| Afghanistan Security News subscriptions moving to the Conflict Monitor |
December 21, 2009 will be the last issue of Afghanistan Security News (ASN). In January we will move all ASN subscribers to the Afghanistan Conflict Monitor, which provides four daily stories on significant security incidents, research and evidence regarding the causes and consequences of the conflict in Afghanistan.
Subscribers will receive an email from Feedblitz, our email service provider, confirming this change; no action is required. However, adding feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com to your address book or email whitelist right now ensures that the news will reach your email inbox each day and will not be treated as spam.
SECURITY: Up to 56,000 More Contractors Likely: Report
The surge of 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan could be accompanied by a surge of up to 56,000 contractors, vastly expanding the presence of personnel from the U.S. private sector in a war zone, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service. CRS, which provides background information to members of Congress on a bipartisan basis, said it expects an additional 26,000 to 56,000 contractors to be sent to Afghanistan. That would bring the number of contractors in the country to anywhere from 130,000 to 160,000. The tally 'could increase further if the new [administration] strategy includes a more robust construction and nation building effort,' according to the report, which was released Monday and first disclosed on the Web site Talking Points Memo. The CRS study says contractors made up 69 percent of the Pentagon's personnel in Afghanistan last December, a proportion that 'apparently represented the highest recorded percentage of contractors used by the Defense Department in any conflict in the history of the United States.' As of September, contractor representation had dropped to 62 percent, as U.S. troop strength increased modestly. The Washington Post (16 December)
Links to related articles:
 | ARTICLE: Allegation: Some contractors in Afghanistan paying protection money to Taliban, Politics Daily [blog] (21 December) |
| ARTICLE: Contractors In Afghanistan may need more time, new teaching models, Talk Radio News Service (18 December) |
| ARTICLE: Congress to probe private military contractors in Afghanistan, CNN (17 December) |
| ARTICLE: The Blackwater chronicles, DAWN (16 December) |
| REPORT: Department of Defense Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan: Background and Analysis [14 December 2009], Congressional Research Service (14 December) |
| REPORT: Counting Contractors, Managing the Drawdown, and DCMA/DCAA Cooperation, Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan (1 November) |
| REPORT: Actions Needed to Improve Oversight and Interagency Coordination for the Commander’s Emergency Response Program in Afghanistan, United States Government Accountability Office (20 April) |
More on Armies, Paramilitaries, Non-State Armed Groups |  | 
ANP: Police Compared to Taliban: "Part of the Problem"
'In Afghanistan, there's a saying that the Afghan National Police will shake you down by day and the Taliban by night,' says professor Tom Johnson, of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., who has studied the turbulent country for 25 years. 'They are part of the problem, not part of the solution.' But the problem is Canada's as well as Afghanistan's – and that of other countries with NATO forces. They are responsible for training the Afghan forces needed to take over the country's security (after the Western military alliance forces leave) to prevent it from falling into chaos or the grip of the Taliban. In the meantime, NATO troops are charged with changing a culture of impunity, while fighting a brutal war against the insurgents, and winning Afghan hearts and minds. 'Afghanistan's citizens often view the police more as a source of fear than of security,' says a 2007 report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. 'Policing goes to the very heart of state building, since a credible national institution that helps provide security and justice for the population is central to government legitimacy.' Toronto Star (21 December)
Links to related articles:
More on Governance and Security | |
GOVERNANCE: Officials: Half of Karzai's Cabinet to Stay
Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants to retain a half-dozen key Cabinet officials who have been embraced by the international community as he begins his second term and will replace two ministry heads linked to corruption, three officials in the Afghan government said Friday. He also plans to keep on board a legendary warlord who holds political sway in the west, the officials said. Karzai has been working on his new Cabinet since even before he was sworn in Nov. 19 for another five years. The long-awaited list is seen as the first test of his willingness to assemble a team of reformists to respond to the international community's demand that he cleanse the government of corruption. Karzai's decision to keep a handful of key ministers in their posts appears to be a nod to the U.S. and other nations sending troops and financial aid to the war-worn, impoverished nation. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the list will not be formally announced until Saturday, said Karzai wants 12 of the 25 current ministers to stay on their jobs for now. The Associated Press (18 December)
Links to related articles:
More on Governance and Security | |
DRUGS: Export Value of Afghan Opium is Falling
The potential export value of Afghanistan’s opium has dropped 18 per cent this year, the United Nations anti-drug body reported today, but it cautioned that further progress hinges on rooting out corruption in the South Asian nation. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the export value of opiates dropped from $3.4 billion in 2008, or one-third of Afghanistan’s GDP, to $2.8 billion in 2009, equivalent to one-quarter of the GDP. The Afghanistan Opium Survey 2009 attributed the decline to lower opium cultivation, lower production, lower prices and relatively higher GDP. 'Military and market forces are reducing the impact of opium on Afghanistan’s economy,' UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said. But he underscored that additional progress depends on controlling corruption, not just drugs and the insurgency. 'I urge President [Hamid] Karzai to make integrity as high a priority as security – you can’t have one without the other.' The new study found that lower revenues and excess production have dampened supply, with cultivation falling 22 per cent and production dropping by 10 per cent. Also, the number of people involved in opium cultivation has decreased one-third to 1.6 million. 'Annual fluctuations of opium cultivation and production do not tell the whole story,' Mr. Costa said. Asian Tribune (18 December)
Links to related articles:
More on Criminal Violence | |
CORRUPTION: US Report Criticizes Anti-Corruption Office
