Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

Al-Qaeda Spreads Its Tentacles

Philip Smucker, 'Al-Qaeda Spreads Its Tentacles', Asia Times Online, 29 May 2009

EXCERPT: "Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network is seizing a greater role behind the scenes in Afghanistan and Pakistan in an effort that could block the Barack Obama administration's stated goal of denying the terror network sanctuary in South Asia. A three-month investigation of al-Qaeda's activities, from Nuristan in the north to Paktika in the southeast, suggests that bin Laden's terror network - working through Afghan and Pakistani partners - is present in almost every Afghan and Pakistani province along the fluid border areas between the two countries. Interviews with US military commanders and American radio intercepts of Arab and Chechen fighters as well as confirmed captures or kills of foreign fighters inside Afghanistan bolster the findings. More alarming to Western terrorism analysts and US commanders, however, is the recognition that al-Qaeda has succeeded in goading its regional partners into accepting the idea of a 'two-front-war' against US-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in Afghanistan and the government in Pakistan. That war in turn guarantees bin Laden's network permanent safe havens along the porous border between the two nations, from which it can plan larger international terrorist attacks."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Afghan militants "killed in raid"', BBC News, 28 May 2009
'Afghanistan praises Pakistan military action', DAWN, 28 May 2009
'US: Four al-Qaida members detained in Afghanistan', Sify News, 27 May 2009

Related posts:
'Country reports on terrorism 2008', 1 May 2009
'Al-Qaeda's shadow army outlines Afghan strategy', 14 April 2009
'CIA chief says Qaeda is extending its reach', 14 November 2008
'Al-Qaeda, Afghanistan and the good war', 28 February 2008

Security, Peace and Development for Afghan Women

'Getting It Right: Security, Peace and Development for Afghan Women', The Funder's Network for Afghan Women, 28 May 2009

EXCERPT: "With the fall of the Taliban, Afghan women came back from the brink. But the gains made since 2001 are fragile. Any prospects of better lives for Afghan women and girls are inherently linked to the success of the development, reconstruction and the poverty alleviation agenda of the international community and the Afghan Government. The common ingredients for success in any efforts are those that will invest in people and that will create openings for sustainable change in the treatment of women. Below are a set of key issues and recommendations."

To continue reading the policy brief, click here [pdf].

Related posts:
'Afghan women struggle to be heard', 10 February 2009
'South Asia human rights index 2008 - Afghanistan', 5 August 2008
'Living female in Afghanistan', 17 July 2008
'Many women are unaware of their rights', 15 May 2008

The Long March: Building An Afghan National Army

Obaid Younossi et al, 'The Long March: Building An Afghan National Army', RAND Corporation, 28 May 2009

EXCERPT: "The Afghan National Army (ANA) is critical to the success of the allied efforts in Afghanistan and the ultimate stability of the national government. This monograph assesses the ANA's progress in the areas of recruitment, training, facilities, and operational capability. It draws on a variety of sources: in-country interviews with U.S., NATO, and Afghan officials; data provided by the U.S. Army; open-source literature; and a series of public opinion surveys conducted in Afghanistan over the past several years. Although the ANA has come a long way since the outset of the recent conflict in the country, the authors conclude that coalition forces, especially those of the United States, will play a crucial role in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, particularly in light of the increased threat from Taliban forces and other illegally armed criminal groups."

To continue reading the monograph, click here [pdf].

Related posts:
'Afghanistan's national security forces', 16 April 2009
'Top commander says Afghan handoff "years away"', 6 April 2009
'Expansion of security forces fraught with challenges', 25 March 2009
'Creating effective Afghan security forces', 12 March 2009
'Pentagon: Afghan army growing at record pace', 12 November 2008

US Surge "Will Lead To Spike In Conflict"

'US Troop Surge In Afghanistan "Will Lead To Spike In Conflict"', Times Online, 29 May 2009

EXCERPT: "An injection of 21,000 extra troops to Afghanistan this summer will provoke a jump in violence before the casualty rate falls, a top British commander has warned, as the deaths of two more British servicemen were announced. Lieutenant-General Jim Dutton, Nato's deputy commander in Afghanistan, said that he expects a repeat of the impact experienced by US Marines when they arrived in the south of the country last year: a sharp rise in skirmishes and casualties before a 'marked reduction' three weeks later. The presidential election on August 20 is 'where we're planning for the worst case,' he told The Times. Predictions of increased fighting enable military and political leaders to claim success by simply preserving the status quo, but consensus within the coalition and outside is that this summer will be particularly bloody."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Implementing Af-Pak strategy is the hard part', IPS, 29 May 2009
'Strategic shortfalls: The Afghan surge', The New Nation, 29 May 2009
'Stabilizing Iraq: Intelligence lessons for Afghanistan', The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 28 May 2009
'Analysis: Fueling the Afghan surge', UPI, 27 May 2009

