[Thanks to Mark Shapiro, Military Project, who sent this in.]

“There Are Now Taliban In Every Village”

“Many Of Them Have Rejoined The Movement After The Savage Attacks Carried Out By Americans”

“The People Who Are Fighting With The Taliban Are The Brothers, Uncles And Relatives Of Those Killed By The Americans”

“They Have Joined The Taliban And Are Fighting Because They Want To Avenge Their Brothers, Fathers Or Cousins”

April 30, 2009 Marc W. Herold, RAWA News [Excerpts]

“Today the people in this region hate the Americans whereas they were welcomed when they arrived in 2001”

 - Raza Nawaz Tani, head of an association of tribal chiefs in Khost Province

The Taliban in Afghanistan rejected the Obama offer of reconciliation labeling it as “lunatic” and reiterating from a position of strength that the withdrawal of foreign troops was the only way to end the war in Afghanistan.

Why would the Taliban give up anything in order to join with a failing, corrupt, dysfunctional regime in Kabul?

Reconciliation might have worked in 2003 when the Karzai regime still had the upper hand.

The latest report (December 2008) of the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), a European think-tank, says the Taliban now hold a permanent presence in 72% of Afghanistan, up from 54% a year ago.

The lead researcher at ICOS, Norine MacDonald, is emphatic, “The Taliban are now controlling the political and military dynamic in Afghanistan.”

The informal spokesman of the so-called moderate Taliban, Mullah Abdul Salem Zaeff himself said that the Obama troop surge would merely serve to attract jihadis to the country and moreover the Taliban movement was united.

Counterinsurgency doctrine posits 20-25 troops per 1,000 of a country’s population, precisely the ratio which existed in the basket case called Kosovo in 2008.  Richard Pape stated that for a successful occupation, one needs about one combat soldier for every 40 people in the country, or 25 soldiers per 1,000 inhabitants.

What that equates to in Afghanistan would be well over a quarter million Western combat forces in Afghanistan.

The Afghan ratio in 2008 was a mere 5.2 and with the Obama surge will only reach 6.4.

If we assume the only hostility comes from the 14 mn Pashtuns in Afghanistan, the ratio would still be 14.5, a far cry from the suggested 25.

The evidence is overwhelming that Obama’s military “solution” – his surge – is a pitiful half-measure and as the Strasbourg NATO meeting in April demonstrated, Europe is unwilling to pick up the slack.

Two hundred thousand Pashtuns cross the 2,640 km long border with Pakistan daily. Clearly, such a border cannot be sealed.

The chimera of building up the Afghan National Police needs to be recognized.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office report of June 2008, the $6.2 bn already spent on creating a functioning Afghan National Police force has not resulted in a single police unit capable of fulfilling its mission.

Ann Jones presents a sobering account by inspectors general of the Pentagon and State Department of U.S. efforts to train the Afghan police,

“They found the number of men trained (about 30,000) to be less than half the number reported by the administration (70,000).  The training had lasted eight weeks at most, with no in-the-field experience whatsoever.  Only about half the equipment assigned to the police -- including thousands of trucks -- could be accounted for, and the men trained were then deemed “incapable of carrying out routine law enforcement work.”

Mullah Zubiallah Akhund, a Taliban leader in Uruzgan, believes that foreign attacks helped turn their fight against the foreigners into a nationwide popular struggle,

“The people who are fighting with the Taliban are the brothers, uncles and relatives of those killed by the Americans.  They have joined the Taliban and are fighting because they want to avenge their brothers, fathers or cousins.

“There are now Taliban in every village; many of them have rejoined the movement after the savage attacks carried out by Americans.”

Obama has shifted the deadly burden of air strikes onto Pakistani border Pashtun tribe people.

This would seem to be an especially flawed tactic insofar as most Pashtuns adhere to the code of Pashtunwali where a mal deed against a family member requires revenge.  In other words, such attacks causing civilian injury or death are creating an endless supply of new resistance fighters.

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

Two U.S. Soldiers Killed, Three Wounded In Ninewa Province (Mosul)

May 2, 2009 Multi National Corps Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory RELEASE No. 20090502-02

 CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, TIKRIT, Iraq – Two Multi-National Division – North Soldiers were killed and three wounded during a small arms fire attack at a combat outpost south of Mosul early this evening.

 According to initial reports, an individual dressed in an Iraqi Army uniform fired on the Coalition forces and was killed in the incident.

