Afghanistan Review Week 37 13 September 2011 Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises
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CIVIL - MILITARY FUSION CEN TRE Afghanistan Review Week 37 13 September 2011 Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises INSIDE THIS ISSUE This document provides a weekly overview of developments in Afghanistan from 06—12 September 2011, with hyper-links to source material highlighted in blue and underlined in the text. For more information Economic Development on the topics below or other issues pertaining to events in Afghanistan, feel free to contact the members of Governance & Rule of Law Humanitarian Affairs the Afghanistan Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org. Infrastructure Security & Force Protection Socio-Cultural Development Economic Development Steven A. Zyck ► [email protected] DISCLAIMER he Afghan Investment Support Agency nation of several expenses, including the fol- (AISA) announced that a foreign com- lowing: “base salary, danger pay, overtime The Civil-Military Fusion Centre T pany will invest USD 100 million in and Sunday pay, maintenance pay for families (CFC) is an information and what would be the largest food processing located elsewhere, travel, training, and even a knowledge management facility in the country, says Tolo News. Cover- „field life support kit‟ of satellite phone and organisation focused on improving ing 5,000 acres of land, the processing plant protective equipment, as well a variety of oth- civil-military interaction, facilitating would employ several thousand Afghans and er costs.” The Washington Post notes, howev- information sharing and enhancing help Afghan agricultural products reach inter- er, that each US soldier in Afghanistan costs situational awareness through the national markets. The venture is being an average of USD 694,000 per year. CimicWeb portal and our weekly launched by a joint Saudi Arabian-American and monthly publications. company, ANHAM. ANHAM operates in The Washington Post reports that, with many South and Central Asia, the Middle East and American politicians looking to cut federal CFC products are based upon and North Africa and currently has a contract to government spending, civilian staff members link to open-source information supply food for foreign troops in Afghanistan. and programmes in Afghanistan may be ad- from a wide variety of organisations, The company‟s website notes that last year it versely affected. This same point is made research centres and media sources. was awarded a US government contract worth within the SIGAR-DoS audit report, which However, the CFC does not endorse up to USD 6.47 billion to support American notes the following: and cannot necessarily guarantee military logistics in Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan. the accuracy or objectivity of these “The current emphasis on reducing the sources. CFC publications are A recent audit report from the US Special In- federal deficit increases the likelihood independently produced by spector General for Afghanistan Reconstruc- that spending, including the budgets of Knowledge Managers and do not tion (SIGAR) and the inspector general from agencies involved in the uplift [i.e., the reflect NATO or ISAF policies or the US Department of State (DoS) was re- post-2009 increase in civilian advisers to positions of any other organisation. leased on 08 September, according to The Afghanistan], will be reduced in coming The CFC is part of NATO Allied Washington Post. The audit found that, since years. An overall budget reduction could Command Operations. 2009, nearly USD 1.7 billion have been spent negatively affect the U.S. government’s on deploying additional civilian aid experts ability to implement its strategy in Af- and advisers to Afghanistan. While most of ghanistan.” this money funded DoS personnel, substantial portions also went to US government civilians One year ago, then US Secretary of Defense employed by the United States Agency for Robert Gates made a similar comment to the International Development (USAID), the US US Congress, warning that cuts in aid to Af- Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US ghanistan would undermine the US strategy in Department of Justice (DoJ) and other federal that country, reported the Associated Press. CONTACT THE CFC agencies. The SIGAR-DoS audit report indi- cates that it costs the US government between Money traders in Kabul have told Radio Free For further information, contact: USD 410,000 and USD 570,000 per year to Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that they be- Afghanistan Team Leader employ a civilian employee in Afghanistan; lieve large volumes of counterfeit currency Steven A. Zyck there are approximately 1,040 US civilian have entered into circulation in Afghanistan. [email protected] government staff members in Afghanistan. A The Afghan money traders suspect that the separate article on this topic from CNN indi- money originates in Iran and/or Pakistan, and The Afghanistan Team cates that the total cost for US government some believe that the forged bills are intended [email protected] civilian employees in Afghanistan is a combi- to destabilise the Afghan economy. The