INDEX ON AFGHANISTAN : SEPTEMBER 2006

by Sarah Meyer
Index Research

This article first published 3/10/06

Hanki Nasrat Khan Guardian photo

"After the painful events of September 11, I wish that America would have built a school in Afghanistan in the name of every victim." Shirin Abadi, Nobel Peace Prize recipient 2003.

1. Map of Afghanistan
2. Oil and Gas in Afghanistan
3. Strategic Imperatives: Reports & Documents; Articles
4. Military Contracts
5. NATO, General
6. NATO, participating countries
7. Bases, FOBs, PRTs in Afghanistan
8. Corporate Investment in Afghanistan
9. “Aid” in Afghanistan
10. Opium
11. Human Rights, War Crimes: Documents / Reports; Articles
12. Some of the Dead in Afghanistan
13. War Crimes: The Dead and Future Dead
14. References

Please also see :

• Index on Afganistan to end .08.06.
. Go to side bar of "Index Research to see monthly updates from September 2006.

• Nato: The Bathtub of Unreadiness


• Afghanistan: NATO is now US-ATO

1. National Geographic Map of Afghanistan

2. Oil and Gas in Afghanistan

Oil and Gas Pipelines in Central Asia (click image to enlarge)

For articles relating to oil in Afghanistan (01.01 – 07.06, click here.

Jan. 02. WorldPress.org. Pipeline Politics: Oil, the Taliban and the Political Balance of Central Asia. Also suggested articles, maps, further reading suggestions.

Trans-Afghan Pipeline – Time to Adjust to New Realities
26.09.06. News Central Asia. ‘Afghanistan has not come up with a plan to guarantee the security of the pipeline through its territory. The United States has recently expressed strong support for TAP. This could be the kiss of death for the project. TAP planners should ask the USA to refrain from politicizing this vital project. The TAP planners should find the strength and courage to say NO, very firm NO, to the United States. Under the new realities, the USA is not the author of the Central and South Asian script.’

3. Strategic Imperatives

For reports, documents and articles from 01.02 – 08.06, click here.

• REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS

Afghanistan Five Years Later: The Return of the Taliban
09.06. SENLIS COUNCIL REPORT.
&
FO rejects Afghanistan report
05.09.06. Guardian.

National Strategy for Combatting Terrorism (PDF file)
09.06. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Conclusion: Since the September 11 attacks, America is safer, but not yet safe.”

Strategic Survey 2006
09.06. International Institute for Strategic Studies (subscription) & Press Statement, (05.09.06) by Dr. John Chipman.

Millions of Afghans face hunger as crops fail
11.09.06. CHRISTIAN AID REPORT.

National Intelligence Estimate Report.
Updated 22.09.06. CRS. Amy Belasco Specialist in National Defense Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division.

The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11
Updated 22.09.06. Congressional Research Service.

Bush Administration's First Memo on al-Qaeda Declassified
29.07.06. National Security Archive. January 25, 2001 Richard Clarke Memo: "We urgently need . . . a Principals level review on the al Qida (sic) network." Document Central to Clarke-Rice Dispute on Bush Terrorism Policy Pre-9/11 National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 147.

• ARTICLES

The war on terror, five years on: an era of constant warfare
04.09.06. Coghlan / Sengupta, Independent.

September 11, Afghanistan and “the survival of civilization”
07.09.06. G. Zamparini, Cat’s Dream.

9/9-9/11. Five Years ago two days before 9/11: Shah Masood, leader of the Northern Alliance assassinated

THE 9/11 ANNIVERSARY AND LOSING THE WAR OF IDEAS
11.09.06. A. Rashid, Eurasia Insight. “Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s political support is dwindling because the massive Western assistance needed to turn the war-ravaged country around has not been forthcoming, and he thus has little to show his people. … Given the quagmire in Iraq, and the recent US-British support for the inconclusive Israeli thrust into Lebanon, there exists a far greater level of anti-Americanism in the Muslim world than ever before.” Ahmed Rashid is a journalist and author of the book Taliban: Militant Islam and Fundamentalism in Central Asia.

Charge of the heavy brigade
12.09.06. R. Norton-Taylor, Guardian. “Britain had contributed to ‘destabilising at the very least Iraq, and arguably the [whole] region of the Gulf, Smith added. In Afghanistan, the UK was "in grave danger of making an enemy where there was none before’. “ Sir Rupert Smith has written a book, The Utility of Force. See above: Strategic Survey 2006

Experimental drug given to British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
16.09.06. J. Randerson, Guardian. The drug, called NovoSeven, was originally licensed in 1999 as a treatment to stem bleeding in haemophiliacs.

Popular resistance from Caracas to Cairo
17.09.06. G. Galloway, Al-Ahram / ICH. In Afghanistan, Blair, oblivious to his nation's history of military catastrophe in that proud country, has hurled his soldiers into the most unforgiving terrain, against a ferocious and growing military resistance, in a part of the world that even Alexander the Great could not occupy.

Labour admits: we made mistakes on Afghanistan
19.09.06. R. Norton-Taylor, Guardian.

