http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2049-2005Mar2.html


Afghan Leader Names First Female Governor


The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 2, 2005; 6:12 PM


KABUL, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai appointed Afghanistan's first female provincial governor, an official said Wednesday, a step toward reviving women's rights trampled by the former hardline Taliban government.

Habiba Sarobi, a former women's minister, becomes governor of central Bamiyan province, Interior Ministry spokesman Latfullah Mashal said. "It has been approved by the president's office today," he said.

"Today is a very good day for me," Sarobi said. "It is another important step toward women's rights in Afghanistan."

She said she would meet senior officials in the coming days to discuss when she would take up her post in the heart of the Hindu Kush mountains.

Millions of women and girls have returned to work and school since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Equality before the law is embedded in a new constitution, and some women have abandoned the head-to-toe public veiling that was mandatory under the tough Islamic regime.

Seats are also reserved for women in the two-chamber parliament to be installed by elections this year.

However, conservative custom still confines most rural women to the home, and health services to alleviate high levels of maternal and infant mortality are being extended only slowly. Karzai has also been criticized for including only three women in his nearly 30-member Cabinet.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61995-2005Mar1.html


Afghanistan Seeks US Military Partnership

By STEPHEN GRAHAM
The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 1, 2005; 3:55 AM


KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan and the United States will establish a long-term military partnership and officials have already begun working out the details, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday.

To consolidate the war-ravaged country's fragile recovery from years of impoverishing conflict, "we do need a long-term, strong and strategic partnership with the United States," presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said at a news conference.

"The question of what form that will take is being worked on but it will, we believe, span over a broad range of spheres including the economy, including politics, including military," Ludin said.

Ludin declined to comment on a visiting U.S. senator's suggestion last week that America needs permanent bases in Afghanistan to secure its interests in the region, which include Iran, nuclear rivals Pakistan and India and oil-rich Central Asia.

However, the spokesman said Karzai's government was optimistic it can reach an agreement with officials in Washington.

"They also understand that Afghanistan's situation, Afghanistan's location in this region and the strategic importance that the U.S. presence has here will continue to be there for some time," Ludin said.

Three years after driving out the Taliban for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the American military has about 17,000 troops in Afghanistan, many of the them deployed near the mountainous Pakistani frontier.

It also operates air bases at Bagram, north of the capital, Kandahar in the south and Jalalabad in the east, equipped with helicopter gunships and ground-attack aircraft.

Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was concerned that American policy-makers will reduce that force too soon, arguing that militants remain a grave threat to Karzai's feeble government.

However, he also said work was progressing on a new runway at Bagram and that the sprawling Soviet-era base "is a place where we see a long-term presence of coalition and, frankly, U.S. capabilities."

Sen. John McCain, the No. 2 Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said after talks with Karzai on Feb. 22 that he favored permanent American bases in Afghanistan. His office later issued a statement saying the U.S. commitment he envisaged didn't necessarily require "permanent" bases.

quote:

Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was concerned that American policy-makers will reduce that force too soon, arguing that militants remain a grave threat to Karzai's feeble government.

Interesting comment.

Warlords I could see being a threat, but militants (Taliban)?

Schlap


Islamofacists not too much of a problem in Afghanistan any more, or rather, home grown islamofacists.

There are, however, still plenty of them in Pakistan's Waziristan and Balochistan regions, not to mention the big seaport of Karachi.

I think he means that if we downsize our Military presence in Afghanistan, then those islamofacists in holed up in Pakistan could easier cross into Afghanistan and get some crap going.

I agree with him 100%. We must NOT get complacent there and downsize our Military presence in Afghanistan or anywhere else in the other "stans".

20,000th ANA Soldier Graduates from KMTC

(Source: US Army; issued March 2, 2005)

CAMP PHOENIX, KABUL, Afghanistan --- February 27 marked the graduation of the 20,000th soldier to train at the Kabul Military Training Center. The Afghanistan National Army’s first kandak, or battalion, graduated July 23, 2002, and less then three years later the ANA has grown into a force of more than 20,000 ANA soldiers.

This 31st kandak also marks the end of the former training system which consisted of 10 weeks of basic combat training. The Basic Combat Training course has been restructured and will be five weeks at KMTC followed by five weeks of Advanced Individual Training at Pol-e-charki.

The BCT course will continue to teach basic soldier skills including marksmanship and infantry tactics. AIT will consist of specialized training in field artillery, reconnaissance, armor, transportation, quartermaster functions, military intelligence, maintenance and combat engineering.