head of Afghanistan‟s Money Exchange Dealers‟ Association told and security forces to do more in the border areas to prevent RFE/RL that he and his colleagues are “urging the government [the fake money‟s] entry into the country.” Governance & Rule of Law Stefanie Nijssen ► [email protected] he Afghan government has strongly rejected allegations NATO contingent to the Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI). of torture and abuse, reports the Associated Press (AP). The article maintains that, under French supervision, the ALP T The allegations emerged from a leaked report by the received sufficient ammunition, salaries and arms. Now that United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). the ALP is under government control, a former ALP member NATO temporarily suspended transferring detainees to a num- told IWPR that operations have become disorganised and that ber of Afghan jails in light of the accusations, highlighted the the ALP is facing a decrease in pay. BBC. The UNAMA report reportedly detailed the use of elec- tric shocks, threats of sexual assault and other means of physi- The Taliban, once condemning the use of the internet as being cal torture. At least six detention centres run by Afghanistan‟s “un-Islamic”, has developed its public relations skills, employ- intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security ing such tools as email, websites and social media, reports (NDS), and three jails operated by the Ministry of Justice Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). According to the (MoJ) were implicated. Although Afghan government officials article, the Taliban has a website editor, an official media com- complained that the UN had not given them a copy of the re- mittee and a professional video production studio. Although port, a UN spokesman said that they had presented the report‟s insurgents may not be able to use these tools to communicate key findings to Afghan authorities and that the findings do not directly with one another, websites can be used to communi- represent an institutional or government policy of mistreat- cate with sister groups in other countries, according to the ment. RFE/RL article. Despite these adaptations, the Taliban leader- ship remains a mystery, Umar Daudzai, the Afghan special In related news, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a envoy to Pakistan, stated. Daudzai emphasised the military report charging the Afghan Local Police (ALP) with gross nature of the insurgency in saying that “the Taliban have no human rights violations including killings, rape, arbitrary de- political face [...] they don‟t have a political address.” tention, abduction, forcible land removal and illegal raids. A July 2011 report by the Civil-Military Fusion Centre (CFC) A flurry of discussion and progress concerning reconciliation indicated that the ALP is a local policing initiative comprised was also reported this past week. The Afghan High Peace of local fighters and supported by the Afghan government and Council (HPC) said that an early withdrawal of foreign troops some member of the international community; ALP members would be perilous for Afghanistan, according to Tolo News. are intended to supplement the Afghan National Security Forc- An article by Pajhwok Afghan News indicates that tribal elders es (ANSF). According to the AP, the HRW report recommends in Kandahar city have created a committee to assist with peace that the US and Afghan governments distance themselves from talks between insurgent fighters and the government. Mean- these militia groups and improve the training of the ANSF. while, Reuters reports that former members of the Northern HRW‟s Asia director asserted that “[p]oor governance, corrup- Alliance in Panjshir province are refusing to support the Af- tion, human rights abuses and impunity for government- ghan government‟s reconciliation efforts. UN Secretary- affiliated forces all are drivers of the insurgency and these is- General Ban Ki-moon said that the UN can help facilitate Af- sues need to be addressed if true stability is to come to Af- ghan peace talks, notes Agence France-Presse (AFP). ghanistan.” An Oxfam report released in May 2011 recorded similar abuses, including child sexual abuse, by the ALP. As work continues on the second phase of the security transi- tion, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, President Karzai‟s National Secu- According to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting rity Adviser, was in Washington last week to meet with US (IWPR), ALP efforts to maintain security in Kapisa province officials on matters relating to the strategic partnership agree- are faltering as many desert over worsening working condi- ment, according to the Times of India. President Obama said tions. In two districts of Kapisa alone, as many as 40 ALP on Thursday that the United States will not seek to establish a members deserted after command shifted from France‟s permanent military base in Afghanistan. Humanitarian Affairs Linda Lavender ► [email protected] euters reports that many Afghan refugees remaining in agreed to allow displaced Afghans to remain in Pakistan until Pakistan believe that returning to Afghanistan before the end of 2012.