Bush to press Afghan, Pakistani leaders on terror issues
21.09.06. R. Hutcheson, Real Cities. "Karzai and Musharraf do not like each other," said Stephen Cohen, a South Asia specialist at the Brookings Institution. "Our influence with both is declining." … Musharraf switched sides after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, but critics say he's been a less-than-stalwart ally in the war on terrorism - despite an infusion of more than $3 billion in U.S. aid to Pakistan since his conversion.

$70B OK'd for Iraq and Afghan war funds
21.09.06. A. Taylor, A|P / Guardian.

General: No U.S. troop cuts in Afghanistan this year
22.09.06. Seattle Times / Wash. Post.

Mental disorders plague more Iraq, Afghanistan war veterans in US
21.09.06. Int. Herald Tribune. “More than one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seeking medical treatment from the Veterans Health Administration report symptoms of stress or other mental disorders — a tenfold increase in the last 18 months…”

Musharraf tells of US bombing threat
22.09.06. thewest. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf claims the US threatened to bomb his country back to the Stone Age after the attacks against America on September 11, 2001, if he did not help the war on terror.

Afghanistan: Time for Truth
19.09.06. E. Margolis. Do not believe what OUR media and politicians are telling us about Afghanistan. Nearly all the information we get about the five-year-old war in Afghanistan comes from US and NATO public relations officers or "embedded" journalists who merely parrot military handouts.

Afghan warlords unite to fight Nato
14.09.06. I. Mather, Scotland on Sunday. “The alliance appears to have achieved the impossible, but dangerous feat of uniting previously disparate warlords, tribes and militia. Most disturbing to the allied commanders is that at least two of the enemy warlords, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani, received many millions of dollars in cash, plus sophisticated weapons from the CIA and the Pakistani intelligence service (ISI), when they were fighting against the Soviet occupation. … At that time, the Americans did not care that Hizb-i Islami, the militant group founded by Hekmatyar, espoused an extremist religious and anti-Western ideology, and attracted thousands of religious radicals to Afghanistan, among them Osama bin Laden himself.” Vivid descriptions of Hekmatyar, Haqqani and Dadullah.

Afghanistan, 5 years later: U.S. confront Taliban's return
25.09.06. J. Landay, McClatchy. "We invaded Afghanistan in October 2001. We conquered the country in December, and Congress was not asked to provide any (reconstruction) money until the following October," he continued. "Much of the money didn't show up for years. And not only were the actual sums relatively small, but with the failure to establish even a modicum of security in the countryside, there was no way to spend it." … But most Afghans also have grown disgusted with Karzai, who rarely leaves his heavily fortified palace in central Kabul, and his U.S. patrons, and many yearn for a return of the security that the Taliban provided when they ruled. … “The Americans dishonor our homes."

The untold story from the battlefields of Afghanistan
25.09.06. MEDIA. Alex Thomson (Channel 4). … in the age of real-time live-from-the-battlefield TV news, we are not seeing much of the battlefield … The worse the accounts of intense fighting in southern Afghanistan get, the less we see of it on our TV screens.

How Bush Wrecked the Army
25.09.06. F. Kaplan, Slate. Another General Revolts. ‘Schoomaker's central complaint is that he doesn't have the money to maintain the Army's global missions.’ Military analysis with good links.

House OKs $70B for Iraq, Afghanistan
26.09.06. AP / Forbes.

"We Are Not Going to Evacuate. We Are Not Going Anywhere"
26.09.06. Der Spiegal interview w. Ambassador Neumann. “I think no insurgency in the 20th century has been less than a 10 year battle and I do not expect this one to be any better.”

Bush contends with 2 reports refuting Iraq gains
27.09.06. Holland, Reuters. New UN Report: New explosive devices are now used in Afghanistan within a month of their first appearing in Iraq," it said. "And while the Taliban have not been found fighting outside Afghanistan/Pakistan, there have been reports of them training in both Iraq and Somalia."

Iraq war 'recruiting extremists'
27.09.06. BBC. The Iraq war has acted as a "recruiting sergeant" for extremists, a research paper prepared for the Ministry of Defence's Defence Academy says. “On Afghanistan, the paper said the UK went in "with its eyes closed". The report also reveals that a secret deal to extricate UK troops from Iraq so they could focus on Afghanistan failed when British military leaders were over-ruled. It blames the ISI for "indirectly supporting terrorism and extremism, whether in London on 7/7 or in Afghanistan or Iraq."

War costs near $549 billion
28.09.06. McClatchy / ICH. In fiscal year 2005, the Pentagon spent an average of … $1.3 billion a month in Afghanistan. … During fiscal year 2006, it's projected that those costs will have increased to about … $1.5 billion per month in Afghanistan. … The House approved a record $448 billion in defense spending for 2007.

Afghanistan: The Other Lost War
28.09.06. S. Lendman, ICH. Excellent overview of the war in Afghanistan. A “MUST READ.”

Angry Musharraf to raise ISI collusion claims with Blair
"Indirectly Pakistan, through the ISI, has been supporting terrorism and extremism whether in London on 7/7 or in Afghanistan or Iraq."
28.09.06. Times on Line. Discussion of leaked MoD document on BBC Newsnight.

