ARmy Rumour SErvice

Originally Posted by goodkurtz

Bush:
“writing the first chapter of laying the foundation of peace in the 21st century.”

Anyone any idea what that means?

It means we're going to bomb you back into the stone age.

DAWN.COM

Taliban ban music in Zargari, other areas

By Saboor Khan

HANGU, Aug 21: The local Taliban have banned music and sale of narcotics in Zargari and some other areas here, officials and residents said on Tuesday.

Reports received here from the Naryab village said that the local Taliban shura had set a deadline for owners of CD and cassette shops and narcotic dealers to wind up their businesses and warned that their shops or houses would be destroyed if they did not heed the call.

District Police Officer Ghulam Mohammad Khan said the move would help eliminate the menace of narcotics and other illegal activities in the area. He said the shura’s activities were confined to Zargari and some other villages and would not spill over to other areas.

When contacted, Senator Mian Mohammad Hussain Hashmi, administrator of Jamia Uloom-i-Islamia, Zargari, said that students of his madressah were not involved in imposing the ban.

The shura said that the ban would be effective in Zargari, Shanawari, Chappari Naryab, Naryab and Kahi villages and some other areas. It announced violators will be fined Rs50,000.

Villagers said the shura’s warning was announced from mosques and the people were asked to desist from indulging in ‘un-Islamic’ activities.

THE INDEPENDENT
The caretaker of Kabul: Afghan dedicated his life to guarding the embassy
By Terri Judd
Published: 22 August 2007
When British soldiers turned up at the embassy in Kabul following the fall of the Taliban, their path was blocked by an elderly Afghan gentleman.

For 12 years, Zahoor Shah had tended the roses in the compound, hidden away the silver and barred fighters from entering. It took the British some hours before they could persuade him that the rightful owners had finally returned. By the time the new Charge d'Affaires Stephen Evans and his staff turned up the following day, Mr Shah was properly attired to welcome them.

"I arrived on the afternoon of 19 November 2001. We came down the curving drive and pulled up at the entrance of the embassy. Mr Shah was at the top of the stairs, wearing his white coat with gold buttons and black trousers to greet us," said Mr Evans.

He had found heating oil and the old grand table was set for dinner with the ambassadorial china, silver and crystal glasses. "From somewhere he had found a couple of bottles of wine and there were candles on the table," explained Mr Evans.

Yesterday the current British ambassador Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles paid tribute to Mr Shah after news that he had lost his battle with throat cancer. "We owe him an enormous debt for the loyalty and resilience he showed during the years of Taliban rule," he said.

Nobody was entirely sure how old he was, though it is believed he had started life at the embassy as an eight- or nine-year-old ball-boy in the forties.

Mr Evans, who returned as ambassador in 2006 until early 2007, remembered him as a gentle, courteous man who was proud of his job and his embassy. "Because he had worked for the embassy for so long he provided a continuity with the past when Afghanistan was essentially peaceful, before things went terribly wrong in the 1970s. He was someone who had stuck through the Soviet period, through the civil war, through the Taliban era and the later transition. He was very loyal," he added.

The former Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon founded the embassy in Kabul in the 1920s declaring its ambassador should be the best-housed man in Asia. A large section of it was later passed to the Pakistanis but the smaller "hospital compound" was kept on.

After the Soviet invasion, the mission was left with only a Charge d'Affaires and by 1989 the last diplomat had gone. Mr Shah and his team of six staff hid away the portraits of Queen Mary and King George VI, the gilded Wilton china service, the silver teapots and monogrammed tureens.

They stood guard through the fiercest fighting, despite one of the staff being killed by a rocket in 1996, and slept in the gatehouse to repel intruders. The gatekeeper Sayed Afzal once kept a Taliban delegation at bay, informing them there was nothing left but "a few old tables and chairs".

The British High Commission in Islamabad called regularly to make sure they were alright, while the odd intrepid visitor would drop by. Money for the upkeep was passed through the UN offices until the embassy reopened in November 2001.

