ISLAMABAD -- After a team of helicopter-borne U.S. Navy Seals stormed a compound in the densely populated Bilal Town neighborhood in the Pakistan Army town of Abbottabad, Osama bin Laden was dead. Pakistan was notified after the operation. The U.S. Congress and citizens alike are dumbfounded that America's archenemy was hiding in the plain sight of the Pakistan military and intelligence rather than in the mountainous frontier of the tribal areas. Former President George W. Bush famously declared that the United States would smoke him out of his cave.

However, Abbottabad is far from a cave. The small city is about an hour's drive from Islamabad, reached through roads that trace the modest altitude climb. The town is a hilly and verdant spot where many Pakistanis retreat for the summer when the plains are scorching. It's near some of the famous hiking spots such as Natiagali. Abbottabad is covered in most guidebooks for Pakistan, including Lonely Planet. Most notably, the hill-town is also home to Pakistan's Military Academy and indeed, Bin Laden's massive, albeit non-luxurious, lair was a mere kilometer from this prestigious institution and the security that accompanied it.[[BREAK]]

Analysts and U.S. officials speaking on and off the record have speculated about the possible support bin Laden had from Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies. It stretches credulity to the breaking point to believe that someone in Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies did not know about Bin Laden's whereabouts, and even afforded the world's most wanted fugitive a support network. John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser said that it is inconceivable that bin Laden did not have some support network within Pakistan, though he stopped short of saying that this support was official.

It is possible that Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies succumbed to a profound level of incompetence. But ultimately such speculation is nonproductive. Judgment should be deferred until the numerous investigations are done.

Many good questions and no good answers

Whether this happened due to incompetence or complicity, Pakistan has much explaining to do. Nearly a year ago, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boldly declared, "I'm not saying that they're at the highest levels, but I believe that somewhere in this government are people who know where Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda is, where Mullah Omar and the leadership of the Afghan Taliban is, and we expect more co-operation to help us bring to justice, capture or kill those who attacked us on 9/11." Pakistan has long denied that bin Laden was on Pakistani territory. Notwithstanding these demurrals, Clinton was right.

The bin Laden imbroglio is clearly a further strain on already-troubled U.S.-Pakistan relations. American legislators and other officials have grown wary of continuing to provide military and civilian support to Pakistan given that the state continues to aid and abet an array of U.S. foes including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, whose operatives are responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans as well as the citizens of Afghanistan and NATO countries. Pakistan continues to aid and abet groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba. In light of this evidence, it is baffling that Clinton certified that Pakistan is cooperating to eliminate these groups and even cease state support of them, as required by the conditions on security assistance imposed by the Kerry-Lugar-Berman aid legislation. She made this certification on March 18, 2011. We now know that she did so even while U.S. intelligence agencies and the White House were gathering a picture of this important al-Qaeda safe-house sprawled out comfortably amidst Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies.

The American Congress and citizens alike want answers. Since 9/11, Pakistan has been allocated some $20 billion in U.S. assistance and lucrative military reimbursements to compensate Pakistan's for its costs incurred in supporting the global war on terror -- all the while supporting U.S. adversaries in that same war.

In the wake of this outrage -- which is merely the last in a series of concatenated outrages --  Congress is considering cutting off assistance to Pakistan. While these urges are understandable, this would be a strategic blunder for several reasons, and the United States should remain committed to Pakistan despite the obvious temptations to retreat and take its checkbook with it.

First, bin Laden is dead. The threat posed by al-Qaeda and other international and regional terrorist groups is not. The United States must resist all immediate impulses and remain stone-cold focused on the longer term goal of regional stability.

Second, Pakistanis are not the same as their government and they are not interchangeable with their military and intelligence agencies. Withdrawing aid from Pakistan would hurt Pakistanis more than the Pakistani Army.

Third, even if someone in the Pakistani government helped bin Laden remain in Pakistan undetected, it is highly unlikely that the civilian government was involved. Indeed, Pakistan's civilian governments have been long left out of national security affairs, whether domestic or foreign. Foreign policy is set by Army General Headquarters, not by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It would be a mistake to again punish Pakistan's civilians for the crimes of omission and commission by the security agencies that have done much to vitiate these same institutions.

Fourth, Pakistan remains at the core of U.S. national security interests. Its security competition with India is dangerous. The United States has not yet learned the limits of diplomacy: it cannot engage India strategically (namely, the provision of the civilian nuclear deal) without considering the negative impact on its engagement with Pakistan. After the U.S. civilian-nuclear deal, Pakistan has set its own nuclear machinery into overdrive. It now has the fastest growing arsenal in the world. Equally important, Pakistan will remain a locus of terrorist groups operating in and beyond the South Asia region for time to come.

Engage civilians, civilians, and more civilians

Engaging and investing in Pakistan's civilian government and citizens is paramount and should not be held hostage to the evolving bin Laden drama. Pakistanis have generally been fed anti-American rhetoric infused with a stylized history of bilateral ties and outright fictions. The U.S. diplomatic mission in Islamabad seems incapable of affecting this discourse. Yet, it must. While Pakistanis decry America as the perfidious "Great Satan," the simple fact is that the United States has done more for Pakistanis than any other country. Americans should be proud that U.S. development assistance has helped educational outcomes and improved maternal and child health, among other development successes, in Pakistan. These successes have not been as dramatic as some would hope, but they are still important.

It is also a fact that the policies of the United States in the Muslim world and the way it has engaged Pakistan in particular gives credence to these most unfavorable depictions of the United States. Pakistanis have genuine gripes about U.S. policies towards Israel and its treatment of Palestinians, U.S. relations with Middle East dictators and Gulf State autocratic monarchs, and wars to promote democracy while simultaneously bolstering Pakistan's string of military dictators at the expense of its parliamentary democratic moorings. These legitimate grouses coexist comfortably with the baseless conspiracies and distorted versions of U.S.-Pakistan bilateral history. The United States needs to address these facts and fictions forthrightly. It cannot do so from the comforts of Fortress America and by engaging only Pakistan's English media.

The only way to disprove Pakistanis' deepest doubts about U.S. commitment to Pakistanis and their democratic development is to remain focused on the goal of a democratic, civilian-governed Pakistan, however elusive and fraught that goal may be. That is the most likely -- albeit far from certain -- route to a Pakistan that is increasingly at peace with itself and its neighbors.

The United States must also learn to help Pakistan in ways that are more economically productive. Pakistan needs more trade, not more aid. Pakistan has long asked for access to U.S. textile markets and has long been denied. It is an absurd commentary upon U.S. legislative functioning that the interests of U.S. textile lobbies have trumped those of U.S. national security interests. Pakistan also needs technical support to improve its bureaucracy, to help its national and provincial assemblies do their jobs better, to enable civilian institutions to over time take a larger role in security governance, and to help Pakistan's dilapidated civilian security agencies become capable tof handling the threats its country faces.

President Obama has shown courage, sagacity, and resolution in his decision-making thus far. He needs to work assiduously to ensure that the United States maintain its resolve to stay engaged with Pakistan. To abandon Pakistan because of the flawed and dangerous choices of its military and intelligence agencies is to miss the point: the United States needs to help Pakistanis help themselves. This is not be driven by altruism. The security of the United States and its allies depends on it.

C. Christine Fair is an assistant professor at Georgetown University and the author of Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States.

We got Osama bin Laden with a crack team of Navy SEALs, but there are other ways of fighting terrorism, too. Using comic books to educate people in countries like Afghanistan, for example.

Last year, Selene Biffi, a self-described "serial social entrepreneur," was working as a UN consultant in Kabul. The local office of the UN Fund for Population Activities and the Afghan Ministry of Education wanted to produce a school textbook teaching kids the basics of health, agriculture, and natural disaster mitigation. But in a country with myriad ethnic divisions and a literacy level around 25 percent, communicating to a broad audience in print can be difficult.

So Biffi collaborated with a French artist who had lived in Afghanistan to produce comic books instead of traditional textbooks. As Biffi explains, "the comics had to be representative of the many Afghan ethnic groups yet favor none of them, culturally acceptable yet presenting accurate health information." The comics she produced for the UNFPA (a few pages are below) tell the story of a young wife who moves in with her husband and teaches people in his village about sanitary meal preparation and smart family planning, among other things.

Building on her experience in Afghanistan, Biffi recently founded Plain Ink, a nonprofit to create and distribute free, educational comics to children and communities in developing countries. In addition to continued work in Afghanistan, Plain Ink is also testing a comic about sanitation in Jalilpur, a rural village near Varanasi, India.

Here are a few pages from Biffi's comics for Afghanistan. She explains what they depict below.

Biffi explains:

The comics tell the story of two boys, Hakim and Rasoul, two boys from a rural village whose time for marrying has come.  Hakim marries Jamila, the neighbours’ daughter, who happens to be 15 and comes from a good, but traditional family. Unfortunately, Jamila’s sister had died some time before and Rasoul is left with no bride. Until one day, sitting on the edge of the village, he sees a group of girls passing by, and thinks he may have found the right one. The families get acquainted, and a marriage is contracted. Rasoul and Layla get married and she move to her husband’s village. People think she is weird, as her father sent her to school and she does things much differently from the rest, like washing hands before cooking and touching food, or planning to have a small family. When Hakim and Kamily get sick, it’s Layla that call a doctor and tends to them, convincing them that health is a serious thing and that they have to change their way of living. Seeing the improvements, the mullah praises their efforts and the whole village will follow in their footsteps.

The idea here was to talk about some basic ways to keep one’s healthy [sic] and shed some light on the importance of girl education and discouraging under-age marriages (very common all across the country, espeacially in rural areas) while being as respectful as possible.

John Michael Greer - Alternatives to Nihilism, Part Three: Remember Your Name

Look beyond the realm of partisan quarrels and the same deeply troubled conscience appears over and over again in American life. Consider, as one example out of many, the way that protecting children turned from a reasonable human concern to an obsessive-compulsive fixation. Raised under the frantic surveillance of helicopter moms, forbidden from playing outside or even visiting another child’s home except on the basis of a prearranged and parentally approved play date, a generation of American children were held hostage by a galaxy of parental terrors that have only the most distorted relationship to reality, but serve to distract attention from the fact that the lifestyles chosen by these same parents were condemning their children to a troubled and dangerous life in a depleted, polluted, and impoverished world.

The irony reached a dizzying intensity as tens of thousands of American parents rushed out to buy SUVs to transport their children to places every previous generation of American children proved perfectly capable of reaching by themselves on foot or on bike. It became the conventional wisdom, during the peak of the SUV craze, that the safety provided to young passengers by these massive rolling fortresses justified their purchase. No one wanted to deal with the fact that it was precisely the lifestyle exemplified by the SUV that was, and remains, the single most pressing threat to children’s long-term safety and welfare.

Tripoli witness: Rioting, fighting and dying for fuel

Tales of tension and gang-fights are common in Tripoli's long queues for fuel. One resident in the Libyan capital - who does not want his name to be used for security reasons - explains.

It has been an explosive week in Tripoli, both literally and figuratively.

Nato air strikes intensified after a quiet period.

Meanwhile, the fuel shortage, that state television channels deny exists, has hit an all-time high in the past eight days.

Fertiliser sector seeks gas diversion from power plants

ISLAMABAD: The fertiliser sector has offered the government that it will pay cost differential of running power plants on fuels other than gas, provided the government diverts 120 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas to fertiliser plants, as low availability of gas has not only reduced power generation by 800 megawatts, but is also becoming a reason for urea shortage.

Russian fuel shortage to impact Tajik harvests, ministry says

Tajikistan’s Agriculture Ministry on Friday issued a warning that fluctuations in the availability of Russian gas could impact harvests and have a negative impact on the country’s agribusiness sector.

“The sowing campaign was carried out in the country in good time, but acute fuel shortages may seriously affect land treatment that will tell on productivity and quality of agricultural crops, including cotton,” the Tajik news agency AsiaPlus.tj reported ministry spokesman Narzullo Dadaboyev as saying on Friday.

