Washington, Jan.27 (ANI): Stressing on an immediate need to dismantle the terror sanctuaries in Pakistan, US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry has said that until these terror hot beds are demolished, the US forces can not stabilise Afghanistan.
Buzz up!Eikenberry is also critical of President Barack Obama's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, and believes that the troop surge would not help counter insurgency in the region.
"Pakistan will remain the single greatest source of Afghan instability so long as the border sanctuaries remain, and Pakistan views its strategic interests as best served by a weak neighbour," Eikenberry said in his memos to Secretary of States Hillary Clinton.
In his notes, that were written in last November explaining his opposition to the 'surge' of 30,000 US forces in Afghanistan, Eikenberry underlined that while the Pakistan Army has claimed success against the extremists in successive operations, the lasting result of the offensive was still unclear.
"Nor does the Pakistan military action address the role of the Quetta Shura, which has the most influence over the insurgency in southern Taliban strongholds, or the Haqqani network, the most lethal killer of allied troops and Afghan civilians," the former top US commander in Afghanistan said.
Until this sanctuary problem is fully addressed, the gains from sending additional forces may be fleeting, Eikenberry added. (ANI)
Source:news.oneindia.in/
Showing posts with label Afghan battlefield mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afghan battlefield mystery. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Editorial: Summitry on Afghanistan
In a concentrated burst of diplomatic activity, a series of
summits has taken place, is taking place as these lines are being written, and will take place after they appear in print. On Monday, a trilateral summit amongst Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan transpired in Istanbul, hosted by Turkish President Abdullah Gul and attended by the Pakistani and Afghan presidents. On Tuesday, Pakistan’s six plus two formula would be applied for a summit of Afghanistan’s neighbours, also in Istanbul. On Wednesday, the much hyped and anticipated conference on Afghanistan in London would get underway. In the second summit in Istanbul, Pakistan, Iran, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, all immediate neighbours of Afghanistan, would be represented. In addition, the US will be in attendance, and in a substitution for the original invitee Russia, the UK. At the London conference, around 50 countries will be participating. All this shows the increasing focus on, and increased activity to find ways of resolution of, the Afghan conflict.
The thrust of most opinion on the issue centres on the possibility of opening a dialogue with, and welcoming in from the cold, mid-level Taliban fighters, considered to be less ideologically motivated and perhaps fighting for money or to avenge grievances against the Karzai government, the foreign forces supporting that government, or the warlords who form the warp and woof of the incumbent Kabul regime. The terms on which such fighters may be welcomed back and rehabilitated in Afghan society include a renunciation of their past proclivities and views, an acceptance of the Afghan constitution and political setup, and an avowed farewell to arms. A great deal of the hopes residing in this initiative spring from the fact that resources will now be made available to Kabul to sweeten the return of such fighters with jobs, homes, security against former enemies, etc. The Obama ‘surge’ of some 30,000 fresh troops is intended to weaken the hold of the Taliban insurgency, secure the cities, population centres and main highways, and thereby persuade even the leadership of the Taliban that their struggle does not have any hope of succeeding in its objectives by force of arms. That development, it is hoped, will open the door to negotiations with the Taliban leadership on seeking a political solution to the Afghan quagmire. There are unprecedented hints of late that Mullah Omar may be shifting ground slightly to envisage accepting the demand that the Taliban distance themselves from al Qaeda, but he remains adamant that the other side must commit to a withdrawal of all foreign forces, without necessarily being forthcoming on the issue of accepting the Afghan constitution or political order.
