NY Post opines on “Iran the Bully,” points to Iranian weapons in Afghanistan

NY Post:  IRAN THE BULLY

By PETER BROOKS

September 26, 2007 — IRAN’S President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spent much of his U.N. speech yesterday complaining of “bullying” by the West. Funny – in addition to its well-known bloody works in Iraq and Lebanon, Tehran’s meddling in Afghanistan is a major, and rising, menace.Tehran is aiding the Taliban and other anti-government insurgents with weapons and training. It’s also pouring spies over the border – and forcing Afghan refugees to return home. Up ’til now, Pakistan was Afghanistan’s biggest problem – the host for Taliban safe havens in the border tribal areas. But now Tehran is becoming another major source of trouble. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte points to weapons shipments to Iran that are finding their way into the mitts of Taliban and other insurgents.

For instance, a 10-ton weapons cache recently was found in Herat, along the Afghan-Iranian border. It included artillery shells, land mines, assault rifles, ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades with Chinese, Russian and Iranian markings.

Early this month, NATO forces in Afghanistan pulled off their third – and biggest – interception of a weapons shipment near the Iranian border this year. It included explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) – Tehran’s trademark roadside bombs, the kind responsible for so many GI deaths in Iraq.

In the restive southwestern Helmand province, near the Pakistan border, British troops recently seized Chinese HN-5 anti-aircraft missiles, which could be used to down Coalition helicopters, from Taliban fighters. The weapons could have come in via Pakistan, but China is a major arms supplier to Iran – which has been known to pass them along to clients such as Hezbollah.

Some analysts are linking the Iranian arms shipments, along with development of Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan, to a significant up-tick in fighting this year for the Afghan government forces and their allies.

NATO’s top commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeil, said this summer that recent improvements in the fighting skills and tactics of the Taliban could be an indication of training by Iranian advisers.

Local officials in border provinces insist that Iranian helicopters have violated Afghanistan’s airspace several times this year – and that the central government opponents are being trained in camps in Iran.

Of course, Tehran denies training or supplying arms to anyone in Afghanistan – especially to the Taliban, which was no Iranian ally when it held power – but the evidence against Iran, specifically the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is mounting.

Meanwhile, Tehran’s spy service, the feared Ministry of Intelligence and Security, is flooding Afghanistan with agents. (Since the two countries have some common ethnic groups, these operatives can blend in.)

Iranian operatives are keeping an eye on Coalition forces, too. Just this week, the top Revolutionary Guard commander crowed that his forces were monitoring U.S. troop movements in Iraq.

Iran is also broadcasting in agitprop, and garnering clout via public and social works. And it’s sending cash to sympathetic Afghan Shiite leaders and religious schools – and to warlords with historic ties to Iranian security services.

Tehran is also squeezing Kabul by forcing up to 200,000 (of as many as 2 million) Afghan refugees in Iran to return home – causing a humanitarian nightmare. The move is a clear warning to Afghan President Hamid Karzai: Don’t cross us, or the pain we’re causing you will only get worse.

In fact, Karzai has been quite reluctant to publicly highlight Iran’s interference, saying, “Iran and Afghanistan have never been as friendly as they are today.”

That’s clearly an exercise in diplomatic relativism. But Karzai has enough enemies already without adding Iran. Indeed, he’s been trying to bolster relations with Iran and India as counterweights to testy ties with Pakistan.

Iran has a large population, oil and natural-gas wealth. Historically, it’s been a regional power. It naturally has influence over an underdeveloped neighbor like Afghanistan.

But the Iranian regime is seeking hegemony across the region in a bid to become a world power. It’s treating Afghanistan as a poker chip in its high-stakes game of preventing the spread of democracy and thwarting U.S. interests.

In short, just like in Iraq, the Iranian regime is trying to advance its own position through the pain and suffering of Afghans, not to mention those protecting them.

Heritage Foundation senior fellow Peter Brookes is a former deputy assistant secretary of defense.

peterbrookes@heritage.org

Herat branch of Red Crescent marks “Peace Day”

Hundreds celebrate Peace Day in western Afghan province

Excerpt from report by Afghan female-orientated community Radio Sahar on September 20, 2007.

[Presenter] Hundreds of students and volunteer workers of the Red Crescent Society staged a demonstration today marking International Peace Day. The demonstrators demanded that peace be ensured in the country. Here is Hami Azad with details:

[Unidentified male voice] People, military servicemen, civilians, opponents, farmers and students! Ask for peace for the sake of God.

[Correspondent] He was Nuroddin Ahmadi, the head of the Herat Red Crescent Society. He said that it was the first time that International Peace Day was celebrated in Afghanistan. He added that this day was celebrated only in Herat. According to Mr Ahmadi, 5,000 people from various classes of society participated in today’s demonstration.

[Ahmadi] This is the first time in the history of Afghanistan that this day is being celebrated. It was suggested by the central government of Afghanistan. However, this occasion is being celebrated only in Herat and conducted by the Herat Red Crescent Society.

[Correspondent] The demonstrators asked that peace be ensured in the country. The demonstrators, most of them students, interpreted the word peace in different ways. [Passage omitted: demonstrators ask for peace] This day is being celebrated in Afghanistan at a time when insecurity still persists in the country. The Taleban have become stronger and the southern provinces of the country are seeing armed clashes every day.

[Description of Source: Herat Radio Sahar in Dari -- local independent radio station in Herat run mainly by women. OSC IAP20070920950072 Herat Radio Sahar in Dari 1230 GMT 20 Sep 07]

Milan Il Giornale: Italians support Coalition raids in Farah

Italian Troops in Afghanistan Involved in Battle With Taliban Forces

[Report by Fausto Biloslavo, September 15, 2007: "Taliban on the Attack Again: Battle Against Italian Troops"]

Italy’s troops, complete with air support, have been involved in a furious battle with the Taliban in the province of Farah, a thorn in the side of Italy’s contingent in western Afghanistan: in addition to an intervention by the Rapid Reaction Force, they launched unmanned Predator planes, so as to identify objectives, and used Mangusta attack helicopters. The attack by Mullah Omar’s assassins was repelled after a battle lasting several hours. The possibility is not to be ruled out that NATO fighter bombers also intervened. The command headquarters of the Italian contingent in Herat is still obstinately refusing to provide any information on casualties, numbers of people wounded, or Taliban prisoners, but the so-called “hostile forces” must have sustained huge losses. To the extent that, in a communique, the Italian military moved to pre-empt any criticism, stressing that “in the action there does not seem to have been any involvement on the part of civilians.”

The battle erupted on Thursday, when the Taliban launched an attack en masse on the military garrison in Shewan, a stronghold defended by the Afghan security forces, in collaboration with the multinational troops present in the difficult province. The garrison was set up on August 14 along the main road in Farah, which leads to the main city in the province. The intention was to keep free the strategic artery, which was treatened by the Taliban, whose numbers have been bolstered by the throat-cutters who have fled the nearby province of Helmand, where British troops have been fighting a large-scale offensive for some months now.

On Thursday the garrison was about to succumb, when the Rapid Reaction Force intervened. This force is composed of Italians and Spaniards, and was already carrying out a security operation in the area. The troops, under the command of a general in the Alpini regiment, Fausto Macor, arrived on the scene by land, aboard Lince [armored] vehicles, which have recently ended up, on several occasions, in Taliban ambushes, although luckily these have only caused injuries, none of them serious. “The coalition troops were met with heavy fire,” it states in the communique issued by the headquarters in Herat. The Taliban clearly did not want to relax their hold, and the Predators, which have just recently arrived in western Afghanistan, took off. The unmanned planes sent pictures of the battle to the command station in Herat in real time, and identified the targets to be struck. The situation was such that a decision was made to use two Mangusta assault helicopters which, according to Capt Andrea Salvador, the spokesman of the Italian contingent, “did not open fire, but served to display our strength.” But it is unlikely that the Taliban fled only at the sight of the helicopters. The clashes on the ground must have been intense, and, in response to a question as to whether NATO fighter bombers intervened, the spokesman neither confirmed nor denied this, but dug himself in behind a terse “I have no information in that connection.” NATO fighter planes had already carried out a bombing operation in the province of Farah on September 6. In that attack, two vehicles full of armed people were hit, in the village of Sabzgazy. All the occupants reportedly died. For the battle on Thursday, it is impossible to have any estimate as to the losses among the Taliban, but the Italian troops were quick to reaffirm that “no civilians were involved in the action.”

As in the recent ambush in the Musahi valley, close to Kabul, when an Italian soldier sustained a leg injury during a “contact,” in other words an exchange of fire which lasted 20 minutes, everyone is pretending that there are no casualties among the hostile forces. According to the censorship imposed by Defense Minister Arturo Parisi, Italy’s soldiers in Afghanistan are only taking part in a peace mission, taking candies to the children, in the context of the praiseworthy humanitarian interventions by the Cimic units. Clearly, our lads, starting with the Mangusta pilots, when forced to intervene in war actions, shoot “candies,” instead of lead projectiles.

The increase in activities in the areas under Italian control, as Il Giornale revealed at the beginning of September, is due to British and US military pressure. This was confirmed yesterday by the NATO command in Kabul. “We are driving the rebels out of eastern and southern parts of Afghanistan,” said Claudia Foss, the spokesperson for the ISAF mission. “We do not deny that this sometimes involves the movement of rebels into regions where their presence has been less evident thus far,” added Foss. NATO sources confirm that “as an undesired side-effect of the coalition’s successes, we note the movement of guerrilla fighters from the south to the west, especially from Helmand to Herat,” where the Italian contingent is stationed, with around one thousand men.

[Description of Source: Milan Il Giornale (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian -- right-of-center daily owned by the Berlusconi family. OSC EUP20070915058002 Milan Il Giornale (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian 15 Sep 07]

Afghan Defense Ministry Aide: No Civilian Losses in Italian-Backed Action in Farah

September 16, 2007

“Dozens of Taliban and drug traffickers were killed” in the latest battle in Farah province, in which Italian troops were also involved. This was disclosed to Il Giornale by General Zahir Azimi, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, who explained that the anti-guerrilla operations were conducted by the Afghan Army with US support, both on the ground and in the air, and with support from other NATO troops, including Italians. “The air raids, conducted by the Americans, hit rural areas where there are no civilian inhabitants,” General Azimi said defensively. However, the Taliban and local sources report that since 20 August the bombardments have claimed at least 70 lives among inhabitants of the area, which is a thorn in the side of our contingent of some 1,000 men deployed in western Afghanistan.

The zone is under the command of Alpine General Fausto Macor, and the Italian-Spanish rapid response force based at Herat intervened at Shewat with support from Predator drones and two Mangusta attack helicopters. Thursday [ 13 September] saw the most intensive fighting with the Taliban, who could have destroyed the Shewan police stronghold if Italian reinforcements had not arrived.

“Dozens of Taliban and drug traffickers were killed during the Afghan Army operations, supported by the US forces, in the Shewan area. The US aerial attacks hit targets in uninhabited areas, so there were no civilian casualties,” General Azimi said.

This latest flare-up in Farah province occurred following an ambush on an Afghan Army convoy. Kabul’s troops, with NATO soldiers, including Italians, launched an offensive on the Taliban. The latest clashes lasted five days, until Thursday’s attack on the stronghold, which sparked the Italians’ sharp response. Apart from the two Mangustas, which did not open fire, a US A-10 Thunderbolt also intervened. The deadly tankbuster overflew the area, officially without bombarding it, using only the “show the force” [phrase in quote marks in English in original] tactic, in order to disperse the Taliban, who wanted to set explosive traps along the road defended by the Italians and Afghans, which leads to the capital of Farah province.

Our troops responded “to intense enemy fire,” according to the brief statement released by our contingent’s command in Herat. There are strict orders from Rome to be discreet. The police chief in Farah, Abdul Rahman Sarjang, told Il Giornale that four policemen and two Afghan Army soldiers died during the past few days’ fighting, with some one dozen wounded. The number of losses among the Taliban and their drug trafficking allies amount to some 20. The Islamist cut-throats, who often use civilians as human shields, say that some 70 innocent inhabitants of the area have been killed since 20 August. Local sources, too, claim that the air raids caused civilian losses, but for the time being it is impossible to obtain definite information. With reference to Thursday’s battle, the Italian military stressed that “no civilians were involved in the action,” but during the past few days the United States has carried out intensive bombardments.

Furthermore the offensive is by no means over, as General Azimi told Il Giornale: “the operation to clean up Farah province continues, and the Taliban will be defeated.”

[Description of Source: Milan Il Giornale (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian -- right-of-center daily owned by the Berlusconi family. OSC EUP20070916058001 Milan Il Giornale (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian 16 Sep 07]

Pagah newspaper on deteriorating security in Herat

Local paper reports on opposition group in Afghanistan’s Herat Province

(Text of editorial, entitled “Local opposition?!” published by Herat University newspaper Pagah on September 12, 2007)

Herat has seen noticeable insecurity recently. A number of former militants have started to establish bases in the whereabouts of the province and have turned into a power to some extent in the region. They apparently do not have links with the Taleban or Al Qa’idah. In the meantime, they are not in agreement with the government, either.

Although their objective is not quite clear, what is obvious is their efforts to weaken the government, particularly the leadership in Herat Province. However, the chaos [they have caused] has led to an increase in robberies and kidnappings.

Another group called Herat Islamic Council has recently been established. This group is not a homogeneous one as it comprises members from jihadi leaders and influential figures to university students and teachers.

At the first gathering of this council in Herat Great Mosque, a harsh resolution was issued which implied that the council was demanding the overthrow of the governor and security officials. Expressing grave concern over the prevailing insecurity in Herat, the resolution blames the inefficiency of the Herat senior officials for it. The resolution also calls on a number of officials to stop distributing weapons and supporting irresponsible armed groups.

On the other hand, the governor of Herat rejected the claims by this newly-established group and called their recent gathering an act of sabotage against his administration. In his speech at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the martyrdom of Ahmad Shah Masud, where [Speaker] Yunos Qanuni was also present, he commented on the current issues in Herat more frankly. Admitting that there was insecurity in Herat, he asserted that the factors behind security incidents are not the Taleban or Al Qa’idah, but internal elements in Herat. He went on to say that if they find the root of the current insecurity in Herat, it would be revealed that a number of the members of this group have been involved in the security incidents.

Anyway, it is obvious that security incidents have increased in Herat Province and that the government is not powerful enough to tackle insecurity. However, it is an undeniable fact that criticism is a way of improvement, but it is important that the criticisms should not be politically biased. Criticisms should always be presented for the purpose of reform. When two ideas get together, a third alternative is created, which is better than both of them. However, the question remains unanswered as to whether the solutions offered by this council are effective. Over the last few years, it has become clear that unless the government pays serious attention to finding solutions to the security problem, reshuffles of officials will not be remedial. Unless the government adopts a firm policy in the treatment of those who disrupt security, this problem will persist.

[Description of Source: Herat Pagah in Dari --Sometimes critical of the government and foreign forces. OSC IAP20070912950046 Herat Pagah in Dari 0001 GMT 12 Sep 07]