U.S. Training Assistance Group, in its third version in at KMTC, has increased the training tempo and production by threefold. Formerly, basic training operated three continuous training battalions. That has doubled, with six BCT kandaks on the ground at any given time. British and French Coalition forces in charge of the noncommissioned officer and officer courses prospectively have also doubled the number of classes given at one time. Almost half of all soldiers in the ANA have graduated from KMTC within the last eight months.

The BCT mentors work with the battalion staff to develop training procedures. From insuring that the battalion S1 has accurate personnel accountability to the S4 programming for logistical needs to help the KMTC executive office develop training plans the BCT mentors have a busy day.

The day-to-day operations and training of the battalion is also their responsibility. The TAG NCOs work with the ANA NCOs to build a sense of ownership in the education of their soldiers.

American, British, French, Romanian, Bulgarian, Mongolian and Canadian Forces work together to teach the Afghan National Army. Today, 90 percent of all instruction on both doctrine and equipment is done by ANA cadre.

“They are certainly much more self-sufficient and proactive, the quality of cadre has greatly increased and that speaks volumes of the instruction they are receiving.” Major Jeff Nichols, MCT officer in charge.

What is the ANA BCT like? Is it it in similar format to ours? Just curious

http://www.dod.gov/news/Mar2005/20050305_95.html


Afghan Citizens Increase Weapons Cache Turn-in 100 Percent
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, March 5, 2005 – The number of weapons and munitions caches turned in to coalition forces increased nearly 100 percent between February 2004 and February 2005, U.S. military officials in Afghanistan reported today.
“These statistics show the voice of the people rejecting the rule of violence for the choice of freedom,” said Army Maj. Steve Wollman, spokesman for Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, during a press conference. In February 2004, of the 65 caches recovered, Afghan citizens turned in or reported 25. A year later, of 73 caches recovered, citizens turned in or reported 49. Coalition forces discovered the rest.

“Caches are increasing in size and the amount of useful munitions,” Wollman said. “We continue to be encouraged by these discoveries.”

He also noted that coalition forces and the Afghanistan government are helping people affected by the Asian country’s harsh winter weather.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2005/20050307_99.html


Reconstruction Team Helps Restore Afghan Cultural Art Form

By Sgt. Jeremy A. Clawson, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service


HERAT, Afghanistan, March 7, 2005 – In 1997, Taliban leaders drove a 600 year-old Afghan art form to near extinction when they fired 22 of the 30 craftsmen at the Blue Mosque Tile Factory.

The eight remaining blue-tile artisans held in their hands the fate of this ancient craft.

After U.S. and coalition forces expelled the Taliban from power in 2001, the factory, now called the Blue Mosque Preservation Center, began to flourish. In the months ahead, the center will help former combatants lay down their weapons to become productive members of Afghan society.

http://www.dod.gov/news/Mar2005/20050307_98.html


Violent Contacts Down in Afghanistan, Commander Says
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, March 7, 2005 – Violent contacts between coalition forces and enemy fighters in Afghanistan are declining in number, a senior commander of forces there said today.
“Over the past year, the number of areas where the Afghan central government and international organizations classify or describe the environment as insecure has gone down dramatically,” said Army Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76, at a news conference in Kabul. Combined Joint Task Force 76 is a subordinate unit to Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. It is the operational military headquarters in the country.

Taliban attacks lessen in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 8 : The number of Taliban and militant attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan has been drastically reduced, said a senior U.S. commander in the country.

Maj.Gen. Eric Olson said Monday in Kabul that Taliban attacks have dropped to as few as five per week.When the troops first arrived in 2004 the attacks were as many as 10 to 15 per week.

Olsen credits the decrease to the fact that the Taliban are receiving less support in their established strongholds, the BBC reported.

U.S. troops are still searching for al-Qaida militants mainly in the south and east of the country.But the reduction in attacks has allowed a shift in the nature of U.S. military activity, the general said, away from combat missions and toward increasing involvement in reconstruction efforts and humanitarian assistance.

Olson said it may soon be possible to consider reducing the number of U.S. troops stationed in the country.He stressed that NATO and Afghan security forces would first have to be ready to take over security tasks, however.

U.S. troops are the main component of the international coalition force in Afghanistan, with 17,000 troops fighting insurgents of the Taliban, whose regime fell in late 2001.

link

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=27777


SETAF takes command of Afghan mission



BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — The lightning bolt has given way to the lion.