Hood Soldier Shot On Dismounted Patrol In Iraq

Apr 29, 2009 The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — An Army soldier who grew up in Iowa has died after being shot in Iraq, the military said.  The Department of Defense said Sgt. LeRoy O. Webster, 28, was shot April 25 while on patrol near Kirkuk.

Webster was born in 1980 in Spencer and grew up in Hartley, said Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, spokesman for the Iowa National Guard. He graduated from Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School in 1999. 

Webster joined the military as a member of the Iowa National Guard, Hapgood said.  In 2002, he was called to duty with an Algona-based National Guard unit that provided security at a Department of Defense installation in Newport, Ind.

In 2004 and 2005, he served in Afghanistan with a Council Bluffs-based unit.

After that deployment, Webster moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., and transferred to active duty Army in 2006, Hapgood said.

From October 2006 to January 2008, he served with the Army in Baghdad.

Webster’s last deployment to Iraq began in January, Hapgood said. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.

Webster is survived by his wife, Jessica, three daughters, and his parents.

“LeRoy was a wonderful husband and terrific dad to his three beautiful daughters. He was proud to serve in the United States Army,” the family said in a statement Monday night.

Guthrie Soldier Wounded In Iraq

May 2, 2009 TULSA, Okla. (AP)

 Oklahoma National Guard officials say an Army National Guard soldier from Guthrie is recovering at the Walter Reed Medical Center after he was shot in Iraq.

 Cpl. Adam Schuster was in a dismounted patrol in Ramadi, Iraq, when he was shot in the neck and jaw with a small-caliber gun by an insurgent. Schuster underwent surgery on Wednesday and is expected to undergo several more operations before he fully recovers.

 Schuster is the first casualty among the Enid-based 45th Fires Brigade, which deployed 800 troops to Iraq in August. The soldiers are scheduled to return home this August.

 Schuster is a member of Battery B, 1st Battalion of the 158th Field Artillery in Duncan.

 The Guard said the soldier’s immediate family, including his father, Dan Schuster, and two sisters were flown to Washington this week to be with him.

The War In Iraq Over At Last!

Only 343 March IED Attacks Kill Or Wound Only 49 Foreign Troops

5.1.09 By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY [Excerpt]

Attack data show that for the first time the number of IED attacks in Afghanistan has exceeded those in Iraq.

In March, there were 361 incidents in Afghanistan compared with 343 in Iraq.

 In Iraq it takes seven bombs to wound or kill coalition troops.  [Do the math.]

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

IED Blast Kills Topekan, 21, In Afghanistan

April 21, 2009 By Ann Marie Bush, CJOnline

Bob DeWater didn’t want his son to join the military.  Ultimately, he gave his blessing.

“I wanted to say no in hopes it would stop him,” DeWater said. “But he asked me like a man. I couldn’t say no.”

Department of Defense officials said Pfc. Richard A. DeWater, 21, of Topeka, was on a dismounted U.S. Army patrol as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom near Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, when he was fatally wounded by an improvised explosive device on April 15.

DeWater, who doesn’t support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, takes consolation knowing his son died doing what he loved — serving his country.

DeWater spoke with The Topeka Capital-Journal on Tuesday about his son, who was slated to return home in June.

“When he was 4, he said he wanted to be (in the military),” he said. “It lit a spark in him. It was a dream of his.”

Richard “Rick” DeWater moved to Topeka with his father in May 2007. He was born in San Diego. He and his wife, Valerie, were married in Topeka in June 2008.

His son was deployed in July.  Bob couldn’t bear the thought of losing his son, but he tried to support him in every way possible.

“What do you think when you learn your firstborn is going to the most deadliest place in the Middle East?” he asked. “We talked on the phone or online as much as possible. Missions were really tough on me. I kept thinking, ‘Something is happening.’ But Rick said no news is good news. I just kept that in mind.”

A FATHER’S LOVE

My son, Rick, he is a hero as well!!  I have 2 sons, Nicholas, my youngest.  They both probably dunno it, but they are the apples of my eye, I love them both more then life itself !!  This sucks, i know what im thinking / feeling, i just cant seem to get it out. — Bob DeWater, written on his myspace.com page

A day or so before his son was killed, DeWater was online at Yahoo chatting with some friends.  He noticed his son’s name flash up on his computer, indicating Rick was online, too.

“I missed him,” DeWater said he realized.  “I thought, ‘I’ll just catch him next time.’  I didn’t know there wasn’t going to be a next time.”

The last time the two spoke on the phone was right after April 10. Rick seemed “jazzed” about something, his father said.