Missing From the NIE: Afghanistan
29.09.06. P. Sperry, anti-war. “The NIE is supposed to be the gold standard of intelligence, the best effort of 16 spy agencies. We pay them a collective $40 billion a year to warn the commander in chief and his security advisers about global threats.”

Take UK troops out of Iraq, senior military told ministers
29.09.06. Army chiefs wanted to move forces to Afghanistan but were prevented for political reasons…. Political arguments, including strong US pressure against British troop withdrawals.” (sm: ‘Pressure,’ as in financial / covert / military ball-crushing?)

Blair's legacy of poison
29.09.06. A. Altikriti, Guardian.

Failure to catch bin Laden haunts US presidents
29.09.06. The News.

Musharraf denies helping al-Qa'ida
29.09.06. K. Sengupta, Independent. “The Ministry of Defence tried to play down the rising controversies created by the leak of one of its own reports, which claims that the Pakistani military Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was actively backing Islamist extremists engaged in hostile action against Britain.”

US to help set up 100 outposts on Pak-Afghan border
30.09.06. The News.

Ellsberg named for ‘Alernative Peace Prize

VIDEO. I Is for Infidel, K. Gannon, 58 min.

4. Military Contracts

See (to 08.09) some military contracts at Index on Afghanistan I

Thirteen NATO countries sign with Boeing to acquire pooled C-17 transports for humanitarian strategic airlift
13.09.06. Flight Global. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the USA signed an agreement with NATO to start talks with Boeing at a NATO preliminary meeting in Brussels today ahead of the Prague summitin November. … The 13 countries will create the NATO Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) based at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.

US: Pentagon Spends Billions to Outsource Torture
14.09.06. Corpwatch.

Armor hit by rivalry for Iraq security contracts
17.09.06. O. Morgan, Observer. U.K security operator Armor group, chaired by Sir Malcolm Rifkind, has 600 people supporting UK government operations in Afghanistan.

5. NATO, General

For NATO in Afghanistan 02.05 – 08.06, click here.

NATO: The Bathtub of Unreadiness
06.09.06. Index on Afghanistan. Explores: 1) PNAC and NATO coven 2. NATO and Europe 3. NATO Goes Global 4. NATO, Israel and Mediterranean Partners 5. NATO in Lebanon? 6. The Bathtub is Overflowing: corporate profit 7. The Bathtub is Draining Out: financial and troop shortfalls 8. Overstretched NATO in ‘Asscrackistan’ 9. NATO and Secret Armies. For article in german, see NATO wird US-ATO.

Ex-Nato chief attacks countries ‘shirking’ war in Afghanistan
05.09.06. The Herald.

NATO pledges long-term commitment to Afghanistan
06.09.06. AFP / Reuters/ dawn.com

NATO needs to Boost Forces in Afghanistan
08.09.06. Bloomberg. James Jones, the supreme allied commander Europe, said yesterday in Brussels (that) NATO needs attack helicopters, transport aircraft and about 2,000 personnel because countries have met only 85 percent of their commitments to the mission.

Nato rejects appeal to boost Afghan troops
12.09.06. M. Evans/R. Beeston, Times on Line. “… many of the countries that pledged support then have now ignored an urgent request for more help in fighting a resurgent Taleban and its al-Qaeda allies. Turkey, Germany, Spain and Italy have all effectively ruled out sending more troops. France has not committed itself either way … Only the newcomers to Nato have indicated that they would be prepared to send more soldiers. Latvia, with an army of 1,817 soldiers, plans to increase its presence in Afghanistan from 36 to 56 people. Neither Norway nor Denmark is planning to send reinforcements.

ANALYSIS-NATO fight in Afghan south risks long-term aims
12.09.06. Reuters. “We are at the tipping point in the campaign.” (Colonel Christopher Langton, head of defence analysis at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies).

Blair: We need help to stop Afghan failure
14.09.06. Independent.

NATO commander: Too much violence in Afghanistan attributed to Taliban
14.09.06. AP, Int. Herald Tribune. “There is a tendency to characterize all of the violence in Afghanistan as the resurgence of the Taliban," U.S. Gen. James L. Jones said in a speech to the permanent council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. "This is inaccurate. It doesn't capture the nature of the problem," Jones said.

NATO Faces Growing Hurdle As Call for Troops Falls Short
18.09.06. Moore / Anderson, Washington Post / ICH. More than a week after NATO's top leaders publicly demanded reinforcements for their embattled mission in southern Afghanistan, only one member of the 26-nation alliance has offered more troops, raising questions about NATO's largest military operation ever outside of Europe and the goal of expanding its global reach.

NATO eyes fast move to complete Afghan handover
26.09.06. Reuters / warshooter.

U.S. gen. to command Afghanistan forces
26.09.06. J. Krane, AP / Guardian. Provided he is confirmed by the Senate, U.S. Army Gen. Dan K. McNeil … an American four-star general will take charge of both U.S. and NATO forces here, boosting the stature of the military mission in Afghanistan and unifying an international operation struggling to contain a resurgent Taliban militia. … His arrival will unify separate leadership of U.S.-led coalition forces headed by Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry and NATO troops operating under Britain's Lt. Gen. David Richards.

