EU-DIGEST

Labels: Afghanistan, EU

France pays tribute to 10 fallen soldiers in Paris ceremony

France held a commemoration ceremony on Thursday to honour 10 French soldiers killed in a gun battle with insurgents earlier this week in eastern Afghanistan, as questions are being raised over the official account of how the soldiers died. French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined dignitaries and the soldiers' families inside Paris's Invalides palace, where France's war dead are honoured, as lines of uniformed men and women filled the boulevard outside the iconic building. Under the great dome of the Napoleonic institution rested 10 identical coffins bearing the bodies of the soldiers, whose deaths mark the largest single loss of life for any of the international forces engaged in combat in Afghanistan in more than three years.A majority of the French are opposed to the mission in Afghanistan, and the opposition Socialists are demanding a parliamentary committee meet to examine this week's battle. Reports also emerged Thursday of Afghan officials claiming that four of the French soldiers were captured and then executed by the Taliban, the CBC's Common said. Survivors were quoted as saying NATO air support arrived late and then bombarded French positions, while Afghan soldiers called in as backup reportedly also fired on the French.

Labels: Afghanistan, France, Nato

Ten French and 20 US troops killed in Afghanistan battle

Ten French soldiers have been killed in fighting with Taliban insurgents east of the Afghan capital, an Afghan military official said today. The soldiers, part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), were killed in a major battle with insurgents that began on Monday about 30 miles east of Kabul, he said.The Taliban said on its Web site that 20 US soldiers had been killed in the fighting, which they said erupted after militants ambushed a convoy of Afghan and foreign forces late on Monday.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, France

Afghanistan: No 1 Heroin Producer in the world: "A bottomless Pit which is hard to sell in Europe" - by Celestine Bohlen

As allied casualties mounted - more than 840 at last count - popular support for the war has waned in Europe, limiting the ability of government leaders to respond to urgent pleas for help from the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which leads the international force. Continued involvement hinges on a comprehensive plan for the country's reconstruction, which was the focus of an international conference in Paris last week. European leaders "want a new strategy that's more saleable at home," says Daniel Korski, author of "Afghanistan: Europe's Forgotten War" and a senior fellow at the London-based European Council on Foreign Relations. "It is part of an outreach to the domestic audience that there's more to this than the military component." When the war was started in late 2001 in response to the attacks of Sept. 11 against New York and Washington, the fight against Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies had broad support in both the United States and Europe, in stark contrast to the more divisive, costlier and deadlier Iraq war that began two years later. Since then, Afghanistan has increasingly been caught in a spiral of violence and corruption, fueled by a booming opium trade that has put local officials in thrall to a criminal narcotics racket.

Heroin production in Afghanistan has tripled since 2001 and now accounts for 90 percent of the world supply, according to U.S. figures. Profit from the drug trade helps fund Taliban insurgents, who have stepped up attacks. In 2003, there were three suicide bombings. In 2007, there were 130.

Labels: Afghanistan, Europe, Heroin, Nato, Taliban

Germany to Send Troops to Western Afghanistan

German Defense Minister Jung has approved a short-term deployment of 45 German soldiers from their base in northern Afghanistan to the west of the country to help flush out insurgents. According to German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the troops will be deployed to stop the Taliban and other Afghan insurgents using one of the country's main roads to travel from the volatile south to carry out attacks in the west and north. Jung approved the request from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Thursday, a spokesman from his ministry said.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Germany

For the complete report from the New York Times click on this link

Son of Top Dutch General Is Killed in Afghanistan

A roadside bomb attack on a patrol of Dutch soldiers on Friday killed the son of the Netherlands’ top military officer, a day after his father took command of his country’s armed forces, officials said. Lt. Dennis van Uhm, 23, the son of Gen. Peter van Uhm, was one of two Dutch soldiers killed in the explosion seven miles northwest of Camp Holland, the Dutch military base in Oruzgan Province, a spokesman, Lt. Gen. Freek Meulman, said. Through a spokesman, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called Lieutenant van Uhm’s death “an unprecedented tragedy” and said the weekly Dutch cabinet meeting had been briefly halted so ministers could reflect privately. There was no immediate comment from General van Uhm, who took up a new job as the overall commander of the Dutch military on Thursday in a ceremony outside Parliament in The Hague.Friday’s bombing brings the death toll of Dutch soldiers to 16 since the Netherlands began contributing combat forces to NATO’s Afghanistan mission in August 2006. The Dutch have 1,650 troops in southern Afghanistan.

