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News archives for the week ending 10th July 2009

Violence against women on rise in Afghanistan

Widespread violence against women in Afghanistan is being ignored in a culture of impunity that neither challenges nor condemns this violence, says the United Nations in a new report calling for an end to the prevailing abuse.

Despite claims to the contrary, say advocates, women's rights have been viewed as a luxury by an international community reluctant to question those in power for fear of upsetting Afghanistan's fragile coalition government and delaying stability.

The report documents violence that inhibits participation of women in public life, identifying perpetrators as antigovernment elements, local traditional and religious power holders, women's own families and communities and, in some instances, government authorities.

Sexual violence against women was found to be perpetrated by close family members, staff of prisons and rehabilitation centers, military commanders, and members of illegal armed groups and criminal gangs.

"The pattern of attacks against women operating in the public sphere sends a strong message to all women to stay at home," says the report. "This has obvious ramifications for the transformation of Afghanistan, the stated priority of Afghan authorities, and their international supporters."

Christian Science Monitor, 8/7/09

£76 billion trident is 'sacred cow' in defence review

The government bowed to the inevitable today by agreeing to a strategic defence review but said it would exclude Britain's most controversial weapons system, the Trident nuclear deterrent.

"There is no sacred cow besides Trident," defence officials said. However, they indicated that plans to build two large aircraft carriers, estimated to cost £5bn, would also be excluded.

The review will examine "modern day requirements" of the armed forces, effective ways of acquiring new weapons systems, and the lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, said. He added that it would also consider how the military could project "soft power".

Defence chiefs have been calling for a shift in the £35bn annual defence budget away from large-scale projects to equipment more relevant to modern conflicts, such as armoured vehicles, pilotless drones and helicopters.

CND's chairwoman, Kate Hudson, said a review would be meaningless if it failed to examine "the biggest imminent decision – the £76bn Trident replacement".

Guardian, 7/7/09

US still seen as world's bully

A new poll conducted in 20 countries representing more than 60 percent of the world's population says feelings toward the United States haven't changed much since Barak Obama became the U.S. president.

The poll finds that in 15 of 19 countries -- excluding the United States -- the majority sees Washington as bullying other countries with the threat of its powerful military. In 17 of 19 countries, according to the poll, the United States is seen as not obeying international law.

Radio Free Europe, 7/7/09

“We can’t read these people; we’re different”

One week after several battalions of Marines swept through the Helmand River valley, military commanders appear increasingly concerned about a lack of Afghan forces in the field.

“What I need is more Afghans,” said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of the Marine expeditionary brigade in Helmand Province. General Nicholson said the American force of almost 4,000 had been joined by about 400 effective Afghan soldiers.

“The net increase in Afghan security forces is zero” since the brigade arrived a few months ago, he said. The lack of Afghan forces “is absolutely our Achilles’ heel,” added Capt. Brian Huysman, commander of Company C of the First Battalion, Fifth Marines in Nawa.

Captain Huysman said the Afghan forces were critically important in establishing trust and communication with citizens. “We can’t read these people; we’re different,” he said.

New York Times, 7/7/09

Bloodiest day in a year for US in Afghanistan

Bombs and bullets killed seven American troops on Monday, the deadliest day for U.S. forces in Afghanistan in nearly a year — and a sign that the war being fought in the Taliban heartland of the south and east could now be expanding north.

Separately, Taliban militants claimed on a militant Web site that they were holding an American soldier whom the U.S. military says insurgents might have captured last week. The Taliban statement, however, did not include any proof, such as a picture or the soldier's name.

Four of the deaths Monday came in an attack on a team of U.S. military trainers in the relatively peaceful north, bringing into focus the question of whether the U.S. is committing enough troops to secure a country larger than Iraq in both population and land mass.

Associated Press, 6/7/09

US and Russia agree on Afghanistan

US President Barack Obama on Monday won Russian support for the war in Afghanistan with a breakthrough agreement allowing a dozen flights a day to transit US troops and weapons over Russian territory.

The deal marks a victory for Obama as he seeks to intensify the faltering campaign against the Taliban and "reset" US-Russian relations that were badly strained under his predecessor, George W. Bush.

It allows the use of Russian airspace for the transit of US troops and weapons. Previously Russia had only allowed the United States to ship non-lethal military supplies across its territory by train.

The need to diversify transit routes into Afghanistan has become more acute in recent months because of instability in Pakistan, which currently serves as the main transit route into the war-torn country.

AFP, 6/7/09

US must find a new tone in Iraq

Behind the high walls of the American Embassy here, diplomats are casting about to find a new formula to influence politics in Iraq.

With most troops now on large bases outside the cities, America’s day-to-day involvement in Iraqi life has vanished. The decisions, big and small, that American commanders made are now largely being made by Iraqis; American soldiers no longer have daily contact with tribal sheiks, mayors, insurgents and shopkeepers — a change welcomed by the majority of Iraqis.

As they deal with Iraqi politics, the Americans must find a new tone. They have a reputation for being heavy-handed, for telling Iraqis what to do rather than asking what they want — a legacy of the period when Americans were in charge as an occupying force. Now that Iraq is in most respects a sovereign country, that approach only generates hostility.

Abdul Karim Abbas, who runs a wholesale soda shop in a mixed Sunni and Shiite working-class neighborhood, said the Americans were hindered because their very presence made people suspicious. “It will complicate things, since there are many sides who don’t want the Americans to interfere,” he said.

“The Sunnis accuse the Shia and the Kurdish of working with them. There is no trust for the Americans because they made us fight each other,” he said repeating the argument often heard on the streets that it was Americans who brought sectarian strife to Iraq and that previously, the sects had lived together happily.