NATO to discuss takeover of all Afghan peacekeeping
27.09.06.M. John, Reuters/Scotsman. NATO defence ministers will study plans on Thursday to take early command of peacekeeping across all of Afghanistan. The move into eastern Afghanistan, the only area not yet covered by NATO, could take effect in a matter of weeks because it would largely involve placing under NATO command some 10,000 mostly U.S. troops already based in the region.

NATO Expands Mission to All Afghanistan
28.09.06. Salon.

Nations limit use of NATO forces
28.09.06. USA Today. ‘Countries sending their troops to Afghanistan have placed a web of restrictions on how they can be used, creating headaches for combat commanders and hurting the coalition's ability to fight a resurgent Taliban.’

Guardian Map: NATO appeals for reinforcements

6. NATO, Participating Countries

See NATO (Troop Movement) in Index on Afghanistan for data dating through August 2006.

Australia

Australian PM defends withdrawal of commandos from Afghanistan
26.09.06. AP, Khaleej Times. Australia is sending 400 more troops to Afghanistan, mostly military engineers whose mission will be reconstruction projects in the country’s south, doubling the size of its deployment there. But Canberra is withdrawing a force of some 200 Special Air Service troops who have been in Afghanistan for the past year, replacing them with engineers.

Canada

Layton wants Feb. withdrawal from Afghanistan
01.09.06. CTV. "This is not the right mission for Canada,'' he said. "There is no balance. In particular, it lacks a comprehensive rebuilding plan and commensurate development assistance. … "Why are we blindly following the defence policy prescriptions of the Bush administration?'''

Showdown brewing in Ottawa over Afghanistan
05.09.06. CTV.

Rising death toll in Afghanistan threatens Conservatives’ majority
05.09.06. AFP / Yahoo/ relief web.

NDP members appear set to massively endorse call for Afghan troop withdrawal
08.09.06. Canada.com.

Canada To Send More Troops To Afghanistan
16.09.06. UPI, Post Chronicle. Canada will send 200 to 500 more soldiers and a squadron of German Leopard battle tanks to Afghanistan.

Afghan mission cost $3.5 billion and counting
22.09.06. Canada.com.

Canadians killed at much higher rate than NATO allies: report
18.09.06. CBC.

Canadian Seeks to Defend Losses in Afghanistan
27.09.06. C.Mason, NY Times. “In all, nine Canadians have died in Afghanistan so far this month, accounting for a quarter of the 36 troops who have been killed since Canada’s Afghan mission began in 2002.”

Denmark

Denmark boosts Afghanistan contingent
26.09.06. Int. Herald Tribune. Denmark has a maximum of 1,200 soldiers assigned to international operations, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. An additional 30 troops to Afghanistan.

France

France cannot help in south Afghanistan: minister
21.09.06. Reuters/defense news. France will not send troops to help NATO in southern Afghanistan because it has its hands full in Kabul.

Germany

Germany to extend mission in Afghanistan.
17.09.06. English People.

New Zealand

Government to look at longer stay in Afghanistan
12.09.06. M. Houlahan, NZ Herald.

Norway says no to NATO’s request regarding Afghanistan
15.09.06. Onlinenews.

Poland

Poland's 900 troops don't ease NATO need
14.09.06. Seattlepi. A NATO official said the Polish deployment was routine and had been arranged before the call for additional soldiers.

Poland will speed up troop deployment in Afghanistan: NATO
28.09.06. Pak Tribune.

UK

UK troops in Afghanistan beyond 3 years
05.09.06. Reuters/ south asian media.

Britain offers more troops for Afghanistan if allies refuse
10.09.06. M. Townsend, Guardian.

UK troops 'to spend 10 years' in Afghanistan
17.09.06. M. Smith, Sunday Times.

UK to send RAF jet to Afghanistan
18.09.06. BBC.

Afghan casualties much higher
22.09.06. Metro.co. (Major Jon Swift) has said that casualty figures from Afghanistan are being systematically under-reported for political reasons.

RAF 'utterly useless' in Afghanistan says Major
22.09.06. Telegraph. Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, said: "It must be remembered that this is the opinion of only one man. The general view is very different."

EXCLUSIVE: BETRAYED, SOLDIER QUITS
24.09.06. Sunday Mirror.

7. Bases, FOBs, PRTs in Afghanistan

Afghanistan map showing the Provincial Reconstruction Teams

There is a substantial amount of information on FOBs and PRTs at Index on Afghanistan up through August 2006. Therefore, this section will ONLY cover information for this month, and a few of the stories which I have missed in the past.

KABUL

Photos

The Wild East
29.09.06. S. Koelbl, Spiegel. “Bombs went off at hourly intervals in the Afghan capital. The first struck a military bus ferrying young Afghan soldiers downtown. Screaming, the blood-soaked officers scrambled through the shattered windows, flames licking at their uniforms. In all, 39 people were hurt. The next exploded beside a bus filled with employees from the Trade Ministry. Six civilians were seriously injured; one didn't make it to the hospital. A third blast in the eastern part of the city ripped apart another army transporter.”