“He said he couldn’t talk about it,” DeWater said. “But he also said he was looking forward to coming home. Too many of them look forward to coming home, and they don’t.”

That would be the last time he would hear his son’s voice.

Rick was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, of Fort Hood, Texas.  DeWater said he believes his son was engaged in battle on or about April 10 when his platoon ambushed a Taliban unit.

An article written by C.J. Chivers with the New York Times confirmed Rick’s platoon had indeed ambushed a Taliban unit a few days before his death, killing at least 13 insurgents.

“That was his platoon,” DeWater said. “I know he was there.  They wanted revenge on my son’s platoon.  My son died for a reason.  He saved all of their lives. People have to know my son.  They can’t know him now, but they can know who he was.”

That is the reason DeWater hasn’t been reluctant to talk to the media.  In fact, photographs accompanying Chivers’ article show the last few minutes of his son’s life. The photos don’t bother DeWater, he said, because it gives him a chance to see his son in action.

As i sit here on this easter sunday, i find myself thinking yet again. I really dont know much, but i do know i feel very empty. Every since my two sons left i have been feeling this way, first my youngest, now 18, went to georgia to live with his mom and step dad, then my oldest last year left for the army at 21. now, proud as i am, i still cant help but feel empty inside. — Bob DeWater, written on his myspace.com page

DeWater, who works at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant, received a phone call at 8 p.m. April 15 that shook him to the core. He was fixing himself some food in his kitchen in North Topeka when it came.

“My ex-wife told me to sit down,” DeWater said. “It dawned on me, and I said, ‘Oh God, please tell me it’s not Rick.’ I don’t remember much after that. Now, I’m wondering. There’s anger.  Hate.  Everything recycles. The what ifs. The how comes. It sucks for it to happen to anyone.  It sucks even more it was my son.  But I can’t wish this on anyone. I can’t have someone else go through this.”

DeWater received word Tuesday that his son’s body was being released. It will be flown to Oregon, where a military ceremony will be conducted at Roseburg National Cemetery. Rick considered Grants Pass, Ore., his home.

“He has earned everything I can do for him and then some,” DeWater said. “Today has been a hellish day of waiting.  I don’t know when anything will happen.”

His son will be cremated after the military ceremony.

“I have sacrificed a son, but what have I gained?” DeWater asked with tears in his eyes.

“But there has to be a plan. I don’t understand it now, but hopefully, one day, I can. He was amazing. He had a personality that would draw you in. He loved fishing. He loved guns. He loved what he was doing. He dedicated himself to it. He believed in what he was doing.

“It (the war in Afghanistan) has been drug out too long, and we’re losing money.  But I support all of our troops.”

Friends will miss the fallen soldier, too.

Ryan Burge, 23, of Topeka, said he and several of Rick’s friends met Sunday at Echo Cliff near Dover to remember their friend.

“He was a great guy,” Burge said. “He was always set on going into the military. It is a shock that he is gone.”

Bob said his son’s wife is struggling with the death but is dealing with it day by day. She remains in Fort Hood, Texas, where the couple lived.

DeWater also is taking his life day by day and has undertaken the burden of planning his son’s funeral.

“Rick was my world,” he said. “How am I getting through?  I don’t know that I am getting through this.  I guess I’m just getting.”

Notes >From A Lost War:

“‘Do You Have Any Help Here, Or Are You All Alone?’ Mullen Asked”

“Naseri Replied That The Provincial Government Consisted Of Him And Four Other Afghans”

“There Are Only 13 U.S. Civilian Development Experts In All Of Southern Afghanistan”

May 1, 2009 By Greg Jaffe, Washington Post Staff Writer [Excerpts]

ZABOL, Afghanistan -- In this impoverished province on the Pakistani border, the U.S. military’s most senior officer came face to face with the consequences of nearly eight years of American indifference and neglect in Afghanistan.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, sat across from Gov. Mohammad Ashraf Naseri, who nervously stroked his salt-and-pepper beard and ran through his problems.

“Do you have any help here, or are you all alone?” Mullen asked during a visit last week.

Naseri replied that the provincial government consisted of him and four other Afghans.

There was no money coming from the central government in Kabul.

In the next few months, the Obama administration plans to move more than 20,000 U.S. soldiers into southern Afghanistan in an effort to drive the Taliban from places such as the southeastern province of Zabol.

The new strategy, however, is hampered by the heavy demand in Iraq and Afghanistan for civilian and military reconstruction experts.

There are only 13 U.S. civilian development experts in all of southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban movement is strongest and the local economy is almost entirely dependent on opium production.

