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News archives for the week ending 21st August 2009

US general frustrated by pace of Iraq training

The US general in charge of training Iraqi troops said on Thursday he was "frustrated" by the slow pace of progress in improving the security force's capabilities.

General Frank Helmick's comments came as Baghdad said negligence by its security forces led to 95 people being killed in bombing attacks on Wednesday.

With US troops required to leave the country by the end of 2011 under a security accord with Baghdad, Helmick said it was crucial to move quickly.

"What we have done so far to date is -- I don't want to say the easy things, but the less difficult things," he said.

"It's easy to build an infantryman and an infantry unit. It's very, very difficult and it takes time to build an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technician" to analyze surveillance data, he said.

AFP, 20/8/09

CIA outsources assassinations

From a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, the company formerly known as Blackwater has assumed a role in Washington’s most important counterterrorism program: the use of remotely piloted drones to kill Al Qaeda’s leaders, according to government officials and current and former employees.

The division’s operations are carried out at hidden bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the company’s contractors assemble and load Hellfire missiles and 500-pound laser-guided bombs on remotely piloted Predator aircraft, work previously performed by employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. They also provide security at the covert bases, the officials said.

The role of the company in the Predator program highlights the degree to which the C.I.A. now depends on outside contractors to perform some of the agency’s most important assignments. And it illustrates the resilience of Blackwater, now known as Xe (pronounced Zee) Services, though most people in and outside the company still refer to it as Blackwater. It has grown through government work, even as it attracted criticism and allegations of brutality in Iraq.

New York Times, 20/8/09

US public turning against Afghan war

A majority of Americans now see the war in Afghanistan as not worth fighting, and just a quarter say more U.S. troops should be sent to the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Among all adults, 51 percent now say the war is not worth fighting, up six percentage points since last month and 10 since March. Less than half, 47 percent, say the war is worth its costs. Those strongly opposed (41 percent) outweigh strong proponents (31 percent).

The new poll comes amid widespread speculation that Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, will request more troops for his stepped-up effort to remove the Taliban from Afghan towns and villages. That position gets the backing of 24 percent of those polled, while nearly twice as many, 45 percent, want to decrease the number of military forces there. (Most of the remainder want to keep the level about the same.)

Should Obama embrace his generals' call for even more forces, he would risk alienating some of his staunchest supporters. Although 60 percent of Americans approve of how Obama has handled the situation in Afghanistan, his ratings among liberals have slipped, and majorities of liberals and Democrats alike now, for the first time, solidly oppose the war and are calling for a reduction in troop levels.

Overall, seven in 10 Democrats say the war has not been worth its costs, and fewer than one in five support an increase in troop levels.

Washington Post, 20/8/09

Warlord returns to back Karzai

Abdul Rashid Dostum, who enjoys the overwhelming backing of ethnic Uzbeks in the north of Afghanistan, returned from exile in Turkey Sunday and staged a massive rally in support of Karzai the next day in his bastion of Shiberghan.

His return raised international alarm that Karzai had made deals with former warlords who once ruled the country to bring them back to power in return for delivering their votes to him.

"The people ... they became somewhat sick while I was away ... I heard them say, 'If General Dostum doesn't come here, we won't vote'," Dostum told Reuters.

"I thought, God forbid people don't vote, so I came here to make sure that people vote," he said.

After Dostum's sudden, last-minute return to the country, both the United States and the United Nations expressed concern that he might be given a future role in a Karzai government in return for his support in the election.

A U.S. official said Dostum may be responsible for "massive war crimes." United Nations spokesman Aleem Siddique said Afghanistan "needs more competent politicians and fewer warlords."

Reuters, 19/8/09

Blasts bring carnage to Baghdad...

Truck bombs and a barrage of mortars have killed at least 95 people and wounded more than 500 in Baghdad, in the deadliest attacks in months. One vehicle exploded outside the foreign ministry near the perimeter of the heavily guarded government Green Zone, leaving a huge crater.

Another blast went off close to the finance ministry building. While Baghdad is often hit by attacks, it is unusual for them to penetrate such well-fortified areas of the city.

BBC News, 19/8/09

...and cast doubt on US and UK strategy

The carnage in Baghdad is a warning that Iraq is far from stable as Britain and the United States shift their focus to Afghanistan. By targeting the Foreign Ministry and the Finance Ministry, the bombers have sent a clear signal that they are able to strike at the heart of the Government.

The scale of the devastation undermines claims by British and US officials of improved security in Iraq following a surge of US forces in 2007. The United States implemented a strategy of clear-hold-build, which swiftly reduced the number of killings, paving the way for progress on reconstruction, political reconciliation and provincial elections, which took place in February.

Further bombings on this scale, however, would cast doubt on the effectiveness of the counterinsurgency model, which is now being used to tackle the Taleban in Afghanistan, where long-awaited presidential elections are due to be held tomorrow.

