Critical Observer

TALIBAN GAINING CONTROL OVER PARTS OF AFGHANISTAN

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<i style="line-height: 1.1;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Taliban has more reach in Afghanistan than it has maintained since American forces facilitated the group’s ouster in 2001, according to data from the United Nations gathered in early September.</span></i></h5>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 18.2px;">CNBC reported that, according to the not publicly released information, U.N. security officials rated the threat level as “high” or “extreme” in approximately half of Afghanistan’s districts. As of September, 186 of Afghanistan’s 376 districts had been given these classifications, a larger figure than ever recorded in 2001.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 18.2px;">An extreme threat level rating indicates that the particular district has no presence of Afghan government forces or one reduced to its capital. Thirty-eight of the districts were given extreme threat ratings, representing more than 10 percent of all districts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Moreover, the data suggested that the pace at which the Taliban has expanded its reach has quickened in many areas that previously had witnessed no Taliban presence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 18.2px;">The revelations come as President Obama is considering leaving up to 5,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan through 2016 despite his initial plan to drastically scale back American presence there by the time he leaves office.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Moreover, since the data was compiled, the U.N. Assistance Mission in the country has evacuated four of 13 provincial offices amid threats of Taliban attacks, local officials said. The U.N. mission refused to confirm or deny the evacuations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 18.2px;">However, Gen. John F. Campbell, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, appeared to diverge from the U.N. assessments last week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 18.2px;">“The Afghan security forces have displayed courage and resilience,” Campbell told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “They’re still holding. The Afghan government retains control of Kabul, of Highway One, its provincial capitals and nearly all of the district centers.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Campbell in his testimony to Congress said that Obama’s plan to significantly scale back the force should be traded with one that would keep more troops in the country. The commander has developed multiple options for a larger force, one of which would keep the number of troops at its current level of about 10,000.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 18.2px;">Nearly two dozen Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee penned a letter to the president last week demanding he maintain the current number of American forces in Afghanistan through 2016.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2px;">by MORGAN CHALFANT | DAILY SIGNAL</span></span></div>

TALIBAN GAINING CONTROL OVER PARTS OF AFGHANISTAN

The Taliban has more reach in Afghanistan than it has maintained since American forces facilitated the group’s ouster in 2001, according ...

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DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS STRIKE WAS DELIBERATE

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The US airstrikes that destroyed a hospital belonging to Doctors Without Borders in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz was "a deliberate attack," a top official charged Thursday.<br />
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"The trauma hospital ... came under multiple, precise and sustained air raids for more than an hour after we informed military officials in both Washington and Kabul," Christopher Stokes, the general director of the aid group, said in arguing that the attack did not consist only of "collateral damage."<br />
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"This does not match at all what our team told us," he said. "They said very precise strikes on the main building of the hospital. ... It was a deliberate hit."<br />
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He called for an independent inquiry into Saturday's airstrikes, which killed at least 22 people. The aid group said nine patients and 24 staff members are still missing.<br />
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Three investigations are now under way into the bombing by US, NATO and Afghan forces.<br />
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US President Barack Obama on Wednesday called the president of Doctors Without Borders to apologize for the attack.<br />
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"When we make a mistake we own up to it," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. "We apologize, and we make changes to be sure it won't occur again in the future."<br />
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Stokes, however, charged that the airstrikes amounted to violations of international humanitarian law and "an attack on the Geneva Conventions itself."<br />
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He pressed for an independent international investigation by the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, an international body that investigates potential breaches of international humanitarian law.<br />
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The commission was created in 1991 on the basis of the Geneva Conventions, but the commission has never been activated or used.<br />
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The 76 signatory states includes Germany, Russia and Britain, but the United States and France are not part of it.<br />
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None of the signatory states has replied to the Doctors Without Borders request for a formal investigations yet, Stokes said.<br />
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By Anne K Walters, dpa

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS STRIKE WAS DELIBERATE

The US airstrikes that destroyed a hospital belonging to Doctors Without Borders in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz was "a deli...

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US JETS BOMB 'DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS' HOSPITAL

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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; line-height: 1.06452;">9 Doctors Without Borders workers killed in US air attacks in Afghanistan</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16.5px;">Kabul, Afghanistan - Air attacks hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the battleground Afghan city of Kunduz early Saturday, killing at least nine hospital staff and injuring others at a facility that had been caring for hundreds already hurt in days of fighting, the charity said.</span></span></h5>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The U.S. military conducted an airstrike in Kunduz at the time that may have caused collateral damage, and the incident is being investigated, U.S. Army Col. Brian Tibus said.</span></span></h5>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Specifically, the military is investigating whether a U.S. AC-130 gunship -- which was in the area firing on Taliban positions to defend U.S. special operations troops there -- is responsible, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity.</span></span></h5>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The attacks, which injured at least 37 other people and left part of the hospital in flames and rubble, came on roughly the sixth day of fighting between Afghan government forces -- supported by U.S. airpower and military advisers -- and the Taliban, which invaded the city early this week.</span></span></h5>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The global charity expressed shock, saying it had told all warring parties the exact location of the trauma center, including most recently on Tuesday.</span></span></h5>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The charity also said that it had alerted U.S. and Afghan military officials of Saturday's attack, but that the attacks continued.</span></span></h5>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The bombing continued for more than 30 minutes after American and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington were first informed," the charity, known internationally as Medecins Sans Frontieres, said. "MSF urgently seeks clarity on exactly what took place and how this terrible event could have happened."</span></span></h5>

US JETS BOMB 'DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS' HOSPITAL

9 Doctors Without Borders workers killed in US air attacks in Afghanistan Kabul, Afghanistan - Air attacks hit a Doctors Without Border...

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TALIBAN OFFENSIVE CLAIMS MAJOR AFGHAN CITY

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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The U.S. military launched airstrikes against targets in Kunduz, Afghanistan on Tuesday, just a day after Taliban fighters caught the U.S. Army, the Afghan National Security Forces, and local security forces off guard by staging a massive military offensive to capture the key northern city.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">According to the ToloNews, a privately-run Afghan 24/7 news agency, local reports from the city “indicate that there are civilian casualties because of Afghan and foreign troops airstrikes.” On Monday, a Doctors Without Borders team working in a Kunduz hospital reported numerous casualties from the initial Taliban offensive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Guardian</em> reports:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kunduz is the first provincial capital in 14 years to effectively fall to the Taliban, and is possibly the militants’ biggest victory since they were ousted from power in 2001.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">By Tuesday morning, roads were blocked and some government buildings set on fire, several residents told the Associated Press.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“From this morning, the Taliban have been setting up checkpoints in and around the city, looking for the government employees,” one resident said. “Yesterday it was possible for people to get out of the city, but today it is too late because all roads are under the Taliban control.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On Tuesday morning the Afghan Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Army, along with other security personnel, had commenced a ground-level counter-offensive just after 8 am local time. Speaking from Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani later gave a televised address in which he vowed to retake the city. Ghani claimed the “enemy has sustained heavy casualties” and said government forces were “retaking government buildings … and that reinforcements, including special forces and commandos are either there or on their way there.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wall Street Journal</em> reports:</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to Jason Ditz, writing at Anti-War.com, “The loss of Kunduz is a huge blow to the Afghan government, because it had never really been under control of the Taliban even when the Taliban were in power. Kunduz was the center of the Northern Alliance rebellion against the Taliban, which eventually took over the key government positions during the U.S. occupation, and holds them to this day.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal, argues that the fall of the city speaks to a more robust failure of the Obama administration’s strategy in Afghanistan, which has allowed the war to drag on—”token” draw downs aside—with nearly no progress towards a negotiated settlement, despite nearly 14 years of continuous fighting.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“The fall of Kunduz,” wrote Roggio on Monday, “would invalidate the entire U.S. ‘surge’ strategy from 2009 to 2012. The U.S. military focused its efforts on the southern Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, claiming that these provinces were the key to breaking the Taliban. Little attention was given to other areas of Afghanistan, including the northern provinces, where the Taliban have expended considerable effort in fighting the military and government. Today, the Taliban are gaining ground in northern, central, eastern and southern Afghanistan, with dozens of districts falling under Taliban control over the past year.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regarding additional updates on the fighting on Tuesday, Al Jazeera correspondent Qais Azimy, reporting from Baghlan, just south of Kunduz, said government troops attempted to reenter the city but were turned back due to intense fighting.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The fall of Kunduz, reported Azimy, “sends a message to the international community and Kabul, that the Taliban fighters are now capable of taking control of a provincial capital after 14 years.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This article originally appeared on Common Dreams.</span></span></div>

TALIBAN OFFENSIVE CLAIMS MAJOR AFGHAN CITY

The U.S. military launched airstrikes against targets in Kunduz, Afghanistan on Tuesday, just a day after Taliban fighters caught the U.S...

