goal of defeating the Soviet Union had been achieved, and instead the USA probably wanted to avoid contrasts with Pakistan. Thus, because the USA did not use its position to influence the regional powers or warlords within Afghanistan, the United Nations had little leverage because it could not reward or punish for compliance or non-compliance. And as the military arms and finances continued to flow into the country arming the warring factions, it should not be surprising that anarchy developed. In fact, because of the above problems posed by mediation, Ahady contends that it is weak and ineffective, especially compared with direct intervention.

 

UN is celebrating peace day:

I just saw some correspondence from UN office in Afghanistan, they are trying to encourage Afghan media to celebrate peace day. The UN’s motto is “what are you doing for peace” in a few posts I will try to see how much UN has done for peace in Afghanistan. I believe the UN has been the biggest threat to Afghan peace and it hasn’t done enough to ensure peace or even when it has intervened, UN middling has been total political and resulted in worsening the situation.

 

UN and the Soviet Invasion:

 

In 1979 Soviet troops intervened to assist the Afghani leaders and his faltering dictatorship in the regime’s struggle against rebel forces, which was comprised of the Mujahideen, a rebel force consisting of domestic and foreign Islamic extremists. The USA, motivated by the desire to prevent the expansion of the Soviet Union, became

involved with other regional states, particularly Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, to support the resistance. Pakistan possessed the strategic position and intelligence capabilities to channel military resources; Saudi Arabia was willing to provide a large source of funding for the rebellion. As a result, the Mujahideen forces, which were essentially a group of diverse warlords lacking any cohesive element beyond a common enemy, became a substantial force, armed by foreign countries. While each of the USA.s regional allies argued for supporting a different Mujahideen warlord, or group of warlords, the USA preferred a strategy that spread the military resources between several groups to ensure a wider distribution of military aid and therefore more opposition. The Americans then used their influence to enforce this strategy, and so instead of arming a smaller group of cohesive warlords to form the main opposition, a larger, more varied group of warlords each received a smaller amount of military aid. This caused three results that would have a future impact on Afghanistan. First, the simultaneous, rapid, and large-scale arming of opposing forces brought a major portion of the population under arms in the 1980s. A second result was that while enough weapons were being shipped into the country to arm the majority of individuals, monetary finances were spread between too many factions. then, the warlords developed alternative methods of financing their campaign, such as drug trafficking and predatory tactics on civilians. Third, because the arms were being shipped to all of the warlords equally, no one group possessed the capabilities to overthrow the government. This prolonged of the conflict since when the Mujahideen coalition began to falter, no one element was strong enough to defeat the government, even though the general war continued due to the overall strength of the Mujahideen.

 

can terrorists join the war on terror

The United Nations drew a list of international terrorist in 1999, the list included high ranking Taliban official, from top leadership to deputy minister level, as well as their international collaborators of alqaida group. The list included slightly under 500 Afghan Taliban. The Afghan government and international community is looking for a large number of people on the list but at least 19 Taliban officials have reconciled with Karzai's government and some holds government offices. The list is attached. The UN Security Council has been slow to adjust to the changing political realities in Afghanistan.

 

Abdul Hakim Monib, the governor of Afghanistan's Uruzgan province, has drawn praise from U.S. military commanders as a partner in the battle against global terrorism, lending crucial political support for international relief and reconstruction projects in territory contested by Taliban insurgents. But Monib, who served as deputy minister of frontier affairs in the prior Taliban government, is also on a U.N. list of suspected international terrorists, and Russia has repeatedly blocked U.S. and NATO efforts to take him off it. Monib's case underscores how U.S.-sponsored sanctions in the United Nations can backfire, placing American and NATO commanders in Afghanistan in the awkward position of potentially violating U.N. resolutions by funding programs that benefit Monib. "We try to engage almost all the governors and elected officials, even if they have somewhat undesirable backgrounds," said Col. John Thomas, a U.S. spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. There are some "reformed Taliban in the government that are quite helpful."

The U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on the Taliban in October 1999 for providing a safe haven to Osama bin Laden and for refusing to surrender him to face trial in New York for masterminding the August 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa. Monib and more than 100 other Taliban leaders were placed on a sanctions list in January 2001, a year before he broke ranks with the Islamic movement and joined forces with Hamid Karzai, the Washington-backed president of Afghanistan. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the United States ushered through resolutions that expanded the list of sanctioned people to suspected al-Qaeda members. The measures included a travel ban, an arms embargo and a prohibition on the direct or indirect provision of funds or economic resources to Monib and 489 other people and groups.

