http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Afghanistan Wed, 22 May 2013 00:54:36 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Afghanistan Tue, 21 May 2013 21:12:57 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a7c_1369184263 BekasKhan By Michael Hirsh National JournalKABUL, Afghanistan - None of President Hamid Karzai's top advisers knew that he had been receiving tens of millions of dollars in secret cash from the CIA, Afghanistan's senior anticorruption official said, and he added that he did not believe the Afghan leader's claim that he had been giving the agency regular receipts for the money. Mohammad Yasin Osmani, the head of the Independent Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, said in an interview last week that he and 39 other advisers who audit expenditures throughout the government "were not aware" of the decade-old payouts, which Karzai acknowledged at a news conference in Kabul on May 4. But Osmani, like other Afghan government officials, was reluctant to criticize Karzai or accuse him of personal corruption, highlighting a growing friction between Afghanistan and the International Security Assistance Force led by the United States over an issue that threatens to upend the rebuilding effort here, and possibly U.S. plans for a post-2014 "strategic partnership" with Afghanistan. Many Afghan officials and politicians contend that their nation's reputation for rampant corruption is exaggerated-according to Transparency International, a monitoring group, Afghanistan is the most corrupt nation on earth, along with Myanmar, North Korea, and Somalia. They say that more to blame are poor procedures by ISAF and Washington that hand aid money directly over to graft-plagued contractors and subcontractors. Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister who is currently the chairman of the Afghan Transition Coordination Commission, said the Karzai cash controversy is viewed in Washington as simply more evidence of Afghanistan's corrupt ways. But he asked: "What does it say about the way the American government conducts itself?" It is, perhaps, a fair point, especially coming after a decade in which the $60 billion American rebuilding effort in Iraq was deemed hopelessly corrupt-in part because, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen concluded in his final report in March, in many cases U.S. officials did not consult with Iraqis closely or deeply enough to determine what reconstruction projects were really needed. Now the Afghans are saying the same thing. Even as the security transition to the Afghan National Security Forces is said to be going more smoothly, civilian transition from U.S. to Afghan oversight is a disaster, Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said in an interview. "The transition has not happened," he said, although as the ISAF-formed "provincial reconstruction teams" are being dismantled. U.S. aid rules have themselves become a source of corruption, Osmani says. Too many private contractors skim off the top as they subcontract a job out, a practice that the Afghan government itself would not permit, he says. Beyond that, "nobody has the right to monitor international community projects," and yet international auditors are often too leery of going to insecure areas. So little monitoring occurs. And in some cases U.S.-built projects appear to be following the pattern in Iraq. Osmani cited a case in which the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, John Sopko, criticized a $73 million contract given by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to DynCorp International for a shoddily built Afghan National Army base in Kunduz Province. "They didn't allow the government to go out and supervise the project!" Osmani said. The finger-pointing on both sides suggests a long-married couple-10 years of geopolitical marriage in this case-who are fed up with each other but can't bear the idea of divorce. And the mood is getting testier. In a recent report, Sopko accused the Afghan government of "targeting American contractors with unjust taxes and intimidation." Zakhilwal says the allegations are false. Even in the case of Afghanistan's biggest economic weakness, the heroin trade, Afghan officials say the corruption is far greater outside Afghanistan than inside. "From 2002 to 2009, $420 billion to $460 billion was made by international dealers , while $18 billion made by the Afghan mafia," says Ghani, citing a report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. "The illegal economy is totally integrated into globalization: with credit and transport." The question of whether Afghanistan is just too corrupt to save has shaped the entire U.S. approach to post-9/11 Afghanistan, tilting the Obama administration gradually away from "nation-building" and toward a more pared-down counterterrorism strategy. In February 2008, three U.S. senators who are today the Obama administration's key foreign-policy heavyweights-Joe Biden, Chuck Hagel, and John Kerry-had a crucial dinner with Karzai at the Afghan president's palace. After Hagel raised the subject of corruption in Karzai's government, including runaway graft and narcotics connections, Karzai replied, "My dear senator, there is no corruption in my government." Things then got testier. The American visitors insisted they had a list of corrupt officials and that Karzai's brother was at the top of it, but the Afghan leader disingenuously denied it all-until Biden, by the dessert course, threw down his napkin. "This dinner is over," he said, walking out. Hagel and Kerry followed. Biden never really regained his trust in Karzai, and by 2009, after he became Barack Obama's vice president, he turned into the new administration's No. 1 skeptic about nation-building. The doubts about Karzai, culminating in charges of election fraud, also poisoned the Afghan president's relations with the late Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special representative for Afghanistan. Karzai continues to deny charges of personal corruption, including about the CIA money. "This money was not given to warlords," he said at the May 4 news conference in Kabul. "The major part of this money was spent on government employees such as our guards.... It has been paid to individuals, not movements.... We give receipts for all these expenditures to the U.S. government." Even Osmani is skeptical about that last point. Asked whether he believed there were "receipts," he responded, "No." But there are clearly two sides to every corruption story, and the U.S. and Afghan governments need to get their stories straight if the "partnership" is to survive after 2014. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a7c_1369184263 BekasKhan Which Is More Corrupt: <span class="highlight">Afghanistan</span> or America? Afghanistan Occupation by US NATO Taliban Pakistan terrorist Punjabi ISI Al Qaeda Iran Intel India Haqqani China to Occupy Afghanistan Tue, 21 May 2013 18:33:20 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6a9_1369175177 drynwhyl The number of women and girls in Afghanistan imprisoned for "moral crimes" has risen by 50% in the past 18 months, a rights group says. Human Rights Watch says many are jailed for running away from home, often from forced marriages or domestic violence. Others are behind bars as a result of alleged adultery, in truth often involving rape, it said. The government should "get tough on abusers of women and stop blaming women who are crime victims", said HRW. It said 600 women and girls were now imprisoned for "moral crimes" - the highest since the US-led overthrow of the Taliban 12 years ago. About 110 of those were girls under 18. Virginity tests Human Rights Watch's alert comes just three days after angry scenes in the Afghan parliament forced a halt to a debate about reinforcing a law to prevent violence against women. The law banning violence against women, child marriages and forced marriages was passed by presidential decree in 2009, but did not gain MPs' approval. Some women's activists had worried that by opening up the law for debate might risk it being watered down or even repealed. Human Rights Watch says many of the protections within the Elimination of Violence Against Women law - which bans forced and underage marriage, beatings and rape - are still not being implemented on the ground. "Four years after the adoption of a law on violence against women and 12 years after Taliban rule, women are still imprisoned for being victims of forced marriage, domestic violence, and rape," Brad Adams, HRW Asia director, was quoted as saying. It said many of those detained for so-called moral crimes had attempted to report rapes to police only to be arrested for adultery, while others fleeing forced marriages or abuse were jailed for running away from home - even though that is not a crime according to the Afghan criminal code. And it said that many of those accused of "moral crimes" were subjected to "virginity tests" with no medical basis which contravened international law. "Coerced 'virginity' examinations are a form of sexual assault," Mr Adams said. "Afghan police, without any scientific basis, are routinely forcing these unspeakable examinations on women and girls." One prisoner, Sorya, told HRW she was forced to marry at 12 and was abused by her husband. After nine years of marriage during which she had three children, he accused her of running away with another man whom she had not even met. HRW said Sorya was serving a sentence of five-and-a-half years in prison. She was pregnant at the time of her arrest, and her baby died in prison three weeks after he was born. 'Tragedy' HRW's Afghanistan researcher, Heather Barr, said the dramatic increase in prosecutions for "moral crimes" could be related to increased confidence among religious conservatives as international troops prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014. "I think it's possible that as everyone anticipates the departure of foreigners, there is a feeling that in a sense things can go back to normal, and... people will be free to ignore in the future,'' Ms Barr said. "If that's true, that's really is a tragedy, because these ideas didn't come from foreigners. These ideas came from Afghan women's rights activists,'' she said. HRW called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to issue a decree that running away should not be treated as a crime and instruct police to investigate possible incidents of violence against women. It urged international donors to pressure the government to improve women's protections. The Afghan interior ministry says it is preparing a response to Human Rights Watch's report. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22614536 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6a9_1369175177 drynwhyl Afghan Women Jailed For 'Immorality' Increases 50% In 18 Months afghanistan, afghan, women, misogyny, inequality, islamic, justice, immorality, moral, crimes, forced, marriages, domestic, violence, human, rights, watch, rape, beatings, underage, pedophilia, hamid, karzai Tue, 21 May 2013 04:58:24 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aba_1369126460 scarfilm "This Is What Winning Looks Like" is a disturbing new documentary about the ineptitude, drug abuse, sexual misconduct, and corruption of the Afghan security forces as well as the reduced role of US Marines due to the troop withdrawal. In part one, we see just how chaotic and hopeless the situation is in Sangin, one of the most violent towns in Afghanistan. Full credit to "vice" for the video and chatter as i dont own any of it. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aba_1369126460 scarfilm This Is What Winning Looks Like - Part 1 doco,afghanistan,military,new Tue, 21 May 2013 13:12:58 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dfb_1369155222 crazyhawk Intense Firefight with Taliban. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dfb_1369155222 crazyhawk Engaging Taliban in Firefight with 50 Cal. Firefight Afghanistan Taliban Ambush OEF 50 Cal Tue, 21 May 2013 08:26:20 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=445_1369138871 GrandTheftAuto Full documentary with English subtitles. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=445_1369138871 GrandTheftAuto 9/11 False Flag - German Documentary 2008 new york septermber eleven 9 11 iraq iran afghanistan islam muslim al qaeda syria middle east israel zionism zionist bush george america usa war terror Tue, 21 May 2013 08:24:02 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=61e_1369138840 Zurm Statistics obtained from Afghanistan's Interior Ministry by the campaign group Human Rights Watch reveal the number of women and girls convicted of 'moral crimes,' which include running away from home has increased by 50 per cent in the last year from 400 to 600. Many of the 600 women jailed in the last year are victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse whose only crime was to run away from their assailants, the group said. It called on the Afghan government to enforce its own Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW), and to stop its judges punishing female victims. Although it is not a crime in Afghanistan for women to run away, the group said the country's judges, including members of its Supreme Court, regard women who run away from their homes as criminals. Many of them who flee rapes and other assaults have been charged with seeking sex outside marriage, known as Zina in Afghanistan. Those jailed for Zina include women and girls who have been raped or forced into prostitution, the group said. Earlier this year Human Rights Watch released its report I had to Run Away, which revealed that half of all women and 95 per cent of girls in Afghan jails had been convicted of 'moral crimes' of running away or sex outside marriage. A report by Oxfam found that 87 per cent of Afghan women had suffered sexual and physical abuse and been forced into unwanted marriages. Earlier this year a 22 year old woman, Gulnaz, who was jailed for Zina after she was raped and impregnated by her cousin's husband decided to marry her attacker to spare her daughter the stigma of being born out of wedlock. She had been 'pardoned' for her crime by President Karzai and released following an international outcry. "Four years after the adoption of a law on violence against women and twelve years after Taliban rule, women are still imprisoned for being victims of forced marriage, domestic violence, and rape. The Afghan government needs to get tough on abusers of women, and stop blaming women who are crime victims," said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. The group called on President Karzai to issue a decree clarifying that 'running away' is not a crime and other crimes, like Zina should not be used to punish runaways. The 2009 Elimination of Violence Against Women law, which was inctroduced by a presidential decree, has yet to be passed by the Afghan parliament which voiced its opposition once again on Saturday. Islamic conservatives in the parliament are opposed to provisions which make it illegal for a father to stop his daughter marrying a man of her choice. They also oppose for women who have fled sexual abuse and violence and claim they are 'immoral' houses of prostitution and casual sex. Some support amendments which would legalise forced and child marriages and domestic assaults in some circumstances. Last year just over one in five of 470 violence against women cases resulted in conviction. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/10070377/Sharp-rise-in-jail-terms-for-Afghan-rape-and-abuse-victims.html http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=61e_1369138840 Zurm Sharp rise in jail terms for Afghan rape and abuse victims rise,jail,terms,Afghan,rape,abuse,victims Tue, 21 May 2013 04:24:34 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aa9_1369123928 BrooklynJAH 1) There's little support for it in Turkey The Syrian civil war has spilled over into Turkey on a number of occasions - in addition to the recent bombings in Reyhanli, there was a car bomb at a Turkish border crossing in February that killed 14; and last June Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet off the Syrian coast. However, despite these seeming acts of aggression, there has been little appetite among average Turks for an incursion into Syria, says Amir Hassanpour, a retired professor of Mideast affairs at the University of Toronto. The main reason for this, he says, is that Turks are tired of bloodshed. Not only has Turkey recently come through a three-decade civil war of its own with Kurdish rebels, which claimed 40,000 lives, it has also witnessed at close hand the bloody, chaotic outcomes of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Public opinion doesn't really like Turkish involvement in wars in the region," 2) The Turkish leadership has domestic demands The other factor here is that Prime Minister Erdogan is preoccupied with two equally pressing domestic issues -- forging a peace agreement with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and reaching consensus on a new constitution -- observes Reva Bhalla, vice-president of global analysis for the Texas-based consultancy Stratfor. Turkey's 30-year battle with Kurdish rebels, which are located largely in the southeastern party of the country bordering Iraq, came to an end in March when jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan announced a truce. Since then, the Turkish government has been working to solidify the peace, and part of that is enshrining rights