BAGRAM

CNN 2002 Map Bagram and description

Baghram Air Base
Main airbase, 27 miles N of Kabul.
Airfield Fire Department operated by Kellogg Brown and Root. Details of repairs to Bagram Air Base (15.03.05).

PRT breaks ground on $3 million road project
28.09.06. Centcom.

Torture & Rendition reported. See Index on Afghanistan : Human Rights articles


NURISTAN

Nuristan: Insurgent Hideout in Afghanistan
05.06. D, Van Der Schriek, Jamestown Foundation, Global Terrorism Analysis.

Coalition troops to remain in Nuristan: Governor
04.09.06. Pajhwok Afghan News.


KONAR, ISAF

On Pakistan border. The capital of Konar province is Asadabad, which has been the scene of a ‘number of incidents’ since the US invasion of Afghanistan began.

Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Asadabad.

Forward Operating Base Asadabad.
“A 38-year-old North Carolina man was indicted for assaulting an Afghan detainee while working as a contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency at a US military base in Asadabad, Afghanistan… Passaro was part of a clandestine paramilitary team of Special Forces and CIA personnel who capture and interrogated Taliban and al Qaeda members. Passaro was working at the Asadabad Base in June 2003, in support of US military personnel, when a local man, suspected of participating in rocket attacks against the base, surrendered himself at the front gate. The Afghan national, Abdul Wali, was placed under detention. Over the following two days, Passaro allegedly assaulted Wali with his hands and feet and with a large flashlight. Wali died in his detention cell the third day.”

Kamdesh

US base, about 20m north of Naray. Can only be reached by helicopter.

Extremists attack Kamdesh PRT, 15 enemy fighters killed
09.08.06. Centcom.

Sarkani

Map.

The camp is set in a valley that rolls up to the rugged peaks of the Kunar Province. Just east of Sarkani, over ancient smuggling routes, lies Pakistan. Shah Muhammed, who lives in a small hamlet here, was imprisoned at Guantanamo, He says he was beaten and tortured. On the Pakistan side of the border the hatred and mistrust of America is bitter and intense. More

Camp Blessing

The base nestles into the face of a mountain in the Data Pech district of Kunar (Konar) province.

Artillery helps penetrate Afghan valley
05.09.06. F. Abrashi, AP/ army times.

U.S. launches attack in East Afghanistan
06.09.06. Washington Post.

Musharraf: Osama is in Afghanistan
29.09.06. The Hindu. NB: Karzai says not.


PAKTIA, ISAF

Maps. Nat. Geographic

GARDEZ.
The $800 million ANA Program is currently constructing eight regional bases. The Afghan Army is graduating units from mobilization training at a rate of six battalions (about 4,000 Soldiers) per month. One such regional base is near the southeastern Afghanistan town of Gardez.

Gardez will be under U.S. control from October 06.

Gardez Provincial Reconstruction Team [PRT].

Gardez: US torture and killing reported 24.09.06. (See Index on Afghanistan : Human Rights articles).

Afghan governor killed by suicide bombing
10.09.06. Xinhua.

KHOST / KHOWST

Pakistan Border. 150 km S. of Kabul; 100 km from Gardez. 1,000m altitude.
2001 CNN MAP; Nat. Geographic map

Khost Airfield.

Torture reported here (See Index on Afghanistan : Human Rights articles ).

Camp Salerno (FOB)
N. of Khost. One of largest FOBs in Afghanistan. “Some 500 Italian troops were based at the Salerno camp. It was frequently attacked when it was controlled by US troops.” New dining facility was finished in early 2004. Wooden chapel completed end 2004. Field hospital; Brick and Mortar Medical Clinic.

Photos, Gerald Schultz


URUZGAN, ISAF

Map : Multimap

Uruzgan weblog.


KANDAHAR, ISAF

CNN 2002 MAP and description

Kandahar Image Gallery

Kandahar / Qandahar Airfield
15 miles from city of Kandahar. Also Firebase Gecko. “… one of the most remote, landlocked and desolate places the Army has ever tried to build a combat base.” Halliburton Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) contractors operating here. “The Coalition expects there will be some type of Coalition or ISAF force for some time to come. It is a very strategic base for operations in the south. It’s an important base also for the United Nations, the Red Cross Red Crescent, and many non-governmental organizations that support humanitarian assistance in the southern part of the country.” ? Afghan commercial usage?

Rocket attack hits Canadian base in Kandahar.
15.07.06. Canada com.

Return to Kandahar.
21.08.06. N. Pazira, Belfast Telegraph / Truth Out.

Dutch troops aid Canadians in Afghanistan
04.09.06. Expatica. Just over 100 Dutch troops have been temporarily re-assigned to the southern Afghan province of Kandahar to assist the Canadian forces there. The Dutch soldiers left their base in neighbouring Uruzgan and travelled to Kandahar last week. … They have been assigned to guard a base on the route between Kandahar city and Tarin Kowt.

Camp Rhino. Near Khandahar. Logistic centre.
Torture was reported at this base (see 9. Human Rights).