U.S. OCCUPATION RECRUITING DRIVE IN HIGH GEAR;

RECRUITING FOR THE ARMED RESISTANCE THAT IS

Foreign occupation soldiers from the U.S. search an Afghan citizens house during a home invasion in Nerkh district of Wardak province in west of Kabul, Afghanistan, , May 1, 2009.  (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

[There’s nothing quite like invading somebody else’s country and busting into their houses by force to arouse an intense desire to kill you in the patriotic, self-respecting civilians who live there.

 [But your commanders know that, don’t they?  Don’t they?]

 Afghan citizens have no right to resist home invasions by occupation soldiers from the USA.  If they do, they may be arrested, wounded, or killed.

[images.google.com]

English soldiers search an American settler’s house (1770’s)

In March “For The First Time, The Number Of IED Attacks In Afghanistan Has Exceeded Those In Iraq”

“The Attacks In Afghanistan Are Also More Lethal”

5.1.09 By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY [Excerpts]

The growing number of roadside bomb attacks in Afghanistan led commanders there to dramatically increase requests for armored vehicles needed to replace Humvees, according to documents and interviews with U.S. defense officials.

“You’ve got a huge country, much larger than Iraq,” [Army Lt. Gen. Thomas] Metz said in an interview.  “Very rural.  Very few paved roads.

“So the enemy’s got lots of time and space to put in IEDs.  He generally does it by digging holes in unpaved roads and burying them for underbelly attacks.  There are thousands of culverts, so he’ll take advantage of the culverts to pack in a lot of explosives.”

Attack data show that for the first time the number of IED attacks in Afghanistan has exceeded those in Iraq.

In March, there were 361 incidents in Afghanistan compared with 343 in Iraq.

The attacks in Afghanistan are also more lethal.

Insurgents cause one casualty for every three bombs they plant there; in Iraq it takes seven bombs to wound or kill coalition troops, Metz said.

Welcome To Liberated Afghanistan:

“Torture Is Commonplace In Afghan Detention Facilities”

“Fewer Than 20% Of Afghan Law-Enforcement Officials Are Aware It’s Illegal To Torture Someone”

May 1, 2009 STEVEN CHASE, The Globe and Mail

OTTAWA -- Fewer than 20 per cent of Afghan law-enforcement officials are aware it’s illegal to torture someone accused of a crime in that country, a report by a Canadian government-supported human-rights watchdog says.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, whose mandate comes from the Afghan constitution, also says “torture and cruel, inhumane and belittling behaviour” is widespread among that country’s law-enforcement agencies. It says Afghan police are alleged to be responsible for more than 65 per cent of the incidents in its study.

The rights body’s report, which surveyed 92 Afghan law-enforcement officials and 398 alleged victims of torture in detention, found that only 17.4 per cent of officials were aware of legal rights in Afghanistan affording the accused protection from torture.

Only 12 per cent of those surveyed, who included prosecutors, police and court officials, recognized the rights of the accused as outlined in the Afghan constitution. Article 29 of the constitution prohibits torture and declares information obtained through it unusable.

The study, titled The Reasons for Torture by Law Enforcement Agencies, reported that only about 58 per cent of law-enforcement officials felt an accused should not be tortured for any reason.

Human-rights groups have said torture is commonplace in Afghan detention facilities despite Kabul’s claim that abuses are isolated.

More Notes From A Lost War:

$250,000: Typical Salary Of Foreign Consultants In Afghanistan:

“To Travel To A Part Of Afghanistan Deemed Wholly Free Of Taliban By Afghans, She Had To Go By Helicopter And Then Be Taken To Where She Wanted To Go In An Armoured Vehicle”

 May 1, 2009 By Patrick Cockburn in Kabul, Independent News and Media [Excerpts]

 Vast sums of money are being lavished by Western aid agencies on their own officials in Afghanistan at a time when extreme poverty is driving young Afghans to fight for the Taliban.

 Whole districts of Kabul have already been taken over or rebuilt to accommodate Westerners working for aid agencies or embassies.

 “I have just rented out this building for $30,000 a month to an aid organisation,” said Torialai Bahadery, the director of Property Consulting Afghanistan, which specialises in renting to foreigners.  “It was so expensive because it has 24 rooms with en-suite bathrooms as well as armoured doors and bullet-proof windows,” he explained, pointing to a picture of a cavernous mansion.

 Though 77 per cent of Afghans lack access to clean water, Mr Bahadery said that aid agencies and the foreign contractors who work for them insist that every bedroom should have an en-suite bathroom and this often doubles the cost of accommodation.