Related posts:
'Surge of troops "needed for five years": NATO commander', 8 February 2009
'NATO figures show surge in violence', 2 February 2009
'Karzai blames allies for problems', 20 January 2009
'Surging towards stalemate', 7 January 2009
'More US troops may help but not solve Afghanistan', 23 July 2008

Amnesty International Report 2009: Afghanistan

'Amnesty International Report 2009: Afghanistan', Amnesty International, 28 May 2009

EXCERPT: "Millions of people living in southern and eastern Afghanistan, terrorized by the Taleban, other insurgent groups and local militias ostensibly allied with the government, suffered insecurity that further restricted their already limited access to food, health care, and schooling. Indiscriminate attacks, abductions and the targeting of civilians reached unprecedented levels. The Taleban and other anti-government groups significantly expanded their attacks to cover more than a third of the country, including areas once considered relatively safe in the centre and the north. Increased military attacks between anti-government groups and US and NATO troops resulted in more than 2,000 civilian deaths. The government failed to maintain the rule of law or to provide basic services to millions of people even in areas under its control."

To continue reading the report, click here.

Related posts:
'Afghan officials unaware torture illegal', 1 May 2009
'Afghan women protest new restrictive law', 15 April 2009
'UN: Rights in Afghanistan deteriorating', 25 March 2009
'First Afghan woman mayor says women's rights worsened', 14 January 2009
'Afghanistan: Little has changed in 200 years', 12 November 2008

Nourishing Afghanistan's Agricultural Sector

Greg Bruno, 'Backgrounder: Nourishing Afghanistan's Agricultural Sector', Council on Foreign Relations, 26 May 2009

EXCERPT: "As the United States focuses new attention on the Afghan war front, U.S. policymakers are emphasizing rural development and agricultural reform as keys to long-term stability. Bruce Riedel, who coauthored the Obama administration's review of Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, says Washington is 'going to emphasize wheat' as an alternative to opium poppy production, which has helped fund the country's strengthening insurgency. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the farm sector is a pillar of future development, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to spend $27.5 million on food assistance and rural development projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan, on top of $208 million spent on Afghan food aid programs since 2003."

To continue reading the backgrounder, click here.

Related posts:
'Pomegranates usurp Afghan poppies', 13 January 2009
'ADB gives 30 million dollars to rebuild agriculture', 24 November 2008
'Canada buys wheat seeds as alternative to poppies', 10 November 2008
'Australian wheat to replace opium in Afghanistan', 6 May 2008
'Afghan opium - The farmer's perspective', 8 April 2008

Crackdown Urged On Drug Lords, Corrupt Officials

'US, UN Officials Urge Crackdown On Afghan Drug Lords, Corrupt Officials', Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 28 May 2009

EXCERPT: "From the Pentagon to the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime, there appears to be growing recognition that Afghanistan's counternarcotics strategy is failing. Military and civilian officials admit they have focused too much on destroying opium fields without offering enough support to Afghan farmers who switch to legal crops. They say it is time to crack down on the handful of powerful drug lords who have made Afghanistan the source for 90 percent of the world's illegal opium, spreading instability along the way. In testimony to the U.S. Senate this week, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen said the international community is losing the battle against opium production in Afghanistan. Mullen said foreign forces in Afghanistan need to do more than simply fight Taliban militants who are paid by criminal groups to protect opium crops."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'Opium a "low-risk product for a high-risk environment', Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 28 May 2009
'Afghanistan: Farmers face poppy dilemma', IRIN News, 28 May 2009
'Taliban's foreign support vexes US', The Wall Street Journal, 28 May 2009
'Statement of Admiral Michael G. Mullen before the 111th Congress Senate Committee on Foreign Relations' [pdf], United States Senate, 21 May 2009

Related posts:
'UN wants "flood of drugs" to devalue opium', 26 May 2009
'US troops seize 16.5 tons of drugs', 21 May 2009
'Afghan anti-drug effort needs big boost', 29 April 2009
'2008 opium crop was second biggest: UN report', 20 February 2009
'NATO urged to do more for Afghan drugs problem', 13 May 2008

