"the 3,000 innocent civilians who died on 9/11 because we failed to advocated lasting change and democracy in Afghanistan.."
Afghanistan's opium poppy crop has soared. This year's harvest could be twice as large as last year's near-record crop unless eradication efforts are stepped up immediately, according to the US State Department.
The heroin business was "almost definitely" filling the coffers of the Taliban and Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin, another Afghan extremist group linked to Osama bin Laden, the assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, Robert Charles, said on Thursday. It was also "possibly" enriching al-Qaeda fighters, he said.
Mr Charles said British authorities had not done enough to eradicate poppies in their sector in southern Afghanistan. He warned that failure to stop the bumper harvest, which had already begun in some areas due to unusually warm weather, would have devastating consequences not only for the global drug trade but also for Afghan democracy.
"This is crunch time in Afghanistan," Mr Charles told a congressional panel. "The first crop is coming very rapidly . . . We will pay a price later if we don't act right now."
"The American people aren't pouring billions of dollars into Afghanistan to watch it turn into a heroin poppy nation . . . and an undemocratic narco-terrorist-controlled state," Mr Souder said.
Ninety per cent of the heroin in Europe comes from Afghan poppies. Only 7 to 10 per cent of heroin in the US is believed to originate there. Mr Charles said cutting the opium flow was central to fighting terrorism and preventing drug traffickers from undermining the fledgling Afghan democracy.
His statements came a day after Afghan officials pleaded for more help to stop drug production. President Hamid Karzai warned that drugs were "undermining the very existence of the Afghan state".
The congressional hearing on Thursday was hastily scheduled after the United Nations and the Afghan Government released a gloomy assessment on Afghan opium. The report found farmers planted more poppies than in 2003, when production was the second highest on record and earned an estimated $US2.3 billion ($A3 billion) - half the country's legitimate GDP.
In some areas, up to 80 per cent of families were believed to have planted poppies.
As of February "there were generally no reports of eradication activities" and some farmers said they would fight to protect their poppy fields, the UN said.
theage.com.au
Russia concerned about Afghan extremists
April 01, 2004 Posted: 11:06 Moscow time (07:06 GMT)
MOSCOW - Russia is concerned about subversive activities of Taliban activists and other extremists in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.
According to Mr. Lavrov, the former members of the Taliban strive to get back in power in order to undermine the foundations of the new Afghan state. “Apparently, they want to disrupt elections and throw the country into the abyss of bloody civil strife and ethnic violence,” he said.
The Russian Foreign Minister supported the idea to combine parliamentary and presidential elections in Afghanistan. There were technical and financial reasons for that, he said. “Our main goal is to ensure public confidence in the new government and prevent the enemies of the political process from capitalizing on the difficulties of the new Afghan administration,” Mr. Lavrov stressed. The Afghan people should get real representation in the institutes of power, and they should believe in the possibility of a new life.
Ensuring security, the construction of new Afghan armed forces, the police, special services and judicial system are key priorities, along with the disarmament of Afghan militias, the demobilization of former fighters and their return to peaceful life, according to Mr. Lavrov.
russiajournal.com
International donors pledged $4.4 billion for Afghanistan Wednesday after President Hamid Karzai appealed for help to stop his country becoming a haven for drugs and terrorism.
reuters.com.
Bin Laden hunt more dangerous than expected
Dangers of bin Laden's hunt have been highlighted by bloody Pakistan's anti-Qaeda offensive.
By Bronwyn Curran - ISLAMABAD
The dangers and difficulties of the hunt for Osama bin Laden have been highlighted by the disastrous Pakistani operation against Al-Qaeda that left over 120 people dead, analysts said Thursday.
A 12-day siege of around 500 fighters by 7,500 Pakistani troops had fuelled hopes of a major coup for the government, with Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri reported to among the encircled militants.
But the offensive - Pakistan's biggest ever operation in the fiercely independent tribal areas bordering Afghanistan - instead claimed the lives of at least 46 troops, 15 civilians and 63 militants.
A further 166 militants - including 93 Pakistani Pashtun tribesmen - were captured, but any 'high-value' targets that may have been hiding among the fighters were able to slip through the military dragnet.
Riffat Hussain, head of strategic studies at Islamabad's Quaid-e-Azam University, said the operation underscored the inherent dangers in the hunt for bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda henchmen.
"Despite the high cost they could not nab any high value target. They have destroyed their hideouts and made them flee ... but they were unable to capture them," Hussain said.
"It has been a bloody battle. It fuelled intra-tribal rivalry and there were large civilian casualties. They have dispersed and if they regroup, it will be a nuisance and pose challenge for the government," Hussain said.
The outcome bodes poorly for hitherto buoyant US hopes of capturing the world's most wanted man before the US elections in November.
US army officials in Afghanistan said in January they were confident of catching bin Laden this year, precipitating all-out offensives on both sides of the border with better coordination between US, Afghan and Pakistani forces, more sophisticated technology, and the deployment of crack US commandos from Task Force 121, the secretive unit responsible for finding Saddam Hussein in Iraq. [edit: why weren't these guys after Bin Laden all along?]
Military analyst and retired general Talat Masood said despite the improvements in technology and co-ordination, age-old problems remained.
"None of the leadership was caught in this last operation - not even second or third tier leaders," Masood said.
"Despite the technology, despite Pakistan's cooperation, despite the sacrifices by Pakistani troops, the results have been disappointing."
Weak human intelligence and failure to win all hearts and minds in the semi-autonomous region - which had never before been penetrated by foreign troops - were the biggest problems, he said.
"It's because of two factors: one is the lack of intelligence and the other is that the people there do not seem to be fully cooperating."
US, Afghan and most Western intelligence agencies pin bin Laden and al-Zawahiri somewhere in the cave-pocked mountains and foothills slashing the remote, porous frontier.
There they find sympathy among proud Pashtun tribes, whose traditions of hospitality, anti-US sentiment, independence, and devout Islamic faith make them natural allies.
Pakistani forces had never entered the seven tribal districts hugging 1,250 kilometers (775 miles) of the 2,500 kilometer (1,550 mile) frontier until just over two years ago.
In early 2002 they began deploying 70,000 paramilitaries to the region to seal the border against Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters fleeing US-led forces.
Their foray into the tribal areas has been two-pronged: security and development. The building of schools, hospitals, and wells in the desperately poor region is critical to winning the tribes' trust and support.
But last month's siege showed that campaign has not penetrated all tribes.
The Yargulkhel sub-tribe fought off Pakistani troops with mortars, grenades and machine guns for almost a fortnight as they protected their Al-Qaeda guests - a mixture of Arabs, Chechens, Uighurs from China and Uzbeks.
"Some of the elements may be pro Al-Qaeda ... these tribesmen are generally autonomous and they they don't like interference from outside so that factor and sympathy for Al-Qaeda and Taliban also comes into play," said defence analyst Hassan Askari Rizvi.
middle-east-online.com |