Nine months later, Mr Shah, along with Mr Afzal, was presented with a MBE for devotion to duty through so many years of conflict. At a traditional tea party on the lawn, to the sound of Highland piper, the men were honoured.

"You have performed remarkable service over very many years," said the then ambassador Ron Nash. "You have worked faithfully to protect our embassy. There has been physical danger and war around you... and you have taken care of your possessions for many years when there were no British officials."

When the embassy staff moved to new premises a couple of years ago, Mr Shah decided to retire. He developed throat cancer and had been very frail for months when he died on Saturday, surrounded by his extended family.

RADIO FREE EUROPE
Afghan Governor Survives Assassination Attempt


(RFE/RL)
KHOST, Afghanistan; August 22, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The governor of Afghanistan's southeastern province of Khost today survived an assassination attempt in which a suicide bomber attacked his convoy.

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reports that two of Governor Arsala Jamal's bodyguards were killed in the attack.

Hospital officials in Khost said that four of Jamal's bodyguards and eight civilians also were injured.

The attack occurred close to a base for U.S.-led coalition forces just to the east of the town of Khost.

Jamal, who was returning from a ceremony marking the start of a road project near the border with Pakistan, says he was not hurt. But he said he saw "people in flames in cars" that were ahead of his vehicle in the convoy.

USA TODAY
11 NATO troops wounded in Taliban attack

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban militants wearing Afghan army uniforms attacked a remote NATO base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, leaving two Afghan soldiers dead and 11 alliance soldiers wounded, a statement from NATO said.
The militants targeted a forward operating base in mountainous Nuristan province, the statement said, without identifying the wounded troops.

Most of the troops in the east are American.

Source: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

Date: 22 Aug 2007
ISAF troops help NGO, orphans
A group from ISAF HQ has been providing assistance to Global Point Afghanistan, a non-governmental organization that provides schooling and alternative education for orphans and street children.

Lt. Colonel Roberston, currently assigned to the International Security Assistance Force Headquarters in Kabul, got together with his comrades to see what they could do to help these children in the capital. "It started out with one of our local NGOs. We were helping them out with providing some basic school supplies and toys for the children," Colonel Robertson said. "The more we worked with them, the more we realized they needed much more".

According to Director Ramazan Zaib, Global Point Afghanistan's programs have struggled this year due to lack of funding. "We work for orphans and street children. This is so important to us because these children are the future of Afghanistan. Unfortunately, we don't have the possibility even to pay rent on our facility, or to pay teachers' salaries," Mr. Zaib said.

Because of decades of war and turmoil, Afghanistan is extremely poor and many of the nearly 500 children helped by Global Point are not orphans in the true sense, but without a parent to provide for them. They are left to get money by any means possible to support their families, Mr. Zaib said.

By enlisting the help of the people at home and home station, Colonel Robertson and his colleagues made a difference. They found a source for the provision of shoes, school supplies, and more importantly, to pay for three months rent for the NGO's facility. The school supplies were taken to Global Point and the shoes were distributed to the kids in a visit made by the group on 23 June 2007.

Contact Information ISAF Public Information Office

Tel: +93 (0)79 51 1155 - Mobile: 0093 (0) 799 55 8291 pressoffice@hq.isaf.nato.int - www.nato.int/isaf/


Significant weapons cache found, destroyed
FARAH, Afghanistan – With information provided by Afghan sources, an ISAF patrol searched and found a hidden underground weapons cache with hundreds of artillery rounds, several rockets and many different ammunitions.

"More than 500 explosive rounds that could have been used to make improvised-explosive devices were uncovered by this patrol," said Capt. Ettore Saril, Regional Command West spokesperson.

"The Afghan people remain committed to a secure community," Saril added. "ISAF will continue to support the safety and welfare of the Afghan people and we will work diligently to foster a trusting relationship."

An Italian explosive-ordnance disposal team catalogued the explosives and destroyed them on the spot.

