Energy News  
THE STANS
Afghan civilian deaths criticized

Pentagon plays down Karzai plan to dissolve security firms
Washington (AFP) Aug 10, 2010 - The Pentagon Tuesday played down Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's announced plans to dissolve all private security firms in Afghanistan, saying the issue was under discussion. "I don't know that it's a decision; it's concerns that President Karzai has expressed," said Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman. Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omer said earlier in Kabul that the Afghan president will soon set a deadline for dissolving the private security firms, calling it "a serious program that the government of Afghanistan will execute." Lapan said the Pentagon understood there were problems with the private security firms, but was working to address the issues raised by Karzai in a way that also met US security needs.

"There are security needs that we have, that our forces have, that fall into that category so we want to make sure that we are addressing the Afghan government's concerns but meeting our requirements as well," he told reporters. US contractor DynCorp refused to comment on the development Tuesday, while the former Blackwater security firm Xe could not be reached for comment. An estimated 40,000 people work in Afghanistan's flourishing security sector, with Afghan and international firms providing security services to the international forces, the Pentagon, the UN mission, aid and non-governmental organizations, and the western media. But Afghans criticize the private security forces as overbearing and abusive, notably on the country's roads.

Karzai has often complained that they duplicate the work of the Afghan security forces, and divert resources needed to train the army and police. Allison Stanger, author of "One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy," said eliminating private security firms would pose a major problem for western forces. "Ending the use of private security contractors in Afghanistan effective immediately would be equivalent to accelerating the end of Western involvement in Afghanistan," she said. "Our current programs simply cannot be sustained without that vital support -- unless we were to further increase the number of uniformed personnel on the ground," she said. It would also cut off a major source of jobs because more than 90 percent of security contractors in Afghanistan are Afghans, she added.
by Staff Writers
London (UPI) Aug 10, 2010
Nine years after the beginning of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom, the issue of civilian casualties in Afghanistan is moving increasingly to the forefront.

In the wake of the release of a U.N. report outlining an increase in civilian targeted killings in Afghanistan by anti-government forces, Amnesty International, in a news release issued Tuesday, called for the Taliban and other insurgent groups to be investigated and prosecuted for war crimes.

The human rights non-governmental organization's Asia-Pacific Director Sam Zarifi said: "The Taliban and other insurgents are becoming far bolder in their systematic killing of civilians. Targeting of civilians is a war crime, plain and simple.

"The Afghan people are crying out for justice and have a right to accountability and compensation. There is no practical justice system in Afghanistan now that can address the lack of accountability. So the Afghan government should ask the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity that may have been committed by all parties to the conflict."

Bolstering its case, Amnesty International said it received reports that tribal elders in Kandahar, Zabul, and Khost provinces have been fleeing fearing becoming targets of the Taliban. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Kandahar journalist told Amnesty International investigators: "The elders are threatened and if they don't cooperate with the Taliban they are killed. Then the Taliban will just tell the village that the elder was an American spy and that is why he was killed."

The issue of mounting civilian casualties caused by International Security Assistance Forces and NATO troops has also entered the American political debate over the course of the war, intensified by the last month's release of thousands of secret documents about the war on the WikiLeaks Web site.

The WikiLeaks materials supported allegations that Afghan civilian casualties were substantially higher than reported by the Pentagon, a premise verified by U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who became the senior U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan last year prior to resigning June 28.

McChrystal stated during a March 26th video conference answering questions from troops in the field about civilian casualties, "We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat."

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported that ISAF, NATO and government forces have caused 29 percent fewer casualties in 2010 than in 2009, attributing the decline to policy changes placing greater priority on civilian protection, which is especially notable in a 64 percent decline in casualties caused by aerial attacks.

Sounding a note of caution, the UNAMA report focuses on Special Forces operating in Afghanistan for acting without accountability and urges greater transparency over their operations.

The report's concerns are bolstered by the WikiLeaks documents, which discussed Task Force 373, a covert U.S. Special Forces unit in Kabul, Kandahar and Khost, whose existence had long been rumored and whose mission is to capture or kill Taliban and al-Qaida leaders without trial using a "joint prioritized effects list" containing the names of 2,000 senior targets to be captured or killed.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
News From Across The Stans



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


THE STANS
Commentary: Pakistan: Turmoil to upheaval
Washington (UPI) Aug 9, 2010
First the country of 180 million was rocked by the flood of thousands of WikiLeaks documents that gave credence to claims that Pakistan isn't only funding and arming the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan but is also playing an operational role directing specific attacks against U.S. and NATO forces. Then, in quick succession, Pakistan was hit by the worst floods in the country's 63-year ... read more







THE STANS
German utilities blasted over power prices

South African energy execs' pay questioned

US Senate postpones action on scaled-back energy bill

Ghana to receive World Bank energy funding

THE STANS
Final BP well kill delayed by storm

Oil spill lawsuits sent to Louisiana, storm delays well kill

Philippines says US not needed in South China Sea dispute

BP relief well ready 'this week,' Obama praises progress

THE STANS
Canada looks to utilize wind energy

LADWP Approves New Wind Project

German wind growth down, exports strong

Study Shows Stability And Utility Of Floating Wind Turbines

THE STANS
New Study Sheds Light On U.S. Wind Power Market

ACCIONA Energy Moves Forward With Lameque Wind Power Project

Solar, hybrid power winning new ground

China Green Policies Spur Local Wind Energy And Photovoltaic Markets

THE STANS
Burning Russia battles to defend nuclear sites

Russia nuclear sites under threat from the flames

Uranium mining in Australia opposed

London behind nuclear revival, Huhne says

THE STANS
ICCC Lab Becomes National Leader In Biodiesel Testing

Can We Secure Our Fuel Supply With The Help Of Algal Blooms

SG Biofuels To Expand Jatropha Research And Development Center

Biofuel Study Looks At Cost To Wildlife And Environmental Diversity

THE STANS
China Contributes To Space-Based Information Access A Lot

China Sends Research Satellite Into Space

China eyes Argentina for space antenna

Seven More For Shenzhou

THE STANS
Summer of extreme weather fuels debate over warming

Bedrock Is A Milestone In Climate Research

UN talks founder as climate impacts mount, say delegates

Climate Change By Degrees


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement