MILITARY NATION NFL American soldiers still R. Kelly Former Air Force keeping peace in Kosovo sex abuse cadet ready to after more than 2 decades trial begins take off with Jets Page 3 Page 12 Page 24 Biden sees greater threats than Taliban-controlled Afghanistan ›› Page 7 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 90 ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY,AUGUST 20, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas Afghan protesters challenge Taliban Demonstrations met with violent response for 2nd straight day BY AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ, KATHY GANNON AND JON GAMBRELL Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan protesters defied the Taliban for a second day Thursday, waving their national flag in scattered demonstrations, and the fighters again responded violently as they faced down growing challenges to their rule. A U.N. official warned of dire food shortages and experts said the country was severely in need of cash while noting that the Tali- ban are unlikely to enjoy the gen- erous international aid that the ci- vilian government they dethroned did. In light of these challenges, the Taliban have moved quickly to suppress any dissent, despite their promises that they have become more moderate since they last ruled Afghanistan with draconian laws. Many fear they will succeed in erasing two decades of efforts to expand women’s and human RAHMAT GUL/AP rights and remake the country. Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday. The Taliban celebrated Afghanistan’s Independence Day by declaring they beat the On Thursday, a procession of United States, but challenges to their rule have begun to emerge. cars and people near Kabul’s air- port carried long black, red and green banners in honor of the Af- ‘They kind of need help everywhere’: ghan flag — a banner that is be- coming a symbol of defiance. At US troops put in long hours in Qatar another protest in Nangarhar province, video posted online BY CHAD GARLAND Cargo plane and refueler activity in the air showed a bleeding demonstrator Stars and Stripes suggested crews were about on target for the with a gunshot wound. Onlookers Military personnel are working around the Pentagon’s one-flight-per-hour pace for the tried to carry him away. clock at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar to facilitate evacuation, said the resident, who wanted to In Khost province, Taliban au- the U.S. airlift from Afghanistan this week, highlight the “flex and give” the operation re- thorities instituted a 24-hour cur- while others launched clothing drives and vol- quired, referring to added workloads and few Thursday after violently unteer efforts, base residents said. hardships. breaking up another protest, ac- People dragged cots and mattresses into “It’s going to put strains everywhere,” he U.S. Air Force cording to information obtained their offices in an operations center, said one said of the effect the mission would have on An Afghan child sleeps on the cargo floor of by journalists monitoring from resident Wednesday, who asked not to be personnel, facilities and equipment. a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, kept abroad. The authorities did not named because he was not authorized to speak warm by the uniform of the C-17 loadmaster, to the media. SEE QATAR ON PAGE 9 during an evacuation flight Sunday. SEE CHALLENGE ON PAGE 8 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, August 20, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Judge denies Trump-era OK for Alaska oil project EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1177.16 Associated Press The Trump administration ap- of the project that Gleason found Switzerland (Franc) .9171 Euro costs (Aug. 20) $1.14 Thailand (Baht) 33.34 ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A fed- proved the project in late 2020, flawed. Dollar buys (Aug. 20) 0.8334 Turkey (NewLira) 8.5273 British pound (Aug. 20) $1.33 eral judge on Wednesday threw and the Biden administration de- Conservation groups and Sover- Japanese yen (Aug. 20) 107.00 (Military exchange rates are those available out Trump administration ap- fended the project in court. eign Inupiat for a Living Arctic, South Korean won (Aug. 20) 1143.