Personal Finance

arthur wouk · Guest

in addition to bungling the iraq war, the junta has allowed the afghan
war to revive itself, by what i can only call its policy of maligne
neglect. we now have a military stretched to its limits, with both
locations ones where such natives as were for us, turning against us.

incompetence in washington is reaching new heights.

The New York Times
_________________________________________________________________

June 30, 2005

Mood of Anxiety Engulfs Afghans as Violence Rises

By CARLOTTA GALL

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 29 - The loss of a military helicopter with
17 Americans aboard in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday comes at a time
of growing insecurity here. For the first time since the United States
overthrew the Taliban government three and a half years ago, Afghans
say they are feeling uneasy about the future.

Violence has increased sharply in recent months, with a resurgent
Taliban movement mounting daily attacks in southern Afghanistan, gangs
kidnapping foreigners here in the capital and radical Islamists
orchestrating violent demonstrations against the government and
foreign-financed organizations.

The steady stream of violence has dealt a new blow to this still
traumatized nation of 25 million. In dozens of interviews conducted in
recent weeks around the country, Afghans voiced concern that things
were not improving, and that the Taliban and other dangerous players
were gaining strength.

An American Chinook helicopter that crashed on Tuesday was brought
down by hostile fire as it was landing during combat in a mountainous
border area, American military officials said Wednesday.

Afghans interviewed about the continuing violence also expressed
increased dissatisfaction with their own government and the way the
United States military was conducting its operations, and said they
were suspicious of the Americans' long-term intentions.

"Three years on, the people are still hoping that things are going to
work out, but they have become suspicious about why the Americans
came, and why the Americans are treating the local people badly," said
Jandad Spinghar, leader of the Afghan Independent Human Rights
Commission in Nangarhar Province in the east, just across the Khyber
Pass from Pakistan.

Poverty, joblessness, frustrated expectations and the culture of 25
years of war make for a volatile mix in which American military raids,
shootings and imprisonments can inflame public opinion, many here say.

"Generally people are not against the Americans," Mr. Spinghar said.
"But in areas where there are no human rights, where they do not have
good relations and where there is bad treatment of villagers or
prisoners, this will hand a free area to the Taliban. It's very
important that the Americans understand how the Afghan people feel."

Reflecting the shifting popular mood, President Hamid Karzai has
publicly criticized the behavior of American troops and called for
closer cooperation when Afghan homes are raided.

The Taliban's spring offensive has sounded an alarm for the United
States military and the Karzai government, both of which had said that
the Taliban were largely defeated and that the nation was
consolidating behind its first elected national leader.

"We were wrong," a senior Afghan government official acknowledged,
saying of the Taliban, "It seems they were spending the time
preparing." He insisted on anonymity because of the delicacy of the
subject within the government.

While the government blames the Taliban - and its backers in Pakistan
and Al Qaeda - for the violence, the American military is frequently
blamed by Afghans for drawing radical Islamic fighters to the country
and then failing to control them.

"The Americans are the cause of the insecurity," said Abdullah Mahmud,
26, a law student in Kabul. "If they were not here, there would not be
any insecurity. The money they are spending on military expenses - if
they spent half of it on the Afghan Army and police and raised their
skills, then there would not be any security questions."

Opponents of the government are calling for foreign troops and
international aid organizations to leave Afghanistan, a call that has
resonated with Afghans' spirit of independence. The government,
though, is anxiously seeking assurances that the foreign troops and
assistance will stay and help it through this latest wave of
adversity.

During the anti-American protests that followed allegations that
guards at Guantánamo Bay had desecrated the Koran, Kabul's students
demonstrated against the establishment of permanent United States
military bases in Afghanistan, said Muhammad Mir Jan, 25, a literature
student. "Students support the current presence of troops because we
need them now," he said, "but not a permanent presence."

An unemployed man sitting in a corner shop in Jalalabad with a group
of friends said of the Americans, "They should go." But others
demurred.

"No, I think the Americans should be here, because if they are not,
the warlords would come back again and the poor people would not be
able to survive in this country," said Samiullah, 27, who said he was
applying for a job as a driver with a foreign group.

Abdul Zaher, 26, the owner of the shop, said, "They should not leave
our country until they have rebuilt it."

Sayed Asadullah Hashimi, an assistant professor at Kabul University's
School of Islamic Law, said, "Outside Kabul, two-thirds of the people
think that the Americans came only to invade and occupy Afghanistan,
and that is why day by day the tension is growing. The mood is
worsening."

With parliamentary elections approaching in September, the issue of
the American military presence is already emerging at the forefront of
political debate. Foreign diplomats are forecasting that the election
will deliver a Parliament divided on ethnic lines and largely
anti-Karzai, with a strong element of jihadi leaders and Islamists.

President Karzai will have to change his cabinet, now largely made up
of technocrats, to reflect the makeup of Parliament, said one
diplomat, who asked not to be identified because of the political
nature of his comments.

The current instability does not yet add up to a national uprising.
The Taliban movement remains restricted to a narrow core of believers
and a larger number who are motivated by money more than anything
else, Afghan and foreign officials said. But they warned that it would
be dangerous to ignore the signs of unrest.

Changes have often come suddenly in Afghanistan's turbulent history,
frequently catching outsiders by surprise: the slaughter in the Khyber
Pass of retreating British forces in the 19th century; the kidnapping
and killing of the American ambassador in 1979; and the Russian
debacle after 10 years of brutal occupation in the 1980's.

The airlift of foreign aid workers from Jalalabad after a day of
rioting last month raised the specter of the Afghans turning against
foreigners once more.

Afghans interviewed this week frequently warned that if the American
forces did not show greater care, especially in their treatment of
detainees and their families, the people could turn against them.
"They should respect our culture and our religion and they will be
successful," said Lal Muhammad, the senior partner of a real estate
firm in the southern city of Kandahar.

His partner, Taher Shah, said the United States should not
overestimate the extent of its own power. "The Americans are very
powerful and they can control the government," he said. "But if the
people don't like them, they will have to leave."

Foreign officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
delicate nature of the issue, said much of the public disillusionment
and frustration was traceable to a lack of governance - from the
simple absence of government, to the failure to administer the law
properly, to the corruption of the local police and the courts.

"Since 2002," one of the officials said, "we have been issuing
warnings that the main threat was the failure to address profound
governance problems, and if we did not take it seriously, grievances
would start to stem from that."

* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
--
getting out of bed in the morning is an act of false confidence
- jules feifer
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William Boyd · Guest

Rita wrote:

Earl Anthony · Guest

Clear to partly cloudy wrote:

C. Goode · Guest

On 30 Jun 2005 20:20:26 GMT, Earl <neptune@wt.net> wrote:

Rita · Guest

On 30 Jun 2005 17:41:15 GMT, awouk@blackhole.nyx.net (arthur wouk) wrote:

Clear to partly cloudy · Guest

"Rita" <nitany_98@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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Earl · Guest

Rita <nitany_98@yahoo.com> wrote in
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Earl wrote:

Dave Simpson · Guest

It was written:

Earl Anthony · Guest

Earl wrote:

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Thumper · Guest

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 20:05:54 GMT, "Clear to partly cloudy"
<ctpc2456@hotmail.com> wrote:

Thumper · Guest

On 30 Jun 2005 20:20:26 GMT, Earl <neptune@wt.net> wrote:

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