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News archives for the week ending 25th June 2010

Germans opposed the war...

Four of five Germans oppose their country's involvement in the war, according to polls.

"People are getting cynical," said Walter Posch, a Middle East and Africa specialist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. "The majority attitude is that whether or not Germany leaves, it won't get any better."

Germany expects to have 5,350 troops in the Afghan theater by next month, making it the third-largest contributor to the NATO force there, behind the U.S. and Britain. Forty-two German soldiers have died in the conflict.

The war has already cost one leading German politician his job. Last month, President Horst Koehler resigned after coming under intense criticism for appearing to defend Berlin's commitment to Afghanistan as a way "to protect our interests, such as ensuring free trade routes or preventing regional instabilities, which are also certain to negatively impact our ability to safeguard trade, jobs and income."

Germans were aghast. Many had clung to the notion that their country's involvement in Afghanistan was a peacekeeping exercise, even though politicians recently had begun to refer to it as a war. The difference is more than semantics in a post- World War II Germany built on a foundation of pacifism and democracy.

Los Angeles Times, 25/6/10

...and so do Poles

A top Polish security official warned Thursday that NATO needs to change its approach in Afghanistan or risk a "strategic catastrophe," as allied political support for the U.S.-led counterinsurgency campaign there wavers.

Stanislaw Koziej, director of Poland's National Security Bureau, wrote in an analysis made public Thursday that North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces stationed in Afghanistan are just "passively waiting" for developments as the situation there grows "continuously worse."

Public opinion and official views in Poland, a staunch U.S. ally that has contributed troops to the American-led war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, have been shifting against the country's further involvement in the Afghan conflict.

More than 2,500 Polish troops are now serving in Ghazni, southwest of Kabul. Eighteen Polish soldiers have been killed in the conflict.

Wall Street Journal, 24/6/10

Iraq to host international oil firms

Iraq will host a gathering of international oil executives in Baghdad on Saturday to discuss contracts for the four planned refineries that would add about 750,000 barrels per day of capacity, Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad said on Wednesday.

"There are many international companies that expressed their interest to participate and to reach an agreement with the Oil Ministry," he said. The conference is the first step before inviting companies to tender for the refineries, he added.

Baghdad has signed a series of deals with global oil companies and aims to boost its crude output capacity to 12 million barrels per day from 2.5 million bpd in six to seven years.

Reuters, 23/6/10

Coalition has 'no embarrassment' about boosting arms sales

Britain will try to boost defence exports to offset possible job losses after a defence sector review that is expected to slash spending, the Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday.

"There will be a very, very, very heavy ministerial commitment to the process," Peter Luff, minister for defence equipment, support and technology in Britain's new Conservative-led coalition government, said of boosting exports.

"There's a sense that in the past we were rather embarrassed about exporting defence products. There's no such embarrassment in this government," he told reporters at a defence hardware show.

Reuters, 23/6/10

Official: UK will be in Afghanistan for three to five years

General David Richards, who is tipped for possible promotion to overall chief of the British armed forces, told Prospect magazine that the reason Britain had no more than 10,000 troops in Afghanistan was that it could "endure that forever" within the army's deployable strength of 75,000.

Asked whether U.S. forces could withdraw from Afghanistan quite soon, Richards said: "Well, it depends who you talk to. That is not the official line coming out of the White House or the Pentagon.

"I'm assuming we'll be involved in Afghanistan for another three to five years, that is the current working assumption at the Ministry of Defence."

Reuters, 23/6/10

Afghan government lobbied for McCrystal

Afghan officials said they were saddened and disappointed by the dismissal Wednesday of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, but they expressed high hopes for his replacement.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had personally lobbied President Obama on Tuesday night to keep McChrystal, who was seen by Afghan leaders as a trustworthy general with a deep and nuanced understanding of their country.

Among the cadre of Obama administration officials involved in Afghanistan policy, he had arguably the strongest relationship with, and the most influence over, Karzai and his security chiefs.

Washington Post, 24/6/10

US intelligence debates China's economic power

U.S. intelligence officials and top academics last week debated the risk China could wield its massive U.S. debt holdings as a weapon aimed at influencing U.S. foreign policy, according to a person who attended the meeting.

At a National Intelligence Council meeting last week, held at a Washington, D.C. hotel, members of U.S. intelligence agencies and China watchers discussed potential outcomes if China chose to sell its $900 billion of U.S. Treasury bond holdings, pushing up interest rates and making life much tougher for U.S. businesses and consumers.

While considered a remote possibility, China's tremendous economic stranglehold over the United States remains much-debated as the world's third largest economy grows in leaps and bounds and the number one economy struggles to break free from a deep recession.

The meeting took place as the United States prepares to issue a report that could label China a currency manipulator. U.S. lawmakers are also arguing over a bill that would penalize China for any protectionist policies.

Reuters, 23/6/10

Cameron 'absolutely committed' to US strategy after commander sacked

Britain remains "absolutely committed" to the allied strategy in Afghanistan after President Barack Obama sacked his top Afghanistan commander, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said on Wednesday.

Cameron spoke to Obama by telephone and they agreed that General David Petraeus, whom Obama named as the new U.S. military chief in Afghanistan, was the right man to replace General Stanley McChrystal, the spokesman added in a statement.

Pending Petraeus's confirmation by the U.S. Congress, the British Deputy Commander of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Nick Parker, has assumed command, the spokesman said.

Reuters, 23/6/10

Hague seeks to strengthen Pakistan ties

Foreign Secretary William Hague pledged on Wednesday to deepen strategic relations with Pakistan as he paid his first visit to Islamabad since the coaltion government took power.

"We are keen to deepen the UK-Pakistan strategic dialogue," the Conservative politician told a news conference, without elaborating.

Britain has increased development aid to Pakistan to £665 million (992 million dollars) over four years, including £50 million to support stabilisation and reconstruction in conflict-hit areas, Hague said.

Britain is the second-largest investor in Pakistan after the United States with two-way trade now worth more than one billion pounds, up 30 percent over the past five years, according to Pakistani data.

AFP, 23/6/10

US commander in Afghanistan derides White House...

US President Barack Obama will confront his commander in the Afghan war face-to-face, amid speculation he may sack the general for a show of disrespect in a damaging interview.

In Rolling Stone magazine's profile entitled The Runaway General, General McChrystal aides mock Vice President Joe Biden, call the President's national security adviser "a clown," and say the general was "disappointed" by his first meeting with Mr Obama.

General McChrystal is quoted deriding the US special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, and saying he felt "betrayed" by the ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, who had raised pointed objections to his war strategy.

Herald Sun, Australia, 23/6/10

...and creates crisis for war strategy

Gen. Stanley McChrystal's belittling critique of some of the Obama administration's top officials left the president with a stark choice Tuesday: Overlook comments that border on insubordination or fire his top commander at a critical moment in Afghanistan.

Even as thousands of U.S. troops were moving into Kandahar Province for what is expected to be a crucial phase in America's longest war, McChrystal appeared dangerously close to losing his command because of incendiary remarks that he and members of his inner circle had made in an article in Rolling Stone magazine.

For Obama, firing McChrystal would be the surest way to address signs of military insubordination. Yet, removing him would trigger a search for a general to take charge of the war and could jeopardize the administration's timetable for showing progress and reducing troop levels.

The furor represents the latest in a series of setbacks for the Afghan war effort that have fueled doubts in Congress about the strategy. If McChrystal were ousted, some Pentagon officials said, the consequences for the war would be significant. "He is the best shot at winning this, if not the only shot," one official said.

Seattle Times, 22/6/10

Iraq electricity minister offers resignation

Iraq's electricity minister has offered his resignation after violent protests in several cities over power shortages.

Karim Waheed said the impatience of Iraqis and a lack of funds for his ministry was to blame for the lack of electricity generation. Electricity is available for several hours a day and public anger has grown as temperatures have soared to 50C.

BBC News, 21/6/10

US and Turkey deny intelligence rift after Kurdish attacks

The U.S. and Turkey on Monday sought to squash speculation that the deaths of a dozen Turkish soldiers at the hands of Kurdish rebels over the weekend were caused by Washington's withdrawal of intelligence support.

Over the past two months, a renewed terrorist campaign by the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, has claimed the lives of more than 50 Turkish soldiers. This weekend, Kurdish rebels killed 11 Turkish soldiers in an attack on a post along Turkey's border with Iraq and another at a barracks, according to Anadolu Ajansi, Turkey's state news agency.

The attacks' scale led Turkish media to speculate that the killings were supported by Israel, or came because, they speculated, the U.S. had withdrawn intelligence support it has in recent years offered Turkey against the PKK.