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WHAT OUR CHILDREN ARE DYING FOR IN AFGHANISTAN

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<strong style="font-size: large; line-height: 19.2px;"><span class="style2">1998 Unocal Statement:</span></strong></div>
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<a href="http://www.unocal.com/uclnews/98news/082198.htm" style="color: #880088; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 19.2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Suspension of activities related to proposed</strong></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.unocal.com/uclnews/98news/082198.htm" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.unocal.com/uclnews/98news/082198.htm" style="color: #880088; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 19.2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>natural gas pipeline across Afghanistan</strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As a result of sharply deteriorating political conditions in the region, Unocal, which serves as the development manager for the Central Asia Gas (CentGas) pipeline consortium, has suspended all activities involving the proposed pipeline project in Afghanistan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>From the </strong></span><a href="http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa48119.000/hfa48119_0.HTM" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>1998 Congressional Record</strong></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>. </strong></span><span class="style2"><span style="font-size: small;">Emphasis added to text.</span></span></div>
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U.S. INTERESTS IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN<br />REPUBLICS HEARING BEFORE THE<br />SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC<br />OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL<br />RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES</div>
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ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION<br />FEBRUARY 12, 1998</div>
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Next we would like to hear from Mr. John J. Maresca, vice president of international relations, Unocal Corporation. You may proceed as you wish.</div>
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<b>STATEMENT OF JOHN J. MARESCA, VICE<br />PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, UNOCAL CORPORATION</b></div>
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Mr. Maresca. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's nice to see you again. I am John Maresca, vice president for international relations of the Unocal Corporation. Unocal, as you know, is one of the world's leading energy resource and project development companies. I appreciate your invitation to speak here today. I believe these hearings are important and timely. I congratulate you for focusing on Central Asia oil and gas reserves and the role they play in shaping U.S. policy.</div>
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I would like to focus today on three issues. First, the need for multiple pipeline routes for Central Asian oil and gas resources. Second, the need for U.S. support for international and regional efforts to achieve balanced and lasting political settlements to the conflicts in the region, including <b>Afghanistan</b>. Third, the need for structured assistance to encourage economic reforms and the development of appropriate investment climates in the region. In this regard, we specifically support repeal or removal of <a href="http://www.aaainc.org/907intro.htm" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;">section 907 of the Freedom Support Act.</a></div>
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Mr. Chairman, the Caspian region contains tremendous untapped hydrocarbon reserves. Just to give an idea of the scale, proven natural gas reserves equal more than 236 trillion cubic feet. The region's total oil reserves may well reach more than 60 billion barrels of oil. Some estimates are as high as 200 billion barrels. In 1995, the region was producing only 870,000 barrels per day. By 2010, western companies could increase production to about 4.5 million barrels a day, an increase of more than 500 percent in only 15 years. If this occurs, the region would represent about 5 percent of the world's total oil production.</div>
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One major problem has yet to be resolved: how to get the region's vast energy resources to the markets where they are needed. Central Asia is isolated. Their natural resources are land locked, both geographically and politically. Each of the countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia faces difficult political challenges. Some have unsettled wars or latent conflicts. Others have evolving systems where the laws and even the courts are dynamic and changing. In addition, a chief technical obstacle which we in the industry face in transporting oil is the region's existing pipeline infrastructure.</div>
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Because the region's pipelines were constructed during the Moscow-centered Soviet period, they tend to head north and west toward Russia. There are no connections to the south and east. But Russia is currently unlikely to absorb large new quantities of foreign oil. It's unlikely to be a significant market for new energy in the next decade. It lacks the capacity to deliver it to other markets.</div>
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Two major infrastructure projects are seeking to meet the need for additional export capacity. One, under the aegis of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, plans to build a pipeline west from the northern Caspian to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Oil would then go by tanker through the Bosporus to the Mediterranean and world markets.</div>
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The other project is sponsored by the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, a consortium of 11 foreign oil companies, including four American companies, Unocal, Amoco, Exxon and Pennzoil. This consortium conceives of two possible routes, one line would angle north and cross the north Caucasus to Novorossiysk. The other route would cross Georgia to a shipping terminal on the Black Sea. This second route could be extended west and south across Turkey to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.</div>
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But even if both pipelines were built, they would not have enough total capacity to transport all the oil expected to flow from the region in the future. Nor would they have the capability to move it to the right markets. Other export pipelines must be built.</div>
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At Unocal, we believe that the central factor in planning these pipelines should be the location of the future energy markets that are most likely to need these new supplies. Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union are all slow growth markets where demand will grow at only a half a percent to perhaps 1.2 percent per year during the period 1995 to 2010.</div>
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Asia is a different story all together. It will have a rapidly increasing energy consumption need. Prior to the recent turbulence in the Asian Pacific economies, we at Unocal anticipated that this region's demand for oil would almost double by 2010. Although the short-term increase in demand will probably not meet these expectations, we stand behind our long-term estimates.</div>
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I should note that it is in everyone's interest that there be adequate supplies for Asia's increasing energy requirements. If Asia's energy needs are not satisfied, they will simply put pressure on all world markets, driving prices upwards everywhere.</div>
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The key question then is how the energy resources of Central Asia can be made available to nearby Asian markets. There are two possible solutions, with several variations. One option is to go east across China, but this would mean constructing a pipeline of more than 3,000 kilometers just to reach Central China. In addition, there would have to be a 2,000-kilometer connection to reach the main population centers along the coast. The question then is what will be the cost of transporting oil through this pipeline, and what would be the netback which the producers would receive.</div>