LPG's Aramco price hits record high at $ 980 per ton

KARACHI: The international price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has jumped by $ 96 to record high at $ 980 per ton for May 2011, raising its import price by Rs 9,043 to Rs 97,560 per ton, the highest ever in country's history.

Gasoline prices soar in Germany to new record high

Gasoline prices in Germany reached a record high of 1.62 euro per liter, a day after Russia raised export duties by 44 percent to ensure domestic supply. Earlier this week, oil companies reported huge profits.

Drivers in Germany about to return from Easter holidays will face a nasty shock as gasoline prices on Friday reached a record high of around 1.62 euros per liter ($2.41). That's even higher than the 2008 record of 1.59 euros per liter.

Mideast Oil Recovery Enters New Phase

DUBAI—It has always been an axiom of world energy markets that Persian Gulf oil is both easy and cheap to produce.

The crude that gushes from the scorching desert sands of Saudi Arabia is thought to cost less than $5 a barrel to produce, compared to the $70 price tag on raising a barrel from deep Atlantic waters.

But many of the Persian Gulf oilfields have been producing for decades, and a number of the newer fields in the region contain heavier and harder-to-extract crudes. Squeezing out the remaining reserves from some existing fields and developing new, more complicated ones will be costlier and will require more advanced technology, according to analysts and oilfield engineers.

Stuart Staniford: Chinese inflation and next recession musings

So, in 2007/2008 the sector that gave way was the American subprime consumer, along with a significant chunk of the financial system that was predicated on the idea that poor Americans could continue to take on more and more debt indefinitely. Instead, rising gas and food prices eventually destabilized the finances of that sector of consumers, they started to default, then their lenders started to default, financial contagion set in, and the situation was only stabilized with massive extraordinary interventions by sovereign governments. That worked, but left a lot of the sovereigns in significantly weaker condition than before.

Now poor Americans borrowing more and more to bid house prices higher and higher was always an unsustainable trend that was going to end in tears one way or another. But the timing was likely determined by the oil/food price shock that ended in 2008.

So now, just three years later, here we are again with oil and food prices rising fast, and the question in my mind is this: what part of the global fabric tears next? And when?

Shale Boom, Gas Demand to Make North America LNG Exports Reality

The increase in North American natural gas due to the shale gas boom and a projected increase in global gas demand mean that North America will become a liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter within the next few years.

PA State Senate Proposes Impact Fee on Gas Drilling

The ranking Republican in the state Senate today proposed an impact fee on Marcellus shale gas drilling, of which an estimated 60 percent would go to counties and municipalities with deep wells as well as townships and boroughs neighboring drilling production sites.

Pemex Output May Reach 3 Million Barrels in 2015-2017

Petroleos Mexicanos, the state-run oil company, may see production rise to 3 million barrels a day in the period from 2015 to 2017, Juan Jose Suarez Coppel, chief executive officer said today.

Pemex, as the company is known, will cut losses in its refinery business by about 8 billion pesos this year, Suarez Coppel said at an event in Mexico City.

What's wrong with China becoming Afghanistan's main patron?

We are hearing that Pakistan has urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai to turn away from the United States, and embrace China as his country's chief big-power patron. Is that a wacky idea? The answer is no. As we've observed with the flow of oil and natural gas from Central Asia, an active Big China serves U.S. and western interests when it comes to this particular region.

Deep Oil From Diamonds? Maybe, Says A New Report

According to a new computer model, liquid methane in contact with a partially hydrogen-terminated diamond surface at extremely high pressures and temperatures spontaneously forms longer hydrocarbons, and hence the material of crude oil could be formed deep in the earth.

Nigeria’s Ruling Party Keeps Majority in General Elections

(Bloomberg) -- Nigeria’s ruling party retained a majority in national legislative and state-governor elections that were called the cleanest in a decade in Africa’s top oil producer, according to partial results released by authorities.

ANALYSIS-China sharpens axe to cull "teapot" refiners

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state-owned oil companies can cover any shortages of refined fuel products under plans to shut small refiners known as "teapots" that make up 10 to 15 percent of the country's capacity, though fuel oil imports would fall sharply.

When is it time to say goodbye to a company?

Even if you do have hundreds of great people in the company, BP's culture is extremely problematic. Short of serious criminality, laws do not permit a government-led off-with-his-head approach applied to bad dictators. As for a market response, one might ask what type of incident would trigger a company-changing selloff. The type that forces a lopping off of the entire top of the company, and a true transformation of the culture. Or its acquisition by a more responsible rival.

A Spanish Island's Quest to Be the Greenest Place on Earth

At the moment, the project that will transform the future of El Hierro doesn't look like much more than a hole in the ground. Or two, to be exact: one on top of a mountain, another smaller one down below, and in between, a long stretch of pipeline tinted the same color as the scrub that grows so abundantly on this volcanic island. But when this innovative wind-power system goes online at the end of 2011, it will turn El Hierro, the easternmost of Spain's Canary Islands, into the first inhabited landmass in the world to become completely energy self-sufficient. And that's just the first step in a plan that may make the island the most sustainable place on Earth.

Bitching About an Unsustainable Lifestyle

My Facebook pal — who I won’t name out of courtesy and to save her possible embarrassment — recently urged her online followers to take part in a national Post-It Note campaign at the gas pump designed to show outrage at the spiraling prices that she had read about somewhere. In her words, “Every time I buy gas, I leave a sticky note on the gas pump which says, ‘How’s that Hope & Change working out for you?’ I encourage all of you to join me in my little adventure.”

If you can’t tell, my acquaintance is a conservative Republican and she’s blaming President Obama and his energy policies for the rising prices, and borrows a smart-ass barb from everyone’s favorite half-term governor, Sarah Palin.

(By the way, this acquaintance opposes Cincinnati’s proposed streetcar system and generally is against mass transit. Go figure.)

Obama renews call for ending oil subsidies

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama on Saturday said Congress should halt subsidizing oil companies to invest in the energy of the future.

"When oil companies are making huge profits and you're struggling at the pump, and we?re scouring the federal budget for spending we can afford to do without, these tax giveaways aren't right," Obama said in his weekly radio address.

"They aren't smart. And we need to end them," he added.

Pump prices rise 2 cents as supplies tighten

Gas pump prices across the country rose to within a dime of $4 a gallon Friday, as weather-related refinery outages tightened supplies and pushed prices up.

The national average increased 2 cents to nearly $3.91 a gallon for regular gasoline. It's the highest level since July 31, 2008, when pump prices were falling from a record $4.11 a gallon on July 17 of that year.

Drivers in nine states and the District of Columbia already pay $4 a gallon or more for gas. At the current rate of increase, the national average could reach $4 by May 8, Analysts expect it to start falling later in the month, as refineries return to full production and more gas becomes available.

Gas Prices: Californians Are Mad as Hell but Still Driving

The driver of a white Porsche zips into the Costco gas station in Marina del Rey, Calif., and takes his place in line. It's a Friday afternoon and all 16 of the pumps are taken. At $4.19 per gallon, prices there are among the least expensive on the west side of Los Angeles these days. The Porsche owner, Santa Monica attorney Matt Jones, ends up paying $56 to fill up — $15 more than it would have cost him a year ago, but $10 less than he could have spent last week at a more expensive station in Santa Monica.

End in sight for soft natural gas price as U.S. inventories, production falling

There may be an end in sight for soft natural gas prices that have plagued the industry over the last three years. A U.S. Energy Information Administration report released Thursday showed natural gas inventories this year are lower than expected and now sit at 20% below the fiveyear average.

Iran’s Revolutionary guard gets new gas project

TEHRAN — A consortium connected to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard has been awarded two giant gas development projects.

The semiofficial Mehr news agency quotes Mahdi Fakoor, a senior Oil Ministry official, saying that Khatam-ol-Anbia will develop Halgan and Sefid Baghoon gas fields in southern Iran.

How Syria and Libya Got to be Turkey's Headaches

With neighboring Syria in crisis, the Arab Spring has finally arrived on Turkey's doorstep — and with it, one big headache for a government that has spent recent years staking its political fortunes on the region.

Review of Carl Safina’s “A Sea in Flames,” a post-mortem on the BP oil spill.

Not since Rachel Carson wrote her sea trilogy — “Under the Sea-wind,” “The Sea Around Us” and “The Edge of the Sea” — has a conservationist written about marine ecosystems with the factual elegance of Carl Safina. His 1997 book “Song for the Blue Ocean” jarred readers about the tragic diminution of numerous fish species: bluefin tuna, white marlin, swordfish. All the great runs of these species, he warned, were lurching toward expiration. Safina, a marine biologist, has positioned himself as a protector of the seas, a man in communion with dolphins and whales. Other Safina books have dealt with leatherback turtles, Laysan albatross, shellfish stocks — any and everything that grapples with the health of the world’s oceans.

BP Accident Lives On in Ads

A book by Sinclair Lewis that was published in 1935 has been largely forgotten, except for its chilling title, “It Can’t Happen Here.” That idea provides the premise for a campaign for an advocacy organization that is tied to the one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill.

Plains' 200,000 bpd Alberta pipeline spills oil

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A 200,000 barrel per day oil pipeline belonging to a unit of Plains All American Pipeline LP ruptured on Friday, spilling hundreds of barrels of oil, regulators said.

Plains' Rainbow pipeline, which runs from Zama in northwest Alberta 770 kilometers (480 miles) south to Edmonton, sprung a leak at 7:30 a.m. local time.

"It's not a small leak," said Davis Sheremata, a spokesman for Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board, which regulates pipelines in the province. "It's a significant leak, in the hundreds of barrels."

Energy Information Agency Feels Budget Ax

The federal government’s ability to gather and analyze energy data and produce market forecasts will be significantly impaired by the recently enacted budget cuts, the administrator of the Energy Information Administration said.

Why China Could Prove to be the Better Place for EVs

This week Shai Agassi’s Better Place is realizing a long held dream of moving to a better place to realize electric vehicle battery swapping in lieu of fast charging for the electric car: Guangzhou, China. While Agassi’s electric vehicle battery swapping stations have already launched in far smaller nations: Agassi’s native Israel, and Denmark and Hawaii, it could well be that this launch in China will turn out to be the one that really gives lift-off to the Better Place battery swapping model for the electric car industry.

Peak Oil Aware Biologist John Janovy, Jr. Predicts Future Human Evolution

What Will Human Life Be Like in a Couple of Thousand Years?

Obviously there is no way to answer this question of the title for certain, but we can do a little thought experiment that might suggest some answers. Picture yourself in what is now Israel at the time of Jesus' crucifixion attempting to predict what human life would be like in the year 2010 and you will have a sense of the difficulty in making such predictions. ...

Regardless of specific predictions by various experts, many of whom have personal or political agendas, the historical record is fairly clear. That record tells us two things: (1) you cannot predict technological innovations and developments very accurately or very far in advance, and (2) deteriorating environmental conditions are probably the most important factor in the collapse of civilizations.

New Brazil Policies May Not Prevent Rising Ethanol Prices, Analyst Says

Brazil’s move to assume more authority over the country’s ethanol supply chain may not prevent a repeat of this month’s surge in prices for the renewable fuel, an analyst said.

Johnsonville plant shutdown fuels counties' job fears

TVA’s game-changing plan to shut down parts of its coal-burning power production fleet will mean cleaner air for Middle Tennessee and elsewhere, but it has left at least one community in shock.

Humphreys County, already dealing with an 11.6 percent unemployment rate, could lose as many as 270 jobs with the shuttering of the coal-fired boilers at the Johnsonville plant.

Radiation exposure levels near limit for 2 nuclear plant workers

TOKYO — As the nuclear crisis continues at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, two workers, who were previously hospitalized for possible radiation burns, turned out Saturday to have been exposed to radiation levels close to the limit of 250 millisieverts while seven women in affected areas were found with slightly contaminated breast milk.

IAEA to send team to inspect Fukushima plant in mid-May

VIENNA — The International Atomic Energy Agency plans to send a team to Japan in mid-May to inspect the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, IAEA sources said Friday.

Russia to Keep Nuclear-Energy Expansion Plan to ’Balance’ Mix, Putin Says

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia is keeping its plans to increase the share of nuclear power to have a “balanced” energy industry.

“We need to produce as many units, I mean big units, as in the entire Soviet period,” Putin said at a meeting with trade unions in Penza, central Russia, yesterday. “Our energy should be balanced; it should be based on several sources: nuclear, hydrocarbon, hydro power, wind, solar panels.”

Council for Renewable Energy demands a ban on Nuclear Energy

The World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) demands a global ban on new nuclear power, policies to phase out current plants - and a decisive, immediate move to a 100% renewable world.

The Top 10 Solar States

Here, courtesy of the Solar Energy Industries Association, is a Top 10 list for cumulative installed solar capacity in the United States as of 2010.

Philippines need not forego growth for environment, says World Bank exec

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Like other developing nations, the Philippines does not have to sacrifice growth to save the planet, according to the World Bank's special envoy on climate change.

Andrew Steer, who was on a two-day visit here earlier this week, said the Philippines, a relatively low emitter of greenhouse gases, was not obliged to enact climate-change policies if this would mean the loss of jobs and income.

Europe's top 300 firms get climate-ranked

LONDON (UPI) -- British insurer Aviva ranks the climate-friendliest of 300 large European companies but many companies don't do enough to bring down greenhouse gas emissions, a new study indicates.

Disaster Needed for U.S. to Act on Climate Change, Harvard’s Stavins Says

The U.S. probably won’t take significant steps to curb climate change until an environmental disaster sways public view and prompts political action, Robert Stavins of Harvard University said.

“It’s unlikely that the U.S. is going to take serious action on climate change until there are observable, dramatic events, almost catastrophic in nature, that drive public opinion and drive the political process in that direction,” Stavins, director of Harvard’s Environmental Economics Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said today in an interview in Bloomberg’s Boston office.

The threat within

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a shooting attack inside Afghanistan's Defense Ministry in Kabul earlier this morning, in which aman wearing an Afghan National Army uniform opened fire and killed two soldiers before being gunned down (AP, AFP, Pajhwok, WSJ, Post, NYT). A spokesman for the insurgent group said the targets were Afghan defense minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and the visiting French foreign minister, Gerard Longuet, who was not inside the ministry at the time. Six Afghan policemen were killed in a roadside bombing in Ghazni today (AP). On Saturday, another Taliban attacker wearing an Afghan military uniform detonated his explosives inside Forward Operating Base Gamberi, in the eastern Afghan province of Laghman, killed five American and up to seven Afghan soldiers (CNN, FT, Tel, AFP, McClatchy, NYT, AFP, Tolo, Post). Also Saturday, three NATO troops were killed in two separate bombing attacks in the south (AP, LAT). And an ongoing clash between Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami fighters in Maidan Wardak continued over the weekend (Pajhwok). [[BREAK]]

 

Military sources tell the Post that in the three "most insurgent-ridden districts" in southern Afghanistan -- Zhari, Arghandab, and Sangin -- "the Taliban is commencing a summer fighting season with less control and influence of territory in the south than it had the previous year" for the first time since the war began (Post). The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime predicted in a report released todaythat less opium will be cultivated in southern Afghanistan this year, though foresees a "strong increase" in cultivation in the north and northeast (AP, UNODC-pdf). 

 

The Afghan government and international donors spend barely $10 per person every year on health care, according to a new study released yesterday, and the other $31 per year spent on health comes from Afghans themselves (Reuters). 

 

Served with a grain of salt

 

An investigation by 60 Minutes aired last night calls into question the veracity of some claims made by Greg Mortenson, the best-selling author of Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, including whether he was kidnapped by the Taliban in the 1990s, the timing of his first visit to the remote Pakistani village of Korphe, andwhether he is personally benefiting from the millions of dollars that have been donated to his charity (CBS). One of the men who appears in a photograph of Mortenson with his alleged kidnappers is Mansur Khan Mahsud, the research director of a think tank in Islamabad and author of several research reports on militancy in Pakistan's tribal regions (NAF). Mahsud said his family treated Mortenson as an "honored guest" in Waziristan, and speculated that Mortenson wrote the kidnapping account "to sell his book" (CNN, CBS). Mortenson,who denied 60 Minutes' interview requests, offered a qualifier to the timing of his stay in Korphe, said he stands by the information in the books, and via a spokesman said he is suffering from hypoxia and heart problems (CNN, NYT, Bozeman Daily Chronicle). An extended response is available from Mortenson's foundation, the Central Asia Institute (CAI-pdf).

 

Special relationships

 

Afghan and Pakistani leaders agreed to upgrade the efforts of a joint peace commission initially set up in January following a visit by Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, spy chief Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha,and Army head Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to Kabul over the weekend (NYT, Reuters, BBC, APP, ET). Gen. Kayani also said earlier today that no more military operations will take place in Baluchistan without the permission of the provincial government, and announced that 5,000 Baluch recruits will join the Pakistani Army later this month (Dawn). 

 

The New York Times and AP analyze the current nadir in U.S.-Pakistani relations, and the NYT notes that American officials say that "the Americans have been coaxing the Afghan and Pakistani leadership to talk to each other, but not at the cost of keeping the United States out of the loop, or of concocting solutions that are against American interests" (NYT, AP). Dawn reports that the Pakistani federal government has decided to block NATO supply lines to Afghanistan on April 23 and 24, in keeping with a Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf plan to stage a protest against drone strikes in the tribal areas (Dawn). Bonus AfPak Channel read: Arif Jamal on U.S.-Pakisan relations.  

 

The bodies of eight young men were found in fields near the Pakistani town of Attock over the weekend, and authorities say terrorism was not involved (DT, AP). Some one million Pakistanis have been displaced by ongoing clashes between Pakistani military forces and militants in the country's northwest, and Lashkar-e-Islam leader Mangal Bagh has fled to Afghanistan according to the rival militant group Ansar-ul Islam (AP, ET). 

 

Just hope we can win a game

 

Afghanistan earned its first victory in the ongoing South Asian Association Regional Cooperation Baseball Cup yesterday after beating Nepal 19-11 (Pajhwok). The team had previously lost to Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 

 

Are arguments in favour of the French ban supported by any actual evidence, and what happens when we ban burqas anyway?

The secular republic of France has banned face veils, which means that anyone wearing the niqab or burqa in public there can be fined €150, or suffer the infinitely worse fate of being forced to endure lessons in French citizenship.

Much of the debate about this has focused on the moral aspects, but are the arguments in favour of French policy supported by any actual evidence, and what happens when we ban burqas anyway?

Wearing a burqa is apparently bad for your health, or at least that's what Wikipedia says, and to be honest the supporting evidence isn't massive. A nice summary of the negative health claims comes from a law student at the Washington College of Law whose unreferenced article "The Health Care Crisis Facing Women Under Taliban Rule in Afghanistan" (oddly one of the main sources for the Wikipedia article) makes the following claim:

Furthermore, the mandatory act of wearing burqas itself causes health risks. They are so heavy and enveloping that they restrict women's activities by making it difficult for them to move. The simple act of walking outside becomes hazardous because the mesh opening severely restricts women's field of vision and they are unable to see their path clearly. In addition, burqas are linked to hearing loss, skin problems, headaches, cardiac disorder, asthma, and also can contribute to mental health problems. PHR revealed that the Afghan women who participated in its study demonstrated alarmingly high levels of mental illness: 97% displayed symptoms of major depression, and 86% reported signs of anxiety. These problems are linked to the oppressive conditions imposed on women and are significantly aggravated by the constant stress of restrictions on their movement and confinement to burqas.

You can pretty much just scrawl "citation needed" in red pen across that lot, but if we merge it with other research reported by the media it all boils down to three main claims:

• Burqas dangerously restrict movement and vision.
• Burqas cause vitamin D deficiency (leading to various related issues)
• Burqa-wearing is linked to high rates of mental health issues.

The evidence for some of this is patchy. For example, both the Reuters and Wired articles linked to from Wikipedia to back up the Vitamin D claim are based on the same research, which doesn't actually test the claim but takes it as a given, and refers to 'conservatively-dressed' women, rather than any specific form of dress.

But to make things easy, let's assume all three claims are true. Burqas may restrict movement and vision - well trust me, so do corsets and high heels. Burqas cause Vitamin D deficiency due to the lack of sun exposure - well so does science blogging, or wearing a coat, hat and trousers, or being a fan of Twilight. At best, there may be a case for educating wearers about vitamin requirements so they can compensate for their lack of sunlight exposure.

As for the mental health issues, are they related to wearing a burqa, or are they related to the situations that burqa-wearing women may live in? As the author of the above quote admits, "these problems are linked to the oppressive conditions imposed on women." With the best will in the world, banning someone from wearing a burqa is not going to somehow fix their oppressive husband or improve their home environment.

Health isn't one of the serious justifications for this policy though. The main debate has focused around three areas: issues of security, the preservation of 'French values', and of course the oppression of women.

To put this in some sort of context, how many people are we actually talking about? Various media sources quote French government estimates suggesting that somewhere in the region of 2,000 women wear full veils. Other Muslims suggest the figure is lower, and both my attempts and the efforts of Full Fact to shed light on the question produced a rather semi-skimmed result:

Though the statistic apparently comes from French Interior Ministry data, the details on how it was calculated are a little thin on the ground. [...] ...this is because the report from which the figure originates by the Information Directorate of the Interior Ministry appears to be a confidential one, unavailable to members of the public [which] was leaked to French Newspaper Le Figaro.

According to the paper, the figure was arrived at after French police were asked to estimate the number of traditionalist Salafist Muslims present in the country based on the number of places at which they worship.

[...] Meanwhile, another leaked note produced by the the domestic intelligence department of the police suggested that there were just 367 women wearing the Burka in France, although in the article this is dismissed as "totally absurd" by [Judge Andre] Gerin.

2,000 is a private guesstimate then, not the reliable statistic it's been presented as by the media. My hunch is that the real number is probably lower, but for the sake of argument let's work with it for now.

Are 2,000 women in face veils enough to threaten the survival of 'French values'? As always, cultural conservatives are inadvertently the biggest critics of the heritage they seek to defend. Are their values so weak, their culture so feeble, that they cannot tolerate the unusual clothing choices of a few thousandths of one percent of the population?

That number might grow of course, but then if you have to pass laws to stop people from abandoning your way of life, well then maybe you're tackling a symptom rather than the cause.

What about the security argument? I've not seen any evidence of crime-waves orchestrated by burqa-wearing hoodlums, but anecdotally there have been some striking cases, such as the gunmen who raided a French bank last year:

Employees let the pair through the security double doors of the banking branch of a post office, believing them to be Muslim women. But once inside, the men flipped back their head coverings and pulled out a gun, officials said.

They seized 4,500 euros (£4,000) in cash, according to staff at the branch in Athis Mons, just south of Paris, and made their getaway.

Shocking indeed, but it's a pretty isolated anecdote. While predictably the escapade intensified calls for a ban in France, the problem with appeals to security is that they tend to fall back on the same, narrow examples. Banks, airports, schools... yes, these places need to be cautious about security, but that's an argument for de-veiling in those places, not an argument for a complete public ban. There are far greater dangers in my local cafe than face veils. Many of them are on the menu.

Arguably the most compelling argument is that the ban protects women from oppression. How many we don't know, because as we've seen there are no reliable statistics to tell us how many veil-wearers there are in the Republic, let alone what percentage of that handful do so of their own free volition. Apparently the Interior ministry claim at that around 25% of veil-wearers are recent converts from non-Muslim backgrounds, but that's from a Daily Mail copy of a Reuters infographic based on stats that apparently haven't don't exist in the public domain.

No doubt some of them will be subjected to abuse by their husbands or families. Meanwhile some who choose to wear the veil are subjected to abuse by members of the public, so-called "Burqa-Rage." How many fall into each camp is hard to pin down.

Not only do we have little idea of the existing situation, we also have next-to-no hope of understanding the impact of the ban (assuming it's enforced with enthusiasm, which at present seems fairly unlikely). Would oppressed women be liberated by vigorous application of the law, or would their husbands satisfy their religious sensibilities by simply keeping them indoors, or restricting them some other way?

