Afghanistan News & Discussion

[brihaspati]

^^ Atri ji, one thing I don't understand is this - We keep hearing reports of how effusive Afghans are in their fondness for India. Yet, the treatment of Kabuli and Jalalabadi Sikhs and Hindus by the local populace leaves much to be desired. They have been living in bombed out gurudwaras, they too afraid to send their children to school, and they are constantly pestered to convert.

Afghans, Turks, Persians, Iraqis, Yemenis - all had illustrious records of kindnesses on Indians, historically speaking, but now deliberately forgotten. The effusiveness is based on a certain stylized showmanship of guest-welcoming. Does have some basis in tribal hedging of risks - a kind of insurance. But does not really guarantee protection for the kaffir. Precedence, when needed, is taken from the ahadith.

[Atri]

+1 devaguru.

Carl ji,

To add to what bji said, India (as it is today) represents the "lost land" in popular narrative of Indian Muslim. On one previous occassion, I have experienced sort of hostility (not overtly, we still are good friends) from an acquaintance when he came to know about my marhatta background from deccan. Saying one is from Mumbai makes them go gaga about bollywood. The discerning ones get alarmed when someone from interior deccan shows up. The books in my home concerning abdali, panipat etc further caused him to raise his shields.

India does not want identify herself as nation of Hindus. How can then we expect good treatment of our dharmik brothers in asura land? Ever since partitoon happened, they are lost cause for time being.

[RamaY]

^ Afghans previously converted from Hinduism to Zorastrianism to Buddhism to Islam. There is nothing wrong in asking them to convert again to get the kindness of Indians.

[ramana]

The Paki mind thinks India is the dhimmi that got away.

[RamaY]

Ramanaji,

I sincerely hope that one of these days they do something very stupid and get a serious thrashing from desh.

[SaiK]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/i ... epage=true

some export version of Arjun can be thought off! or sell for cheap old t-72s

[RamaY]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/i ... epage=true

some export version of Arjun can be thought off! or sell for cheap old t-72s

Interesting. I was formulating this very thing few hours ago. What happens if India raises an Afghan regiment with all toys and station it in Afghanistan?

A contingent of 30-40k strength would cost about $4b and it is worth the investment.

By Building it using locals around Mazar-I-sharif and basing them in that town will be a good investment when required.

Risk is that this entire contingent goes rougue and joins Pakis. We can go a good round of carpet bombing.

[SSridhar]

India faces Afghan test as ally calls for military aid - Praveen Swami, The Hindu

From the above,

The latest clashes, Afghan army sources told The Hindu , were sparked off by a succession of attacks by jihadist groups operating in the Kunar area, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which are alleged to have the backing of local Pakistan army units.

We have to really understand this.

The province of Kunar in Afghanistan straddles the Bajaur and Mohmand agencies of FATA in Pakistan.

LeT has been operating in Mohmand agency for a long time. In fact, the Taliban commander there was Shah Khalid who was later killed by Baitullah Mehsud (the TTP don't take kindly to LeT in their area). In early August 2008, the Taliban captured the Bajaur agency and a fierce counter attack by the Pakistani Army was successfully repulsed by inflicting severe damage to it. Several dozen soldiers lost their lives and the Taliban even claimed capturing a tank. The Army then withdrew from Khar in Bajaur. Bajaur came under the TTP Taliban commander Maulvi Faqir Ahmed. He was supported by the Punjabi Taliban Harkat-ul-Jihadi-Islami (HuJI). The defeat in Bajaur finally prompted GoP to ban TTP which it did in late August. The TTP immediately retaliated with a suicide attack on PM Yousuf Raza Gilani, which failed. Finally, the PAF had to be used in indiscriminate bombing and Bajaur was eventually secured in February 2009. They captured the area TTP Commander of Bajaur, Maulvi Faqir Mohammed and the Taliban Spokesperson Maulvi Umar. It is my suspicion that the PA allowed LeT there now that the TTP and their associates, the Punjabi Taliban of HuJI, had been dispersed. The PA probably also co-opted the Haqqani network there to prevent the re-emergence of the TTP. The Haqqanis and the LeT have had an understanding already whereby the former were providing logistics and the latter manpower for attacks in Kabul, for example, the Indian Embassy attack in Kabul in c. 2008. PA trusts both these outfits.