New York Times, 5/7/09

Saudis would allow Israeli attack on Iran

The head of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran’s nuclear sites. Earlier this year Meir Dagan, Mossad’s director since 2002, held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility.

“The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of both Israel and Saudi Arabia,” a diplomatic source said last week.

Although the countries have no formal diplomatic relations, an Israeli defence source confirmed that Mossad maintained “working relations” with the Saudis.

The Israeli air force has been training for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear site at Natanz in the centre of the country and other locations for four years.

Sunday Times, 5/7/09

Earn our trust or go, Afghan villagers tell Marines

In the village of Sorkhdoz, Foxtrot Company of the 2nd battalion, 8th Marines held their first shura with local elders on Sunday, three days after arriving on assault helicopters. No one invited them into their home. Instead, they met on the street, in the shade of the outside wall of a mud-brick compound.

The company commander, Captain Junwei Sun, promised his troops were not just passing through. "This is a beautiful village. It's very peaceful. And we need to work to keep it that way," Sun said.

The elders listened, clicking their prayer beads. Then Mullah Zainuddin, the village's religious leader, listed their demands. They want the provincial authorities to allocate more water for their irrigation system. They want a health clinic, and they want a school. Produce these things or leave us alone, he said.

"I do not trust you. There have been international forces that have come through the village and promised schools, promised clinics. When you are already (delivering) that, then I will trust you," he said.

"We are out of patience here. If you do not do these things and solve these problems, we will leave this village. We will fight: every man, woman and child, we do not fear death."

"This is our last speech, and if you can't solve these problems, we will not have another shura. We will not sit like this again and talk with you," he said. He then got up and walked away, leaving the Marines to finish the shura without him.

Reuters, 5/7/09

$20 million of US aid to Iranian dissident groups

The Obama administration through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) which is under the direct wing of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has moved to fund up to US $20 million through grants to Iranian dissident groups to promote democracy, freedom of speech, rule of law and good governance.

To the White House and State Department providing grants to groups is consistent with the declared United States policy of promoting democracy and human rights globally and does not in anyway meddling in internal affairs of Iran and does not run counter to Obama’s declared neutrality in that country’s affairs.

The applications for the USAID grant, in the agency description, ‘Support for civil society and rule of law in Iran’ closed on 30 June 2009, and the agency expects to appropriate $20 million to subsidize dissident and advocacy groups.'

The question raised is how the Obama administration could maintain its neutrality and non-interference in Iran when it subsidizes dissident groups on the pretext of “promoting rule of law” in Iran.

Asian Tribune, 4/7/09

Russia opens airspace to US

The Russian government has agreed to let American troops and weapons bound for Afghanistan fly over Russian territory, officials on both sides said Friday.

The arrangement will provide an important new corridor for the United States military as it escalates efforts to win the eight-year war.

New York Times, 3/7/09

France to push arms sales to Iraq

France, which was an important weapons supplier to Saddam Hussein, has set out to revive its once-flourishing arms sales and training relationship with the new Iraqi government put in place by the United States.

The effort has attracted attention because, under former president Jacques Chirac, France opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and stayed aloof from the coalition of allies that assisted the United States during the bloody occupation that has followed.

At stake, specialists here said, are billions of dollars in potential arms sales and training contracts as the Iraqi military seeks to rebuild from the devastation wrought by U.N. sanctions and then by U.S. forces as they took over the country, destroyed Hussein's Sunni-led military establishment and set up a new order dominated by the Shiite majority.

The United States, as the principal patron with advisers all around Baghdad, could be expected to get top priority in military and other sales as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government proceeds with the reconstruction, some of it financed by U.S. aid money.

But French officials and military specialists said France is counting on a desire of Iraqi officials to diversify their weapons sources and a network of personal relationships established in the 1970s when Chirac as prime minister championed ties with Hussein that continued into the 1980s.

Washington Post, 4/7/09

Biden warns Iraq on ethnic tensions

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. told Iraqi leaders on Friday that he and President Obama were committed to helping them resolve their political differences, but he warned that the United States would be unlikely to remain engaged in Iraq if the country reverted to sectarian violence, American officials said.

Calling on Iraqis to “use the political process to resolve their remaining differences and advance their national interest,” the vice president said he and Mr. Obama “stand ready, if asked and if helpful, to help in that process.”

The relationship between Washington and Baghdad is not without tension. When the troops officially withdrew Tuesday, for example, Mr. Maliki irked American officials by giving a speech that did not credit the United States for helping to create a more stable Iraq.

New York Times, 3/7/09

Southern Afghanistan resents US occupation

The mood of the Afghan people has tipped into a popular revolt in some parts of southern Afghanistan, presenting incoming American forces with an even harder job than expected in reversing military losses to the Taliban and winning over the population.

Villagers in some districts have taken up arms against foreign troops to protect their homes or in anger after losing relatives in airstrikes, several community representatives interviewed said. Others have been moved to join the insurgents out of poverty or simply because the Taliban’s influence is so pervasive here.

On Thursday morning, 4,000 American Marines began a major offensive to try to take back the region from the strongest Taliban insurgency in the country. The Taliban’s influence is so strong in rural areas that much of the local population has accepted their rule and is watching the United States troop buildup with trepidation.

Villagers interviewed in late June said that they preferred to be left alone under Taliban rule and complained about artillery fire and airstrikes by foreign forces.

“We Muslims don’t like them — they are the source of danger,” said a local villager, Hajji Taj Muhammad, of the foreign forces.

New York Times, 2/7/09