The Southern European Task Force (Airborne) took over authority of Combined/Joint Task Force-76 from the 25th Infantry Division in a ceremony Tuesday.

SETAF, whose patches feature St. Mark’s lion, becomes the first nondivision size element to run the mission in Afghanistan since the United States forced out the ruling Taliban government following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

http://www.dod.gov/news/Mar2005/20050316_194.html


Vitality, Optimism Characterize Afghanistan Today
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service


KABUL, Afghanistan, March 16, 2005 – Vitality and optimism are the most striking changes in today’s Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers visited Afghan leaders and American servicemembers here.

The chairman first visited the country in December 2001, soon after Kabul fell to a force of Afghan fighters and American Special Forces soldiers. “Every time I come back, the economic activity is obvious and a sure sign that there is progress in security and stability and in economic growth,” Myers said during a joint interview with the commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, Army Lt. Gen. David Barno.




CHAIRMAN SALUTES – U.S. Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, salutes the Afghan palace guards as he leaves the Minister of Defense building in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 15, 2005. Myers is in Afghanistan to visit the troops and to see the progress that has been achieved since the war against terrorism started in 2001. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen


Hi-Res Photo: http://www.dod.gov/home/images/photos/2005-03/index/Hi-Res/050315-F-0193C-007.jpg

http://www.hqusareur.army.mil/htmlinks/Press_Releases/2005/Mar2005/15Mar2005-01.htm


1/508 settles in for new mission in Afghanistan


FOB ORGUN-E, Afghanistan -- Lt. Col. Tim McGuire, commander, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and Task Force Fury, is noticeably excited when he talks about his battalion’s new mission in Afghanistan.

The 1/508 have settled into their new home at Forward Operating Base Orgun-E, outside the town of Orgune in the Paktika province of southeastern Afghanistan.

The paratroops, who began arriving at the FOB March 1 and took over responsibility March 12, will be stationed at the forward operating base for the next year as part of Task Force Fury.

The battalion, along with other elements from the 173rd, fell in on the position occupied by elements of the Hawaian-based 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.

http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/mar2005/a032105ms2.html


A-10s Pinpoint Location of Stranded Villagers
Airmen use infrared feature on targeting pods to rescue Afghans as flood waters rose.

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, March 21, 2005 — More than 200 villagers were rescued from flood waters March 18 as airborne A-10s from the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing out of Bagram Airfield helped identify and report the victims' exact location.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=27889


Military comes to rescue in rainy Afghanistan


BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — To recent arrivals, it might seem as if there are only two types of weather in Afghanistan: rain and the brief periods between rain.

But the new millennium hadn’t delivered much in the way of precipitation to Afghanistan until this winter. Then the snow came. Then, with the warmer weather came steady rain.

...

Yet another story about our Military that the media somehow managed to miss.

Afghanistan is to the press what local sports are to sports "reporters." They won't do a local sports story unless someone calls them and tells them what happened. Thus, Afghanistan and the great success there remains the best kept secret in the WOT. Yes, we have to deal with the problem of their best cash crop, but even that is being worked on. An unabashed success by our military that is only covered when someone calls the lazy-assed press, or so it seems to this observer.

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_afghan_032305,00.html


Warplanes Kill 5 In Afghanistan


KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. warplanes killed five suspected militants near the Pakistani border after guerrillas launched an overnight attack on American and Afghan military positions, officials said Wednesday.

The planes were scrambled after insurgents fired at least eight rockets at a U.S. base in the southeastern province of Khost and turned rockets and guns against three border posts late Tuesday, the American military said.

"Coalition aircraft killed five insurgents," a military statement said, adding that U.S. troops also responded with artillery fire from their base near Khost city. No U.S. or allied forces were hurt, it said.

...

Yeah! Get some!

Tours, you and me Bud, we are going to raise the consciousness of this board and this country about the great triumph for liberty and democracy that we scored in Afghanistan. We are going to talk about it every time we can. If there is no news, that's news! You have done a good job of keeping this thread going. Let's keep it going. ^5 Tours.

http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/mar2005/a032305wm4.html


C-130s Airdrop Critical Supplies to Afghans
Aircrews complete three crucial airdrops in one day from Uzbekistan

By U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
416th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs

KARSHI-KHANABAD AIR BASE, Uzbekistan, March 23, 2005 — C-130 Hercules airlifters with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron flew three humanitarian airdrop missions from here bringing needed supplies and water to remote areas of Afghanistan March 21.
“Flying three airdrop missions in one day is nearly unprecedented for us,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jesse Simmons, 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron commander deployed from the Georgia Air National Guard at Savannah. “That many airdrop missions is more than we would normally do in a given day, but we did it and the missions were very successful.”

http://www.dod.mil/news/Mar2005/20050321_267.html


Afghan Military Academy Graduates First Basic Training Class
By Sgt. Joe McFarren, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service


KABUL, Afghanistan, March 21, 2005 – The National Military Academy of Afghanistan graduated its first class of basic training soldiers March 17.