The claim by the Afghan Army sources is thus credible.

[JE Menon]

Thanx SS... Makes sense now.

[shyamd]

India will reconsider arming them closer to 2014 timeline. Waiting and seeing if pak will cooperate. Have written an article on the subject - waiting for it to be published

[ramana]

Ramanaji,

I sincerely hope that one of these days they do something very stupid and get a serious thrashing from desh.

It will be bruising but not a thrashing that can be attributed to desh.

[Prem]

BRF made the call 5 years ago to have GOI officially allocate portion of Defence Budget for Afghanistan: More like on the pattern of Railway Budget. Guess time has come now to actually implement the idea to make the difference on ground. Call it SDI= Supplementary Defence Initiative.

[ramana]

Or Strategic Depth denial Initiative!

[vishvak]

link
There are many agreements between Afghanistan and India. So it is quite normal that Afghans and Indians do go by the same to begin with. Just to note that strategic agreements are not new.

[Baikul]

I couldn't find if this is posted; mods, please remove if so.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20627492

Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid has been wounded in a suspected suicide bombing in Kabul.

The National Directorate of Security (NDS) head was injured in his lower body by the blast, interior ministry officials told the BBC.

[SaiK]

Pak can't do an eff if we arm Af. In fact it would help on multiple fronts from establishing local industries to engaging Pak. IA is the ultimate beneficiary here as specifically -Arjun and insas gets a shot in the industrial right arm.

[brihaspati]

Why should we prop up a more faded, but equally corrupt and ruthless version of those Islamists who had decided that the lifestyle of education, equal and non-Islamic opportunities for women, and suppression of the institutional mechanisms of mullahcratic totalitarianism - was something that could not be allowed to develop on Afghan soil?

The best strategy for the world would have been to allow the Soviets and the leftists of Afghanistan to weaken themselves against the mullahcracy, and a mutual war of attrition by which both the totalitarians sides get weakened. Out of ideological commitments, at least on eof those totalitarians would have been forced to appear "liberal" in the leftist sense, and at least allow women's education and science education, and some legal reforms to take place. Unlike India, where both are fighting for state power which is not in their hands - and hence they collaborate - in Afghanistan they would forced to clash, and collaboration would have been very difficult - if the left was given external support.

Instead, what we have is is just another facet of Islamism. Sooner or later the mullahcracy will win. Helping any one of the factions with arms and training is actually transfering skills and hardware to a viciously opportunistic and sadistically totalitarian future society. There will be no modernization, no progress, in Afg until and unless all the islamic institutions and their reproductive mechanisms to recreate the violent and totalitarian memes - are destroyed. Destroyed with a degree of violence that the Afghans understand, as retribution for following a false and ultimately weak ideology.

Afghans have only submitted to genocidic and more-ruthless-than-them treatment.

[anupmisra]

New York Times article on the latest paki sooie-cide attack on the afghan intelligence chief. Karzai Implicates Pakistan in Suicide Bombing That Hurt Afghan Spy Chief

The suicide bomber who tried to assassinate Afghanistan’s powerful new intelligence chief came from Pakistan and the attack was organized with the help of a sophisticated foreign intelligence service, President Hamid Karzai said Saturday.

The Taliban claimed responsibility, but Mr. Karzai said the attack was too sophisticated to be the work of the Taliban alone.

Mr. Khalid, in his ascendancy to the top of the Afghan intelligence service, had emerged as one of the Taliban’s fiercest opponents and was also a strong critic of Pakistan’s influence in the country.

[SaiK]

Devguru it is more on the lines of business combined with strategy. The sell will not Weaken our position. But actually strengthen in the sense of engagement. The khaans do it with bug infested products and tedious agreements (end user ) etc. careful game playing will result in correct engagement and ensure Pakies are tied to a zone that we have a deep handle.

[RajeshA]

Why should we prop up a more faded, but equally corrupt and ruthless version of those Islamists who had decided

I think that sometimes it is wise not to stop one's enemies to get stronger. That is provided we ourselves can use the respite through that to grow stronger at a much faster rate. It is the relative strength that matters.