Richard Barrett, chairman of the U.N. Security Council's Al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctions panel, which monitors compliance with the resolution, said that the ban on financial assets and economic resources raises troubling legal questions. "Does giving him a ride in an armored car or an airplane or giving aid through him to some sort of program within Uruzgan province constitute a breach of the sanctions?" Barrett asked. "Some of the legal advice that states have been getting suggest that it may."

In March 2006, the United Nations instructed its staff in Afghanistan to steer clear of Monib over concerns that they might breach the sanctions. But the prohibition was partially lifted after U.S. and European officials objected. U.N. staff members are now allowed to interact with Monib but not to engage in activities that could be construed as violating sanctions, such as flying him in a U.N. aircraft. However, one U.N. official in Afghanistan said the mission has been privately urging donor countries to increase aid to Uruzgan. Monib is "seen as being a relatively capable governor," but his designation on the list "does present difficulties," said Adrian Edwards, a U.N. spokesman in Afghanistan. "We have to abide by" U.N. resolutions, he said.

The Netherlands and Australia -- which also has troops in Uruzgan -- insist that they have not breached U.N. sanctions because they have channeled aid through the government, not through Monib's private accounts. "We do talk to Monib, which is not prohibited," said a Dutch official who tracks the issue. But "we do business with the province of Uruzgan." An Australian spokeswoman insisted that "Australia has strictly complied with the sanctions." She added that "Australian personnel in Afghanistan will ensure they do not engage in any dealings with Monib which would be contrary to Australian law" or Security Council resolutions.

Monib's dilemma underscores a broader failing of the U.N. role in the battle against terrorism, said Eric A. Rosand, who oversaw U.N. counterterrorism efforts for the United States until 2005. He said that the council has not responded to evolving terrorist threats and that many countries have stopped cooperating with it. For instance, the council has not added a new Taliban figure to the list since 2001. That included the movement's military commander, Mullah Dadullah, who was killed by allied forces in May. "The whole thing is broken," said Rosand, who now tracks the council's terrorism efforts for the Center on Global Counter-Terrorism Cooperation. "Everyone knows that most countries are not even implementing the sanctions."

The council, meanwhile, is also facing a political backlash from European governments, courts and human rights advocates, who say it offers inadequate legal protection for people on the list. The council has introduced new measures to strengthen due process, including the establishment of a U.N. office to hear complaints. But the new office lacks the authority to recommend that the council remove a person from the list, and a single member of the council can still block the delisting process. "This is a perfect case where time has passed, things have changed, but the committee hasn't and the list hasn't," Rosand said. "The list is so poorly managed that no one has confidence in it anymore, and nobody puts forward names."

 

 

خانم سوزی

يك خانم جوان باشنده  ولايت بادغيس  شب چهارشنبه  خودش را اتش زده وبزندگيش خاتمه داد.

 

اين خانم  30 ساله ؛ به اساس مشكلات خانوادگي كه با مادرشوهرش داشت باریختن تیل بروجودش خودش را آتش زد .

 

محمدي مي افزايد كه  این خانم در اخرین لحظات زنده گیش گفته است  که مادر شوهرش با وی در تمام کارها ناسازگاربوده كه اکثرا به مشاجره می انجامید و ناگزیر شب گذشته  پس ازگفتگو لفظی با خشویش تصمیم به حریق كردنش وجودش  گرديد.

 

 این واقعه در حالی صورت گرفته که فعالان حقوق بشردرولايت هرات ازعدم خاتمه اين عمل غيراسلامي اظهارنگراني نموده و بیشتر عامل  ا ینگونه وقایع را فقراقتصادي ؛ موجوديت ازدواج هاي اجباري وعدم سازگاري بين زنان خانواده ميدانند.

 

هرچند بگفته مسئولين رياست امورزنان ولايت هرات گراف خودسوزي ها دراين ولايت نسبت  به سال هاي گذشته كاهش يافته اما هم اكنون تعداد خودسوزي هاي زنان درجريان سال روان به 40 مورد رسيده كه اكثريت شان نسبت به سوختن فيصدي زياد درشفاخانه حوزوي هرات جان داده اند .

 

change the minister

We have formed a committee to protect free expression. The aim is campaigning to change the current minister of information and culture, Kareem Khoram. I was told that some people in the government want us to calm down in the endeavor because the president is planning to replace the minister. Some sources close to Hewadmal, karzai’s advisor on cultural affairs, told a friend of mine that Khoram will be removed soon.

I have also heard from sources in the parliament that he will be replaced by Ismail Yoon, this is indeed going to be catastrophic. Ismail Yoon has lately been promoted by Karzai, he played a major role in the peace jirga as the secretary of Afghan executive committee. Ismail is very dangerous; he is an obvious fascist with anti minority beliefs. His formal arrival in afghan political scene would mean the final departure of any democratic value.

Even if he is going to replace Khoram, the current minister of information and culture, i think journalists shouldn’t quit efforts for the sake of saving the less evil.

 

First of all because, that is exactly how puppet regimes discourages informed citizens from playing an active political role.

Secondly, I believe journalists and civil society is based on fallibility, the civil society constantly battles the government to consider other options. Government tends to make decisions and claims to do the right thing. Since the right thing is behind any human reach and especially in Afghanistan we have never done the right things, for decades governments have only made mistakes. I think the current government or any other government is bias in doing the right thing, the right thing only serves their power purpose. The idea of doing the right thing in Afghanistan is distorted. Civil society need to constantly provide a coherent view of affairs; we need to constantly affect the government view. If Ismail Yoon is appointed to be the minister we should still campaign. i was told today that no matter what media is never going to be happy with any government official, I do think that is right. a supporter of former minister for information and culture, Raheen, told me that media was also critical of the liberal minister. I think that is ok. That is what we do, it’s a process and that is what democracy is it’s never about a result.  

 

US launches war on iran

The Bush administration has leaped toward war with Iran by, in essence, declaring war with the main branch of Iran's military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which it plans to brand as a terrorist organization.

A logical evolution of US President George W Bush's ill-defined, boundless "war on terror", the White House's move is dangerous to the core, opening the way for open confrontation with Iran. This may begin in Iraq, where the IRGC is reportedly most active and, ironically, where the US and Iran have their largest common denominators.

A New York Times editorial has dismissed this move as "amateurish" and a mere "theatric" on the part of the lame-duck president, while at the same time admitting that it represents a concession to "conflict-obsessed administration hawks who are lobbying for military strikes". The political analysts who argue that the main impact of this initiative is "political" are plain wrong. It is a giant step toward war with Iran, irrespective of how well, or poorly, it is thought of, particularly in terms of its immediate and long-term implications, let alone the timing of it.

Coinciding with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's highly publicized trip to Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, the news received front-page coverage in the New York Times, next to a photograph of Ahmadinejad and his Afghan host, President Hamid Karzai, as if intended to spoil Ahmadinejad's moment by denigrating the Iranian regime. Just two weeks ago, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice implicitly put Iran on a par with the Soviet Union by invoking comparisons to the Cold War, and in essence compared it to al-Qaeda.

Thus if an unintended side-effect of the Cold War terminology was to enhance Iran's global image, the "terrorist" label for the IRGC aims to deliver a psychological blow to Iran by de-legitimizing the country.

Also, it serves the United States' purpose at the United Nations Security Council, where a British-prepared draft of a new round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program has been floating around for a while and will likely be acted on this autumn. The draft calls for tightening the screws on Iran by broadening the list of blacklisted Iranian companies and even may lead to the interdiction of Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf. This is indeed a dangerous move that could easily trigger open confrontation.

With the window of opportunity for Bush to use the "military option" closing because of the US presidential elections next year, the administration's hawks - "it is now or never" - have received a huge boost by the move to label the IRGC as terrorists. It paves the way for potential US strikes at the IRGC's installations inside Iran, perhaps as a prelude to broader attacks on the country's nuclear facilities. At least that is how it is being interpreted in Iran, whose national-security concerns have skyrocketed as a result of the labeling.

"The US double-speak with Iran, talking security cooperation on the one hand and on the other ratcheting up the war rhetoric, does not make sense and gives the impression that the supporters of dialogue have lost in Washington," a prominent Tehran University political scientist who wished to remain anonymous told Asia Times Online.

The US has "unfettered" itself for a strike on Iran by targeting the IRGC, and that translates into heightened security concerns. "The United States never branded the KGB [Russian secret service] or the Soviet army as terrorist, and that shows the limits of the Cold War comparison," the Tehran political scientist said. His only optimism: there are "two US governments" speaking with divergent voices, ie, "deterrence diplomacy and preemptive action", and "that usually, historically speaking, spells policy paralysis".

