http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Wardak Sat, 25 May 2013 13:05:48 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Wardak Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:05:00 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=634_1366555574 Bu187 Action starts 01:30 Firefights and Big Explosions.. good video http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=634_1366555574 Bu187 Cobra C-IED Platoon <span class="highlight">Wardak</span> Province in Action Cobra C-IED Platoon Wardak Province in Action Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:46:16 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0fc_1364827375 Bu187 Whilst interrogating an IED, 60+ Taliban ambush us. No body but the enemy was hurt during this video Credits: shooth100 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0fc_1364827375 Bu187 firefight Afghanistan <span class="highlight">Wardak</span> firefight Afghanistan Wardak Sun, 24 Feb 2013 16:07:34 -0500 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b52_1361739298 BekasKhan By Ben Farmer, Kabul 3:54PM GMT 24 Feb 2013 The troops were given a fortnight to leave the strategically critical Wardak province, south west of the capital, in a move likely to trigger another confrontation with Nato commanders. Aimal Faizi, the Afghan president's spokesman, said the national security council ordered the expulsion after complaints that "armed groups known as special forces" were committing murder, torture and kidnap. "The US special forces and illegal armed groups created by them are causing insecurity, instability, and harass local people," he said. He appeared to pin the blame on Afghan fighters or militiamen recruited by and working with the Americans, but held the US forces responsible. "These belong to the US special forces," he said. Related Articles Nato mulls leaving 12,000 troops in Afghanistan post-2014 22 Feb 2013 Local streets named after dead soldiers 21 Feb 2013 Afghan forces seize Taliban commander 20 Feb 2013 Afghan civilian death toll falls for first time in six years 19 Feb 2013 Afghanistan asks for India's cricket advice 19 Feb 2013 In one case nine people went missing after an operation and in another a young student was taken from his home and found dead two days later, with his throat cut. The surprise announcement appeared to blindside Nato headquarters in Kabul and struck directly at troops who have long been a cornerstone of coalition strategy. A campaign of special forces night raids against Taliban targets was credited with significantly weakening the Taliban. Special forces troops are also forging tens of thousands of villagers into local defence forces to repel Taliban from rural areas. The tactic has restored security in many areas, though the militias are widely mistrusted and have been accused of robberies, rapes and attacks. Operations in Wardak are seen as particularly critical because the province straddles the highway to Kandahar and is a key infiltration route to Taliban-led insurgents trying to strike at the capital. A spokesman for the coalition said it could not comment on the decision until it had spoken with the Afghan government. "We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them," he said. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b52_1361739298 BekasKhan US murderer, terrorist special forces ordered to leave Afghanistan's critical <span class="highlight">WARDAK</span> province Afghanistan Occupation by US NATO Taliban Pakistan terrorist Punjabi ISI Al Qaeda Iran Intel India Haqqani China to Occupy Afghanistan Sun, 10 Mar 2013 04:46:09 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=30f_1362902574 nighthawk006 *** Video excerpts courtesy of &amp; copyright owned respectively by Mediaworks (TV3) &amp; TVNZ *** L/Cpl Leon Smith's family receives the Charles Upham Bravery Award from Governor General Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae (former commander of 1NZSAS Group). Smith received the award for his actions during a Taliban attack in Kabul one month before he was killed in action in Wardak province on 28th September, 2011. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=30f_1362902574 nighthawk006 Leon Smith - 1NZSAS (bravery award, 2012) leon kristopher smith,darryl,sas,new zealand,charles upham,bravery award,kiwi,defence force,army,special air service,1nzsas group,tier one,who dares wins,fallen warrior,lance corporal,callsign postie,combat medic,afghanistan,wardak,kia,crisis,response,uni Sun, 10 Mar 2013 03:06:32 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b51_1362879522 nighthawk006 *** Video excerpts courtesy of &amp; copyright owned respectively by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), TVNZ &amp; Mediaworks (TV3) *** A mix of reports following the death of Lance Corporal Leon Smith - the second New Zealand SAS soldier to be killed in action in Afghanistan (28th September, 2011). http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/mother-fallen-sas-soldier-faces-worst-fear-4448769 http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/everybody-liked-fallen-sas-soldier-4428240 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b51_1362879522 nighthawk006 Leon Smith - 1NZSAS (kia announced, 2011) leon kristopher smith,sas,new,zealand,defence,force,kiwi,army,special air service,1nzsas group,tier one,who dares wins,fallen warrior,lance corporal,callsign postie,combat medic,afghanistan,wardak,kia,crisis