Afghanistan's anti-corruption office is hamstrung by a lack of trained staff, enforcement powers and independence, a US government watchdog said in a damning report published Wednesday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was re-elected following an August ballot mired in massive fraud, is under massive Western pressure to crack down on corruption and has promised to step up efforts. The US government, faulted for having no individual to oversee aid to the High Office of Oversight (HOO), the Afghan anti-corruption body, says efforts to root out corruption are key to stemming the momentum of the Taliban insurgency. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a US government watchdog, said on its website that the HOO, established last year, has made some progress with its anti-corruption initiatives. AFP (17 December)
Links to related articles:
More on Governance and Security | |
US: Karzai's Perspective on American Strategy
Will a surge of American soldiers turn the tide in Afghanistan? Or will the United States endure a defeat similar to the one suffered by the Russian Army not so long ago? In the wake of President Obama's decision to send an additional 30,000 young men and women to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, all eyes are on Afghan President Hamid Karzai—who now suggests America's withdrawal timeline might be flexible. The Obama administration has been blunt in making it clear that Karzai must do something about corruption, which reportedly has been allowed to flourish in his government. Karzai spoke by phone from Kabul with NEWSWEEK's Lally Weymouth about how he sees the situation in the coming year. . . Karzai: 'It is necessary to have a peace process along with a military campaign, by which we attract back to the country those Taliban who are not part of Al Qaeda or of other terrorist networks—who don't have an ideological problem with their own country or with its constitution. We must do all we can to make sure they are reintegrated.' Newsweek (21 December)
Links to related articles:
More on United States | |
TERRORISM: Islamic Terror Rising as Al-Qaeda Fades: Report
Targeted by drone strikes in Pakistan, al-Qaida is losing ground and financing even as attacks by Islamist groups are on the rise, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press. Attacks by Islamist militant groups on civilian targets in Afghanistan are on track to increase by 15-20 percent this year over last year's totals, said the report by the American Security Project, a bipartisan Washington-based organization. The group analyzes terrorism trends and the effectiveness of U.S. counterterrorism policies. The statistics do not include attacks against the military. At the same time, many violence-prone Islamic militant groups are now increasingly focusing on local issues rather than on Osama bin Laden's global struggle. 'There is a larger number of Islamic groups using violence to push their own agenda,' said Bernard Finel, a senior fellow with the American Security Project. Other analysts and government reports have noted that the Taliban in Afghanistan are more focused on their internal fight. Insurgents in Somalia are concentrating on their own tribal battles with the government. The divide comes as al-Qaida is taking losses in leadership and money. The Associated Press (14 December)
Links to related articles:
More on Terrorism | |
DETENTION: ICRC Visits Prisoners Held by Taliban
Representatives from the International Red Cross (ICRC) have paid their first visit to prisoners held by the Taliban in Afghanistan, officials say. The organisation said its officials twice visited three members of the Afghan security forces who are being held in Badghis province. The ICRC regularly visits prisoners of war around the world to check on their conditions and treatment. It also helps prisoners to keep in touch with their families. The agency - which is neutral - does not publish the findings of its visits. But it does issue confidential recommendations to the detaining authorities or groups. The ICRC said that it had visited 136 places of detention in Afghanistan and has registered more than 16,000 people since the beginning of the current conflict in 2001 when US-led forces removed the Taliban from power. BBC News (15 December)
Links to related articles:
More on International Law, Justice and Accountability | |
TALIBAN: Govt Forces Repel Attack on Police Station
Two Taliban fighters have been killed in a clash with Afghan police near a police station in eastern Paktia province, officials have said. The Taliban fighters launched an assault on the police headquarters in Gardez, the provincial capital, shortly before 10am local time (05:30 GMT) on Monday and opened fire on security forces, Rahullah Samon, a provincial government spokesman, said. . . 'Five Taliban suicide bombers seized a building near police headquarters in the city of Gardez with the aim of storming that headquarters to inflict heavy casualties on the policemen. They were intercepted,' [Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra] said. 'A spokesperson of the governor of Paktia told Al Jazeera that two Taliban suicide bombers were killed and that 12 [people] were injured - four policemen and the rest civilians, and that an Isaf (Nato-led International Security Assistance Force) soldier was also injured. A spokesperson of the Taliban told Al Jazeera that the aim of this operation was to tell the international community to 'stop thinking about parliament and the Afghan government, because you have to bear in mind that we are the ones to call the shots in Afghanistan'. Al Jazeera (21 December)
Links to related articles:
More on Terrorism | |
RUSSIA: NATO Seeks Russian Helicopters for Afghanistan
Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has asked Russia to provide helicopters to Afghanistan to help win the war against the Taliban insurgency. During talks in Moscow he also asked Russia to help train Afghan forces. Russia said it would study the request. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed what he called a new 'readiness for dialogue' between Russia and Nato. Mr Rasmussen's visit is the first by a Nato chief since relations chilled after last year's Russian-Georgian war. The three-day visit, including talks with President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, signifies the alliance's determination to strengthen ties with Moscow, analysts say. Mr Rasmussen said he had presented Russian leaders with a list of 'concrete proposals' on helping Nato confront the Taliban insurgency. Helicopters are considered a crucial asset in the war against the Taliban, for their ability to move troops around and provide air support. Nato allies have found a shortage of helicopters one of the main handicaps in fighting the insurgency. BBC News (16 December)
Links to related articles:
More on Russia | |
Subscriber Tools
Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Manage subscription | Privacy Policy
Send feedback | Email this newsletter | Archives
Afghanistan Security News
AS-News
is produced by the Human Security Report Project at the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University. The Human Security Report Project is funded by the governments of Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. For more information on human security visit the Human Security Gateway, an online research and information database that contains a broad range of human security-related resources.
You are receiving this newsletter because in the past you have provided the Human Security Report Project with your email address *|EMAIL|*. If you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please click unsubscribe to be removed. If you need assistance, please contact us at hsrp@sfu.ca or through our feedback form.
|