However, no one in Iran can possibly place too much faith on that kind of optimism. Rather, the net effect of this labeling, following the recent "shoot to kill" order of Bush with regard to Iranian operatives in Iraq accused of aiding the anti-occupation insurgents, is to elevate fears of a US "preemptory" strike on Iran. Particularly concerned are many top government officials, lawmakers and present or former civil and military functionaries who are or were at some point affiliated with the IRGC.

There is also a legal implication. Under international law, the United States' move could be challenged as illegal, and untenable, by isolating a branch of the Iranian government for selective targeting. This is contrary to the 1981 Algiers Accord's pledge of non-interference in Iran's internal affairs by the US government. [1]

Should the terror label on the IRGC be in place soon, US customs and homeland-security officials could, theoretically, arrest members of Ahmadinejad's delegation due to travel to the UN headquarters in New York next month because of suspected ties to the IRGC. Even Ahmadinejad, with his past as a commander of the Basij Corps, a paramilitary arm of the IRGC, risks arrest.

The US has opened a Pandora's box with a hasty decision that may have unintended consequences far beyond its planned

coercive diplomacy toward Iran. The first casualty could be the US-Iran dialogue on Iraq's security, although this would simultaneously appease Israeli hawks who dread dialogue and any hints of Cold War-style detente between Tehran and Washington.

It would also become more difficult for Syria to collaborate with Iran with respect to Lebanon's Hezbollah, who owe much to the IRGC since their inception in the early 1980s. The consensus in Iran is that chaos in Iraq is in Israel's interests, but not that of the US, and that the United States' Middle East policy is being held hostage by pro-Israel lobbyists who have painted an enemy image of the dreaded IRGC that is neither accurate nor in tune with the history of US-IRGC interaction.

The US and the IRGC

The current noise masks a hidden history of cooperation between the US military and the IRGC - in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan and, more and more likely, Iraq.

In Bosnia, the US military and intelligence interacted with the IRGC, which had trained Bosnian Muslims, and fought alongside it against their Serbian enemies. They also funneled arms to the IRGC, mainly through Croatia, with the tacit consent of the US government.

In Afghanistan, US military commanders have had similar interaction with commanders of the IRGC, including the elite Quds division of the IRGC, which supported anti-Taliban forces and helped those forces take over Kabul in 2001 with relative ease.

In Iraq, the IRGC has supported various Shi'ite militias as well as the Iraqi military and intelligence and, unofficially, it can credit for the relative stability of the eight Shi'ite provinces, including those in the south. The new US diplomatic engagement of Iran over Iraq is having direct and immediate effects on Iran's behavior inside Iraq, promising further results by the joint expert committees set up as a result of the latest round in the dialogue.

Yet true to the United States' traditional Janus-faced approach toward Iran, just as Iranian and US military and intelligence officials are about to embark on systematic discussions over Iraq and regional security, they will in effect be prevented from doing so by the labeling of the IRGC as terrorist.

Coming 'war of attrition'?

The idea of an all-out military confrontation between the US and Iran, triggered by a US attack on the IRGC, has its watered-down version in a "war of attrition" whereby instead of inter-state warfare, we would witness medium-to-low-intensity clashes.

The question, then, is whether or not the US superpower, addicted to its military doctrine of "superior and overwhelming response", will tolerate occasional bruises at the hands of the Iranians. The answer is highly unlikely given the myriad prestige issues involved and, in turn, this raises the advisability of the labeling initiative with such huge implications nested in it.

No matter, the stage is now set for direct physical clashes between Iran and the US, which has blamed the death of hundreds of its soldiers on Iranian-made roadside bombs. One plausible scenario is the United States' "hot pursuit" of the IRGC inside Iranian territory, initially through "hit and run" commando operations, soliciting an Iranian response, direct or indirect, potentially spiraling out of control.

The hallucination of a protracted "small warfare with Iran" that would somehow insulate both sides from an unwanted big "clash of titans" is just that, a fantasy born and bred in the minds of war-obsessed hawks in Washington and Israel.

Kaveh Afrasiabi,  

international assistance or conspiracy

Usman Haqrab, chief editor of satirical magazine – zanbil gham, is a good friend of mine. His last name means Scorpion because of his reputation for stinging political and social satirical articles.

Usman believes the issue of drug would never be resolved until foreigners leave Afghanistan. “the total world drug trade equals US$ 315 billion and only uS$3.2 Billion comes to Afghanistan, while we are the biggest drug producer of the world” said Usman “why is no body asking where the rest of the money goes, it funds western civilizations” he added. Usman believes foreign troops in Afghanistan uses military power for commercial reasons. Usman is claiming that he has evidence that foreign troops use their air transport to smuggle out afghan artifacts and drug.

 

All Afghan airports are controlled by foreign troops with no interference from Afghan government.  It would be a long time and hard work to prove that foreign military is involved in drug trafficking but it’s not strange for Afghans, soviet troops, two decade before western countries were in Afghanistan and it goes without saying that they were very much involved in the drug market and it is among one of the major reasons of their failure.  

NATO troops are sent here with the same mission as soviets, Nato and Americans are in Afghanistan to outwit the Taliban by infiltrate remote areas of Afghanistan, before seizing their targets and effecting their escape.

Italians came with this mission to Afghanistan, so said the UN, NATO and the world, but it turns out that actually they were wrong and Usman theory is shaping as a truth. six Italian officers are facing a court martial after investigators discovered that their targets were Afghan rugs and that they had been using troops and military helicopters to smuggle them out of the Herat area and back to Italy.

Hundreds of carpets are believed to have ended up in the homes of officers and their friends, while others were sold in carpet shops or markets.
A spokesman at the Military Tribunal of Rome said six men - three captains, two lieutenant colonels and a warrant officer - from the 1st Aves-Antares regiment were under investigation for misusing an armed escort.

"The investigation centres on troops being used to guard Afghan carpets which were then flown to Italy via other countries and their transport was not reported through the proper channels,'' the spokesman said. To avoid checks by Italian military police, the carpets and other trinkets were flown to Viterbo by complicated routes through other European Nato countries.

Prosecutors had intended to investigate cigarette smuggling but changed track when tipped off about the carpets.
The six face court martial under Italian military law for breaching rules on bringing back unauthorised material from a war zone and for the misuse of an armed escort. The regiment has been in Afghanistan for two years and has three CH47 helicopters which are meant to be used for emergency evacuation and transportation.

 

The Nederlands has over 2000 troops in southern Afghan province of Urozgan. Urozgan is among the four provinces in southern Afghanistan which are the considered Taliban home. Tirin Kot is the capital of Urozgan with a small air strip controlled by dutch military.  Urozgan is the home town of Mullah Omar the supreme commander of Taliban, obviously the dutch military is not welcomed there. Among the very few people who are happy about there presence of NATO is mostly children. Children come to the airstrip and sell drugs to dutch soldier from behind the fences and barb wire.   

Taliban phoning UK soldiers' families

TALIBAN are reportedly phoning the families of troops fighting in Afghanistan and telling them their loved ones are dead.

Afghan insurgents have been using mobile phone-hacking technology to extract phone numbers to target the families of British troops, The Sun newspaper reported today.

According to The Sun, a Taliban fanatic called the wife of an Royal Air Force officer and told her: “You’ll never see your husband alive again – we have just killed him.” After calling the RAF, she was told that her husband was safe and well.

As a result of opposition forces using advanced technology to monitor calls made on mobile phones, British servicemen have been banned from using their phones.
“We assume these days that every conversation over mobile phones is being heard by our enemies,” a senior officer said.

“They have some pretty powerful friends and allies, who are giving them some very sophisticated help. They will use that information in any way they can to damage us, whether it is physically or mentally.” The Ministry of Defence said families of troops in Iraq had also suffered from “nuisance calls” in the past year

 

خانم آلمانی پس از اختطاف رها گردید

 

کرستینا خانم اختتاف شده  آلمانی  بعد از دو روز رها گردید .

این خانم  که در بخش صحی یک موسسه  در افغانستان فعالیت می کرد   دوروز قبل  از سوی اشخاص نا معلوم از ساحه کارته چهار مربوط حوزه هفتم شهر کابل  اختطاف شده بود  .

 دفتر مطبوعاتی  ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی گفت:

 "طی یک عملیات  مشترک موظفین امنیت ملی ووزارت امور داخله که دیشب در ساحه کارته چهار انجام شد ؛خانم آلمانی را   از اسارت گروگان گیران  در یک خانه  واقع ساحه مذکور آزاد نجات داده  و به سفارت آلمان مقیم کابل تسلیم نموده اند.

