AFGHANISTAN UPDATE

7 March 2008

No. 31: 26 February - 6 March 2008

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Summary:

• Canada nears compromise on Afghanistan mission
• United Nations names new special envoy to Afghanistan
• Taliban commander and 24 others killed in protracted firefight
• Opium production fuelling insurgency, State Department reports
• Canada resumes transfer of prisoners to Afghan authorities

Canada nears compromise on Afghanistan mission
Debate on the conservative motion to extend Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan began this past week, as conservatives and liberals neared agreement on the remaining details of the government’s plan. Both parties have agreed to extend Canada’s mission in southern Kandahar province provided that NATO allies send reinforcements, unmanned aerial vehicles and medium lift helicopters. Disagreement remains over the meaning of the term “rotate,” and whether the 1,000 extra troops will augment or replace Canadian troops, thereby freeing Canadian soldiers to focus on reconstruction and training Afghan national security forces. Liberal opposition leader Stephane Dion stressed that the conservatives would also have to justify why the new mission end date was set for July 2011, rather than sooner. A vote to extend the mission will take place on 13 March, three weeks before a NATO Summit in April.

President Sarkozy weighed various options for a new deployment of French troops to Afghanistan this week. While Sarkozy and his advisors have yet to rule out "le plan Canadien," sources close to the President have indicated that the French contingent will likely deploy to the east of Afghanistan to fight alongside U.S. soldiers. While this does not directly satisfy Canada's request, it may free up U.S. forces to move to Kandahar to fight alongside the Canadians. Sarkozy will announce his final decision at NATO's upcoming summit in Bucharest this April.

Norway announced on 27 February that it is preparing for a three-month deployment of 50 soldiers to Afghanistan in October to help train the Afghan national security forces. “They will go with the Afghan force, wherever they are sent,” Norway’s Defense Minister Anne-Grete Stroem-Erichsen said. “This may mean that they will be engaged in fighting in all parts of Afghanistan, also in the south." Norway has 500 troops deployed under ISAF command, the majority of which are stationed in the northern province of Faryab.

United Nations names new special envoy to Afghanistan
The United Nations named Kai Eide, a former Norwegian ambassador to NATO and U.N. special envoy to the Balkans, as its new "super envoy" to Afghanistan yesterday. Eide's appointment ends weeks of diplomatic wrangling over how to coordinate the non-military aspects of the international community's engagement in Afghanistan. The United Nations’ preferred candidate, Lord Paddy Ashdown, withdrew his candidacy last month amid protests from President Karzai and other Afghan governmental officials.

Taliban commander and 24 others killed in protracted firefight
Mullah Naqibulla, a top Taliban commander, and 24 other insurgents were killed on 27 February in a protracted firefight with Afghan security forces in southern Helmand province. The Afghan forces were responding to an earlier Taliban attack on a police convoy that was part of a poppy eradication team in Marja district. The Afghan Ministry of Interior reported no casualties, adding that police had also seized a large arms cache and several rounds of ammunition from the rebels.

On 3 March, Taliban insurgents ambushed and drove a bomb-laden truck into a NATO-Afghan compound in the Yaqoubi district of Khost province, wounding four NATO soldiers and two Afghan police. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

In other developments, President Karzai issued a decree on 29 February removing Asadullah Wafa from his post as governor of Helmand province after a year of record opium production and spikes in insurgent activity. Wafa, who claims to have requested the transfer, will continue his work for the government as director of a complaints committee in the national security section of Karzai’s office. The transfer came amid tensions between Wafa and British officials over counterinsurgency strategy and how best to curb drug production in the region. According to recent reports, Wafa was involved in the dismissal earlier this year of two senior development officials from the United Nations and European Union for holding unauthorized talks with the Taliban.

Opium production fuelling insurgency, State Department reports
Helmand province produces more opium than any other region in Afghanistan, accounting for close to 50 percent of the country’s total opium output.  According to a recently released U.S. State Department report on illegal drug production and trafficking, opium production has reached record levels and serves as a principle source of funding for the Taliban insurgency. The International Narcotics Control Strategy report noted that President Karzai had considered limited aerial spraying in 2007, but decided against it for fear of a popular backlash. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime echoed the findings of the State Department report this week, emphasizing the need to take direct action against the drug traffickers and government officials implicated in the illicit opium industry.

In related news, U.S. National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on 27 February that the majority of Afghanistan’s population remains under tribal control, with the Taliban in control of 10 percent and the central government in control of just 30 percent of the country. On 3 March, Afghanistan’s top intelligence official, Amrulleh Saleh, dismissed the report, claiming that only eight of the country’s 364 districts remain outside the control of the central government. He suggested that the divergence in estimates was attributable to a misunderstanding of Afghanistan’s tribal governing system. "The commanders in Afghanistan—be it at district level or higher and in the furthest provinces and districts [from Kabul]—completely respect the rule of law and abide by Afghan laws," Sebghatullah Sanjar, a policy advisor to President Karzai, told Radio Free Europe last week. "They obey governors, district chiefs, and all those who are appointed by the state of Afghanistan and are responsible for tending to the daily affairs of the state of Afghanistan in villages and districts."