So if through Afghanistan, we can keep Pakistan bottled in, with a major headache on its Western border, then it is advisable to strengthen any group in Afghanistan which makes Pakis lose their balance.

[SaiK]

Strength is different form well managed and controlled strength. We have the limits defined.

[RamaY]

Afghans have only submitted to genocidic and more-ruthless-than-them treatment.

How to create such a dispensation that is not Islamic or communist in a society like Afghanistan?

One model I can see is the Serbia model but there are not enough Indics to carve out a new country, unless we define that Indics in such a way that we can replay Israel 2. If maldives can be a separate nation, Indics of 1-2 million population can be a separate nation too

That would be a project of mammoth proportions for India. It should be nuclear armed, mandatory military draft etc.,

What other optioNs are there? I seriously doubt any one of the existing ethnic groups can renounce Islam and form a new religion, which is a easier task if properly aimed

[SaiK]

The larger game is in our hands. ... Let that not get into Babu zombies. We have a big role to play in the future for our kids to cherish.

[devesh]

RajeshA ji,

the "headache" you speak of will not be confined to Pakistan. in fact, the faithfools will make common cause and turn on the lowest rung in the ladder, which happens to be the kafir Hindu. so the Afghans will join with Pakis for mutual spoils and rapine loot of the Kafir. Afghan will never be a "threat" to Pakis. and honestly, Punjab, all of it, is our land. the Afghans should not be in a position to loot and plunder Punjab at their will. and we should most certainly not encourage it.

[shyamd]

Was reading an interesting assessment the other day - apparently TSP was targeting via assassinations all the potential leaders of the Northern Alliance movement - Daud Daud, Rabbani etc. This caused NDS to respond and they were assassinating Taleb leaders in TSP. with the latest one being some taleb commander in quetta. The latest attack on the chief of NDS is part of this game.

[RajeshA]

RajeshA ji,

the "headache" you speak of will not be confined to Pakistan. in fact, the faithfools will make common cause and turn on the lowest rung in the ladder, which happens to be the kafir Hindu. so the Afghans will join with Pakis for mutual spoils and rapine loot of the Kafir. Afghan will never be a "threat" to Pakis. and honestly, Punjab, all of it, is our land. the Afghans should not be in a position to loot and plunder Punjab at their will. and we should most certainly not encourage it.

The aim is three-fold

1. create a sharp Pakjabi-Pushtun divide, putting pressure on Pakjabis, but not letting them fall
2. decrease value of Pakjabis in general for outside powers
3. create multiple centers of power in Pakistan for easy manipulation by India

In the meantime, we rise and rise!

[SaiK]

^all strategic plan should be executed indirectly. what you are planning should never be evident at first sight or on the top layer of the package. One must dig deep in to understand such complexities of the game plan.

So, it is important that we hold such clear vision on anything outside our walls, but ensure such a plan is executed under the table, which we are masters in other areas locally.

[brihaspati]

Look, all this initial softening up by trade stuff has been around for a long long time, and it has never worked with totalitarian systems. All totalitarians systems, can only be brought down by overwhelming military weakening/defeat. They need external interventions, at the most ruthless, deceptive and low-level, to bring them down. The trade stuff has not worked with BD Islamism, has not worked with Nepali communism.

You want to invest in AFG, go on. You want to train their police and army, go on. They will take all that because it circulates money to be pocketed. The society has been squeezed dry of innovation and intellectual pursuits by the mullahcracy and a rampant near totalitarian structure of a theology. It will not come up in the technology way any time soon. Agriculture - only possible in the south using the remnant canal system developed by the US in the 60's - and promptly turned into opium fields even while the Americans were building them. But is that a driver of AFG growth engine? Which section of the global economy will the Afghans compete with their agricuture to extract growth?

But in the end, none of that investment and training will change one single drop of shuttle-cock burqas - the blue-ghosts - the mullahs and bacchabazi gay enslavement of boys, the violent and sadistic shariatic totalitarianism. Its a madhouse - an extreme endpoint of the inevitable few endpoints of the theological development.

That society needs to be destroyed, along with Pak. Its theological infrastructure eliminated - with a violence and sadism that is the only language the mullah understands, to realize that they are defeated and been abandoned by their supreme.