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For those who are not familiar with the terminology, the netback is the price which the producer receives for his oil or gas at the well head after all the transportation costs have been deducted. So it's the price he receives for the oil he produces at the well head.</div>
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The second option is to build a pipeline south from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed for American companies because of U.S. sanctions legislation. <b>The only other possible route is across Afghanistan,</b> which has of course its own unique challenges. The country has been involved in bitter warfare for almost two decades, and is still divided by civil war.<b>From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and our company.</b></div>
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Mr. Chairman, as you know, we have worked very closely with the University of Nebraska at Omaha in developing a training program for Afghanistan which will be open to both men and women, and which will operate in both parts of the country, the north and south.</div>
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Unocal foresees a pipeline which would become part of a regional system that will gather oil from existing pipeline infrastructure in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. The 1,040-mile long oil pipeline would extend south through Afghanistan to an export terminal that would be constructed on the Pakistan coast. This 42-inch diameter pipeline will have a shipping capacity of one million barrels of oil per day. The estimated cost of the project, which is similar in scope to the trans-Alaska pipeline, is about $2.5 billion.</div>
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Given the plentiful natural gas supplies of Central Asia, our aim is to link gas resources with the nearest viable markets. This is basic for the commercial viability of any gas project. But these projects also face geopolitical challenges. Unocal and the Turkish company Koc Holding are interested in bringing competitive gas supplies to Turkey. The proposed Eurasia natural gas pipeline would transport gas from Turkmenistan directly across the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey. Of course the demarcation of the Caspian remains an issue.</div>
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Last October, the Central Asia Gas Pipeline Consortium, called CentGas, in which Unocal holds an interest, was formed to develop a gas pipeline which will link Turkmenistan's vast Dauletabad gas field with markets in Pakistan and possibly India. The proposed 790-mile pipeline will open up new markets for this gas, traveling from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Multan in Pakistan. The proposed extension would move gas on to New Delhi, where it would connect with an existing pipeline. <b>As with the proposed Central Asia oil pipeline, CentGas can not begin construction until an internationally recognized Afghanistan Government is in place</b>.</div>
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The Central Asia and Caspian region is blessed with abundant oil and gas that can enhance the lives of the region's residents, and provide energy for growth in both Europe and Asia. The impact of these resources on U.S. commercial interests and U.S. foreign policy is also significant. Without peaceful settlement of the conflicts in the region, cross-border oil and gas pipelines are not likely to be built. We urge the Administration and the Congress to give strong support to the U.N.-led peace process in Afghanistan. The U.S. Government should use its influence to help find solutions to all of the region's conflicts.</div>
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U.S. assistance in developing these new economies will be crucial to business success. We thus also encourage strong technical assistance programs throughout the region. Specifically, we urge repeal or removal of section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. This section unfairly restricts U.S. Government assistance to the government of Azerbaijan and limits U.S. influence in the region.</div>
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Developing cost-effective export routes for Central Asian resources is a formidable task, but not an impossible one. Unocal and other American companies like it are fully prepared to undertake the job and to make Central Asia once again into the crossroads it has been in the past. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.</div>
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<a href="http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/CK20Ag01.html" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>US Policy On Taliban Influenced By Oil Deal Negotiations</strong></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The two claim that the US government's main objective in Afghanistan was to consolidate the position of the Taliban regime to obtain access to the oil and gas reserves in Central Asia.</span></div>
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<span class="style2"><span style="font-size: small;">They affirm that until August [2001], the US government saw the Taliban regime "as a source of stability in Central Asia that would enable the construction of an oil pipeline across Central Asia" from the rich oilfields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean. Until now, says the book, "the oil and gas reserves of Central Asia have been controlled by Russia. The Bush government wanted to change all that."</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/ENRON_MONEY_TO_TALIBAN.jpg" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;"><img border="1" height="352" src="http://whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/enron_taliban.gif" style="border: none;" width="480" /><br /></a></div>
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<span class="style3"><span class="style2"><span style="font-size: small;">But, confronted with Taliban's refusal to accept US conditions, "this rationale of energy security changed into a military one"</span>, <span style="font-size: small;">the authors claim.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="style2">"At one moment during the negotiations, the US representatives told the Taliban, '<b>either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs</b>,'"<span style="font-size: small;"> Brisard said in an interview in Paris.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #880088; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;"><b><a href="http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/preplanned.html" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The US government informed other nations of it's plan<br />to invade Afghanistan months before the 9/11 attacks</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #880088; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;"><b><a href="http://whatreallyhappened.com/ARCHIVE/qf911.html" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">9 September 2001: Bush given Afghanistan invasion plan</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #880088; font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;"><strong><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/07/ret.attack.bush/" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">7 October 2001: Bush announces opening of Afghanistan attacks</a></strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2042040.stm" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>13 June 2002: Hamid Karzai Elected as New Afghan Leader</b></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>(</b><a href="http://www.rense.com/general18/ine.htm" style="color: #880088; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b>Former Unocal Consultant</b></a><b>)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">by Mike Rivero of WhatReallyHappened.com</span></div>
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WHAT OUR CHILDREN ARE DYING FOR IN AFGHANISTAN