These diplomatic, political shifts have been made possible in recent days because of Saudi Arabia’s mediation between the Taliban and the Karzai regime, through discreet contacts hosted by the Kingdom since the last two years. Whereas Pakistan’s ISI has been left out of this loop at the insistence of the hosts and the two sides of this coin, the redoubtable intelligence arm of the Pakistani military now feels even more confident of calling the shots in any negotiated settlement in Afghanistan because of its closeness to the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership and fighters are hosted on Pakistani soil. The ISI’s insistence, according to reports, that it alone will mediate between the Taliban and the US and Afghan authorities, without permitting direct contacts between the warring sides, may be read as an attempt to ensure that Pakistan’s oft-touted but little explained ‘national security interests’ in Afghanistan are safeguarded. Reading between the lines reveals that the Pakistani military establishment still harbours apprehensions and a horror of the possibility of growing Indian influence in Kabul squeezing Pakistan in a ‘nutcracker’ between a hostile India to the east and a less than friendly Afghanistan under Indian influence to the west. This paranoia may put a spanner in the works of the London conference, where the US and UK are pressing for an increased role for India in any eventual settlement of the Afghan imbroglio, a notion rejected in toto by the Pakistani military establishment and which is arguably being worked against by the two summits in Istanbul, where India is not represented.
The notion of a regional solution to Afghanistan’s woes sounds fine in theory, and as far as its immediate neighbours and the chief architects of a political settlement allowing the US and Nato forces to withdraw at some future date, i.e. the US and UK are concerned, poses better prospects of success. The fly in the ointment is Pakistan’s opposition to opening the door further to an Indian role, the rock on which the London conference and all similar initiatives beloved of the west may make shipwreck. *
Second Editorial: Quetta police protests
What happened in Quetta on Monday is condemnable to say
the least. The provincial capital presented a scene of complete lawlessness in which there was no one to protect the life and property or citizens. Hundreds of police officials coursed the main roads and streets of the Quetta city in a rally that had started from Police Lines. Their first destination was the Chief Minister’s House where they chanted slogans against the government and forcibly entered the premises. Their demand: an increase in the salaries of the Balochistan Police at par with the police force in other provinces. On not finding the chief minister there, they went to the Governor’s House and repeated their act. The governor ensured protesting police cadres that he would talk to the provincial government to get their grievances addressed. But there was no pacifying the rebellious law enforcers, who then thought it wise to block roads, hold sit-ins in various parts of the city, burn tyres, resort to aerial firing and harass journalists and ordinary citizens alike. This was the least one expected from a disciplined law enforcement body like the police.
The swiftness with which the provincial government has acted against this open rebellion is laudable. The Capital City Police Chief of Quetta as well as Deputy Inspector General (Operations) have been removed from their posts and ordered to report to Services and General Administration Department (S&DAG). Regional police officers of Sibi and Khuzdar have been given the additional charge of these posts respectively. One cannot but agree with the Chief Minister of Balochistan Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani’s statement that when the guardians of the law blow it to smithereens, they do not deserve any leniency. It is hoped that the government would live up to its resolve and not allow leeway to the culprits during proceedings against them. In addition to a thorough departmental inquiry into the incident, criminal cases against officials responsible for inciting protests and violence should set an example for the rest. While the government suppresses this rebellion quickly and effectively, it should also work towards meeting the just demands of the Balochistan Police. There is no denying that in a province that suffers from a difficult law and order situation and where the police face targeted killings by disgruntled Baloch insurgents, meagre salaries and other compensations serve to lower the morale of the force. The government should not allow the discontent in its prime law enforcement agency to fester. *
Source:dailytimes.com.pk/
summits has taken place, is taking place as these lines are being written, and will take place after they appear in print. On Monday, a trilateral summit amongst Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan transpired in Istanbul, hosted by Turkish President Abdullah Gul and attended by the Pakistani and Afghan presidents. On Tuesday, Pakistan’s six plus two formula would be applied for a summit of Afghanistan’s neighbours, also in Istanbul. On Wednesday, the much hyped and anticipated conference on Afghanistan in London would get underway. In the second summit in Istanbul, Pakistan, Iran, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, all immediate neighbours of Afghanistan, would be represented. In addition, the US will be in attendance, and in a substitution for the original invitee Russia, the UK. At the London conference, around 50 countries will be participating. All this shows the increasing focus on, and increased activity to find ways of resolution of, the Afghan conflict.