The BBC quote government figures suggesting that a third of a million French women suffer violent attacks annually, with around 150 murdered. Against these statistics, the handful of women affect by this new law will be lost in the noise unless someone makes some effort to monitor what happens to them.

If these women were to disappear from view completely, then how would we ever know?

Photograph by Benjamin Lowy

Opportunity: After fleeing marriage to a Taliban husband, Samiya Amiri found work--and the beginning of a new life--as a renewable-power engineer. | Photograph by Benjamin Lowy

In Afghanistan, living off the grid isn't a tree hugger's dream -- it's reality. but a renewable-power startup called Sustainable Energy Services Afghanistan is lighting up Afghans' lives, with help from the sun and the wind.

ON A PLEASANT AUTUMN DAY, Shakibullah Hedayat Rustaqi and his colleagues began to prepare for their next job. They grew out their beards. They stopped showering a week before their start date. They chose their most raggedy clothes. "We had very dirty shawls that we turned into turbans," he recalls.

Their destination was Paktika, an Afghan province just over the border from Waziristan, the lawless Pakistani region that's said to be home to Taliban and Al Qaeda bases. Their mission: to install four windmills.

Rustaqi and his team could never have gone to the countryside dressed as they typically would for work at a Kabul-based renewable-power firm called Sustainable Energy Services Afghanistan (SESA); to bandits, who are as common on Afghan highways as rest stops are on American ones, engineers look like ATMs. "If anyone asks, 'Who are you?' we tell them we are laborers," says Rustaqi. "If they get engineers, they cut off their heads. You know the Taliban: stupid people."

Get in, get the windmills up and running, get out as quickly as possible -- that's the basic game plan for each job. This mission, in Taliban territory, did not go smoothly. Partway through the afternoon, gunfire exploded in the air, followed by sirens crying out through the hills. Suddenly, a convoy of Afghan National Army vehicles sped by the work site. As the sounds of a firefight grew around them, Rustaqi was tempted to seek shelter. "It was very dangerous!" he says. But he had two engineers 100 feet up a half-finished windmill. "We couldn't leave our friends up there. We just kept working."

Within an hour, the fighting had passed as quickly as it had started. Their job finished, the engineers descended.

"What did you see?" Rustaqi asked them anxiously.

They stared at him blankly. They hadn't heard the gunfire or the sirens or his shouts. A hundred feet above the valley floor, all they'd heard was the sound of the wind whooshing past.

IN THE WEST, LIVING OFF THE GRID MAY BE AN ASPIRATION FOR SOME bleeding-heart eco-warriors. In Afghanistan, it is reality. Eighty percent of the country does not have electricity. In the villages where SESA typically works, the only form of it that some residents regularly encounter is lightning.

Even if someone were to build a new major power plant, it would be largely useless because there is no national electrical grid, and given Afghanistan's devilish terrain, with the jagged skyscraping peaks and the gash-in-the-earth valleys, there never will be. "You just can't string power lines all over the country," says Ahmad Saboor Arya, an engineer at the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.

That makes Afghanistan the perfect place for small renewable-power installations with enough capacity to electrify a village. With unique coalitions of consumers and clients -- the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. military, which fund most of the construction; not-for-profits that often help secure local buy-in; tribal elders who welcome SESA teams into their communities and then oversee the completed power projects -- the company is gradually bringing power to one village after another.

[twistage 8bc6d5b8c12bb]

The U.S. and its NATO allies have plowed more than $56 billion into Afghan reconstruction and development. "We have to make sure we leave a sustainable solution," says British Major General Nick Carter, who, until November, commanded allied forces in southern Afghanistan. But a recent report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said that USAID and the Departments of State and Defense together were responsible for $17.7 billion in spending that they could not now account for. In that context, the $4.8 million that the U.S. has spent with SESA seems like a very good deal. That money has bought more than electricity; it has also created a surprising model of local development. "What our clients purchase is not solar power or wind power -- they actually don't give a shit about solar," says Tony Woods, the affable Kiwi-American who is the company's founder, CEO, and majority owner. "It's a means to an end -- to stability, to employment, to growth."

Woods is convinced that with some minor modifications to suit local cultures, his strategy will work across the world, in inhospitable business environments from Asia to South America. By going where most businesses would fear to tread, his company is creating jobs and boosting agricultural output. It is aiding improvements to health and education -- and showing there is money to be made in some of the world's unfriendliest nooks and crannies.

KABUL IS AFGHANISTAN'S BEST-LIT CITY. MOST OF THE CAPITAL'S electricity is imported from Uzbekistan, via a transmission line completed in 2009 with foreign-aid funding. What little power there is in the rest of the Texas-size country comes almost entirely from fume-spewing diesel generators, but Afghanistan has no significant domestic crude-oil supply, refining capability, or affordable diesel fuel.

Before 2001, under Taliban rule, "only Taliban houses and ministries in Kabul had electricity," says an engineer at the Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water, who asked not to be named because he did not have permission to speak. Even in homes that had once had power, "people passed five or six years in darkness." Electricity wasn't the only thing most Afghans lacked. In a 2003 survey by the National Solidarity Program, Afghans were asked what they would want the government to do with the approximately $200 per family in development funds available through foreign aid. Thirty percent said water and sanitation, another 30% said transportation, and 11% made electricity their top choice. "When you bring even small amounts of electricity to a rural area, income, literacy, and health generally advance," says Chris Flavin, president of the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C., research group that specializes in energy and the environment. "Understanding this link is key to improving the lives of the rural poor."

Helping the poor was never the primary goal for Woods, who came to the energy business -- and Afghanistan -- circuitously. Born in the U.S. but raised in New Zealand and trained as an engineer, he had noticed nonoperational micro hydropower generators while biking through Pakistan. (He was en route from South Africa to China.) After the trip, he put together a proposal for New Zealand Aid, the national development agency, and got hired as a consultant to return to Pakistan and fix them.

In 1999, he made his first visit to Afghanistan. One blue-sky day, he ran into a platoon of Taliban soldiers enjoying a picnic by a lake near Kabul. They were shooting ducks, and they directed a gun at him -- so that he could have a go at the ducks too. Maybe it was the weather or Woods's disarming Forrest Gump-like charm. "They were quite helpful," he says, recalling that they offered excellent driving directions and local knowledge, including tips on which roads were mined.

On that trip, Woods had an epiphany: Afghanistan seemed perfect for renewable energy. The northeast region has abundant water, the west has steady wind, and the south is blessed with strong sunshine. The only thing it did not have was someone who was willing to take on the challenge of harnessing those natural resources and turning them into locally distributed, grid-free sources of electricity. So in 2007, he moved to Kabul and founded SESA.

Kabul's dusty streets are full of expats -- aid workers, journalists, ex-military. If you didn't know them by their skin color, you'd know them by the hunger in their eyes. The prototypical Kabul foreigner is a former idealist now angling for an ever-bigger piece of the lucrative war-and-aid pie. Woods stands out from that crowd. In one of the world's hairiest countries -- a decade ago, an engineer who now works for Woods spent a week in jail for shaving his beard -- Woods never even sports a five-o'clock shadow. Amid the cynics, he is, even after four years in Afghanistan, endlessly optimistic about doing business in a poor, corruption-plagued land. "We're willing to do this where nobody else wants to go," he says. "We've always been about helping -- we grew out of the development field -- but we are unashamedly commercial."

Woods's company, which turned a profit in the fourth quarter of 2010, draws almost all its revenue from the American taxpayer; USAID and the U.S. military are his biggest clients. But they are not his end consumer -- the Afghan villager is -- and Woods views his operation as being as much about sales and marketing as it is about electrification. "We understand what our clients are actually buying," he says, explaining how he constantly switches between two languages: that of the people who pay for a facility and that of those who will use it. "The funder talks about employment and stability. But the villagers talk about TV and lights and refrigerators. We put as much, or often more, time and effort into nontechnical parts of a project. If the social, environmental, or economic sides fail, then the project will fail even if the engineering is done to a high standard."

The first priority on every job is to prep the territory. Woods and his team are often hired in disputed regions where the government is seeking to wrest influence from the Taliban, so it is important, as Woods puts it, "to call ahead." "The community must be involved at the earliest stage or else they will blame problems later on the lack of consultation," he says. "They must help along the way, providing security and labor. If the village wants us there, then they will protect us." SESA also requires that the village provide land for the installation, a tangible investment in the project.

Woods's team does the installation, which doesn't require much wiring since everything stays local, and the training. Communities must agree to collective ownership and co-op-style management for the installed system. Villagers pay for power -- "Otherwise, there's no revenue for service and support" -- and Woods recommends using prepaid electricity meters. The concept works because nearly all Afghans already know the prepay model from pay-as-you-go mobile-phone cards. It also avoids the dirty work of cutting anyone off for delinquency. In these tightly connected communities, "nobody wants to be the one to disconnect Auntie Maud," Woods says with a smirk.

Woods trains locals to do the maintenance, which creates one or two well-paid jobs. "Someone has to run it and maintain it," he says. The Soviets built hundreds of micro hydropower plants throughout the north of the country, but none of them work now because they weren't maintained. (SESA has $1.5 million in USAID contracts to help resuscitate some of them.) In the background of Taliban training videos, you can see arrays of solar cells. These systems need faithful maintenance of the type that only a committed organization -- say, a close-knit group of insurgents or a village -- can provide.

Woods brings a deft diplomatic touch to his work. Before launching a solar project in 2009 in the Gardez Province village of Sayed Karam, for instance, he rented a van to bring eight tribal elders to a meeting in Kabul. The men tumbled out of the van, all with long beards, black turbans, and scars from previous wars (one was missing an eye, another a finger). Over tea, nuts, and kebabs, they peppered Woods with questions and comments: Why should anyone have to pay for power? Even the mosque? Even the school? How does a meter work? Where does the equipment come from? Please don't send low-quality gear from China!

Woods patiently answered each question. "They're Taliban with a small t," he says later. "They'll tolerate some foreigners if there is something in it for them. They're traditional Pashtuns and mostly want to stay that way, but with satellite TV."

The appeal of his company's product has been helped by an unforeseen agricultural benefit. Because of the delicacy of some turbine components, they must be shipped to the installation site in 40-foot cold-storage containers that should then be shipped back out. Woods wondered, What if I left the container at the delivery site?

One of the Afghan agriculture industry's great limitations is the lack of refrigerated storage. Most produce can't make it to market before rotting. Also, each community tends to grow the same crops and harvest them all at once, pushing prices down and leaving surpluses to spoil. After SESA installs a turbine, it can hook up the leftover container to the new power supply, creating refrigeration that can extend a harvest's shelf life by up to two months. It has done this in two communities so far, and is bidding on a U.S. Marine-funded solar project, for Helmand Province, that would power cold storage for pomegranates.

THE WORK OF ELECTRIFICATION HAS GIVEN DIFFERENT KINDS OF new power to Woods's 25-person staff, including the freedom that a steady, middle-class salary brings. In a nation where there are few jobs outside the home available to women (even hotel housekeeping staffs are typically male), this is particularly true for the four women he employs -- and no other has a story like Samiya Amiri's.

A bubbly 27-year-old with warm, dark eyes and a fleeting smile, Amiri, just over a decade ago, was forced by her parents to marry. Her suitor was rising in the Taliban hierarchy. A top official in the Badakshan Province, he wanted Amiri as his second wife, and he offered her parents an irresistible dowry: their own lives. He pledged to kill them if they didn't let him wed her.

After the birth of her second child, Amiri says, she fled from her husband, taking her two children and living for a time in a women's shelter. She had missed high school because the Taliban eliminated schooling for girls, but the shelter had an adult-education program that included English tutoring. That's when Woods found her. "She showed technical competence but lacked confidence and field experience," he says. "She also has courage and tenacity. We needed both." So he hired her and spent another three years training her. Today, she manages an all-female team of technicians.

The office is an oasis for Amiri. After she left the shelter, she moved in with her parents, but they so despised the circumstances around her marriage that they would not allow the kids, now 7 and 9, to join her. She put them in an orphanage.

