C-Span Talks to NPR’s Steve Inskeep

‘Our guest is author and co-host of National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition,” Steve Inskeep. He discusses his book titled Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi, which was recently released in paperback. He chose Karachi because he feels the city best exemplifies how a town grows and changes when the population rapidly escalates. He shares the history of Pakistan’s religions and governments, and how they impacted the planning of this city since 1947 (22 Oct 2012)’.

Afghan MP Killed By Suicide Bomber

I heard about this suicide attack on the World Service this morning: ‘A suicide bomber targeted a group of politicians at a wedding in northernAfghanistan. The Taliban deny any involvement (14 July 2012)’.

The provinceof Samangan’s governor Khairullah Anosh said that “It was Ahmad Khan Samanganî’s daughter’s wedding. A suicide bomber blew himself up, killing and wounding dozens”.[1]  The Taliban have denied involvement and people have started pointing fingers at the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), described as “a key ally of Al Qaeda” by Western media. Ahmad Khan was an Uzbek and an erstwhile rival of the warlord Rashid Dostum . . . The news agency AFP elaborates that in ‘March, Afghan and international forces killed Makhdum Nusrat, a senior IMU leader in Afghanistan, in Faryab province, to the west of Samangan. The following month a suicide attack in Faryab killed 12 people, mostly civilians. Last year, a Taliban suicide attack killed General Daud Daud, a regional police commander and once Afghanistan’s most powerful anti-drug tsar, in Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, also in the north. The wedding attack came the day after a provincial women’s affairs official in Laghman, east of Kabul, was killed and her husband and daughter critically wounded when a magnetic bomb attached to her vehicle exploded, police said. Laghman provincial government spokesman Sarhadi Zwak blamed Taliban insurgents for that attack’.[2]  It seems that at the moment, local rivalries and other calculations are being played out in various attacks, as a way of preparing the ground for 2014.

AFP gives this handy summary: the ‘Taliban have waged a bloody insurgency since their ouster from power following a US-led invasion shortly after the September 11, 2001attacks in the United States. Attacks by the Taliban kill hundreds of civilians every year, but many Afghans worry that security will worsen, or that civil war could reignite, when foreign forces pull out. There are currently around 130,000 international troops in Afghanistanand all NATO-led combat forces are due to leave by the end of 2014’.[3]  Writing in the New Yorker, Dexter Filkins points out that “the ethnic battle lines in Afghanistan have not changed. Pashtuns, who dominate both the government and the Taliban, are from the south; the ethnic minorities—Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, and many others—live mainly in the north. The capital, Kabul, is multiethnic and the focal point of all political and military ambition”.[4]  These battle lines will probably become charged again once the U.S. and its NATO allies leave the Hindu Kush mountains. The President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai used to be known as the Mayor of Kabul, and now it seems that he is not even able to secure his immediate surroundings anymore in view of the many audacious Taliban attacks in the capital. Nashir, the Khanabad governor, is quite bleak in his assessment of the situation: “Mark my words, the moment the Americans leave, the civil war will begin. This country will be divided into twenty-five or thirty fiefdoms, each with its own government . . . Mir Alam will take Kunduz. Atta will take Mazar-e-Sharif. Dostum will take Sheberghan. The Karzais will take Kandahar. The Haqqanis will take Paktika. If these things don’t happen, you can burn my bones when I die”.[5]  The Soviets entered Afghanistan only to leave in defeat, and now the Americans appear on the verge of doing the same. And Afghanistan will, once again, sink into a bloody civil war. In spite of the BBC’s glorious liberation of Kabul in 2001, as the vanguard of the U.S. and NATO forces, and the global success of the Kite Runner, life in Afghanistan appears set to return to its well-rehearsed cycle of violence by the middle of the 21^st century’s second decade. . . Filkins’ article carries the sobering sub-title “Will civil war hitAfghanistan when theU.S. leaves?”.

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[1] “Suicide bomber kills 22, wounds 40 at Afghan wedding” Reuters (14 July 2012). http://in2eastafrica.net/suicide-bomber-kills-22-wounds-40-at-afghan-wedding/.

[2] “Afghan MP killed in wedding bomb attack” AFP (15 July 2012). http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-14/mp-killed-in-afghanistan-bomb-attack/4130814.

[3] “Afghan MP killed in wedding bomb attack”.

[4] Dexter Filkins, “After America-2” The New Yorker (July 2012). http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/07/09/120709fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=2.

[5] Dexter Filkins, “After America-3” http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/07/09/120709fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=3.

Afghanistan Today: Half a Million Displaced People

War and natural disasters have driven many from their homes and the number has been increasing for the past five years. Jennifer Glasse reports from Kaldar district in northern Afghanistan (12 May 2012).

Obama’s Words: True or False???