Contact Information ISAF Public Information Office

Tel: +93 (0)79 51 1155 - Mobile: 0093 (0) 799 55 8291 pressoffice@hq.isaf.nato.int - www.nato.int/isaf/

Germany fears it's being targeted in Afghanistan
Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:56PM BST

By Louis Charbonneau

Berlin (Reuters) - Germany fears its peacekeepers and aid workers in Afghanistan have become targets of the Taliban and other insurgents who want to force Berlin to pull its soldiers and citizens out of the country.

A senior Taliban leader told the German weekly Der Spiegel in March that German peacekeepers deployed in the relatively quiet north of Afghanistan would no longer be spared the deadly attacks which were then commonplace in the southern regions.

German police, soldiers and aid workers have been killed and civilians kidnapped, intensifying debate in Germany on whether it is time for Germany to call it quits in Afghanistan where a resurgent Taliban is making strong gains.

German government officials have expressed concern that the Taliban may have targeted Germany to influence debate on the renewal of Berlin's peacekeeping mandate this fall.

"Those behind the attacks and kidnappings want to sabotage our long-term engagement," German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul told weekly newspaper Die Zeit. "That's why we can't give in to them."

NATO has some 40,000 troops in Afghanistan, which it sent there after a U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban government following the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

Germany's own mandate permits the deployment of up to 3,500 troops in northern Afghanistan.

Christopher Langton, head of defence analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said it was possible Germans and others were being targeted in efforts to weaken their resolve to stay in Afghanistan
There is certainly a possibility of certain nationalities being targeted because they have troops in the country," said Langton, adding that the insurgents were simultaneously trying to pressure and undermine the Afghan government.

Other analysts say it is too early to be sure to what extent recent kidnappings of German and South Korean aid workers -- several of whom were killed by the Taliban kidnappers -- are y aimed directly at these two countries.

DISTRUBING TREND

Joanna Nathan, an analyst in Kabul for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think-tank, said the kidnapping of foreigners was a new and disturbing trend but most kidnappings were opportunistic and in areas where people rarely travel.

She said an attack like the one last week which killed three German policemen could have been aimed directly at Germany, but added: "I'm not sure that they're specifically targeting countries and peacekeeping nations yet."

A Kabul-based Western security expert who declined to be named said Germans were merely "targets of opportunity".

There may be a precedent for specific attacks on nationals of a particular country, Langton said.

He said the number of attacks on the Dutch appeared to rise before a parliamentary election in the Netherlands and a vote in parliament on the Netherlands' peacekeeping presence in Afghanistan. The Dutch voted in an election last year.

"Of course we have no way of knowing whether this is deliberate or coincidental," he said

Hajo Funke, a professor of political science at the Free University in Berlin, said events in Afghanistan had already affected discussions in Germany on its Afghan mandate.

Conservatives such as Chancellor Angela Merkel, who oppose withdrawal from Afghanistan or dilution of the country's peacekeeping mandate, seem even more determined to stay.

"They have deepened the divide between those who want to keep the mandate and those in the (left-wing) opposition who want to change or eliminate it," Funke said, adding that most Germans would like their troops brought home.

DECISION ON MANDATE

Although Germany is expected to renew its troops' mandate, there is a possibility parliament will narrow it.

The mandate is already limited, preventing Berlin deploying peacekeepers in the troubled south or west of the country despite pressure from NATO allies to send troops there.

Some members of Germany's coalition would like Berlin to have more freedom, above all to train Afghan security forces in the south. Senior Foreign Ministry officials say this is a possibility, but it is not clear whether parliament will agree.

Kidnapping of foreigners is a recent phenomenon, but Langton said abduction for cash had a long history in Afghanistan.

"Kidnapping for profit is a pattern of life, an activity that has been part of Afghanistan going back centuries," he said

Last weekend a criminal gang -- not the Taliban -- kidnapped a German aid worker and held her for two days before she was rescued by the police. Analysts said they wanted a ransom.

If the goal is money, kidnapping Germans can be very lucrative. It is an open secret that Berlin pays ransoms.

Germany fears it's being targeted in Afghanistan
Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:56PM BST

By Louis Charbonneau

Berlin (Reuters) - Germany fears its peacekeepers and aid workers in Afghanistan have become targets of the Taliban and other insurgents who want to force Berlin to pull its soldiers and citizens out of the country.

A senior Taliban leader told the German weekly Der Spiegel in March that German peacekeepers deployed in the relatively quiet north of Afghanistan would no longer be spared the deadly attacks which were then commonplace in the southern regions.

German police, soldiers and aid workers have been killed and civilians kidnapped, intensifying debate in Germany on whether it is time for Germany to call it quits in Afghanistan where a resurgent Taliban is making strong gains.

German government officials have expressed concern that the Taliban may have targeted Germany to influence debate on the renewal of Berlin's peacekeeping mandate this fall.

"Those behind the attacks and kidnappings want to sabotage our long-term engagement," German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul told weekly newspaper Die Zeit. "That's why we can't give in to them."

NATO has some 40,000 troops in Afghanistan, which it sent there after a U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban government following the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

Germany's own mandate permits the deployment of up to 3,500 troops in northern Afghanistan.

Christopher Langton, head of defence analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said it was possible Germans and others were being targeted in efforts to weaken their resolve to stay in Afghanistan
There is certainly a possibility of certain nationalities being targeted because they have troops in the country," said Langton, adding that the insurgents were simultaneously trying to pressure and undermine the Afghan government.

Other analysts say it is too early to be sure to what extent recent kidnappings of German and South Korean aid workers -- several of whom were killed by the Taliban kidnappers -- are y aimed directly at these two countries.

DISTRUBING TREND

Joanna Nathan, an analyst in Kabul for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think-tank, said the kidnapping of foreigners was a new and disturbing trend but most kidnappings were opportunistic and in areas where people rarely travel.

She said an attack like the one last week which killed three German policemen could have been aimed directly at Germany, but added: "I'm not sure that they're specifically targeting countries and peacekeeping nations yet."

A Kabul-based Western security expert who declined to be named said Germans were merely "targets of opportunity".

There may be a precedent for specific attacks on nationals of a particular country, Langton said.

He said the number of attacks on the Dutch appeared to rise before a parliamentary election in the Netherlands and a vote in parliament on the Netherlands' peacekeeping presence in Afghanistan. The Dutch voted in an election last year.

"Of course we have no way of knowing whether this is deliberate or coincidental," he said

Hajo Funke, a professor of political science at the Free University in Berlin, said events in Afghanistan had already affected discussions in Germany on its Afghan mandate.

Conservatives such as Chancellor Angela Merkel, who oppose withdrawal from Afghanistan or dilution of the country's peacekeeping mandate, seem even more determined to stay.

"They have deepened the divide between those who want to keep the mandate and those in the (left-wing) opposition who want to change or eliminate it," Funke said, adding that most Germans would like their troops brought home.

DECISION ON MANDATE

Although Germany is expected to renew its troops' mandate, there is a possibility parliament will narrow it.

The mandate is already limited, preventing Berlin deploying peacekeepers in the troubled south or west of the country despite pressure from NATO allies to send troops there.

Some members of Germany's coalition would like Berlin to have more freedom, above all to train Afghan security forces in the south. Senior Foreign Ministry officials say this is a possibility, but it is not clear whether parliament will agree.

Kidnapping of foreigners is a recent phenomenon, but Langton said abduction for cash had a long history in Afghanistan.

"Kidnapping for profit is a pattern of life, an activity that has been part of Afghanistan going back centuries," he said

Last weekend a criminal gang -- not the Taliban -- kidnapped a German aid worker and held her for two days before she was rescued by the police. Analysts said they wanted a ransom.

If the goal is money, kidnapping Germans can be very lucrative. It is an open secret that Berlin pays ransoms.