At times, Amiri speaks about her job with an air of wonder. "We're the only women installing solar in the field in Afghanistan," she says. "Out of 12 women who passed the exam in my engineering class, just 3 found work. The other 9 are at home." She is paid $450 a month -- more than the average Afghan earns in an entire year -- and now makes enough money to rent a room in a Kabul apartment. A few months ago, she reclaimed her children.

ON PAPER, IT SEEMS THAT SESA HAS THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM lives not only across Afghanistan but also around the world. Its small-scale, locally based model works. Its training regimens create skilled labor. Its technology is solid -- so much so that Lockheed Martin approached Woods for advice about a big solar system it's building on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

Yet there's one wild card Woods cannot always account for: human meddling. To understand this, you have to go 90 miles north of Kabul to Panjshir Province, where the flat of the valley floor greets the foothills of the Hindu Kush and the road up-country traces gorges carved by tumbling lime-green rivers fed by snowmelt. During the Cold War, guerrillas would descend from the cliffs to ambush Soviet convoys. Today, old Soviet military vehicles sit rusting on the roadsides. Kids use the upside-down ones as playground equipment, a testament to the ultimate futility of the Russians' Afghan adventures.

SESA has installed 19 systems in the Panjshir: 18 solar and one wind. The solar arrays power 18 health clinics, which previously relied on kerosene lamps and generators that ran only intermittently because of fuel prices. (Diesel costs about 20% more in Afghanistan than in the U.S.) Presently, the clinics have clean water, spirited to the surface by new solar-powered pumps. Several of them even have a steady supply of hot water, thanks to solar heaters installed by Woods's team. This setup has run flawlessly.

Then there is the wind system, paid for by the U.S. military and overseen by Panjshir Province technology director Muhamad Tahir, a former mujahid who seems bent on proving that one of Afghanistan's biggest problems is the tyranny of small-time officials. In his spacious, sunny office in the governor's compound in the provincial capital of Bazarak, you will find no computers, no TVs, no photocopiers -- just expensive plush carpets and seven sofas lining the bare walls.

Two years ago, Tahir says, he asked the U.S. military for turbines along the roaring Panjshir River; hydropower could generate more kilowatts per dollar of investment, he argued. Instead, the Americans plowed $1 million into 10 windmills, he says with irritation. (Some news stories proclaimed this Afghanistan's first wind farm, though one engineer describes it more as a "wind garden.") Tahir grudgingly admits the investment has paid a decent return. Prewindmill, the generator in his compound burned 600 liters of diesel a month. With wind, it burns just 200 -- a savings of nearly $5,000 per year. "It was expensive," he says, fingering his prayer beads. "Now it's wind, and wind is free from God."

Alas, wind power is not free from human interference. In recent months, Tahir has unplugged every building in the compound but his own from the wind-powered mini-grid. "No more AC, no more fridges," he declares. He claims he doesn't want people to be spoiled by the abundance of affordable power, even though so little of it is being used that nearly all the electricity generated by the windmills is being wasted.

The power struggle befuddles the keeper of the windmills. Kefa- yatullah Muhammadi, 22, was trained by SESA to maintain the wind farm, which sits high on a hill above Bazarak. There's usually little to do, so he reads the Qu'ran, as well as books on agriculture and, of course, electricity. From his vantage point, he identifies the army outpost, the finance department, the bureau of refugees, and, on a neighboring crag, the local TV station. His windmills once powered all four. All four went back to burning diesel.

This kind of internecine battle is the one thing that can crack Woods's optimism. "It probably has something to do with money and budgets... . Or maybe the television station said something [Tahir] didn't agree with," he says. "Who knows?"

Whatever the case, Woods wasn't having any of it. In November, he drove up from Kabul. He stopped by the TV station, which broadcasts six hours a day from a one-room converted shipping container. SESA had covered the cost of laying cable from the wind farm to the station. Woods's hope was that, with the reliable energy, it would be able to broadcast around the clock.

"I asked them why they used diesel," he says. "They were not sure why. But they agreed it was better to use wind. I told them to just not be so silly. I looked at the TV-station manager and the wind-power manager together and just said, 'Come on, guys. Jesus. Sort it out.' "

Then he walked over to the unplugged cable that once connected the windmills to the TV station. He picked it up, and he plugged it right back in.

A version of this article appears in the April 2011 issue of Fast Company.

If Nato treated all human life as of equal value when paying compensation it would change the face of the Afghan conflict

How many Afghan lives are worth one British life?

We shrink at that question. If forced to answer, some reply: "All human life is of infinite value." Others cite the Jewish teaching that if you put one human life on one side of a scale, and the rest of the world on the other side, the scale is balanced equally. Most just say that an Afghan life is worth the same as a British life, because all human lives are of equal value. Isn't that what we all believe?

The Ministry of Defence has been paying compensation to Afghans for accidentally killing their children, their brothers and sisters, or their parents, during the fighting in Afghanistan. Thanks to a freedom of information request from the Guardian, we know how much the MoD has paid families when a member has been killed. Here are some examples: daughter hit by shrapnel from air-strike and later died of injuries, $1,000; mother killed during bombing, $5,000; two brothers and two sons killed by hellfire missile strike, $32,000. The variation in the figures is not explained, but in no case was more than $8,000 (about £5,000), paid for the loss of a single life.

Now let's take a look at the value of a British life. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) assesses drugs and other medical treatments for cost-effectiveness and recommends whether they should be supplied on the National Health Service. Nice is commendably transparent. No freedom of information requests are needed. Just visit its website for a description of how it decides if a treatment is worth paying for. The key factual question is how much the treatment costs for each quality-adjusted life year, or QALY, gained. A QALY is one year of life of good quality, or its equivalent, which might be a longer period of life of lower quality. The website then tells you that while decisions are made on a case by case basis, "generally … if a treatment costs more than £20,000-30,000 per QALY, then it would not be considered cost effective".

Remember, that sum is per QALY, not per life saved. So if we take the bottom end of this range, Nice recommends that the NHS pay up to four times as much to extend the life of a British citizen by just one year, as the MoD is prepared to pay in compensation for killing a child or young person. That young person could – even allowing for Afghanistan's dismal life expectancy – expect to live another 40 reasonably good-quality years. That suggests an answer to the question with which I started: it takes about 4 x 40, or 160 Afghan lives, to be worth the same as one British life.

But that would not be the right answer, because £5,000 will buy much more in Afghanistan than it would buy in Britain – according to international price comparisons, perhaps four or five times as much. Let's say five times. Even with that adjustment, it is going to take 32 Afghan lives to be worth the same as one British life.

There is nothing unique about Britain in this respect. The Guardian has reported that the US generally pays no more than $2,500 in compensation for the loss of an Afghan life. In contrast, after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the US government set up a Victim Compensation Fund. The average payment it made to families of victims was $1.8m. Adjusting for purchasing power at a 5:1 ratio suggest that the US regards the life of an American as equivalent to the lives of 144 Afghans.

What would happen if the Nato forces really took seriously the idea of the equal value of all human life? They would then have to compensate Afghans for the civilian deaths and injuries they are causing at the same level as they would compensate their own citizens if, for example, a military exercise went wrong and killed people at home. That would serve three important purposes. First, it would demonstrate to the Afghans that the Nato forces truly respect them as equals. Second, the troops themselves might start to see Afghans as more like them, and have a new respect for the people they are trying to aid. Third, a dramatic increase in the costs of endangering the lives and limbs of civilians might foster a new restraint, because no military force wants to drain its own resources. The result would then be that fewer civilians would be killed – surely a very good thing, both for the civilians themselves, and for winning over the support of Afghans.

Illustrations by Wes Duvall

This holiday season, there's no better way to spread the joy than to give to charity in someone's honor. Here are 14 ideas, from $3 to $39,000.

Infographic: The Gift of Giving 

$3 for a student workbook in Darfur (Catholic Relief Services, crs.org)

$12 for 20 pounds of multipurpose soap (Oxfam, oxfamamerica.org)

$20 for supplies for a disaster/rescue mobile unit for needy animals (ASPCA, aspca.org)

$25 for a "No Mo' Chemo" Party to celebrate completion of one young patient's chemotherapy (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, stjude.org)

$50 for 50 trees to be planted in Brazil's Atlantic Forest (The Nature Conservancy, nature.org)

$75 for 200 dictionaries for students in Africa (Books for Africa, booksforafrica.org)

$100 for one month of art supplies for a preschool for Chinese orphans (Half the Sky, halfthesky.org)

$120 for a sheep for a needy family in a developing country (Heifer International, heifer.org)

$150 for one front door (Habitat for Humanity, habitat.org)

$500 for the safe delivery of a newborn in Guatemala (Project Concern International, projectconcern.org)

$600 for one teacher's annual salary at an Afghan or Pakistani school for girls (Central Asia Institute, ikat.org)

$1,000 for one month of housing and basic needs for a woman and her children escaping abuse in the U.S. (Global Giving, globalgiving.org)

$2,500 for an operation on one child with a congenital heart condition (Children's HeartLink, childrensheartlink.org)

$39,000 for a health clinic in Sierra Leone (World Vision, worldvision.org)

All charities featured have received three or four stars from Charity Navigator for organizational efficiency and capacity, except for Catholic Relief Services, which, as a religious ministry, does not file federal financial disclosures.

A version of this article appears in the December / January issue of Fast Company.

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SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY - TAJIKISTAN SCENESETTER FOR VISIT OF SRAP
HOLBROOKE
CLASSIFIED BY: NECIA QUAST, CDA, EXEC, DOS. REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 1. (C) Summary: U.S. interests in Tajikistan are a stable state on Afghanistan's northern border, support for our military efforts in Afghanistan, and for Tajikistan to be a stabilizing influence and contributor to economic development in the region. Tajikistan gives unrestricted over flight rights, and quickly agreed to NDN ground transit. In the medium term, it could play a more active role in regional development, because of its huge hydropower potential, relative (to Afghanistan) stability, and religiously moderate population. But to do so Tajikistan must overcome multiple political and economic problems which stymie its own development: poverty, bad relations with Uzbekistan, intense corruption, Soviet-era economic structures and planning, an undemocratic political system, chronic food insecurity, and dependence on migrant labor in Russia.

2. (C) U.S. assistance has shown mixed results in the development sphere. Recent steps to improve the business climate have been offset by the government's campaign to force its citizens to contribute to the construction of the Roghun hydroelectric dam. The government is not willing to reform its political process. Our security cooperation shows some promise. Regardless of our efforts, there is a limit to what Tajikistan can offer: it produces very little, is poor, and its government has minimal capacity. The Tajiks have some unrealistic ideas about what we can offer them -- mainly large infrastructure projects including questionable power plants, tunnels to Pakistan, and bridges to nowhere. There is some truth to the quip that Tajikistan's real contribution to our efforts in Afghanistan is to be stable, and to allow unfettered over flight and transit to our forces - which the Tajiks have done unfailingly. We try to promote Tajik polices which will ensure continued stability. End summary.

A DIFFICULT NEIGHBORHOOD

3. (C) Some of Tajikistan's difficulties are geographic. Chronic problems with Uzbekistan, fueled by personal animosity between the presidents of each country, has stymied Tajikistan's trade, energy self-sufficiency, and economic development. Afghan instability is a malign influence: traffic in drugs undermines rule of law in Tajikistan, Tajiks fear the spread of extremist ideas from Afghanistan, and militants in Afghanistan can threaten Tajik security across the long, porous border. Russian interference looms large in the Tajik consciousness. The Russians control one major hydropower dam in Tajikistan, a source of disagreements between the two countries. The Tajiks seek alternative partners, including the United States, China, and Iran, to balance Russian influence. China is a major infrastructure donor, with over $1 billion in low-interest loans to Tajikistan to build roads and power line projects. Iran funds tunnel and hydropower projects, but displays of Persian solidarity do not mask deep suspicions between the hard-drinking, Soviet-reared, Sunni elite in Dushanbe and religiously conservative Shiites in Tehran.