Labels: Afghanistan, Dennis van Uhm, EU, The Netherlands, War

Germany Supporting Construction of 33 More Police Stations in Afghanistan

Germany Supporting Construction of 33 More Police Stations in Afghanistan

Germany is once again stepping up its support for the new police force in Afghanistan. Currently 33 police stations are being built with German assistance in the north of the country. The aim of the program is to extend policing beyond the urban centers by improving police infrastructure in rural areas. As part of the effort, Thomas Ossowski, the head of the German Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Kunduz, together with the provincial governor inaugurated a new building for the traffic police in Kunduz and a new police headquarter in the Qal-e-Zal district on April 5. A large number of locals attended the handover ceremony.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Germany

AFGHANISTAN: More, But of What? - by Claudia Ciobanu

At the Bucharest summit, NATO adopted an undisclosed "comprehensive" security strategy in Afghanistan, which combines military with civilian efforts. The publicised discussions on Afghanistan, however, were focused on the numbers of troops. "I am very grateful to the international community," said Afghan President Hamid Karzai Apr. 2, during a conference organised by the German Marshall Fund on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in Bucharest. "We are very thankful. Give us more. "We are not failing, we are succeeding in Afghanistan," said NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the meeting, when confronted with numbers illustrating the increase of violence in Afghanistan in 2007. But the officials' declaration of optimism is put into perspective by the mere fact that one of their most important missions at the summit in Bucharest was to sign a new document outlining a change of strategy for security in Afghanistan.

Labels: Afghanistan

America Wrong, Europe Right

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is again beating up on Europeans for not doing more in Afghanistan, a now familiar theme in his blame-anybody-but-us strategy. With 3,200 more Marines being deployed to the country to stem the Taliban resurgence and with a new military focus on Pakistan -- and with the Iraq war seemingly put in the "pause" box -- Gates has found religion in the other war against terrorism. Speaking to NATO two weeks ago, he questioned why some were "ready to fight and die in order to protect people's security and others ... are not." In Australia this weekend, he lauded our Pacific ally's contribution, warning that military failure in Afghanistan could lead to more terrorism in Europe.

The public image that Gates has created is not only that the European contributions are weak and worthless, but that if there were more shooters from Europe, somehow the war would be going better. This is a false proposition: The Afghanistan war may require a renewal, and it may even demand greater resources. But the notion that we can just ship the Iraq surge strategy to the country and win is thoughtless, and the non-lethal European approach, as slow and excruciating as it might be to the Bush administration, is ultimately the right approach.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Nato

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Henri Kissinger

Germany rejects US demand to increase Afghan deployment - by Tony Paterson

A bitter diplomatic row between Germany and the United States deepened yesterday after Berlin flatly rejected demands from Washington that it deploy troops in war-torn southern Afghanistan and angrily dismissed the request as "impertinent" and a "fantastic cheek". Germany currently has some 3,200 soldiers stationed in comparatively tranquil northern Afghanistan and the capital Kabul as part of the current Nato peacekeeping mission. It has been urged to deploy troops in the south before but has consistently refused. Yesterday however, it became clear that Washington had stepped up pressure on Berlin to commit troops to the south.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Germany, US

Polish soldiers face more dangerous missions this year

This is going to be a year of more dangerous foreign missions for Polish soldiers. Although the decision to pull out 900 troops from Iraq by October has already been approved by Poland’s president, the present contingent of 1200 soldiers in Afghanistan is to be enlarged to 1600. Starting this spring Poland will also participate in the EU military mission in Chad.

Labels: Afghanistan, Chad, EU, Military, Poland

Pakistan: Bhutto assassination - blow to Pakistan and democracy but opportunity for EU to establish new regional strategy

Pakistani opposition leader and former premier Benazir Bhutto, who was challenging the dictator Pervez Musharraf, was assassinated at a party rally late Thursday, plunging Pakistan into a deep crisis, less than two weeks before elections. She was shot in the neck before a suicide bomber blew himself up at a park in the northern city of Rawalpindi, killing around 30 people. It happened minutes after Bhutto had addressed supporters. This was the second assassination attempt against Mrs. Bhutto, since her homecoming in October, when her convoy was hit in the deadliest such attacks in Pakistani history, leaving 139 dead. Mrs. Bhutto only survived then after ducking down at the moment of impact behind her armored vehicle. Bhutto, 54, became the first ever female prime minister of a Muslim nation, when she took the helm in 1988 for the first of her two premierships. Her father, also a prime minister, was hanged by the military in 1979, after being ousted from power. Following the assassination, Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister of Pakistan, said he held President and Military Dictator Pervez Musharraf "responsible" for the assassination and said inquiries should only be conducted after Musharraf steps down. Sharif told Bhutto supporters outside the General Hospital in Rawalpindi, where Benazdir Bhuto lay mortally wounded, that he would join hands with Buttho's PPP and fight their "war".