In the serious game that is politics, none seems more solemn than the competition that is American politics given that this particular set of stratagems affects the whole world, sooner or later. On Sibel Edmonds’ website Boiling Frogs, a most interesting article was published recently. The piece written by William Blum juxtaposes the U.S. President’s words to some of the outcomes of his policies. Blum’s starting point is Barrack Obama’s speech at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC on Monday, 23 April. The President confidently said the following on that occasion: “I’ve done my utmost . . . to prevent and end atrocities. We possess many tools . . . and using these tools over the past three years, I believe — I know — that we have saved countless lives”.[1]  Blum then comments that “Do the facts and evidence tell him that his words are not true?  Well, let’s see . . . There’s the multiple atrocities carried out in Iraq by American forces under President Obama. There’s the multiple atrocities carried out in Afghanistan by American forces under Obama. There’s the multiple atrocities carried out in Pakistan by American forces under Obama. There’s the multiple atrocities carried out in Libya by American/NATO forces under Obama. There are also the hundreds of American drone attacks against people and homes in Somalia and in Yemen (including against American citizens in the latter). Might the friends and families of these victims regard the murder of their loved ones and the loss of their homes as atrocities?”.[2]

To my mind, the most blatant case of President Obama not being all that peaceful and benign took place just three days after his inauguration, as also listed by Blum. The inauguration took place on Tuesday, 20 January 2009, and on 23 January 2009, at least 14 were killed in Waziristan (Pakistan) in 2 separate attacks by 5 missiles fired from U.S.drones.[3]

At the time, on Friday, 23 January 2009 in fact, the BBC had this to say: ‘Two missile attacks from suspected US drones have killed 14 people in north-western Pakistan, officials say. At least one missile hit a house in a village near the town of Mirali in North Waziristan, a stronghold of al-Qaeda and Taleban militants. A second suspected drone attack has been reported in South Waziristan, killing five people. Pakistan has long argued that such strikes are counter-productive and are a violation of its sovereignty’, adding perfunctorily that these ‘are the first drone attacks since Barack Obama was inaugurated as US president on Tuesday’.[4]  Just a few days ago, John Brennan, President Obama’s top counter-terrorism adviser, stated categorically that “There is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for [the] purpose [of killing people] or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield”.[5]

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[1] W. Blum, “Obama Deeds vs. Obama Words” Boiling Frogs (05 May 2012). http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2012/05/05/obama-deeds-vs-obama-words/.

[2] W. Blum, “Obama Deeds vs. Obama Words”.

[3] “Drone attacks in Pakistan” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drone_attacks_in_Pakistan#January_to_June.

[4] “Deadly missiles strike Pakistan” BBC News (23 January 2009). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7847423.stm.

[5] “Drone strikes are legal and ethical, says US” India TV (01 May 2012). http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/World/Drone-strikes-are-legal-and-ethical-says-US-7606.html.

Afghanistan Shooting: Staff Sgt Bales to be Charged With 17 Counts Of Murder

 

CBS’ David Martin explains in more detail that “Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was expected to be handed a charge sheet in the prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. officially accusing him of 17 counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault. His attorney says Bales has no memory of the March 11 rampage in which he allegedly walked off a combat outpost in Kandahar province, shot and killed 17 people – including children – then returned to the base”, continuing that Bales’ “attorney, John Henry Brown . . . seems to be building a defense around the mental and physical toll taken by Bales’ four combat tours. According to Browne, Bales was involved in a total of nine roadside bombings and suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but Army mental health experts say there is no scientific evidence PTSD can lead to acts of violence. Browne says he is concerned Bales could try to harm to himself and that he is under 24-hour watch at Leavenworth”.[1]

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[1] David Martin, “Sgt. Bales to get formal murder charges” CBS This Morning (23 March 2012). http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505266_162-57403058/sgt-bales-to-get-formal-murder-charges/.

The Afghan Shooting Spree

Over the past weekend, Afghanistan has witnessed a violent scene all too common in the U.S. – a lone gunman killing innocents for no apparent reason: ‘The U.S. Army soldier suspected of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan is from Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state. The military’s Stars and Stripes Newspaper called it “the most troubled base in the military” in 2010. (12 March 2012)’.

The Voice of America reports that in ‘Afghanistan, a U.S. soldier has been detained after shooting Afghan civilians Sunday [, 11 March]. Afghan officials report at least 16 dead. Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, could offer only a few details about the shooting that took place in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar Province’.[1]  Jacobson went on the record to declare the following: “What we know so far is that, in the very early morning hours of this morning, under the hours of darkness, a U.S. soldier left a forward operating base in the Panjwai area in the west of Kandahar. He went into the nearby village and shot innocent civilians under circumstances which still have to be investigated, then returned to the base and handed himself in, and he is in U.S. custody at the moment”.[2]  Just the other day, another shooting also occurred . . . in Pittsburgh: a ‘candlelight vigil was held Sunday evening [, 11 March] for the young man killed in last Thursday’s shooting at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Oakland [, Pittsburgh, PA]. Dozens gathered to remember 25-year-old Michael Schaab outside the Old Route 66 Grille, which is the restaurant his family operates in Greensburg’.[3]  These two incidents are obviously unrelated, but would seem to some kind of an underlying pattern, irrespective of the huge differences. But such violent incidents involving fire weapons do occur frequently across the U.S. The most prominent case of recent memory  has undoubtedly been the shooting of Gabrielle Gifford last year.

The main difference is constituted by the fact that the shooting in Afghanistan was perpetrated by a soldier, an individual whose job it is to kill enemies, albeit normally in a combat situation . . . but last Sunday, it seems that one of these soldiers lost his marbles and went on a random shooting spree . . . Andrew Wilder, director of Afghanistan and Pakistan programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, says insightfully that “Afghans are very ambivalent about the presence of international forces in Afghanistan. I think primarily because they are not perceived to have brought security that is probably the biggest cause of resentment. However, they also fear the rapid withdraw of international forces as they fear that would be very destabilizing. So even despite these kinds of incidents rightfully anger Afghans, I don’t think that necessarily translates to the majority of Afghans wanting international forces rushing to the exits”.[4]  Could Wilder really be right???  It would seem that the Taliban as well as the general population are at the moment playing nothing but a waiting game, exercising patience until the last foreign occupier has left the Hindu Kush. But the presence of permanent U.S. bases in these mountainous regions turns their best hopes into delusory expectations at best.[5]

 

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[1] “US Soldier Held for Shooting Afghan Civilians” VOA (11 March 2012). http://www.voanews.com/english/news/US-Soldier-Held-for-Shooting-Afghan-Civilians-142251045.html.

[2] “US Soldier Held for Shooting Afghan Civilians”.

[3] “Western Psych Shooting Victim Remembered At Candlelight Vigil” CBS Pittsburgh (11 March 2011). http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/03/11/western-psych-shooting-victim-remembered-at-candlelight-vigil/.

[4] “US Soldier Held for Shooting Afghan Civilians”.

[5] Cfr. “Ten Years in Afghanistan: Central Asia Blues or Building Bases” A Pseudo-Ottoman Blog (09 October 2011). http://sitanbul.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/ten-years-in-afghanistan-central-asia-blues-or-building-bases/.

Koran Burning in Afghanistan: The Fallout

And yet again, Muslim sensibilities have been trodden upon and . . . violence has ensued accordingly. RT states that at ‘least 24 people across Afghanistan have died since Wednesday [, 22 Feb] in the protests, including two American soldiers. American apologies about the desecration of the Muslim holy book by NATO forces at Bagram Air Base are failing to calm many people in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan (25 Feb 2012)’.

The Associated Press records that ‘Muslim holy books that were burned in a pile of garbage at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan had been removed from a library at a nearby detention center because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions, a Western military official said Tuesday [, 21 February]. The military official with knowledge of the incident said it appeared that the Qurans and other Islamic readings were being used to fuel extremism, and that detainees at Parwan Detention Facility were writing on the documents to exchange extremist messages . . . Parwan Detention Facility adjoins Bagram Air Field, a sprawling U.S. base north of Kabul, where more than 2,000 Afghans demonstrated against the incident. The burning stoked anti-foreign sentiment that already is on the rise after a decade of war in Afghanistan. It also fueled the arguments of Afghans who claim foreign troops are not respectful of their culture or Islamic religion. “Die, die, foreigners!” the demonstrators shouted. Some fired rifles into the air. Others threw rocks at the gate of the base and set tires ablaze. U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, apologized to the Afghan people and said the books were inadvertently given to troops for burning’.[1]

(21 Feb 2012)

The BBC adds perfunctorily that ‘US President Barack Obama has also apologised for the Koran-burning incident. In a letter to his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, Mr Obama said the books had been “unintentionally mishandled”. Muslims consider the Koran the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence. On Thursday [, 23 Feb] the Taliban had called on Afghans to attack “invading forces” in revenge for “insulting” the Koran. Last year, [2011] at least 24 people died in protests across Afghanistan after a hardline US pastor burned a Koran in Florida’.[2]

 

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[1] “Afghans protest Quran burning at U.S. base” AP (22 Feb 2012). http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/story/2012-02-21/afghanistan-quran-disposal/53185762/1.

[2] “Six dead in fresh Afghanistan Koran burning protests” BBC News (25 Feb 2012). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17163315.