Renewed violence would also raise serious questions about the ability of the British- and US-trained local security forces to stand on their own – a goal that London and Washington aim to achieve in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Times, 19/8/09

Iraqis may force US out early

U.S. troops could be forced by Iraqi voters to withdraw a year ahead of schedule under a referendum the Iraqi government backed Monday, creating a potential complication for American commanders concerned about rising violence in the country's north.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's move appeared to disregard the wishes of the U.S. government, which has quietly lobbied against the plebiscite. American officials fear it could lead to the annulment of an agreement allowing U.S. troops to stay until the end of 2011, and instead force them out by the start of that year.

The Maliki government's announcement came on the day that the top U.S. general in Iraq proposed a plan to deploy troops to disputed areas in the restive north, a clear indication that the military sees a continuing need for U.S. forces even if Iraqis no longer want them here.

Washington Post, 17/8/09

Afghanistan: British casualties double

The MoD released casualty figures showing that a total of 236 British personnel in Afghanistan have been admitted to field hospitals as "wounded in action" this year. July's total of 94 wounded was more than twice the 46 recorded in June.

In July, there were also 19 personnel recorded as "very seriously injured", a category which includes those who lose limbs. Another 12 were "seriously injured". The number of personnel wounded in July was more than the total for the whole of 2006, when the total was 85.

A total of 204 British personnel have now been killed in Afghanistan, putting the Government under growing political pressure.

Daily Telegraph, 17/8/09

"They get the dollars and we get the bullets"

Tajiks constitute only about 24 percent of the population, yet they largely control the armed forces and the intelligence and secret police agencies that loom over the daily lives of the Pashtuns. Little wonder that in the run-up to Thursday’s presidential election, much of the Taliban propaganda has focused on the fact that President Hamid Karzai’s top running mate is a hated symbol of Tajik power: the former defense minister Muhammad Fahim.

Mr. Fahim and his allies have been entrenched in Kabul since American forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001 with the help of his Tajik militia, the Northern Alliance, which was based in the Panjshir valley north of the capital. A clique of these Tajik officers, known as the Panjshiris, took control of the key security posts with American backing, and they have been there ever since. Washington pushed Mr. Karzai for the presidency to give a Pashtun face to the regime, but he has been derided from the start by his fellow Pashtuns with a play on his name, “Panjshir-zai.”

“They get the dollars, and we get the bullets,” is the common refrain among Pashtuns critical of the government. “Dollars” refers to the economic enrichment of Tajiks and allied minority ethnic groups through an inside track on aid contracts. The “bullets” are the anti-Taliban airstrikes and ground operations in Pashtun areas in the south and east of the country.

New York Times, 16/8/09

Iraq postpones census...

Iraq has postponed indefinitely plans to hold its first nationwide census in 22 years over fears it could stoke ethnic and political tensions.

The population count in October would have settled arguments over the relative size of Iraq's religious and ethnic communities. But the planning minister said it could also stir up tensions in northern areas disputed between Arabs and Kurds.

The survey would also have implications for the disputed oil-rich Kirkuk area. Ethnic Kurds claim the northern city of Kirkuk and its resource-rich surrounds as their ancestral capital and want them to be incorporated into their enclave. The move is fiercely opposed by the city's Turkmen and Arab population.

BBC News, 17/8/09

...as Turkmen and Arabs attempt to block referendum

Arab and Turkmen politicians in Iraq's northern Kirkuk province have banded together to try to block an impending referendum on the future status of the disputed oil-rich region.

Kurds, reckoned to form the majority of the province's 900,000 population, are eager to press on with the vote in the hope of removing direct control of the area from Baghdad and including it in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.

AFP, 17/8/09

US finalises Colombia bases deal

Colombia says it has finalized an agreement with the United States allowing Washington to use its military bases to track drug-runners, despite anger elsewhere in Latin America over the idea.

The controversial deal would permit the US military to operate surveillance aircraft from seven bases to track drug-running boats in the Pacific Ocean. A senior US general said Thursday that the United States needed to reassure regional powers about the deal, after reports of negotiations rankled several leaders and prompted Venezuela to claim that the "winds of war" were blowing.

Washington sought out its ally Colombia to make up for the loss of its hub for counternarcotics operations in Manta, Ecuador. Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa had refused to renew an agreement that allowed the US military to fly out of Manta for the past 10 years.

The deal is worth over 40 million dollars for Bogota, along with expanded US military assistance for Bogota's counternarcotics efforts, according to a US defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

AFP, 15/8/09

US steps up propaganda war

The Obama administration is establishing a new unit within the State Department for countering militant propaganda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, engaging more fully than ever in a war of words and ideas that it acknowledges the United States has been losing.

Proposals are being considered to give the team up to $150 million a year to spend on local FM radio stations, to counter illegal militant broadcasting, and on expanded cellphone service across Afghanistan and Pakistan. The project would step up the training of local journalists and help produce audio and video programming, as well as pamphlets, posters and CDs denigrating militants and their messages.