The trigger for such a U.S. withdrawal, these reports alleged, was Turkey's opposition earlier this month to sanctions against Iran in the United Nations Security Council.

"There has been no change in the level of U.S.-Turkey intelligence-sharing regarding the PKK in northern Iraq," U.S. Ambassador James F. Jeffrey said Monday. "We stand ready to review urgently any new requests from the Turkish military or government regarding the PKK."

Wall Street Journal, 21/6/10

Sangin a death trap for British soldiers

Of the 300 British soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since 2001, 96 have been in Sangin, the most dangerous place in the country for Nato soldiers. The 300th victim is the seventh marine commando to have been killed or fatally wounded there in as many weeks. At least 16 British troops have died after being shot in the Sangin area in that time.

Four years after UK troops deployed there, the Taliban continue to aggressively contest control of the Helmand town, which has become infamous for the vast number of improvised explosive devices used by insurgents, which have been responsible for most British deaths. The town is also responsible for more than 10% of the daily casualties of the entire Nato mission.

Scores of British troops have been killed in Sangin since Tony Blair, egged on by overconfident British generals, dispatched more than 3,000 service men and women to Helmand in 2006.

Ever since, they have been vulnerable to attacks, first by small arms fire and mortars, then roadside bombs, now by both, as they established isolated patrol bases to search for a hidden enemy and tried to give assurance to local Afghans frightened of the Taliban but distrustful of British troops.

Guardian, 21/6/10

UK envoy to Afghan-Pakistan taking extended leave

Britain's outspoken special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan has taken an extended leave of absence following reports of rifts between the former ambassador and his U.S. colleagues in the region, Britain's Foreign Office confirmed Monday.

Sherard Cowper-Coles, who was appointed only last year, is taking some "well-deserved" time off until some time this fall, the office said in a statement. The Foreign Office refused to say what he would be doing or why he was taking an extended break at such a critical period.

Britain has just recorded its 300th fatality in the 9-year-old war amid a spike in insurgent violence. The news comes amid reports of friction between Cowper-Coles and his American counterparts. The Guardian newspaper, which broke the story, said the Oxford-educated diplomat had clashed with U.S. and NATO officials, including Mark Sedwill, the trans-Atlantic alliance's top civilian representative in Kabul.

Cowper-Coles has long had a reputation for frank talk and was once quoted as saying the war in Afghanistan was doomed to fail. He also was forced to apologize after telling an Arab audience that the English city of Nottingham was more dangerous than Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

In 2008, a French newspaper quoted the then-ambassador as saying that Afghanistan might best be "governed by an acceptable dictator" and that foreign troops were fueling the country's bloody insurgency and headed toward disaster.

Associated Press, 21/6/10

US will not cross Pakistan border...

The US will not violate Pakistan's sovereignty by chasing terrorists in Afghanistan across the border into this country, US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said on Sunday.

Times of India, 20/6/10

...but their missiles will

A suspected U.S. missile strike killed 13 people Saturday in a Pakistani tribal region where several militant groups plot attacks on Western troops across the border in Afghanistan, officials said.

The United States frequently uses missile strikes to take out Taliban and al Qaeda targets in Pakistan's northwest where many insurgents hide. Pakistan protests the strikes as violations of its sovereignty, and the attacks are deeply unpopular among the Pakistani people.

San Francisco Chronicle, 20/6/10

Cost of war tops £20 billion

The cost to British taxpayers of fighting, diplomacy and reconstruction in Afghanistan and Iraq since the 9/11 attacks has passed £20 billion, official figures reveal.

This includes £18 billion for military operations, on top of the normal defence budget, as well as hundreds of millions of pounds on aid and security for UK officials. But the total does not cover expenses like troops' basic salaries or long-term care for the seriously wounded, and the final price is likely to be much higher.

Opponents of the wars condemned the "obscene" cost and pointed out that Britain's involvement in Afghanistan remains very expensive at a time when the Government is slashing billions from public spending.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone said the cost of the conflicts was the same as that of scrapping student tuition fees in England for 10 years.

Belfast Telegraph, 2/6/10

Afghanistan has become far more dangerous

Afghanistan has become a far more dangerous place for Western troops and Afghan civilians alike, with an increase in suicide attacks, roadside bombings and political assassinations in the first four months of 2010, the United Nations said in a report released Saturday.