This was partly the situation post WWI, and led to creation of conditions where some of the more liberal initiatives coming from within Pakhtun society could develop - temporarily. They do not understand anything other than physical defeat, and physical destruction, and physical pain. That is the inevitable ambience of unbridled mullahcracy. If you don't talk that language, the mullah simply sneers and uses your largesse to plan how he would use it to destroy you, the more sadistically possible the better the enjoyment for him.

[RajeshA]

X-Posting from "West Asia News and Discussions" Thread

brihaspati garu,

I don't think modernization in Islamic society is helpful for kafirs. All it leads to is putting better tools in the hands of the Islamists. Johann ji believes in the power of consumerism and individual freedoms as propagated by the West, as being sufficient to blunt the drive of the Islamists. I don't think that would work. So his belief that Muslim society can be reformed thus, is somewhat overly optimistic.

However going to the other extreme and saying that whatever one throws at Islam, eventually it ends up only reinforcing the power of the Mullahs and their ability to hurt the Kafirs, is also a somewhat pessimistic view.

There are ways to break the hold.

1) Deepening all the divisions, creating and deepening all possible fault-lines, especially the Shia-Sunni.
2) Never allowing one sect or group to overwhelm the other, i.e. prevent consolidation by strengthening the weaker parties, however weaker groups should be allowed to consolidate, and thus not fall prey to the stronger groups. Arming the weaker groups.
3) Increasing the feeling of disenchantment among the minority groups with the whole Islamic infrastructure, e.g. in Ahmediyyas, Baluchis, Gilgitians, Kurds, Iranians (Shia<->Sunni), etc, and providing them with parachutes.

[ramana]

Was reading an interesting assessment the other day - apparently TSP was targeting via assassinations all the potential leaders of the Northern Alliance movement - Daud Daud, Rabbani etc. This caused NDS to respond and they were assassinating Taleb leaders in TSP. with the latest one being some taleb commander in quetta. The latest attack on the chief of NDS is part of this game.

ShyamD, Could be spin post facto to justify the attack on NSD chief.

Besides TSP denies having any hand in this attack!!!

For starters can we dig up any report of the Quetta attack on some Taleb dreg?

[shyamd]

ShyamD, Could be spin post facto to justify the attack on NSD chief.

Besides TSP denies having any hand in this attack!!!

For starters can we dig up any report of the Quetta attack on some Taleb dreg?

Read it in Fridays WSJ I think. That comment was made by a former taleban foreign ministry official - could be spin. But I don't think it is out of the realms of possibilities either.

Meanwhile, found this interesting piece.... They were assassinating each other leaders , now they want to talk? Surely some diplomatic arm twisting must have taken place.
Taliban to Meet With Northern Foes

KABUL—Afghanistan's Taliban have reached out to their historical enemies in the Northern Alliance, opening initial contacts to discuss the country's future once the U.S.-led forces depart and President Hamid Karzai steps down in 2014.

In the first such meeting between authorized representatives of Taliban leader Mullah Omar and the key leaders of the Northern Alliance, which fought a losing war against the Taliban before the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, more than a dozen senior Afghan politicians are scheduled to travel to France this month.

Enlarge Image

Reuters
U.S. troops with the NATO led-International Security Assistance Force attend a security transition from NATO troops to Afghan forces in Nangarhar on Wednesday.

The meeting, sponsored by a French think tank, is unlikely to produce immediate results, and might ultimately fail to prevent a breakout of a renewed civil war after 2014. But it would allow the two sides to feel out each other's stance, and possibilities for an eventual compromise, after more than a decade of rejecting the very idea of direct negotiations.

"Let's see what the Taliban say when we talk to them face to face. It is very important that we know what is the position of the Taliban," said Ahmad Zia Massoud, the brother of Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was assassinated by al Qaeda in 2001. "We seek an understanding between us and the Taliban, to know their views and finally to pave the way to reaching peace."

Mr. Massoud, who served as Afghanistan's vice president under Mr. Karzai and now heads the National Front alliance of opposition groups, is one of the expected participants. All the parties to the conflict were increasingly exhausted after 11 years of fighting, he said: "The Taliban got tired of this war. And the Afghan government and the international community are also tired of this war."