Benazir Bhutto, with some mysterious foresight, said on Tuesday that dictatorships in Pakistan had always nurtured extremism. The former premier also said she hoped that “total powers would be transferred from the present dictatorship to democratic institutions”.

Political and democracy-wise, everything looks gloomy and hopeless for Pakistan at this tragic moment. After Mrs. Benazir Bhutto was forcefully eliminated from the election process, and with the independent judicial system in Pakistan put out of commission by Musharraf himself, the election, if held, would be a total farce. Musharraf, at least for the moment, seems to hold all the cards in his hands. He and his allies inside and outside Pakistan can blame Al Quada and Taliban terrorists for the assassination, while he declares Marshall law to stay in power. Fortunately, there are also forces who can topple the Musharraf regime, forcing the military back to the barracks and restore democracy. The EU has a unique opportunity in this respect to take the lead in the international community to make this happen. For one, the EU can break off diplomatic and economic trade relations with Pakistan until the military returns to the barracks and gives its powers to a government of reconciliation, preparing for democratic elections based on the principles of Pakistan's great leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The success of the EU in this effort to restore democracy to Pakistan could also help establish a new European political strategy for the region. A strategy based on dialog and inclusion, as opposed to the present policy of confrontation and war, which is a total failure.

Labels: Afghanistan, Benazir Bhutto, EU, Pakistan

Afghanistan Expels High-Level UN, EU Diplomats

Two high-level United Nations and European Union diplomats face expulsion from Afghanistan for allegedly holding talks with the radical Islamist Taliban. The organizations are working to clear up the "misunderstanding." A government official said that acting European Union mission head Michael Semple and senior UN official Mervyn Patterson had held an illegal meeting with members of the Taliban and must leave by Thursday, Dec. 27.Semple, an Irishman, and Patterson, a Briton, were charged with having talks with the Taliban in the southern province of Helmand without the knowledge of the government in Kabul, which accused them of endangering the security and sovereignty of Afghanistan.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU

Afghanistan - Operation Enduring Freedom: 193 Europeans killed

Of the 746 coalition fatalities since the conflict started 193 were European. Australia, Canada and the US together so far have had 553 casualties. Among the coalition forces there have been 7,171 wounded of which 4,324 required medical air transport out of the combat zone. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview that his war-torn country will need foreign troops for at least another decade. "I believe it will take another 10 years, at least 10 years," he told Bild newspaper when asked for how much longer the country will need German troops.

Labels: Afghanistan, Casualties, EU

Rep. Lantos offends Dutch Lawmakers - by Desmond Butler

Dutch lawmakers who visited the Guantanamo Bay military prison this week said they were offended by a testy exchange in Washington with a senior congressional Democrat. The lawmakers said that Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told them that "Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay."

Before the Guantanamo exchange, the lawmakers had discussed a debate in the Netherlands about whether the country should maintain its 1,600 troops serving in NATO's Afghanistan operations. "You have to help us, because if it was not for us you would now be a province of Nazi Germany," Lantos said, according to the Dutch lawmakers. "The comments killed the debate," said Harry van Bommel, a member of the Socialist Party. "It was insulting and counterproductive." It was not the first time that Lantos had offended European political circles. In May, he lashed out at the former leaders of France and Germany. His comments, which included calling former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder a "political prostitute," provoked a rebuke from German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Guantanamo, Netherlands, Tom Lantos, US Congress

Time to Shift Focus in Afghanistan - by Christoph Hasselbach

In Europe, many NATO member countries are getting fed up with demands, primarily from Washington, for greater military involvement in Afghanistan -- demands that have persisted ever since the launch of the NATO mission. For years, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has been doing the rounds of the European capitals lobbying for more troops, helicopters and transport aircraft, only to be fobbed off with vague promises. Germany has finally agreed to extend its broad activities in Afghanistan by deploying reconnaissance tornados, but it refuses to send soldiers to the hostile south of the country. Given the public's waning support for the mission and Berlin's political status quo, this is simply out of the question.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Nato