response unit,cru,isaf,john,key,pm,nz,post,mayn Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:10:29 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7ff_1363180082 talibanpouwer 22 American invaders, 9 local puppet troops killed in mutual conflict in Afghanistan Publication time: 12 March 2013, 07:08 A clash is report to have broken out between the puppet troops and the US-Nato invaders in the Afghanistan's Wardak province on Monday. According to the report the deadly unfolded in Jalizi district of this province for the reasons which are still not determined at about before noon in which both the invaders and their minions troops used heavy and small arms. The fighting ended up killing at least 9 local soldiers of hireling army including the district police chief Alauddin and others officers and American invaders, whereas a dozens more from both sides were severely injured. Shortly afterwards, the invaders ambulance helicopters landed in the area to evacuate their dead and wounded. Source: The Voice of Jihad http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7ff_1363180082 talibanpouwer 22 American invaders, 9 local puppet troops killed taliban afghanistan pakistan Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:32:47 -0500 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e40_1362867556 Tama7866 Afghanistan: Two suicide bombers strike on first day of Hagel's visit About 20 people were killed in two suicide bombings in Afghanistan Saturday. A Taliban spokesman said the attacks were a message for Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, who is in Afghanistan for his first official visit.Militants staged two deadly suicide attacks Saturday to mark the first full day of US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel 's visit to Afghanistan , a fresh reminder that insurgents continue to fight and challenges remain as the US -led NATO force hands over the country's security to the Afghans. A suicide bomber on a bicycle struck outside the Afghan Defense Ministry early Saturday morning, and about a half hour later, another suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint in Khost city, the capital of Khost province in eastern Afghanistan. Nine people were killed in the bombing at the ministry, and an Afghan policeman and eight civilians, who were mostly children, died in the blast in Khost, said provincial spokesman Baryalai Wakman. "This attack was a message to him," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said of Hagel, in an email to reporters about the defense ministry attack. Hagel was nowhere near the blasts, but heard them across the city. He told reporters traveling with him that he wasn't sure what it was when he heard the explosion. "We're in a war zone. I've been in war, so shouldn't be surprised when a bomb goes off or there's an explosion," said Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran. Asked what his message to the Taliban would be, he said that the US was going to continue to work with its allies to insure that the Afghan people have the ability to develop their own country and democracy. Hagel's first visit to Kabul as Pentagon chief comes as the US and Afghanistan grapple with a number of disputes, from the aborted handover of a main detention facility - canceled at the last moment late Friday as a deal for the transfer broke down - to Afghan President Hamid Karzai 's demand that US special operations forces withdraw from Wardak province just outside Kabul over allegations of abuse. The prison transfer, originally slated for 2009, has been repeatedly delayed because of disputes between the US and Afghan governments about whether all detainees should have the right to a trial and who will have the ultimate authority over the release of prisoners the US considers a threat. The Afghan government has maintained that it needs full control over which prisoners are released as a matter of national sovereignty. The issue has threatened to undermine ongoing negotiations for a bilateral security agreement that would govern the presence of US forces in Afghanistan after the current combat mission ends in 2014. US military officials said Saturday's transfer ceremony was canceled because they could not finalize the agreement with the Afghans, but did not provide details. Afghan officials were less forthcoming. "The ceremony is not happening today," Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said, without elaborating. Regarding Wardak, Karzai set a deadline for Monday for the pullout of the US commandos, over allegations that joint US and Afghan patrols engaged in a pattern of torture, kidnappings and summary executions. "Each of those accusations has been answered and we're not involved," said Brigadier Adam Findlay , NATO's deputy chief of staff of operations. "There are obviously atrocities occurring there, but it's not linked to us, and the kind of atrocities we are seeing, fingers cut off, other mutilations to bodies, is just not the way we work." Findlay said NATO officials have made provisional plans to withdraw special operations forces, if Karzai sticks to his edict after meetings this weekend with Hagel and top military commander in Afghanistan Gen. Joseph Dunford. "What we've got to try to do is go to a middle ground that meets the president's frustration," but also keeps insurgents from using Wardak as a staging ground to launch attacks on the capital, Findlay said. "That plan would be that