The thrust of most opinion on the issue centres on the possibility of opening a dialogue with, and welcoming in from the cold, mid-level Taliban fighters, considered to be less ideologically motivated and perhaps fighting for money or to avenge grievances against the Karzai government, the foreign forces supporting that government, or the warlords who form the warp and woof of the incumbent Kabul regime. The terms on which such fighters may be welcomed back and rehabilitated in Afghan society include a renunciation of their past proclivities and views, an acceptance of the Afghan constitution and political setup, and an avowed farewell to arms. A great deal of the hopes residing in this initiative spring from the fact that resources will now be made available to Kabul to sweeten the return of such fighters with jobs, homes, security against former enemies, etc. The Obama ‘surge’ of some 30,000 fresh troops is intended to weaken the hold of the Taliban insurgency, secure the cities, population centres and main highways, and thereby persuade even the leadership of the Taliban that their struggle does not have any hope of succeeding in its objectives by force of arms. That development, it is hoped, will open the door to negotiations with the Taliban leadership on seeking a political solution to the Afghan quagmire. There are unprecedented hints of late that Mullah Omar may be shifting ground slightly to envisage accepting the demand that the Taliban distance themselves from al Qaeda, but he remains adamant that the other side must commit to a withdrawal of all foreign forces, without necessarily being forthcoming on the issue of accepting the Afghan constitution or political order.
These diplomatic, political shifts have been made possible in recent days because of Saudi Arabia’s mediation between the Taliban and the Karzai regime, through discreet contacts hosted by the Kingdom since the last two years. Whereas Pakistan’s ISI has been left out of this loop at the insistence of the hosts and the two sides of this coin, the redoubtable intelligence arm of the Pakistani military now feels even more confident of calling the shots in any negotiated settlement in Afghanistan because of its closeness to the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership and fighters are hosted on Pakistani soil. The ISI’s insistence, according to reports, that it alone will mediate between the Taliban and the US and Afghan authorities, without permitting direct contacts between the warring sides, may be read as an attempt to ensure that Pakistan’s oft-touted but little explained ‘national security interests’ in Afghanistan are safeguarded. Reading between the lines reveals that the Pakistani military establishment still harbours apprehensions and a horror of the possibility of growing Indian influence in Kabul squeezing Pakistan in a ‘nutcracker’ between a hostile India to the east and a less than friendly Afghanistan under Indian influence to the west. This paranoia may put a spanner in the works of the London conference, where the US and UK are pressing for an increased role for India in any eventual settlement of the Afghan imbroglio, a notion rejected in toto by the Pakistani military establishment and which is arguably being worked against by the two summits in Istanbul, where India is not represented.
The notion of a regional solution to Afghanistan’s woes sounds fine in theory, and as far as its immediate neighbours and the chief architects of a political settlement allowing the US and Nato forces to withdraw at some future date, i.e. the US and UK are concerned, poses better prospects of success. The fly in the ointment is Pakistan’s opposition to opening the door further to an Indian role, the rock on which the London conference and all similar initiatives beloved of the west may make shipwreck. *
Second Editorial: Quetta police protests
What happened in Quetta on Monday is condemnable to say
the least. The provincial capital presented a scene of complete lawlessness in which there was no one to protect the life and property or citizens. Hundreds of police officials coursed the main roads and streets of the Quetta city in a rally that had started from Police Lines. Their first destination was the Chief Minister’s House where they chanted slogans against the government and forcibly entered the premises. Their demand: an increase in the salaries of the Balochistan Police at par with the police force in other provinces. On not finding the chief minister there, they went to the Governor’s House and repeated their act. The governor ensured protesting police cadres that he would talk to the provincial government to get their grievances addressed. But there was no pacifying the rebellious law enforcers, who then thought it wise to block roads, hold sit-ins in various parts of the city, burn tyres, resort to aerial firing and harass journalists and ordinary citizens alike. This was the least one expected from a disciplined law enforcement body like the police.