4. (C) The Tajik government presses us for greater benefits in return for support on Afghanistan. The Tajiks think Uzbekistan is keeping all NDN-related business for itself; they want more traffic to transit Tajikistan, more infrastructure to support that traffic, and the United States to purchase Tajik goods for forces in Afghanistan. We currently purchase small amounts of Tajik bottled water for ISAF. They have indicated they would be happy for the U.S. establish an air base in Tajikistan. They see U.S. involvement in the region as a bulwark against Afghan instability, and as a cash cow they want a piece of.

FEAR OF INTERNAL RIVALS, MILITANTS, AND RUSSIA

5. (C) The Tajik civil war ended in 1997 with a power sharing arrangement between President Rahmon's government and the leaders of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO). Since the end of

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the war, Rahmon gradually has reneged on this deal and forced nearly all oppositionists out of government -- some are in prison, some left the country, and others died mysteriously. In May 2009 an armed group led by a former UTO figure, Mullah Abdullo Rahimov, returned to Tajikistan from Afghanistan, reportedly with several foreign fighters. Tajik security forces neutralized this group without outside assistance. They have told us U.S. training enabled their security forces to win, and they are eager for more training.

6. (C) Russian-Tajik relations have deteriorated. Tajik officials believe the Russians supported Mullah Abdullo's group, to signal Tajikistan that they need Russian protection. The two governments could not agree on the terms of Russian involvement in the Roghun Dam, and they have other differences. In October 2009 the President downgraded the formal status of the Russian language in Tajikistan. His government broached charging Russia rent for its military bases in Tajikistan. In 2009 the Russian-controlled Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric plant cut production when the government of Tajikistan's failed to pay its bills on time.

ECONOMIC DIFFICULTIES

7. (C) Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet republics. It is more mountainous than Afghanistan, with earthquakes, floods, droughts, locusts and extreme weather. Parts of the country are often cut off by snow and avalanches. External links pass through obstructive Uzbekistan, unstable Afghanistan, or over the rough, remote Pamir passes to western China. Its only industrial products are aluminum and hydroelectricity. The Tajik Aluminum Company (Talco) accounts for most of Tajikistan's exports. Though it is technically state-owned, most of its revenues end up in a secretive offshore company controlled by the President, and the state budget sees little of the income. Talco consumes up to half of Tajikistan's electricity, contributing to major seasonal shortages and suffering.

8. (C) President Rahmon's response to Tajikistan's chronic energy insecurity was in late 2009 to launch a massive campaign to fund and build the Roghun Hydroelectric Plant. Roghun would be the highest dam in the world, and double Tajikistan's electricity generation capacity. The government's fundraising efforts, however, have drawn serious concern from international donors. Individuals and organizations across all walks of life have been coerced into buying shares in the project. Many people have been told they will lose their jobs unless they contribute an amount equal to many months' salary. While the government claims all share sales are voluntary, there is ample evidence that officials are forcing the population to cough up funds. Apart from the human rights question, donors are concerned that the nearly $200 million in funds raised so far will not be accounted for and spent transparently. Considering Talco's share of electricity consumption, the Roghun campaign looks like a means to ensure Talco's continued profitability.

9. (C) Tajikistan's economy suffers from the global recession through major drops in exports, imports, and remittances from a million Tajiks working in Russia. The money they sent home was equal to over 50% of GDP in 2008, and literally keeps rural communities alive. Remittances dropped 34% in 2009. The greatest obstacle to improving the economy is resistance to reform. From the President down to the policeman on the street, government is characterized by cronyism and corruption. Rahmon and his family control the country's major businesses, including the largest bank, and they play hardball to protect their business interests, no matter the cost to the economy writ large. As one foreign ambassador summed up, President Rahmon prefers to control 90% of a ten-dollar pie rather than 30% of a hundred-dollar pie.

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ELECTIONS ARE COMING, BUT DEMOCRACY ISN'T

10. (C) The government has limited opposition party operations and rejected electoral law reforms for the February 28, 2010 parliamentary elections. The Embassy does not expect the elections to be free and fair. There has been almost no coverage of opposition political parties by state media, and most of the population is unaware of the purpose of the elections. Parliamentary opposition is weak -- only 15 of the 62 members are not in the ruling party, and some of these are independent in name only. The most prominent opposition party, the Islamic Renewal Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), has two seats in the outgoing parliament. IRPT leadership has supported the government on most issues and downplays the importance of Islam in the party's platform. Parliament acts as a rubber stamp.

11. (SBU) In 2009 Parliament passed a restrictive new law on religion, curbing the activities of religious groups, Islamic or otherwise. Our advice that this could radicalize many believers has fallen on deaf ears. Last year, the government arrested dozens of individuals, accusing them of membership in the banned "Salafiya" movement, but it has no evidence that there is an organized Salafiya movement. It also arrested 92 members of the Muslim fundamentalist missionary group, Jamaati Tabligh. Most mainstream Muslim religious leaders view the Tabligh members as harmless missionaries and have called for their release.

12. (SBU) Independent media is reeling after government officials recently filed lawsuits against five newspapers for reporting on public government reports and statements in open court which were critical of judges and government ministries. The newspapers will be forced to close if the lawsuits succeed. We and European partners have protested the lawsuits.

DIFFICULT RELATIONS WITH DONORS

13. (SBU) In 2007 Tajikistan's National Bank admitted it had hidden a billion dollars in loans and guarantees to politically-connected cotton investors (of which $600 million was never repaid), violating its IMF program. The IMF demanded early repayment of some debt, an audit of the National Bank, and other reforms before renewing assistance. In May 2009 the IMF voted to lend a further $116 million to Tajikistan to help it through the next three years; the U.S. was the only IMF member to vote against this, which infuriated the Tajik government. The IMF has so far disbursed $40 million. A team from Washington was recently in Dushanbe to assess government progress, establish new benchmarks for the next tranche of funds, and assess the impact of Roghun fundraising. The team's assessment should be available soon. Donors are concerned that the campaign to finance Roghun is exacerbating severe poverty, and violates the terms of the IMF's assistance. It raises questions about the government's frequent appeals to donors for financial aid and its willingness to enact economic reforms as a condition of that aid. Donors have expressed their concerns formally to the government and await a response. Donors are pushing regional energy market integration and the construction of power lines that will allow Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to sell surplus summer electricity output to Afghanistan and Pakistan. A 220 kW line from Tajikistan to Afghanistan is under construction with Asian Development Bank financing, and will be finished in late 2010. The larger CASA-1000 power line project to link to Afghanistan and Pakistan has been delayed by financing problems.

U.S. ASSISTANCE

14. (U) U.S. assistance to Tajikistan will grow significantly to $45.3 million in FY 2010, from $27.8 million in FY 2009. The

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new money will go to agriculture, trade, and private sector initiatives to compensate for the loss of the much-needed food security programs. Until FY 2008 Tajikistan had a multi-year food aid program that had significant results reducing food insecurity in some of Tajikistan's most at-risk regions, followed by similar single-year programs in FY 2009 and 2010. A new Food Security Initiative is in development, but it remains unclear whether Tajikistan will receive any of those funds. New programs also will address chronic energy shortages by building a regional energy market and helping the Central Asian states address water and power issues. Tajikistan was awarded $9.9 million in FY 2008 1207 funds to address stability issues. The major threats to stability arise from the Tajikistan's poverty -- the World Bank estimates over 60% of the population lives below the poverty line -- and the government's demonstrated inability to respond to emergencies. The 1207 project works in 50 isolated communities in the Rasht and Fergana valleys, and along the Afghan frontier. Health and education deficiencies are so acute they imperil our progress in other areas. Our programs work to improve health policies, systems and services, teacher training, education finance, national curriculum, student assessment, and school governance.

SECURITY COOPERATION

15. (C) Security Cooperation remains a strong point in our relationship with Tajikistan. The Ministry of Defense volunteered last year for the first time to host CENTCOM's Exercise Regional Cooperation, including Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, which concluded August 10. CENTCOM and the Tajik Armed Forces held Consultative Staff Talks in May and established the FY 2010 Security Cooperation Plan, which reflects Tajikistan's increased interest in demining and participation in the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI). The U.S. Army Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Office will provide Tajikistan a mechanical demining machine for field evaluation in FY 2010 with a planned FMF purchase in FY 2011. Tajikistan reconfirmed its commitment to deploy a company-sized peacekeeping unit in 2011. Training begins this month with a National Policy White Paper Workshop that will help shape development in the Ministry of Defense and their Mobile Forces. A General Staff level workshop and actual unit training will take place next year.

16. (C) The Nizhny Pyanj Bridge and Point of Entry facilities have improved the links between Tajikistan and Afghanistan significantly. Though the bridge is not being used to its fullest capacity, traffic is much heavier than the old ferry system, and continues to grow. Counts vary between 40 and 200 containers and transport trucks per day. CENTCOM 2010funding at this facility will improve lighting, fences, and cameras, and parking areas. Tajikistan is eager to see us make greater use of our agreement on transit of non-lethal goods to Afghanistan through the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), and hopes for economic benefits to Tajikistan from this agreement. So far we have low rate truck traffic from Manas through Tajikistan to Bagram. Defense Logistics Agency is arranging to buy bottled water from a Tajik producer for forces in Afghanistan. The Tajiks are looking for any way to circumvent Uzbekistan's stranglehold on their trade.

US SOF ENGAGEMENT

17. (S) The U.S. Embassy plans to continue to build the capacity and capability of select Tajikistan security forces, in support of CENTCOM Joint Interagency Coordination Group for Counter Narcotics (JIACG-CN), and U.S. government strategic themes, goals and objectives for Tajikistan. Once SOCCENT forces have done an assessment and started organizing these groups into special units, the main goal is to sustain an increase in capabilities by U.S. Special Forces Joint Combined Exercise and Training (JCET) and Counter-narcotic training (CNT) missions.

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NARCOTICS

18. (C) Tajikistan is a major transit route for Afghan heroin going to Russia and Europe. According to UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates, 40 tons of Afghan opiates enter Russia each year via Tajikistan. Less than 5% is seized before reaching Russia. Capabilities of Tajik law enforcement agencies are severely limited. Corruption is a major problem. Law enforcement agencies are reluctant to target well-connected traffickers, but are effective against low- and mid-level traffickers. The Drug Control Agency (DCA) is a ten-year-old, 400-officer agency developed through a UNODC project. Many countries are donors, but an INL-funded salary supplement program provides the primary funding. DCA's liaison officers in Taloquan in northern Afghanistan were key to seizures totaling over 100 kilos of heroin in the last four months. U.S Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents work with DCA to deepen operations.

19. (SBU) Until 2005, the Russians guarded the Tajik/Afghan border; after the Russians departed, the outposts were broken down lean-tos, unfit for human habitation. The Tajik Border Guard force is staffed largely by conscripts who are poorly trained, poorly paid, underequipped and often under-fed. INL rebuilt border posts, giving the Border Guards suitable and safe places to live, creating conditions for successful border patrol operations. Each new outpost costs about $500,000 and houses more than 100 guards. The outposts use low-maintenance energy-efficient prefab construction and alternative energy, including solar, wind and micro-hydro power. We are planning a pilot project of joint Tajik/Afghan border guard training in Khorog. If successful, it will be part of the regular training of guards assigned to the Afghan/Tajik border. We are exploring offering a popular Emergency First Responder course to a joint class of Tajik and Afghan border guards. INL has rebuilt the Tajik Border Guard academy. A U.S. Border Patrol team plans to visit to discuss and demonstrate patrolling techniques at the Academy and in the field; this might lead to an exchange of instructors.

20. (C) CENTCOM's Counter Narcotics program is making strong contributions to Tajikistan's security. This year, $16.9 million in funding, recently approved in the Supplemental Bill, will support construction of an interagency National Training Center, infrastructure at the Nizhny Pyanj Point of Entry, and communications equipment. The Training Center will be a multi-use facility for all ministries and serve as a venue for SOCCENT's bi-annual Counter Narco-Terrorism training. A recent end-use monitoring visit demonstrated the Tajiks are using previously provided communications equipment and maintaining the equipment. This year, we will begin establishing an interagency communications architecture at Nizhny Pyanj and the adjoining district. This will allow five government agencies to communicate using a compatible system. QUAST

“The Ministry of Public Health of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan presented its newly revised

Aid groups also lambast Mark Sedwill for claiming children are safer growing up in Afghanistan's major cities than in Glasgow

Nato's top diplomat in Kabul came under attack from aid groups as well as young Afghans after claiming that children are safer growing up in Afghanistan's cities than in London, Glasgow or New York .

