Thursday, October 31, 2013

سیگار: میلیون‌ها دالر کمک امریکا به افغانستان ضایع می‌شود --- 'سیگار' یا اداره بازرسی عمومی امریکا برای بازسازی افغانستان اعلام کرد که مقداری از کمک‌های حدود ۱۰۰ میلیارد دالر امریکایی که در پروژه های بازسازی، تقویت نیروهای امنیتی، حکومتداری خوب و ایجاد سهولت برای توسعه اقتصادی توسط امریکا مصرف شده در حال ضایع شدن است. -- سیگار افزوده که ضعف برنامه، ناکارایی اداره و سایر مشکلات همانند تاخیر در ساخت، ساخت بی‌کیفیت تهدید جدی برای این پروژه‌ها به حساب می‌آیند. -- این گزارش افزوده که بررسی‌های این نهاد نشان می‌دهد که در حدود ۶۳ میلیون دالر نیز در حسابهای بانکی به صورت غیر قانونی منجمد شده و بیش از ۱.۵ میلیون دالر نیز به صورت غیر قانونی نگهداری و ۳۴۴ هزار دالر نیز پس گرفته شده است. -- سیگار افزوده نیاز است که اقدامات لازم در نظر گرفته شود تا از ضایع شدن ۴.۷ میلیارد دالر به دلیل برنامه ریزی ضعیف و پروژه های بازسازی نیروهای امنیتی افغان جلوگیری شود. More, BBC

US airlines lifts ban to use portable electronics during take-off and landing --- Passengers on US airlines will be allowed to use portable electronic devices during take-off and landing for the first time, ending an "archaic" 50-year-old ban that has long frustrated frequent fliers. -- Under new guidelines issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, gadgets such as smartphones, iPads, DVD players and video game consoles can be operated for the entire duration of both domestic and international flights. - More, Telegraph

Interview: Presidential Candidate Naeem Talks Pakistan, Corruption and BSA --- Naeem was one of the 10 Presidential candidates who made the Independent Election Commission's (IEC) preliminary list last Tuesday. -- "We haven't reached a consensus with Pakistan over the issue of the Durand Line and water rights, but I believe that Pakistan is willing to forge friendly relations with Afghanistan in the long term," said Naeem. "We also need to settle the issue of refugees and pave the ground for their return." -- Responding to a question about administrative corruption, Naeem said that the country's fight against graft needed to be led first and foremost at the upper echelons of leadership. -- "We can't eliminate corruption in general, water should be clean from the source," said Naeem. "Honest and patriotic individuals should be placed in higher offices." --- Naeem also said that the signing of the BSA was important for Afghanistan and that he strongly felt that the people would endorse the agreement so long as it was in line with the national interests of the country. - More, TOLOnews.com

TOLOnews Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai Interview 26 October 2013 ..- Youtube

Kunduz Trial: New Scrutiny for Deadly Afghanistan Attack --- Four years ago, a German military officer ordered an attack in Afghanistan that killed at least 91 people, many of them civilians. Now that criminal charges against him have been dropped, a civil lawsuit is seeking more compensation for the families of some victims. - More, Der Spiegel

The Afghan Money Pit: How Millions of Dollars Were Wasted --- The war in Afghanistan is transitioning to its endgame. But the drawdown hasn’t stopped the billions in U.S. aid flowing into the country, and after 12 years of spending on this scale, we’re still losing money—hundreds of millions unaccounted for—almost as fast as we can write the next check. The spotty oversight of U.S. aid to Afghan forces is now set to get even worse as the main auditing group is in the country is about to have its presence dramatically reduced. -- A series of recent reports detailing the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the U.S. cornerstone efforts—some of it gone to waste, corruption, and misallocation, the rest simply missing and unaccounted for—offer a troubling picture of the return on U.S. investments and underscore how deeply the key Afghan institutions still rely on U.S. funding for daily operations. -- The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), an independent agency created by Congress to monitor U.S. spending in Afghanistan, has detailed the money wasted in the Afghan supply process in a series of audits focused on procurement of fuel and vehicle parts for Afghan security forces. --- As of March 2013, the U.S. has spent (PDF) about $54 billion funding security forces in Afghanistan and $92 billion on reconstruction, agriculture, and other development projects, according to a SIGAR report. - More, Daily Beast

Security deal central to troop presence: State Dept -- WASHINGTON (PAN): Given the importance of the bilateral security agreement (BSA), the United States and Afghanistan were moving forward toward concluding the deal, a State Department official said on Wednesday. -- "That timing has not changed. We are very close here to the next step. … the important context is that we have resolved major issues, we’re moving forward in the steps in the process," the State Department spokeswoman added. - Pajhwok

Women Moving Up In Numbers --- Recently elected Park of South Korea joins the other female heads of state German Chancellor Angela Merkel No.5), Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff (No. 20)and de facto head of India Sonia Gandhi (No. 21). Two of the world’s most important NGO’s are run by women: Christine Lagarde (No. 35) leads the IMF and Margaret Chan (No. 59) steers the World Health Organization. - More, FORBES

The World's Most Powerful People 2013 --- This year the votes for the World’s Most Powerful went to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He climbs one spot ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama, who held the title in 2012. - More, FORBES.Com

For Australia in Afghanistan, victory was never an option --- From the time that George Bush committed hundreds of thousands of troops, hundreds of billions of dollars and the focus of Washington’s military and political brains to invading and occupying Iraq and left a relatively small number of forces to conduct a holding operation in Afghanistan, any possibility of victory flew out the window. Technology is wonderful but mass has its own attractions, and except for a brief period during the surge, the coalition never had sufficient mass to address the multiple problems that beset Afghanistan. -- But in Afghanistan, the opposite of victory is not defeat. The Afghanistan of 2014 will be different to that of 2001. It won’t be a model of democracy and was never going to be. Government control is not going to reach to every corner of Afghanistan and never was. Corruption is not going to go away and it was unrealistic to even begin to assume that it was. - More, Rodger Shanahan - Guardian

U.S. Ambassador Discusses Security Agreement --- James Cunningham, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, held a press conference on Wednesday in which he spoke about the still unset Kabul-Washington security pact, looking to allay misgivings and clear up misunderstandings that have circulated around it. -- On Wednesday, Ambassador Cunningham took the opportunity to carefully disentangle the misunderstandings that have abounded over the issue of U.S. troop immunity. He reaffirmed that the U.S. does not want its soldiers to go unpunished for wrongdoings. But instead, the issue was over whether or not U.S. troops would be subject to Afghan or American judicial jurisdiction. The term "immunity," therefore, simply refers to the soldiers' freedom from prosecution in Afghan courts, not carte blanche. --- "We have tried to make clear to all of Afghanistan's neighbors, who are the countries interested here, no one should view the BSA as a threat," he said. "Indeed, we would argue the that the presence of U.S. forces supporting Afghan forces after 2014 is an asset for the region by promoting security in the region by promoting the security of Afghanistan." - More, tolonews

Ask Well: Glucosamine and MSM for Joint Pain? --- The upshot? “I tell people that if they want to spend their money” on glucosamine or MSM, “that’s up to them,” said Dr. Michael Parks, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, who frequently treats patients with arthritis. At recommended doses, the supplements “are generally safe,” he said, “and some people do say that they make them feel better.” - But if you decide to experiment with the supplements, he advised, keep your expectations low. “In my experience, most people do not benefit.” - More, NYTimes

N.S.A. Said to Tap Google and Yahoo Abroad --- WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency and its British counterpart have apparently tapped the fiber-optic cables connecting Google’s and Yahoo’s overseas servers and are copying vast amounts of email and other information, according to accounts of documents leaked by the former agency contractor Edward J. Snowden. - NYTimes

U.S. risks setback to oversight of Afghan reconstruction, agency says --- WASHINGTON — An independent watchdog agency warned Congress on Tuesday that the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan would hinder efforts to monitor dozens of U.S.-financed reconstruction projects, including a hydroelectric dam and health clinics, that cost billions of dollars. - latimes

Afghan security staff fired after microphone bomb kills governor --- Afghan investigators have fired or suspended at least six senior police, spies and other security officials over a microphone bomb that killed a provincial governor as he led prayers in a mosque this month. -- The police chief of Logar province, who was on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia at the time of the assassination, has been fired, and the spy chief for the strategically vital area suspended while investigators try to determine how the explosives got inside the building. - Guardian

Britain's Queen Elizabeth greets Afghan President Hamid Karzai at Buckingham Palace in London October 30, 2013 - reuters

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Afghan officials to meet with former Taliban leader in Pakistan --- KABUL — Afghan negotiators will soon travel to Pakistan to meet with former Taliban commander Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghan officials said Wednesday, a visit they hope will kick-start stalled peace talks between the country’s government and insurgent leaders -- At a trilateral summit in London, Afghan, British and Pakistani officials “agreed that a delegation of the Afghan High Peace Council will soon visit Pakistan to meet Mullah Baradar,” according to a statement from the Afghan government - washingtonpost

Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani --- A man was killed by Afghan villagers because they believed he set off a bomb that killed 18 people on their way to a wedding on Sunday, officials have said. Afghan civilians are often hit by roadside bombs planted by the group to kill government officials. - BBC

NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say --- The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, according to documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with knowledgeable officials.-- By tapping those links, the agency has positioned itself to collect at will from hundreds of millions of user accounts, many of them belonging to Americans. The NSA does not keep everything it collects, but it keeps a lot. - Washingtonpost, Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani

Hitler lived until 1962? That's my story, claims Argentinian writer --- The notorious claim that Hitler escaped his Berlin bunker to live incognito in Argentina first gained popular currency in 1945, when Stalin spoke of it. Since then the idea has resurfaced occasionally, with alleged photographic and documentary evidence pored over by conspiracy theorists. Now the theory that the German dictator followed his fellow Nazis Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele to South America is at the centre of a fresh row. - More, Vanessa, Guardian

Report: NSA Spied on 124 Billion Phone Calls in One Month --- Documents revealing details about the NSA’s Boundless Informant program show that information regarding billions of phone calls and computer communications was collected by the agency from across the world. --- The majority of the calls monitored by the NSA appeared to have emanated from Pakistan and Afghanistan, where 13.76 billion and 21.98 billion calls were respectively collected over the time period, according to the Boundless Informant “heat map” revealed by the Guardian. - freebeacon

Women and Conflict in Afghanistan -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- As the presidential election approaches in 2014, with the security transition at the year’s end, Afghan women, including parliamentarians and rights activists, are concerned that the hard-won political, economic and social gains achieved since the U.S.-led intervention in 2001 may be rolled back or conceded in negotiations with the insurgents. Afghanistan’s stabilisation ultimately rests on the state’s accountability to all its citizens, and respect for constitutional, legal and international commitments, including to human rights and gender equality. There will be no sustainable peace unless there is justice, and justice demands that the state respect and protect the rights of women, half its population. -- Following the Taliban’s ouster, Afghan women worked hard to reverse the damage wrought by more than two decades of a civil war that deprived them of the limited progress towards gender equality experienced in earlier times. As a result of international support, donor aid and their own efforts, women are now an essential part of the post-Taliban order and have played a major role in reconstructing the state and its institutions. --- Women activists and parliamentarians are not comforted by rhetoric from Kabul and the international community, including U.S. and EU assurances that any peace settlement would be based on respect for the constitution and women’s rights. Agreement on protecting the rights of women must be a prerequisite rather than an elusive desired outcome of any reconciliation process. - More, International Crisis Group

Afghanistan Withdrawal Puts Programs For Women And Girls At Risk, Top Watchdog Warns --- WASHINGTON -- As coalition forces withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014, it will be increasingly difficult to ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars intended for reconstruction projects in the country aren't being wasted. And according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the lead watchdog for this effort, programs affecting women and girls are likely to be among those not getting the necessary oversight. - More, HuffPost

متن سخنرانی جلالتمآب حامد کرزی رئیس جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان در نهمین نشست مجمع جهانی اقتصاد اسلامی --- جهان اسلام خانه مشترک بیش از 1.6 میلیارد مسلمان است که دارای نفوس در حال گسترش، جوان و شایسته می باشد. برعلاوه زمین های حاصلخیز و راه های ستراتیژیک تجارتی، ذخایر وسیع و متنوع منابع منرالی ما میتواند ثروت و موفقیت بی سابقه ای را برای ما و نسل های آینده ما به ارمغان بیاورد. اما، از لحاظ تاریخی سطح پائین سواد شهروندان بخصوص زنان ما و سرمایه گذاری های ناکافی در بخش معارف ، زمینه انکشاف کشور های اسلامی را تقریباً در همه عرصه های زنده گی محدود ساخته است. متاسفانه، در این آواخر ، تروریزم و خشونت نیز باعث ایجاد نا امنی گردیده و فرصت ادامه سفر در مسیر عادی انکشاف را از ما ربوده است. - More, باختر

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Qayyum Karzai: I will be the calmer Karzai if I become Afghan President -- Elder brother of Afghanistan's president, Qayyum, himself a contender in next year’s election, pledges to end antagonistic relationships with the West -- Qayyum Karzai, 66, described his younger brother as a very passionate man trying to do an extremely difficult job. --- After growing up in Kandahar, the elder Karzai left his home country at the age of 23 in 1969 to train as a pilot of the Afghan air force in the United States. Motion sickness cut short that career. - Instead he completed his education in Washington and became a successful businessman. Today, he still owns three restaurants around Baltimore, including the Helmand, famous in the area for its authentic Afghan food. -- For his part, Qayyum Karzai said his brother would not be allowed to run policy but would be invited to lead an advisory council of elders. - Telegraph

Storm death toll rises across northern Europe --- The Europe storm death toll has risen to 15 after Danish police said a driver was killed when he crashed into a tree knocked down by violent gusts. -- There were six deaths in Germany, five in Britain, two in Denmark and one in France and the Netherlands. -- Tens of thousands of people were without power on Tuesday in Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia. - Guardian

Sharif and Karzai Try to Repair Ties --- LONDON—Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought to repair their national ties and salvage a fragile peace outreach to Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency. --- British Prime Minister David Cameron hosted the leaders Tuesday for talks on the sidelines of the World Islamic Economic Forum. - WSJ

Symbol of Turkey's Ambition Opens Underground -- World's Deepest Immersed Rail Tunnel Set to Open -- ISTANBUL—Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened a tunnel under the Bosporus Strait on Tuesday that has been a dream of Turkish rulers since an Ottoman sultan first proposed linking the European and Asian shores of this bustling metropolis in 1860.

U.S. Says France, Spain Aided NSA Spying -- Update -- WASHINGTON--Widespread electronic spying that ignited a political firestorm in France and Spain recently was carried out by their own intelligence services and not by the National Security Agency, U.S. officials say. --- The new disclosure upends the version of events as reported in Europe in recent days, and puts a spotlight on the role of European intelligence services that work closely with the NSA, suggesting a greater level of European involvement. - More, WSJ

Le Monde says this PowerPoint slide reveals massive U.S. spying. The NSA says that’s wrong. --- At a House oversight hearing Tuesday, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander reiterated the agency's position that European media reports on the latest U.S. spying revelations are false. The stories, which appeared in the French newspaper Le Monde and Spain's El Pais, cited documents released by NSA leaker Edward Snowden in reporting that the United States had intercepted millions of phone calls of French and Spanish civilians. The documents apparently describe the U.S. as sucking in huge amounts of European phone calls, which would seem like an outrageous invasion of French and Spanish privacy. - More, washingtonpost - Max Fisher

NSA chief says NATO allies shared phone records with the U.S. spy agency --- The director of the National Security Agency on Tuesday dismissed as “completely false” reports that his agency swept up millions of phone records of European citizens, and he revealed that data collected by NATO allies were shared with the United States. --- “This is not information that we collected on European citizens,” Alexander told the House Intelligence Committee. “It represents information that we and our NATO allies have collected in defense of our countries and in support of military operations.” - More, Washingtonpost

U.S. Disrupts Afghans’ Tack on Militants --- Afghanistan’s attempt to gain leverage over Pakistan by cultivating an alliance with the Pakistan Taliban was discovered by the United States, which raided a convoy carrying a senior militant in the latest flash point between the nations. - More, nytimes

AFP - Afghan Refugees Risk Human Smugglers, Deportation In Search Of A Better Life --- Many Afghans are looking for an escape as more than a decade of international intervention winds down and fears grow that hardline Islamists or violent warlords will return to power. -- Afghans made 36,600 asylum claims in industrialised countries last year, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), up from 36,200 in 2011. -- Even 12 years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan remains the world's leading country of origin for refugees. -- Afghans often choose to head to Australia, Sweden, Germany or Norway, but they face a tough battle even if they complete epic overland journeys and sea passages in rickety smugglers' boats. -- Migrants pay as much as $20,000 to smugglers who run routes out of Afghanistan using road transport or enable people to board flights with illegally obtained visas. -- Many heading to Australia fly first to Malaysia, then take one sea trip to Indonesia and another on overcrowded fishing boats to Christmas Island. - More, Agence France Presse

US on Spying Scandal: 'Allies Aren't Always Friends' -- Many commentators in the US see surveillance like the NSA's alleged tapping of Chancellor Merkel's phone as a necessary fact of life. The White House is trying to limit the damage -- but the snooping will go on. That's no joke -- especially not this week when the tremors of the alleged US surveillance of Chancellor Angela Merkel will finally reach Washington. A German intelligence service delegation is traveling to the US capital to find answers to the array of question this scandal has thrown up. -- The main ones are: What did President Barack Obama know? How can the crisis of confidence in the trans-Atlantic alliance be repaired? And what will really change in the end? - More, Der SPIEGEL

Monday, October 28, 2013

Obama May Ban Spying on Heads of Allied States --- WASHINGTON — President Obama is poised to order the National Security Agency to stop eavesdropping on the leaders of American allies, administration and congressional officials said Monday, responding to a deepening diplomatic crisis over reports that the agency had for years targeted the cellphone of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. - More, nytimes

Letter To the Editor: Progress in Afghanistan --- “An Exit Strategy From Afghanistan” (editorial, Oct. 21) suggests that America needs a face-saving exit from Afghanistan. We feel that your analysis is too pessimistic, underestimating Afghanistan’s transformation over the last decade. Yes, corruption is a problem, and yes, inclusive peace is not imminent. But that does not mean all is lost, nor does it mean that America should abandon its efforts in Afghanistan. --- That’s why we have joined a new coalition, the Alliance in Support of the Afghan People, dedicated to furthering progress in Afghanistan. - More, nytimes - JOHN PODESTA, STEPHEN HADLEY, Washington, Oct. 24, 2013

آرمان ملي -- آنچه دکتور عبدالستار در تالار کانگرس امريکا گفت: تهداب کجي که دربن گذاشته شد بايد راست شود --- اجتماع جمعی از افغان ها در قلب امریکا و در خانه ملت بزرگ امریکا ( عمارت کانگرس) نمونۀ دوستی و احترام متبادل میان افغانستان و امریکا است. -- برادران و خواهران عزیز! وقایع سیاسی افغانستان در سی و سه سال گذشته چه از نظر جسامت و اهمیت و چه از لحاظ تأثیر آن در اوضاع سیاسی منطقه و جهان و چه از نقطۀ نظر پیامد های آن وقايع در حیات سیاسی و ملی مردم افغانستان بدون شک عناوین برجسته و مهمی را در تاریخ سیاسی جهان مخصوصاً در اواخر قرن بیست و اوائل قرن بیست و یک تشکیل می کند. -- دهۀ نود(1990) همچنان یک دهۀ خونین بود اما افتخار آفرین نبود، هم برای ما و هم برای جهان به عوض موفقیت و افتخار، ناکامی و خجالت بار آورد، ملت ما ومخصوصاً مدعیان قدرت سیاسی آمادگی و ظرفیت گرفتن مسؤولیت را نداشتند و در فرصتی که باز سازی کشور صورت می گرفت باز ویرانی آن به عمل آمد، و در موقعی که ثمر جهاد افغانستان ،جمهوریت های شمـال افغانستان و کشورهای اسیر اروپای شرقی را آزاد ساخته بود در داخل افغانستان برادر کشی و جنگ های داخلی در گرفت، و جهانی که در آوان جهاد در پهلوی ما بودند درین دهه مارا فراموش کردند، من بخاطر دارم که بحیث یک افغان و نیز بحیث نمایندۀ خاص مرحوم(محمدظاهرشاه) پادشاه سابق افغانستان در اوائل دهۀ نود در ستیت دیپارتمنت(وزارت خارجه)، و در ادارۀ نشنل سکوریتی(امنیت ملی) قصر سفید و در کانگرس به دوستان امریکائی گفته بودم: خالی گذاشتن فضای سیاسی و جغرافیائی افغانستان به دشمنان شما موقع میدهد تا آنرا به نفع خود به کار برند و از آن به ضد شما استفاده نمایند، بالاخره شما به افغانستان خواهید رفت، اما در جنگ میان شما و دشمنان شما مردم ما پامـال می شوند. -- در دسمبر(2001) کنفرانس معروف بُن ظاهراً تحت نظارت مؤسسه ملل متحد داير گردید، چهار هیأت افغانی با ترکیب مختلف و ناقص که به هیچ صورت یک مجلس ملی افغانی گفته نمی شد گردهم آمدند، با تمام کم و کاست آن مجلس می خواست تصمیم آزاد بگیرد اما فیصلۀ از قبل گرفته شده، در زعامت ادارۀ موقت افغانستان تحمیل و تطبیق شد، من در مرکز مسؤولیت و سرنوشت کنفرانس بُن قرار داشتم، با رعایت حالت اضطرار در امریکا و احترام توقع و انتظار مردم افغانستان با دیگر اعضای کنفرانس قبول کردیم فیصله ای که قبل از بُن اتخاذ شده بود از بُن صادر شود، اما گفته بودیم که این اداره فقط برای شش ماه وظایف مشخص را اجرا کند و این اشخاص دوباره مطرح نگردند و بعد از شش ماه عجله و اضطرار خاتمه مي يابد و در زعامت افغانستان تصمیم ملی اتخاذ مي گردد، اما متأسفانه آن شش ماه به دوازده سال تمدید یافت و در طول این مُدت حتی وظایف همان شش ماه که تأمین امنیت و صلح و اعادۀ باکرامت ميليون ها مهاجر به کشور شان بود تاهنوز تکمیل نگردیده و در عوض هزاران فرزند امریکا و کشورهای هم پیمان و صدها هزار افغان جان شانرا از دست دادند و صدها ميليارد دالر در ساحۀ نظامی و ده ها ميليارد دالر دیگر بنام باز سازی افغانستان مصرف و اکثر آن حیف و میل شد، ولی نه امنیت و صلح تأمین گردید، نه تروریزم از بین رفت و نه آواره گان افغان به وطن برگشتند و متأسفانه معیار های اعتبار و احترام بین المللی نیز صدمه دید. -- یک خصوصیت بارز این دهه درآن بود که افغانستان در طول تاریخ برای اولین بار به این پیمانه در محور توجه و کمک جهانی قرار گرفت، فرصت های استفاده از کمک های جهانی به شکل بی سابقه نصیب افغانستان شد اما در پایان یک عده( دست آوردها) که البته قابل انکار نیست و در عین حال در خلال کافی( دست بردها) که آنهم قابل انکار نیست بد بختانه عنوان(کشور درجه اول در فساد) به سویۀ جهانی به نام پاک افغانستان لکۀ خجالت و شرم وارد ساخت. -- دربیشتر از سی و سه سال گذشته ،افغانستان نظام های متعدد دست نشانده و اسیر کشور های خارجی را تجربه نمود، قربانی ميليون ها افغان در جنگ و بیچاره گی و ناتوانی و فقر و آواره گی بیشتر از نود نفوس افغانستان در دافیصد خل و خارج کشور، یگانه فاجعه و مصیبت ملي افغانستان نیست، بل فاجعۀ بزرگتر در آنست که بنیاد وحدت ملی افغانستان سخت صدمه دیده است، اصطلاح فتنه انگیز و نفاق انداز( ملیت ها) به عوض و معنی( اقوام) در آوان اشغال شوروی وارد ادبیات زبان های ما شد و نویسنده گان و نطاقان و رسانه های ما دانسته و ندانسته آنرا بکار بردند، هیچکس متوجه نشد که افغانستان فقط یک ملت دارد و یک ملت صرف دارای یک ملیت است و اقوام متعدد اجزای یک ملت واحد می باشند نه ملیت های مختلف در میان یک ملت. -- تفریق میان اجزای ملت ها، برهم انداختن و از هم جدا ساختن آنها خصوصیت بارز قدرت های استعماري جهان است، در کشور ما هر طرفی که منافع سیاسی، اقتصادی و فرهنگی داشت چه در سطح منطقه و چه در سطح جهان در ایجاد اختلال در وحدت ملی ما کوتاهی نداشته و این امر سبب شد تا مصیبت ملی افغانستان ادامه بیابد و سرنوشت سیاسی و ملی افغانستان در مسیر بازی های بزرگ سیاسی جهان قرار بگیرد، هر طرفی از میوه های این باغ بی دیوار و بی پاسبان استفاده کند، به جز صاحب آن ملت مظلوم و محروم افغانستان. -- دست دراز منافع خارجی در کشور ما از کوتاهی زبان و دست خود ما است، بنیاد نظام های سیاسی سه دهۀ گذشتۀ ما متکی به ارادۀ آزاد مردم ما نبوده، گاه در مسکو و گاه در پاکستان و ایران و گاه در واشنگتن و بُن ارکان و عناصر حیات سیاسی ما تعیین شده اند. -- درطول این مدت، مردم ما از سه اصل و ارزش انسانی که حق طبیعی هر جامعۀ بشری است محروم بودند و آن سه اصل عبارت اند از: صلح و امنیت، عدالت و خود ارادیت، این ارزش ها اگر از دست رفته باشند خود بخود بدست نمی آیند و بحیث تحفه و هدیه نیز از بیرون اهدا نمی شوند، بیداری ملت افغان، نیرو و بازوی جوانان افغان، مغز و تفکر و اندیشه و دانش طبقه روشنفکر و منور افغان، گذشتن از اعتبارات قومی، زبانی، مذهبی و کار بستن به وحدت ملی افغانستان راه های رسیدن به این ارزش هارا هموار می سازد. از کجا باید آغاز کرد؟ سوالات اساسی کدام اند؟ دو مطلب عاجل فعلاً اذهان مردم مارا مشغول ساخته است: خروج قوای خارجی از افغانستان و انتخابات ریاست جمهوری افغانستان در(2014). -- سوال اساسی به نظر من تأمین صلح و امنیت و اعادۀ وحدت و تمامیت ملي افغانستان است، آیا این اهداف از طریق انتخابات و یا به محض خروج قوای خارجی تحقق مي یابد؟ آیا تمام طرف های جنگ در انتخابات اشتراک خواهند کرد؟ آیا وضع امنیتی در کشور انتخابات را ممکن خواهد ساخت؟ - More, آرمان ملي -- Prof. Dr. Abdul Sattar Sirat