The swiftness with which the provincial government has acted against this open rebellion is laudable. The Capital City Police Chief of Quetta as well as Deputy Inspector General (Operations) have been removed from their posts and ordered to report to Services and General Administration Department (S&DAG). Regional police officers of Sibi and Khuzdar have been given the additional charge of these posts respectively. One cannot but agree with the Chief Minister of Balochistan Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani’s statement that when the guardians of the law blow it to smithereens, they do not deserve any leniency. It is hoped that the government would live up to its resolve and not allow leeway to the culprits during proceedings against them. In addition to a thorough departmental inquiry into the incident, criminal cases against officials responsible for inciting protests and violence should set an example for the rest. While the government suppresses this rebellion quickly and effectively, it should also work towards meeting the just demands of the Balochistan Police. There is no denying that in a province that suffers from a difficult law and order situation and where the police face targeted killings by disgruntled Baloch insurgents, meagre salaries and other compensations serve to lower the morale of the force. The government should not allow the discontent in its prime law enforcement agency to fester. *
Source:dailytimes.com.pk/
Afghan battlefield mystery plays out in court
In a nondescript courtroom in a sprawling government complex, that image was in sharp focus as the 36-year-old and his pregnant wife, Amelie Lapierre-Semrau, appeared Monday on Day 1 of his second-degree murder trial in the death of a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan on Oct. 19, 2008.
The high-profile case marks the first time a criminal charge has been laid against a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan involving the death of an alleged enemy fighter.
Semrau is charged with shooting a severely injured, unarmed combatant following a prolonged clash in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province.
"The problem with Semrau is if he had just let the person die he would have been fine, but if, as it is alleged, that he did shoot him, then it does become murder," said Chris Madsen, a professor at Canadian Forces College in Toronto who is an historian and military law expert.
It might be as long as two weeks before the details of the case become public because Semrau's lawyer, Maj. Steven Turner, has filed six applications challenging the constitutionality of the court martial.
The case has been dogged by controversy because Semrau, a member of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, was not charged until almost two months after the alleged shooting, leaving critics scratching their heads as to why it took so long.
A predominant factor was that no body was recovered, court documents suggest.
Semrau, who holds a BA in psychology from the University of Saskatchewan, completed three years of service in the British army and was deployed to Macedonia and Afghanistan before he enrolled in the Canadian Forces in August 2005.
When he left the British army he was given an exemplary discharge.
Even so, one witness told investigators that he saw Semrau fire his rifle in the direction of the injured insurgent, who had been cut down in an American gunship attack.
On Oct. 19, 2008, Semrau was commanding a small team of Canadian soldiers of the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team, which was mentoring a company of soldiers from the Afghan National Army in a British area of operation.
A joint defence-prosecution "synopsis" of the incident filed in court last year states that a U.S. Apache helicopter was called in for support, after which the group discovered one dead insurgent and another with wounds "too severe for any type of treatment" in the field.
An assault rifle was taken from the injured man and he was photographed "in accordance with standard procedures." Semrau was allegedly seen firing his rifle at the man, and witnesses will say two shots were heard.
"Immediately afterward, all forces resumed the mission and the body of the severely wounded insurgent was left behind. That body has not been recovered," said the synopsis.
Despite the gravity of the case, Semrau, wearing his dress green army uniform, appeared to be in good spirits, periodically turning around to make eye contact with and smile at his wife, Amelie, who is a kindergarten teacher. The couple, who live in Petawawa with their 19-month-old daughter, Camea, have been married for about 10 years
Legal arguments, on issues ranging from holding the trial in Kandahar to scrapping the trial altogether, are to be dealt with before selection begins of a five-officer panel that will act as a jury.
Chief Military Judge Col. Mario Dutil began sorting through the arguments Monday by dismissing a defence application to have the panel members wearcivilian clothing instead of uniforms, and the lawyers – both defence and prosecution – wear gowns instead of uniforms.
"I am trying to remove a powerful visual symbol," said Turner.
Tuesday, Turner is to argue that since the alleged shooting happened in Afghanistan, the case should be heard on the military base in Kandahar. He is expected to take most of the day arguing his position.
Source:thestar.com/
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