FOB Martello


Milblog: The Road to Tarin Kot
13.06.06. Bill Rogio

Canadian Troops open base in Taliban territory.
10.06.06. Globe and Mail.

Passage to Panjwaii – Canadian Tanks Go to Afghanistan
Leopard Tanks Shake Up the ISAF Armoured Vehicle Mix
09.06. “the Dutch are also operating Apache attack helicopters and took over FOB Martello.”

FOB in Musa Qala
16.06.06. Yahoo News. U.S. military erects Afghan desert base

Afghans tipped to NATO sweep
01.09.06. Globe and Mail. Civilians in the area of Pashmul are told to evacuate before a battle with Taliban.

Thousands displaced by fighting in Kandahar
06.09.06. Irin / globalsecurity… reports from tribal leaders in the Panjwaii and Zhari districts indicated more than 2,500 families had been displaced by the fighting.


HELMAND, ISAF

Top soldier quits as blundering campaign turns into 'pointless' war
10.09.06. C. Lamb, Sunday Times. The former aide-de-camp to the commander of the British taskforce in southern Afghanistan has described the campaign in Helmand province as ‘a textbook case of how to screw up a counter-insurgency. ... Having a big old fight is pointless and just making things worse.’ ”

GERESHK area. SE province, one of main poppy growing areas.
Multimap; Nat. Geographic

Camp Bastion
Torture was reported at this base. (see 9. Human Rights Abuse).

Taliban hinder NATO ‘ink-spot strategy.
04.08.06. csmonitor

Deployed to Afghanistan’s ‘Hell.’
05.08.06. BBC

VIDEO. Alex Thomson, Channel 4, 24.02.06.

Lashkar Gah
Centre for fighting opium trade growth and helping with reconstruction. Canadian troop support. Opened 19.03.05 by Khalilzad.

Afghanistan's 'Little America' unravels
04.09.06. D Rohde, International Herald Tribune.


FARAH, ISAF
W. Afghanistan, bordering Iran, who supply their electricity. 4th largest Afghan province. Capital: Farah City. Citadel built by Alexander the Great.

Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team [PRT]
S. of Farah City. Opened 15.09.05. The PRT covers an 18,000-square mile area. Dormitories and tents. US. forces operating under ISAF command are leading the PRT in Farah. Good detail.

NATO fears new front in Afghanistan
14.09.06. P. Garwood, AFP. Farah is a predominantly Pashtun area. … Just 1,600 NATO-led troops operate in western Afghanistan's desert plains and mountainous provinces like Farah. “Up to 200 “Taliban fighters” in dozens of pickup trucks poured into the Farah town of Bakwa early Thursday, surrounding a police compound and firing rocket-propelled grenades at policemen, said Maj. Gen. Sayed Agha Saqeb, the provincial police chief. Taliban fighters took over the compound for an hour before police reinforcements drove them off into the desert darkness. Two militants were killed and two wounded, while two police also died and two were wounded, Saqeb said.


BALKH

2001. CNN MAP

MAZAR-I-SHARIF
Capital: Mazar-I-Sharif.

Airfield

Camp Marmal
US Air Force Base.

Camp Marmal

German army takes over in unsettled northern Afghanistan.
02.06.06. Pak Tribune.

Suspected terrorists detained in Balkh
13.09.06. Pajhwak.

8. Corporate Investment in Afghanistan

For more information (01.06 – 09.06), see Index On Afghanistan

Beating the Drums of War. US Troop Build-up: Army & Marines authorize "Involuntary Conscription"
23.08.06. Mahdi D. Nazemroaya, Global Research … Blackwater, a private security firm founded by a former U.S. Navy SEAL and specialized in "military, law enforcement, peacekeeping, and stability operations challenges" has been contracted by the Pentagon to work and guard American officials and facilities in both Iraq and Afghanistan. … Their [the mercenaries] losses can therefore be hidden from public view."

Making every drop count, Coke opens in Afghanistan
10.09.06. Reuters.

9. “Aid” in Afghanistan

Please see Index on Afghanistan I for reports / articles to 09.09.06

AFGHANISTAN: Japan pledges US $29 million to UNDP projects
31.08.06. Irin / Pak Tribune.

Long after 9/11, Afghanistan struggles to find way
07.09.06. Reuters/ Relief Web.

Ottawa issues tender for aid work in Afghanistan
18.09.06. CTV. The government has issued a $5-million tender for development work in southern Afghanistan … The contract is directed at a single company, Development Works Inc., of Ottawa. Other firms can apply …

NJ firm win $1.4B Afghanistan contract
21.09.06. pak tribune. Black & Veatch and The Louis Berger Group Inc. has won a $1.4 billion, five-year contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development to rebuild infrastructure in Afghanistan.

After the bombs, reconstruction for ex-Taliban stronghold
25.09.06. Yahoo

10. Opium

Please see Index Research for articles on Opium (11.05 – 09.06)

The Spoils of War: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade
05.04.04. M. Chossudovsky, Global Research. “The heroin business is not "filling the coffers of the Taliban" as claimed by US government and the international community: quite the opposite! The proceeds of this illegal trade are the source of wealth formation, largely reaped by powerful business/criminal interests within the Western countries. These interests are sustained by US foreign policy.”

Opium Trade in Afghanistan Linked to Human Trafficking
04.09.06. VOA.

Who benefits from the Afghan Opium Trade?
21.09.06. M. Chossudovsky, global research

11. War Crimes, Human Rights: Documents / Reports; Articles

See Reports / Documents and Articles, Index on Afghanistan (02.02 – 09.06)

• DOCUMENTS / REPORTS

Human Intelligence Collector Operations. (PDF document)
09.06. DoD Report: Field Manual FM2-22.3

The Department of Defense Detainee Program. (PDF document)
05.09.06. DoD Directive.

Summary of the High Value Terrorist Detainee Program. (PDF document)
06.09.06. REPORT. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Undisclosed U.S. Detention Sites Overseas: Background and Legal Issues (PDF document)
12.09.06. CRS Report for Congress. Jennifer Elsea, Legislative Attorney.

Interrogation of Detainees: Overview of the McCain Amendment (PDF document)
25.09.06. Update. Congressional Research Service.

The War Crimes Act: Current Issues," September 25, 2006 (PDF document)
25.09.06. Congressional Research Service.

Military Commissions Act (PDF Document)

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 491
27.09.06. Clerk, House.gov. Military Commissions Act, allowing indefinite detention without charges or counsel.

Waterboarding, Photos.

Pakistan: Enforced disappearances in the 'war on terror'
29.09.06. Amnesty International Press Release. “hundreds have been transferred to Guantánamo Bay, Bagram Airbase or secret detention centres run by the USA."

• ARTICLES

Failures of Imagination
9-10.06. E. Umansky, Columbia Journalism Review. The occasional triumphs and frequent defects of media coverage of the detention and treatment of enemy combatants were reviewed at length. Amongst discussion of Carlotta Gall ‘s NY Times story about the deaths of two prisoners at Bagram prison.

U.S.: Bush Justifies CIA Detainee Abuse
06.09.06. Human Rights Watch, news. Proposed Military Commissions Deeply Flawed. President George W. Bush’s defense of abusing detainees betrays basic American and global standards.

At a Secret Interrogation, Dispute Flared Over Tactics
09.09.06. D. Johnston, NY Times. The CIA and Abu Zubaydah.

A grim harvest in Afghan vineyards
11.09.06. Globe and Mail. Part of the American's method involved shelling the perimeter of the field with white phosphorus, giving his troops a screen of burning smoke to hide and protect them as they weave among the grapes. Sometimes considered a chemical weapon but not banned by any treaty, white phosphorus -- or, as the lieutenant called it, Willy Pete -- billows out from a mortar shell and consumes the foliage with intense, lingering heat.

A record of war crimes
11.09.06.T. Sheridan, Guardian. The carpet bombing of Afghanistan was an act of state terrorism. Of course the pulverising of one of the poorest countries on our planet was only a training exercise: Iraq was the big prize.

Bush confesses to war crimes
11.09.06.Online Journal. George W. Bush's speech on September 6 amounted to a public confession to criminal violations of the 1996 War Crimes Act. He implicitly admitted authorizing disappearances, extrajudicial imprisonment, torture, transporting prisoners between countries and denying the International Committee of the Red Cross access to prisoners. … At the same time, Bush asked Congress to amend the War Crimes Act in order to retroactively protect him and other U.S. officials from prosecution for these crimes, and from civil lawsuits arising from them.

Afghan civilians wary of return to scene of Canadian offensive operation
15.09.06. L. Perreaux, Canada com. Local officials estimate some 1,500 families left Panjwaii and surrounding areas to avoid fighting and intense bombardment by Canadian and NATO forces backing the assault.

UK accused of Guantánamo collusion
18.09.06. Guardian. More than 100 senior doctors today accused the government of colluding in war crimes by refusing to give medical aid to British residents detained at Guantánamo Bay.

Three years on, Guantánamo detainee, 78, goes home
22.09.06. Guardian. See photo, top.

Elite US unit in Afghanistan concealed abuse, killing of detainees: LA Times.
23.09.06. Jurist.

Secrets in the Mountains of Afghanistan, Part I
&
Part II: Two Deaths Were a 'Clue That Something's Wrong
24 / 25.09.06. LA Times.

U.S. chopper killed Afghans during 'confused' battle involving Canadians
27.09.06. LA Times.

Lawyer: officer at Guantánamo threatened me
27.09.06. V. Dodd, Guardian. On another Guantanamo suspect war criminal, see also Guantanamo general to head Nato

Tracking the CIA Torture Flights
27.09.06. In These Times. All of Afghanistan is a ‘black site;’ & Discussion of book, Torture Taxi: On the Trail of the CIA’s Rendition Flights, A.C. Thompson and Trevor Paglen. Interview with Thompson.

France judge postpones terrorism verdict for former Guantanamo detainees
28.09.06. The Jurist. The men are accused of attending an Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. “Defense lawyers for the six men, all French nationals, accuse the French government of colluding with US authorities over the detentions and seeking to use inadmissible evidence obtained through secret service interviews with the detainees without their lawyers present.”