UN Expert: US Failing To Properly Probe War Crimes

'UN Expert: US Failing To Properly Probe War Crimes', The Associated Press, 28 May 2009

EXCERPT: "An independent U.N. human rights investigator said Thursday that the United States is failing to properly investigate alleged war crimes committed by its soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Although some cases are investigated and lead to prosecutions, others aren't or result in lenient sentences, said Philip Alston, the U.N. Human Rights Council's special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings. 'There have been chronic and deplorable accountability failures with respect to policies, practices and conduct that resulted in alleged unlawful killings — including possible war crimes — in the United States' international operations,' Alston said in a report dated May 26 and published on a U.N. Web site. A spokesman for the U.S. mission in Geneva, Dick Wilbur, said Alston's conclusions and recommendations would be reviewed closely."

To continue reading the article, click here.

To continue reading the "Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston", click here [pdf].

See also:
'UN Afghanistan envoy urges better US cooperation', Reuters India, 27 May 2009

Related posts:
'97 Afghan civilians killed in US airstrikes: AIHRC', 26 May 2009
'NATO-led troops killed around 100 civilians in 2008', 28 January 2009
'Karzai accuses US troops of killing civilians', 26 January 2009
'US airstrikes under scrutiny in Afghanistan', 25 July 2008

Security Sector Reform In Afghanistan: The EU's Contribution

Eva Gross, 'Security Sector Reform In Afghanistan: The EU's Contribution', Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), 26 May 2009

EXCERPT: "The EU engages in aspects of Security Sector Reform (SSR) through EUPOL Afghanistan, the police mission launched in 2007, and through the European Commission's contributions to justice reform in the country. Based on an analysis of past efforts at police reform by the EU and other European and international actors, this Occasional Paper identifies a set of internal and external coordination challenges that hamper mission success. Internally, institutional constraints have meant that the coordination of EU instruments has been difficult to achieve. Member States, meanwhile, have until recently focused primarily on bilateral contributions to police and justice reform in the case of Germany and Italy, respectively, or on their military contributions to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Externally, the resource gap and differing philosophies underlying police reform on the part of the US (the biggest contributor to police reform) and the EU have meant that coordination has been lacking, and existing coordination bodies unable to fulfil their tasks."

To continue reading the paper, click here [pdf].

Related posts:
'Shaping Europe's Afghan surge', 25 March 2009
'New EU special envoy to Afghanistan', 25 July 2008
'EU, US leaders commit themselves to pushing for peace', 10 June 2008
'Afghanistan: European involvement', 26 February 2008

Former Minister: Afghan Police Only Way To Victory

'Former Minister: Afghan Police Only Way To Victory In Afghanistan', Talk Radio News Service, 27 May 2009

EXCERPT: "As Iraqi security has improved, the situation security in Afghanistan has become increasingly unstable. The Obama Administration recently pledged to increase the amount of soldiers stationed in Afghanistan by 30,000, but critics claim that the only way to improve Afghan security is by cultivating the security forces themselves, not by adding more American soldiers. Today, the United States Institute for Peace stated some of their alternative policies because they believe that a surge will inevitably fail. One of the main problems with the Afghan police force presently, according to Ali Jalali, the Interior Minister of Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005, is that the public does not trust the police. He cited an example where Afghan police officers at a checkpoint were armed only with rocket-propelled grenades, which intimidated the public. The Afghani police system established after 2001 was ineffective because the financial resources were not given, and their role as protectors of the law mixed with the need to stop insurgents, Jalali said, adding that when the army and police have common goals, neither institution does their job effectively."

To continue reading the article, click here.

See also:
'US boosts effort to train Afghan police', NPR, 27 May 2009
'Afghan police needs strong judiciary' [audio mp3], Talk Radio News Service, 27 May 2009
'Illiteracy epidemic in Afghan police' [audio mp3], Talk Radio News Service, 27 May 2009
'Afghan police in uphill struggle' [video], Al Jazeera, 25 May 2009

Related posts:
'Afghan police face critical tasks', 30 April 2009
'Afghanistan to boost police by 15,000: Minister', 20 April 2009
'Afghanistan's national security forces', 16 April 2009
'Policing in Afghanistan: Still searching for a strategy', 18 December 2008
'UN says Afghan security worse, more police needed', 26 September 2008