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Eikenberry --- The Limits of Counterinsurgency Doctrine in Afghanistan --- Since 9/11, two consecutive U.S. administrations have labored mightily to help Afghanistan create a state inhospitable to terrorist organizations with transnational aspirations and capabilities. The goal has been clear enough, but its attainment has proved vexing. Officials have struggled to define the necessary attributes of a stable post-Taliban Afghan state and to agree on the best means for achieving them. This is not surprising. The U.S. intervention required improvisation in a distant, mountainous land with de jure, but not de facto, sovereignty; a traumatized and divided population; and staggering political, economic, and social problems. Achieving even minimal strategic objectives in such a context was never going to be quick, easy, or cheap. --- U.S. military commanders diagnosed Afghanistan’s problem as an indigenous insurgency, albeit one made worse by the insurgents’ access to sanctuaries in Pakistan. By contrast, Karzai and many of his compatriots diagnosed the problem as militant extremism, exported from Pakistan but cleverly masquerading itself in local garb. So while U.S. military commanders argued that a long, costly counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan was necessary to decisively defeat al Qaeda in the Central and South Asian region, Karzai consistently held that the so-called insurgency was mostly a “Made in Pakistan” product that Islamabad was forcefully exporting across the border. He had a point. --- In late 2001, the world watched in awe as small numbers of U.S. ground forces, operating together with mostly Northern Alliance militias and enabled by twenty-first-century intelligence, communications, and precision strike ordnance, quickly routed the Taliban forces that had dominated Afghan battlefields for some five years. The Taliban regime was dismantled, but it was not destroyed. Aided by Pakistan’s military and intelligence services, the Taliban’s leadership began to reconstitute across the Durand Line, beyond the reach of the American military. In short order, the Taliban soon reestablished influence inside Afghanistan. --- The Afghans observed these developments at first with puzzlement, then with frustration, and ultimately with anger. They were initially puzzled as to why the U.S. government and military generally refused to publicly admit for several years that the Afghan Taliban’s center of gravity had shifted from Kabul to Islamabad. They then became frustrated when they realized that the United States would not attack the Afghan Taliban inside Pakistan because of Washington’s worry that violations of Islamabad’s sovereignty would risk more important strategic objectives (such as defeating al Qaeda and preserving stability in a problematic, nuclear-armed power). And finally, they became angry when the costs of counterinsurgency seemed to far exceed the benefits delivered. --- As the United States launched the surge, Karzai ever more frequently and publicly made such statements as “Al Qaeda was driven out of Afghanistan in 2001. They have no base in Afghanistan. The war against terrorism is not in Afghan villages and is not in the Afghan countryside.” Still, the southern Afghan countryside was designated ground zero of the counterinsurgency campaign by the U.S. military. Karzai came to regularly protest aerial bombardments of Afghan villages, coalition night raids that violated Afghan homes, detentions of Afghan citizens by international military forces, abuses by armed contractors and local militias paid by and loyal to foreign forces, and the rising tide of inadvertent but inevitable civilian casualties. --- For his part, Karzai could not have cared less about complex COIN metrics invented by foreign military staffs and think tanks (such as trend lines on the number of attacks with improvised explosive devices being thwarted by tip-offs from Afghan civilians or the number of Afghan army battalions operating at the level called “capability milestone 1”). What mattered to him was achieving the interdependent aims of regaining Afghanistan’s de facto sovereignty, strengthening political legitimacy and control, and bringing peace and stability to his country. In his mind, the American military’s way of war did not appear to bring him closer to any of these goals. --- Waging war is serious business, and military commanders must ensure that their critical planning assumptions are based on empirical evidence and probabilities, not simply on hope. This was not done when the Afghan surge was designed in 2009. --- “So what?” some might say. Even if the campaign plan was based on faulty assumptions, might not the final result still be an Afghanistan better off than before? That is possible. But while making Afghanistan a better place to live is certainly a noble goal, it is not necessarily a vital U.S. national interest, and the history is still worth revisiting so proper lessons can be learned. - More, Foreign Affairs, Karl Eikenberry

کابل: راه پیمایی اعتراض آمیز بر ضد آزار و اذیت زنان --- شماری از زنان در یک راه پیمایی اعتراض آمیز در شهر کابل، خواهان پایان بخشیدن آزار و اذیت زنان در جاده های شهر کابل از سوی مرد ها شده اند.--- معتراضان با سر دادن شعار های آزار و اذیت زنان توسط مرد ها بس است، تظاهرات شان را از ساحه پل باغ عمومی آغاز الی لیسه استقلال ادامه دادند. --- سازمان ملل متحد در سال 2012 بیست و پنجم هر ماه میلادی را به عنوان کمپاین همگانی جهت پایان دادن به خشونت علیه زنان تحت نام روزنارنج اعلام نمود. --- « آزار نباید آزار فزیکی و یا لفظی باشد وقتی فردی با نگاه های خود زنان را تعقیب می کند این آزار دهنده است و از این آزار هیچ زنی مستثنی بوده نمی تواند. این آزار و اذیت به حدی رسیده که یک دختر جوان به مکتب رفته نمی تواند ما با این راه پیمایی اعتراضیه از مسوولان می خواهیم تا جلو همچو انسان ها را بگیرد. » --- مسوولان نهاد های دفاع از حقوق زنان می گویند، حکومت باید با افراد که سبب آزار و اذیت زنان می شوند طبق قانون برخورد نماید تا جلو این مشکل اجتماعی گرفته شود. - رادیو آزادی

Blast Kills at Least 17 in Restive Afghan Province --- KABUL, Afghanistan — A minivan carrying nearly two dozen civilians to a wedding in eastern Afghanistan struck a roadside mine on Sunday, killing at least 17 people, mostly women. - nytimes

NATO Reduces Scope of Its Afghanistan Plans --- BRUSSELS — After months of tense negotiations over the size and role of a postwar presence in Afghanistan, senior North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials say they are planning a more minimalist mission, with a force consisting of fewer combat trainers and more military managers to ensure that billions of dollars in security aid are not squandered or pilfered. --- Any enduring NATO military presence in Afghanistan “is tied directly to the $4.1 billion and our ability to oversee it and account for it,” a senior NATO diplomat said. “You need enough troops to responsibly administer, oversee and account for $4 billion a year of security assistance.” - More, NYTimes

Protesters march in Washington against NSA spying - (Reuters) - Protesters marched on Capitol Hill in Washington on Saturday to protest the U.S. government's online surveillance programs, whose vast scope was revealed this year by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. --- "Over the past several months, we have learned so much about the abuses (of privacy) that are going on and the complete lack of oversight and the mass surveillance into every detail of our lives. And we need to tell Congress that they have to act," said another protester, Jennifer Wynne --- The event was organized by a coalition known as "Stop Watching Us" that consists of some 100 public advocacy groups and companies, including the American Civil Liberties Union, privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, Occupy Wall Street NYC and the Libertarian Party. --- "We are calling on Congress to take immediate action to halt this surveillance and provide a full public accounting of the NSA's and the FBI's data collection programs," Stop Watching Us said in a letter addressed to members of Congress posted online, calling for a reform of the law known as the Patriot Act. --- That law marked its 12th anniversary on Saturday. It was passed in 2001 to improve anti-terrorism efforts and is now under scrutiny by privacy advocates who say it allows "dragnet" data gathering. - More

Saturday, October 26, 2013

روح الله قاریزاده: - نبود وکیل مدافع سبب اعدام برخی از زندانیان شده است --- انجمن وکلای مدافع میگویند ۹۵ در صد محبوسین زندان ها افراد بی بضاعت بوده و به سبب نبود وکلای مدافع و عدم آگاهی آنها ازحقوق قانونی، دوسیه های شان غیر عادلانه فیصله شد برخی از آنان محکوم به اعدام میشوند. -- روح الله قاریزاده رئیس عمومی انجمن مستقل وکلای مدافع افغانستان امروز در سمینار طرز العمل تسهیلات کمک های بلاعوض حقوقی گفت: نبود وکلای مدافع وعدم اگاهی مظنونین ومتهمین از حقوق قانونی شان و عدم اگاهی دهی پولیس، څارنوالان و قضات مؤظف بررسی دوسیه از حقوق قانونی شان به مظنونین سبب میشود تا دوسیه های اکثر محبوسین غیر عادلانه فیصله شده و محکوم به زندان و برخی از انان نیز به پایه دار میروند. --- باور وی اکثراً افرادی که قدرت و توانمندی پولی دارند، کمتر تحت سلب آزادی قرار میگیرند. -- او میگوید:‌"کسانیکه متمول هستند کمتر انها زندانی میشوند بسیار سخت است که یک متمول اوتحت سلب ازادی قرار گیرد ،چرا او در هر مرحله از تعقیب عدلی راه های فرار برایش موجود است و او به سهولت میتواند از پنجه قانون فرار کند و کسیکه باقی میماند او غریب است - وخت

Amid New Storm in U.S.-Europe Relationship, a Call for Talks on Spying --- BERLIN — While President Obama has tried to soften the blow, this week’s disclosures about the extent of America’s spying on its European allies have added to a series of issues that have sharply eroded confidence in the United States’ leadership at a particularly difficult moment. - nytimes

Europe Turns Its Eye to Migration Policies, Amid Another Sea Rescue --- BRUSSELS — European Union leaders agreed Friday on a timetable for overhauling the bloc’s policy on migration and asylum just hours after the scale and urgency of the challenge were brought into stark focus by the rescue of more than 700 refugees overnight near Sicily. --- The leaders, including President François Hollande of France, said that by the end of the year, individual member states would dedicate more equipment like aircraft and boats to a collective effort to patrol the Mediterranean Sea. - More, nytimes

Afghanistan to ask Pakistan about Taliban chief's whereabouts --- (Reuters) - Afghanistan will demand an explanation from Pakistan on the whereabouts of a former Taliban second-in-command when the leaders of both countries meet next week to discuss how to end years of insurgency, an Afghan official said on Saturday. --- The whereabouts of Mullah Baradar has been the source of intense speculation since Pakistan announced his release on September 20. Pakistani sources say he is still kept in a safe house and is closely watched by his Pakistani handlers.

کرزی با رهبران بریتانیا و پاکستان در لندن دیدار می‌کند --- قرار است حامد کرزی رئیس جمهوری افغانستان برای شرکت در چهارمین دور مذاکرات سه جانبه بین افغانستان، پاکستان و بریتانیا در پایان اکتوبر به بریتانیا سفر کند. --- به گفته ایمل فیضی، سخنگوی ریاست جمهوری افغانستان، آقای کرزی در این سفر چهار روزه علاوه بر شرکت در گفت‌وگوهای سه جانبه، در کنفرانس اقتصادی جهان اسلام نیز شرکت خواهد کرد. --- در این نشست سه جانبه، نواز شریف نخست وزیر پاکستان و دیوید کامرون نخست وزیر بریتانیا نیز شرکت خواهند داشت. --- ایمیل فیضی گفت: "این نشست به سلسله نشست‎‌های سه جانبه که قبلا از جانب حکومت بریتانیا و بخصوص به ابتکار صدراعظم بریتانیا میزبانی شده، برگزار می‌شود. مسایل مربوط به این نشست مثل گذشته در ارتباط به روابط دو جانبه میان افغانستان و پاکستان است. - BBC

David Cameron kickstarts Taliban peace talks with Number 10 summit --- David Cameron will try again to kickstart Taliban peace talks with a slimmed-down Number 10 summit for President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistani prime minister, next week. --- This time, however, there will be no timeframes or the sort of bold promises that failed to deliver a push for peace then. --- A senior Afghan official said President Karzai would demand that Pakistan stops the Taliban from launching attacks during presidential elections in April. --- “Pakistan has taken a string of symbolic steps to give an image of co-operation and to appease the US but have dragged their feet on substantial, concrete steps,” he said. - Guardian

نورستانی؛ ده کاندید، یازده نخواهد شد --- احمد یوسف نورستانی، رئیس کمیسیون مستقل انتخابات به رادیو آشنا گفت که بررسی های دقیق به خاطر شامل ساختن و یا هم نساختن ۲۶ نامزد به فهرست ابتدای کاندید های انتخابات ریاست جمهوری صورت گرفته و امکان ندارد که فهرست ابتدای اکنون تغییر بخورد. --- به قول آقای نورستانی، بررسی ها با دقت تمام روی معیار ها که - تابعیت مضاعف، صد هزار کارت حمایوی از ۲۰ ولایت، دو در صد کارت از هر ولایت باشد - صورت گرفته است. -- رئیس کمیسیون مستقل انتخابات گفت که موضوع نشان انگشت و بررسی آن برای تمام کاندیدان نادیده گرفته شده است. --- به گفته نورستانی"هرگاه مساله شصت کارتهای حمایوی مانند دیگر معیارها به دقت بررسی می شد، شاید یک نفر هم شامل فهرست نمی شد." darivoa

Afghan job crisis: why the fight against terrorism is the wrong motivator --- Ten years after the fall of the Taliban and approximately $65bn (£40bn) in military and civilian aid, Afghanistan still lacks the most fundamental source of sustainable poverty reduction: decent employment. To date, there is no national labour force survey, employment strategy or youth employment strategy. Afghanistan made great progress in education – girls and boys have been enrolled in unprecedented numbers – only to find themselves unemployed upon graduation. --- Afghanistan's latest National risk and vulnerability assessment 2007/2008 shows youth unemployment rates of 10% for young men and 15% for young women. These relatively moderate figures mask high levels of underemployment, working poverty and generally low quality of work. The study found that 90% of jobs in Afghanistan can be classified as vulnerable employment. This begs the question of whether the distinction between employed and unemployed is helpful in the Afghanistan context. - More, Guardian

ملل متحد: مهاجرین افغان در پاکستان اذیت میشوند --- کمشنری عالی ملل متحد در امور پناهندگان هشدار میدهد که مهاجرین افغان در پاکستان به شکل روزافزون قربانی اخاذی، بازداشت های غیرقانونی و آزار و اذیت میشوند. پاکستان از تهاجم اتحاد جماهیرشوری سابق در سال ۱۹۷۹به این سو میلیون ها مهاجر افغان را جا داده و به تعداد ۱.۶ میلیون مهاجر منسجل در آن کشور زیست دارد. کمشنری عالی ملل متحد در امور پناهندگان میگوید که صد ها تن از مهاجرین که کارت های مهاجرت قانونی در دست دارند، در این اواخر در جریان عملیات امنیتی توسط مقامات پاکستانی به طور غیرقانونی جمع آوری شده و برای کوتاه مدت در حبس نگهداشته شده اند. - صدای امریکا

UN: Afghan Refugees Harassed in Pakistan --- ISLAMABAD — The U.N. refugee agency is warning that Afghan refugees in Pakistan are increasingly becoming victims of extortion, illegal detention and harassment. Pakistan has taken in millions of Afghans since the Soviet invasion in 1979 and has some 1.6 million registered Afghan refugees. --- According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, hundreds of registered Afghan refugees have recently been illegally swept up and briefly held by Pakistani authorities during security operations.--- U.N. representative Neill Wright said most of the arrests came during operations in Pakistan's restive southwestern province of Baluchistan and the southern city of Karachi, mainly because of institutional delays in updating refugee status cards. - voanews

Friday, October 25, 2013

Afghanistan's untold success story -- Foreign Policy - Managing Afghanistan's nascent industrial base will be critical as the nation attempts to build a modern economy that is increasingly less dependent on foreign aid. Today, there is great room for optimism as Afghanistan moves toward the post-transition period. Despite having a GDP that was made up almost entirely of outside aid in 2011 and 2012, certain industries -- including the Afghan telecommunications, agricultural, and mining sectors -- have begun to demonstrate remarkable growth and potential, leading to the vital stability needed for a viable, diversified marketplace. --- Experts estimate that Afghanistan holds deposits of $1 trillion to $3 trillion of oil, gas, gold, copper, iron ore, and other natural resources. Of this subset, perhaps the most intriguing is the country's marble industry, which is further along in its exploitation than other areas, and whose emergence is an instructive success story on seeding enterprise in the war zone. As commodity cycles turn, prices increase, and large-scale resource extraction projects scale up, Afghanistan is focusing on the industry as an anchor for the development of its resource corridor. According to the Afghanistan Investment and Support Agency, the Afghan marble industry has expanded by 60 percent since 2008, a growth that has positives effects on other industries as well. --- Economic considerations aside, Afghanistan's post-2014 future will be heavily tied to its security situation. In geostrategic hot spots around the world, counterinsurgency experts have long argued that adequate development and economic prosperity follow security. But if there is a successful strategy that upends this conventional wisdom, it may lie in western Afghanistan, where the development of the nation's multi-billion dollar mining industry is growing the economy and consequently forcing improvements in the security sector. In essence, as businesses have begun to flourish, despite the lack of fully settled security, Afghans have moved swiftly against nefarious actors to ensure that they do not impact the flow of marble and revenue generation. - More, Melissa L. Skorka

Common cause between America, Afghanistan --- For Afghanistan, the United States is the key enabler of its lifeline to the outside world. The U.S.-led effort has helped galvanize a presence of some 50 nations in the international coalition and set the conditions for related development activities. Never before has a superpower worked so hard to help Afghans gain sovereign control of their country, and the United States has asked for little in return beyond an enduring relationship. Washington learned from its mistake in 1989, when the Soviets were defeated and America went home. It has persevered, spending $700 billion, losing more than 2,000 American lives and suffering more than 10,000 seriously injured. --- It does not matter whether the United States and Afghanistan codify this shared history in a formal treaty. Indeed, the existing Strategic Partnership Agreement provides a solid and equitable framework to guide future relations. Several close U.S. security partnerships are with non-treaty allies — Taiwan, Israel, Singapore, the Persian Gulf states. More important are the narratives that each side tells itself about the other and the bonds that ensue among the two governments and peoples. A protracted and unnecessarily acrimonious negotiating process, often interrupted or held hostage by disputes, negatively colors the perspectives that each side develops. This moment should present an opportunity to commemorate our partnership to date, all the blood spilled by the troops and other committed citizens of both countries who have waged war shoulder to shoulder — shona ba shona — against some of the world’s most brutal and oppressive killers, and to lock in our gains so that we can build together for the future. -- The hour is late for such a change of heart, messaging and spirit across our two nations. But it is not yet too late. - More, John R. Allen and Michael O’Hanlon - washingtonpost

Opinions - Common cause between America, Afghanistan --- The basic character of the future U.S.-Afghan relationship is in doubt — and will continue to be even if a security agreement is reached — because the talks over that agreement and other elements of the bilateral relationship have at times played into the hands of those who seek to profoundly limit or even sever it. That could lead to a general defeat for all we have collectively tried to accomplish over the past dozen years. --- Technical details are the focus of much discussion regarding an agreement to govern U.S.-Afghan security cooperation after the current international mission ends next year. Will U.S. forces be liable in Afghan courts for any crimes they might commit against Afghans? Will the United States promise to help protect Afghanistan from its neighbors? Will U.S. forces, in certain circumstances, be authorized by Kabul to strike at al-Qaeda affiliates in Afghanistan or Pakistan? --- The U.S.-Afghan relationship should be more than a partnership of convenience. Rather than parse our respective motives in the war and nation-building efforts, it should be underscored that both sides wish for a sovereign, stable, secure, increasingly democratic and prosperous Afghanistan that can protect its people and territory. This would be good for both the Afghan people and a region badly in need of an example of political and economic development and a platform for regional economic integration. ---- Afghans remain far more pro-American than Pakistanis, Iraqis, Egyptians or most other major majority-Muslim states. As such, regardless of President Hamid Karzai’s public rhetoric on any given day, the Afghan people can be an important partner for the United States, which needs true friends in this volatile region. - More, Washingtonpost

عضو سنای آمریکا: تداوم کمک های آمریکا وابسته به امضای موافقتنامه دو جانبه است --- کارل لیون، عضو سنای آمریکا در ملاقات با حامد کرزی، رئیس جمهور افغانستان، گفته است که تداوم کمک های آمریکایی وابسته است به امضای موافقتنامه امنیتی میان افغانستان و آمریکا. -- کارل لېون همچنین از آقای کرزی انتقاد کرده و گفته است:" اظهارات آنها (آقای کرزی) عموما برای ایجاد اعتماد میان دو کشور کمکی نمی‌کند". -- آقای فیضی ضمن رد انتقاد این عضو سنای آمریکا گفته است که آمریکا می‌خواهد مقام‌های افغان در موضوعات مهم خاموش بمانند. - BBC

Why Karzai Doesn't Trust America --- He's a lousy ally - but the U.S. has done a lot to make him worse. --- “the White House appears increasingly willing to abandon plans for a long-term, costly partnership with Afghanistan. Despite the Pentagon’s pleas for patience, much of the rest of the administration is fed up with Karzai and sees Afghanistan as a fading priority amid far more ominous threats elsewhere in the world.” --- The strained communications have fed Karzai’s suspicion that the Obama administration, in its rush to end the longest war in U.S. history, is willing to go over his head and make a separate peace with Pakistan and its Taliban allies. This notion animated several events in the last few months. The first is the flap this past summer over the opening of a Taliban representative office in Doha, which was suppose to facilitate diplomatic talks on a political settlement in Afghanistan. Washington has reportedly worked closely with Pakistan on preparing the ground for talks with the Taliban but the sovereignty-minded Karzai felt he had been left out of the loop. --- One goes to war with the allies one has, to appropriate a now-famous Washington aphorism. And in truth, the disputatious Karzai has unnecessarily complicated the U.S. effort in Afghanistan. But the Obama administration’s own derelictions have also contributed much to the testiness. The White House would be wise to absorb this lesson as the endgame in that country approaches. - More, David J. Karl, National Interest

واشنګټن پوسټ: پاکستان دبې پيلوټه الوتکو له بريد نه ملاتړ کولو --- دامريکا دواشنګټن پوسټ ورځپاڼې درېپوټ له مخې، پاکستاني چارواکو په قباييلي سيمو کې دبې پيلوټه الوتکو له بريد سره هوکې کړې وه او ملاتړي وو. -- درېپوټ له مخې، که څه هم په ظاهري توګه پاکستان په وارو وارو ددغه بريدونو په مقابل کې په ميډيا کې خپل اعتراضونه وړاندې کړي، خو د سي ای اې ډير پټ لاسوندونه او دديپلوماتانو ياددښتونه دا په ډاګه کوي، چې له کلونو راهيسې پاکستاني لوړ پوړو چارواکو دډرون الوتکو دعملياتو دتلفاتو په هکله مالومات تر لاسه کول او ورسره موافق وو. - روهی ویب --- Secret memos reveal explicit nature of U.S., Pakistan agreement on drones - Washingtonpost

7.3 magnitude earthquake hits Japan near Fukushima --- A 7.3-magnitude earthquake shook Japan early Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. -- The quake was off the Fukushima region of Japan, 231 miles east off the island of Honshu. -- It was 6.2 miles deep, officials said, hit at 3:10 a.m. Saturday local time and was felt 300 miles away in Tokyo. --- The Japan Meteorological Agency reported a one-foot tsunami was observed after it issued a yellow-colored warning Saturday morning, meaning a small tsunami could reach the coast at Fukushima, site of Japan's 2011 nuclear power plant disaster.- nbcnews

Thursday, October 24, 2013

A Warning on Chemical Peels --- In the late 19th century, German scientists discovered that an easy-to-make acid could rather neatly peel off a layer of skin cells. They promptly marketed it for “skin rejuvenation.” Today, that compound, trichloroacetic acid, or TCA, is widely used by dermatologists both to brighten up aging faces and to remove damaged skin cells, including precancerous ones. --- But scrutiny intensified after a 2011 review by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which cited study after study in lab mice linking TCA to liver cancer; one research group called it a “complete carcinogen.” More, NYTimes

Prince George christening: Official pictures released --- The Queen has been pictured with three future kings - the first such image of royal succession for nearly 120 years. -- The monarch is shown with her son, the Prince of Wales, grandson, the Duke of Cambridge, and great-grandson, Prince George, to mark the royal christening. --- Prince George wears a replica of the intricate lace and satin christening gown made for Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, Victoria, the Princess Royal, in 1841. - bbc.co.uk

Time to end the war against saturated fat? --- The British Medical Journal has issued a clarion call to all who want to ward off heart disease: Forget the statins and bring back the bacon (or at least the full-fat yogurt). Saturated fat is not the widow-maker it's been made out to be, writes British cardiologist Aseem Malhotra in a stinging "Observations" column in the BMJ: The more likely culprits are empty carbs and added sugar. --- Virtually all the truths about preventing heart attacks that physicians and patients have held dear for more than a generation are wrong and need to be abandoned, Malhotra writes. He musters a passel of recent research that suggests that the "obsession" with lowering a patients' total cholesterol with statins, and a public health message that has made all sources of saturated fat verboten to the health-conscious, have failed to reduce heart disease. - More, latimes

White House presses Senate to delay new Iran sanctions --- (Reuters) - The White House hosted a meeting of aides to Senate committee leaders on Thursday seeking to persuade lawmakers to hold off on a package of tough new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, a senior Senate aide said.

Levin Meets With Karzai on Trip to Afghanistan --- The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee says he backs continued aid to Afghanistan so long as there is an acceptable security agreement. -- Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan made the comments Thursday in a statement issued as he returned from a trip to Afghanistan. Levin met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. -- Levin says he told Karzai that the U.S. would not be able to provide aid unless an agreement is reached in the near future. - More, AP

Afghanistan Unemployment: Despite Billions In Aid, Afghans Can't Find Work --- KABUL, Afghanistan -- KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Hundreds of men, some on crutches, all wearing tattered clothing, gather shortly before dawn at major intersections throughout Kabul and other Afghan cities. Displaying primitive tools such as a level or a trowel, they seek labor that is often backbreaking, always temporary and will earn just a few dollars for a day's work. -- Despite billions of dollars from abroad to develop this impoverished country since the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime in 2001, roughly 12 million people, or eight out of every 10 working-age Afghan are unskilled day laborers, according to an International Labor Organization report. Most land only temporary jobs. -- But almost everywhere, the pay is meager. Afghans with jobs, whether part-time or full-time, earn on average $410 per year — or about $1 per day, according to the World Bank. -- The International Labor Organization report, released last year, offered several grim statistics: nearly half of Afghans don't have enough to eat; 18 percent of children under 15 years old are working; and 82 percent of Afghans are illiterate. --- A 2011 report by the International Crisis Group said $57 billion in international aid had been dispersed in Afghanistan since 2001. But while the figure seems huge, if divided among the country's 34.4 million people, it would come up to roughly $1,657 per person over 10 years, or about $166 per each Afghan per year. The ICG said the $57 billion represents only a "fraction of what has been spent on the war effort." --- "Foreigners came here to make jobs for themselves, but nothing has changed for the lives of Afghans," he said. "I think Afghanistan is going in a very bad direction. No one is doing anything about the problems of the poor people." - More, KATHY GANNON

UN: Afghan Refugees Harassed in Pakistan --- ISLAMABAD — The U.N. refugee agency is warning that Afghan refugees in Pakistan are increasingly becoming victims of extortion, illegal detention and harassment. Pakistan has taken in millions of Afghans since the Soviet invasion in 1979 and has some 1.6 million registered Afghan refugees. -- According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, hundreds of registered Afghan refugees have recently been illegally swept up and briefly held by Pakistani authorities during security operations. --- Millions of refugee Afghans poured over the border into Pakistan when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, and more joined them when the Taliban took over in the late 1990s. In the last 10 years, some 3.8 million have been repatriated, but Pakistan still hosts more than one and a half million authorized Afghan refugees. - More, voanews

NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts --- The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. --- The confidential memo reveals that the NSA encourages senior officials in its "customer" departments, such the White House, State and the Pentagon, to share their "Rolodexes" so the agency can add the phone numbers of leading foreign politicians to their surveillance systems. - More, Guardian

Uproar in Europe continues over allegations that U.S. tapped Merkel’s cellphone --- BERLIN — The Obama administration’s relationship with Europe appeared to have been dealt a major setback Thursday as furious European leaders discussed allegations that U.S. intelligence agencies eavesdropped on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone and a new report alleged the National Security Agency had monitored the phone conversations of more than 30 other world leaders. - Washingtonpost

Secret memos reveal explicit nature of U.S., Pakistan agreement on drones --- Despite repeatedly denouncing the CIA’s drone campaign, top officials in Pakistan’s government have for years secretly endorsed the program and routinely received classified briefings on strikes and casualty counts, according to top-secret CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos obtained by The Washington Post. -- The files describe dozens of drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal region and include maps as well as before-and-after aerial photos of targeted compounds over a four-year stretch from late 2007 to late 2011 in which the campaign intensified dramatically. -- Markings on the documents indicate that many of them were prepared by the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center specifically to be shared with Pakistan’s government. - More, Washingtonpost

اعتراض به فهرست ابتدایی نامزدان احتمالی انتخابات افغانستان --- شماری از افرادی که نامشان از فهرست ابتدایی نامزدان انتخابات ریاست جمهوری و شوراهای ولایتی حذف شده، می‌گویند که بی دلیل از این فهرست کنار زده شده‌اند و آنها تمام شرایط نامزدی را تکمیل کرده بودند. -- داوود سلطان زوی یکی از نامزدان احتمالی انتخابات ریاست جمهوری بود که نامش در فهرست ابتدایی دیده نمی‌شود. - او می‌گوید که او تابعیت دوم خود را ترک کرده و تمام اسنادش برای نامزدی در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری تکمیل بوده است. --- انوارالحق احدی وزیر پیشین تجارت یکی دیگر از کسانی بود که برای نامزدی در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری ثبت نام کرده بود. - او امروز در یک نشست خبری گفت: "من از نظر حامیان، صد هزار یا پنج صد هزار، هیچ مشکلی نداشتم. تصمیم کمیسیون انتخابات غیرعادلانه بوده و آنها هیچ توضیحی برای ما ندادند که آنها چه خرابی در کارت های ما دیده اند." --- خدیجه غزنوی یگانه زنی بود که برای نامزدی در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری ثبت نام کرده بود اما اکنون نامش از فهرست ابتدایی حذف شده است. - او می‌گوید: "فهرست را ببینید که کی ها آمده اند؟ من زنی هستم که دستم به خونی آلوده نبود، حق مردم را نخورده بودم. مردم از من خواستند که نامزد شوم." - More, BBC

Pakistan prime minister urges Obama to end drone strikes --- (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday urged U.S. President Barack Obama to end drone strikes in Pakistan, touching on a sore subject just as relations between the two countries improve after years of suspicion over Afghanistan and the U.S. counterterrorism fight. --- The United States has quietly restarted security assistance to Pakistan after freezing aid during the period of soured relations, when Washington frequently voiced complaints about the ties of the Pakistani intelligence service to militant groups active in Afghanistan. - More, reuters

Afghan bomb squads in short supply as NATO prepares to leave --- (Reuters) - The Afghan soldiers studying the art of controlled detonations of explosive devices would have to wait until another day for a practical demonstration due to an unspecified security threat.