The Taliban had all but eradicated the opium growers before the US invasion. So why is cheap Afghani heroin flooding into the United States...

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ISIS DECLARES WAR ON THE TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN

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ISIS militants are gaining ground in Afghanistan, UN report claims</h5>
ISIS <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">has been trying to establish itself in Afghanistan, resulting in a bitter and violent battle against the Taliban for supremecy of the Islamist insurgency in the war-torn country.</span><br />
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However, the terror group are said to be succeeding in their intrusion and have reportedly recruited followers in over three quarters of Afghanistan's provinces.</div>
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As well as making large steps in the conflict-ridden area, ISIS are also said to have sympathisers consisting of around 10 per cent of the Taliban insurgency, according to the UN report.</div>
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<span style="background-color: initial;">The report said:</span><i style="background-color: initial;"> "The number of groups and individuals who are openly declaring either loyalty to or sympathy with ISIL continues to grow in a number of provinces in Afghanistan."</i></div>
</section><section class="text-description" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; transform: none !important;"><div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; transform: none !important;">
The terror around are understood to have around 70 fighters from Iraq and Syria forming their Afghanistan branch.</div>
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Since establishing the division back in January, sightings of groups "with some form of ISIL branding" or sympathy have been reported in 25 of the 34 provinces in the troubled country.</div>
</section><section class="photo changeSpace" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; transform: none !important;"><div class="withoutCaption" style="border: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; transform: none !important;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="fighters marching in a row" src="http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/78/590x/secondary/islamic-state-afghanistan-353812.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transform: none !important; vertical-align: middle; width: 590px;" title="fighters marching in a row" /></div>
<br />
<span class="newsCaption" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #959595; display: block; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 7px; text-align: center; transform: none !important;">The terror group have gained control of a large amount of provinces in Afghanistan</span></section><section class="photo changeSpace" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; transform: none !important;"><div class="withoutCaption" style="border: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; transform: none !important;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="ISIS militants holding guns" src="http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/78/590x/secondary/islamic-state-353810.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transform: none !important; vertical-align: middle; width: 590px;" title="ISIS militants holding guns" /></div>
<br />
<span class="newsCaption" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #959595; display: block; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 7px; text-align: center; transform: none !important;">ISIS have been in a self-declared war with the Taliban</span></section><section class="text-description" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; transform: none !important;"><div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; transform: none !important;">
The report added that ISIS-backed groups "regularly engage" with Afghan military forces, however fighting with other parts of the insurgency are said to be rare.</div>
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In recent months, prominent fighters who had close ties to the Taliban and Al Qaeda have reportedly changed loyalties to ISIS.</div>
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Abdul Rauf Khadem, a former Taliban adviser to Mullah Omar, became the founder of an ISIS branch in the Helmand and Farah provinces and reportedly recruits followers with large sums of money.</div>
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Meanwhile foreign fighters from Pakistan and Uzbekistan, some associated to Al Qaeda, are also said to have "rebranded themselves" under the wing of ISIS militant, the report said.</div>
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It added that Afghan security authorities are labelling the situation as a "potential new threat" but are not considering immediate action.</div>
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<img alt="map showing areas under isis control" src="http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/78/590x/secondary/islamic-state-353815.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px; height: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transform: none !important; vertical-align: middle; width: 590px;" title="map showing areas under isis control" /></div>
<span class="photo-caption defaultLeft" style="background: url(http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/theme/Responsive/img/page/caption_bt_fix2.png); border: 0px; bottom: 0px; color: white; font-size: 9px; font-stretch: normal; left: 0px; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 6px 2px; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-align: center; transform: none !important; z-index: 2;">EXPRESS</span><br />
