Afghanistan could implode without immediate NATO help

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Afghanistan will fall apart unless Nato countries urgently fulfil promises to send troops, the Commons foreign affairs select committee warned yesterday.

With violence rising ahead of an election scheduled for October, the MPs concluded: "There is a real danger that if these resources are not provided soon Afghanistan - a fragile state in one of the most sensitive and volatile regions of the world - could implode, with terrible consequences."

The prediction came 24 hours after Médecins sans Frontières announced it is to end its operations in the country after 23 years because of the deterioration in security.

The cross-party committee of MPs, in a 174-page report entitled Foreign Policy Aspects of the War Against Terrorism, also expressed concern over Iraq and the risk that it too could become a failed state that will create regional instability.

They said: "Iraq has become a 'battleground' for al-Qaida, with appalling consequences for the Iraqi people."

The MPs visited Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan to compile the report, and met the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, and the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf.

The MPs criticised the Nato countries, other than the US and Britain, who pledged support at their summit in Istanbul in June but did not match that with the provision of desperately needed troops for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf). "We conclude that, welcome though the Istanbul declaration of limited further support for Afghanistan is, fine communiques and ringing declarations are no substitute for delivery of the forces and equipment which Afghanistan needs on the ground," the MPs said. "We agreed with President Karzai that the need for more resources for Isaf is urgent."
They added: "We recommend that the government impresses upon its Nato allies the need to deliver on their promises to help Afghanistan before it is too late, both for the credibility of the alliance and, more importantly, for the people of Afghanistan."

The MPs identified the continued power of Afghan warlords as part of the problem. Sir John Stanley, a member of the committee and a former Conservative defence minister, said: "Afghanistan is on a knife-edge."

As well as the failure to establish security, the MPs also noted the failure of the British government, which is the lead country in the international coalition in trying to eliminate poppy cultivation, to reduce poppy crops. There have been bumper poppy crops this year.

"We conclude that there is little, if any, sign of the war on drugs being won, and every indication that the situation is likely to deteriorate, at least in the short term.

"We recommend that the government, which is in the lead on the counter-narcotics strategy in Afghanistan, explain in its response to this report exactly how it proposes to meet the targets of reducing opium poppy cultivation by 75% by 2008, and eradicating it completely by 2013."

The MPs expressed concern over the extent to which Iraq has been turned into a battleground.

"We conclude that the insufficient number of troops in Iraq has contributed to the deterioration in security. We further conclude that the failure of countries other than the US and the UK to send significant numbers of troops has had serious and regrettable consequences."

The MPs called for regulation of the private military and security organisations that have mushroomed in Iraq.

They were critical too over the failure this year of officials to inform ministers about the Red Cross report on conditions in Abu Ghraib jail, and called for an up-to-date total of Iraqi prisoners being held.

The Foreign Office said last night it would study the report and provide a detailed response. In the short term, Lady Symons, minister of state at the Foreign Office, said it had always been anticipated that there would be a rise in drug production because the strict measures imposed by the Taliban had been lifted. She said the coalition was in Afghanistan for the long haul.

Iraq should also be seen in context, Lady Symons said. Although there had been terrible acts of violence, these were mainly confined to Baghdad and the Sunni triangle, and many other parts of Iraq had remained quiet.


Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Friday July 30, 2004
The Guardian
 

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This commons report is pretty sensible and looks like a good non-partisan bit of work.

Iraq 'is al-Qaeda battleground'


The Iraq war may have increased the terror threat, says Donald Anderson
Iraq has become a "battleground" for al-Qaeda, MPs have warned in a report on the war on terrorism.
The Commons foreign affairs committee says there are too few foreign troops in Iraq and Muslim states should be encouraged to send forces.

The MPs say Iraqi forces are still a long way from being able to ensure security in their country.

The report also says Afghanistan could implode with "terrible consequences" without more foreign troops.


Donald Anderson, the committee's Labour chairman, said the Iraq war might well have increased the terror threat in the short term, although it was too early to assess its long term impact.


The wide-ranging findings are the latest instalment in the MPs' long-running investigation into the war against terrorism.

Among the other findings are:


The MPs are "very concerned" key information on intelligence and alleged human rights abuses by British troops was withheld from ministers and senior government officials

The credibility of the UK in Iraq has been damaged by the failure to meet Iraqi expectations on the provision of basic services, such as water and electricity

People from the UK have been named in documents about alleged corruption in the Oil-for-Food programme in Iraq

Russian support for Iran's nuclear activities "could risk contributing to the spread of weapons of mass destruction capabilities in the Middle East"
Law vacuum

Wednesday's suicide bombing in Iraq, which killed 68 people, underlined the continued security problems in Iraq.

The MPs blame the violence on a range of groups, including former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, local Islamists, criminal gangs and al-Qaeda.

"Iraq has become a 'battleground' for al-Qaeda, with appalling consequences for the Iraqi people.

The Iraqi police and army remain a long way from being able to maintain security."

Foreign affairs committee


Afghanistan could implode, say MPs

"However, we also conclude that the coalition's failure to bring law and order to parts of Iraq created a vacuum into which criminal elements and militias have stepped."

The report says the failure of countries other than the US and UK to send significant numbers of troops to Iraq has brought "serious and regrettable consequences".

Muslim forces

Mr Anderson said involving more troops from Muslim countries would answer conspiracy theorists who believed the Iraq war was over oil.

He highlighted Saudi Arabia's proposal for a new military force drawn exclusively from Muslim countries.

"The fact is if there were not that support to help the Iraqi government in terms of security, in the short term there is a real danger of Iraq becoming a failed state that would be a danger not only to its own fragmented groups... but to the countries in the region," he said.

A couple of rockets landed at night, there are periodic warnings of kidnappings and curfews in most cities

Paul Barker, CARE International


UK agencies to stay in Afghanistan

The MPs praise the UK government for helping in the formation of Iraq security forces.

But they continue: "We conclude that the Iraqi police and army remain a long way from being able to maintain security."

The Foreign Office acknowledges people sympathetic with al-Qaeda are behind some of the Iraq violence but say it would be wrong to think the terror network would have withered away if there had been no war.

Precarious

Tony Blair recently denied suggestions that Afghanistan had become a "forgotten" country amid complaints from some of the MPs on the committee who visited the country.

The MPs back Afghan President Hamid Karzai's call for Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to be given more resources.

Conservative committee member Sir John Stanley told reporters that security in Afghanistan was "on a knife edge".


Afghan opium hits British streets, say the MPs
Nato must answer President Karzai's call for more help, he said, warning of the consequences of failure.

"We could end up with a situation that everything we have tried to achieve could be set back almost to square one," added Sir John.

The MPs say there are no signs the war against Afghan opium production is being won - in fact, in the short term, things appear to be getting worse.

Committee chairman Donald Anderson said the problem was a clear example of how foreign policy could impact on British streets, where 90% of heroin came from Afghanistan.

The Foreign Office says it is working on the problem but stresses there are long-term social and economic factors which would not change overnight.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3935755.stm
 

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Yeah, I saw this earlier. so let's do a quick summary:

The Secretary of Defense wants to have a lighter, smaller Armed Forces while at the same time trying to occupy two countries at once and still pursue Al qaeda throughout the world and be able to meet other threats. Freakin' brilliant.
 

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icon_biggrin.gif
icon_biggrin.gif


This I believe, is the Corporate approach.

'Streamline' the workforce and 'make them more efficient'.

If they can come up with a system to reduce time spent on eating, sleeping and crapping then they can make them REALLY efficient.
 

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