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ provals for a large planned oil pro- Rebecca Boys, a ConocoPhil- described as a grassroots organi- many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) .3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ ject on Alaska’s North Slope, say- lips’ spokesperson, said the com- zation, had challenged the ade- Britain (Pound) 1.3690 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2757 your local military banking facility. Commercial ing the federal review was flawed pany would review Gleason’s de- quacy of the review process. China(Yuan) 6.4915 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.3567 and didn’t include mitigation mea- cision “and evaluate the options Karlin Itchoak, Alaska director Egypt (Pound) 15.7231 when buying currency. All figures are foreign sures for polar bears. available regarding this project.” for The Wilderness Society, in a Euro .8548 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7909 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ U.S. District Court Judge Sha- Spokespersons for the U.S. Bu- statement called the ruling “a step Hungary (Forint) 399.72 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2496 ron Gleason in Anchorage vacated reau of Land Management and the toward protecting public lands Japan (Yen) 109.74 INTEREST RATES permits for ConocoPhillips’ Wil- Interior Department said their and the people who would be most Kuwait(Dinar) .3011 Norway (Krone) 9.0017 Prime rate 3.25 low Project in the National Petro- agencies had no comment. The negatively impacted by the BLM’s Philippines (Peso) 50.46 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.92 Federal funds market rate 0.09 leum Reserve-Alaska in a 110- Bureau of Land Management con- haphazard greenlighting of the Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7505 3­month bill 0.07 page ruling. ducted the environmental review Willow project.” Singapore (Dollar) 1.3631 30­year bond 1.91 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 73/68 Kabul Seoul 78/72 Baghdad 109/76 Osan Tokyo Kandahar Drawsko 78/72 82/73 Mildenhall/ Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 64/58 78/75 72/57 Iwakuni Kuwait City 78/75 Bahrain Zagan Sasebo Guam 103/84 95/91 Brussels Ramstein 67/62 79/76 71/59 71/53 83/80 Riyadh Lajes, 105/80 Doha Azores Stuttgart 101/87 74/71 71/60 Pápa Aviano/ 76/62 Vicenza 80/60 Naples 83/73 Okinawa Morón 83/80 96/71 Sigonella Rota 90/68 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 81/68 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 103/83 80/75 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 13 Comics .........................16 Crossword ................... 16 Faces .......................... 14 Opinion ........................ 15 Sports .................... 18-24 Friday, August 20, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY US soldiers are still preserving peace ‘Forgotten Battalion’ in Kosovo after more than two decades BY SLOBODAN LEKIC ians on both sides the breathing Stars and Stripes space they need to sit down at the CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo table and discuss how to resolve — The U.S.-led NATO force that their differences,” said Hopkins, has been keeping the peace for who also heads KFOR’s Regional more than 20 years is on guard Command East headquartered at against disinformation campaigns this austere base. aimed at stoking inter-ethnic ten- After his unit completes its de- sions in Europe’s youngest nation, ployment, it will be followed by the officials said. Virginia Army National Guard Security in Kosovo remains sta- next spring. Each rotation typical- ble overall. But Washington and its ly lasts between nine and 12 NATO allies have no plans to re- months. duce the Kosovo Force — or KFOR KFOR currently includes about — which is still considered essen- 3,600 peacekeepers from 27 na- tial in maintaining peace between tions. The United States has the the Albanian majority and Serb largest contingent, with 660 minority, whose rivalry erupted in troops, most of them based at this a war in the late 1990s in which at sprawling facility in central Koso- least 10,000 people died. vo. “I have no indication of any U.S. Italy has 542 soldiers and Hun- drawdown,” said Col. Brey Hop- gary nearly 400. Some countries, kins, who commands the 86th In- such as Sweden or tiny Montene- fantry Brigade Combat Team gro, contribute just a couple of offi- (Mountain) of the Vermont Army cers each. National Guard, which arrived in The U.S. group, which during Kosovo in July for a regular nine- the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan month deployment. became known as the “Forgotten After a bombing campaign in Battalion,” has traditionally been 1999, the international coalition the biggest part of the NATO force, evicted Serb troops from what was which has shrunk steadily from a then a southern province of a high of about 50,000 in 2000. PHOTOS BY SLOBODAN LEKIC/Stars and Stripes greatly reduced Yugoslavia. Koso- Despite its relatively small size, Col. Brey Hopkins, right, talks to Capt. Jeffrey Jace Rivard of the Vermont Army National Guard at Camp vo, about 90% of whose 1.8 million it consists of elements from 11 state Bondsteel in Kosovo. people are ethnic Albanians, uni- National Guards, as well as Army laterally declared independence Reserve and active-duty troops. that KFOR allow Serbian police from Serbia in 2008.