KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan Council of Ministers decided Monday to review the presence of international forces and agreements with foreign allies, including NATO and the United States, after a series of military operations that have caused heavy civilian losses. Skip to next paragraph Related Two Afghans Lose Posts Over Attack (August 25, 2008) The ministers demanded a status of forces agreement, which would stipulate that the authority and responsibilities of international forces be negotiated, and said aerial bombing, illegal detentions and house raids by international forces must be stopped. The declaration came after several military operations involving American forces resulted in heavy civilian casualties, most recently air strikes in western Afghanistan that killed more than 90 people, most of them women and children, according to a government commission.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan Council of Ministers decided Monday to review the presence of international forces and agreements with foreign allies, including NATO and the United States, after a series of military operations that have caused heavy civilian losses. Skip to next paragraph Related Two Afghans Lose Posts Over Attack (August 25, 2008)
The ministers demanded a status of forces agreement, which would stipulate that the authority and responsibilities of international forces be negotiated, and said aerial bombing, illegal detentions and house raids by international forces must be stopped.
The declaration came after several military operations involving American forces resulted in heavy civilian casualties, most recently air strikes in western Afghanistan that killed more than 90 people, most of them women and children, according to a government commission.
Russia played a trump card in its strategic poker game with the West yesterday by threatening to suspend an agreement allowing Nato to take supplies and equipment to Afghanistan through Russia and Central Asia. The agreement was struck at a Nato summit in April to provide an alternative supply route to the road between the Afghan capital and the Pakistani border, which has come under attack from militants on both sides of the frontier this year. Zamir Kabulov, the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan, told The Times in an interview that he believed the deal was no longer valid because Russia suspended military cooperation with Nato last week over its support for Georgia. Asked if the move by Russia invalidated the agreement, he said: "Of course. Why not? If there is a suspension of military cooperation, this is military cooperation."
Russia played a trump card in its strategic poker game with the West yesterday by threatening to suspend an agreement allowing Nato to take supplies and equipment to Afghanistan through Russia and Central Asia.
The agreement was struck at a Nato summit in April to provide an alternative supply route to the road between the Afghan capital and the Pakistani border, which has come under attack from militants on both sides of the frontier this year.
Zamir Kabulov, the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan, told The Times in an interview that he believed the deal was no longer valid because Russia suspended military cooperation with Nato last week over its support for Georgia.
Asked if the move by Russia invalidated the agreement, he said: "Of course. Why not? If there is a suspension of military cooperation, this is military cooperation."
And we still have no political leadership. We are still stuck in a 19th century gunboat militarist response mindset that didn't win Afghanistan under the British or the russians and won't win it under the americans either. keep to the Fen Causeway