The U.S., which has held separate talks with the Taliban this year, is endorsing the process of Afghans talking to Afghans, as are the United Nations and European nations. As part of their negotiations with the U.S., the Taliban this year began to establish a political office staffed with authorized representatives of Mullah Omar in the Gulf emirate Qatar.

Officials involved in the process say that the contacts between the Taliban and the U.S., which involve negotiations about swapping Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a U.S. Army sergeant held captive by the Taliban, are likely to resume in coming weeks after being suspended by the insurgents in March.

Though agreeing to talk with the U.S. and Northern Alliance politicians, the Taliban have repeatedly rejected the idea of negotiating with Mr. Karzai, describing him as a powerless stooge of foreign invaders. Afghanistan's presidential elections are scheduled for April 2014, and under the constitution Mr. Karzai isn't allowed to run again.

Still, at least two of Mr. Karzai's senior advisers are expected to attend the Paris meeting, including his point man on reconciliation, Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai, other invitees said.

"These are not peace talks, just an exchange of views among Afghans—but it's a very good opportunity for both sides to learn about each other," said Wahid Muzhda, a former Taliban foreign ministry official who has been involved in mediating between the Taliban and Northern Alliance politicians. As part of these contacts, Mr. Muzhda shuttled in recent months between Kabul, Peshawar, Dubai and Qatar.

While Mr. Karzai has in the past expressed hostility to the Taliban establishing an office in Qatar, and to any talks that bypass him, the Afghan government endorsed the planned meeting in France. "Any dialogue about the future of Afghanistan, any exchange of ideas—we welcome this because it is about peace and stability," said Mr. Karzai's spokesman, Aimal Faizi.

Similar meetings in France previously brought together Afghan politicians and the so-called Kabul Taliban—senior officials of the former Taliban regime who are no longer involved in the insurgency and don't represent the Taliban high command.

In the meeting planned for this month, however, the Taliban delegation is expected to be headed by Shahabuddin Dilawar, a senior member of the Taliban political branch that began operating out of Qatar, other invitees and diplomats said. Mr. Muzhda confirmed Mr. Dilawar's planned attendance.

A former Taliban ambassador to Riyadh and Islamabad who served as deputy head of the Taliban Supreme Court in 2001, Mr. Dilawar is on the United Nations sanctions blacklist, and his travel to Paris would require a special waiver from a U.N. committee. While the waiver hasn't yet been granted, diplomats in Kabul said they expected it would be issued in time for the meeting.

The U.N., diplomats say, plans another seminar uniting Afghan politicians and authorized representatives of the Taliban high command sometime early next year, probably in the central Asian republic of Turkmenistan.

Mr. Karzai, like the Taliban's key leaders, is an ethnic Pashtun from the southern city of Kandahar. The Northern Alliance unified the mostly non-Pashtun power brokers and warlords from the country's ethnic Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara minorities that dominate the country's northern and western provinces.

Some of these power brokers serve in Mr. Karzai's administration—such as the influential governor of the northern Balkh province, Mohammed Atta. Others, such as Mr. Karzai's former challengers in the presidential elections, Abdullah Abdullah and Yunus Qanooni, belong to the opposition. Most of them, to one degree or another, are preparing themselves for the possibility of a civil war after 2014, with allied militias stockpiling weapons and ammunition, diplomats say.

Mr. Qanooni, a former speaker of Afghanistan's parliament, is also planning to attend the meeting in France. In an interview, he hailed the Taliban's willingness to reach out to their Northern Alliance foes. "It is a positive view that accepts the realities of this country," he said. "The forces that fought the Taliban in the past represent the huge majority of the nation, and therefore no reconciliation will happen without an understanding with them."

Northern Alliance leaders bitterly criticized Mr. Karzai for beginning his own outreach to the Taliban three years ago, accusing him of selling out to the insurgency and of trying to strike a deal at the expense of the non-Pashtun minorities.

Even now, not all of the expected participants in the planned encounters in France are optimistic. "The Taliban's views are not civilized views, and until they change their thinking it's difficult to have hopes," said Mohammed Mohaqeq, a former leading Hazara warlord. "But we will not close the dialogue."