you would put in your more conventional forces into Wardak," to replace the special operators and maintain security, he said. NATO officials see the weekend violence as part of the Taliban's coming campaign for the spring fighting season. "There's a series of attacks that have started as the snow is thawing. We had a potential insider attack yesterday ... and there's been a number of attacks on the border," Findlay explained. The suspected insider attack occurred in Kapisa province in eastern Afghanistan several hours before Hagel arrived Friday. Three men presumed to be Afghan soldiers forced their way onto a US base and opened fire, killing one US civilian contractor and wounding four US soldiers, according to a senior US military official. The official said investigators were "95 percent certain it was an insider attack," because the three men came from the Afghan side of the joint US-Afghan base, and rammed an Afghan army Humvee through a checkpoint dividing the base, before jumping out and opening fire on the Americans with automatic weapons. All three attackers were killed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The Taliban said it was not behind the Tagab base attack, and has not yet weighed in on the attack in Khost, but the group claimed responsibility for the morning attack at the ministry shortly after it happened. Pentagon spokesman George Little said Hagel was in a briefing at a US-led military coalition facility in another part of the city when the explosion occurred. He said the briefing continued without interruption. Azimi, the defense ministry spokesman, said the bomber on a bicycle struck just before 9 a.m. local time about 30 meters (yards) from the main gate of the ministry. A man at the scene, Abdul Ghafoor, said the blast rocked the entire area. "I saw dead bodies and wounded victims lying everywhere," Ghafoor told the Associated Press . "Then random shooting started and we escaped from the area." The ministry said at least nine civilians were killed and others were wounded. Reporters traveling with Hagel were in a briefing when they heard the explosion. They were moved to a lower floor of the same building as US facilities in downtown Kabul were locked down as a security precaution http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e40_1362867556 Tama7866 Taliban's deadly message to US and Hagel (20 Dead) taliban,attack,dead,bombing,allah,hagel,us Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:54:42 -0500 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=99e_1361922199 aplaktr The U.S. announced it is investigating Afghan government charges that U.S. Army Special Forces are involved in kidnappings torturing and murdering people in Wardak province (is west of the capital). There has been a lot going on in Wardak lately, most of it going badly for the Taliban. The Islamic radicals are fighting back as best they can. For example, last month there was an explosion in a Wardak province mosque that left seven people dead. Locals blamed the Americans, who had been in the area a few hours earlier with a larger number of Afghan troops to capture a Taliban leader who was hiding out in the village. The Afghan soldiers got their man, after a brief firefight and left. Locals are unsure what caused the explosion and the U.S. insists there was no artillery fire or air attacks in the area. It may have been a bomb the Taliban were assembling. Mosques are often used by the Taliban for storing weapons and assembling bombs and almost always accuse the Americans of causing any unexplained deaths. Because of incidents like this the Taliban has been taking a beating in Wardak, mainly because of the American Special Forces and their Afghan counterparts. The official position is that Karzai's order is a good sign that the Afghanistans are being more assertive and taking charge. Unofficially this is seen as another example of how the corrupt Karzai family is bought and paid for by the Taliban, which is putting more pressure on the Karzai clan to ease the NATO and Afghan security forces pressure on Taliban and drug gang operations. Karzai has done things like this before, and American threats to cut aid or take a closer look at Karzai family finances gets him to back off. Some believe that the recent Karzai demands about Special Forces in Wardak and no NATO air strikes for Afghan forces are actually bargaining chips in an Afghan effort to keep the aid money coming directly to the government (where it can be stolen). Getting Special Forces out of Wardak would be a great victory for the Taliban, but what they really want help with is the growing American use of missile armed UAVs to hunt down and kill Taliban leaders. Last year such attacks went up 72 percent in Afghanistan (to about 500 missiles fired). Afghan forces are taking over more of the security operations and they are uncomfortably (to the Taliban and drug gangs) successful. Moreover, the Afghan police and soldiers play by Afghan rules. That means they also (like the Taliban and drug gangs) use kidnapping, torture and murder against their enemies. In many cases the Afghan security forces are out for revenge because of past losses from Taliban violence. Revenge is a big deal in Afghan culture. The idea is that if you kill someone, there will be payback. That often gives people pause when they consider killing their way to an objective. But the Taliban consider themselves above all this because they are on a Mission From God. The Taliban have responded with a sharp increase in attacks on the police and soldiers, especially assassination attempts against leaders. The most effective Taliban weapon against the police is money. For the right price the police can be persuaded to back off. The police will even sell you weapons, ammunition and information. Most police never miss an opportunity to steal. The traffic police are considered the worst. Not only will they frequently stop motorists and demand bribes, but they will seize cars for the least infraction and later release the vehicle to its owner with most of its parts missing. The presence of U.S. troops or advisors can prevent overt acts of corruption by the police, but the corruption is endemic in Afghanistan. It's the great curse that keeps the country poor and dangerous. It is the main reason why Afghanistan is still the poorest and most dangerous country in Eurasia .http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/afghan/articles/20130226.aspx The Taliban announced that they would continue attacking members of the security forces as well as civilians despite being condemned by the UN for such activities. Last year, for the first time in six years, civilian casualties declined in Afghanistan. That was a 12 percent drop from the 3,131 civilians killed in 2011. But the Taliban still account for over 80 percent of civilian deaths and that went up nine percent last year (over 2011). The Taliban believe they are on a holy quest and that any civilians they kill are either government collaborators or "involuntary martyrs" for the cause of global Islamic domination. In contrast to more Taliban caused civilian deaths last year, those caused by American operations declined by half. These were usually people caught in the crossfire, which is common as the Taliban are regular users of civilians as human shields. In 2012 Taliban attacks on government employees (especially police and intelligence officials) increased seven fold. Last year 491 police and soldiers were killed, as well as 382 foreign troops, and 2,716 of the enemy (drug gang members and Taliban). Peace talks with the Taliban are not going well, largely because the Pakistani Taliban are not cooperating. At Afghanistan's request Pakistan (to encourage Taliban on both sides of the border to talk peace) freed 24 Afghan Taliban it had imprisoned. At least half of those went right back to working for the Taliban and none of them were much help in the peace efforts. The Afghan government is at odds over what new equipment should be bought for the Afghan military. The Afghans want expensive items like jet fighters, tanks and such while the American advisors in Afghanistan recommend more equipment for the army and police that will aid them in fighting the Taliban and drug gangs. The senior Afghan officials prefer the more expensive items because it's easier to extract bribes for that kind of stuff, especially if they can buy from the Russians or Chinese. Since the $16 billion for these purchases is coming from the United States, the Americans have the last word on what gets bought. One drug gang is pressuring the government to persuade Iran to stop executing so many Afghan drug smugglers. This gang, in northern Takhar province, had ten of its members executed by Iran recently. The gang complains that Iran has executed 80 of its men in the last six months and wants some help from the government (which probably wants a larger bribe before they try to pressure the Iranians). Drugs, especially heroin, are taken out via Tajikistan in the north, Pakistan (mainly the port of Karachi) in the east and Iran in the west. The smuggling gangs have made many rural Afghans wealthy, but only if they are willing to risk death, injury or imprisonment getting the drugs past border guards. The ones in Tajikistan and Pakistan can be bribed, but the Iranians shoot first and later hang survivors caught with drugs near the border. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=99e_1361922199 aplaktr Afghan police and soldiers play by Afghan rules. They also (like the Taliban and drug gangs) use kidnapping, torture and murder against their enemies. Afghanistan, troops, touture, taliban Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:42:54 -0500 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=89d_1361900267 BekasKhan Afghan President Hamid Karzai and local residents insist that the answer is yes!! Afghan President Hamid Karzai addesses military officers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013. Photograph: Ahmad Jamshid/AP (updated below) In 2010, as WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of classified documents relating to the conduct of the US government, government defenders dismissively claimed that they revealed nothing new. Among the many documents disproving that claim were ones relating to a US policy in Iraq set forth in "Frago 242", which ordered coalition troops not to stop or even investigate torture and other war crimes by the Iraqi forces they were training, but simply to "note" them. And note them they did: the logs record thousands of cases of Iraqi forces severely beating, brutalizing and torturing Iraqi civilians while US forces, with rare exception, did nothing to stop it (when the documents were released, the Guardian detailed just some of the illustrative cases). As the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder wrote at the time, the documents contain "incredibly awful reports of systematized detainee abuse by Iraqi soldiers and security forces right under the noses of the American-led coalition, which appears to have had virtually no incentive to put a stop to them" (as usual, these documents were classified not to safeguard US national security but rather to conceal bad and embarrassing acts on the part of the US government: that is why it is not hard to understand why the US government is so aggressive about punishing Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks, and other whistleblowers and journalists who expose these secrets). In Afghanistan on Sunday, President Hamid Karzai alleged that the US is doing something much worse: not merely standing by and watching their trained forces torture and kill, but actively and systematically participating. As the Guardian's Golnar Motevalli reported: "The Afghan government has ordered US special forces to leave one of Afghanistan's most restive provinces, Maidan Wardak, after receiving reports from local officials claiming that the elite units had been involved in the torture and disappearance of Afghan civilians. . . . "The provincial governor and other officials from Maidan Wardak presented evidence against US forces at the national security council meeting. The presidential palace later issued a statement saying: 'After a thorough discussion, it became clear that armed individuals named as US special forces stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people. "'A recent example in the province is an incident in which nine people were disappeared in an operation by this suspicious force and in a separate incident a student was taken away at night from his home, whose tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge,' the statement added" . . . . "Aimal Faizi, spokesman for Karzai, said the decision came after of months of reports of abuse. "'People have been complaining about US special forces units torturing people, killing people in that province, and nine individuals were taken from their homes recently and they have just disappeared and no one knows where they have gone,' Faizi said." Since Sunday, the New York Times' Matthew Rosenberg has written two detailed articles on these events. On Monday, he noted that the Karzai spokesman specifically cited "a raid on a village on 13 February, when American troops and Afghans working with them detained a veterinary student. 'His dead body was found three days later in the area under a bridge," the spokesman said." This morning, Rosenberg noted that the student was actually beheaded. Motevalli noted that "US military officials have rejected the allegations". Rosenberg also notes that military officials express bewilderment over the allegation that these abuses are being "committed by Afghan irregulars who worked with elite American forces" and that "some Afghan officials believe the suspects are part of a force whose existence has been kept secret by the Americans." And a NATO spokesman said that it was unable to confirm past claims of torture on the part of their Afghan forces. But there's no question, as Rosenberg notes, that "throughout the war,the United States military and the CIA have organized and trained clandestine militias. A number still operate, and remain beyond the knowledge or control of the Afghan government." Recall that the CIA got caught making payments for years to Karzai's suspected drug-running brother, Ahmed, "for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the CIA's direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar". These are the US-controlled militias, beyond the authority of the Afghan government, on which the US intends to rely if and when it "withdraws" from that country. It may very well be that US military officials are telling the truth when they claim they are not involved with these specific units, but that the Afghan grievances are completely accurate. That is because, as Rosenberg explains: "One possibility that would match the descriptions of attackers offered by local Afghan officials and, at the same time, exclude American military forces would be that the suspects were working with the Central Intelligence Agency, whose operatives run militias in a number of provinces. A spokesman for the CIA refused to comment on the issue. "One senior Afghan official said it was possible: Afghans, he said, make no distinction between military-type outfits. Americans with weapons, high-end gear and facial hair were 'all special forces. It's a phrase that catches all.'" What is absolutely certain is that what Rosenberg calls the "aggressive tactics" of US special forces have previously "resulted in abuses, and attempted cover-ups" of exactly the type being alleged now. As but one illustrative example: in 2010, as I wrote at the time, US forces in the Paktia Province, after surrounding a home where a celebration of a new birth was taking place, shot dead two male civilians (government officials) who exited the house in order to inquire why they had been surrounded, and then shot and killed three female relatives (a pregnant mother of ten, a pregnant mother of six, and a teenager). When local villagers loudly complained, the Pentagon lied about what happened, claiming that the dead males were "insurgents" or terrorists; the bodies of the three women had been found by US forces bound and gagged inside the home, and suggested that the women had already been killed by the time the US had