'Unacceptable': Mexico Slams US Spying on President --- On Sunday, SPIEGEL reported that America's National Security Agency (NSA) had accessed the email system of Mexico's "Presidencia" domain, believed to be used by members of former President Felipe Calderon's cabinet. --- Mexican authorities responded quickly, saying the same day that they would be seeking answers from US officials "as soon as possible." - More, Spiegel

Berlin Complains: Did US Tap Chancellor Merkel's Mobile Phone? --- German Chancellor Angela Merkel phoned United States President Barack Obama on Wednesday to discuss suspicions that she may have been targeted by US intelligence agencies for years, SPIEGEL has learned. -- The chancellor asked for a thorough explanation of serious indications that US intelligence agencies had declared her private mobile phone to be a target in their operations. - More, Der Spiegel

Germany's Merkel: A 'serious breach' if U.S. tapped her cellphone --- BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel complained to President Obama on Wednesday after learning that U.S. intelligence may have targeted her cellphone, saying that would be “a serious breach of trust” if true.-- The White House denied that the U.S. was listening in on Merkel's phone calls now. -- More, latimes

Obama, Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif meet at White House --- WASHINGTON — President Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought to strengthen their countries' fragile relationship with a two-hour Oval Office meeting Wednesday that touched on sensitive subjects, including U.S. drone strikes, Afghanistan's future and the security of Islamabad's growing nuclear arsenal. --- In their first face-to-face meeting, the leaders said they emphasized mutual efforts to stabilize Pakistan's economy and deal with terrorism and other security threats. --- Pakistan is also worried that an abrupt U.S. troop withdrawal in 2014 in Afghanistan could destabilize that country's government, sending waves of refugees across the border into Pakistan and potentially increasing the influence of neighboring states, such as India. - More, latimes

Pakistani Premier Meets Obama to Mend Ties --- WASHINGTON — President Obama welcomed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan to the White House on Wednesday, seeking to bolster his new civilian government and mend perennially frayed ties between the countries. --- With the United States’ winding down the Afghan war, Mr. Obama reminded Mr. Sharif of the importance of a stable, sovereign Afghanistan. American officials have long been suspicious of links between the Pakistani military and militant groups like the Haqqani network, which has carried out attacks on Westerners in Afghanistan. -- For its part, the Sharif government has signaled an interest in negotiating with the Pakistani Taliban, a process that analysts said the United States should encourage. - More, nytimes

Anger Growing Among Allies Over U.S. Surveillance BERLIN — The diplomatic fallout from the documents harvested by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden intensified on Wednesday, with one of the United States’ closest allies, Germany, announcing that its leader had angrily called President Obama seeking reassurance that her cellphone was not the target of an American intelligence tap. --- Washington hastily pledged that the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, leader of Europe’s most powerful economy, was not the target of current surveillance and would not be in the future, while conspicuously saying nothing about the past. After a similar furor with France, the call was the second time in 48 hours that the president found himself on the phone with a close European ally to argue that the unceasing revelations of invasive American intelligence gathering should not undermine decades of hard-won trans-Atlantic trust. - NYTimes

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

وزیران دفاع ناتو: اظهارات کرزی درباره ناتو واقع‌بینانه نیست --- وزرای دفاع بریتانیا و آلمان گفته‌اند جنگ به رهبری ناتو در افغانستان برای آن کشور و مردمش، بسیار سودمند بوده است. --- آنها در رد اظهارات حامدکرزی رئیس جمهوری افغانستان سخن می‌گفتند که اخیرا به انتقاد از عملکرد ناتو پرداخته و گفته بود حضور نیروهای خارجی باعث برقراری امنیت سراسری در کشورش نشده و استراتژی جنگ علیه تروریسم نیز روشن نبوده است. --- فیلیپ هاموند، وزیر دفاع بریتانیا که در نشست وزرای دفاع ناتو در بروکسل پایتخت بلژیک شرکت کرده، گفت "در مقایسه با سال ۲۰۰۱ که جنگ علیه طالبان شروع شد، مزایای زیادی نصیب افغانستان شده است. افغانستان در آن زمان از داشتن بنیادهای یک دولت مدرن محروم بود و ما این روند را تغییر دادیم." - More, BBC

Prince George on his best behaviour as he is christened --- Future king manages a wave for the Queen as he is baptised at the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace --- He was, in every sense, the perfect baby. Prince George, who will one day be king and head of the Church of England, was calmness personified throughout his half-hour christening ceremony today. - Telegraph

Security pact delay hampers NATO plans for post-2014 Afghanistan --- (Reuters) - NATO has agreed the outline of a military force it intends to keep in Afghanistan after its combat mission there ends next year, but troop numbers remain uncertain due to ongoing talks between Washington and Kabul. --- NATO defense ministers endorsed a "strategic planning assessment" on Wednesday, setting out command and control arrangements and the capabilities needed for the mission that the alliance says will have a training and advisory role, U.S. and NATO officials said. -- Once the U.S.-Afghan agreement is sealed, NATO must negotiate a similar agreement with Afghanistan creating the legal basis for other NATO nations to keep troops there.

Monitors protest expulsion of 16 candidates for Afghan president --- (Reuters) - The disqualification of 16 presidential candidates from Afghanistan's presidential race prompted an outcry from independent monitors on Wednesday, while some victims accused the government of being behind the move. --- One ex-presidential hopeful, former commerce minister Anwar ul Haq Ahadi, told reporters his citizenship documents had no issues and that there must have been another motive. - "By this act, the IEC's leadership has lost its credibility," Ahadi said

Hagel Urges Afghanistan to Approve Security Deal --- BRUSSELS — U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is urging Afghan leaders to sign a bilateral security agreement, saying it is key to ensuring peace in the country after most international troops depart at the end of next year. --- On his flight Monday to Brussels, Hagel said he believes the Afghans also understand the need to quickly, but carefully, approve an agreement that will set the rules governing the presence of foreign troops remaining in the country after 2014. - voanews

Human Rights Groups Call for Investigation of US Drone Strikes --- Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International released joint reports Tuesday documenting dozens of civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. The reports challenge assertions by the Obama administration that such casualties are rare and call for official investigations into possible violations of international human rights laws. - voanews

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

غاصبان زمین؛ فهرست واقعی یا ظاهری --- نام کسانی‌که در غصب زمین دست دارند، از سوی مجلس نمایندگان افشا شد. یکی از باورهایی که به‌صورت بسیار جدی در میان مردم وجود دارد این است که مقام‌های عالی‌رتبه دولتی، به‌صورت مستقیم و یا کسانی‌که با این مقامات رابطه جدی و تعامل دارند، احتمالا در غصب زمین‌های دولتی سهم دارند. اما در فهرستی که از سوی مجلس نمایندگان به نشر رسیده است، افراد و اشخاص معروفی شامل نیست. --- از سوی کمیسیون ویژه نظارت بر اعمال حکومت گفته شده است که فهرست منتشر شده از غاصبان زمین، شامل اسامی شانزده هزار نفر است که متهم به غصب بیش از یک‌ونیم میلیون جریب زمین دولتی، هستند. اما براساس آن‌چه به نقل از این گزارش در رسانه‌ها منعکس شده است، نام‌های آشنایی از کسانی‌که در دولت حضور دارند، وجود ندارد. به همین خاطر نیز این شک به‌میان آمده است که ممکن است این فهرست واقعی غاصبان زمین نباشد. --- با این‌که از سوی این کمیسیون گفته شده است که برخی از فرماندهان محلی، بزرگان قومی، مسوولان شهرداری‌ها و برخی از وزیران و ماموران بلندپایه دولتی هم، در غصب زمین‌های دولتی دست داشته‌اند، اما در عین زمان به نقل از اعضای همین کمیسیون گفته شده است که نام‌‌های غاصبان دارای زور و قدرت، به علت عدم همکاری حکومت در این فهرست جا داده نشده است. - روزنامه هشت صبح

16 Candidates Disqualified in Afghanistan --- KABUL, Afghanistan — More than half of the Afghan presidential hopefuls had their hopes dashed on Tuesday when the country’s election commission declared that their candidacies did not meet documentary or citizenship requirements. --- The Independent Election Commission announced that it had ruled out 16 candidates, leaving 10 — including all the major contenders — remaining in the campaign for the presidency in April. “They either didn’t meet the conditions set for citizenship, or their supporter list didn’t meet our conditions or there were problems in their documents,” said the head of the commission, Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani. - More, NYTimes

Migration Debate: Deportation Scandal Grips France --- Controversy surrounding the deportation of a 15-year-old Roma girl and her family continues to undermine the government of French President François Hollande. The scandal is the latest flare-up in the country's deeply divisive immigration debate. - More, Der Spiegel

U.S., NATO officials expect approval for Afghan troop deal --- (Reuters) - Senior U.S. and NATO officials said on Tuesday they were confident Afghanistan's elders and parliament would back a deal allowing American troops to stay there after 2014, playing down lingering concerns over the accord. --- The Afghan president's spokesman Aimal Faizi had told Reuters on Sunday Kabul and Washington had not yet agreed on several issues in a bilateral security pact, raising the prospect that the U.S. might still have to pull all its troops from the war-ravaged nation by the deadline.

پروژه پایپ لاین گاز ترکمنستان صلح را در افغانستان تامین می کند --- روزنامه وال ستریت ژورنال می نویسد، با بیرون شدن قوای بین المللی از افغانستان در سال 2014، برای استقرار صلح در این کشور چشم امید همه به اعمار پایپ لاین گاز ترکمنستان دوخته شده است که از طریق افغانستان به پاکستان و هند وصل می شود. به نظر روزنامه با این پروژه روابط بین کابل، اسلام آباد و دهلی جدید تقویه می شود و اگر این پروژه عملی نشود، در آن صورت ایران امتیاز بیشتر بر همسایه گان خود خواهد داشت و امریکا و ملل متحد نخواهند توانست مانع خرید گاز ایران توسط پاکستان شوند. --- علاوه بر آن با آغاز پروژه تاپی امریکا می تواند در آسیای میانه و افغانستان، در برابر نفوذ روسیه و چین توازن را برقرار نماید. بعد از آنکه در سال 1991 اتحاد شوروی از هم فروپاشید، مساله پایپ لاین گاز ترکمنستان به پاکستان از طریق افغانستان مطرح شد. در آن وقت شرکت های امریکایی و ارجنتایتی موافقت کردند که کار این پروژه را آغاز می کنند. در اواخر سال 2001 که رژیم طالبان در عملیات تحت رهبری امریکا در افغانستان به سقوط مواجه شد، بار دیگر برای آغاز کار این پروژه، امیدواری پیدا شد. در سال 2008 هند هم پیشنهاد کرد که در این پروژه همراه می شود. اگرچه روابط هند و پاکستان آن قدر خوب نیست، اما در پروژه تاپی از پنج سال به این سو بین دو کشور همکاری وجود دارد. --- روزنامه وال ستریت ژورنال در حالی که در مورد پروژه تاپی اظهار امیدواری می کند، اما این سوال پیدا شده است که آیا ترکمنستان گاز کافی دارد که هم به روسیه و هم به چین و هم به پاکستان و هندوستان صادر نماید؟ سوال دیگر این است که آیا در افغانستان امنیت به اندازه تامین خواهد شد که این پایپ لاین از آن بگذرد؟ این سوال هم مطرح شده است که آیا سرمایه گذاران حاضر خواهند شد که بین 12 تا 15 میلیارد دالر در این پروژه سرمایه گذاری نمایند؟ --- روز نامه وال ستریت ژورنال می افزاید، با پروژه تاپی این برنامه امریکا هم عملی خواهد شد که می خواهد راه قدیمی ابریشم دوباره احیا شود، زیرا خط آهن در اینجا ساخته خواهد شد، راه های مواصلاتی اعمار خواهند گردید و با بیرون رفتن قوای بین المللی از افغانستان حکومت افغانستان سالانه میلیونها دالر عواید از این درک بدست خواهد آورد. علاوه بر آن با آغاز پروژه تاپی در حدود 50 هزار افغان کار پیدا می کنند. - رادیو آزادی

The Pipeline That Could Keep the Peace in Afghanistan --- One of the most ambitious and frustrating geopolitical projects on the planet is now within reach—if the U.S. leads in its development. The project is TAPI, a proposed gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The stakes are high. When U.S. forces withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014, the pipeline and the cooperation needed to maintain it may be the best hope for regional stability. --- The future success of Afghanistan, and relations among Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and the U.S., are just the beginning of potential benefits. Without the pipeline, Iran will be able to manipulate its neighbors more. America's ability to balance the growing influence of China and Russia in Central Asia and Afghanistan, and U.S. credibility throughout the region, also may depend on TAPI's completion. --- The idea of shipping gas eastward from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan to Pakistan was first proposed immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Deals were signed with American and Argentine firms, but the project went nowhere. Hopes revived after the U.S. helped topple the Taliban regime in late 2001, and energy-poor India asked to join the project in 2008. Despite decades of tension between Pakistan and India, the two countries have cooperated on TAPI for five years. --- Then there is the price. Will investors put up the estimated $12 billion to $16 billion needed to build the pipeline? --- TAPI can provide Kabul with hundreds of millions of dollars annually and create an estimated 50,000 jobs for Afghans. It will do so in a way that gives three of the key states in the region—Pakistan, India and Iran—a strategic interest in Afghanistan's success - More, Wall Street Journal

Afghanistan Narrows Presidential Field to 10 Men --- KABUL—More than half of Afghanistan's presidential hopefuls were disqualified Tuesday by the country's election authorities, narrowing the list of eligible candidates to 10 men. -- Crucially, all of the major candidates—among them former civil-war era commanders, reformists and the president's brother—remained in the race, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission said. --- Under Afghan law, presidential candidates and their two vice-presidential nominees are barred from holding dual citizenship. --- Those disqualified include Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady, who stepped down as minister of commerce to run for president, and the only woman candidate. - More, Wall Street Journal

.نورستانی: د ولسمشرۍ ١٦ کانديدان وايستل شول --- د ټاکنو خپلواک کمېسيون وايي د ولسمشرۍ د ۲۶ نوماندانو له ډلې يې ۱۶ تنه د دوه ګوني تابعيت لرلو او د ولسمشرۍ شرايطو د نه پوره کولو له امله، وېستلي دي. -- ښاغلي نورستاني وويل، هغه نوماندان چې د ټاکنو د کمېسيون پر دې پرېکړې نيوکه لري، کولی شي تر راتلونکو ۲۰ ورځو پورې د ټاکنيزو شکايتونو اورېدو کمېسيون ته مراجعه وکړي. -- ده وويل، دغه نوملړ وروستی نه دی او ښايي تر راتلونکو څو ورځو په دغه نوملړ کې ځينې احتمالي کانديدان زيات او يا هم کم شي. ---هغه کانديدان چې په ابتدايي نوملړ کې بريالي شوي دي: - More, BBC

Taliban to Fight During Winter Lull, U.S. Military Officer Says --- BRUSSELS — A senior American military officer warned Tuesday that insurgent groups are expected to carry out an unusually aggressive campaign of violence in Afghanistan this winter, angling to create maximal disruption ahead of next year’s presidential elections and as Western militaries continue to withdraw. --- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met in Brussels on Tuesday with the Afghan defense minister, Bismullah Khan Mohammadi. Mr. Mohammadi expressed confidence that the bilateral security agreement would be approved, American officials said. -- But in the meeting, Mr. Hagel was firm that American jurisdiction over its forces “is a must” for the agreement, according to a senior Pentagon official. - More, NYTimes

Security Check Now Starts Long Before You Fly --- The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its screening of passengers before they arrive at the airport by searching a wide array of government and private databases that can include records like car registrations and employment information. -- While the agency says that the goal is to streamline the security procedures for millions of passengers who pose no risk, the new measures give the government greater authority to use travelers’ data for domestic airport screenings. Previously that level of scrutiny applied only to individuals entering the United States. -- The prescreening, some of which is already taking place, is described in documents the T.S.A. released to comply with government regulations about the collection and use of individuals’ data, but the details of the program have not been publicly announced. --- Privacy groups contacted by The New York Times expressed concern over the security agency’s widening reach. - More, NYTimes

فهرست مقدماتی نامزدان ریاست جمهوری افغانستان اعلام شد --- یوسف نورستانی رئیس کمیسیون انتخابات افغانستان اعلام کرد که از مجموع کسانی که برای شرکت در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری ثبت نام کرده بودند، صلاحیت ده نفر از سوی این کمیسیون تائید شده است --- رئیس کمیسیون انتخابات، افغانستان افزود کسانی که صلاحیت شان تائید نشده می توانند با مراجعه به کمیسیون بررسی شکایت های انتخاباتی، مساله را پیگیری کنند. --- کسانی که در فهرست ابتدایی تائید شده اند به این شرح اند: - عبدالرب رسول سیاف - اشرف غنی احمدزی - عبدالله عبدالله - عبدالرحیم وردک، - هدایت امین ارسلا - زلمی رسول - قطب الدین هلال - قیوم کرزی - گل آقا شیرزوی - سردار نادر نعیم، نوه برادر سردار داوود خان --- بر اساس قانون اساسی افغانستان کسی که تابعیت دوگانه داشته باشد، نمی تواند خود را بعنوان رئیس جمهوری یا معاون او نامزد کند. - More, BBC

Afghan election body disqualifies 16 presidential candidates --- Kabul — Afghan officials on Tuesday disqualified more than half of the candidates who registered for the 2014 presidential election, marking a chaotic opening stage in the country's first democratic transfer of power. -- "Out of the 26 candidates who had officially filed to the IEC, after checking documents, 10 made it to the election," Independent Election Commission chief Yousof Nooristani told reporters. --- All the major names remained in the April 5 vote, which is seen as a key test of Afghanistan's progress as the US-led NATO military coalition pulls out after 13 years of fighting the Taliban insurgency. --- Presidential hopefuls must be aged at least 40, have a clean criminal record, provide 100,000 voter cards to prove they have a network of supporters, and lodge a deposit of one million Afghanis ($18,000). --- The constitution also decrees that all candidates must be Muslim, born of Afghan parents and not a citizen of another country. --- Disqualified candidates will be able to appeal, with a final list of runners due to be published on November 16. - AFP

Afghan electoral body disqualifies more than half the country’s presidential candidates --- KABUL — More than half of Afghanistan’s presidential candidates were disqualified by the country’s electoral body Tuesday, although major power players and regional strongmen, including a brother of incumbent President Hamid Karzai, remain on the list for the April vote. -- The head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani, said dual citizenship and failure to provide enough voters’ signatures were among the reasons the IEC removed 16 candidates from the list. --- Most of the 10 approved by the IEC are seen as pro-Karzai figures, with former foreign minister Zalmay Rassoul and the president’s elder brother Qayum Karzai, among those said to be his favorites. - More, Washingtonpost

گروه سرشناسان و دادخواهی برای افغانستان در امریکا --- یک نهاد نوی در امریکا، مرکز ایالات متحده از سوی شماری از افغانها و امریکایی ها ایجاد شده است و مسؤولین آن می گویند که برای تحکیم دست آوردهای دوازده سال گذشته در افغانستان، فعالیت خواهند کرد. --- شماری از مقام های بلندپایه پیشین امریکایی، رئیس کمیسیون مستقل حقوق بشر افغانستان و دیگر افراد برجسته در این سازمان، که نام آن ائتلاف حمایت از مردم افغانستان است، عضویت دارند. --- کن رات، رئیس سازمان دیدبان حقوق بشر، راین کراکر، سفیر پیشین امریکا در افغانستان، ستفن هدلی، مشاور پیشین امنیت ملی امریکا، مارک گراسمن، نماینده پیشین امریکا برای افغانستان و پاکستان، دریاسالار جیمز ستارویدس، فرمانده ارشد پیشین ارتش امریکا، سعد محسنی، رئیس گروه رسانه های موبی، سیما سمر، رئیس کمیسیون مستقل حقوق بشر افغانستان و شمار دیگری از شخصیت های سرشناس اعضای این ائتلاف استند. - More, darivoa

Spy Chief Distances Saudis From U.S.--- RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief told European diplomats this weekend that he plans to scale back cooperating with the U.S. to arm and train Syrian rebels in protest of Washington's policy in the region, participants in the meeting said. --- Prince Bandar Bin Sultan al-Saud's move increases tensions in a growing dispute between the U.S. and one of its closest Arab allies over Syria, Iran and Egypt policies. It follows Saudi Arabia's surprise decision on Friday to renounce a seat on the United Nations Security Council. - More, WSJ

په کامدیش کي د افغان ځواکونو له لوري عملیات پیل شول --- د نورستان ولایت د کامدیش ولسوالۍ په مرکز او اړوندو کلیو کي د افغان ځواکونو له لوري درانه عملیات پیل شوي دي. --- د نورستان والي تمیم نورستاني پرون ماسپیښین په یو مطبوعاتي کنفرانس کي وویل چی یاد عملیات د ملي او محلي پولیسو لخوا نن سهار پیل شوي دي نورستانۍ یادونه کوي چي دا عملیات د طالبانو د ځالو د ورکولو په موخه پیل شوي دي نوموړي وايي چي تر اوسه د عملیاتو په ترڅ کي طالبان له سیمي شړل شوي دي د ده په وینا چي افغان ځواکونو ته د عملیاتو په لړ کي سپکي او درني وسلي هم په لاس ورغلي دي. - More, زرداد شینواری

Afghanistan says differences remain on U.S. security pact --- (Reuters) - Afghanistan and the United States have not yet agreed on several issues in a bilateral security pact, a senior Afghan spokesman said, raising the prospect that Washington could pull out all its troops from the war-ravaged nation next year if the differences could not be ironed out.

نگرانی ام‌آی۶ از کمبود 'منابع اطلاعاتی' در افغانستان --- روزنامه دیلی تیلی‌گراف چاپ بریتانیا نوشته‌است که سازمان اطلاعات مخفی بریتانیا یا 'ام‌آی۶' خواستار افزایش جاسوسان خود در افغانستان شده است. -- این روزنامه می‌نویسد که ام‌آی۶ نگران است که پس از خروج نظامیان بریتانیایی از افغانستان در پایان سال آینده میلادی، این کشور با یک "خلا اطلاعاتی" مواجه خواهد شد، جایی‌که به باور این سازمان خطر صدور تروریسم از آنجا به بریتانیا وجود دارد. -- براساس نوشته دیلی‌تیلی‌گراف، ام‌آی۶ خواستار استخدام کارمندان بیشتر از دیگر بخش‌های اطلاعاتی بریتانیا شده که متخصص امور افغانستان هستند. - BBC

Monday, October 21, 2013

Vittorio Missoni remains recovered from plane crash site, says Venezuela --- Venezuelan authorities say they have recovered the presumed remains of the Italian fashion executive Vittorio Missoni, who went missing in January after taking off in a small plane from the Los Roques archipelago in the Caribbean. -- Four months ago Venezuela's government said it had discovered the aircraft in 76 metres (249ft) of water. It had been carrying Missoni, 58, his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, another couple and two Venezuelan crew members. --- "All the remains were complete in the plane," said the Venezuelan attorney-general, Luisa Ortega, on Monday. "There was the luggage and other belongings which indicate to us ... that they belonged to the people we were looking for." - Guardian

US admits: French surveillance revelations raise 'legitimate questions' --- The White House conceded on Monday that revelations about how its intelligence agencies have intercepted enormous amounts of French phone traffic raised "legitimate questions for our friends and allies". --- In a statement released after a phone call between Barack Obama and his counterpart, François Hollande, the White House made one of its strongest admissions yet about the diplomatic impact of the disclosures by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. --- The French daily Le Monde published details from the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, suggesting the NSA had been intercepting French phone traffic on what it termed "a massive scale". - More, Guardian

Report that NSA collected French phone records causing diplomatic headache for U.S. --- A report Monday that the National Security Agency vacuumed up more than 70 million French phone records in one month left the Obama administration scrambling once again to explain spy practices that have angered allies and dented the United States’ reputation overseas. -- To assuage the French and other allies, the Obama administration is pointing to a White House review of intelligence-gathering practices that the president ordered in response to foreign and domestic criticism of U.S. surveillance operations. - More, Washingtonpost

Holding the course in Afghanistan -- Foreing Policy --- Afghanistan has come a long way since the United States and its allies arrived in the country 12 years ago. Daunting challenges remain, but it is a far cry from the failed state and terrorist hideout it was in 2001. Doom-and-gloom press prognostications of an inevitable post-2014 return to Taliban tyranny do not reflect the realities on the ground. The fact is that Afghanistan has a solid chance of becoming significantly more stable, productive, and self-sustaining. This outcome, however, depends upon the will of the United States, its partners, and the leaders Afghans choose in next April's presidential elections. --- As political leaders in Washington wrestle with budget issues in the coming months, they should resist the temptation to slash funding for Afghanistan. Outbursts from an outgoing President Hamid Karzai should not obscure larger U.S. interests in Afghanistan and the region. Abandoning Afghanistan now would squander the significant investments and sacrifices the United States and its partners have made there, including the sacrifices still borne by many U.S. service members and their families. - More, Foreign Policy - Michele Flournoy

A fascinating map of the world’s most and least racially tolerant countries --- • Anglo and Latin countries most tolerant. People in the survey were most likely to embrace a racially diverse neighbor in the United Kingdom and its Anglo former colonies (the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and in Latin America. The only real exceptions were oil-rich Venezuela, where income inequality sometimes breaks along racial lines, and the Dominican Republic, perhaps because of its adjacency to troubled Haiti. Scandinavian countries also scored high. --- • Wide, interesting variation across Europe. Immigration and national identity are big, touchy issues in much of Europe, where racial make-ups are changing. Though you might expect the richer, better-educated Western European nations to be more tolerant than those in Eastern Europe, that's not exactly the case. France appeared to be one of the least racially tolerant countries on the continent, with 22.7 percent saying they didn't want a neighbor of another race. - More, Washingtonpost

Afghan assembly to consider deal with U.S. next month --- KABUL — An Afghan assembly will decide next month on a proposal that would allow the U.S. military to keep key bases and troops in Afghanistan after 2014, when all foreign combat forces are set to leave. --- The assembly, known as the loya jirga, is scheduled to start Nov. 19 and could last up to a week, allowing 3,000 participants to deliberate on the 32 pages of the proposed pact, said Sadeq Mudabir, a senior organizer of the gathering. - More, Washingtonpost

Egyptian security forces fire teargas at Islamist protesters --- (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces fired bird shot and teargas to prevent supporters of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi from marching on Sunday to the site of a protest camp that was destroyed two months ago, a Reuters witness said. -- The crowd of about 100 people were students from Al-Azhar University, the historic seat of Sunni Muslim learning. They threw rocks at riot police stationed outside the gates of the university, and police threw the stones back.

‘Indo-Pak tensions may escalate after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan’ --- The logic of Pakistan’s involvement in Afghanistan has always been linked to the fear of encirclement by India. Even if India has no military or security presence in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s establishment will see it as a threat. It is unrealistic to expect India to not trade with Afghanistan or for Afghans to not accept Indian assistance. But given the mindset of our strategic planners, I fear an escalation in India-Pakistan tensions after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Unfortunately, our state institutions do not seem to agree that the best way for Pakistan to have a friendly government in Afghanistan is by befriending the government in Afghanistan instead of trying to impose one. - Pakistan’s former Ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, The Hindu

Sunday, October 20, 2013

باختر - سفیر پیشین پاکستان در امریکا: پاکستان نمی خواهد با حکومت افغانستان دوست باشد، بلکه در تلاش است حکومت دلخواه خود را در این کشور تحمیل نماید

US-Pakistan ties 'could not be more important' - Kerry --- US-Pakistan ties "could not be more important", Secretary of State John Kerry has said, as he met Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif in Washington. --- Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has asked Congress to resume $305m (£190m) in blocked security aid to Pakistan. - BBC

US quietly releases $1.6bn in aid to Pakistan after thaw in relations --- The US has quietly decided to release more than $1.6bn (£1bn) in military and economic aid to Pakistan that was suspended when relations between the two countries disintegrated over the covert raid that killed Osama bin Laden and deadly US air strikes against Pakistani soldiers. Officials and congressional aides said ties have improved enough to allow the money to flow again. --- US and Nato supply routes to Afghanistan are open. Controversial US drone strikes are down. The US and Pakistan recently announced the restart of their "strategic dialogue" after a long pause. Pakistan's new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, is travelling to Washington for talks this coming week with President Barack Obama. More, Guardian

توافقنامه امنیتی و دفاعی به زیان هیچ یک از کشور های منطقه نیست --- وزارت خارجهء افغانستان می گوید اگرچه برخی از کشور ها نسبت به توافقنامهء امنیتی و دفاعی کابل و واشنگتن بار ها ابراز نگرانی کرده اند اما این توافقنامه با در نظرداشت منافع ملی افغانستان به امضا خواهد رسید. در حالی که پروسۀ گرفتن آمادگی ها برای برگزاری لویه جرگه مشورتی در خصوص این توافقنامهء امنیتی و دفاعی میان افغانستان و امریکا ادامه دارند، حکومت افغانستان اطمینان می دهد که این توافقنامه به زیان هیچ کشوری دیگر نخواهد بود. --- حاجی سید داود یکی از این آگاهان در صحبت با رادیو آزادی گفت که ایران و پاکستان افغانستان ضعیف را به منافع خود شان می دانند: «پاکستان و ایران به هیچوجه به خصوص پاکستان با این کار راضی نیستند، یعنی با بسیار مشکل خواهند پذیرفت که سربازان امریکایی در افغانستان باقی بمانند. - زیرا هر دو کشور افغانستان ضعیف را می خواهند و فکر می کنند که هر قدر این کشور بی ثبات و درگیر جنگ باشد، به منافع آنان است. -- برعلاوهء ایران، روسیه نیز بار ها گفته است که امریکا در مورد حضور نظامی اش پس از سال 2014 در افغانستان باید وضاحت دهد. - رادیو آزادی

Billions of dollars in U.S. military gear now part of Afghan garage sale ---- IN BAGRAM, Afghanistan — The armored trucks, televisions, ice cream scoops and nearly everything else shipped here for America’s war against the Taliban are now part of the world’s biggest garage sale. Every week, as the U.S. troop drawdown accelerates, the United States is selling 12 million to 14 million pounds of its equipment on the Afghan market.--- Returning that gear to the United States from a landlocked country halfway around the world would be prohibitively expensive, according to U.S. officials. Instead, they’re leaving behind $7 billion worth of supplies, a would-be boon to the fragile Afghan economy. --- But there’s one catch: The equipment is being destroyed before it’s offered to the Afghan people — to ensure that treadmills, air-conditioning units and other rudimentary appliances aren’t used to make roadside bombs. --- In Afghanistan, nicknamed the “graveyard of empires,” foreign forces are remembered for what they leave behind. In the 1840s, the British left forts that still stand today. In the 1980s, the Russians left tanks, trucks and aircraft strewn about the country. The United States is leaving heaps of mattresses, barbed wire and shipping containers in scrap yards near its shrinking bases. - More, Washingtonpost

Editorial: An Exit Strategy From Afghanistan --- As it winds down its 12-year-old military commitment in Afghanistan, the United States is still looking for a face-saving way out of a conflict that seems headed, at best, for a stalemate. The new bilateral security agreement between the two nations is part of that exit strategy. So is a hoped-for political settlement with the Taliban, on which there has been no progress, and a 2014 presidential election process that is also having problems. --- News reports say many Afghans fear that the Kabul government could collapse and the country could return to civil war. The Taliban, through a spokesman, claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on Friday near a residential compound on the outskirts of Kabul. - More, NYTimes

مکثی بر توافقنامه امنیتی افغانستان و امریکا --- برای همین منظور حکومت افغانستان مقدمات برگزاری یک لویه جرگه مشورتی را روی دست گرفته است که در آن حدود سه هزار نماینده از تمام ولایات کشور، در مورد مسوده ای که رئیس جمهور کرزی و جان کری آنرا نهایی کرده اند، مشوره خواهند کرد. این در حالی است که در ۱۲ سال گذشته تمام نظامیان خارجی مستقر در افغانستان از تعقیب عدلی و قضائی مصؤون بودند. در چوکات توافقنامه امنیتی دوجانبه با امریکا نیز دولت افغانستان در اصل مصؤونیت عدلی نیرو های خارجی را در کشور تمدید می کند، البته این بار از مجرا های قانون گزار و مردمی. --- تا هنوز مشخص نیست که نظامیان دیگر کشور های عضو پیمان ناتو که به استقرار نیرو های شان در افغانستان پس از سال آینده تمایل نشان داده اند، مصؤونیت عدلی و قضائی خواهند داشت یا نه. مورد دومی را که جان کری، وزیر خارجه امریکا در کابل به آن اشاره ورزید، شبیه بودن توافقنامه امنیتی دوجانبه افغانستان و امریکا، مخصوصآ مصؤونیت عدلی نظامیان امریکایی، با توافقات جداگانه امریکا با دیگر کشور هایی است که میزبان پایگاه های نظامی امریکا هستند. آقای کری گفت، "در هر جای دنیا که نیرو های ما مستقر اند مثل جاپان، کوریا، در اروپا و بخش هایی از افریقا، بر اساس همین گونه معیار ها بوده است. ما افغانستان را در هیچ معیاری، استثنا قرار نمی دهیم." More, صدای امریکا

Afghan assembly sets November date for decision on U.S. troops --- (Reuters) - The future of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014 will be decided by an assembly of tribal elders in late November, its organizers said, setting a date for the verdict on a long-delayed bilateral deal held up by disputes over key provisions. --- A draft pact known as the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) was hammered out in Kabul last weekend by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. But he left without a final deal as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said only the assembly, the Loya Jirga, had the authority to decide contentious issues.

Pentagon shifting Afghan logistics hub to Romania from Kyrgyzstan --- (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Friday it has begun shifting its Afghanistan air logistics hub to a base in Romania and will complete the transition from Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan by the time its contract for that facility expires in July 2014.

Afghanistan Loya Jirga will determine whether US troops remain after 2014 --- A national meeting to discuss the fate of a future security deal with the United States will be held in the third week of November, Afghan officials said on Saturday. The key gathering will decide if America and its allies will keep troops in Afghanistan after 2014 or pack up and leave. --- Sadeq Mudaber, a member of the convening commission, said the consultative assembly of tribal elders, or Loya Jirga, will start at some point between 19 and 21 November and could last as long as a week. He expected up to 3,000 people may attend. - More, Guardian

مجددی: نیازی به برگزاری لویه‌جرگه نیست --- صبغت‌الله مجددی، رییس پیشین مجلس سنا، می‌گوید که نیازی به برگزاری لویه‌جرگه برای بحث در مورد امضای پیمان امنیتی با ایالات متحده امریکا دیده نمی‌شد، اما رییس‌جمهور کرزی تصمیم گرفته که این جرگه برگزار شود. --- صبغت‌الله مجددی در نخستین جلسه اعضای کمیسیون آمادگی برگزاری لویه‌جرگه مشورتی گفت: «من شخصا طرفدار لویه‌جرگه دیگر نبودم و به‌صورت واضح برای آقای کرزی گفتم. چند ماه مجادله کردم و گفتم که هیچ ضرورت به برگزاری لویه‌جرگه نیست. به‌خاطر این‌که مساله امنیت و موضوع استراتژیک جزو جرگه سابقه بود که در آن فیصله شد. شما (رییس‌جمهور) می‌توانید این پیمان را امضا کنید، اما اگر مشکلی دارید با مباحثه همراه امریکایی‌ها حل کنید و حاجت به لویه‌جرگه نیست.» آقای مجددی افزود که او تا اواخر طرفدار برگزاری لویه‌جرگه نبوده اما به اثر «فشارها و خواهشات» تن به برگزاری لویه‌جرگه مشورتی داده است. - روزنامه هشت صبح

Friday, October 18, 2013

As They Leave Afghanistan, Britons Ask, ‘Why?’ --- LONDON — After the lives lost and the exhausted treasure, what was it all for? --- That question is being asked here and in Kabul as British troops, like their more numerous American counterparts, prepare to relinquish combat duties in Afghanistan next year after a tenure that appears to have achieved few of the goals set by their political masters. --- The years of combat “caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering and a lot of loss of life and no gains because the country is not secure,” Karzai said, adding: I am not happy to say there is partial security because that is not what we’re seeking. What we wanted was absolute security and a clear cut war against terrorism.” - More, NYT

Saudi Arabia Rejects a Seat on U.N. Security Council --- LONDON — Saudi Arabia stunned the United Nations and even some of its own diplomats on Friday by taking the unprecedented step of rejecting a highly coveted seat on the Security Council it had won for the first time just a day earlier. - nytimes

Arab Spring changes migration to Europe --- The uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East have done more than topple dictatorships; the unrest has also altered migration patterns. And the journey to Europe has become more precarious. - More, Deutsche Welle

Afghan Taliban attack Isaf convoy near Kabul compound --- The Taliban say they carried out a suicide bomb attack on a convoy outside an international compound in the east of the Afghan capital, Kabul. --- A militant in a car detonated explosives as the convoy was leaving the heavily-fortified Green Village residential complex, say officials. - A family of six in a passing car were killed in the blast. - BBC

دولت ایران از برپایی نماز عید اضحی برای اهل سنت تهران،ممانعت کرد! --- رژیم اسلامی حاکم بر ایران، بروز ۴شنبه اجازه نداد، مسلمانان سنی ، در مساجد خانه گی شان، نماز عید بگزارند! این مصیبت در عید فطر نیز گریبانگیر جامعه یک و نیم میلیونی اهل سنت تهران بود. اهل سنت پایتخت ایران از داشتن مسجد جامع اختصاصی ، همواره محروم بوده اند. -- البته در ایران ، برای اعیاد بزرگ اسلامی چندان اهمیتی داده نمیشود. دید و بازدید در ایام عید های اسلامی مروج نیست و همشهریان، جامه نو نمی پو شند. -- رسانه« ایرانپرس نیوز» به نقل از آژانس خبری هرانا، می نویسد: -- خبرگزاری هرانا – نهادهای امنیتی از برگزاری نماز عید قربان اهل سنت در مساجد خانگی ممانعت به عمل آوردند. --- طبق آمارهای غیر رسمی بیش از ۱ میلیون مسلمان اهل سنت تنها در شهر تهران زندگی می‌کنند که از حق داشتن مسجد و برپایی شعایر مذهبی خود محروم هستند.» - گران افغانستان

SIGAR: Accounting on spare parts for Afghan army flawed --- The NATO military coalition was unable to account for about $230 million worth of spare parts for Afghan National Army vehicles in 2012 and ordered $138 million worth of parts it may not have needed, according to a new report from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction. - Stars and Stripes

The Fact Checker: Kerry’s claim that Afghanistan’s U.S. forces deal is ‘under the same standard’ as Japan or Korea --- “With respect to the jurisdiction issue, we have great respect for Afghan sovereignty. And we will respect it, completely. And that is laid out in this agreement. But where we have forces in any part of the world, and we unfortunately have them in a number of places in the world – in Japan, in Korea, in Europe, in other parts of the world, Africa. Wherever our forces are found, they operate under the same standard. We are not singling out Afghanistan for any separate standard. We are defending exactly what the constitutional laws of the United States require.” - More, Glenn Kessler - Washingtonpost

Brains Sweep Themselves Clean Of Toxins During Sleep --- While the brain sleeps, it clears out harmful toxins, a process that may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's, researchers say. --- During sleep, the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain increases dramatically, washing away harmful waste proteins that build up between brain cells during waking hours, a study of mice found. --- "It's like a dishwasher," says Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Rochester and an author of the study in Science. - NPR

Thursday, October 17, 2013

جنازه ارسلا جمال والی لوگر در کابل به خاک سپرده شد --- نماز جنازه والی لوگر در مسجد جامع عید گاه کابل با حضورداشت شماری ازمقامات ریاست جمهوری، وزرا کابینه، ریاست امنیت ملي و همچنان تعدادي از اعضای شورای ملی افغانستان ودوستان وبسته گان وی خوانده شد و سپس درصحن الحاقیۀ شورای ملی، درساحۀ تعمیرپارلمان جدید واقع داارلامان به خاک سپرده شد. -- والی لوگر به روز سه شنبه اول عید قربان پیش از ادای نماز عید هنگامی که مصروف سخنرانی بود در اثر یک انفجار در مسجد جامع شهر پل علم مرکز ولایت لوگر کشته شد -- در حملهء که والی لوگر در آن کشته شد، پانزده تن دیگر نیززخم برداشتند. -- گفتنیست که گروه محاذ فدایی تحریک اسلامی با فرستادن پیامی به رادیو آزادی مسوولیت این حمله را به عهده گرفته است - رادیو آزادی

Report That Turkey Exposed Spies Strains Its Relations With Israel --- Turkey’s foreign minister denied a column in The Washington Post that said his country had revealed the identities of up to 10 Iranians who had spied for Israel. --- The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said in televised remarks on Thursday that the allegations in the column were “without any foundation.” - NYTimes

Europe Moves to Shield Citizens’ Data --- BRUSSELS — Lawmakers here have introduced a measure in the European Parliament that could require American companies like Google and Yahoo to seek clearance from European officials before complying with United States warrants seeking private data. -- The measure, an amendment to a broader electronic privacy law pending in Parliament, is a response to Prism, the secret spying program led by the National Security Agency that came to light in June. Europeans were outraged by the revelations that some of the biggest American Internet companies, many of whose users live in Europe, were required by the United States authorities to share information in e-mail, Web searches and other online data. nytimes

Snowden Says He Took No Secret Files to Russia --- WASHINGTON — Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, said in an extensive interview this month that he did not take any secret N.S.A. documents with him to Russia when he fled there in June, assuring that Russian intelligence officials could not get access to them. --- Mr. Snowden said he gave all of the classified documents he had obtained to journalists he met in Hong Kong, before flying to Moscow, and did not keep any copies for himself. He did not take the files to Russia “because it wouldn’t serve the public interest,” he said. --- “What would be the unique value of personally carrying another copy of the materials onward?” he added.- nytimes

گزارش‌های ویژه در مورد زندگی در امتداد جاده حلقه‌ای افغانستان --- یک دهه پس از تعهدات بین‌المللی برای بازسازی شاهراه حلقه‌ای افغانستان خبرنگاران بی‌بی‌سی در افغانستان در این شاهراه ۳۳۶۰ کیلومتری سفر کردند تا تصویری از تحولات یازده سال گذشته در زندگی مردم ارائه کنند. شاهراه حلقه‌ای افغانستان، ۱۶ ولایت از جمله ۳۴ ولایت افغانستان را به هم وصل می‌کند و راه ارتباطی میان شهرهای بزرگی چون کابل، غزنی، قندهار، فراه، هرات و بلخ است. گفته می‌شود که بیشتر از دو سوم جمعیت افغانستان در فاصله -حد اقل- پنجاه کیلومتری این شاهراه زندگی می‌کنند. - BBC

US shutdown: Christine Lagarde calls for stability after debt crisis is averted --- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appealed to Washington to sort out its finances after the US pulled back from the brink of a debt default and hundreds of thousands of federal employees prepared to return to work after a 16-day government shutdown. -- As the US president, Barack Obama, warned: "We've got to get out of the habit of governing by crisis," the IMF's managing director, Christine Lagarde, appealed for more stability. --"It will be essential to reduce uncertainty surrounding the conduct of fiscal policy by raising the debt limit in a more durable manner," she said. - More, Guardian

Government reopens after Congress passes budget deal, raises debt limit --- Federal agencies, parks, museums and monuments began to reopen Thursday morning, after a chastened Congress ended a bitter funding standoff that triggered a 16-day government closure and drove the nation toward the brink of default. - “There are no winners here,” President Obama said at the White House late Thursday morning. “These last few weeks have inflicted completely unnecessary damage on our economy.” - washingtonpost

Turkey blows Israel’s cover for Iranian spy ring --- The Turkish-Israeli relationship became so poisonous early last year that the Turkish government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is said to have disclosed to Iranian intelligence the identities of up to 10 Iranians who had been meeting inside Turkey with their Mossad case officers. - More, washingtonpost

Door May Open for Challenge to Secret Wiretaps --- WASHINGTON — Five years after Congress authorized a sweeping warrantless surveillance program, the Justice Department is setting up a potential Supreme Court test of whether it is constitutional by notifying a criminal defendant — for the first time — that evidence against him derived from the eavesdropping, according to officials. - More, nytimes

In New Book, Cheney Recalls 5 Heart Attacks and His Brush With Death --- WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney was so close to death in 2010 that he said farewell to his family members and instructed them to have his body cremated and the ashes returned to Wyoming, he writes in a new book on his long battle with heart disease. - More, nytimes

Afghan intelligence service says bomb that killed Jamal was hidden in Koran --- Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) - the country's intelligence agency - issued a report on Wednesday that said its initial investigation into the blast that killed Arsala Jamal, the governor of Logar province, showed that the perpetrators had placed the bomb in a copy of the Koran, not a microphone as previously thought (Pajhwok, RFE/RL). Jamal was killed at the main mosque in Pul-e-Alam, the provincial capital, on Tuesday as he gave a speech to worshippers to mark the start of Eid al-Adha, the "Festival of Sacrifice." The NDS also released a video of a Koran with burned pages inside the mosque and said the attack showed the militants had no respect for the Islamic holy book or the religion's houses of worship. The investigation into the incident is ongoing. - FP

مصوونیت حقوقی عساکر پرسش ها و پاسخ ها --- کابل و واشنگتن هردو می خواهند بعد از سال 2014 میلادی تعدادی از عساکر امریکایی در افغانستان باقی بماند، اما هردو جانب روی مسالهء مصوونیت حقوقی این عساکر توافق ندارند. --- نیلس ملزر (Nils Melzer) متخصص قوانین بین المللی و امنیتی مرکز پالیسی های امنیتی در ژینو در این رابطه می گوید: -- "کشورهای که در یک ایتلاف با هم قرار دارند، قبل از عقد یک قرار داد در مورد مصوونیت حقوقی، می توانند یک تفاهم ساده را با هم امضا کنند. چون آن ها با سیستم های حقوقی همدیگر آشنایی دارند و سیستم هایشان با هم شبیه است. آن ها می توانند این قرارداد را خیلی ساده سازند. برای آن ها مشارکت در سیستم عدلی به مراتب ساده تر از قضیهء امریکا با افغانستان است که سیستم های عدلی خیلی متفاوت از هم دارند." - رادیو آزادی

Caroline Kennedy confirmed as ambassador to Japan --- WASHINGTON – The Senate late Wednesday confirmed the nomination of Caroline Kennedy as the next U.S. ambassador to Japan. --- Kennedy, a prominent author and philanthropist and the daughter of President Kennedy, was nominated for the position by President Obama in July. - latimes

Federal Employees Instructed to Return to Work Thursday --- President Obama swiftly signed a bill funding the government through Jan. 15 and raising the debt limit through Feb. 7. after the House and Senate approved the legislation. - nytimes

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

."د نړۍ ۸۵۰ میلیونه وگړي له سختې لوږې سره مخامخ دي" --- نن (چارشنبه/د اکتوبر ۱۶) د خوړو له نړيوالې ورځې سره برابره ده، دغه ورځ هر کال د نړۍ په ۱۵۰ هېوادنو کې د عامه پوهاوي ، د لوږې او خوارځواکۍ د کچې د مالومولو په موخه لمانځل کيږي --- په افغانستان کې د ملگرو ملتونو د خوراک نړيوال سازمان WFP وايي چې په دغه هيواد کې ۶۰ سلنه هغه ماشومان چې له پنځه کلنۍ نه ښکته عمرونه لري له خوارځواکۍ نه سخت کړيږي . BBC

Study: Poor children are now the majority in American public schools in South, West --- A majority of students in public schools throughout the American South and West are low-income for the first time in at least four decades, according to a new study that details a demographic shift with broad implications for the country. -- The meals program run by the Department of Agriculture is a rough proxy for poverty, because a family of four could earn no more than $40,793 a year to qualify in 2011. - More, washingtonpost

TRANSCRIPT: President Obama’s remarks on Senate deal to raise debt limit, end shutdown -- THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, everybody. Tonight, the Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together around an agreement that will reopen our government and remove the threat of default from our economy. - washingtonpost

Congress sends Obama bill to end shutdown --- After shutting down the U.S. government for 16 days and driving the nation toward the brink of default, a chastened Congress voted late Wednesday to reopen federal agencies, call hundreds of thousands of civil servants back to work and raise the $16.7 trillion debt limit - washingtonpost

شاهراه حلقوی افغانستان تا دو سال دیگر تکمیل می شود --- احداث شاهراه حلقوی افغانستان یکی از پروژه های مهم بازسازی افغانستان می باشد. تکمیل این پروژه در سال های گذشته با مشکلاتی روبرو بوده است. وزیر فواید عامه افغانستان می گوید، این شاهراه تا دو سال دیگر تکمیل خواهد شد. شاهراه حلقوی افغانستان حدود سه هزار و 500 کیلومتر طول دارد و چهارده ولایت افغانستان را به شمول پایتخت این کشور به هم وصل می کند. هم چنان راه های منتهی به بنادر تجارتی و مرز ها با کشور های همسایه نیز به این شاهراه وصل اند. --- شاهراه حلقوی از ولایت های پروان، بغلان، سمنگان، بلخ، جوزجان، فاریاب، بادغیس، هرات، فراه، هلمند، قندهار، زابل، غزنی و وردک گذشته و آنها را با کابل وصل می کند. نجیب الله اوژن، وزیر فواید عامه افغانستان می گوید که کار ساخت این شاهراه تقریبا به پایان رسیده، اما تنها در منطقه لامان - قیصار به خاطر تغییر شرکت های قراردادی به تاخیر افتاده است. - دویچه ویلی

Sustainable food systems vital to end hunger, malnutrition, UN says on World Food Day --- 16 October 2013 – Efficient, well-managed and sustainable food systems are essential to end hunger and malnutrition as well as protect the environment, United Nations officials stressed today, marking World Food Day. -- “Every day, more than 840 million people go hungry in a world of plenty. This fact alone should be cause for moral outrage and concerted action.” -- The theme of this year’s Day, which is celebrated on 16 October in honour of the date of the founding of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945, is “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.” - UN.org

اداره امنیت ملی افغانستان گفته که طالبان مواد انفجاری را که انفجار آن سبب قتل ارسلا جمال والی لوگر در مسجد جامع شهر پل علم شد، در میان نسخه‌های قرآن کار گذاشته بودند.--- مسئولیت ترور آقای جمال را گروهی موسوم به "محاذ فدایی تحریک اسلامی افغانستان" به عهده گرفته است. فردی به نام قاری حمزه با ارسال پیامی از جانب این گروه، مسئولیت این گروه در این رویداد را اعلام کرده است. --- این گروه خیلی شناخته شده نیست، اما خبرنگاران می‌گویند که این گروه از شاخه‌های تندرو گروه طالبان است که با صلح با دولت افغانستان به شدت مخالف است. قاری حمزه پیامش را از پاکستان به خبرنگاران فرستاده است. - BBC

Bomb that killed Jamal was hidden in Quran: NDS --- KABUL (PAN): A day after Logar governor Arsala Jamal was killed in a bomb blast at a mosque in the central province, the spy service claimed on Wednesday the explosives had been hidden in a copy of the holy Quran. --- The NDS has released a video showing burnt pages of the Quran at the main mosque in Pul-i-Alam, the provincial capital, where the blast took place, also injuring 20 others people. - Pajhwok

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Another Afghan governor assassinated as clock ticks on US withdrawal --- The governor of Afghanistan's Logar province was assassinated today. After 13 years of war, the clock is ticking on a US withdrawal from the country. - Csmonitor

What Happens If Congress Can't Make A Deal On The Debt? --- If Congress can't agree to raise the debt ceiling before Thursday, it's not necessarily the case that Treasury will immediately be unable to pay bills. But if there's no agreement, financial markets might panic at any time, doing real harm. - NPR

Obama Awards Medal Of Honor To Afghan War Vet --- Saying "America is grateful for you," President Obama awarded the nation's highest military honor on Tuesday to former Army Capt. William Swenson. - NPR

حامد کرزی: حمله بر مساجد، کار مسلمانان نبوده بلکه عمل آنانی است که برای مسلمان کشی گماشته شده اند --- کابل:- حامد کرزی رئیس جمهور افغانستان حمله تروریستی در جریان نماز عید در مسجد جامع ولایت لوگر را که در اثر آن ارسلا جمال والی آن ولایت شهید و تعدادی از هموطنان بی گناه ما زخم برداشتند، به شدیدترین الفاظ محکوم کرد.---رئیس جمهور افغانستان ضمن محکوم نمودن شدید این حمله بزدلانه گفت که حمله بر نماز عید و خانه خدا، نمایانگر آنست که دشمنان افغانستان به دین مقدس اسلام، مساجد و مراسم مذهبی مسلمانان احترام ندارند. --- ارسلا جمال یک شخصیت خدمتگذار و وطن دوست بود که عمرش را در راه خدمت به کشورش سپری کرد. موصوف در ادارات مختلف دولتی و غیر دولتی از جمله در پروژه ابتکارات موسسه پاملرنه منحیث مسئول پروژه، در پروگرام استحکام ثبات و انکشاف ملى وزارت امور داخله و در مقام ولایات خوست و لوگر ایفای وظیفه نموده است. - گران افغانستان