The 112 cadets then swore into the academy in front of three ANA generals as well as Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix commander Army Brig. Gen. Richard Moorhead and Army Col. James Wilhite of the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan, as well as representatives from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and the Turkish force commander.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2005/20050319_252.html


Afghans, Coalition Work to Rid Afghanistan of Weapons
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, March 19, 2005 – Following tips from police and local citizens, U.S. and coalition forces recovered several caches of weapons in Afghanistan this week.
According to Brig. Gen. James Champion, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76, 43 percent of all weapon caches are turned in by Afghans.

On March 17, Afghan police and coalition forces recovered an anti-personnel mine, a hand grenade and a rocket near Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khowst province. Also in Khowst province, coalition forces found three AK-47 assault rifles, ammunition and 8,000 Pakistani rupees, worth roughly $136.

mtotievet


Thanks! Much appreciated.

It really, really bothers me that the enormous success that is the Afghanistan Campaign is so totally ignored, except for the occasional terrorist attack or accident, that the leftist media might feel was worth mentioning, and routinely telling us that "the taliban freedom fighters are regaining control in Afghanistan, as well as al quaeda freedom fighters", etc, etc.

You can tell that they probably don't even believe it themselves any more, but that they arfe just deperately hoping. But the anti-American pro-terrorist media have to laud the non-existent victories of their beloved terrorists.

Keep in mind Tours, that if we succeed in eradicating the terrorists, there is no bad news. With no bad news, circulation or viewership drops. With less circ or view, ad revenue drops. Hence, publishers "love" terrorists and don't mind if we have a few casualties too, since that stirs up controversy and sells papers and adds viewers and increases ad revenue, which is what it's really all about.

Leave it to a terrorist scumbag to put up a fight while hiding behind his wife and children, instead of giving up peaceably.

Seven Killed in Afghanistan Fighting

Mar 24, 11:20 AM (ET)
LINK

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S.-led forces trying to capture a suspected Taliban militant got into a firefight that left seven people dead, including two children and a woman, the military said Thursday.

The suspected militant, Raz Mohammed, and two other insurgents were also killed in the firefight Tuesday in southeastern Paktika province near the Pakistani border, the military said.

"Coalition troops were fired on by Raz Mohammed and other Taliban forces when they attempted to capture Mohammed," the military said in a statement. "During the ensuing firefight, Mohammed and two other enemy insurgents were killed. An Afghan woman and two children also died."

An Afghan helping coalition troops also was killed, the military said. It was unclear if the man was a member of the Afghan security forces or an informer.

Mullah Hakim Latifi, a purported Taliban spokesman, said the clash occurred when U.S. troops surrounded the tents where Mohammed was living in Waza Khwa, an impoverished district on the Pakistani border.

"Mohammed resisted the U.S. forces," Latifi told The Associated Press by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.

He confirmed the death of Mohammed, who he said was a senior military commander in eastern Laghman province before the Taliban's ouster in 2001. He said Mohammed's wife and six of his children were also killed.

Latifi claimed that eight American soldiers died in the battle, but the American military said none of its soldiers was hurt.

Yes, violence sells.

But there is also a genuine sympathy and adoration in the world for the taliban, al quaeda, baathists, etc.

Or they would not hate America so much and make themselves available to our enemies as their propaganda apparatus.

Real shame on what we have accomlished in AFG. does not make ongoing news daily.
A Historical occurrence which should have on going accolades for our Military and policy against Terrorism. This should spread with bravado across the world, BUT DOSEN'T!!



SEMPER FI

What our Military has done in Afghanistan is unprecedented in the history of Warfare.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=27962


After many years, fruit trees are again part of the scenery in Afghan park



ZAMA, Afghanistan — To Western eyes, it doesn’t look much like a park. There’s dirt, dozens of tree stumps, a dilapidated stone structure in the middle and a low perimeter wall made of dried mud.

But to local villagers, Special Operations civil affairs soldiers and the commander of the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, Zama Dam Park is a success story.