for Kurds in a new constitution. "This is a very sensitive political time for the ruling party, as Erdogan is trying to cobble together a whole series of constitutional revisions and at the same time negotiate a comprehensive peace deal with the PKK - and those two issues are intertwined," 3) Military intervention could threaten a PKK peace deal The PKK has links to Kurdish populations not only in Turkey, but in northern Iraq and northern Syria, areas where Turkish forces and Kurdish rebels have clashed repeatedly in the last three decades. While Turkey still classifies the PKK as a terrorist organization, the government is allowing PKK members, under the current peace negotiations, to withdraw from Turkey to return to northern Iraq. Bhalla says that if Turkey were to jump into the fray in Syria, it would likely galvanize Kurdish fighters living in northern Syria, and could unravel the delicate peace that the two sides have managed to achieve in recent months. Something the Turks do not want to see. 4) Confrontation with Iran "When you talk about Syria, you are also talking automatically about Iran," says Raboudi. Iran and Syria have enjoyed a long-standing friendship, not least because they both aim to counteract the influence of the U.S. and Israel in the region. Throughout the current crisis, the Iranian leadership has supported Syria's embattled Assad politically as well as militarily (often transporting arms through Iraqi airspace). The Sunni-led government of Turkey has had reasonably good relations with the Shia theocracy of Iran. But if Turkey were to intervene in Syria, Raboudi says it's possible that it could spur Iran, one of the region's biggest powers, to become more actively involved - and turn an already messy sectarian battle into an even bloodier conflagration. 5) The Americans are reluctant to fight While Turkey has an estimable army, Bhalla says the country would only act militarily if the U.S. took the lead and provided the majority of weaponry and tactical support. "Turkey is not going to intervene militarily in Syria on a meaningful scale without the United States playing that primary role," says Bhalla. Despite strong criticism of the Assad regime, the Obama administration has been reluctant to commit to any kind of military force in Syria. One reason is that U.S. intervention could ignite a war with Iran, says Hassanpour. Plus, there's the unhappy legacy of recent U.S. wars in the region, which weighs heavily on the American public. "The United States cannot engage in another war - it has already lost the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq," says Hassanpour. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aa9_1369123928 BrooklynJAH 5 reasons Turkey will not go to war with Syria Syria, Turkey, Israel, Bashar Assad, Syrian, Arab, Army, SAA, Freedom, FSA, Terrorist Sat, 18 May 2013 18:47:48 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2f1_1368917079 Tyrance Finnish peacekeeper convoy hits IED in Afghanistan. No one hurt. This is back in 2009. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2f1_1368917079 Tyrance Convoy hits IED in <span class="highlight">Afghanistan</span>. IED, Afghanistan, roadside, bomb Wed, 15 May 2013 22:44:35 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4b9_1368670155 BekasKhan Three Georgian soldiers have been killed in southern Afghanistan after fighters detonated a vehicle laden with explosives, according to a senior Western military official and NATO. The death toll of the number of Georgian troops in Afghanistan increased to 22 after Monday's attack, which targeted their base in Helmand province. &quot;Two Georgians died on the spot, a third died of wounds,&quot; the senior Western military official in Kabul, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. From the perspective of one neighbourhood in Herat Georgian media quoted Irakly Alasania, the country's defence minister, as saying that a suicide bomber drove a lorry full of explosives into their base. In another separate incident on Monday, 10 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed when a roadside bomb hit the bus they were travelling in in Maroof district, roughly 60km northeast of Kandahar city. Georgia, which has more than 1,500 soldiers serving in Helmand, has the largest non-NATO combat troop commitment in Afghanistan. May has proved particularly bloody for members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is preparing to withdraw all combat troops by the end of next year. The blast also wounded 12 people. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4b9_1368670155 BekasKhan NATO's 3 Georgian troops killed in Helmand <span class="highlight">Afghanistan</span> blast Afghanistan Occupation by US NATO Taliban Pakistan terrorist Punjabi ISI Al Qaeda Iran Intel India Haqqani China to Occupy Afghanistan Sun, 19 May 2013 07:47:18 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=33c_1368963453 Fane Fanika war http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=33c_1368963453 Fane Fanika <span class="highlight">Afghanistan</span> War - U.S. Army - Intense Close Taliban Ambush - Helmet Cam Afghanistan, War ,U.S, Army, Intense, Taliban, Ambush, Helmet Cam, Fri, 17 May 2013 16:42:52 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5c3_1368823288 CptSpaulding Title http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5c3_1368823288 CptSpaulding Bodies of soldiers killed in <span class="highlight">Afghanistan</span> returned to UK afghanistan war Thu, 16 May 2013 03:54:49 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aa6_1368690430 plokiju Videos of this awesome bird are rare, but here's one you'll enjoy. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aa6_1368690430 plokiju CV-22 special operations squadron in <span class="highlight">Afghanistan</span> CV-22, special, operations, squadron, Afghanistan, osprey