منبع می افزاید که دو تن   به اسمای غلام حضرت ومسعود به اتهام اختطاف خانم آلمانی بازداشت گردیده است ..

قضیه تحت تحقیق وبررسی قرار دارد.

 

 

 

 

حمله مسلحانه

  حمله مسلحانه ،  افراد مسلح ناشناس شب گذشته  درولسوالی شیندند هرات  بالاي ارباب بصیر دو كشته و دوزخمي بجا گذاشت 

 

ارباب بصيريكتن ازبزرگان قوم  نورزايی ومخالف قوماندان امان الله كه موصوف  ازجمله   ناراضیان دولت درولسوالي شیندندولايت هرات بوده ؛ ميباشد.

 

حاجي  علم ولسوال شیندند به خبرنگاران گفت  :

"حوالي ساعت نه ونيم شب گذشته درمنطقه جنگل اين ولسوالي  افرادناشناس   بالاي ارباب بصيرحمله نموده كه درنتيجه دوتن ازافراد محافظنیش كشته ودوتن ديگرنيززخمي ميشوند."

 

 همچنا وي  از مداخالات كشورايران که  منجربه ناامني درآن  منطقه شده  شاکی بوده  میگوید كه چندي قبل  درنتيجه حمله موشكي  بالاي يك پوسته  امنيتي اين ولسوالي دوفيربي ام يك ازمنطقه فيرشده  بدست امده كه ساخت ايران ميباشد.

 

او ميگويد" كه اگر مقامات محلي ويامركزي  به این مساله رسیده گی و توجه ننمایند ممکن  فاجعه بزرگ دراين ولسوالي پيش بيايد."

 

ولسوال شیندند حادثه شب گذشته را نيزبه دست داشتن ايرانيان ربط داد .

 

 این درحالیست که  چند روزقبل رئيس جمهورايران طی سفرش به افغانستان  بصورت مطلق  کشف سلاح کشف شده را در این کشور رد نموده  ؛ اظهارنمود كه انها افغانستان  باثبات ميخواهند.

 

 گفنیست  که لوي ولسوالي شیندند باكشورايران همسرحد بوده  دراين ولسوالي يك پايگاه نظامي هوايی كه درزمان روس ها ساخته شده بود وجود دارد مگر  هم اكنون دراختیار نيروي هاي (اسپيشل فورس ) يا نيروي هاي مخصوص  امريكا  ميباشد.

 

german hostage freed

Afghan police freed a female German hostage from a neighborhood in the capital Kabul and arrested a group of kidnappers early Monday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

The 31-year old German captive was abducted from a restaurant on Saturday and the operation to free her took place near the area of western Kabul where she went missing.

Earlier in the day, the captive, who identified herself as Christina Meier, appeared on a video pleading for help. The video was broadcast by a local television station.

 

german woman

 

 

Tolo shows what it says is video of the kidnapped German aid worker. Its out of control. You know who this is. It’s the ghazni vulgar, timor, who got released in the last hostage exchange with Taliban. Makes great storyJ

afghan independence day

                                                                                                  Photo by Fardin Waezi/unama
Today, August 19, Afghanistan marks its independence day, commemorating the Rawalpindi Treaty granting Afghanistan independence from the United Kingdom in 1919 after the third Anglo-Afghan war.

 

last chance in Pakistan

Independence Day was highly celebrated in Pakistan. But the slogans and the way the government is presenting it have changed over the course of the last ten years.

It used to be cute children weeping or a little girl praying or a little boy holding a gun, but now it’s a little smiling girl with Pakistan flag painted on her face. It’s still the same tactic, using children for promoting a political cause, but now it’s more nationalistic than religious. Pakistan of the last five years has drastically changed; maybe the $10 billion in aid to Pakistan has caused that much change. But not enough to make Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf stop extremists to arm themselves in the Red Mosque for months, the Taliban to recruit and plan attacks with relative freedom, and Al Qaeda to reorganize itself in the border provinces.

 

I think its about the right time for Pakistan to take a stronger stand against the extremists. The Pakistan government at some point need to take action against mosques around the country run by the same kind of jihadi Islamic extremists who recruit suicide bombers to move across the border -- as they did in the last month? The peace jirga or any other sort of meeting to improve relation between Afghanistan and Pakistan won’t be efficient unless Pakistan stop the extremists on it’s territory and shut down Taliban's command and control centers in Peshawar and Quetta.

