Is peace in Afghanistan at hand? | rabble.ca

This is an excellent blog article. It has direct links to sources and presents many different points of view on the

most pressing issues in this war. There are diverse people involved. The issues are complicated and always changing.

If you can, take a moment to read this insightful account.

Is peace in Afghanistan at hand? | rabble.ca

Where Do You Belong?

Where in the World Are You?

This image was copied from wikipedia:en. The original description was:

composite satellite image of Asia. (NASA Blue marble composite image, projected with xplanet)

It really doesn't matter where in the world we are. We are all on this planet together. Earthquakes, wars, tsunamis, hurricanes, disease are all bigger picture newsflashes when it doesn't directly affect us. If we should ever have the misfortune of being involved in one of these disasters let's hope that the rest of the world doesn't throw up its collective arms at us. Tragedy is a part of living but triumph rises above when people keep doing whatever they can to help those in need. Yes, we've heard it all before and we'll hear it all again but let's never lose sight of the importance of taking care of each other. They say that charity begins at home and we often wonder how much is enough. When you read or experience just a little bit about the world outside of your own, you'll see you have so much more than so many other people. We need not feel too guilty about our fortunate lives but ought to feel some sense of responsibility for those who truly fight for survival every day.

Let's not turn our backs on people because they don't live in our part of the world, or we perceive that their government didn't help us out in times of need. Just know that people need our help and whatever we can give will change their world for the better. If you really can't afford to give anything at this time then please pass a helpful message along, say a prayer or shed some tears. As long as we live, we must aim to never harden our hearts to the plight of other human beings. To those that are in a position to help be thankful that you are and know that you're efforts are appreciated.

Search your heart, do some research to find out more. Help the people struck by the quake in Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai bordering Sichuan and Tibet.

Do what you can because it all matters.

Death Toll in Afghanistan

This is a compilation of information and data supplied by www.icasualties.org

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News

04/15/10 WaPo: U.S. retreat from Afghan valley marks recognition of blunder It was as if the five years of almost ceaseless firefights and ambushes had been a misunderstanding -- a tragic, bloody misunderstanding. More than 40 U.S. troops have been killed, and scores more wounded, in helicopter crashes, machine-gun attacks and grenade blasts in the Korengal Valley...

04/15/10 Reuters : Seven foreigners killed in Kandahar blast Seven foreign workers, believed to be British, were killed in a suicide car bomb attack in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar city on Thursday, a police official said.

04/15/10 AP: Car bombs rock Afghan city of Kandahar killing 6 A suicide bomber targeting a compound shared by foreign companies set off a massive explosion late Thursday in the southern city of Kandahar, blowing out windows across the city and killing at least six people, the president's powerful half brother said.

04/15/10 VOA: Insurgents Kill 4 German Soldiers in Northern Afghanistan Afghan insurgents have killed four German soldiers and wounded five others in an ambush in the northern province of Baghlan. Germany's Defense Ministry says militants attacked the German soldiers' patrol Thursday with rockets. The deaths raise the number of German troops killed in Afghanistan to at least 43 since 2002.

04/15/10 AFP: Mines, bombs killing more Afghan civilians Bombs and mines planted by the Taliban are killing and maiming increasing numbers of civilians in southern Afghanistan, as the war against the insurgents intensifies, the Red Cross said Thursday.

04/15/10 AFP: Police raid Afghan bars, arrest nine Police in the Afghan capital seized thousands of bottles of alcohol from restaurants and bars frequented by foreigners, local media reported Thursday.

04/15/10 Reuters: Afghan bankers see growth despite insecurity As the Western financial system buckled under the strain of the economic crisis in 2008, Afghan banker Noorkhan Haidari was wrapped-up in Afghanistan's own rescue deal for a bank on the verge of collapse.

04/15/10 AP: 3 detained Italian doctors transferred to Kabul The Italian Foreign Ministry says three Italian medical workers held in Afghanistan for an alleged plot to kill a provincial government have been transferred to the Afghan capital of Kabul.

04/15/10 AFP: Taliban claim win after US leaves 'Valley of Death' Taliban militants on Thursday claimed victory after the US military withdrew this week from a rebel-infested area in eastern Afghanistan that became known as the "Valley of Death".