Pakistan, which shelters the Taliban's top leadership and finances the insurgency, has long opposed any negotiations that it doesn't control, jailing the Taliban's second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in 2010 for unauthorized contacts with Kabul.

These days, however, Pakistan appears to have softened its stance, issuing Taliban officials with passports so they could set up the Qatar mission. In recent weeks, Pakistan agreed to long-standing Kabul requests and freed some Taliban detainees. It also agreed to hold in Kabul a joint conference of Islamic scholars that's expected to condemn the use of suicide bombings.

Following a visit to Islamabad last week by Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul, the two governments issued a joint statement backing an "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process."

Diplomats and Afghan officials, however, are unsure whether Pakistan's overtures are sincere. "There will not be peace in Afghanistan without the honest cooperation of Pakistan," Mr. Qanooni said. "We see a change of tactics from Pakistan. We need a change of Pakistan's strategy toward Afghanistan."

The establishment of a Taliban office in Qatar "will protect from Pakistani influence those Taliban who favor this reconciliation," he added. "This is a chance, not a challenge."

Corrections & Amplifications
Yunus Qanooni is a former speaker of the Afghan parliament. An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to him as the current speaker.

[ramana]

Time Mag report :

http://world.time.com/2012/12/11/tale-o ... spy-chief/#

You are right.

In hindsight, Khalid was a prime target for the Taliban, whose leadership has long been ensconced across the border in the Pakistani city of Quetta. Unlike many of his peers who have fought the Islamist militants, Khalid is an ethnic Pashtun who commands considerable stature and support in the southern Pashtun heartlands where the Taliban hold the most sway. Further north, he has the respect and backing of many other factions in Afghanistan’s fractious political landscape. Charismatic with a savvy military mind, Khalid was known, not uncontroversially, to do things his way during eight years as governor of two key Afghan provinces — Ghazni and Kandahar — and then as a cabinet minister in Karzai’s government. Some say it was his self-confidence bordering on recklessness that nearly got him killed on Dec. 6.

What else explains why Afghanistan’s intelligence chief would make himself so vulnerable to a Taliban attack? Despite having a reputation of being vehemently anti-Taliban, Khalid, as Karzai’s intelligence chief, had to show support for the government’s policy of prioritizing peace with the militant group.

Moreover, an approach from an emissary of the Taliban in Quetta would have seemed to him personal vindication of his supposed recent efforts to target the Taliban leadership. Mullah Sayyid Ahmad Shahid Khel, a senior Taliban official believed to be responsible for planning the suicide bomb-assassination of Afghanistan’s deputy intelligence chief in 2009, was gunned down in Quetta in November. Karzai rejected media reports then implicating Khalid in the killing across the border.

Despite being new to his post, Khalid has been directly overseeing the security of southern Afghanistan and the borderlands with Pakistan for over a year and half now. And his vast network there dates even further — when he was governor of Kandahar, between 2005 and 2008. As governor, he often personally participated in battles against the Taliban, which led U.S. diplomats to write in cables leaked by Wikileaks that Khalid had a “tendency to focus on security at the cost of governance and development issues.” The success of his reign in the insurgency’s heartland did not lie in his ability to build roads or protect schools, but in the enemy body counts he amassed — or, at least, claimed credit for. One day in May 2007, Khalid called reporters to his gubernatorial palace in Kandahar and displayed the body of the Taliban’s fearsome deputy. Laid out on a stretcher and covered in pink sheets, the one-legged Mullah Dadullah — still wearing a shoe on his intact leg — had been killed in neighboring Helmand province. The fact that the body was displayed triumphantly instead by Khalid spoke volumes of how his rule and reach extended far beyond official bounds—and with the blessing of the president, who had grown increasingly close to him over the years.

[Agnimitra]

Iran Closes Down Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan

Iran's official news agency is reporting the country has closed its consular section in the western Afghan city of Herat, after anti-Iranian protests at the site on Sunday.

The Afghan demonstrators were protesting the alleged killing of Afghan emigrants at nearby border crossings in recent months. Iran denies the killings.

The Tuesday report by IRNA quotes an unnamed official as saying the Iranian consulate will remain closed until further notice, and that Iran has sent a protest note to Afghan officials.