 

Khorshid Ahmad Qasori in an interview with BBC was emphasizing last week that Pakistan is doing more than NATO to curb extremists. He added “Pakistan has 80000 troops on Afghan border which double the size of NATO in Afghanistan. if that is the case, why has Al Qaeda been allowed to reorganize in Pakistan with more ability to carry out terrorist attacks, according to National Intelligence Estimate alqaida is organized to attack more than ever.

 

Its almost time for a change in Pakistan, Musharraf's term ends in October, and the following month the National Assembly completes its tenure. For the first time since the October 1999 coup, Musharraf's authoritarian rule appears shaky. His attempts at pre-election rigging -- including his onslaught on judicial independence and the media-- illustrate he refuses to commit to free and fair elections and to leave office if the new Parliament names someone else president.

 

The Pakistani people have registered their desire for a democratic transition with street protests, which have been met by guns and gas.  But the US is not sure that election is a good option for Pakistan. Musharaff suppressed all the moderate elements of Pakistan society. So there is a good chance for extremists to win the election. Military might be a good option for a country which has promoted military extremism in the region for more than half a century to have some sort of leverage in India and Afghanistan and the broader region. Musharaff was trying to influence the election. He was trying to declare a state of emergency but this would certainly delegitimise the election, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a useful phone call this week to dissuade Musharraf from declaring emergency rule. The following few days will illustrate musharaff’s intentions; he could remain the ruler by postponing elections, or stand for reelection by the current lame-duck assemblies. Yesterday he was telling his army buddies that he will remain chief of the army because that is not an elected job but the nation can choose a president.  

 

Unless some significant change is brought about in Pakistan, the country will steadily slide into extremism and remain a safe heaven for Taliban.  Musharraf’s dictatorship is a deeply unpopular government, the international community and US government needs to engage constructively in Pakistan long before thinking about any exit strategy from Afghanistan. Musharraf has clearly failed to fight terrorism and neutralize religious extremism. And it puts the United States at even greater risk by feeding the growing anti-American sentiment among pro-democracy Pakistanis. It’s the pro-democracy Pakistanis which have good lives in the US and UK. Their support for extremism would provide a sanctuary for terrorism in the west and financial support for home grown madrass based terrorists.

 

Musharraf has clearly revealed that he is not interested in dialogue with Afghanistan. Musharraf didn’t attend the afghan pak peace jirga, a grand forum with 700 representatives of both countries, until secretary of state, Rice, called him and told him to attend the closing ceremony with Afghan president Karzai. History has proven that dictatorships tend to rely of force and they are not interested in cooperation. If there is any hope for stopping terrorism in the region then Pakistan and Afghanistan should cooperate. But the US doesn’t have many choices in Pakistan to change it into a cooperative country. The time is fast running out and home grown resentment is increasing against the US and the West. Musharraf is on the same track as the Shah of Iran was in the 70s. the US missed all the chances then but it should keep a sharp eye on Pakistan.

 

The New York Times' recent piece on Afghanistan

The New York Times‘ recent piece on Afghanistan sparked a follow-up at the Informed Comment Global Affairs blog by Barnett Rubin, a well-known expert on Afghanistan. While Rubin mostly praises the Times‘ effort, he argues that they have missed at least two things: the limited accomplishments that came as a result of the UN’s presence in Afghanistan and how the Bush administration’s ideological blinders exacerbated the problems of nation-building following the invasion. http://icga.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-york-times-on-failure-in.html

 

german woman kidnapped

Several gunmen interred a restaurant and kidnapped a german woman. one of the men went inside BBQ tonight. Two assailants waited outside, while another waited in a parked gray Toyota Corolla.

The man in the restaurant then pulled out a pistol, walked up to a table where the woman was sitting with her boyfriend, and took her away. The boyfriend is unharmed, the restaurant owner called the police and another run after the car.

 

BBQ tonight is a new fast food restaurant in karti sai. The restaurant is opposite to some warlord house so there is always some armed guards outside on watch. The road from restaurant leads to an immediate roundabout where always at least four cops are on the watch. BBQ tonight is 300 feet away from 3rd district police station. Police, alerted to the kidnapping, spotted the speeding car and opened fire, but instead hit a nearby taxi and killed its driver.