The Curious Incident of the Urinating Marines in Afghanistan

The United States Marine Corps is launching an investigation into a video which appears to show Marines in full combat gear urinating on several dead bodies. In the extremely graphic video, which appeared on various websites on 12 January 2012, at least 4 male Marines expose their genitals and urinate on the bodies. The mystery person who posted the video included a caption that reads, “scout sniper team 4 with 3rd battalion 2nd marines out of camp lejeune peeing on dead talibans”. Now, Captain Kendra N. Hardesty — a Media Officer for the USMC — stated, “While we have not yet verified the origin or authenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps”.

The release of this embarrassing video could not have come at a more inappropriate time, given the ongoing efforts of the U.S. to leave the Af-Pak Theatre under honourable circumstances in a timely fashion. Therefore, it seems most propitious that the Reuters news agency reports that the “Taliban say Marine abuse tape won’t hurt talks”.[1]  Still, the former Taliban official and now senior member of the Afghan government’s High Peace Council, Arsala Rahmani stated that “Such action will leave a very, very bad impact on peace efforts”.[2]

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[1] “Taliban say Marine abuse tape won’t hurt talks” Reuters (12 January 2012). http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/12/us-afghanistan-usa-urination-idUSTRE80A2D720120112.

[2] “Taliban say Marine abuse tape won’t hurt talks”.

The Bonn Conference: Whither Afghanistan???

More than 90 countries are gathering at that meeting in Bonn with the goal of plotting a path for Afghanistan, after NATO’s withdrawal. Pakistan may not be not attending, but Al Jazeera has learned that efforts to talk to the Taliban are continuing behind the scenes elsewhere in Europe. Al Jazeera‘s James Bays reports from Bonn.

Afghan women are concerned that their future prospects are bleak, in view of a re-emergent Taliban movement. The U.S. invasion supposedly initiated to capture Usamah bin Laden, resulting in a 10-year occupation of the Hindu Kush has yielded significant benefits to the U.S., namely the establishment of military bases to safeguard access to Central Asian energy resources while, at the same time, keeping a watchful eye on China.[1]  So, will the Taliban return to Kabul???  Will Afghan girls and women again be confined to a life of un-education and enforced indolence???  And, what about the TAPI project???

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[1] “Ten Years in Afghanistan: Central Asia Blues or Building Bases” A Pseudo-Ottoman Blog (09 October 2011). http://sitanbul.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/ten-years-in-afghanistan-central-asia-blues-or-building-bases/.

Death in Pakistan: ISAF Makes a Mistake

CNN reports that ISAF has made a mistake in Pakistan, leading to the death of about a dozen soldiers . . . CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh and Reza Sayah report.

CNN states that ‘NATO helicopters opened fire on a Pakistani checkpoint, killing 20 soldiers, two senior Pakistani military officials said Saturday [, 26 November 2011]. The officials said 12 soldiers were wounded in the attack late Friday [, 25 November] in the Mohmand Agency area, one of seven districts of the volatile region bordering Afghanistan. The death toll could rise as many of the injuries are critical, they said. The officials did not want to be named because they are not allowed to talk to the media. NATO has said it is aware of “an incident,” but has not released any details. “We are still gathering information,” said Jason Wagner, a spokesman for the NATO-led military mission. Pakistan has stopped the flow of NATO supplies in Khyber Agency bordering Afghanistan in response to the attack, said Jamil Khan, a senior government official in the area. About 50 containers and trucks carrying supplies for NATO were stopped at the town of Jamrud in Khyber Agency on Saturday morning, Khan said. They were ordered to turn back toward Peshawar, the provincial capital of northwestern province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said. A second route from Pakistan into Afghanistan, the Chaman border crossing in Balochistan province, is still open to NATO supply trucks. Roughly 40% of nonlethal NATO supplies and fuel go through Pakistan, with hundreds of supply trucks using the two routes into Afghanistan’.[1]

The continuing “success” of the U.S.-led war in the Hindu Kush is totally dependent upon Pakistani goodwill . . . Mistakes like these accidental killings, however, do nothing to inspire confidence and cement cooperation. In addition to drone attacks carrying a lot of collateral damage in its wake, human errors like these helicopter strikes undermine mutual trust between ISAF and the leadership of Pakistan. Particularly if one keeps in mind that the commander in Afghanistan, Marine Gen. John R. Allen, met with the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on the day before the “incident”, in Thursday, 24 November. And, making matters worse, as reported by AP, The governor of Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Syed Masood Kausar, province called the ‘incident’ “an attack on Pakistani sovereignty.[2]

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[1] “Pakistan military officials: NATO attack kills 20 Pakistani soldiers” CNN (26 November 2011). http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/26/world/meast/pakistan-attack/?hpt=hp_t1.

[2] “Pakistan: 25 troops dead in NATO helicopter attack” AP (26 November 2011). http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gbbkDcc1WgqXp3aC79yvYTbZaCIA?docId=531f6d7566d045379df1037f079964d1.