New York Times, 15/8/09

Britain seizes control of Turks and Caicos islands

Britain imposed direct rule on the Turks and Caicos islands yesterday, suspending the constitution, dismissing the Parliament, handing power to a London-appointed Governor and halting the right to trial by jury.

The move, announced by the Foreign Office, followed an inquiry into allegations of deep-seated corruption among the ruling elite in the Caribbean dependency, located about 500 miles south-east of Florida.

In suspending the constitution for two years, Governor Gordon Wetherell said his goal was to "make a clean break from the mistakes of the past" and establish "a durable path towards good governance, sound financial management and sustainable development".

Mr Wetherell insisted that the move did not amount to a "British takeover", but the sitting prime minister, Galmo Williams, accused Britain of launching a coup d'état. Mr Williams said: "Our country is being invaded and re-colonised by the United Kingdom, dismantling a duly elected government and legislature and replacing it with a one-man dictatorship, akin to that of the old Red China, all in the name of good governance."

Independent, 15/8/09

Escalating war good for profits

Force Protection Inc., the third- largest maker of blast-resistant trucks for the U.S. military, said annual sales of vehicle repair and maintenance services may be double what the company had projected in the next five years as President Barack Obama expands operations in Afghanistan.

About 2,000 of the company’s Cougar trucks that are being shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan will need spares, repairs and upgrades, Chief Financial Officer Charles Mathis said today in an interview in Boston. Over five years, such work may add about $1 billion in new sales, he said.

That would lift annual service revenue to $450 million, from the $250 million the company had previously projected for such support work, he said.

Bloomberg, 14/8/09

US to train Georgian troops

A group of U.S. Marines will arrive in Georgia to help train its troops for a mission alongside coalition forces in Afghanistan, the U.S. Embassy said Friday. The move is likely to vex neighboring Russia, which has strongly spoken out against U.S. military assistance to Georgia.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that the training will focus on skills necessary for the troops to operate in Afghanistan. It said that a Georgian battalion is set to deploy to Afghanistan next spring.

The United States helped train Georgian troops for their mission in Iraq before last August's war between Russia and Georgia.

Associated Press, 14/8/09

130,000 mercenaries still in Iraq

It would be nice to celebrate the recent withdrawal of the remaining British troops from Iraq as the end of the UK's direct involvement in the military occupation there. But such festivities would unfortunately be premature.

The killing last Sunday in Baghdad's Green Zone of two armed contractors working for the London-based mercenary firm ArmorGroup by another British contractor from the company, serves as a grim reminder that Brits are still deeply involved in the prosecution of the war.

In fact, with no countries officially left in the so-called "coalition of the willing", contractors are now playing a more important role than ever, as the Obama administration begins to slowly scale back the war in Iraq.

In June, a Pentagon report revealed that there are still 132,610 contractors in Iraq – effectively doubling the size of the occupation – and that the use of armed "private security contractors" in the country actually increased by 23% during the second quarter of 2009.

Guardian, 14/8/09

Pakistanis want US out of Afghanistan...

Pakistani views of al-Qaeda and the Taliban have shifted markedly since last year, with unfavorable opinions doubling to about two-thirds of those surveyed in a new Pew Research Center poll.

Condemnation of extremists did not coincide with a more favorable view of the United States, held by only 16 percent of the Pakistanis surveyed. Only 13 percent said they had confidence in President Obama, a stark contrast to his overwhelming popularity in much of the rest of the world. A hefty 64 percent said they regard the United States as an enemy of Pakistan.

Public displeasure with the United States focused on the war in Afghanistan -- with seven in 10 Pakistanis calling for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops -- and on missile attacks by U.S. Predator drones on al-Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries in the western Pakistani mountains near the Afghan border.

Only 22 percent said the United States takes Pakistani views into account when making foreign policy decisions, a number largely unchanged since 2007.

Washington Post, 13/8/09

...but Gates thinks they are worried about US leaving

Pakistani mistrust over U.S. intentions has "some legitimacy" since the United States has turned away from that country twice in the last three decades, and it will take time to win their confidence, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.

His comments came in response to a new Pew Research Center survey that found 64 percent of Pakistanis see the United States as an enemy, but still 53 percent wanted improved relations.

"One of the reasons that the Pakistanis have concerns about us is that we walked away from them twice," Gates said at a news conference. "We walked away from them after the Soviets left Afghanistan, and we walked away from them through the 1990s, because of the Pressler amendment," he said, referring to U.S. sanctions on Pakistan over its nuclear program.

Pakistanis "with some legitimacy" question how long the United States is prepared to stay engaged and wonder whether the war in neighboring Afghanistan is the only reason for current interest, Gates said.

"So I think it's going to take us some time to rebuild confidence of the Pakistani people that we are a long-term friend and ally of Pakistan," he said.

Reuters, 13/8/09