Yes, the debt fight could delay Social Security checks. Here’s how. --- There’s a theory pinging around that says no matter what happens with the debt ceiling, Social Security beneficiaries will keep getting their checks on time. Social Security is a trust fund that brings in more money than it pays out, so the theory holds that even if the United States can’t legally borrow more money, benefits must continue until the trust fund runs out. - Evidence strongly suggests that theory is wrong. - More, washingtonpost

Iran's nuclear proposal insists on right to enrich uranium --- GENEVA -- Iran’s new proposal for ending the crisis over its nuclear program insists on the country’s right to enrich uranium and demands removal of all sanctions on its economy, an Iranian news agency reported. --- The Iranian Student News Agency reported that the proposal, which was presented Tuesday morning at negotiations with six world powers in Geneva, says Iran will cooperate with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency, and on other “areas of concern.” -- But the proposal, as described by ISNA, doesn’t include some details Western officials have hoped to see, such as an end to the creation of medium-enriched uranium, which can be easily converted into nuclear bomb fuel. The official Islamic Republic News Agency published a similar report. - More, latimes

Fear of virus halves turnout of Muslim faithful for hajj pilgrimage --- The Islamic world's annual pilgrimage to Mecca came to an orderly and peaceful conclusion Tuesday, with less than half as many Muslims taking part in the hajj this year due to fears that a Middle East-based respiratory illness could spread among the throngs of faithful. -- At least 51 people have died in Saudi Arabia over the last year from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, a virus related to SARS, which killed hundreds worldwide a decade ago. -- Limits on visas for foreigners hoping to take part in the pilgrimage that all able-bodied Muslims are expected to fulfill at least once in their lifetime cut the number arriving from abroad to 1.38 million, the Public Statistics Department said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. - More, latime

Italy to triple Mediterranean naval and air units to address migrant safety --- Enrico Letta announces military and humanitarian mission after 390 deaths from capsized vessels 'turn sea into a tomb' - guardian

Afghanistan governor assassinated in mosque bombing --- KABUL, Afghanistan -- A bomb placed in a mosque detonated during morning prayers Tuesday, killing the governor of eastern Logar province, Afghan officials said. --- The bombing took place at around 9 a.m. as the governor gave a speech to hundreds of people attending prayers for Eid al-Adha -- one of the year’s most important Islamic holidays, marking the end of the Hajj pilgrimage -- said Hasibullah Stanikzai, Jamal’s secretary. -- The explosives were placed under the lectern below the microphone and were detonated by remote control as Jamal gave his speech, said Din Mohammad Darwish, the governor’s spokesman. -- The governor had recently initiated a major campaign against militants, drug traffickers, land grabbers and other groups engaged in illegal activities in Logar, Darwish said. His assassins could have been from among these groups, he added. - More, latimes

China bypasses American ‘New Silk Road’ with two of its own --- BEIJING — Armed with tens of billions of dollars in investment deals and romantic tales of ancient explorers, Chinese President Xi Jinping has spent much of the past month promoting his vision of two new “Silk Roads” to connect his country to the West and secure its energy supplies — one by land and another by sea. --- In the process, he has eclipsed an American vision of a New Silk Road that was advanced with much fanfare by then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton two years ago and was supposed to revitalize Afghanistan as the link between Central and South Asia. - More, washingtonpost

NSA collects millions of e-mail address books globally --- The National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. --- The collection program, which has not been disclosed before, intercepts e-mail address books and “buddy lists” from instant messaging services as they move across global data links. Online services often transmit those contacts when a user logs on, composes a message, or synchronizes a computer or mobile device with information stored on remote servers. --- During a single day last year, the NSA’s Special Source Operations branch collected 444,743 e-mail address books from Yahoo, 105,068 from Hotmail, 82,857 from Facebook, 33,697 from Gmail and 22,881 from unspecified other providers, according to an internal NSA PowerPoint presentation. Those figures, described as a typical daily intake in the document, correspond to a rate of more than 250 million a year. - Washingtonpos

Logar governor killed in bomb blast at mosque --- PUL-I-ALAM (PAN): A bomb explosion killed the governor of central Logar province on Tuesday when he was delivering a speech to mark the first day of Eidul Adha, officials said. -- At least 18 people suffered injuries in the bombing that took place at the main mosque in the provincial capital of Pul-i-Alam. -- Crime branch police chief, Col. Mohammad Jan Abid, told Pajhwok Afghan News the bomb had been skillfully planted inside the microphone in the front part of the mosque. --Jamal, 47, was a close confidant of President Hamid Karzai and served as his campaign manager during the 2009 presidential elections.- Pajhwok

.بمي چاودنه کې د لوګر والي ارسلا جمال وژل شوی --- نن سه شنبه ( ۱۵ اکتوبر ) ګهیځ شاوخوا اته بجې او ۴۵ دقیقې د لوګر ولایت په مرکز پل علم کې د یوې چاودنې په پایله کې د دغه ولایت والي ارسلا جمال ووژل شو -- چارواکي ویره څرګندوي، چې جومات کې د چاودنې پر مهال د ډېرو خلکو شتون له کبله د مړو او ژوبلو کسانو شمېر ډېرېدو وېره ده. -- د لوګر ولایت وژل شوی والي ارسلا جمال د پکتیکا ولایت د یوسف خیلو ولسوالۍ په برات خیلو کلي کې ۱۳۴۴ کال کې وزېږېد. - ارسلا جمال لومړنۍ زده کړې د افغانستان پلازمېنې کابل په حبیبه لیسه کې وکړې او وروسته یې تر ۱۲ ټولګي پورې د پېښور په سید جمال الدین افغان لېسه کې منځنۍ زده کړې وکړې. -- نوموړي د مالیزیا په کوالالمپور کې د اقتصاد په برخه کې لوړې زده کړې تر لاسه کړي. - نوموړي د افغانستان مرکزي بانک د مرستیال په توګه هم دنده تر سره کړې. دغه راز ارسلا جمال په تېرو ولسمشریزو ټاکنو کې د ولسمشر حامد کرزي د انتخاباتي مبارزې له پرمخ بیونکو څخه یو وو. - BBC

Governor of Afghanistan's Logar province killed by microphone bomb inside mosque --- A bomb planted inside a mosque has killed the governor of Afghanistan's eastern Logar province as he was delivering a speech to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. ---The bomb was apparently planted inside the microphone in the front part of the mosque. --- The explosion at the main mosque in the provincial capital of Puli Alam killed Governor Arsallah Jamal and wounded 15 people – five of them critically. - Telegraph

والی ولایت لوگر افغانستان در مراسم عید قربان ترور شد --- مقامات محلی در ولایت لوگر تایید کرده اند که ارسلا جمال، والی این ولایت در اثر انفجار مواد انفجاری کار گذاری شده در میکروفن مسجد محل سخنرانی او کشته شده است. --- دین محمد درویش، سخنگوی والی لوگر، با تایید این خبر به بی‌بی‌سی گفت که ارسلا جمالی حوالی ساعت ۸:۴۵ دقیقه بامداد بعد از ختم نماز عید قربان در حال سخنرانی در مسجد جامع پل علم در مرکز ولایت لوگر بود که مواد کارگذاری شده منفجر شد و او را به قتل رساند.--- ارسلا جمال در سال ۱۳۴۴ در ولایت پکتیکا در جنوب شرق افغانستان متولدشد. او دوران مدرسه در کابل و شهر پیشاور پاکستان به اتمام رساند و در دانشکده اقتصاد شهر کوالالامپور در کشور مالزیا در رشته اقتصاد تحصیل کرد. --- جمال در دانشگاه نبراسکا در آمریکا کار کرده و به عنوان معاون بانک مرکزی افغانستان نیز فعالیت داشته است. --- جمال سالها به عنوان والی ولایت کلیک خوست در شرق افغانستان فعالیت داشت و در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری گذشته یکی از یاران نزدیک حامد کرزی، رئیس جمهوری و مسئول مبازارت انتخاباتی او بود. - BBC

Afghan bomb kills Logar governor Jamal in mosque -- The governor of Afghanistan's Logar province has been killed in a blast in a mosque, during prayers for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. --- Arsala Jamal was standing at the front of the mosque greeting worshippers when a bomb hidden under a table detonated. --- The attack took place at Logar's main mosque in the provincial capital of Pul-i-Alam, said spokesman Din Mohammed Darwesh. - BBC

Monday, October 14, 2013

متن کامل کنفرانس مشترک مطبوعاتی حامد کرزی رئیس جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان و جان کری وزیر خارجه ایالات متحده امریکا --- همه اطلاع دارید که بعد از امضای پیمان ستراتژیک میان افغانستان و امریکا، بحث روی قرارداد امنیتی آغاز شد، یک بحث مشکلی بود، افغانستان دیدگاه و منافع خود را داشت و امریکا دیدگاه و منفعت خود را داشت، از دید و منفعت افغانستان، احترام به حاکمیت ملی افغانستان در رأس مسایل قرار داشت، تجربه ده سال ما متأسفانه در این راستا تجربه خوشی نبوده، ملت افغانستان بنام جنگ علیه تروریزم تلفات ملکی دیدند، خانه های مردم افغانستان آسیب دید و مواردی نقض حاکمیت ملی افغانستان بوجود آمد که باعث اعتراض حکومت و مردم افغانستان گردید. پس در قرارداد امنیتی برای ما مهم ترین موضوع تضمین درست و محکم و غیر قابل تغییر و تخلف حاکمیت ملی افغانستان بود، به همرایش به اهمیت مساوی و از لحاظ عاطفی بیشتر و ضروری تر مصوونیت زندگی و جان و مال مردم افغانستان بود که هم به دست تروریزم و هم در جنگ علیه تروریزم توسط نیرو های خارجی مردم ما زیر ضربات شدیدی آمدند. - باختر

Sunday, October 13, 2013

World Leaders Urge U.S. to Resolve Its Debt Limit Crisis --- WASHINGTON — Leaders at World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings on Sunday pleaded, warned and cajoled: the United States must raise its debt ceiling and reopen its government or risk “massive disruption the world over,” as Christine Lagarde, the fund’s managing director, put it. --- The fiscal problems of the United States overshadowed the official agendas for the meetings, with representatives from dozens of countries — including two of Washington’s most important economic partners, Saudi Arabia and China — publicly expressing worries about what was happening on Capitol Hill and in the White House. - nytimes

زن افغان و کار کردن در محیط مردانه - زن افغان زنی که برای ریاست جمهوری رقابت می‌کند. --- زنی در قامت ژنرال ارتش، زن هنرپیشه، خواننده، ورزشکار، خلبان، وزیر، وکیل، سفیر، دادستان، نماینده مجلس، شهردار، والی، ... این موفقیت ها هرچند اندک، ولی چشمگیر و امیدوار کننده است. اما حتی برای این زنان موفق هم، کار و زندگی در کشوری مثل افغانستان، خالی از ناهمواری نیست.- bbc.co.uk

EARTHQUAKES: CONCRETE RISKS --- The city has rejected calls to make a list of concrete buildings at risk of collapsing in a major quake, but a Times analysis finds there could be more than 1,000 — many of them homes and offices.--- More than 1,000 old concrete buildings in Los Angeles and hundreds more throughout the county may be at risk of collapsing in a major earthquake, according to a Times analysis. --- By the most conservative estimate, as many as 50 of these buildings in the city alone would be destroyed, exposing thousands to injury or death. --- A cross-section of the city lives and works in them: seamstresses in downtown factories, white-collar workers in Ventura Boulevard high-rises and condo dwellers on Millionaires' Mile in Westwood. - More, latimes

U.S., Afghans agree most of pact, elders to make final decision --- (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have reached preliminary agreement on a bilateral security pact that now depends on the approval of Afghanistan's tribal leaders. --- The draft includes a U.S. demand to retain legal jurisdiction over its troops who stay on in Afghanistan, which would give them immunity from Afghan law. --- The United States is insisting it cannot agree to a deal unless it is granted the right to try in the United States its citizens who break the law in Afghanistan. - "We need to say that if the issue of jurisdiction cannot be resolved, then unfortunately there cannot be a bilateral security agreement," Kerry told a news conference. --- A senior U.S. administration official said the sides had agreed on language in the draft deal that covers the issue of immunity and "that can be put to his Loya Jirga for their consideration".

Foreigners train Syrian rebels in Afghanistan to use chem weapons - Lavrov --- There are reports that some third countries are training Syrian rebels to use chemical weapons in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. The intention is to put the skill to use in new false flag actions in Syria, he explained. - The suspected training happened in Afghan territories not under control of the government in Kabul, Lavrov said. - RT

Russia says Syria rebels received Afghan training --- Moscow (AFP) - Russia on Friday accused Syrian rebels of receiving chemical weapons training in lawless regions of Afghanistan and planning attacks on the territory of Iraq. --- "Not so long ago, information emerged that third countries have been illegally using regions of Afghanistan not under Kabul's control to train rebels to fight against the Syrian regime, including by training them in the use of deadly chemical substances," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.--- Lavrov did not spell out where or when Russia received such reports or what countries were allegedly training the Syrian rebels in Afghanistan. - AFP

روسیه: شورشیان سوریه در افغانستان آموزش می‌بینند --- حکومت روسیه گفته است که شورشیان سوریه در آن مناطق افغانستان که زیر کنترول حکومت نیست، آموزش‌های نظامی به شمول روش‌های استفاده از سلاح‌های کیمیایی را فرا می‌گیرند و حملاتی را در عراق طراحی می‌کنند. - به گزارش دویچه‌وله، سرگیی لاوروف، وزیر خارجه روسیه به خبرنگاران گفته است: «زمان زیادی سپری نمی‌شود که اطلاعاتی پیدا شده است مبنی بر این که کشورهای سومی آن مناطق افغانستان را که زیر کنترول حکومت کابل نیست، برای آموزش شورشیان جهت جنگ علیه رژیم سوریه به کار می‌گیرند. این کار شامل آموزش برای استفاده از مواد کیمیایی مرگبار نیز می‌باشد.» --- لاوروف افشا نکرد که روسیه این گزارش‌ها را از کجا به دست آورده است و کدام کشورها در آموزش شورشیان سوریه در افغانستان دست دارند. - روزنامه هشت صبح

Soccer Offers New Heroes in Afghanistan --- KABUL—Sports fever has swept Afghanistan—giving fans and businessmen a whiff of hope at a time of huge uncertainty about the future. - WSJ

هفت 'نمازگزار' در ولایت شرقی افغانستان کشته شدند --- اصابت یک موشک در نزدیکی مسجدی در ولایت نورستان در شرق افغانستان جان هفت غیرنظامی را گرفته است. --- مسئولان محلی می‌گویند که این موشک عصر روز گذشته شنبه ۲۰ میزان/مهر، نزدیک ورودی یک مسجد در ولسوالی دو آب ولایت نورستان اصابت کرده است. - هشت نفر دیگر به شمول دو سرباز پلیس نیز در اثر انفجار زخمی شده اند. --- ولایت کوهستانی نورستان در شرق افغانستان با چترال از مناطق قبایلی پاکستان مرز مشترک دارد. -- مقام های افغان پیشتر گفته اند که شورشیان از نواحی مرزی پاکستان وارد ولسوالی های نورستان می‌شوند و محل را نا امن می‌کنند. - BBC

India hammered as Cyclone Phailin races inland --- A powerful cyclone has hammered eastern India overnight, bringing down power lines, ripping up trees and sending seawater surging inland. --- The massive storm made landfall on Saturday, packing winds of up to 200km/h (125mph). - BBC

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Deal for US troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014 still faces troop jurisdiction issue --- U.S. officials traveling with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the deal negotiated with Karzai meets all American conditions, including on the jurisdiction issue, and that all that remains is for Karzai to win political approval for it. --- During the talks, Kerry made frequent phone calls back to Washington, speaking with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and national security adviser Susan Rice multiple times, the officials said. --- Kerry spoke with Karzai after a marathon series of meetings and repeated delays of Kerry’s departure from Afghanistan. Both men later said agreement had been reached on a series of contentious sovereignty issues and the safety of Afghan citizens at the hands of American and allied troops that had deadlocked talks in the past year. Associated Press

حامد کرزی و جان کری بر سر قرارداد امنیتی توافق کردند --- حامد کرزی و جان کری بر سر موافقنامه امنیتی بین دو کشور به توافق رسیدند، اما تنها موضوع مصونیت قضایی سربازان امریکایی مورد اختلاف باقی مانده است که کرزی آن را به لویه جرگه محول می کند. -- کرزی گفت که حاکمیت ملی افغانستان در راس همه مسایل قرار داشت زیرا حوادث ده سال گذشته در این راستا تجربه خوشی نبوده و بر خانه های مردم افغانستان حمله شد و حاکمیت افغانستان نقض گردید. -- رییس جمهور افغانستان گفت که هر دو کشور توافق کردند که دیگر مردم افغانستان قربانی حملات نیروهای امریکایی نشوند. او گفت که بر سر پایان تلفات ملکی نیز توافق شده است. -- آقای کرزی گفت با آن که در موافقتنامه استراتژیک بین افغانستان و امریکا، واشنگتن توافق کرده که در صورت تجاوز به افغانستان از این کشور حمایت خواهد کرد اما عملا این حمایت صورت نگرفت. او گفت در جریان سال گذشته که افغانستان مورد حملات راکتی (از خاک پاکستان) قرار گرفت اما امریکایی ها حتی قبول نکردند که افغانستان مورد تجاوز قرار گرفته است. --- وزیر خارجه امریکا گفت در صورتی که نیروهای امریکایی مصوونیت قضایی نداشته باشند، موافقتنامه امنیتی و دفاعی بین دو کشور امضا نخواهد شد. او گفت که در تمام کشورهایی که امریکا نیرو دارد، سربازان اش از مصوونیت قضایی برخوردار اند اما در عین زمان تاکید کرد که هیچ مجرمی از مجازات معاف نخواهد شد. او گفت سربازانی که مرتکب جرم شده اند در امریکا محاکمه و به سزای اعمال شان می رسند. - صدای آلمان

Talks Clear Path for U.S.-Afghan Deal on Troops --- KABUL, Afghanistan — After more than a week of hard-line posturing by Afghan and American officials, Secretary of State John Kerry and President Hamid Karzai defied expectations and agreed on key elements of a deal that, if completed, would keep American troops in Afghanistan beyond next year. --- Making the announcement on Saturday evening after nearly 24 hours of talks and meetings, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Karzai said one major issue remained: legal jurisdiction, or immunity from prosecution under Afghan law, for American troops who remain in Afghanistan after 2014. --- “We have high confidence that the people of Afghanistan will see the benefits of this agreement,” Mr. Kerry said. “But we need to say that if the issue of jurisdiction cannot be resolved, then, unfortunately, there cannot be a bilateral security agreement.” nytimes

Congressional Republicans rush to develop plan to reopen government --- Congressional Republicans rushed late Friday to develop a new plan for reopening the government and avoiding a first-ever default in hopes of crafting a strategy that can win the support of the White House before financial markets open Monday. - washingtonpost

U.S., Afghanistan reach agreement on outline of post-2014 security deal --- KABUL — The United States and Afghanistan agreed Saturday on a draft deal that would keep some U.S. forces in Afghanistan past next year, but only if Afghan political and tribal leaders agree to a key U.S. demand that American troops not be subject to Afghan law, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said. -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the framework security agreement meets his demands regarding counterterrorism operations on Afghan soil and respects Afghan sovereignty. The U.S. demand to retain legal jurisdiction over all remaining U.S. forces will be put before a loya jirga, Karzai said. He plans to convene the Afghan tribal consultation body next month. -- “Tonight we reached some sort of agreement,” Karzai said through an interpreter. “The United States will no longer conduct operations by themselves. We have been provided a written guarantee of the safety of the Afghan people. And a clear definition of invasion was provided.” -- “The one issue that is outstanding is the issue of jurisdiction,” Kerry said at an evening news conference with Karzai. “We need to say that if the issue of jurisdiction cannot be resolved, unfortunately there cannot be a bilateral security agreement.” -- Negotiations will continue, they said. - Washingtonpost

افغانستان او امریکا د امنیتي تړون پر ځینو مهمو برخو موافقه وکړه --- د دوو ورځو انتظار وروسته ولسمشر کرزي او جان کېري د امنیتي تړون پر یوه پریکړه لیک موافقه کړې. -- ولسمشر کرزي وویل دوی د امنیتي تړون په اړه پر یو لړ شرطونو موافقه کړې چې بشپړ متن به یې د یکشنبې په ورځ د اکتوبر ۱۴مه افغان پارلمان ته وړاندې کېږي. -- د ولسمشر په وینا د ملي حاکمیت، د بهرني هېواد د تجاوز په تعریف، د ملګي مرګ ژوبلې او د امریکا پر خپل سری عملیاتو سره موافقې ته ورسېدو. --- جان کېري وویل که افغانستان د امریکايي پوځیانو مصونیت ونه مني، امریکا به دغه تړون لاسلیک نه کړي. -- ښاغلي کېري زیاته کړه چې په افغانستان کې د قطعي مصونیت موضوع په منځ کې نه شته. امریکایي پوځیان که د افغانستان قانون تر پښو لاندې کړي موږ یې په خپله محاکمه کوو. زموږ پوځیان چې په هر ځای کې دي په همدې شکل محاکمه کېږي او موږ نه غواړو چې په افغانستان کې د خپل اساسي قانون نه سترګې پټې کړو. - BBC

U.S. says captures senior commander of Pakistani Taliban --- (Reuters) - U.S. forces in Afghanistan have captured senior Pakistani Taliban commander Latif Mehsud in a military operation and detained him under a law authorizing use of force against al Qaeda following the 2001 attacks, the Pentagon said on Friday. --- A Pentagon spokeswoman said Mehsud was captured in a U.S. military operation in Afghanistan, but The Washington Post reported on Friday that he was forcibly snatched from an Afghan government convoy in Logar province several weeks ago as Afghan officials were trying to recruit him to launch peace talks. --- The Post said the incident, viewed as a major breach of Afghan sovereignty, enraged Afghan President Hamid Karzai and had contributed to a chill in U.S.-Afghan relations at a time when American officials are pressing for a deal to let a small force of U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan after 2014.

World Bank sees Afghan economic growth tumbling 10 percent in 2013 ---- (Reuters) - Afghan economic growth, largely reliant on international aid and security spending, will tumble more than 10 percent this year as foreign troops withdraw and endemic corruption and violence sap development, the World Bank said. -- Afghanistan ranks among the most corrupt nations in the world and international aid donors have threatened to cut funds unless there is a crackdown.

EARTHQUAKES: CONCRETE RISKS - L.A.’s hidden dangers. --- More than 1,000 concrete buildings in Los Angeles and hundreds more throughout the county may be at risk of collapse in a major earthquake, according to a Times analysis. Reporters took an in-depth look at seven L.A. neighborhoods, including two downtown. Explore the map for details on 68 surveyed buildings.- latimes

آمریکا و افغانستان بر سر کلیات پیمان امنیتی به توافق رسیدند --- حامدکرزی رئیس جمهوری افغانستان و جان کری وزیر خارجه آمریکا اعلام کردند که بر سر بخشی از مسائل کلیدی موافقتنامه امنیتی میان آمریکا و افغانستان به توافق رسیدند --- قرار شده لویه جرگه مشورتی در مورد مساله جنجالی مصونیت قضایی نیروهای آمریکایی در افغانستان تصمیم گیری کند. --- به گفته آقای کرزی، در مورد حاکمیت ملی، تعریف تجاوز خارجی، تلفات غیر نظامیان و منع "خودسری‌های" نظامیان آمریکایی در افغانستان توافق حاصل شده است. --- در عین حال جان کری گفت که اگر طرف افغان با اعطای مصونیت از پیگیری قضایی به نظامیان آمریکا در داخل افغانستان موافقت نکند، آمریکا این توافقنامه را امضا نخواهد کرد.--- آقای کری گفت که دو کشور بر سر دیگر مسایل به توافق دست یافته‌اند و آمریکا طرفدار همکاری دراز مدت در افغانستان است. او گفت که آمریکا پس از سال ۲۰۱۴ به آموزش، تجهیز و حمایت مالی از نیروهای امنیتی افغانستان ادامه خواهد داد. - BBC

Talks on Afghanistan Are Said to Move Forward --- KABUL, Afghanistan — After more than a week of hard-line posturing by Afghan and American officials, talks between Secretary of State John Kerry and President Hamid Karzai on a deal to keep American troops here beyond next year carried on into Saturday evening, hours after they were supposed to have ended. --- Mr. Kerry, who was supposed to leave for Europe around 1 p.m., upended his schedule to stay in Kabul. His delegation, which included Ambassador James B. Cunningham and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the commander of NATO forces here, stayed for lunch with Mr. Karzai and the Afghan representatives. - nytimes

US in partial Afghanistan security deal --- The US and Afghanistan say they have resolved disagreements on a bilateral security deal after lengthy talks in Kabul, although differences remain --- President Hamid Karzai said they were still divided over immunity for US soldiers who stay in Afghanistan after next year's Nato withdrawal. --- US Secretary of State John Kerry said Afghan sovereignty would be respected. -- The talks were overshadowed by a US operation to capture a senior Pakistani Taliban commander. - BBC

Feared Afghan warlord says sorry to his victims --- One of the Afghan warlords vying for office in next year’s presidential elections has issued an unprecedented public apology for his role in the country’s bloody civil wars. --- General Abdul Rashid Dostum, 59, a Northern Alliance commander whose name remains a byword for brutality among his southern opponents, said there had been no “white doves” during the past two decades and it was time to apologise. --- He stands accused of the wanton destruction of towns and villages during the civil war of the 1990s and war against the Taliban. -- “I hope from this day onwards that we do not allow a repeat of such bitter incidents.” - Telegraph

Pakistan Taliban leader seized by US military --- The US snatched a senior Pakistani Taliban leader out of the hands of Afghan intelligence agents who were in the middle of a delicate attempt to recruit him, according to the Afghan government. --- Afghan officials claimed he had been seized as he drove in a government convoy in eastern Afghanistan in a move that threatens to further inflame the strained relationship between Washington and Kabul. --- "The Americans forcibly removed him and took him to Bagram," a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai told the Washington Post, referring to a US base in Afghanistan. - Telegraph

Malala Yousafzai meets the Obamas at the White House --- US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle welcomed Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai to the Oval Office on Friday. --- "I thanked President Obama for the United States' work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees. I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education it will make a big impact," she said. - Telegraph

چارواکي وايي، کرزي او کیري پر امنیتي موافقې په خبرو کې پرمختګ کړی - یوه امریکايي چارواکي دکرزي او کیري دجمعې دورځې له خبرو وروسته خبریالانو ته وویل: «دواړو خواوو دخبرو لهجه رغنده وه. مناسبه ده چې وویل شي، داکثرو مهمو موضوعاتو پر سر موجود اختلافات کم شوي دي. دکرزي ویندوی ایمل فیضي هم وویل، په خبرو کې پرمختګ شوی دی. ویل شوي چې کیري پرون له کرزي سره په داسي حال کې چې په کابل کې دامریکا سفیر هم حاضر و، درې ساعته خبرې وکړې. وروسته کرزي او کیري دوه په دوه خبرې وکړې. ددواړو خواوو نننیو خبرو دومره دوام وکړ چې خبري غونډه څو ځل وځنډېده. ددې خبر دخپرېدو تر شېبې لا ځنډېدلې ده. - دامریکا غږ

Kerry drops into Kabul to prod Karzai on US withdrawal deal --- US officials are hopeful that Secretary of State John Kerry, who has a cordial relationship with President Karzai, can get stalled talks going again about US military involvement in Afghanistan. - csmonitor

Merkel's big victory proving a big obstacle in forming German government --- Despite having cruised to victory in last month's German elections, Angela Merkel is finding potential coalition partners reluctant to enter government with her. - csmonitor

Fiscal talks pick up, but route to end government shutdown still murky --- The House may vote to raise the debt limit as soon as this weekend, but that doesn’t guarantee reciprocal action in the Senate. Meanwhile, the government shutdown is putting a damper on already-weak economic growth. - csmonitor

Libyan PM says his kidnap was coup attempt --- Libya's prime minister has denounced his kidnapping this week as an attempted coup and warned that some of the country's many armed militias want to turn it into "another Afghanistan or Somalia". -- In his most impassioned speech since coming to power in 2012, Ali Zeidan said a large force of gunmen had seized him from his city centre hotel room at dawn on Thursday: "One hundred vehicles came with heavy and medium weapons," he said. "This is a coup against legitimacy." - Guardian

Hillary Clinton: we need to talk sensibly about spying --- Hillary Clinton has called for a "sensible adult conversation", to be held in a transparent way, about the boundaries of state surveillance highlighted by the leaking of secret NSA files by the whistleblower Edward Snowden. --- "We need to have a sensible adult conversation about what is necessary to be done, and how to do it, in a way that is as transparent as it can be, with as much oversight and citizens' understanding as there can be." - Guardian

US forces arrest senior Pakistani Taliban commander in Afghanistan --- US military forces have captured Latif Mehsud, a senior commander with the Pakistani Taliban, the US state department said on Friday but declined comment on when it happened or where he was being held. --- The Associated Press reported Mehsud was arrested by American forces as he was driving along a main highway. It said Afghan President Hamid Karzai saw the move as an infringement on Afghan sovereignty. - Guardian

Editorial - Cutting aid to Egypt's generals --- The U.S. action may not cause the country's military rulers to change course, but it will get their attention. - latimes

Friday, October 11, 2013

Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf rearrested after court grants bail --- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Just when former Pakistani president and army chief Pervez Musharraf thought he was in the clear, he was hit with a new legal challenge Thursday when police arrested him in a case involving a 2007 crackdown on a pro-Taliban mosque in Islamabad. - latimes

Kerry travels to Afghanistan amid stalled security negotiations --- KABUL, Afghanistan — Secretary of State John F. Kerry made an urgent visit to Afghanistan on Friday to spur stalled negotiations on an agreement that would keep some U.S. forces in the country after the NATO mission concludes next year. --- "In any negotiation with any country where there are tough issues, the sticking points almost always, if not always, come down to the end, and that's the point we're at now," one of the diplomats said, describing the security pact as 95% finished. - latimes

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons wins 2013 Nobel peace prize - live updates --- Of all the gongs handed out annually by the Norwegian committee, this is traditionally the most anticipated and most controversial, not least because “peace” is such a broad remit, and contributions to it so hard to pin down. Even the similarly subjective literature prize is rarely too disputed – look down the list of previous winners and you’ll spot few real clunkers, though probably even Winston Churchill himself felt a bit embarrassed collecting the 1953 award. - Guardian

Nobel peace prize won by chemical weapons watchdog for work in Syria --- The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has become the surprise choice for this year's Nobel peace prize, a decision the Oslo committee said recognised both its current, hazardous mission to destroy Syria's chemical weapons stocks and 16 years of wider global efforts. - Guardian

Statement by the OPCW Director-General on the 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace --- The decision by the Nobel Committee to bestow this year’s Peace Prize on the OPCW is a great honour for our Organisation. -- We are a small organisation which for over 16 years, and away from the glare of international publicity, has shouldered an onerous but noble task – to act as the guardian of the global ban on chemical weapons that took effect in 1997. - opcw.org

احمد فرهاد مجیدی - عضو مجلس نمایندگان - انتخابات آینده و نگرانی‌های حال --- من به‌عنوان شهروند افغانستان و بعد به‌عنوان وکیل مردم در پارلمان کشور از صف‌بندی‌های موجود سیاسی و تیم‌های به‌وجود آمده سخت احساس نگرانی می‌کنم. این روند بدون شک به تحکیم ساختارها و دموکراتیزه کردن کشور نمی‌انجامد. پررنگ کردن مناسبات قومی و هویت‌های تباری افغانستان را وارد مرحله تازه‌ای از بحران‌ها خواهد کرد. همان تجریه را که در دوازده سال گذشته داشتیم. امید می‌رفت که این‌بار در افغانستان شاهد دگرگونی‌های اساسی در عرصه انتخابات باشیم. دگرگونی‌های که نشانه‌های روشن یک ملت واحد و یک پارچه را در خود داشته باشد ولی آن‌گونه که از حالا مشخص است نمی‌توان به نتیجه انتخابات چندان باورمند بود که واقعا مردم رنج کشیده افغانستان به مطالبات برحق خود دست خواهند یافت. - هشت صبح

T-Mobile Hands Consumers a Pleasant Shocker --- Back in March, T-Mobile burned every possible bridge it had with the other cellphone carriers. As I wrote then, it eliminated the two-year contract; you can now quit T-Mobile whenever you like. ---It also became the first carrier to eliminate the infuriating 15-second recording of voicemail instructions every time you try to leave a message — a waste of your time and your callers’ airtime. --- And T-Mobile also ended the Great Cellphone Subsidy Con. That’s where you buy a $600 phone (like the iPhone) for $200, with the understanding that you’ll pay the cellphone company the rest over your two-year contract — yet after you’ve repaid it, your monthly bill doesn’t drop!. More, David Pogue, nytimes

Kerry Arrives in Kabul Amid Security Deal Impasse --- KABUL, Afghanistan — With talks on keeping American forces here beyond next year deadlocked, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kabul on Friday to try to break the impasse and head off a full American withdrawal from Afghanistan. --- But with neither Afghan nor American officials showing much willingness to compromise, a senior Western diplomat put the odds of a deal at “no better than 50-50.” - More, nytimes

Max Boot - Heading for the Exits in Afghanistan --- This lack of interest on the American side is at the crux of the current impasse, although Hamid Karzai has contributed his share to the current woes with statements blasting the U.S. and the West in intemperate terms. But, according to press reports, Karzai actually agreed to grant U.S. troops immunity under Afghan laws–the issue that scuppered an agreement with Iraq. --- Apparently, if the reporting is to be believed, the big issue at the moment is his demand that the U.S. conclude a mutual-defense treaty with Afghanistan similar to those with major non-NATO allies. The Obama administration disingenuously claims this would mandate U.S. troops crossing into Pakistan. More plausibly, this would simply demand a long-term U.S. commitment to Afghanistan’s defense, within Afghanistan, which the administration doesn’t want to grant. --- It is possible these issues will be resolved by Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Kabul. But I am not terribly optimistic because I think significant elements of the administration, starting at the top, are looking for a way out of Afghanistan and they are using disputes with Karzai as an excuse. The president who once called Afghanistan the necessary war appears to be motivated now primarily by the necessity of disengagement, at least as he sees it. --- The results for U.S. interests and for Afghanistan are likely to be dire, because if U.S. troops leave, so will our NATO allies. And the U.S. and its allies will be unlikely to continue pouring in the billions of dollars necessary to keep the Afghan security forces and the Afghan government functioning. That makes a collapse, of the kind that occurred after the Soviet withdrawal, much more likely–and with it a return of the Taliban and Haqqanis and their al-Qaeda allies. - More, Commentarymagazine

In Afghanistan, U.S. losing patience as deadline for long-term deal nears --- With that deadline less than three weeks away and deep rifts persisting, the White House appears increasingly willing to abandon plans for a long-term, costly partnership with Afghanistan. Despite the Pentagon’s pleas for patience, much of the rest of the administration is fed up with Karzai and sees Afghanistan as a fading priority amid far more ominous threats elsewhere in the world. --- Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrived in Kabul Friday on an unannounced visit in an effort to convince Karzai that the administration is serious. -- “October 31st is our goal,” a senior administration official said. “The president has been clear. There can be no reason” for failure “other than the fact that the Afghans don’t want what we’re offering.” - Washingtonpost

Kerry meets Karzai in Kabul to press for security deal --- (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan on Friday to try to advance negotiations over a security pact that have stalled over two issues that have become deal breakers for the Afghan government. --- The talks over the pact have stalled over two points - One is a U.S. request to run independent counter-terrorism missions on Afghan territory, which have long infuriated Karzai. The Afghans instead want the United States to pass on information and let them handle the action. -- The second sticking point is a U.S. refusal to guarantee protection from foreign forces as it could lead to offensive action against another ally, neighboring Pakistan. --- The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the White House was increasingly willing to abandon plans for a long-term partnership with Afghanistan. While the Pentagon has pleaded for patience, the rest of the administration was fed up with Karzai and sees Afghanistan as a fading priority, the newspaper said.

Pentagon No. 2 to step down after four years in top defense jobs --- (Reuters) - Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, known for his deep knowledge of U.S. defense spending and the defense industry, said on Thursday he was stepping down in December after four years in top Pentagon jobs.

بازار گرم میوه و سبزیجات افغانستان در مارکیت جهانی --- حاصل میوه تازه افغانستان نسبت به سال گذشته 50 درصد و حاصل سبزیجات این کشور در همین مقطع زمانی 80 درصد افزایش یافته است. وزارت زراعت و مالداری افغانستان با تایید این ارقام از افزایش صادرات میوه و سبزیجات نیز خبر می دهد. ارقام ارائه شده از سوی این وزارت می رساند که حاصلات میوه و سبزیجات افغانستان نسبت به سال گذشته افزایش بی سابقه ای داشته است. انجیر، سیب، انار و انگور از جمله میوه هایی هستند که در سال جاری حاصل بیشتری نسبت به دیگر میوه ها داشته اند و صادرات شان به بازار جهانی نیز افزایش چشمگیری داشته است. - دویچه ویلی

Malala tipped for Nobel Peace Prize --- The winner of the most coveted of the Nobel honours will be revealed in Oslo at 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT) Friday. --- If she wins, Malala, 16, will claim a gold medal, 8m Swedish kronor ($1.25m; £780,000) and the title of youngest-ever Nobel laureate. - BBC

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Ahead of 2014 draw down, Security Council extends assistance force in Afghanistan --- 10 October 2013 – The United Nations Security Council today extended the authorization of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) until the end of 2014, when it is expected that the force will draw down and the Government of Afghanistan will assume full responsibility for security throughout the country. --- The 15-member body also called on UN Member States to contribute personnel, equipment and other resources to ISAF and to continue to pursue their efforts to support security, stability and transition in Afghanistan. - UN.org

NATO chief rejects Karzai claim troops did nothing but cause harm to Afghans, defends progress --- BRUSSELS — NATO’s secretary-general has sharply rejected Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s view that the presence of international troops in his country caused much suffering but achieved few gains. --- Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday in Brussels the progress achieved in Afghanistan “thanks to the immense efforts and the solemn sacrifices” by the U.S. and other troop contributor nations “is remarkable and it cannot be denied.” - Associated Press

Text Of Obama's Exclusive Interview With The AP --- THE PRESIDENT: We are going to end combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014. What I've said is that if, in fact, the Afghan government is interested and willing to work with us in a cooperative way that protects our troops and other coalition partners, we would consider a train-and-advise mission that would extend beyond 2014 — greatly reduced from what we're doing now. --- We have not yet signed what's called a bilateral security agreement that would make sure that, if in fact American troops were on Afghan soil, that they were fully protected. And we still have some time to discuss this — we're in discussions with the Afghan government and President Karzai. But no matter what, by the end of next year, we'll be finished with combat operations. --- THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that it is in both the interest of the Afghans and the United States that we are in a position to continue to help their military consolidate security in their country. We have helped them ramp up so that they now have a fighting force that is increasingly effective, increasingly well-equipped. My preference would be that they can manage security on their own, and that we don't see a return of al-Qaida or any other terrorist organization operating on Afghan soil. And they're getting there; they're not quite there yet. --- So if in fact we can get an agreement that makes sure that U.S. troops are protected, makes sure that we can operate in a way that is good for our national security, then I'll certainly consider that. If we can't, we will continue to make sure that all the gains we've made in going after al-Qaida we accomplish, even if we don't have any U.S. military on Afghan soil. - More, The Associated Press

GOP offers short-term debt-limit increase, but wants negotiations before ending shutdown --- House Republican leaders said Thursday they will offer a temporary increase in the federal debt ceiling in exchange for negotiations with President Obama on longer-term “pressing problems,” but they stopped short of agreeing to end a government shutdown now in its 10th day. - washingtonpost

Hamid Karzai's latest outburst at Nato forces is sign of his deep frustration --- Coming from a man who owes his job and probably his life to US and British military support, President Hamid Karzai's stinging criticisms of Nato's performance in Afghanistan may seem a little hypocritical. But with western politicians and generals busily conspiring to declare the 12-year war a success ahead of next year's withdrawal, Karzai's comments are a salutary reminder that all is far from well in Afghanistan – and that things could turn very messy, very soon. --- Karzai's main point – that Nato operations have caused "great suffering and loss of life" among the Afghan civilian population and have failed to secure the country – is difficult to dispute. It is one of those uncomfortable home truths that western leaders intent on justifying the human and material cost of the 2001 intervention, and on getting out on schedule, just do not want to hear. Time and time again, Karzai has angrily denounced military strikes that accidentally killed civilians, and complained that US forces override or ignore Afghan sovereignty. --- Karzai's outburst is the product of other frustrations, including his belief that the US engaged in "duplicitous" behaviour in attempting to engage Taliban elements in peace talks, ostensibly behind his back --- Some believe a stable, pro-western Pakistan is a more vital American interest – another irritant for Karzai, who has often clashed with Islamabad and claims that Afghan insurgents operate with impunity from Pakistani bases. - Guardian

Obama trims military aid to Egypt as part of diplomatic 'recalibration' --- Washington suspended deliveries of F16 fighter jets to Egypt’s ruling military, and will not deliver M1A1 tank kits, Harpoon missiles and Apache helicopters, “pending credible progress toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government through free and fair elections,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced on Wednesday. - Guardian

Libyan prime minister kidnapped --- Ali Zeidan taken from hotel in Tripoli by gunmen and driven away to an undisclosed location, government confirms - Guardian

Turkey Lifts Longtime Ban on Head Scarves in State Offices --- ISTANBUL — The government on Tuesday lifted a ban on head scarves for female workers in state offices, ending a longstanding restriction that has polarized Turkish society. --- The change, which went into effect immediately, was introduced as part of a series of measures aimed at bolstering democratic standards in the country, including improved rights for minority Kurds. - nytimes

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

کرزی کمیسیون برگزاری لویه جرگه مشورتی را تعیین کرد --- حامد کرزی رئیس جمهوری افغانستان دو کمیسیون جداگانه را برای برگزاری و تامین امنیت لویه جرگه‎ای برای مشورت درباره توافقنامه امنیتی با آمریکا تشکیل کرده است. --- آقای کرزی پریروز (۱۵ میزان/مهر) در یک نشست خبری کلیک اعلام کرد که این جرگه تا یک ماه دیگر برگزار می‎شود تا چگونگی شرایط این موافقتنامه بررسی شود. - BBC

Private charity to restore death benefits for U.S. military families --- WASHINGTON — Not long after the flag-draped coffins of four Americans killed in combat arrived Wednesday at Delaware's Dover Air Force Base, the Pentagon announced that a private charity would restore death benefits for the families of military members who died while on active duty. - latimes

Koch Industries deflects blame on government shutdown --- WASHINGTON - Koch Industries, the multibillion-dollar company led by David and Charles Koch, tried to distance itself Wednesday from any blame for the government shutdown and congressional quagmire. --- In a letter sent to Senate offices Wednesday, the company’s president of government and public affairs, Philip Ellender, said claims that Koch Industries pushed for a shutdown are “erroneous or misleading.” - latimes

عباس کریمی، نمونهٔ یک معلول موفق در افغانستان --- وقتی عباس به دنیا آمد پدر و مادر او به جای این که از تولدش خرسند شوند، از سرنوشت و آینده این فرزندشان به شدت نگران شدند؛ زیرا عباس از رحم مادر بدون دو دست به دنیا آمد. اما حالا او برای مردم افغانستان یک قهرمان است. --- اما پس از چهارده سال، حالا خانواده عباس نه تنها از آینده او تشویشی ندارند، بلکه به وجود او افتخار می کنند. عباس کریمی اخیرا در مسابقات بین المللی شنا در ترکیه برای اولین بار توانست به نمایندگی از افغانستان برنده جایزه مسابقات «معلولیت ناتوانی نیست» شود. در این مسابقه شناگران معلول از 35 کشور جهان شرکت کرده بودند و عباس در آن مدال طلا و عنوان قهرمانی را کسب کرد. --- عباس کریمی در حالی که با پایش می نویسد، نظر به تمام همصنفان و اعضای خانواده اش، خوش خط تر و با سلیقه تر است. این معلول در داخل افغانستان مشهور است. رسانه های افغانستان به خصوص تلویزیون ها گزارش هایی از نوشتن، رانندگی و ورزش او نشر می کنند. عباس حالا به نمونهٔ یک معلول موفق در داخل این کشور تبدیل شده است. - صدای آلمان

Ahead of Nobel Peace Prize, a list of possible contenders --- The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday. The Nobel Committee does not reveal the identities of any of the nominees, and information about them is sealed for 50 years. But the committee did report a record number of candidates this year: 259, of which 50 are organizations. The previous record was in 2011, when there were 241 candidates. The deadline for submitting nominations was Feb. 1. --- Despite the secrecy, rumors and speculation always produce a list of favorites — though the choice of last year’s winner, the European Union, raised eyebrows around the world. - Washingtonpost

For Janet Yellen, Obama’s Federal Reserve nominee, quiet patience paid off ---- Janet Yellen’s official interview to become the nation’s economist in chief lasted less than an hour. --- The academic from Brooklyn had visited the White House only one other time in the three years since she was appointed vice chairman at the Federal Reserve, according to visitor logs. She had not testified before Congress since her confirmation hearing. - washingtonpost

Afghanistan risks becoming 'narco-state': U.N. official --- (Reuters) - Afghanistan risks becoming a "full-fledged narco-state" without international support to help create alternative jobs for its people, a senior United Nations official said on Wednesday. --- Yury Fedotov, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), painted a bleak picture of Afghanistan's narcotics problem before next year's withdrawal of NATO-led combat forces. --- He said the presence of those forces generates roughly one third of investment and jobs in Afghanistan, and that the gap when they are gone should be filled to prevent matters getting worse. --- "We have not been able to develop an alternative economy in Afghanistan," Fedotov said. "With all our efforts, it was very hard to move from illicit to licit."

Former dictator Musharraf granted bail, free to leave Pakistan --- (Reuters) - Former military dictator Pervez Musharraf could leave Pakistan as soon as Thursday after a decision by a court paving the way for his release, his lawyer said on Wednesday. --- "Musharraf can fly to Dubai tomorrow once these legal formalities are completed."

دیدبان حقوق بشر: مانع شرکت ناقضان حقوق بشر در انتخابات افغانستان شوید --- سازمان دیدبان حقوق بشر که مقر آن در نیویورک است از حامیان بین‌المللی افغانستان خواسته است تا مانع حضور ناقضان حقوق بشر در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری سال آینده این کشور شوند. - این سازمان گفته است که ناقضان حقوق بشر باید از فهرست نامزدهای انتخابات ریاست جمهوری حذف شوند. --- برد آدامس، مسئول سازمان دیدبان حقوق بشر می‌گوید:" اگر دولت افغانستان در یک دهه گذشته به مساله حقوق بشر می‌پرداخت، حالا شمار زیادی از نامزدهای انتخابات ریاست جمهوری یا رد صلاحیت می‌شدند و یا هم در زندان می بودند." --- آقای آدامس افزود:"حامیان خارجی افغانستان باید بر دولت این کشور فشار بیاورند تا مطمئن شوند که ناقضین جدی حقوق بشری دیگر در انتخابات های آینده راه نیابند." - BBC

Looming Elections Spotlight Urgency of Justice --- Afghanistan’s constitution bars any individuals “convicted of crimes against humanity, a criminal act or deprivation of civil rights by court” from running for elected office. But the Afghan government’s failure in the last decade to pursue criminal accountability for those responsible for grave crimes has rendered the provision ineffective. Since there have been no systematic investigations or prosecutions for past atrocities, no major commanders have been convicted for any of the massive abuses that have taken place in Afghanistan during the past 35 years of war. --- Numerous Afghan warlords, senior politicians, and members of the security forces have committed serious human rights abuses during the various armed conflicts that have devastated Afghanistan over the last three decades. Human Rights Watch has documented abuses in reports throughout the period, including 1984, 1985 and 1988 reports on abuses in the Soviet occupation era, a 1991 report on abuses committed after the Soviet withdrawal, a major report issued in 2005 about grave abuses committed in Kabul from 1992-1995, several documents and reports on Taliban era abuses, including a 1998 and 2000 report, two more before the September 11 attacks, and two more in 2001 after the attacks. Yet in the almost 13 years since the end of Taliban rule, the Afghan government has systematically blocked inquiries and efforts aimed at accountability for past abuses. - Human Rights Watch

Afghanistan: Rights Abusers Join Presidential Race --- (Kabul) – Candidates for the 2014 presidential elections in Afghanistan include former military and militia commanders implicated in serious rights abuses, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The Afghan government’s failure to prosecute or disqualify those responsible for grave crimes underscores the importance of accountability in Afghanistan’s future. --- “Had the Afghan government in the last decade properly addressed crimes of the past, several current candidates would now be disqualified from seeking office – or would even be serving time,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Foreign donors should press the Afghan government to ensure future elections are not being contested by serious rights abusers.” - Human Rights Watch

پر ولسمشر دبلخ دوالي تورونه “تبليغاتي” اړخ لري --- کابل: سياسي کارپوهان وايي، چې پر ولسمشر حامدکرزي دبلخ دوالي له لوري لګېدلى تور دواقعيت په نسبت تر ډېره سياسي او تبليغاتي اړخ لري. --- دکابل پوهنتون استاد نصرالله ستانکزى وايي، چې ولسمشر کولى شي موضوع دڅېړنو په موخه عدلي او قضايي ارګانونو ته راجع کړي، خو له دې پرته يوه مجرده ادعا هېڅ وخت ديوې جزايي دعوې د تحريک سبب نشي کېداى.--- ده زياته کړه: ”اما په حقوقي لحاظ، که چېرې جمهور رئیس ګويا ده ته دغه پېشنهاد کړى و، دا ده ته دڅه نوم ورکوي؟ رشوت که رشوت ورته وايي ولې يې اطلاع نه ده ورکړې؟ دوالي په عنوان ده بايد اطلاع ورکړې واى، چې جمهور رئیس تر عدلي تعقيب لاندې راغلى واى.” - گران افغانستان

Afghanistan War Anniversary Marks 12 Years Of Conflict --- The war in Afghanistan officially began 12 years today. To put it in perspective, the last time we didn't have boots on the ground in Afghanistan, Obama was still an Illinois state senator, the first iPhone was six years away from release and "Friends" was still on the air. - huffingtonpost

U.S. Push To Run Counterterrorism Operations In Afghanistan After 2014 Threatens Security Pact --- KABUL, Oct 2 (Reuters) - A U.S. bid to run unilateral counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan after 2014 is threatening to derail a security pact between the two countries, an Afghan spokesman said, underlining Afghanistan's tenuous ties with its main backer. --- Most foreign combat troops are due to leave by the end of 2014, and the United States has been putting pressure on Afghanistan to finalise a bilateral security agreement by the end of this month.

Afghanistan awaits its fate at the hands of the Taliban --- A fearful President Hamid Kharzai knows that little can be done to prevent the country being overrun when the last Nato troops depart - Telegraph

US Focus on Security at Asian Summits --- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is moving his focus from trade to regional security matters as he fills in for President Barack Obama at back-to-back summits in tiny Brunei beginning Wednesday. - WSJ

یاداشت داکتر زلمی خلیل‌زاد --- بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم - پروسه انتخابات ریاست جمهوری و شوراهای ولایتی با ختم دوره ثبت نام کاندیدان وارد مرحله اساسی خود شد. --- طوریکه شما مردم شریف افغانستان در جریان هستید، ما جمعی از شخصیت های سیاسی معتقد به منافع علیای افغانستان تلاش های زیادی را به منظور ایجاد یک تیم موثر و یک برنامه منظم ملی برای تداوم پیشرفت و اصلاحات بنیادی انجام دادیم. --- با آنکه در نتیجه این تلاش ها یک برنامه ملی برای تضمین موفقیت افغانستان ترتیب یکی از اعضآی این تیم به منظور تطبیق این برنامه ملی وارد کار و زار انتخاباتی شد. - Afghanpaper

In Afghanistan, villagers and government battle over blame for coal mine collapse --- IN ABKHORAK, Afghanistan — Two weeks after this village’s coal mine collapsed, killing 23 men, Sejuddin crept back into the hole in the earth where his son, Merajuddin, had been buried alive. The body had been recovered, but Sejuddin wanted to gather his son’s clothes and helmet — any reminders of his 18-year-old boy, no matter how tattered or charred. - washingtonpost

With Obama in U.S., Kerry and Putin meet on Syria --- BALI, Indonesia —Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian President Vladi­mir Putin met for 15 minutes on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum here, focusing mostly on the ongoing crisis in Syria, a senior State Department official said. -- Kerry is leading the U.S. delegation to APEC, after the federal government shutdown prompted President Obama to cancel his plans to attend. - washingtonpost

Argentine leader to undergo surgery to remove blood outside brain --- MEXICO CITY — Doctors plan to operate on Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Tuesday morning to remove blood that has collected outside of her brain, the apparent result of a fall the 60-year-old leader took in August, officials said. - latimes

ژنرال دوستم: بابت جنگ‌های داخلی معذرت می‌خواهم --- ژنرال عبدالرشید دوستم، رهبر جنبش ملی اسلامی افغانستان با انتشار بیانیه‌ای از کسانی که در جریان جنگ‌های داخلی دو دهه گذشته این کشور آسیب دیده‌اند عذرخواهی کرد و از سایر رهبران و چهره‌های دخیل در این جنگ‌ها دعوت کرد که برای بازگشایی "صفحه جدیدی در تاریخ سیاسی افغانستان" از کسانی که در دو دهه گذشته از سیاست‌هایی که منجر به تنش‌ها و جنگ‌ها در این کشور شد، متاثر شده اند، معذرت بخواهند. --- این بیانیه نخستین بار در صفحه فیسبوکی که از سوی هواداران ژنرال دوستم در ارتباط با انتخابات براه انداخته شده منتشر شد و نیز متن آن از تلویزیون آیینه که به ژنرال دوستم نزدیک است و بیشتر نشرات آن به زبان ازبکی است، نیز خوانده شد. - BBC

Afghanistan election: Warlords and technocrats seek to replace Karzai --- The race to succeed Afghan President Hamid Karzai in next April's election looked wide open as nominations closed on Sunday night. --- The former foreign minister, Zalmai Rassoul, a descendant of Afghanistan's royal family, also needed to turn to a former warlord clan for one of his running mates to build support, but in a historic move, his other vice-presidential nominee is the reformist governor of Bamiyan province, Habiba Sarobi, the first woman to be nominated for high office in Afghanistan with any chance of success. - BBC

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

کانگرس ملى افغانستان: اکثر نامزدان ناقضين حقوق بشراند --- کابل (پژواک،١٦ ميزان ٩٢): "کانگرس ملى افغانستان"، اکثر نامزدان انتخابات رياست جمهورى را ناقضين حقوق بشرى خوانده هشدار داد که اگر اين ناقضين به قدرت برسند، فاجعۀ بزرگ براى افغانستان و جامعه جهانى به بارخواهد آمد. ادعاى کانگرس يادشده، امروز از سوى محمدعيسى اسحق زى رئيس اين نهاد، در يک نشست خبرى ابراز گرديد. رئيس کانگرس ملى افغانستان گفت که بايد به مردم فرصت داده شود تا بدون تهديد زورمندان و ناقصين حقوق بشر، به پاى صندوق هاى راى بروند و نامزدى را که مدافع منافع ملى و حقوق شهروندان است، انتخاب نمايند. --- اسحق زى با بيان اينکه زورمندان و ناقضين حقوق بشر بيشتر از گذشته تقويت ميشوند و هنوزهم در درجات بالاى ساختار سياسى کشور، همان قرار دارند افزود: "اين خود يک تهديد بزرگ براى تامين ثبات، به وجود آمدن نظام و دفاع از حقوق بشراست." وى از مردم خواست که در برابر تهديد زورمندان که عاملين فساد، فقر و بي عدالتى در کشور بوده و تهديد در برابر انتخابات ميباشند، از خود مقاومت نشان دهند. رئيس کانگرس ملى، انتخابات آينده را با حضور اين ناقضين حقوق بشر، غيرشفاف خوانده هشدار داد که در برابر اين زورگويان و متقلبين بى تفاوت نخواهند ماند، چونکه مردم خواستار يک تغيير مثبت ميباشند.