arrived, likely the victim of "honor killings" by the Taliban militants killed in the attack. US media outlets, needless to say,mindlessly recited the US government's claims (CNN: "Bodies found gagged, bound after Afghan 'honor killing'"), but the Pentagon was finallyforced to admit that its Special Forces had killed the women and then covered-up and lied about what happened. Whatever is true about these latest human rights abuses, the perception is widespread in Afghanistan that the US is responsible and that the militias it is training are no better than the Taliban. From Rosenberg: "The action also reflected a deep distrust of international forces that is now widespread in Afghanistan, and the view held by many Afghans, President Hamid Karzai among them, that the coalition shares responsibility with the Taliban for the violence that continues to afflict the country. . . . "But Afghan officials cited as even more troubling American Special Operations units' use of Afghan proxy forces that are not under the government's control. Afghan civilians and local officials have complained that some irregular forceshave looked little different from Taliban fighters or bandits and behaved little differently." So that's where the US is after almost 12 years of waging war in that country, the longest war in its history. The US is blamed on equal terms with the Taliban, at least. It maintains and supports (if not directs) non-government militias which are perceived, with ample evidence, as being death squads and torture units. Thus do we find, yet again, that the fruits of US humanitarian interventions - liberating the oppressed and bringing freedom and democracy to the world - are little more than replicating the abuses of the tyrannical regime it targeted, just under a different owner. Most amazing of all, the next time a new "Good War" is proposed, none of this will stop large numbers of Americans from believing that both the goals and the likely outcome will be beneficent. UPDATE A 2009 Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, found as follows regarding Afghanistan: That last line is key: "in the name of restoring the rule of law, heavily-armed internationals and their Afghan counterparts are wandering around conducting raids that too often result in killings and being held accountable by no one." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=89d_1361900267 BekasKhan Is the US maintaining death squads and torture militias in Afghanistan? Afghanistan Occupation by US NATO Taliban Pakistan terrorist Punjabi ISI Al Qaeda Iran Intel India Haqqani China to Occupy Afghanistan Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:33:15 -0500 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=10e_1361856079 BekasKhan Afghan President Hamid Karzai would like to make it very clear that he doesn't like the US, his principal protector and patron. By Dan Murphy Christian Science Monitor ability of the US military - the people most responsible Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been on a roll recently in attacking the professionalism and for his run as Afghanistan 's leader. With ongoing negotiations over a Status of Forces Agreement that would govern the possible retention of a sizable US military presence in the country after 2014, Mr. Karzai's belligerent stance toward the US - also the principal financial backer of his government - seems an odd way to go about the negotiation. But there he was over the weekend, accusing US Special Forces of involvement in torture and murder in Wardak, and ordering them out of the province within two weeks. That came about a week after Karzai banned the Afghan National Army (ANA) from calling on US and other international air support for ground operations after an incident in which he said 10 civilians were killed when Afghan intelligence called up a NATO airstrike. RECOMMENDED: How well do you know Afghanistan? Take our quiz. While civilian casualties in urban areas have been a key driver of Afghan anger at both international forces and the Karzai government, asking Afghanistan's soldiers to fight without that kind of support will surely drive up their own casualty rates. It would also raise questions about what effect it will have on operations against the Taliban by the ANA. The chances that more territory will simply be ceded to the group as a consequence of this order, if he sticks to it, are high. (Writing for the Monitor from Kabul, Paige McClanahan fleshed out the risks of Karzai's action in Wardak.) Perhaps that's Karzai's point. Most of the Taliban are drawn from the Pashtun ethnic group that Karzai himself belongs to, and with moves afoot to sharply reduce the international military presence ( US President Obama said in his State of the Union Address that the current plan is to cut the US military presence from about 68,000 now to 34,000 by the end of the year) negotiation and accommodation are probably on his mind. US objectives long ago were scaled back in Afghanistan with the recognition that the United State's longest war was not going to end in the total destruction of the Taliban. Warlords of all stripes - members of the Taliban, allies of Karzai - are going to have a seat at the table in determining Afghanistan's future after most international forces leave, and it's hard to fault Karzai for recognizing this reality. And criticizing the Americans, hugely unpopular in the country after more than a decade of occupation, is smart