"Most Dutch want end to Uruzgan mission"

More than 50 percent of the Dutch population does not think the military mission in Uruzgan should be extended beyond 1 August 2008. The majority of those who oppose extension of the mission would prefer that the troops be pulled out of Afghanistan immediately. The AD reported this on Friday on the basis of a survey the paper conducted among 1,000 Dutch. The survey indicates that an extension of the mission is only supported by 45 percent of the population. The respondents primarily doubted the point of the mission. Almost a third thinks that the Dutch soldiers are not able to accomplish anything in Afghanistan.

Labels: Afghanistan, Council of Europe, Netherlands

AFGHANISTAN AND EUROPE - "The Netherlands - the best friend America has in Europe"

The Netherlands is probably the only country in the world, next to Afghanistan itself, which has an official Netherlands government sponsored program for its schools, promoting the benefits of keeping the Dutch military in Afghanistan. Dutch envoys have also gone to other European countries to urge them in sending additional troops to Afghanistan. Most recently to Norway. Why all this activity? For one, the Balkenende Government had made a deal with the US Government during the Iraq war that they would be sending some 1000 troops to Iraq in exchange for dredging contracts near the port of Basra, and the appointment of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who belongs to the same political party as Mr. Balkenende, as NATO’s Secretary General. The other crucial point is that this fall the Dutch parliament will be discussing the extension of Dutch troop deployment in Afghanistan. Obviously the coalition Government of Prime-Minister Balkenende is using every "spin-masters" trick to win this parliamentary debate, and stay in favor with America. In the meantime, the war in Afghanistan, which is badly managed and has already cost the Dutch 10 military deaths and a drain on the economy of several million euro's per week, is not going well.

The majority of the Dutch population is either brain-dead or does not seem to be interested in what is going on in Afghanistan. In general, the Dutch do not approve of President Bush personally, but otherwise the 16 million strong population is totally in love with American culture and life-style. They act and dress like Americans, eat their food, dance to their music, watch and copy their TV shows, drive in SUV's when they can afford it, and overcrowd the roads. Like the majority of the US population, they have also taken a negative view on the benefits of immigration.

The bottom line about Afghanistan's importance to the Dutch Government is that for the government staying friendly with the US is a far more important issue than working towards a strong and united European Union. Two years ago, the Netherlands voted against the EU Constitution, mainly because the Government had not done their "homework" and stood by while populist and right wing politicians took center stage.

If it's not too late, the Netherlands better wake up to the fact that their future lies within the European Union and not with America. It certainly would be a wise decision for the Netherlands Government to divert the millions of euro's it is now wasting on the Afghanistan military campaign, to promoting the actual results of more than 50 years of prosperity the Netherlands population is enjoying, thanks to their membership in the European Union. That is the story that needs to be told to its youth.

All EU-Digest Commentary can be used only if its source is identified.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Netherlands, US

The Taliban Hydra - by Abdul R. Karim

In retrospect, the Americans can be forgiven for their near sightedness five years ago. When the US led coalition began its war in Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks, it was easy to be optimistic.

Fast forward five years, and we have a vicious insurgency that shows no signs of abating. At least ¼ of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces have a heavy Taliban presence, while almost half the country is under the sway of Taliban law and gun. The government controls the urban centers and the Coalition controls the roads when their patrols make their rounds. But it is when the sun sets, within the rural parts of the country which are home to the majority of Afghans, that the Taliban re emerge. In many parts of the south, locals take their disputes to Taliban courts, as opposed to government judiciary institutions. Those with grievances avoid the corrupt Afghan police, a despised and mistrusted force, instead seeking redress from the Taliban. Curfews, laws (in some parts, the use of motored vehicles have been banned) and edicts are strictly enforced by the Talibs. In most of the south and east of the county, aid agency presence is virtually non existent, and schools remain empty.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Taliban, US

British Criticize US Air Attacks in Afghan Region - by Carlotta Gall

A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American Special Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people.

Other British officers here in Helmand Province, speaking on condition of anonymity, criticized American Special Forces for causing most of the civilian deaths and injuries in their area. They also expressed concerns that the Americans’ extensive use of air power was turning the people against the foreign presence as British forces were trying to solidify recent gains against the Taliban.

