HOME | IMC UK | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

Oxford Indymedia

Afghanistan: News

Paul | 05.12.2004 13:33 | Oxford

Afghanistan as a success story with underground US prisons, US not spraying poppies, constant treat of car bombs, suicide bombers, rockets and kidnappings. A success story.

The three hostages were released, received medals and have gone home. Apparently the kidnapper’s car did not completely block the UN car and the UN driver wound down the window to shout at the car which had cut in front of him. If he had been properly trained and immediately taken evasive action they may not have been kidnapped. They were well looked after by the captors, given regular meals, warm blankets, western music and a pack of cards. They kidnappers were not Taliban. The Taliban could not have taken the photo of a man with two women. It was not only internationals relieved by their release; Afghans were very upset by the kidnapping especially of women which goes completely against the culture. The majority of Afghans were very angry and upset. A UN friend tells me she was involved in a kidnap attempt only days earlier. Luckily when she saw a gun pointing at her in the rear view mirror she ducked down and called the security nearby on her mobile. If she had used her radio it would have gone through to security that is over 30 minutes away and they probably would not be able to find her anyway.

There have been some warnings of car bombs, suicide bombers and more kidnappings but thinks have been relatively quiet. This may be because attempts have been foiled or they have not materialized. On 7th December is Kharzai’s inauguration with Cheney and Rumseld heading the US delegation so security will be very tight this next week. After the inauguration he has to choose his cabinet which should test his political skills. The infamous warlord, Dostum, says that any cabinet without him would be illegal but Kharzai says he will not have a cabinet of warlords. There is increasing crime in the north where Dostum lives and many think this is a message about security if he does not get a cabinet post.

Seven unidentified helicopters sprayed poppy fields last week. There is an investigation concerning rashes and diarrhea in the area. The Afghan government had said no to spraying for health reasons. The American ambassador has said he thinks it was warlords doing it to cause resentment.

A friend involved in construction tells me he has just hired a contractor who says that he was previously contracted to build small underground prisons for about 5 prisoners near large towns. It was the US military who contracted him.

I have found that USAID through IOM pays the salary to some government deputy ministers and Kharzai’s spokesman. Most of the US money (90% I believe) goes to the military mission, ‘Enduring Freedom’ so this is part of the remaining 10%.

On a personal note I am still working most of the time and trying to make my projects as sustainable as possible with for example introducing community based maintenance systems for wells and water networks. I have a two story school soon to become three story but my engineers tell me it is not safe and can not take the load of a third floor. There is a lot of political pressure to let the work continue especially as the contractor is a friend of the education minister. I will let work continue only after I get a letter guaranteeing it is safe from an engineer and I do not think that will happen. If it is taken out of my hands and continued I will have to look at other action. I have included a basic health and hygiene course for women in some of my construction as well as gender projects. I do not think USAID checked the budget with some of these which means that I can expand some. There are few of the provinces I am responsible for in my programme that I can visit due to security reasons. Panjshir is one of the few. The attached photos are from a recent visit. I have also attached a few articles that give one a better idea of the situation here.

Paul

Publish your news
-->

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Oxford Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech