By Kim Sengupta
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
A British soldier working as an interpreter for the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan began spying for Iran because he felt he was the victim of racism in the Army, a jury at the Old Bailey has heard.
At the start of one of the most high-profile espionage trials in recent times, the court heard that Cpl Daniel James, 45, used his position, working for General Sir David Richards, to offer secrets to an officer at the Iranian embassy in Kabul. The Iranian-born reservist of 18 years' service had become "aggrieved and bitter" at his treatment by the military, blaming his lack of promotion on prejudice, Mark Dennis, for the prosecution, told the court.
"The allegation in this case is that, during the latter part of 2006, the defendant's loyalty to this country wavered and his loyalty turned to Iran, the country of his birth," said Mr Dennis. "He turned his back on those with whom he was serving in Afghanistan and sought to become an agent for a foreign power... He began to complain to others about what he perceived as discrimination against him in the Army – linking racist attitudes to his lack of promotion."…
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/british-interpreter-spied-for-iran-960256.html
Afghanistan's best hope is for controlled warlordism (click here)
The Taliban are losing the battles but winning the war. The prognosis is wretched, yet we must sustain military aid
This fits the war's pattern. Almost every time the Taliban fights a battle, it loses to overwhelming firepower. Unfortunately, such western successes are strategically meaningless. Nato is absent from vast areas of this intractable country, where the insurgents prosper. There is greater gloom about the conflict than at any time since the Taliban was ousted in 2001....
The Big Question: Why is opium production rising in Afghanistan, and can it be stopped?
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Why are we asking this now?
Nato and the US are ramping up the war on drugs in Afghanistan. American ground forces are set to help guard poppy eradication teams for the first time later this year, while Nato's defence ministers agreed to let their 50,000-strong force target heroin laboratories and smuggling networks.
Until now, going after drug lords and their labs was down to a small and secretive band of Afghan commandos, known as Taskforce 333, and their mentors from Britain's Special Boat Service. Eradicating poppy fields was the job of specially trained, but poorly resourced, police left to protect themselves from angry farmers. All that is set to change.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-big-question-why-is-opium-production-rising-in-afghanistan-and-can-it-be-stopped-960276.html
Poll: Tired of warfare, LIers want troops brought home
BY DAVE MARCUS dave.marcus@newsday.co
October 14, 2008
Long Islanders are tired of seeing America wage two wars and want troops to come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, a Newsday poll found. Nearly two-thirds want a timetable for pulling troops out of Iraq. That overwhelming sentiment echoes the opinions of other Americans, and puts Long Islanders in line with Barack Obama's position on Iraq.
At the same time, about half of Long Islanders say the United States should decrease troops in Afghanistan or even pull out. That's a sharp disagreement with both Obama and his Republican challenger, John McCain.
The poll surveyed 761 likely Long Island voters from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uspoll145882942oct14,0,1958183.story
Pakistani Officials: American Arrested in Pakistan's Tribal Region
By VOA News 14 October 2008
Pakistani police say they have arrested a U.S. citizen in the country's restive tribal area, along the Afghan border.
Police say the man was detained Monday at a police checkpoint, while trying to enter the Mohmand area of North Waziristan tribal region. Officials say he was carrying an American passport and a laptop.
Foreigners require special permission from the Pakistani government to enter the tribal area. Authorities say the man told police he was a college student from the southern U.S. state of Florida.
Police are questioning the man. A U.S. embassy spokesman said he had no information about the arrest.
Elsewhere in Pakistan's northwest today, Pakistani security officials said government troops killed more than 38 militants in the latest fighting in the tribal area....
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-10-14-voa1.cfm
Pakistanis flee as war on Taliban flares up (click here)
By RNW correspondent Suzanna Koster in Nowshera*
13-10-2008
Hundreds of thousand of Pakistanis have fled the conflict in the tribal regions on the Afghan border, where the Pakistani army is involved in heavy fighting against Taliban militants. Moreover - as the United States revealed some time ago - around 20,000 refugees have actually sought shelter in neighbouring war-torn Afghanistan
As a helicopter hovers over the refugee camp and its hundreds of tents in Nowshera, a town in northwest Pakistan, four-year-old refugee Hubaibullah looks up at it in fear. "Boom, boom," he mimics the sound of a bomb.
Hubaibullah was at school in the Pakistani border region Bajaur when a bomb fell. It was supposed to kill militants but destroyed the school building instead, says his father Lal Bahadur, a watchmaker. Blinded by dust, the boy ran away. His father found him shaking and as white as a sheet in a street close-by. Since then the toddler has not said a word, except "boom, boom". The family fled straightaway.
Heavy fighting
For months, a 9000-strong army force has been involved in heavy fighting with militants in Bajaur - one of the seven semi-autonomous regions in Pakistan which lie along the Afghan border. Experts say these regions are havens for militants, who carry out suicide attacks on Pakistani security forces and soldiers in Afghanistan, including Dutch troops. The fighting is so fierce because the militants are supported from Afghanistan. Reports speak of dozens of Pakistani soldiers having already been killed and hundreds more wounded. The army says it has killed around 1000 militants....