 

The German woman abducted Saturday worked for a small, nonaffiliated Christian organization called Ora International.

Based in the central German town of Korbach, north of Frankfurt, the group is active in 30 countries around the world and concentrates its efforts in Afghanistan on health issues and HIV/AIDS awareness, the group said on its Web site.

 

U.N. staff in Kabul, meanwhile, were told Saturday afternoon to remain in their locations. All foreigners were also placed under tight security. There was a big panic in foreign community this afternoon. Some were stuck in restaurants and swimming pools or yoga clubs and gems since Saturday is a day off for them. this is certainly scary for the foreign community. This is the first kidnapping in Kabul city after two years. as Taliban changes their tactics and criminal groups find better methods of earning, foreigners and aid workers are worried about their security. Once the method is in place the security measures won’t make much difference, an Englishman was shot dead and then rubbed close to American embassy and NATO headquarter, the part of town with heighten security.

 

 

 

 

 

new deputy special representative

UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon has appointed Bo Asplund of Sweden as his Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. Asplund will also serve as the UN resident coordinator, as well as the UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan. Currently, Bo Asplund is the United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator and the UNDP resident representative in Indonesia, a post he has held since 2001. Asplund has also served as deputy assistant administrator of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Arab States at the organization’s headquarters in New York, UNDP Sr. Dy Resident Representative in Sudan, and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Algeria.

دستگیری یک فرمانده شبکه تروریستی طالبان با هفت تن همکارانش

یک رهبر شبکه تروریستی گروه طالبان با هفت تن ازشرکای جرمی اش بازداشت گردید .

محمد طالب فرزند شهاب الدین به اسم مستعار جماالدین باشنده  قریه زندان ولسوالی خاکجبار ولایت کابل که رهبری   شبکه تروریستی گروه طالبان را در شهر کابل بعهده داشت هفته قبل  هنگامیکه  میخواست هشت  فیرراکت نوع میزاییل را از قریه فوق به منزل طوطی شاه  یکتن از همکارانش واقع قریه کمری ولسوالی بگرامی انتقال دهد  با هفت تن دیگر از سوی موظفین امنیت ملی در کابل  باز داشت شدند.

 

سعید انصاری سخنگوی ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی امروز طی   نشست خبری در مقر آن ریاست به خبرنگاران گفت:

 "    محمد طالب نام   در دوران جهاد عضویت حزب اسلامی حکمتیار را داشت و در زمان حاکمیت  طا لبان سرپرستی گروه از تروریستان را در شهر کابل و همچنان  به حیث معاون  ولسوالی بگرامی موظف بوده که بعدا  به صفت مدیر تحقیق ریاست 11 استخبارات  نیزاجرای وظیفه نموده است .

 

انصاری می افزایدکه متهم در جریان تحقیقات خویش به انجام حملات ؛ پرتاب راکت های میزاییل بالای جریان برگزاری جرگه امن منطقوی  ،سازماندهی ماین های ریموت کنترول در ساحه سنگ نوشته بالای کاروان نیروهای ایساف ،سازماندهی انفجارات در ساحه گمرک وپلچرخی بالای موتر حامل نیروهای ایساف و سازماندهی حملات  انتحاری توسط عبدالقدوس باشنده کمری وفرمان الله تبعه پاکستانی بر علیه گل آغا شیرزی والی ولایت ننگرهار که قبل از انجام عمل تروریستی دستگیر شدند. اعتراف نموده است .

انصاری همچنان میگوید که نجیب الله  ،عبدالستار وعظیم الله فرزندان عبدالستارباشندگان  ولسوالی کمری،محمد خان فرزند حکم خان باشنده قریه زندان ولسوالی خاک جبار،شیرالله فرزند محمد کاظم باشنده قریه خواجه چاشت وسیف الله فرزند حبیب الله باشنده کمری هفت تن از همکاران  محمد طالب میباشند که  از سوی موظفین ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی دستگیرشدند.

 

وی در اخیر گفت که محمد طالب بخاطر انجام هر عمل تروریستی از  سراج الدین که مسوولیت دفتر " 442 ام آی "قشله نظامی کرب ایجنسی در پاکستان به عهده داشت     مبلغ 300 هزار کلدار پاکستانی دریافت  میکرد.

 

محمد طالب فرزند شهاب الدین:  فرمانده گروه از تروریستان در شهر کابل