The gloomy assessment comes on the heels of congressional testimony last week by senior U.S. military officials who acknowledged that efforts to stabilize Afghanistan's volatile south are proving more complex and time-consuming than anticipated.

The U.N. report notes a near-doubling in the number of attacks involving roadside bombs. It describes an "alarming" 94% increase in bomb attacks from the same January-April period a year earlier.

The report also cites an average of three suicide bombings a week across Afghanistan, a growing number of them attacks involving more than one assailant, sometimes in combination with use of rockets, mortars and gunfire.

Targeted killings of Afghan officials had increased by 45%, the report says, with most taking place in the south, where the insurgency is strongest. The killings tend to target locally influential figures, such as tribal elders and other dignitaries who might be able to rally villagers and townspeople to resist the Taliban.

Los Angeles Times, 20/6/10

Blackwater awarded Afghanistan contract

The US State Department has awarded part of the controversial private US security firm formerly known as Blackwater a security services contract worth some 120 million dollars for work in Afghanistan, a report said.

For the award -- calculated to be worth just over 120 million dollars if all 18 months allowed in the contract are filled -- the firm will provide "protective security services" at the US consulates in Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif, a spokeswoman said.

The secretive Blackwater was thrown into the spotlight after five of its guards were accused of killing 14 unarmed Iraqis in a gun and grenade attack, and wounding 18 others during a September 2007 incident at the busy Nisur Square in Baghdad.

Earlier this month, Iraq expelled 250 former employees of the security firm. The North Carolina-based firm lost its contract to provide security for US embassy diplomats in Baghdad in May 2009 after Iraqis and others repeatedly accused it of adopting a cowboy mentality to duties in the country.

AFP, 19/6/10

US bases in Japan are still hot issue

In the first few minutes of his inaugural speech last week, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan mentioned the issue that brought down his predecessor: the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

The reference was fleeting. Yet, the political and emotional fight is far from over. The United States and Japan must still agree on what will be built onto Camp Schwab, an existing U.S. Marine base at Henoko, to transform it to an air station.

Activists, who amassed close to 100,000 demonstrators in April to decry the relocation, promise to press on. The Okinawa governor — a position up for election this fall — has the power to block construction involving the base expansion because the plan for runways at Schwab involves filling in public waterways.

And at some point Japan’s Diet must agree to pay for the new U.S.-controlled base, a proposition that itself could further stall, or even kill, the plans.

Stars and Stripes, 18/6/10

Police kill protestor in Basra electricity protest

Iraqi police have opened fire during a protest against power shortages in the south of the country, killing at least one demonstrator, officials say.

The violence flared up after protesters gathered near the provincial government building in Basra. They demanded the removal of the Iraqi electricity minister and Basra's governor.

Demonstrators carried banners reading: "Return electricity to us" and "The people of Basra ask the authorities to provide services and electricity".

Security forces reportedly opened fire to disperse the crowd. People in Basra say they are receiving just one hour of electricity for every four hours of power cut.

BBC News, 19/6/10

US presses for Iraq deal, but without success

Iraq's two main contenders to head a new government remained at odds Friday, denting US hopes that a top envoy had advanced the prospects of a deal.

The persistent political vacuum three and a half months after a general election which gave no bloc the necessary majority to form a new administration has caused mounting concern in Washington as it prepares to withdraw 38,000 of its remaining 88,000 troops by the end of August.

Former prime minister Iyad al-Allawi, whose list won the largest number of seats in the March 7 election, dismissed as simplistic suggestions he forgo what he sees as his constitutional right to have first go at forming a government in the interests of breaking the deadlock.

Incumbent Nuri al-Maliki, whose bloc came second, in turn rejected proposals that he surrender some of the powers of the premiership as part of a national unity deal, warning that a feeble government would be a recipe for civil war.

Washington has been pressing for a coalition agreement that embraces all of Iraq's main political blocs for fear that the exclusion of any faction among the country's divided Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities might spark a new upsurge in violence.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman held talks with all of Iraq's main political leaders between Tuesday and Thursday in a bid to promote an inclusive deal.

"I don't think there is going to be a breakthrough immediately," a senior US diplomat acknowledged.

AFP, 18/6/10

Russia raps EU, US sanctions against Iran

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has criticised the unilateral US and EU sanctions on Iran that go beyond those approved by the UN Security Council. In an interview that ran on Thursday, the Russian leader criticised the EU and US for acting unilaterally.