House OKs terrorism detainee bill in victory for Bush; Senate nears approval
28.09.06. Flaherty, Canada.com. See also: Congress Terror Legislation at a Glance; Editorial, New York Times; commentary by Chris Floyd; More Chris Floyd commentary here; And from a military point of view, here.

VIDEO. 27.min. Outlawed. Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the "War on Terror."

12. Some of the Dead in Afghanistan

Please see Index on Afghanistan for information from 12.01 – 09.06.

NATO crash: 14 soldiers killed
02.09.06. News 24.

Up to 200 ‘Taliban’ Killed
03.09.06. Sky. Four alliance troops were also killed during Operation Medusa in Kandahar province. It is reported that three Canadians were among the dead while six were injured.

Afghanistan Assault on ‘Taliban’ Kills as Many as 60 ‘Insurgents’
05.09.06. Bloomberg.

Afghan attack worst since Taliban's fall
08.09.06. P. Garwood, AP, The State. A sentence in this article reads: “The bombing came three days ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and as Afghans remembered Ahmad Shah Massood, the fabled Northern Alliance commander who fought Soviet forces and the Taliban and was assassinated by suspected al-Qaida operatives posing as journalists on Sept. 9, 2001.”

Photos of Military Coffins
09.06. Memory Hole. Dover Air Force Base.

NATO releases suicide bombing toll
14.09.06. Heartland news. NATO says suicide bombings have claimed 173 lives in Afghanistan since January -- mostly Afghan civilians, including children. The alliance says the other victims included NATO and coalition forces and Afghan authorities.

Afghanistan body count raises skepticism
15.09.06. M. Pennington, Seattle pi. NATO's estimate of Taliban killed this month has created skepticism and worry in Afghanistan, with local officials saying that either the militant force has grown bigger than imagined - or too many innocent Afghans are being killed.

Violence Persists After Afghan Offensive
17.09.06. ABC. NATO Says 2-Week Offensive in South Afghanistan Is a Success, but Violence Continues.

A record of war crimes
11.09.06.T. Sheridan, Guardian. The carpet bombing of Afghanistan was an act of state terrorism. Of course the pulverising of one of the poorest countries on our planet was only a training exercise: Iraq was the big prize.

Body counts in Afghanistan and Iraq
16.09.06. Cursor. Civilian Consequences of Suicide vs. 'Precision' Bombings in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: More of the same
19.09.06. Dr. A. Bakhtiar, uruk. “When NATO announces that they have killed 200 fighters in an air raid etc., you can be sure that at least half of them were innocent civilians having nothing to do with the conflict.”

Report: Soldier says British military casualties in Afghanistan
21.09.06. Int. Herald Tribune. But (Times, 22.10) MoD denies casualty cover-up

1,000 Taliban slain, NATO says
21.09.06. Globe and Mail. NATO's emphasis on body counts as a measure of military success echoes an earlier era, when the U.S. used them as a measure of success against insurgents in Vietnam.

Ambush kills 19 Afghan labourers
22.09.06. Aljazeera. Early on Friday five oil tankers supplying fuel to foreign forces in eastern Afghanistan were set ablaze in an attack that left one man dead.

Afghan casualties much higher
22.09.06. Metro.co. (Major Jon Swift) has said that casualty figures from Afghanistan are being systematically under-reported for political reasons.

U.S. death toll in Afghanistan, Iraq exceeds 9-11
22.09.06. Daily News.

Body counts in Afghanistan and Iraq
23.09.06. Cursor. For every American who dies in either Afghanistan or Iraq, about 17 innocent Afghan or Iraqi civilians perish.

Kandahar women's affairs head assassinated
25.09.06. Relief Web.

37 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since 2002.
30.09.06. CTV

13. War Crimes: The Dead and Future Dead

See Index on Afghanistan (05.05 – 07.06)

Depleted Uranium

Effects of Depleted Uranium
06.09.06. De Anna, My Space / uruknet. Also video.

18.09.06. Zeit-Fragen. A translated article, from German, of an interview with Dr. Assaf Durakovic about Depleted Uranium. Nuclear weapon employment in Afghanistan and its cover-up The original article in German may be read here.

Bioweapons

Fort Detrick Poses a Threat to Frederick, Md.--and to Humanity
28.09.06. Baltimore Chronicle. “A huge expansion of bioweapons research at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland, is being planned as part of President Bush's $8 billion annual budget for bioweapons research. This expansion is ill advised for the following reasons..”

14. References

• Guardian Special Report
& Guardian Interactive Guides. Troop jurisdictions, provinces, opium production, warlord influence. You will need to upload Micromedia Shockwave to view this; see instructions at ‘special report’ page.

• The Terror Timeline: A Comprehensive Chronicle of the Road to 9/11--and America's Response
Paul Thompson. Regan Books, 07.09.04.

• Road map, Afghanistan

• Index on Afghanistan, (05.05 – 09.06)

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Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the UK. She is a member of the BRussells Tribunal Advisory Committee.


The url to INDEX ON AFGHANISTAN II: SEPTEMBER 2006 is http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2006/10/index-on-afghanistan-september-2006.html

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Tags: Afghanistan, NATO, Index Research