OBAMA IGNORES TALIBAN OFFER ON AFGHANISTAN

"The Barack Obama administration is refusing to acknowledge an offer by the leadership of the Taliban in early December to give "legal guarantees" that it will not allow Afghanistan to be used for attacks on other countries... The Taliban... has chosen to interpret the Obama administration's position as one of rejection of its offer. The Taliban offer, included in a statement dated Dec. 4 and e-mailed to news organizations the following day, said the organization has "no agenda of meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and is ready to give legal guarantees if foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan". The statement did not mention al Qaeda by name or elaborate on what was meant by "legal guarantees" against such "meddling", but it was an obvious response to past U.S. insistence that the U.S. war in Afghanistan is necessary to prevent al Qaeda from having a safe haven in Afghanistan once again. It suggested that the Taliban is interested in negotiating an agreement with the United States involving a public Taliban renunciation of ties with al Qaeda..."
http://www.ipsnews.net/login.asp?redir=news.asp?idnews=49701
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/12/16

U.S. TO BUILD AFGHAN ARMY FOR 5 YEARS, PAY IT FOR 15 YEARS

"... Afghan President Hamid Karzai said it may be five years before his army is ready to take on insurgents — a blunt warning that the planned exit strategy for U.S. troops from Afghanistan 18 months from now could grind slowly through 2014.
Karzai also said it will be at least 15 years before his government can bankroll a security force strong enough to protect the country from the threat of insurgency...."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091208/ap_on_re_as/as_gates_afghanistan

FT. HOOD SHOOTER BOTHERED BY WAR CRIMES

"... In the weeks before the rampage, the accused gunman, Maj. Nidal M. Hassan, an Army psychiatrist, told colleagues and Army lawyers that he wanted to report soldiers who had admitted in counseling sessions that they witnessed or committed war crimes in Iraq or Afghanistan. War crimes can include acts like torture, murder, sexual assault and cruel treatment. Though Major Hasan was discouraged from filing reports on his patients, military officials say, he would have been within his rights as an Army psychiatrist to have done so. Major Hasan’s efforts to report war crimes were first reported by ABC News..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/us/07therapists.html?_r=1&sudsredirect=true

RAPE IN AFGHANISTAN A PROFOUND PROBLEM

"Rape in Afghanistan is under-reported, concealed and a human rights problem of "profound proportions"... field research conducted late last year and early this year found rape affected all parts of Afghanistan, across all communities and social groups.... Women and girls are at risk of rape in their homes, in their villages and in detention facilities... Rape occurs within the family and beyond and victims are often prosecuted for committing adultery..."
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Afghanistan-Pakistan/idUSTRE5AT26N20091130

TALIBAN OPEN NEW FRONT IN NORTH

"... the Taliban have steadily staged a resurgence in Kunduz, where they now threaten a vital NATO supply line and employ more sophisticated tactics... The turnabout vividly demonstrates how security has broken down even in unexpected parts of Afghanistan... the government, and American military trainers, failed to remain vigilant to signs of Taliban encroachment, and reduced deployments in the northern provinces.."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/world/asia/27kunduz.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sudsredirect=true

U.S. UNVEILS EXTENDED BAGRAM PRISON

"... The new prison wing cost some $60 million to build... could hold up to 1,000 detainees, but was at present holding around 700 inmates, including 30 foreign prisoners... a former detainee at Bagram and Guantanamo Bay, said the Bagram prison resembled a concentration camp. "People were beaten, dragged, tortured in it..." an investigator of secret prisons and renditions from the human rights organisation, Reprieve, said Bagram is seen as "Guantanamo's lesser-known evil twin".
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/11/20091115114337109563.html

U.S. AMBASSADOR ADVISES OBAMA NOT TO SEND MORE TROOPS

"... the US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, has sent classified messages to Washington in the last few days, advising President Obama not to send more troops to Afghanistan... The substance of Eikenberry’s advice went directly against the plan the military commander in Afghanistan, General McChrystal, has been pushing for in recent months. Eikenberry’s intervention is highly significant. A Harvard and Stanford-educated general, he had served in Afghanistan twice before retiring and was immediately appointed America’s envoy in that country in April 2009..."
http://www.juancole.com/2009/11/tripathi-afghanistan-and-presidential.html