<span class="newsCaption" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #959595; display: block; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 7px; text-align: center; transform: none !important;">The areas which are, or face the threat of becoming, under ISIS control</span></section><section class="text-description" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; transform: none !important;"><div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transform: none !important;">
The latest conflict came just weeks after ISIS were condemned by the Taliban for releasing a video showing hostages being blown up with explosives.</div>
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Reportedly filmed in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar in June, the "horrific" footage apparently shows ISIS fighters brutally murdering a group of blindfolded tribal elders and villagers.</div>
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It describes the kidnapped group as "apostates" who have been captured following a battle between ISIS fighters, the Taliban and Afghan government forces.</div>
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A statement posted on the Taliban's website read: "A horrific video was released yesterday showing kidnappers who associate themselves with Daesh (ISIS) brutally martyring several white-bearded tribal elders and villagers with explosives."</div>
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ISIS first declared their Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan on 26 January this year when rebelling Taliban commanders swore allegiance to leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.</div>
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The Taliban have since rallied against the threat of ISIS by refusing to join their so-called 'Caliphate' and writing a 60-page letter warning them to leave their land.</div>
</section>

ISIS DECLARES WAR ON THE TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN

ISIS militants are gaining ground in Afghanistan, UN report claims ISIS has been trying to establish itself in Afghanistan, resulting in ...

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TALIBAN ATTACK ON JAIL FREES HUNDREDS OF INSURGENTS

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Taliban insurgents stormed a prison in Afghanistan on Monday, killing police and releasing more than 350 inmates, including nearly 150 deemed a threat to national security, and then attacked troops rushing to help, officials said.<br />
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The latest Taliban prison raid, on the outskirts of the central city of Ghazni, comes after setbacks for the government in different parts of the country and deadly attacks in Kabul which have dashed hopes for peace talks.<br />
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A Reuters reporter outside the mud fort prison in Ghazni, 120 km (75 miles) southwest of the capital, Kabul, saw the bodies of two men who appeared to be suicide bombers and a blown-up car that had apparently been used to destroy the main entrance.<br />
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Clusters of bullet casings were scattered across the road.<br />
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The interior ministry said that 355 of the 436 prisoners had escaped.<br />
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Of those who got away, 148 were a "threat to national security and 207 were criminals", the ministry said in a statement.<br />
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Four Taliban and four members of the security forces were killed in the attack, the ministry said. Seven police were injured.<br />
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Mohammed Ali Ahmadi, deputy city governor, said the prison's security was well below recommended standards because it was so close to Ghazni - only seven km (4.3 miles) from the city centre - and it was believed that reinforcements would get there quickly in the event of trouble.<br />
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On Sunday, officials concerned about a breakout had transferred 18 "dangerous" Taliban to a jail operated by the Afghan intelligence agency, he said. Seventeen were left behind.<br />
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Ahmadi said he believed they helped co-ordinate the attack.<br />
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"Roads to the prison were covered with land mines in advance to avoid reinforcement," Ahmadi told reporters. "An army vehicle coming for reinforcements was blown up by a roadside bomb while trying to reach the prison."<br />
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One security official said the attackers, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, were wearing security force uniforms.<br />
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Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said gunmen and three suicide bombers attacked the prison at 2 a.m. Three bombers were killed, he said.<br />
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"Important military mujahideen officials have been freed," he said.<br />
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The Taliban are fighting to overthrow the foreign-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani, expel foreign forces and impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law.<br />
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The insurgents have attacked jails to free hundreds of prisoners including their comrades on several occasions, in both Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan.<br />
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Security at Afghan prisons is often poor, with untrained, poorly equipped police guarding crumbling facilities.<br />
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by MUSTAFA ANDALIB, REUTERS

