AFGHANISTAN UPDATE

21 December 2007

No. 26: 4 - 20 December 2007

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Summary:

• President Karzai believes Afghanistan will require foreign troop presence for at least a decade
• US administration still seeking more commitments from NATO
• Meeting of leaders from Regional Command South and other political developments
• 20 Taliban fighters killed in southern Afghanistan; Musa Qala retaken
• Taliban ambush convoy, kill 15 security guards
  

President Karzai believes Afghanistan will require foreign troop presence for at least a decade
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the German newspaper Bild that he believes Afghanistan will need foreign troops for at least the next 10 years, when asked how long German soldiers would be needed in the country. Germany has approximately 3,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan. President Karzai also stated that security operations should be more focused on rear bases of the Taliban and foreign terrorists.

US administration still seeking more commitments from NATO
During congressional testimony on 11 December, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates chided NATO members for failing to contribute more resources to the efforts in Afghanistan and said that the Alliance should shift its focus from reconstruction to counter-insurgency. US President George W. Bush also addressed the need for more contributions from NATO countries in his year-end press conference. While he praised the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and Denmark, he said that other countries may not be maximizing their efforts in Afghanistan. He also added, "And my biggest concern is that people say, 'well, we're kind of tired of Afghanistan, therefore we think we're going to leave.' That would be my biggest concern." The United States currently has approximately 26,000 troops in Afghanistan. In an interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, the Afghan Ambassador to the United States said that Afghanistan will need more foreign troops but understands that Afghanistan will not receive an additional 20,000, which had been considered previously.

Meeting of leaders from Regional Command South and other political developments
The criticisms from the Bush Administration came ahead of a meeting of leaders from Regional Command South in Afghanistan. The meeting was held in Edinburgh, Scotland on 13-14 December. The countries represented at the meeting included Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States. Reportedly included in the discussions was a draft strategic concept paper that had been previously put forward by Secretary Gates.

Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, expressed concerns that many NATO member countries are not fulfilling their obligations in Afghanistan. Australia has approximately 1,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan and is one of the largest non-NATO contributors to the mission. Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said after returning from the Edinburgh meeting that NATO forces were "winning the battles and not the war." He went on to say that although allied forces have been very successful clearing Taliban forces from certain areas, overall, there was "no real strategic effect."

The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, visited Afghanistan on 10 December. When he reported back to the UK Parliament, he announced plans for an aid package of £450 million for Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012.

20 Taliban fighters killed in southern Afghanistan; Musa Qala retaken
Twenty Taliban militants were killed during fighting in the Zherai district, west of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Much of the fighting that takes place in the region is exchanged between Taliban and Canadian forces. After four days of fighting the Afghan National Army, along with coalition forces, completed the retaking of Musa Qala on 12 December. A spokesman for the Taliban confirmed that they had retreated from the town that they had controlled since February. The Afghan government hopes to re-assert itself in this area that is currently rife with opium production.

Taliban ambush convoy, kill 15 security guards
On 18 December, Taliban fighters ambushed a group of oil tankers traveling to Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. The convoy was being escorted by guards from the US-based security firm US Protection and Investigations, which is headquartered in Texas. Fifteen men were killed and another five were injured during the attack. The Taliban claim to have kidnapped another 12 security guards.

In other fighting, US-led coalition forces carried out airstrikes in and around the Kajaki district of Helmand province on 17 December. The airstrikes apparently resulted in the deaths of "several" militants. Kajaki is the site of one of Afghanistan's largest development projects, where the United States is repairing the hydro-electric power station built in the 1970s.

The past year has been one of the most violent since the 2001 US-led invasion. According to the Associated Press, more than 6,300 people have been killed in Afghanistan.

Candice Boyer and Chris Lindborg, BASIC

Please note: BASIC does not necessarily endorse comments, editorials, or reports listed in this update.

Stories and Links:

Dutch pullout threatens Digger security, Mark Dodd, Siobhain Ryan, The Australian, 20/12
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,22951722-31477,00.html%3Ffrom%3Dpublic_rss

Karzai calls for 'terror' focus outside of Afghanistan, DAWN, 20/12,
http://www.dawn.com/2007/12/20/int18.htm

New Envoy Position Still on the Table, Pajhwok Afghan News, 18/12
http://www.pajhwak.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=47279

Afghan Mission is reviewed as Concerns Rise, Thom Shanker and Steven Lee Myers, The New York Times, 16/12,
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/washington/16afghan.html?ref=opinion

Afghanistan needs more foreign troops, says envoy, Pajhwok Afghan News, 16/12
http://www.pajhwak.com/

British 'success' under siege in Afghanistan, Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times, 15/12
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IL15Df03.html

The Taliban turn tail in Musa Qala, Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal, 10/12
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/12/the_taliban_turn_tai.php

Appraising Afghanistan: Measuring Success and Failure, Six Years Later, summary of panel discussion held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC, 6/12
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.event_summary&event_id=312907

Editorials, Transcripts and Reports:

Text of Press Conference by the US President, Office of the Press Secretary, 20/12
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/12/20071220-1.html

NATO's Afghan Bust, Middle East Times editorial, 20/12
http://www.metimes.com/Editorial/2007/12/20/editorial_natos_afghan_bust/2101/

Challenges 2007-2008: 'Rudd's Policies Won't Hurt US-Australia Ties', Stephen de Tarczynski, UPI, 17/12
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40494

NATO in Afghanistan, Julianne Smith, CSIS Critical Questions, 14/12
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/071214_cq_nato.pdf

US Airpower in Iraq (OIF) and Afghanistan (OEF): 2004-07, Anthony Cordesman, CSIS Reports, 13/12
http://www.csis.org/index.php?option=com_csis_pubs&task=view&id=4242

First political trip; first political victory, Cheragh (Afghanistan), 12/12, via BBC Monitoring International Reports, 13/12 (link not available).

Statement to the House Armed Services Committee by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, 11/12
http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/FC121107/Gates_Testimony121107.pdf

It's time for power to shift, Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, 10/12
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2224907,00.html

Costs of Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan: Winter Supplementary Estimate 2007-08, UK House of Commons Defence Committee, 5/12
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?prod=89094&session=dae.31640080.1197484753.JVglkH8AAAEAAEcbR4YAAAAb&modele=jdc_1

US Army and the need for healing a wound under the name of Pakistani tribes, (article includes analysis on the consequences of the United States arming Afghan tribes), Kabul Weekly (in Dari), 5/12, via BBC Monitoring South Asia in English, 6/12 (link not available).

Applying Lessons from Afghanistan: Actions and Outcomes: Press Dinner with SACEUR General John Craddock, Security and Defence Agenda Report, December 2007
http://www.securitydefenceagenda.org/Portals/7/Documents/SOD_271107.pdf