Why This Is the Most Important Year of the War in Afghanistan --- This final year of the war in Afghanistan will be the most crucial. A bilateral security agreement between Washington and Kabul needs to be reached to allow some U.S. and NATO troops to stay behind, training the Afghan army and police and conducting targeted counterterrorism operations. --- “Our war may be ending, but the war in Afghanistan is only changing,” Matt Sherman, a political advisor to ISAF Joint Command, told Defense One, in a telephone interview from Kabul. --- Signing a bilateral security agreement is priority number one right now. The sense is that Karzai needs to ink a deal before he leaves office because the new president isn’t going to want his first act in office to be an agreement that cedes his nation’s sovereignty. Also, the political machine moves slow in Afghanistan -- after a likely runoff election, it would be next fall before a new leader is in place. --- Although the war rarely makes the front page or the evening news anymore, the fighting is not over. Four U.S. soldiers were killed this weekend by an IED in Kandahar. There are certainly fewer U.S. and NATO casualties now that they’ve stepped back to let the Afghans take the lead, but that doesn’t mean the fighting has abated -- it just means that the Afghans are taking the hit now with as many as 100 Afghan soldiers and police killed each week. - The Atlantic.com

Karzai Lashes Out at U.S. for Its Role in Afghanistan -- KABUL, Afghanistan — With the United States weighing a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of next year, President Hamid Karzai offered a stinging critique of the American-led campaign here, saying that coalition forces had inflicted needless suffering on Afghans. --- “They could leave,” he said in an interview with the BBC. The focus of the war, Mr. Karzai said, should have been insurgent training camps and safe havens across the border in Pakistan, not “in Afghan villages, causing harm to Afghan people.” --- “If the agreement doesn’t suit us, then, of course, they can leave,” he said. “The agreement has to suit Afghanistan’s interests and purposes. If it doesn’t suit us and if it doesn’t suit them, then naturally we will go separate ways.” - nytimes

Japan Alarmed Over U.S. Debt Crisis --- TOKYO — Japan’s finance minister urged the United States on Tuesday to avoid a default that could cast the global economy into turmoil and hurt the value of Japan’s enormous holdings of United States Treasury bonds, a day after similar warnings from China, which has an even larger stake in American debt. --- China and Japan, the two largest foreign creditors of the United States, are growing increasingly worried over the potential economic and political fallout if American leaders are unable to strike a deal to lift the debt ceiling from its current $16.7 trillion, raising the prospect of an unprecedented default and disrupted financial markets. - nytimes

Obama Says He Will Negotiate Once G.O.P. Ends ‘Threats’ -- WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday intensified his pressure on Republicans with a hastily scheduled news conference, calling on them to both fund and reopen the government and to raise the nation’s borrowing limit as the federal shutdown entered a second week. - nytimes

Karzai Raises Stakes in U.S.-Afghan Talks With Assembly --- KABUL—Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he would convene a traditional national gathering to scrutinize plans for a bilateral security agreement with the U.S., upping the ante in talks over a future American military presence in Afghanistan. --- "America must realize that this agreement must not be concluded at the price of Afghans' security," he said. "Nor must it come at the price of giving the Americans [a] free hand…to raid the houses of the people of Afghanistan and strike them." - WSJ

U.S. Adults Fare Poorly in a Study of Skills --- American adults lag well behind their counterparts in most other developed countries in the mathematical and technical skills needed for a modern workplace, according to a study released Tuesday. --- The study is the first based on new tests developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a coalition of mostly developed nations, and administered in 2011 and 2012 to thousands of people, ages 16 to 65, by 23 countries. Previous international skills studies have generally looked only at literacy, and in fewer countries. - nytimes

حامدکرزی: ناتو در افغانستان باعث رنج و زحمت زیاد شد --- حامد کرزی رئیس جمهور افغانستان از ناتو به "دلیل ناکامی در آوردن ثبات در افغانستان" انتقاد کرده‌است. --- آقای کرزی در برنامه نیوزنایت بی بی سی گفت: "در عرصه امنیت، عملکرد ناتو باعث رنج افغانستان شد، جانهای بسیاری گرفته شد و هیچ پیشرفتی به دست نیامد و افغانستان امنیت ندارد." --- آقای کرزی گفت تمرکز ناتو بر جنگ در روستاهای افغانستان، به جای هدف قرار دادن پایگاه‌های امن طالبان در پاکستان، نادرست بوده است. --- آقای کرزی بار دیگر تصریح کرد که هیچ عجله‌ای برای امضاء توافقنامه دوجانبه امنیتی با آمریکا ندارد. --- آقای کرزی در این زمینه گفت: "اگر این توافقنامه در درازمدت برای ما مفید نباشد، آنها (آمریکاییها) می‌توانند افغانستان را ترک کنند. این سند باید برای اهداف و منافع افغانستان مناسب باشد. اگر به حال ما مناسب نباشد و اگر به حال آنها هم مناسب نباشد، طبیعتا هرکدام از طرفین راه جداگانه خود را پیش خواهد گرفت." - BBC

Monday, October 07, 2013

Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai says Nato caused 'great suffering' --- President Hamid Karzai has criticised Nato for failing to bring stability to Afghanistan in over a decade there. --- "On the security front the entire Nato exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of life, and no gains because the country is not secure," he said. --- He said Nato had incorrectly focused the fight on Afghan villages rather than Taliban safe havens in Pakistan. --- Mr Karzai has had troubled relations with his Western backers in recent years for openly criticising Nato, whom he has accused of having no respect for Afghan sovereignty. --- "Our government is weak and ineffective in comparison to other governments, we've just begun," Mr Karzai said. "But the big corruption, the hundreds of millions of dollars of corruption, it was not Afghan. Now everybody knows that. It was foreign. - Yalda Hakim, BBC

Karzai blasts Nato for Afghanistan 'suffering' --- Hamid Karzai has lashed at Britain and the US for causing "a lot of loss of life" without bringing security in a sign of the deteriorating relationship between the Afghan president and the West. --- "On the security front the entire Nato exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of life, and no gains because the country is not secure," Mr Karzai told the BBC. --- He said Western troops had focused on securing Afghan villages, often causing civilian casualties, rather than trying to flush out Taliban bases in neighbouring Pakistan. - Telegraph

ترکيب شمارى از نامزدان انتخاباتى روى امتياز طلبى ها استواراست --- کابل (پژواک، ١٥ميزان٩٢): برخى آگاهان امور ميگويند که ترکيب شمارى از نامزدان انتخابات رياست جمهورى، برمبناى امتيازطلبى هاى شخصى و گروهى استواراست و تا برگزارى انتخابات، احتمال از هم پاشيدن بعضى از اين ترکيب ها وجود دارد. براى انتخابات سال آيندۀ رياست جمهورى، در مجموع ٢٧ تن با ترکيب هاى مختلف به حيث نامزد رياست جمهورى، ثبت نام نموده اند. --- نامزدان رياست جمهورى، وقت زياد خود را صرف معاونين اول و دوم نمودند و همين قلت معاونين باعث شد که در روز آخر ثبت نام (١٤ ميزان) اکثر نامزدان، جهت ثبت نام حضور يابند و به همين دليل پروسۀ ثبت نام تا نيمه هاى شب به درازا کشيد. آگاهان ميگويند که اين موضوع، سبب شد که نامزدان بجاى اينکه به برنامه، طرح ها و خط مشى ها توجه کنند، در تلاش معاونين بودند و در هنگام ثبت نام، اهداف آنان بيشتر مشابه يکديگر بود که اينگونه مسايل، در گذشته نيز مطرح گرديده بود. تمامى اين نامزدان در اهداف شان بر تامين صلح، امنيت، تطبيق قانون وعدالت، تقويت نهاد هاى اقتصادى، دفاع از تمامنيت ارضى و حقوق بشر و زنان تاکيد نمودند.

Woman accused of killing mother, dumping body near Ramona pleads not guilty --- SAN DIEGO - A Serra Mesa woman accused of killing her 79-year-old mother and dumping her body in a remote field near Ramona pleaded not guilty Monday to a murder charge. - Ghazal Jessica Mansury, 42, was ordered held on $2 million bail. --- The prosecutor unsuccessfully asked Judge Lorna Alksne for $5 million bail, saying the defendant was a flight risk. She was born in Jordan and moved to Afghanistan with her family before coming to the United States when she was very young, Greenwood said. --- "It remains to be seen whether any other charges will be filed against any other individuals," Greenwood told reporters outside court Monday. -- A status conference was set for Oct. 15 and a preliminary hearing for Oct. 21. - 10news.com

Why Americans Can't Remember Afghanistan: The US has been trying to shape the country since the 1950s. --- Since the 1950s, the US has been trying to mold that remote land to its own desires, first through an aid "war" in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviet Union; then, starting as the 1970s ended, an increasingly bitter and brutally hot proxy war with the Soviets meant to pay them back for supporting America's enemies during the war in Vietnam. One bad war leads to another. --- From then until the early 1990s, Washington put weapons in the hands of Islamic fundamentalist extremists of all sorts—thought to be natural, devoutly religious allies in the war against "godless communism"—gloated over the Red Army's defeat and the surprising implosion of the Soviet empire, and then experienced its own catastrophic blowback from Afghanistan on September 11, 2001. After 50 years of scheming behind the scenes, the US put boots on the ground in 2001 and now, 12 years later, is still fighting there—against some Afghans on behalf of other Afghans while training Afghan troops to take over and fight their countrymen, and others, on their own. - More to read in Motherjones.com / tomdispatch

U.S. Afghanistan-Security Deal Not Ready, President Karzai Says --- KABUL, Afghanistan -- KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president on Monday ruled out signing a security deal with the United States until disagreements over sovereignty are resolved, but said he will convene a council of elders in one month to help him make a decision on the pending agreement. --- "The United States and NATO have not respected our sovereignty. Whenever they find it suitable to them, they have acted against it. This has been a serious point of contention between us and that is why we are taking issue of the BSA strenuously in the negotiations right now," Karzai said. --- "They commit their violations against our sovereignty and conduct raids against our people, air raids and other attacks in the name of the fight on terrorism and in the name of the resolutions of the United Nations. This is against our wishes and repeatedly against our wishes," Karzai said, using some of his harshest language to date against the U.S.-led military coalition. - More, huffingtonpost

Afghanistan War Anniversary Marks 12 Years Of Conflict --- The war in Afghanistan officially began 12 years today. To put it in perspective, the last time we didn't have boots on the ground in Afghanistan, Obama was still an Illinois state senator, the first iPhone was six years away from release and "Friends" was still on the air. --- Despite the rising costs and increasing casualties, the U.S. still doesn't have a definitive plan for complete withdrawal. Talks between the two countries to reach a security pact have stalled over what Afghan President Hamid Karzai called a violation of the country's sovereignty. The Associated Press reports that in absence of a deal, there are indications that the U.S. may pull out all of its troops in 2014. - huffingtonpost

Ahead of Afghan elections, warlords and bureaucrats prepare campaigns --- In KABUL — By Sunday evening, the list of candidates registered for next year’s presidential elections included some of Afghanistan’s most powerful officials and most notorious warlords. --- In a country still wrestling with democracy 12 years after the Taliban was overthrown, the high-profile candidates represent the pluralism of modern Afghan politics as well as the power still wielded by informal strongmen who once tore Afghanistan apart. - washingtonpost

Afghan Taliban providing Pakistani militants support in their war against Islamabad --- WAZIRISTAN, Pakistan — The Afghan Taliban are financially supporting Pakistani militants at war with Islamabad and providing sanctuary for them in neighboring Afghanistan, the Pakistani Taliban’s spokesman said, highlighting the risk both groups pose to the Pakistani government. - Associated Press

Sunday, October 06, 2013

درویشت تنو د ولسمشرۍ لپاره نومونه ثبت کړل --- د ولسمشرۍ د انتخاباتو لپاره نن څو نور مطرح کاندیدان د ټولټاکنو خپلواک کمیسون ته لاړل او ځانونه یې کاندید کړل. د وروستي راپور له مخې ولسمشرۍ ته ۲۳ تنو نومونه لیکلي دي. --- د ډاکتر اشرف غني احمدزي، قیوم کرزي او زلمي رسول ترڅنګ د سوداګرۍ وزیر انوارالحق احدي هم ځان کاندید کړ --- عبدالرشید دوستم او سرور دانش د ښاغلي احمدزی مرستیالان معرفي شوي خو د بهرنیو چارو مستعفي وزیر زلمي رسول بیا احمدضیا مسعود او د بامیان والۍ حبیبه سرابي د خپلو مرستیالانو په توګه له ځان سره کاندید کړي دي --- انوارالحق احدي د سوداګرۍ له وزارته له استعفا وروسته د سولې د عالي شورا د بهرنیواړیکو مسوول اسمعیل قاسمیار د لومړي مرستیال په توګه او د صبغت الله مجددي ورور حشمت الله مجددي د دوهم مرستیال په توګه معرفي کړي دي --- همدا راز نن قیوم کرزي، سرور احمدزي، د ترانسپورت پخواني وزیر حمید الله قادري، د سردار نعیم خان لمسي محمد نادر نعیم، داوود سلطانزوی او قیوم کرزي هم د ټولټاکنو خپلواک کمیسون ته مراجعه وکړه او ځانونه یې کاندید کړل --- تر دې مخکې یسم الله شېر، عبدالله عبدالله، عبدالرحیم وردګ، حشمت غني احمدزي، دل اغا کوهدامني، قطب الدین هلال، سید اسحق ګیلاني، عبدالرب رسول سیاف او فضل کریم نجیمي، خدیجه غزنوی، بشیربیژن- عزیز الله لودین احمدشاه احمدزی نومونه ثبت کړي ول - تاند

Warning to Aspiring Afghan Presidential Candidates: Leave the Guns at Home --- KABUL, Afghanistan — The deadline for registering as a candidate in Afghanistan’s coming presidential election was Sunday, and the election commission had a request for contenders: When you come to declare your candidacy, do not bring your gunmen. --- There is the professorial technocrat and the urbane diplomat, neither of whom has any natural constituency in Afghanistan. There is a man accused of being a pedophile who was once a darling of the Central Intelligence Agency, and another accused of war crimes who once tried to enact a law granting amnesty to people accused of war crimes. And then there is the candidate who would not even get the vote of his own brother, and his brother is President Hamid Karzai, the man they are all vying to replace. -- The early front-runner is Zalmay Rassoul, a polished former foreign minister who would be welcome in any Western capital but lacks a significant constituency in Afghanistan. --- Also running is Ashraf Ghani, a professorial former World Bank expert who most recently served as one of President Karzai’s top advisers. -- All told, 28 candidates were expected to register before midnight on Sunday. - More, NYTimes

لیست نامزدان ریاست جمهوری تکمیل شد - تا پایان شب گذشته، شمار نامزدان ریاست جمهوری به 27 تن رسید. --- عبدالرب رسول سیاف - عبدالله عبدالله -- عبدالرحیم وردک -- حشمت غنی احمدزی -- قطب الدین هلال -- دل آقا کوهدامنی -- سید اسحاق گیلانی -- فضل کریم نجیمی - بسم الله شیر - اشرف غنی احمدزی -- سرور احمدزی -- حمیدالله قادری - سردار محمد نادر نعیم -- زلمی رسول -- داوود سلطان زوی -- قیوم کرزی -- گل آقا شیرزی -- عزیز الله لودین -- خدیجه غزنوی - انورالحق احدی -- ﻧﺎﺩﺭﺷﺎﻩ ﺍﺣﻤﺪﺯﯼ -- ﺩﺍﮐﺘﺮ ﻓﺎﺭﻭﻕ ﺍﻋﻈﻢ -- ﺳﻠﻤﺎﻥ ﻋﻠﯽ ﺩﻭﺳﺖ ﺯﺍﺩﻩ -- ﻫﺪﺍﯾﺖ ﺍﻣﯿﻦ ﺍﺭﺳﻼ -- ﻋﺒﺪﺍﻟﻬﺎﺩﯼ ﺩﺑﯿﺮ -- ﺩﺍﻭﺭ ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﻧﺎﺩم -- ﻧﻮﺭ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻤﺎﻥ ﻟﯿﻮﺍﻝ - Afghanpaper

Last-minute drama as Afghan presidential front-runners sign up --- (Reuters) - Three men considered front runners in Afghanistan's presidential election staged dramatic last-minute nominations on Sunday, the start of what is expected to be a chaotic but critical race for the palace in the first democratic transfer of power. -- Karzai's older brother, Qayum, former foreign minister Zalmay Rassoul and Western-leaning intellectual Ashraf Ghani all filed their papers in the last few hours of the three-week-long nomination period. --- All three have been separately mentioned by diplomatic sources and the media as Karzai's favored candidate, though he has said repeatedly that he will not support any one person.

Norway cuts Afghan aid over violence against women, corruption --- (Reuters) - Norway will slightly reduce its aid to Afghanistan from next year, signaling to Kabul that it has not done enough to combat corruption and violence against women, the foreign ministry said on Friday. --- "We are deeply concerned about the widespread violence against women in Afghanistan," Foreign Ministry State Secretary Torgeir Larsen said in a statement.

Afghans baulk at U.S. push for operations after 2014: spokesman --- (Reuters) - A U.S. bid to run unilateral counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan after 2014 is threatening to derail a security pact between the two countries, an Afghan spokesman said, underlining Afghanistan's tenuous ties with its main backer. --- But two issues have emerged as potential "deal breakers", President Hamid Karzai's spokesman, Aimal Faizi, told reporters late on Tuesday.

Afghan leader says NATO air strike killed five civilians --- (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticized his NATO allies on Sunday over an air strike in the country's east that he said killed five civilians, including three children. -- The strike on Friday followed a mortar attack on a joint NATO-Afghan base near a village just outside Jalalabad city, NATO and local officials said.

At least 33 killed in protests across Egypt --- (Reuters) - At least 33 people were killed during protests in Egypt on Sunday, the interior ministry said, as the crisis since the army seized power three months ago showed no sign of abating. -- Fighting began after supporters and opponents of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets in several cities.

پایان مهلت ثبت نام نامزدان انتخابات ریاست جمهوری افغانستان -- مهلت ثبت نام نامزدان انتخابات ریاست جمهوری افغانستان، ساعت چهار( به وقت محلی) روز یکشنبه ۱۴ میزان/مهر به پایان رسید. --- در آخرین روز ثبت نام، نزدیک به ۲۰ نامزد انتخابات ریاست جمهوری افغانستان همراه با معاونان شان ثبت نام کردند. --- قیوم کرزی، برادر حامد کرزی، انورالحق احدی، وزیر پیشین تجارت، گل آقا شیرزوی، والی پیشین ننگرهار، هدایت امین ارسلا، مشاور پیشین رئیس جمهوری و داوود سلطان‌زوی، نماینده پیشین مجلس از جمله دیگر نامزدان انتخابات ریاست جمهوری شدند. --- در این میان خدیجه غزنوی، اولین زن نامزد به مقام ریاست جمهوری هم ثبت نام کرد. --- فهرست نهایی نامزدهای انتخابات ریاست جمهوری پس از بررسی شکایات احتمالی علیه آنها و تایید این فهرست از سوی کمیسیون شکایات انتخاباتی، روز ۲۵ عقرب/آبان اعلام خواهد شد. - BBC

U.S. at odds with Afghanistan over the post-withdrawal mission --- WASHINGTON — Closed-door negotiations to determine the American military mission in Afghanistan after 2014 have stalled over U.S. demands to conduct lethal counter-terrorism operations and Afghan insistence that Washington guarantee support in event of cross-border attacks. --- President Hamid Karzai is balking at Obama administration demands that U.S. special operations troops and the CIA be allowed to capture or even kill suspected terrorists after most U.S. troops close out America's longest war at the end of next year, according to officials familiar with the negotiations. --- The U.S. team, in turn, is refusing to include written promises to come to Afghanistan's aid if it is attacked by militants from neighboring Pakistan or elsewhere after the withdrawal. A formal U.S. defense commitment could require Congress to vote on the agreement, a course the White House is determined to avoid given the bitter partisan climate in Washington. - latimes

.د ولسمشرۍ ډېری کاندیدانو نوملیکنه وکړه --- د افغانستان ولسمشریزو ټاکنو ته د نوملیکنې په وروستۍ ورځ، د ټاکنو کمیسیون کې اشرف غني احمدزي او سرور احمدزي، د بهرنیو چارو وزیر زلمي رسول، د ترانسپورت پخواني وزیر حمیدالله قادري، د سردار محمد داود خان د ورور لمسي سردار محمد نادر نعیم، داود سلطان زوی، قیوم کرزي او ګل اغا شیرزي هم ولسمشرۍ ته نوملیکنه وکړه. که څه هم د نوم لیکنې لپاره وروستی وخت نن یکشنبه د مازدیګر تر څلورو بجو ټاکل شوی و خو د کاندیدانو د ډېروالي له امله دا وخت د شپې تر دریو بجو غځول شوی دی. - BBC

Kerry insists U.S. as committed to Asia pivot as ever --- BALI, Indonesia — The United States isn’t backing away from Asia, Secretary of State John F. Kerry insisted Saturday, as President Obama’s canceled Asian trip set his policy “pivot” toward the region onto the back foot.- washingtonpost

ولسمشرۍ ته د نوم ليکنې وروستي ساعتونه --- د ولسمشریزو ټاکنو نوملیکنې په وروستۍ ورځ د ټاکنو خپلواک کميسيون کې د ولسمشرۍ لپاره اشرف غني احمدزي، سرور احمدزي، زلمي رسول، حمیدالله قادري او سردار محمد نادر نعیم هم نوملیکنه وکړه. وړاندې نهو کاندیدانو خپل نومونه لیکلي وو --- د بهرنیو چارو وزیر زلمي رسول احمد ضیاء مسعود او حبیبه سرابي د لومړي او دویم مرستیال په توګه وټاکل. --- او سردار محمد نادر نعیم تاج محمد اکبر او عزیزالله پویا د لومړي او دویم مرستیال په توګه وټاکل. - BBC

In Afghanistan, 4 Coalition Soldiers Killed in Single Operation --- KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Four coalition soldiers were killed Sunday in southern Afghanistan, the American-led military said, in the coalition’s worst loss of life in a single incident since June. --- The International Security Assistance Force said in a statement that the four were killed “by enemy forces during a partnered operation.” - nytimes

کرسی‌های خالی --- این روزها کرسی‌های دولتی- از وزارت و وکالت گرفته تا ولایت و مشاوریت- خالی شده‌اند. شماری از مقام‌ها خود را نامزد انتخابات ریاست‌جمهوری کرده‌اند. تب نامزدی در انتخابات چنان بالا است که عده‌ای کرسی‌هایی را که برای رسیدن به آن از هفت خوان رستم گذشتند، به سادگی رها می‌کنند. تقریبا شش کرسی وکالت، یک کرسی ولایت، دو وزارت و چند پست مشاوریت، در حال حاضر خالی است. --- حالا هم نگرانی این است که رییس‌جمهور کرزی، وزارت خارجه و وزارت انرژی و آب را در اختیار سرپرست‌ها بگذارد. اداره‌ی وزارت‌خانه‌های مهمی ‌چون وزارت خارجه و وزارت انرژی و آب، غیر از این‌که فساد اداری را بیشتر کند، سود دیگری ندارد --- نباید کرسی ولایتی چون ننگرهار که این روزها دشواری‌های امنیتی آن نیز افزایش یافته، بر مبنای مصلحت‌های سیاسی و ملاحظات انتخاباتی پر شود. --- در ضمن خالی ماندن کرسی ولایت ننگرهار در شرایط کنونی، به نفع نیست. این امر دشواری‌های آن ولایت را افزایش می‌دهد. باید کسی جای خالی گل آقا شیرزوی را پر کند که واقعا از پس اداره‌ی ولایتی چون ننگرهار برآید. رییس‌جمهور کرزی نباید اجازه دهد که دشواری‌های ننگرهار از این بیشتر شود. - روزنامه هشت صبح

Obama: Iran more than a year away from developing nuclear weapon -- (CNN) -- Iran is more than a year away from developing a nuclear weapon, but that does not mean the United States will wait for it to become a reality, President Barack Obama said in an interview that aired Thursday on an Israeli television station. -- "I have been crystal clear about my position on Iran possessing a nuclear weapon. That is a red line for us. It is not only something that would be dangerous for Israel. It would be dangerous for the world," Obama told CNN affiliate Israeli Channel 2 TV before a scheduled visit next week to the country. --- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly called on Obama to establish a clear line that Iran cannot cross with its nuclear program, if it wants to avoid war. - Chelsea J. Carter, CNN

Assad Interview: 'West Is More Confident in Al-Qaida than Me' --- In an interview to be published in the Monday issue of SPIEGEL, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks out about inspections of his country's chemical weapons, possible new elections and the role of Germany, the United States and Russia in his country's crisis --- "We did not use chemical weapons," he tells the magazine. "This is a misstatement. So is the picture you paint of me as a man who kills his own people." -- He also expresses doubts about the United Nations report on the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack. "No one can say with certainty that rockets were used," he says. Instead, he accuses the rebels themselves of using Sarin gas. - Der Spiegel

Saturday, October 05, 2013

Karzai Is Planning to Be There for a Successor. Right There. --- KABUL, Afghanistan — With less than a year left in his final term, President Hamid Karzai insists that he is eager to leave the presidential palace and lead a quieter life. It turns out, though, he may just be moving next door, to a lavish new home yards from the complex that has been the seat of his power for more than a decade. --- According to Afghan officials, Mr. Karzai’s new home will be an old, European-style mansion that, once renovations are done, will be roughly 13,000 square feet. And the scale would befit the new role he is said to desire: guiding whoever fills his old job, as a presidential adviser for life. - NYTimes

Text of Obama's exclusive interview with the AP --- President Barack Obama conducted an interview Friday with AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace that covered a wide range of topics — the government shutdown, the debt ceiling, health care, foreign affairs and the name of Washington's professional football team. - huffingtonpost

افزایش تعداد نامزدهای انتخابات ریاست جمهوری افغانستان --- امروز، شنبه چهار نامزد جدید برای شرکت در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری ثبت نام کردند. --- عبد الرحیم وردک وزیر دفاع پیشین، حشمت غنی احمدزی برادر اشرف غنی احمدزی، قطب الدین هلال معاون پیشین گلبدین حکمیتار رهبر حزب اسلامی افغانستان، سید اسحاق گیلانی نماینده مستعفی ولایت کابل در مجلس نمایندگان از جمله کسانی بودند که برای شرکت در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری آینده ثبت نام کردند. --- گفته می‌شود که قرار است فردا اشرف غنی احمدزی، زلمی رسول وزیر خارجه مستعفی افغانستان و گل آغا شیرزی والی مستعفی ولایت ننگرهار برای ثبت نام به کمیسیون انتخابات افغانستان مراجعه کنند. - BBC

Former Afghan Defense Chief Says He's 'Nationally Oriented' -- Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak discusses why his presidential candidacy is different from the others, in a conversation with The Wall Street Journal.. -- A 68-year-old ethnic Pashtun who was a leading mujahedeen commander in the 1980s war against the Soviets, Gen. Wardak attended the U.S. Army staff college at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and includes personal letters from former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon among his campaign materials. - wall street journal

Former Islamist Warlord Vies for Afghan Presidency -- KABUL—A former Islamist warlord who brought al Qaeda's leading figures to Afghanistan registered Thursday to run in the country's presidential elections, backed by major power brokers and the chairmen of both chambers of the Afghan parliament. -- Abdul Rasoul Sayyaf—the most conservative, and most controversial, among Afghanistan's presidential hopefuls—is seen as a credible contender for the job, in part because of his Islamic credentials and his past as a leading mujahedeen commander with high name recognition. -- As Mr. Sayyaf, an Egyptian-trained cleric with a long white beard who espouses the ultra-rigid Salafi interpretation of Islam, presented his documents, hundreds of backers erupted in loud chants of "Long live Islam" and "Long live jihad." - wall street journal

Impasse With Afghanistan Raises Prospect of Total U.S. Withdrawal in 2014 -- KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States and Afghanistan have reached an impasse in their talks over the role that American forces will play here beyond next year, officials from both countries say, raising the distinct possibility of a total withdrawal — an outcome that the Pentagon’s top military commanders dismissed just months ago. --- Moreover, a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan could be far costlier than it was in Iraq. It would force European powers to pull their forces as well, risking a dangerous collapse in confidence among Afghans and giving a boost to the Taliban, which remain a potent threat. --- It could also jeopardize vital aid commitments. Afghanistan is decades away from self-sufficiency — it currently covers only about 20 percent of its own bills, with the rest paid by the United States and its allies. - More, nytimes

Merkel, SPD welcome further talks on German government --- (Reuters) - Angela Merkel's conservatives and the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) agreed to meet again in 10 days to explore forming a "grand coalition" government after an initial three-hour meeting on Friday was called constructive by both sides. --- The German chancellor's Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) emerged as the dominant party from the September 22 election but need a coalition partner and Friday's meeting marked the start of complex horse-trading that could last two months or more.