04/15/10 Reuters: Obama backs Karzai, but says still needs pressuring President Barack Obama said he was confident Afghan President Hamid Karzai can stabilize his war-torn nation but that Washington would continue to press him to introduce essential reforms to improve living standards.

04/14/10 Propublica: Deaths Among Contractors in Afghanistan Accelerating as They Outnumber Soldiers A recent Congressional Research Service analysis obtained by ProPublica looked at the number of civilian contractors killed in Afghanistan in recent months. It’s not pretty. Of the 289 civilians killed since the war began more than eight years ago, 100 have died in just the last six months.

04/14/10 CP: Canadian troops killed Afghan teen, former translator tells inquiry There are explosive allegations today from the army's former translator in Kandahar. Malgarai Ahmadshah told a parliamentary committee that Canadian troops killed an innocent Afghan teen and then tried to cover it up.

04/14/10 AP: Fort Campbell medic fatally injured in Afghanistan The military says a Fort Campbell soldier has died from wounds suffered when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan. The 101st Airborne Division said in a news release that 23-year-old Pfc. Jonathan Hall died April 8 from wounds suffered a day earlier when his vehicle was hit in Paktika Province.

04/14/10 NYTimes: U.S. Forces Close Outpost in Afghan ‘Valley of Death’ The last American soldier left the base here Wednesday, surrounded by tall cedar trees and high mountains, a place that came to be called the Valley of Death.

04/13/10 DoD: Army Casualty Identified Cpl. Michael D. Jankiewicz, 23, of Ramsey, N.J., died April 9 in Zabul, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when the CV-22 Osprey he was flying in crashed. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga.

04/13/10 DoD: Army Casualty Identified Spc. Joseph T. Caron, 21, of Tacoma, Wash., died April 11 in Char Bagh, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C

04/13/10 AP: Roadside bomb blasts kill 6 Afghan security forces Roadside bombs killed four policemen and two Afghan soldiers, and three women died when mortars fired by suspected insurgents hit their homes in an increasingly volatile area just north of the capital Kabul, officials said Tuesday.

04/13/10 AP: 18-year-old Afghan woman slain in campaign of fear A gunman lying in wait shot and killed an 18-year-old woman as she left her job at a U.S.-based development company Tuesday, casting a spotlight on a stepped-up campaign of Taliban intimidation against women in this southern city where U.S. troops plan a major operation in the coming weeks.

04/13/10 AP: 4 Afghan policemen killed in roadside bombing Four Afghan policemen were killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the country's northwest, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday. Two others were injured and their vehicle destroyed in the attack Monday in Faryab province's Ghormach district, the ministry said.

04/13/10 NYTimes: Bootlegging, Pakistan-Style Even the threat of death cannot deter one 30-year-old entrepreneur here from his appointed rounds supplying the Pakistani elite with expensive contraband Scotch.

04/13/10 AP: 3 Afghan women killed in militant mortar fire A roadside bombing killed four Afghan policemen, while three women died when mortars fired by suspected insurgents fell on their homes in an increasingly volatile area just north of the capital Kabul, officials said Tuesday.

04/13/10 AP: Civilian deaths enrage Afghans Afghans burned tires and chanted "Death to America" after U.S. troops fired on a civilian bus Monday near Kandahar, killing four people and wounding more than a dozen. Afghanistan's president accused NATO of violating its commitment to safeguard civilian lives.

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Coalition Military Fatalities By Year

Year	US	UK	Other	Total
2001	12	0	0	12
2002	49	3	17	69
2003	48	0	9	57
2004	52	1	7	60
2005	99	1	31	131
2006	98	39	54	191
2007	117	42	73	232
2008	155	51	89	295
2009	316	108	96	520
2010	98	36	27	161
Total	1044	281	403	1728

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Filter Deaths By Year

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U.S. Fatalities in and around Afghanistan

Country of Death	Fatalities
Afghanistan	919
Germany (from wounds in theatre)	12
Pakistan	15
USA (from wounds in theatre)	18
Uzbekistan	1
Total	965

View Details: U.S. Fatalities In and Around Afghanistan

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IED Fatalities

Period	IED	Total	Pct
2001	0	4	0.00
2002	4	25	16.00
2003	3	26	11.54
2004	12	27	44.44
2005	20	73	27.40
2006	41	130	31.54
2007	78	184	42.39
2008	152	263	57.79
2009	275	450	61.11
2010	84	146	57.53

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Coalition Military Fatalities By Year and Month

Filter Deaths By Month

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Fatalities By Country

Country	Total
Australia	11
Belgium	1
Canada	142
Czech	3
Denmark	31
Estonia	7
Finland	1
France	41
Germany	42
Hungary	2
Italy	22
Jordan	1
Latvia	3
Lithuania	1
NATO	3
Netherlands	21
Norway	5
Not yet reported	1
Poland	16
Portugal	2
Romania	12
South Korea	1
Spain	28
Sweden	4
Turkey	2
UK	281
US	1044
Total	1728

View Fatalities By Nationality Details

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Women for Afghan Women

The story of Bibi Aisha is horrifying and worse to think it may not be that uncommon. I don't necessarily blame religion, politics, economics or any other manmade social construct but I do blame ignorance. Sorry I haven't been aware of this story and so many others. Such a touching story but still tears are inadequate, even a donation seems inadequate and my righteous indignation serves no purpose either.

This girl is not a victim but her circumstances are the result of a society that doesn't seem to appreciate the value of a human being beyond a few dollars. We all have to survive in this world and to do so means making tough decisions. Don't sell your daughters to the highest bidder. Children are not commodities.

The sight of Bibi Aisha may be shocking but maybe the jolt is needed for a trip back to reality.

Bibi Aisha arrived at our shelter on November 15, 2009. She was sold at the age of 10 by her father to a married man, a Talib. He kept her in the stable with the animals until she was 12 (when she got her first menstrual period). At the age of 12 he married her. From the day that she arrived in his house, she was beaten regularly by this man and his family. Sometimes she was beaten so badly that she couldn’t get up for days. Six months ago before she came to us, she was beaten so badly by her husband that she thought that she was going to die. She ran away and went to the neighbor’s house. The neighbor took to her to the police.


Read more about Bibi at www.womenforafghanwomen.org/front_lines.php

Drawing Lines

The American Roller Coaster by Scott Rutherford

Reuters: "Buoyant U.S.-Pakistani relations are being underpinned by converging interests over Afghanistan but strains could emerge if Pakistan's expectations for U.S. help are not met and it feels it is being used."

It is critical to defeat Taliban: Pervez Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf 

from: themoderatevoice.com

WASHINGTON: Pointing out that it was "critical" to defeat Taliban, former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has sharply criticised US plans to begin troops pull-out from Afghanistan in a year's time."We are there because we understand how critical it is to the region and to the world," Musharraf, now on a lecture tour of US, told a gathering at the Portland University in Oregon last night.

While praising US president Barack Obama for sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, Musharraf said efforts should be to win the war against terror fully.

Opposing Obama's plan to begin withdrawing forces in July 2011, the former Pakistan ruler said the fight should go on until the Taliban is defeated.

He said Obama was too worried about public opinion. "Sometimes in the lives of leaders, you must do the unpopular as the real test of leadership lies there."

The former Pakistan Army chief said the recent wave of arrests of top Taliban commanders were a "positive sign", but did not mark a major blow to Taliban forces.

He said Taliban was not a monolith force as some people think and a person who is the second most important man of the group has not great impact on Taliban.

In the address, Musharraf claimed he would return to Pakistan if the people wanted him back and thought he could help the country.

Comment: That timeframe will be prime election campaign time for Obama, Mr Musharraf. Although you may be right about leaders sometimes having to make unpopular decisions, it would be political suicide for Obama to back down on troop withdrawals next year. The Taliban need to be defeated with internal forces, the external ones cannot stay there indefinitely. A deadline is required but most realize a deadline is not necessarily a fixed point in time. Possibly the deadline will be extended but for now the plan is to begin withdrawal of forces in July, 2011. Do you want to have future political dealings with a Palin administration?