 In addition to the expensive housing the expatriates in Kabul are invariably protected by high-priced security companies and each house is converted into a fortress. The freedom of movement of foreigners is very limited.

 “I am not even allowed to go into Kabul’s best hotel,” complained one woman working for a foreign government aid organisation.  She added that to travel to a part of Afghanistan deemed wholly free of Taliban by Afghans, she had to go by helicopter and then be taken to where she wanted to go in an armoured vehicle.

 This means that many foreigners sent to Afghanistan to help rebuild the country and the state machinery seldom meet Afghans aside from their drivers and a few Afghans with whom they work.

 The effectiveness of foreign advisers and experts in Iraq is often further reduced by the very short time they stay in the country.  “Many people move on after six months,” said one expatriate who did not want to be named.

 “In addition some embassy employees receive two weeks off work for every six weeks they are in the country, on top of their usual holidays.”  [Sounds good.  How about the same deal for the U.S. troops?]

 Some 42 per cent of Afghanistan’s 25 million inhabitants live on less than a dollar a day and life expectancy is only 45 years. Overall literacy rate is just 34 per cent and 18 per cent for women.

 But much of the aid money goes to foreign companies who then subcontract as many as five times with each subcontractor in turn looking for between 10 per cent and 20 per cent or more profit before any work is done on the project.

 The biggest donor in Afghanistan is the US, whose overseas aid department USAID channels nearly half of its aid budget for Afghanistan to five large US contractors.

 Examples cited in an Oxfam report include the building of a short road between Kabul city centre and the international airport in 2005 which, after the main US contractor had subcontracted it to an Afghan company, cost $2.4m a kilometre – or four times the average cost of road construction in Afghanistan.

 Often aid is made conditional on spending it in the donor country.

 A striking feature of Kabul is that while the main roads are paved, the side streets are often no more than packed earth with high ridges, deep potholes and grey pools of dirty water.

 New roads have been built between the cities, such as Kabul and Kandahar, but these are often too dangerous to use because of mobile Taliban checkpoints where anybody connected to the central government is killed on the spot.

 $57: The foreign aid per capita to Afghanistan, compared with $580 per capita in the aftermath of the Bosnian conflict.

 $250,000: Typical salary of foreign consultants in Afghanistan, including 35 per cent hardship allowance and 35 per cent danger money.

Terrified Collaborator Regime Cancels Annual Holiday Honoring War Veterans:

“Many People Sacrificed A Lot In The War, And This Is The Only Day We Have To Honor Them”

“With Thousands Of Foreign Troops Here, Can’t They Protect One Event?”

April 29, 2009 By Pamela Constable, Washington Post Foreign Service [Excerpts]

 KABUL, April 28 -- The streets of the Afghan capital were deserted Tuesday in a tense, silent observance of an annual holiday that evokes an era of patriotic heroism for some Afghans and a period of brutal, devastating civil war for others.

 For the first time in 16 years, there was no military parade through city streets and no cheering crowd of retired mujaheddin donning pie-shaped pakul hats and faded combat jackets in memory of their triumphant guerrilla fight against Soviet occupation forces during the 1980s.

 The national stadium and mosque were prepared for the occasion with multicolored banners and posters of the Afghan holy war’s fallen heroes, but the public ceremony was abruptly canceled in favor of a small private remembrance held inside the heavily guarded presidential compound.

 Although the government said it had decided to use the parade funds to help victims of a recent earthquake, it was widely assumed that officials were concerned about the possibility of a terrorist attack and felt they could not protect the gathering.

 Some Afghans, especially veterans of the grueling 10-year war against the former Soviet Union, saw the cancellation of the public ceremony as an unforgivable slight to the millions of Afghans who were killed, injured, displaced or orphaned by the conflict, which helped speed the demise of Soviet communism.

 “I am very disappointed.  Many people sacrificed a lot in the war, and this is the only day we have to honor them,” said Mir Agha, 47, a former fighter whose legs are paralyzed from a shrapnel wound.  

 With a young boy pushing him in a wheelchair, he slowly circled the empty parade ground Tuesday.

 Naeem Farahi, a legislator from the United Front Party, which includes many former mujaheddin, said the cancellation was a national disgrace and a sign of the government’s weakness. “I lost 18 family members in the war, and I feel shame for the souls of all the martyrs,” he said.

 “With thousands of foreign troops here, can’t they protect one event?”

 WELCOME TO VIETN