[gunjur]

NYT article Afghanistan withdrawal

The president who ascended to office as a change agent decides to end the costly and unpopular war in Afghanistan. He seeks an exit with honor by pledging long-term financial support to allies in Kabul, while urging reconciliation with the insurgency. But some senior advisers lobby for a deliberately slow withdrawal, and propose leaving thousands of troops behind to train and support Afghan security forces.

This account is actually drawn from declassified Soviet archives describing Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s closed-door struggles with his Politburo and army chiefs to end the Kremlin’s intervention in Afghanistan

The main thing the Soviets did right was that they continued large-scale military assistance to the regime they left behind after the final withdrawal in ’89. As long as the Afghan regime received the money and the weapons, they did pretty well — and held on to power for three years. The combat effectiveness of Kabul’s security forces increased after the Soviet withdrawal, when the fight for survival become wholly their own.

But then the Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991, and the new Russian leader, Boris N. Yeltsin, heeded urgings of the United States and other Western powers to halt aid to the Communist leadership in Afghanistan, not just arms and money, but also food and fuel. The Kremlin-backed government in Kabul fell three months later.

Around the time of the Soviet withdrawal, an article by Pravda, the Communist Party mouthpiece, clutched for a positive view as the Soviet Army pulled out. Read today, it bears a resemblance to the news releases churned out by the Pentagon detailing statistics on reconstruction assistance.

[RoyG]

^^A few on BRF still think that the situation is far from certain but all the evidence points to the contrary. Eventually, the Taliban will control most of the country with a few small opposition pockets here and there. PA proxy war has succeeded in kicking out the Americans and India has been left with NO OPTIONS other than maintaining a very defensive posture as usual. IMO, we are seeing the beginnings of a Pan-Islamic movement taking place on the Indian subcontinent.

[abhishek_sharma]

Wakhan Corridor: Stranded on the Roof of the World

[abhishek_sharma]

Filming the Many Afghanistans

[SSridhar]

Kabul orders US forces out of two Afghan provinces - The Hindu

Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded on Sunday the withdrawal of U.S. special forces from Wardak and Logar within two weeks, accusing them of fuelling “insecurity and instability” in the volatile provinces neighbouring the capital Kabul.

“In today’s national security council meeting... President Karzai ordered the Ministry of Defence to kick out the US special forces from Wardak and Logar provinces within two weeks,” said presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi.

Illegal armed groups

“The US special forces and illegal armed groups created by them are causing insecurity, instability, and harass local people in these provinces,” he told a press conference.

The announcement would be another blow to the prestige of U.S.-led forces as they prepare to withdraw combat troops from the war against Taliban Islamist insurgents by the end of next year.

The bulk of NATO’s 100,000 troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014. A U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) spokesman said he was aware of the reported comments by Faizi. “We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them,” he said.

“Until we have had a chance to speak with senior [Afghan] officials about this issue we are not in a position to comment further.

This is an important issue that we intend to fully discuss with our Afghan counterparts.”

Relations

More than 3,200 NATO troops, mostly Americans, have died in support of Mr. Karzai’s government in the war since the Taliban were ousted by a U.S. invasion in 2001, but relations between the President and the U.S. are often prickly.

[gunjur]

Apologies if already posted.

Afghanistan wants ISI to be declared a terror outfit

In a recent interview, Afghanistan's Deputy National Security Adviser (DNSA) Rahmatullah Nabil accused the ISI of plotting terror attacks to destabilise the country. He reportedly said that Afghanistan would push the United States to put the ISI on its terror ban list and demand sanctions on it.

However, India refused to back Nabil's latest call for a ban on the ISI.Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said on Thursday that the department had issued a statement in December 2012 in this connection.

[gunjur]

Apologies if already posted.

General Says 20,000 Troops Should Stay in Afghanistan

The officer, Gen. James N. Mattis of the Central Command, revealed his recommendation during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he also said that a NATO contribution to an enduring mission in Afghanistan could equal half of the American deployment, for a total alliance troop presence of 20,000 under his proposal.

During a session of NATO defense ministers last month, alliance officials discussed a proposal for training, support and counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan after 2014 that envisioned a force of up to 9,500 American troops and up to 6,000 more from other coalition nations.

There are about 66,000 American troops in Afghanistan today, with that number to drop to 32,000 by early next year.