"We didn't agree to this when we discussed the joint resolution at the UN," Mr Medvedev told the Wall Street Journal.

The fresh EU sanctions approved in Brussels on Thursday include a ban on investments and technology transfers to Iran's key oil and gas industry - measures that go further than the latest UN sanctions.

Only a day earlier, the US announced sanctions that ban Americans from trading with a number of firms and individuals, including Iran's Post Bank, its defence minister and the air force and missile command of the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

BBC News, 18/6/10

Big power rivalry destabilied Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan might have unraveled anyway, but competition between Moscow and Washington certainly sped the process.

To lock in its claim on the Manas Air Base after the threat of expulsion, the United States offered President Kurmanbek S. Bakiyev $110 million to back out of his agreement with Russia, which had already paid him $450 million. Congratulating itself on its victory, Washington raised the stakes by announcing the construction of several military training facilities in Kyrgyzstan, including one in the south, which further irritated Moscow.

This spring, the Kremlin won back its lost ground, employing a range of soft-power tactics to undermine Mr. Bakiyev’s government. Mr. Bakiyev was ousted by a coalition of opposition leaders in April, and conditions in Kyrgyzstan’s south — still loyal to the old government — hurtled toward disaster.

“Let’s be honest, Kyrgyzstan is turning into a collapsing state, or at least part of it is, and what was partially responsible is this geopolitical tug of war we had,” said Alexander A. Cooley, who included Manas in a recent book about the politics of military bases.

“In our attempts to secure these levers of influence and support the governing regime, we destabilized these state institutions. We are part of that dynamic.”

New York Times, 18/6/10

Human rights organisations criticise deportations to Iraq...

Human rights groups have criticised the government over its decision to deport 50 failed asylum seekers despite a UN warning that the life of those Iraqis could be put at risk due to the violence in their home region.

A United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman said: "The situation in central Iraq is very unstable due to the prevailing violence, security incidents and human rights violations."

Keith Best, the chief executive of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, said the charity shared the UNHCR concern about the violence in the region, and had seen evidence of torture.

"With the highly-volatile security situation and continuing human rights abuses in Iraq, I'd ask how the government can assure the safety of those being returned. The UK Border Agency should be identifying torture survivors … and not sending anyone back unless it can be demonstrated their human rights will be respected."

Guardian, 16/6/10

...as UK border officials beat deportees

Iraqi asylum seekers deported from the UK have said that they were beaten by UK Border Agency (UKBA) personnel to get them on and off the plane. It is believed 42 Iraqi men were sent back to Baghdad in a forced return. Thirty-six are reported to be still being held at Baghdad airport where they arrived early on Thursday.

The UKBA declined to comment on the specific allegations, but said minimum force would only be used as a last resort. The deportation was carried out by the UK Border Agency in conditions of complete secrecy, with no information of any kind being given out.

One of the detainees, Sherwan Abdullah, a Kurd, told the BBC he and others had been beaten by UKBA personnel to force him off the plane in Baghdad. "They was grabbing us, they told us if you don't come down, we're gonna beat you badly, and we're gonna take you out," said Mr Abdullah.

Asked if this happened on the plane, he said: "Yes on the plane. If somebody wasn't willing to come out, they grabbed them, they grab the neck, they nearly killed them, they nearly kill them, these people cannot breathe."

Mr Abdullah also said that all his money had been stolen by the Iraqi police at the airport.

BBC News, 18/6/10

State Department forming small army in Iraq

The State Department is quietly forming a small army to protect diplomatic personnel in Iraq after U.S. military forces leave the country at the end of 2011, taking its firepower with them. Department officials are asking the Pentagon to provide heavy military gear, including Black Hawk helicopters, and say they also will need substantial support from private contractors.

The shopping list demonstrates the department's reluctance to count on Iraq's army and police forces for security, despite the billions of dollars the U.S. invested to equip and train them. And it shows that President Obama is having a hard time keeping his pledge to reduce U.S. reliance on contractors, a practice that flourished under the Bush administration.

In an early April request to the Pentagon, Patrick Kennedy, the State Department's undersecretary for management, is seeking 24 Black Hawks, 50 bomb-resistant vehicles, heavy cargo trucks, fuel trailers, and high-tech surveillance systems.

Mr. Kennedy asks that the equipment, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, be transferred at "no cost" from military stocks.

Washington Times, 16/6/10