TALIBAN ATTACK ON JAIL FREES HUNDREDS OF INSURGENTS

Taliban insurgents stormed a prison in Afghanistan on Monday, killing police and releasing more than 350 inmates, including nearly 150 de...

Read Article »

U.S. PROTECTS AFGHAN OPIUM FIELDS FROM TALIBAN ATTACK

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The United States has called in air strikes to stop the Taliban from taking control of opium fields in the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province. Over the weekend the air strikes were called in after the Taliban seized weapons and vehicles from Afghan soldiers.<br />
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Helmand province is said to be one of the world’s largest opium-producing regions, larger than the whole of Burma which is the second largest producer of opium.<br />
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Production of opium reached an all-time high under the military control of the U.S. and NATO.<br />
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According to a report issued in 2013 by the Afghanistan Opium Survey of the United Nations, cultivation of poppy increased 36 per cent in 2013. Total opium production amounted to 5,500 tons, up nearly half since 2012.<br />
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“This has never been witnessed before in the history of Afghanistan,” said Jean-Luc Lemahieu, the outgoing leader of the Afghanistan office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.<br />
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Prior to the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, the Taliban had successfully banned production of opium.<br />
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According to James P. Callahan, director of Asian affairs at the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs at the U.S. State Department, the Taliban framed the ban ”in very religious terms,” citing Islamic prohibitions against drugs, The New York Times reported on May 20, 2001.<br />
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<b>CIA and Afghan Opium</b><br />
In 2009 it was reported that the CIA controlled the opium trade in Afghanistan through Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the former president, Hamid Karzai, who began his career as a fundraiser for the CIA’s mujahideen during the 1980s.<br />
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“CIA-supported Mujahideen rebels engaged heavily in drug trafficking while fighting against the Soviet-supported government and its plans to reform the very backward Afghan society,” William Blum writes in The Real Drug Lords.<br />
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“The Golden Crescent drug trade, launched by the CIA in the early 1980s, continues to be protected by US intelligence, in liaison with NATO occupation forces and the British military. In recent developments, British occupation forces have promoted opium cultivation through paid radio advertisements,” Michel Chossudovsky wrote in 2007.<br />
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In 2010 Fox News’ Gerald Rivera talked with an occupation soldier about U.S. support of the opium trade in Afghanistan. The soldier told Rivera he did not like supporting Afghan opium production. The U.S., he insisted, has turned a blind eye to the cultivation due to cultural considerations. He said he would rather see the Afghans grow watermelons.

U.S. PROTECTS AFGHAN OPIUM FIELDS FROM TALIBAN ATTACK

The United States has called in air strikes to stop the Taliban from taking control of opium fields in the town of Musa Qala in Helmand p...

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DOCUMENTS: HILLARY CLINTON SANCTIONED CHILD RAPE IN AFGHANISTAN

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A U.S. State Department directive issued under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012 ordered U.S. troops in Afghanistan to avoid criticizing certain “taboo” aspects of Afghan culture, including “pedophilia” and “women’s rights.”</span></span></h5>
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Now, three years after the policy change, a decorated Green Beret is being kicked out of the U.S. Army for a 2011 incident in which he shoved an Afghan police commander accused of raping a boy and beating his mother.<br />
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The video below is a special report from InfoWars.com's reporter Staff Sargent Joe Biggs</div>
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DOCUMENTS: HILLARY CLINTON SANCTIONED CHILD RAPE IN AFGHANISTAN

A U.S. State Department directive issued under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012 ordered U.S. troops in Afghanistan to...

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