Canada resumes transfer of prisoners to Afghan authorities
The Canadian military announced on 29 February that it has resumed the transfer of detainees to local Afghan authorities. The practice was halted last November due to reports of prisoner abuse at Afghan facilities. Canada has since invested over $1.5 million dollars to improve the country’s correctional facilities through professional and human rights training. Lt. Col. Grant Dame, chief of staff for Joint Task Force Afghanistan, did not specify when the transfer of prisoners resumed, nor how many detainees Canadian forces currently have under their custody.

Andrew Imbrie, BASIC

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

Stories and Links:

U.K. urges NATO allies to help new government, Dawn, 7/03
http://www.dawn.com/2008/03/07/top8.htm

U.K. confident NATO will find more troops for Afghanistan, Daily Times (Pakistan), 7/03
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C07%5Cstory_7-3-2008_pg4_12

NATO to discuss Balkans, Afghanistan, Paul Ames, AP, 6/03
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ig0cFnrQWkDQ5YDvw5v_RHWP1RQwD8V7RLG00

Taliban offensive deemed unlikely, Detroit Free Press, 6/03 http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080306/NEWS07/803060398/1009/NEWS07

Several Taliban killed in Afghanistan, car bombs found, Daily Times (Pakistan), 6/03  http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C06%5Cstory_6-3-2008_pg7_47

U.S. permitted use of Uzbekistan base, Washington Post, 5/03              
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/05/AR2008030501246.html

Tories demand better treatment for armed forces, Andrew Sparrow, The Guardian, 4/03 http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/04/conservatives.defence

Mobile phone towers are Taliban’s new target, Radio Free Europe, 3/03
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/03/8AD696C0-1B3D-4D52-9C3A-F2A64F21A40B.html

New governor picked for Helmand, Afghan.com, 3/03
http://www.afgha.com/?q=node/6281

NATO chief worried about fallout from film, Dawn, 2/03            
http://www.dawn.com/2008/03/03/top12.htm

NATO chief says Alliance making headway in Afghanistan, AFP, 2/03
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ig1_NfaH1NdYuJ-eAOlajWdiEGdQ

Afghanistan’s Helmand—a tough battleground, Daily Times (Pakistan), 1/03 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C01%5Cstory_1-3-2008_pg4_22

Obama says Europe must do more in Afghanistan, Jeff Mason, Reuters, 29/02 http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSN28640893

Singapore armed forces to deploy construction engineering teams to Afghanistan, China View, 29/02 http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/29/content_7694701.htm

Al Qaeda Deputy vows to avenge death of Afghanistan Commander, Ed Johnson, Bloomberg, 28/02
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=azvO.cdiedKY&refer=india 

The Taliban have Kabul in their sights, Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times, 27/02 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JB27Df01.html

SAS held suspects for “extraordinary rendition,” Phillip Johnson, Telegraph, 26/02 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/25/nrendition325.xml

More troops for Iraq and Afghanistan, Christian Science Monitor, 26/02      
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0227/p99s04-duts.html

Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq top index of weak states, Sue Pleming, Reuters, 26/02 http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnN26236536.html

If Afghanistan fails, Pakistan could follow: U.S. Senator, VOA News, 26/02
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-02-26-voa6.cfm

Editorials, Transcripts and Reports:

Pakistan’s grand bargain falls apart, Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times, 6/03 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JC06Df01.html

Global progress, or global whack-a-mole, William M. Arkin, Washington Post, 4/03 http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2008/03/global_progress_or_global_whac.html?nav=rss_blog

Putting the Blame on Pakistan won’t help the war on terror, Tariq Amin-Khan, The Star, 5/03
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/309358

Assessing Afghanistan, Karthik Reddy, Claremont Port Side, 4/03 http://claremontportside.com/index.php?/20080304168/International/Assessing-Afghanistan.html

A Surge to Help Afghanistan, Senator Joe Lieberman, Washington Post, 4/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/03/AR2008030302630.html

Afghanistan. Pakistan. Forgotten. Senator Joe Biden, New York Times, 2/03 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/opinion/02biden.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Afghanistan and NATO: Forging the 21^st Century Alliance, Speech by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Brookings Institution, 29/02          
http://www.nato.int/docu/speech/2008/s080229a.html

The long haul in Afghanistan, Roger Cohen, International Herald Tribune, 28/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/opinion/28cohen.html?ref=opinion

A “surge” isn’t right for Afghanistan, William M. Arkin, Washington Post, 28/02 http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2008/02/why_a_surge_isnt_right_for_afg.html#more

Winnable wars that can be lost in the political arena, Anthony H. Cordesman, Washington Post, 26/02 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5572719.html

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