politics. But it's also dangerous, because Karzai's grip on power rests on both NATO military power and the billions of dollars that flow into the country, which create patronage opportunities and employment for those around him, from the US and its NATO allies. Wardak borders Kabul to the west, and has become a much more dangerous place in the past couple of years, with US commanders suspecting that attacks inside Kabul have been planned from the neighboring province. The Kabul- Kandahar highway, a key economic lifeline and source of resupply for foreign and local troops alike, crosses through the province, and for years local warlords have profited from convoy protection. Protesters in the provincial capital of Maidan Shahr blocked the highway for a day earlier this month after the body of a local university student, alleged to have been killed by US forces, was found dumped in a local river. That incident appears to have been among those that caused Karzai to take action. A statement from the president's office over the weekend said: "A recent example in the province is an incident in which nine people were disappeared in an operation by this suspicious force and in a separate incident a student was taken away at night from his home, whose tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge," the statement added. "However, Americans reject having conducted any such operation and any involvement of their special force." Is it possible that torture and murder is going on in Wardak? Almost certainly. Torture and murder are commonly deployed by Afghan powerbrokers and warlords on all sides of the Afghan conflict. Could US forces themselves be responsible? It's possible. But more likely, if there's any truth to what Karzai contends, is that actions have been carried out by other informal militias who work with US Special Forces or formal Afghan commandos who do likewise. The role of US Special Forces is, by and large, to work with and train foreign armies and militia groups. There have been persistent claims that local forces trained by US Special Forces have been involved in murder and torture down the years. A few thousand US Special Forces were involved in training roughly 16,000 Afghan Local Police (ALP), village-based paramilitary groups that have been accused of killing and torturing detainees, for much of last year and the year before, though that training was suspended to improve vetting after a rash of Afghans armed and trained by NATO killed their foreign colleagues. Human Rights Watch alleges that ALP members have been involved in "killings, rape, and extortion of Afghan civilians" and explains the genesis of the groups this way: The ALP was created in 2010 at the request of Gen David Petraeus , the former commander of international forces in Afghanistan... The ALP is a loose network of local defence forces designed to mobilise and arm local civilians to defend their communities from the Taliban in areas where the national police and army have a limited presence. ALP recruits are mentored by foreign troops, most frequently US special forces, but in some parts of the country by troops from other nations, including Britain . They are nominally under the supervision of the Afghanistan National Police , but in practice they are sometimes no more than deputised gunmen loyal to a local warlord or members of violent local militias who are given a new uniform The cooptation of gunmen loyal to local warlords has been consistently attempted throughout the Afghan war, and it makes sense at the local level: Motivated Afghan soldiers who know the local people and terrain can be fairly useful. But given that NATO's stated goal has been to build a strong central government, local tactical efforts have often moved counter to the ultimate goals. The stakes in Wardak are pretty high, write Bill Ardolino and Bill Roggio at the Long War Journa l: Wardak province , which borders Kabul to the southwest, has been contested by the Taliban and the Haqqani Network, the al Qaeda -linked Taliban subgroup, despite US efforts to secure the province over the past several years. The Taliban have been in control of the Tangi Valley , which runs through Wardak, since the withdrawal of US forces from Combat Outpost Tangi in the spring of 2011. US troops turned over the base to the Afghan Army, which immediately abandoned it. The Taliban later released a videotape that showed hundreds of fighters and senior Taliban leaders massing at the abandoned base and conducting a tour . Wardak has been the scene of numerous high-profile attacks by the two groups, particularly in 2011. The Taliban shot down a US Army Chinook helicopter in Sayyidabad on Aug. 6, 2011. Thirty-eight US and Afghan troops, including 17 US Navy SEALS from the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, were killed in the crash . And on Sept. 10, 2011, the Taliban detonated a massive suicide bomb outside of Combat Outpost Sayyidabad, killing four Afghans and wounding more than 100 people, including 77 US soldiers. US commanders later blamed the attack on the Haqqani Network, a powerful al Qaeda subgroup. President Karzai seems more concerned about the US role in the province, at least in public.The Obama administration is hoping to keep up to 15,000 troops in Afghanistan after the end of 2014 as a "residual force" that would focus on training Afghan troops and counterterrorism operations. But one matter yet to be decided is whether Karzai, who is scheduled to step down after presidential elections in 2014, will grant ongoing immunity from US forces from Afghan prosecution. A refusal to do so would probably be politically popular, but would be a deal breaker for Obama, with the specter of US troops hauled before Afghanistan's frequently corrupt courts . The question of immunity was what eventually ended the US military presence in Iraq . Will Karzai go that far? Friends I talk to who understand Afghanistan far better than me insist that Karzai and the people around him will make a deal, since a lose of US military and financial support would be catastrophic for them. But recent signs from Karzai are that he's leaning in the other direction http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=10e_1361856079 BekasKhan Hamid Karzai is mad as heck and he isn't going to take it anymore Afghanistan Occupation by US NATO Taliban Pakistan terrorist Punjabi ISI Al Qaeda Iran Intel India Haqqani China to Occupy Afghanistan Sun, 24 Feb 2013 15:39:56 -0500 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=684_1361738175 104JebackaBrigada The Afghan government has demanded the withdrawal of all US Special Forces on Sunday from the Wardak and Logar provinces within two weeks, accusing them of "harassing, torturing and murdering innocent civilians." Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said that President Hamid Karzai had ordered the ministry of defense to kick out the US Special Forces, which he accused of fueling "insecurity and instability" in the volatile provinces, which are close to the capital Kabul. "The US Special Forces and illegal armed groups created by them are causing insecurity, instability, and harass local people in these provinces," Faizi told a press conference. A further statement released by the Afghan president's office said that the decision to expel them was made by the National Security Council. "After a thorough discussion, it became clear that armed individuals named as US Special Force stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people," it said. "A recent example in the province is an incident in which nine people were disappeared in an operation by this suspicious force and in a separate incident a student was taken away at night from his home, whose tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge. However, Americans reject having conducted any such operation and any involvement of their special force. The meeting strongly noted that such actions have caused local public resentment and hatred," the statement continued. He also said that there was alleged involvement of Afghan civilians working alongside US Special Forces. "There are some individuals, some Afghans, who are working within these cells, within these special Forces groups in Wardak province", said Faizi. The Wardak province is seen as a gateway for the Taliban to attack the capital Kabul and the accountability of US Special Forces and the local militias who work alongside them, has been a source of friction between Afghan US relations. The number of civilians killed from airstrikes dropped by nearly half to 126, according to figures released by the UN Mission to Afghanistan last Tuesday. While the number of civilians killed by drones jumped by 72% to 16. Last week Hamid Karzai also banned Afghan forces from calling in NATO airstrikes on residential areas, following the deaths of 10 civilians on a raid in the eastern Kunar province. "Our forces ask for air support from foreigners and children get killed in an air strike," Karzai said in a blunt statement. This will be the first time that Afghanistan's 350,000-strong security forces will not be able to rely on NATO airstrikes to help them carry out military operations. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has said that the majority of foreign combat troops will leave Afghanistan by 2014, with the US and the UK already beginning to reduce troop numbers. This has sparked fears that Afghan security forces will not be able to maintain security within the country. However, Karzai has shown no concern for the imminent withdrawal of foreign troops and has said he is convinced Afghans will be able to handle their own security. "We are happy the foreign troops are withdrawing from Afghanistan. I have been arguing with the foreign troops, don't bombard our houses, don't go into our villages, don't disrespect our people and we hear our forces partnered with foreign forces are violating human rights," he said. In December last year Karzai also blamed the US for corruption in Afghanistan. In an interview with NBC at the presidential palace, he said that contracts issued by the international community and in particular the US were to blame. "Part of the insecurity for us is coming from the structures that NATO and America created in Afghanistan," he said. http://rt.com/news/karzai-us-withdraw-provinces-373/ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=684_1361738175 104JebackaBrigada Karzai orders US Special Forces out of two provinces, citing torture and murder Karzai orders US Special, Forces out of two provinces, citing torture and murder Wed, 13 Feb 2013 09:35:20 -0500 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=426_1360765847 crazyhawk Afghanistan in Salar wardak http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=426_1360765847 crazyhawk saving COP from Taliban Attack in <span class="highlight">Wardak</span> Afghanistan Salar Wardak Firefight