Labels: Afghanistan, Britain, EU, Nato

For the complete report from the Guardian Unlimited click on this link

Britain's most senior generals have issued a blunt warning to Downing Street that the military campaign in Afghanistan is facing a catastrophic failure, a development that could lead to an Islamist government seizing power in neighbouring Pakistan. Amid fears that London and Washington are taking their eye off Afghanistan as they grapple with Iraq, the generals have told Number 10 that the collapse of the government in Afghanistan, headed by Hamid Karzai, would present a grave threat to the security of Britain.

Labels: Afghanistan, Britain

The cost of war to the US: EURO 8.7 billion ($12 billion) a month

The boost in US troop levels in Iraq has increased the cost of war for the US there and in Afghanistan to EURO 8.7 billion ($12 billion) a month, according to the US nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Debate within the Bush administration about the next phase of the president's Iraq strategy is centering on a report to be presented to Congress this week that says the Baghdad government has failed to meet any of its targets for political, economic and other types of progress.

Labels: Afghanistan, Iraq, US Economy

9 Dutch soldiers dead - Did the Dutch Government hide the truth about the Dutch troop deployment in Afghanistan?

Tuesday's suicide attack in southern Afghanistan, which left at least 17 civilians dead and a number of Dutch soldiers injured, has again raised questions about Dutch involvement in Afghanistan. A year ago, the deployment of Dutch troops in the Afghan province of Uruzgan was sold to the Dutch public as primarily a reconstruction mission but it's becoming clearer by the day that this is a military operation with all the attendant risks.This makes the debate about extending the mission beyond its current 2008 deadline a controversial one. Now that it's clear the Dutch are in Afghanistan to fight, how will the government persuade the country to accept the dangers of staying on?

The line between propaganda and truth is sometimes hard to determine, the only sure thing is that there are going to be some fireworks in the Dutch parliament when the extension of the mission is debated later this summer. Comment EU-Digest: In the run-up to the 2006 decision to participate in the mission, the Dutch government put the emphasis on reconstruction and the resolution to send troops to Afghanistan passed.Now they have been caught lying it is interesting to see what they will say when it comes to extending the mission beyond 2008. In the meantime 9 Dutch soldiers have already been killed.

Labels: Afghanistan, Council of Europe, The Netherlands

Labels: Afghanistan, EU

Rift growing over NATO's Afghan tactics - by Peter Graff

A U.S. commander's repudiation of a cease-fire in Afghanistan that was backed by his British predecessor reveals rifts among the main Western allies over how to defeat Taliban insurgents and win hearts and minds.

The aggressive U.S. approach "doesn't seem to be in tune with the philosophy of the British Army," he said. "On several occasions, senior British commanders have expressed a desire to try to modify the allegiances of potential insurgents, rather than try to kill them."

Labels: Afghanistan, Britain, Nato

U.S. drawdown in Europe may be too much

The commander of the U.S. European Command may not have enough troops to fight in Afghanistan, Iraq and conduct routine operations. If not, one of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's main reforms to the U.S. military may have to be rolled back -- that is, pulling troops out of "traditional" U.S. deployments in "old Europe" to garrisons in the United States, with more frequent, shorter deployments to newer areas, like Eastern Europe.

Gen. Bantz Craddock, the chief of U.S. European Command, told the Senate Armed Serviced Committee Thursday the drawdown of U.S. troops in Europe from roughly 100,000 to 60,000 is causing him concern.

Labels: Afghanistan, Europe, US Troops

"And Then There Were None" - by Richard May

Several European allies are quickly losing interest in fighting what they perceive as America’s expansionist war in the Middle East and South Asia, and have begun withdrawing and distancing themselves from Afghanistan. CDI Scoville Fellow Richard May examines the causes and indications of this phenomenon in his latest commentary.

Britain has announced that it would be pulling 1,600 troops out of Iraq and the Dutch have said that they will follow suit. This presents a sharp blow to the Bush administration and its efforts in the war in Iraq. The move signals that Europe is growing tired of American adventurism in the Middle East. Britain and the Netherlands, who are following the British lead, are not the only European countries that have grown weary of the United States presence in Iraq, but most countries don't have troops that they can withdraw to show their displeasure. Instead, the European countries that lack troops in Iraq may illustrate their dislike for the United States in another place: Afghanistan.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Iraq, Military, US