Friday, October 04, 2013

اتحادیه اروپا ناظرین بین المللی را برای نظارت از روند انتخابات به افغانستان میفرستند --- اتحادیه اروپا بنا بر دعوت کمیسیون مستقل انتخابات مصمم است تا یک تیم نظارتی را برای نظارت از روند برگزاری انتخابات ریاست جمهوری و شوراهای ولایتی ۹۳ به این کشور بفرستد. --- یان کوبیش نماینده خاص سازمان ملل متحد برای افغانستان امروز در یک کنفرانس خبری گفت: انتخابات افغانستان نیاز به یک نظارت و کنترول بین المللی دارد، اتحادیه و پارلمان اروپا مصمم است تا یک تیم نظارتی را برای امر به افغانستان بفرستد. --- اقای یان کوبیش همچنان افزود: اتحادیه اروپا، جامعه جهانی و کشور های کمک کننده در نشست شورای امنیت سازمان ملل اعلام کرده اند که با انتخابات افغانستان همکاری مالی و همه جانبه میکنند. - وخت

A big victory for Afghans ... in cricket --- KABUL, Afghanistan -- In a victory that brought cheer to this war-torn nation, Afghanistan on Friday beat Kenya in a one-day international cricket match to advance to the World Cup for the first time in its troubled history. ---Afghanistan can’t play at home because of the security situation, and its stands at the United Arab Emirates stadium were largely empty. But that didn’t deter members of the winning team, who ran onto the field carrying a giant Afghanistan flag. - latimes

Woman shot in D.C. chase is said to have had a fixation on Obama --- STAMFORD, Conn. — The woman shot to death after a police chase from the White House to Capitol Hill had been suffering mental health problems, federal law enforcement officials said, including postpartum depression after her daughter was born and a troubling fixation on President Obama. - latimes

ترکیه، کودکان افغان را به مکاتب نمی پذیرد --- افغانهای که از طریق ایران و به شکل قاچاق به ترکیه آمده اند نه تنها که در بی سرنوشتی به سر میبرند بلکه فرزندانشان نیز نمیتوانند در مکاتب ترکیه درس بخوانند. -- در هر گوشه یی از ترکیه چندین فامیل افغان دیده میشود که در انتظار قبولی از سوی ترکیه و یا رفتن به اروپا هستند اما در این میان اطفال این خانواده ها بیشتر قربانی این مهاجرت ها هستند. -- در همین حال بیشتر فامیل های که به ترکیه آمده میگویند وقتی آنها به مکتب مراجعه میکنند و با جواب رد روبرو شدند، ناچار هستند سکوت کنند چون هیچ کس برای آنها کاری انجام نمیدهد. -- اما وقتی از این خانواده پرسیده شود که وقتی اطفال شان در بی سرنوشتی به سر میبرند بهتر نیست پس به افغانستان برگردید میگویند اینجا حد اقل ضمانت زنده بودن واختطاف نشدن وجود دارد. - darivoa.com

Afghanistan celebrates cricket World Cup qualification --- Celebrations have taken place across Afghanistan after its cricketers qualified for the first time for the World Cup, to be held in 2015. -- The team beat Kenya by seven wickets on Friday in their final qualifying match in Sharjah. -- Their first match in the competition will be against Bangladesh in Canberra on 18 February 2015 and they will also face Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand before taking on England in Sydney on 13 March. - BBC

Body found ID'd as Mehria Mansury: Daughter faces first-degree murder charge --- SAN DIEGO - A 42-year-old Serra Mesa woman was in custody without bail Friday on suspicion of murdering her 79-year-old mother and ditching the body on the Barona Indian Reservation, and possible accomplices may be arrested in the future, police said. -- "There may be further suspects that may be arrested at some point," Duran said without elaboration. - 10news.com

Ghani, in Interview, Explains Why He Is Competing in Afghan Vote --- KABUL—Ashraf Ghani, a U.S.-based academic turned Afghan politician, on Monday became the first serious candidate to enter the race for the Afghan presidency, resigning from his government position as President Hamid Karzai's transition adviser. -- In 1919 we embarked on a journey to create a modern state in Afghanistan. We were the only country with a stable autocratic government that embarked on a democratic path. -- But in 1929 it collapsed, it's our unfinished chapter and every 20 years we have returned to that agenda without completing it. -- We need to arrive at a stable order where continuity can take place within the rules of the game, which are going to be institutionalized and enshrined. -- Nationally, we are going to face serious challenges: on the economy, on governance, on security, and particularly on peace. These challenges are going to require leadership and management but more than just technical leadership and management: They are going to require political consensus. - More, wall street journal

Disputes Snarl US-Afghan Talks -Two Sides Split on Fundamental Issues -- KABUL—U.S. and Afghan negotiators are far from agreement on some fundamental issues in talks on a long-term American military presence here, senior officials in both countries said, with the Pentagon warning that further delays could scuttle the deal altogether. --- With much of the so-called Bilateral Security Agreement already completed by lower-level negotiating teams, disagreements on critical issues, including how the U.S. forces would respond to external aggression and what latitude they would have in counterterrorism operations, must now be tackled at the highest level, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizy told The Wall Street Journal. - wsj.org

Israel's Netanyahu accuses Iran's leader of nuclear deceit -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused Iranian President Hassan Rouhani of waging a deceitful "charm offensive" to get sanctions lifted while secretly pushing ahead on a quest to build nuclear weapons. - Netanyahu's address to the United Nations General Assembly sought to dispel a mood of cautious optimism created last week when Rouhani pledged to resolve the nuclear dispute and ease more than 30 years of hostility between Iran and the United States. - latimes

As government shutdown persists, focus shifts to debt limit --- WASHINGTON — With the federal government shutdown in its third day, both sides of the dispute that started with a Republican drive to end Obamacare shifted their focus Thursday to the next fiscal deadline: the need to raise the debt limit by mid-October to avoid a default. - latimes

Afghan officials say long-term security agreement with the U.S. is still on hold --- KABUL — More than a year after negotiations began over a long-term security agreement between the United States and Afghanistan, representatives of both countries remain at an impasse over key issues that would allow American troops to remain here beyond 2014. --- The primary unresolved issues involve the Afghans’ insistence that the U.S. military do more to stem the flow of terrorists from Pakistan and their resistance to unilateral U.S. military operations, said Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai.- More, washingtonpost

آزادی‌ بیان با تهدید مواجه است --- اتحادیه ملی ژورنالیستان افغانستان می‌گوید که آزادی بیان در افغانستان با تهدید جدی مواجه است. آزادی بیان یکی از دست آوردهای مهم سیاسی افغانستان در دهه اخیر می‌باشد. وقتی گفته می‌شود که این دست آورد با تهدید مواجه است، بیان گر آن است که در راستای نهادینه‌سازی این دست آورد به عنوان یک ارزش اجتماعی آن‌گونه که باید و شاید کار صورت نگرفته است. - روزنامه هشت صبح

Thursday, October 03, 2013

N.S.A. Gathers Data on Social Connections of U.S. Citizens --- WASHINGTON — Since 2010, the National Security Agency has been exploiting its huge collections of data to create sophisticated graphs of some Americans’ social connections that can identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with officials. - NYTimes

News 8 Exclusive: Daughter & boyfriend arrested in missing woman's death -- SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Just one day after police discovered a body on the Barona Indian Reservation, they arrested 79-year-old Mehria Mansury's daughter and her boyfriend. -- San Diego Police homicide officers took Ghazal "Gazelle" Mansury, 42, and her boyfriend Lucio Moreno, 57, into custody shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday in City Heights, near the intersection of Dwight St. and Cherokee Ave. -- The couple was handcuffed and driven away in a marked police vehicle. Officers at the scene told Ghazal Mansury she was being arrested on suspicion of murder. Officers also suspect Moreno may be involved in the crime and wanted to question him Thursday night. -- Charges are pending review by the office of the San Diego County District Attorney. - cbs8

Afghanistan: U.S. blocking deal on future security pact -- Negotiations over the BSA, which will outline the U.S. military role in the country for the coming decade, have reached the "final, sensitive stage," Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi told CBS News.--- He said two issues remain in the way of an agreement with the United States. The first stumbling block is Washington's insistence that American troops maintain the right to launch offensive strikes "without limits," including missile strikes, detentions and night raids after the 2014 withdrawal, which Faizi said the Afghan government would, "clearly consider a violation of our national sovereignty." -- Secondly, the Karzai administration wants a guarantee that the U.S. military will defend the Afghan homeland from "aggression or foreign attack," but there's no agreement on what exactly those terms define. - CBSNews

Afghanistan: preparations for elections ‘creating a more positive environment,’ says UN official -- 3 October 2013 – The most senior United Nations official in Afghanistan said today the quality of preparations for next year’s elections is leading to a more positive environment about the country’s prospects after the 2014 transition. - UN

برادر زادهٔ شهید سردار محمد داوود خان خود را نامزد مقام ریاست جمهوری کرد -- کابل: گزارش ها حاکی از آن است که شورای سرتاسری “صدای مردم افغانستان” برای اشتراک در انتخابات آینده ریاست جمهوری نامزد مورد حمایتش را معرفی کرد. -- شماری از اعضای ولسی جرگه، شوراهای ولایتی ۳۴ ولایت افغانستان، بزرگان قومی، نمایندگان نهادهای اجتماعی و برخی جوانان از سراسر کشور، در نشست امروزی شورای صدای مردم افغانستان شرکت داشتند. -- وحدت ملی، منافع ملی و هویت ملی از شعارهای اساسی این شورا بیان شد. - در همین حال؛ سردار محمدنادر نعیم در نطق کوتاهی با انتقاد صریح از دولت کنونی افغانستان گفت: ” با وجود سرازیر شدن میلیارد ها دالر کمکهای جامعه جهانی در افغانستان، هنوز هم اکثر مردم در نا امیدی و ترس از آینده زندگی می کنند”. - آقای نعیم افزود؛ فاصله بین ملت و دولت بیشتر شده و افغانها با این وضع به آرمانهای ملی دست نخواهند یافت. -- وی در مورد نامزد شدنش در انتخابات آینده خاطرنشان کرد: ” شورای مردمی صدای مردم افغانستان از همه ملت نمایندگی می کند و آنان از من خواسته اند که خود را نامزد کنم”. - نادر نعیم، وعده سپرد که حاضر است برای مردم افغانستان قربانی دهد و هیچ گاهی برای معامله گری به میدان انتخابات وارد نخواهد شد. -- آقای نعیم، نواسه سردار نعیم خان وبرادر زادهٔ مرحوم داوودخان و نواسه دختری ظاهرشاه پادشاه اسبق افغانستان است. - او می گوید که ده سال است به افغانستان آمده و فعالیت های اجتماعی اش را در کشور آغاز کرده؛ اما به گفته او، این اولین بار است که به خواست مردم، وارد عرصه سیاست می شود. - آقای نعیم گفت که روز شنبه، برای ثبت نام به کمیسیون مستقل انتخابات مراجعه خواهد کرد - گران افغانستان

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

NSA had test project to collect data on Americans’ cellphone locations, director says --- The National Security Agency began a test project in 2010 to collect data on ordinary Americans’ cellphone locations, but later discontinued it because it had no “operational value,” the agency’s director said Wednesday. --- “This may be something that is a future requirement for the country, but it is not right now,” given that the FBI is able to gather the location of suspects’ cellphones by obtaining warrants from a court, Alexander told the Senate Judiciary Committee. --- “After years of stonewalling on whether the government has ever tracked or planned to track the location of law abiding Americans through their cell phones, once again, the intelligence leadership has decided to leave most of the real story secret — even when the truth would not compromise national security,” Wyden said in a statement. - washingtonpost

NSA says it considered collecting phone call location data --- The National Security Agency gathered records of Americans' mobile phone call locations to test how it could process the data in bulk, but abandoned the plan, senators are told. - latimes

Live updates: Michael Jackson jury explains why it sided with AEG --- Jurors in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case sided with AEG Live that the singer's death was a tragedy -- but not one for which the concert promoter was responsible. - latimes

کــــــــودک نابغـــــۀ افغـــــان برای صنـــــوف دوازده ساینس تدریس می کند --- کودکان در سن هشت سالگی بطور عموم علاقه به سامان بازی و سرگرمی های مختلف کودکانهشان دارند ولی امیر جان 8 ساله در قندهار کتاب های ساینس، سیاسی و اجتماعی می خواند. --- امیرجان 8 ساله که به لسان های دری، پشتو، عربی و انگلیسی خیلی روانصحبت می کند، شاگرد صنف پنجم لیسه احمد شاه بابا در قندهار است. --- امیرجان که برای شاگردان صنف دوازدهم مضامین ساینسی و ریاضی درس میدهد می گوید: --- « من می توانم مضامین ساینسی، اجتماعی، سیاسی و انگلیسی را نزد خود خوانده و بیاموزم این مضامین برایم آسان اند. همچنان می توانم همین مضامین را به شاگردان بالاتر از صنف خودم تدریس نمایم. » --- مقام ها در قندهار هیچ نوع سهولتی را برای این کودک در نظر نگرفته اند و وی بنابر نبود لیلیه در یک خانه کرایی زنده گی می کند. - روز نامه آرمان ملي

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Sweden ranked as the best place to grow old in report --- Meanwhile, elderly people living in Afghanistan fare the worst in the Global Agewatch Index, published today. --- The report found the world's population is aging so fast most countries are not adequately prepared to support their swelling numbers of elderly people. --- Nordic countries ranked well, as Norway was found to be the second best after Sweden and Iceland came ninth. Western Europe also scored well, with Germany third, the Netherlands fourth and Switzerland sixth. --- The study looked at four key domains to assess each country. These were income security, health status, employment and education, and enabling environment. - The Independent

د درې نيمو لسيزو د شهيدانو په وير کې د افغان ملي غورځنګ اعلاميه --- لومړی خو موږ د ټولو شهيدانو کورنيو ته د زړه له کومې تسليت وايو او د پاک پروردګار له درباره په فردوس جنت کې د شهيدانو لپاره د ډېر لوړ مقام غوښتونکي يو.دويم دا چې، له بده مرغه د افغان غميزې په پيل کې د پنځو زرو بېګناه افغانانو شهادت يوازنی وحشت او جنايت نه و چې د افغانانو په حق کې ترسره شو، بلکې تر هغه وروسته د سرو لښکرو له يرغل سره شاوخوا يو نيم ميليون بېګناه افغانان په شهادت ورسېدل او زموږ يو زيات شمېر مهاجر هېوادوال په تنظيمي زندانونو او د پاکستاني او ايراني استخباراتو په جېلونو کې تري تم شول. --- د روسانو تر وتلو وروسته په کورنۍ تپل شوې جګړه کې يو ځل بیا مظلوم افغانان د داسې وحشت قرباني شول، چې بشريت يې په يادولو شرمېږي.افغانستان ته د بشري حقونو او دموکراسۍ په نامه د نړیوالو ځواکونو له راتګ سره له بده مرغه بیا هم جنايتونه پايته ونه رسېدل، بلکې د جګړې ټولو ښکېلو غاړو پر بشري حقونو تيريو ته دوام ورکړ او جنګي جنايتونو نوي ابعاد غوره کړل او له بده مرغه تر ننه پورې جنايت او وحشت په بېلا بېلو بڼو دوام لري. --- زموږ په اند د جنايتونو غندل او د شهيدانو په وير کښېناستل کفايت نه کوي، بلکې تر ټولو مهم دا دي چې د نورو جنايتونو مخه ونيول شي او جنايتکاران د خپلو اعمالو په سزا ورسول شي.د جنايتکارانو نه محاکمه کېدلو او خپل منځي بخښنو هغوی لا زياتو جنايتونو ته هڅولي او د هر ډول جنایت پر وړاندې يې د معافيت دروازې پرانيستې دي. بدمرغي دا ده چې د هر پړاو له بدلون سره، جنايتکارانو ته نه يوازې سزا نه ده ورکړل شوې، بلکې بيا هم په واک کې شريک شوي او لا تر اوسه هم يو زیات شمېر جنايتکاران د واک او ځواک پر ګدۍ ناست دي او لا هم هره ورځ ولس د دوی د جنايتونو بيه ورکوي. د بهرنيو ځواکونو له وتلو سره د ولس تر ټولو ستره اندېښنه د دغو جنايتکارانو په خپل منځي سياليو او جګړو کې يو ځل بيا د هېواد او ولس تباهي ده. --- افغان ملي غورځنګ د دې ترڅنګ چې د ولسي جرګې له خوا د تېرو جنايتونو بخښل د نه منلو خبره ګڼي، لاندې ټکي د خپل دريځ او وړانديزونو په توګه اعلانوي: - د افغان ملي غورځنګ مطبوعاتي څانګه

On International Day, Ban calls for full participation of older persons in society --- 1 October 2013 – Countries must ensure that older persons are able to fully participate in society and have their voices heard, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed today, noting they play a key part in the shaping of the post-2015 development agenda. --- “[Older persons] are calling for a world where all have food, shelter, clean water and sanitation, and access to basic health services and education. I have included these messages in my vision for a transformative post-2015 development agenda, which is set out in my report, 'A Life of Dignity for All',” Mr. Ban said. - UN.org

Sweden ranked first for treatment of elderly in UN report --- Sweden is the best place in the world to be old and Afghanistan the worst, according to a UN-backed global study. --- The Global AgeWatch Index examined the quality of life of the elderly in 91 nations. Norway and Germany made up the top spots, with the UK in 13th place. --- The index warns that many countries do not have adequate support in place for their ageing populations. --- Researchers used 13 different indicators - including income and employment, health provision, education, and environment - in what they said was the first study of kind to be conducted on a global scale. --- While Sweden came top, and Afghanistan was placed last, the top 20 was dominated by countries from Western Europe and North America, along with Japan, Australia and Chile. --- Some large fast-developing countries fared worse than others, with Russia (78), India (73) and Turkey (70) receiving a low rank, while Brazil (31) and China (35) were regarded more favourably by the researchers. - BBC

عبدالله عبدالله برای نامزدی در انتخابات ۹۳ ثبت نام کرد -- آقای عبدالله نظام ریاستی کنونی را باعث تمرکز قدرت و افزایش فساد و ناکارآمدی می‎دانست و تاکید داشت که اگر به قدرت برسد، قانون اساسی را تغییر می‎دهد. اما پس از ثبت نام در صحبتی که با خبرنگاران داشت، اشاره ای به تغییر نظام در صورت پیروزی، نکرد. --- عبدالله عبدالله را علاوه بر معاونانش، حامیان اصلی‎ او در در وقت ثبت نام همراهی کردند، از جمله یونس قانونی، رئیس پیشین مجلس نمایندگان، عبدالهادی ارغنده‌وال، رئیس حزب اسلامی و وزیر اقتصاد، صلاح‌الدین ربانی، رئیس موقت جمعیت اسلامی و رئیس شورای عالی صلح، عطامحمد نور، والی بلخ و نورالحق علومی رهبر حزب متحد ملی و شماری از نمایندگان مجلس. --- محمد خان دیروز بر اساس موافقت حزب اسلامی با جمعیت اسلامی برای حمایت از نامزدی عبدالله عبدالله، به عنوان معاون اول آقای عبدالله معرفی شد. --- این دو حزب سالها با هم رقابت داشتند. بخشی از جنگ‌های داخلی در دهه هفتاد ناشی از همین رقابت بود. این نخستین بار است که دست کم یکی از شاخه‌های حزب اسلامی در یک برنامه انتخاباتی با جمعیت اسلامی متحد می‌شود. - BBC

Obama Urges Republicans to Drop Health Law Fight -- “As long as I am president, I will not give in to reckless demands by some in the Republican Party to deny affordable health insurance to millions of hard-working Americans,” Mr. Obama said, adding with a gesture toward his guests in the sunny Rose Garden, “I want Republicans in Congress to know – these are the Americans you’d hurt if you were allowed to dismantle this law.” - More, nytimes

Countries Agree to Special Quotas for Syrian Refugees -- GENEVA — At least 15 countries have agreed to set up special quotas for fugitives fleeing Syria’s civil war, marking a shift in international thinking about how to deal with the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, the head of the United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday. - nytimes

The Forgotten War - 12 Years in Afghanistan Down the Memory Hole --- Since the 1950s, the U.S. has been trying to mold that remote land to its own desires, first through an aid “war” in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviet Union; then, starting as the 1970s ended, an increasingly bitter and brutally hot proxy war with the Soviets meant to pay them back for supporting America’s enemies during the war in Vietnam. One bad war leads to another. --- From then until the early 1990s, Washington put weapons in the hands of Islamic fundamentalist extremists of all sorts -- thought to be natural, devoutly religious allies in the war against “godless communism” -- gloated over the Red Army’s defeat and the surprising implosion of the Soviet empire, and then experienced its own catastrophic blowback from Afghanistan on September 11, 2001. --- Through it all, the U.S. has always claimed to have the best interests of Afghans at heart -- waving at various opportune moments the bright flags of modernization, democracy, education, or the rights of women. Yet today, how many Afghans would choose to roll back the clock to 1950, before the Americans ever dropped in? After 12 years of direct combat, after 35 years of arming and funding one faction or another, after 60 years of trying to remake Afghanistan to serve American aims, what has it all meant? If we ever knew, we’ve forgotten. Weary of official reports of progress, Americans tuned out long ago. -- More by Ann Jones, Huffingtonpost

Full steam ahead for Obama healthcare law --- Brushing aside GOP opponents and the threat of a federal shutdown, Obama urges Americans to start checking out new health insurance plans. --- Administration officials emphasized that a government shutdown would not prevent the federal website for enrolling in health coverage — http://www.healthcare.gov — from going live at 8 a.m Eastern time Tuesday, allowing consumers to begin signing up for plans. - latimes

With Congress at impasse, government starts shutting down --- 800,000 to be furloughed; military will still be paid --- The White House orders federal agencies to start shutting down as Congress fails to agree on a budget and Obama's healthcare law. - latimes

Two US generals forced to retire over attack on US base in Afghanistan --- The US Marine Corps has forced two two-star generals to retire for what the top general called their failure to secure a base in Afghanistan attacked by the Taliban last year, killing two Marines and destroying several aircraft. - Telegraph

Second head removed from Afghan baby girl --- A life-saving operation has been carried out on a baby girl in Afghanistan born with two heads. --- The girl – named Asree Gul (new flower) and one of a pair of twins – was admitted to a hospital in the eastern city of Jalalabad with an extra head attached to her scalp, chief surgeon Ahmad Obaid Mojadidi said. - Telegraph

د جمعیت او حزب ترمنځ د عبدالله پر ولسمشرۍ موافقه – انجنیر محمد خان به لومړی مرستیال وي --- عبد الله عبدالله، چې غواړي ځان ولسمشرۍ ته کاندید کړي، په خپله فېسبوک پاڼه کې ویلي چې نن(پرون) مازدیګر حزب اسلامي او جمعیت اسلامي انتخاباتي موافقه لاسلیک کړه. --- د عبدالهادي ارغندیوال په مشرۍ د حزب اسلامي او صلاح الدین رباني په مشرۍ د عبدالله عبدالله د ولسمشرۍ د کاندیدولو موافقه څو ساعته وروسته له دې لاسلیک شوه چې ډاکتر اشرف غني احمدزي اعلان وکړ چې ولسمشرۍ ته ځان کاندیدوي. په همدې منځ کې عطا محمد نور وايي چې عبد الله عبدالله به سبا رسماً د انتخاباتو په خپلواک کمیسون کې ځان کاندید کړي. د ده په وینا مارشال قسیم فهیم او محمد اسماعیل خان هم د عبدالله عبدالله د کاندیدو ملاتړ کوي او د دوی په هڅو د ارغندیوال او جمعیت ترمنځ موافقه وشوه. - تاند

World not prepared to support growing elderly population, report by UN, aged care group finds --- The world is aging so fast that most countries are not prepared to support their swelling numbers of elderly people, according to a global study being issued Tuesday by the United Nations and an elder rights group. --- The report ranks the social and economic well-being of elders in 91 countries, with Sweden coming out on top and Afghanistan at the bottom. It reflects what advocates for the old have been warning, with increasing urgency, for years: Nations are simply not working quickly enough to cope with a population graying faster than ever before. By the year 2050, for the first time in history, seniors older than 60 will outnumber children younger than 15. - Associated Press

US generals ousted over failure to secure Afghan base from Taliban --- The head of the marine corps on Monday effectively fired two US generals over their failure to defend a major base in Afghanistan from a deadly Taliban attack last year, in an extraordinary and rare public censure. - Guardian

Russia seeks to fill vacuum in the Middle East --- BEIRUT — Two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union affirmed the United States as the dominant power in the Middle East, a resurgent Russia is seeking ways large and small to fill the vacuum left by the departure of American troops from Iraq and the toppling of U.S. allies in the Arab Spring revolts. - Liz Sly

As government shuts down, Obamacare moves forward --- As most of Washington comes to a halt, President Obama is betting that Tuesday will be remembered in history for what he believes cannot be stopped. --- “The Affordable Care Act is moving forward. That funding is already in place. You can’t shut it down,” Obama warned Republicans as the final hours before the shutdown deadline ticked away. --- Social Security and Medicare look almost simple compared with the system that will be put into place with the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare seeks to establish new health insurance marketplaces and transform how care is delivered, while giving states significant leeway in determining how that will be done.washingtonpost

Shutdown begins: House officials say no more funding votes tonight --- The U.S. government began to shut down for the first time in 17 years early Tuesday, after a Congress bitterly divided over President Obama’s signature health-care initiative failed to reach agreement to fund federal agencies. --- Shortly before midnight, the White House budget office issued a memo instructing agencies to “execute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations.” - Washingtonpost