Oxfam said Mark Sedwill, who is Nato's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan and also served as British ambassador in Kabul, should "get out more" to see the reality of a country that in terms of health, education and violence bumps along the bottom of most international charts.

"I would encourage him to get out into Kabul more and visit schools and some of the street children in Kabul and ask them what they think, because his comments are very much out of line with what children and their parents feel are the dangers in Afghanistan," said Ashley Jackson, the head of policy for Oxfam in Afghanistan.

Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children, said Afghanistan is "the worst place on earth to be a child", pointing out that one in four children die before they reach five years old.

During an interview for the Children's BBC programme Newsround, Sedwill said there were "very few bombs" in Kabul and other main cities.

"The children are probably safer here than they would be in London, New York or Glasgow or many other cities," he said. "It's a very family-orientated society, so it is a little bit like a city of villages."

But various surveys paint a much grimmer picture. Watchlist, a consortium of human rights groups and UN agencies, found 200,000 had been injured or maimed by conflict since 2001.

Even though the cities are less affected by Taliban violence than rural areas in Afghanistan's south and east, Jackson said a recent survey of children living in large cities by the ministry of public health showed that a quarter showed signs of psychological disorders and trauma. But nowhere was reaction to the diplomat's remarks more stunned than among the children who beg and sell trinkets outside Sedwill's own office, the headquarters of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

Like half of all Afghan children, they are not in school, spending their time trying to make a bit of extra money for their families instead.

Last August, the street was hit by a huge suicide car bomb blast at the gate where teams of street children harass passersby for cash.

An 18-year-old was killed, and several of the children were injured.

Khursheed Zaman, 13, selling scarves near where the bomb went off, was blown off her feet and hit her head. She was taken to hospital for a couple of days and sent home with some pills.

"I've never felt the same again," she said. "I still feel dizzy and sick sometimes, but I have to come here to sell the scarves."

Sedwill said that his comment to the BBC "wasn't very well put" and that his comparison with western cities "distracted attention from the important point I was seeking to make", about the uneven level of violence across Afghanistan.

"Half the insurgent violence takes place in 10 of the 365 districts, and, in those places, children are too often the victims of [improvised explosive devices] IEDs and other dangers," he said.

"But, in cities like Kabul where security has improved, the total levels of violence, including criminal violence, are comparable to those which many western children would experience."

He said the lack of clean water, the open sewers, malnutrition and disease were a greater risk to children than the insurgency.

The Afghan capital has indeed been largely spared spectacular Taliban attacks in recent months, although by international standards it is still regularly rocked by violence, including, as in August, complex attacks by groups of suicide bombers against buildings.

Sedwill's remarks were uncharacteristically ham-fisted from a diplomat who prides himself on his communication skills when dealing with the international media.

"He is generally seen as a safe pair of hands, but after something like this, you get to the point where you think: you know what - maybe it isn't a good idea for him to do that interview or go to this meeting," a western official said.

Sedwill, who has served as private secretary to Robin Cook and Jack Straw and held senior positions in the Cairo embassy and Islamabad high commission, has made no secret of his desire to gain one of the top Foreign Office jobs, including ambassador in Washington. But last week he angered his Nato bosses when he gave journalists in Kabul a frank assessment of the alliance's attempt to transfer control of the country to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014.

He said that even after 2014 it was likely that some areas of the country would be afflicted by "eye-watering" levels of violence and that there was no guarantee the deadline for withdrawal of troops would be met.

His analysis contrasted with that of the Nato secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who at an international summit in Lisbon days later insisted that the deadline would be met.

Along with troops, the UK is pouring aid into Afghanistan. But is it working? Jonathan Steele gets a first hand view of life inside Helmand province

Imagine a two-mile journey from Britain's military HQ in Helmand to the shooting range where Afghan police train under UK supervision. Lashkar Gah, Helmand's provincial capital, has hosted British troops for more than four years, so you might think the trip would be an easy commute.

Think again. Wedged into flak jackets with helmets at the ready, Guardian photographer Sean Smith and I sit in the front vehicle of a three-car convoy of armour-plated land cruisers with darkened windows driven by weapon-carrying security guards. The armoured glass in the front passenger's window sports an ominous perforated crack like a star burst. "I see you've taken at least one bullet," I comment after one of the guards finishes briefing us on how to operate the two-way radio in case he and his colleague are incapacitated.

"Actually, it was just a stone," he replies. "Small boys throw them. They take time to aim, so it's better to be in the lead vehicle. You usually get past before they're ready." As we set off on our 10-minute trip he picks up his handset to launch into a running commentary of potential threats for the benefit of the cars behind. "Static tuctuc [three-wheeler] on right. White Toyota, no licence plate, approaching from side road. Multiple pax [passengers]. Tuctuc on left, has eyes on us. No pax . . ."

It's our first morning in Lashkar Gah and I wasn't expecting this. Yes, the 18-minute helicopter ride from the huge transit airfield at Camp Bastion in northern Helmand had ended with swerves and tilts at little more than 15m (50ft) above Afghan family compounds before we reached Lashkar Gah. But I had thought the town itself might be safe.

We reach the shooting range. In light blue, knee-length coats and trousers, the women police look very smart, but what is most striking is the head gear – scarves covering the chin as well as the hair, and wraparound reflective sunglasses, giving them a totally anonymous, ninja-like appearance.

Piles of folded-up burqas lie on the bench beside them where we enjoy soft drinks before they take up the new pistols two British police trainers have brought. "Lashkar Gah has 16 policewomen but only three are willing to wear their uniforms to work," Roshan Zakia, the senior officer, explains. The Taliban sometimes attack people seen as collaborating with the government of Hamid Karzai and foreign forces.

Zakia is one of those who does not hide her job. Three men came to her door recently and beat her up until neighbours saved her. It was not the only case of intimidation we were to hear during our 10-day stay in Helmand.

But it is not easy to report my impressions of Helmand's challenges. I was invited by our own Department for International Development (DFID), but everything I write has to be submitted to the Ministry of Defence and cleared for publication. Britain is trying to bring good governance to the people of Afghanistan, among which I thought was respect for press freedom. But no journalist can travel with the British in Helmand if he or she has not given signed agreement to an annex to the MoD "Green Book" which sets out the procedures for coverage, including the requirement for pre-publication approval of all text, audio, and pictures. A soldier even sits in on my interviews. No wonder American journalists decline to report on the British in Helmand. Their own government makes no such demands of the embedded press. Astonishingly, I learn the Newspaper Publishers Association, the National Union of Journalists, the Society of Editors and the BBC were consulted in producing the Green Book.

A policy that aims to bring services to ordinary people within weeks of the military's advances

Huge insecurity, the persistence of the Taliban and British defensiveness about the story they want the media to tell accompany us throughout our time in Helmand.

The last was strange, given that both the British and Americans can point to progress. Their counter-insurgency strategy of "shape, clear, hold, build, and transfer" aims to bring services to ordinary people within weeks, if not days of the military's advances. Before troops go into an area, the plan is to have a "district delivery package" geared up and ready to follow. Install a district governor and key officials, set up a community council, offer cash-for-work programmes, open health clinics and schools, appoint officials to handle local disputes and get police, judges and prosecutors in place to deal with crime.

Eleven of Helmand's 14 districts now have a governor and some officials, compared with only five two years ago. Schools have reopened with almost 80,000 children enrolled today, virtually double the number of 2007. Police are being trained at the rate of 150 new recruits every month.

British and US forces are trying to pave the way for economic development by removing IEDs, patrolling the main roads and making it possible for bazaars to reopen and commerce to revive. DFID is funding a programme to give farmers wheat seed to replace poppy production. Loans are going to small businesses.

The schemes are supervised by the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Lashkar Gah, a mixed civilian and military enterprise. The US now has more troops in Helmand than Britain, but the PRT is still a UK-run affair of some 150 people, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the MoD, and DFID all represented. The number includes a growing presence of US civilians, plus some from Denmark.

They live inside a heavily fortified compound of watchtowers, tents and air-conditioned trailers that also houses Task Force Helmand, the UK military headquarters. Overland travel for civilians is confined to armed convoys of the kind that took us to the police shooting range. Travel to any of Helmand's district centres is by helicopter only.

Claims that UK and US forces – and through them the Afghan government – now control most of Helmand are exaggerated. Until you visit the area, it is hard to envisage that their presence is actually confined to a few towns in this rural province. They sit in a series of security bubbles labelled "main bases", "forward operating bases" and "patrol bases", each of diminishing size, with the patrol bases home to anything from a dozen to 100 troops. The latest tactic is to set up "line of sight" checkpoints, mainly manned by Afghan police, on the roads between towns so that travellers are always watched. Local government offices are also located in guarded compounds where, for safety reasons, officials often live as well as work.

PRT officials and military spokesmen use various phrases to define success. The government has "extended its reach", or "can now exert influence" or "has a presence" in this or that new district. Every press release makes the same point. The unspoken assumptions are that they are playing a zero-sum game and territory won from the Taliban is territory denied to them. But this is asymmetric warfare and those Taliban – the majority – who are local farmers usually disperse before major operations begin. They pursue the struggle by other means: IEDs and rifle fire from ambush positions; intimidating government officials with assassinations; and "night letters" warning them of the risk of working with foreigners, just as the mujahideen did when Soviet troops were in Helmand 30 years ago.

The latest resistance pinprick seems to be the stoning of Afghan government and foreign vehicles. One day I sat in on an hour-long "Pashtu for Beginners" class for British troops. Offering language tips is an intelligent move and attendance was impressive. On a blisteringly hot afternoon almost 15 young men turned up, perhaps aided by the fact that their instructor, a fellow soldier in combat fatigues, was a pretty blonde. After we had rehearsed several standard phrases – How are you?, I'm not an enemy, I'm a British soldier – one squaddie asked: "What's the Pashtu for 'Stop throwing stones at us'?"

We had a more graphic illustration of the point on a visit to a girls' high school in Lashkar Gah. The school also teaches boys up to the age of 12. Dozens were racing round as our armoured convoy parked under the playground's only trees beyond a sign saying that USAID had helped to rebuild the school. Twenty minutes into my interview with the deputy head, a security guard came in and warned us that we might have to leave soon. Boys were starting to stone the land cruisers. He rushed back five minutes later and ordered us to don our helmets and run to the cars, which the guards had managed to move closer to the building. We beat a hasty retreat while the kids carried on stoning as the convoy moved off.

The stoning may have been spontaneous, but a source told us the widespread scale of it was new and appeared to be a tactic organised by the Taliban. On the local radio stations that they have set up, the British and Americans put out messages urging Afghans not to let their children help the Taliban.

Most Helmandis live in the province's fertile central area along the Helmand river and the adjacent irrigation canals. Expatriates call it the "green zone" because of the stark contrast with the khaki desert. But the name is also a reminder of Baghdad's Green Zone, where many of them did earlier service. The hallmarks of foreigners' lives in both places are insecurity and isolation from ordinary people.

Talking to Helmandis in the green zone's villages is as impossible for embedded journalists as it is for PRT officials and UK troops. But we asked to meet Afghan NGOs, though we knew conversation would be limited while a soldier sat beside us. The request ran into problems. "They won't come to the PRT and they don't want to have vehicles from the PRT coming to their offices," we were told.

The PRT's Afghan interpreters live in the compound and even they are afraid to go into Lashkar Gah when off duty in case of reprisals. They come mainly from Kabul, and on the job some wear baseball caps and scarves round their faces to avoid identification.

A survey found that the government's justice system was trusted by just 7% of Afghans

To fill the knowledge gap, DFID has been smart enough to commission opinion surveys with Afghan interviewers. One done in Helmand last spring reported on the province's mix of justice systems. When disputes arise, the first port of call is the committee of village elders and mullahs. If they fail to solve them, cases go to district governors or Taliban commanders.

The survey found that many people are satisfied with the security and justice the Taliban provide. More than half the male respondents called them "completely trustworthy and fair". They did not demand bribes, though they took money in other ways, through taxes on farm crops, road tolls and zakat (donations for the poor). Women were far less positive, with only a quarter saying they trusted the Taliban.

The government justice system was heavily criticised for bribery and favouritism and was trusted by only 7% of men and women. "Most ordinary people associate the government with practices and behaviours they dislike: the inability to provide security, dependence on foreign military, eradication of a basic livelihood crop (poppy), and as having a history of partisanship (the perceived preferential treatment of northerners)", the survey reported.

To counter people's adverse perceptions of the government the rule of law team in the PRT is working with Afghan officials to build up a reformed justice system. It is part of what is called the Helmand Institutions Building Programme. They took us to Nad Ali, a district centre they consider a showcase and model for other centres to follow as they capture them from the Taliban. Here, too, insecurity was massive. Although Nad Ali is only 15km (9 miles) from Lashkar Gah, travel was by helicopter. Kicking up clouds of dust, we landed in a medieval compound of ancient mud-brick walls, now known as FOB Shawqat. Until the British arrived it was the town's livestock market, transformed now into a rectangular fortress of three tiers of Hesco barriers (wired sacks full of loose stones and other ballast), freight containers, tents, and camouflaged watchtowers.

Two weeks before our visit, the Taliban launched a two-hour attack on one of the watchtowers. Troops are warned that the risks of direct fire and suicide attacks on Shawqat are "substantial". Under heavy guard we were allowed to walk 45m from the base to a new bazaar built by the British for a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Habibullah, the district governor. But when we went to his office later, 180m away, it was in armoured vehicles. They also insisted this was necessary when they took us on a trip to the old bazaar, where we were allowed to dismount and walk around for stilted interviews with shopkeepers.

In the governor's offices, we met three newly appointed officials – a judge, prosecutor and investigator. The latter two told us they had started making trips to villages to explain their work but had only held two trials since August. They face a long road ahead.

The longest road of all is the effort to improve life for Helmand's women. After toppling the Taliban, George Bush and Tony Blair encouraged their wives to proclaim the arrival of a new dawn for Afghan women; liberation from the burqa and the chance for education again. The number of girls in school has become one of the regularly repeated measures of change.

Progress is substantial but what happens when girls leave school? Where are the jobs, and what are British and US aid programmes doing to encourage female employment? Are they taking steps to deal with some of the grim justice issues that women raised in the DFID-sponsored survey? Women complained of domestic violence, multiple marriages, honour killing and the archaic practice known as bad, under which young girls are given to other families in exchange for unpaid debts or as compensation if someone from the other family has been killed.

PRT officials arranged for us to see a group of women in Lashkar Gah. We meet in the Department of Women's Affairs, the only neutral venue they consider safe. About a dozen turn up. Their overriding concern is jobs: in conservative Pashtun society, many husbands refuse to let their wives go out of the house or family compound and if they do permit them, there are few jobs for women apart from teaching.

At the girls' high school, Rahela Safi, the deputy headteacher, said almost 10,000 girls were enrolled. They study for only two or three hours a day because teachers have to do three shifts. Some girls are in their early 20s, having missed out during the Taliban period. But though they study subjects from maths to biology and computer sciences, most end up – if they find a job at all – teaching the next generation of girls.

The provincial education department in Lashkar Gah has 70 employees. All are men. Money is being allocated to set up a women's education unit, which will be staffed by women, though again it will only be women working with and for women. The PRT itself employs no women interpreters. When I raised this, a (female) British civilian adviser suggested the question was culturally insensitive since it assumed there were women available who had language skills and permission from their families to work alongside men. To which one reply might be that the PRT could get the facts by advertising on the radio in Kabul or Lashkar Gah and seeing what response they receive.

The provincial council in Lashkar Gah has three women, but only one of Helmand's district community councils, selected by local elders under UK and US supervision and financed by the US and the UK, has women representatives.

Washington and London seem happy to try to alter Afghan culture when it comes to the economy, but when that culture undermines women's rights, there is less energy. "Is it our goal to change Afghan society or deliver basic services and security and make it able to have a representative government?" asks Arthur Snell, a Foreign Office man who serves as the PRT's deputy head. "It would play into the Taliban's hands if they could say the foreigners are here to undermine Afghan traditional society. You have to strike a careful balance."

An aid programme that will take years to deliver comprehensive results

So can the UK's Helmand aid and development programme make a difference in counter-insurgency terms, by giving the Afghan government legitimacy and weakening the Taliban?

First of all, it must be said it has come very late. "The key moment was the summer of 2008 with the decision to develop the districts outside Lashkar Gah," says Nick Abbott, head of DFID's Afghanistan team. But why wasn't this done in the spring of 2002 as soon as the Taliban were toppled? Remember Blair's boast that Britain would not walk away from Afghanistan? In the wake of Bush's rush to topple Saddam Hussein, he promptly did. This allowed the Taliban to recover and re-emerge, using the argument that the latest foreign occupiers had brought no benefit to ordinary people in the Pashtun heartlands.

Second, the aid programme will take years to deliver comprehensive results. Schools and health clinics can be built relatively quickly but giving people justice, honest police and officials who observe the rule of law – the issues on which the Taliban are seen as strong – will need much more time.

Third, it raises the question of the high cost of delivering aid in a war zone, given the huge danger facing foreigners who provide and try to monitor it. The same money would go much further if spent in needy developing countries that are at peace. Aid could return to Afghanistan once Afghans have settled their conflicts. Yet DFID is going in the opposite direction by planning to increase its spending in Helmand and the rest of Afghanistan next year.

Fourth, aid as counter-insurgency endangers the work – and lives – of independent NGOs by linking them with foreign forces in people's minds, a point frequently made by groups such as Oxfam as well as Afghan NGOs. While foreign governments' aid goes up, charitable aid diminishes.

Fifth, does aid really enhance the legitimacy of Afghan government representatives in Helmand? Under US counter-insurgency doctrine (Coin), which Britain endorses, "government-in-a-box" is supposed to drop in as soon as troops flood into an area and force the Taliban underground. The difficulty is that the US and UK do not choose the officials who arrive to fly the government flag, since the Karzai regime is supposed to be sovereign.

Much of the British and US effort in Helmand this year has gone on preventing a former provincial governor, Sher Mohammad Akhunzada, and a former police chief, Abdul Rahman Jan, from continuing to exert influence locally. On suspicion of corruption, the British persuaded Karzai to remove them four years ago, so they were furious when a delegation of Kabul ministers brought both men to a meeting of local elders in Nad Ali in February. Diplomats say Akhunzada, now a senator in Kabul, "still enjoys direct access to Karzai".

Less senior officials are also a concern. Officials who served in the PRT earlier this year say they believe several members of current Helmand governor Gulabuddin Mangal's team diverted British funds from a programme to get farmers to plant crops other than poppies. They bought low-quality wheat seeds and fertiliser in place of what they were supposed to give farmers, and pocketed the difference. The lists of beneficiaries were also said to have been rigged in favour of friends of Mangal's staff. When the British complained, the governor mobilised the National Directorate of Security and several staff were arrested.

Sixth, does aid undermine the Taliban? Most Taliban commanders seem to recognise that people want schools and health clinics and it is counterproductive to destroy them. In some places, they have even tried to get credit by saying their presence forces the foreigners to pay to build them. "There is huge pressure in newly cleared areas to open schools and we only do it with buy-in from the local population. The Taliban haven't been active in attacking schools. There have been no attacks on girls' schools in Lashkar Gah since 2005. There was one in Gereshk in April this year," says Brett Rapley, the PRT's education adviser.

Health clinics have also largely been spared. "Before I came here," says Dr Jonathan Cox, the PRT medical adviser who is a colonel in the regular army, "I thought the Taliban would be burning clinics down. That's not the case. They seem not to burn them down or blow them up. They don't even do it to clinics we've built."

"Women teachers who live in Taliban-influenced areas outside the security bubble and come in to work are sometimes intimidated," says Rapley. Medical staff appear to be better off. "There is surprisingly little intimidation of health and clinic workers in lonely places. If it's a local [as opposed to an out-of-area or foreign] insurgent, he must know his family must be using that clinic and when the war is over he will need one himself," says Cox.

Coin's key test is whether Taliban members are giving up. General David Petraeus, the US commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan, has stepped up the use of drones and special forces to assassinate Taliban commanders, claiming substantial success. But critics say the supply of new Taliban is inexhaustible and new commanders may be more ruthless than those they replace.

If one aim is to frighten the Taliban into dropping their guns, the carrot is the "re-integration" programme, rolled out this year, which offers Taliban benefits for a return to civilian life. PRT officials in Helmand decline to give figures on how many have come forward but suggest it is only "dozens". There can be a problem if former Taliban get jobs or vocational training while there are no rewards for other Afghans in Helmand or more peaceful provinces.

Amnesty is also a difficult issue. Should a Taliban member who has killed Afghans or foreign troops escape retribution? If not, what of the anomaly that the Afghan government and parliament are full of men with blood on their hands from earlier phases in the country's three decades of war? And why would Taliban commanders give up if they know they're going straight to jail?

In Lashkar Gah, they showed us the DFID-funded new Afghan prison. Until September last year the old building was in chaos, controlled by its own inmates. The new one has carpeted cells where inmates sleep on two-tiered bunks or the floor. The Afghan governor, a jovial figure in vest and tracksuit, put his arms round inmates in avuncular style. One wing housed former Taliban, I was told. They let me select four to interview on why they had switched sides, but all denied any link with the movement.

A survey commissioned by DFID last year examined why Afghans join the Taliban and the other insurgent group, Hezb-i Islami, and how much local people support them. They interviewed 192 people in Kandahar, Wardak and around Kabul (but for security reasons not in Helmand). Only 10 supported the government. The rest saw it as corrupt and partisan. Most supported the Taliban, at least what they called the "good Taliban", defined as those who showed religious piety, attacked foreign forces but not Afghans and delivered justice quickly and fairly. They did not like "Pakistani Taliban" and Taliban linked to narcotics. But support for the "good Taliban" was expressed with no enthusiasm and mainly, it seemed, because of a lack of alternatives.

Few respondents said they understood why foreign forces were in Afghanistan. The majority wanted a lifting of UN sanctions on senior Taliban so the government could get them back into Afghan political life and negotiate a withdrawal of foreign forces. Older respondents said this should be gradual to avoid another collapse into civil war as happened when Soviet forces left.

The latest DFID-funded survey in April and May this year interviewed 450 people in various districts of Helmand as well as Kandahar, Kunduz and Nangarhar. They included pro-government people, others who were sympathetic to, or members of, armed groups, and fence-sitters. They were asked if they supported re-integration, whether it was feasible and how it linked to "reconciliation" (negotiations with Taliban leaders). Only two opposed it. The vast majority said re-integration at the local level would only work if combined with reconciliation at the top. The process would be long, they thought, but should start soon. Many repeated the earlier survey's point that foreign forces should not leave completely until there was agreement with the Taliban so as to avoid a relapse into civil war.

Full marks to DFID for commissioning these surveys, though officials may be disappointed that respondents had little to say for development aid. "There is no evidence from this study . . . that providing basic services in insurgency areas wins hearts and minds particularly if they are protected by foreign forces," last year's survey concluded. It is a powerful point, and nothing they showed me in Helmand disproved it.

Reaffirming their nations’ shared values and increasing convergence of interests, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama resolved today in New Delhi to expand and strengthen the India-U.S. global strategic partnership.
 
The two leaders welcomed the deepening relationship between the world’s two largest democracies.  They commended the growing cooperation between their governments, citizens, businesses, universities and scientific institutions, which have thrived on a shared culture of pluralism, education, enterprise, and innovation, and have benefited the people of both countries.
 
Building on the transformation in India-U.S. relations over the past decade, the two leaders resolved to intensify cooperation between their nations to promote a secure and stable world; advance technology and innovation; expand mutual prosperity and global economic growth; support sustainable development; and exercise global leadership in support of economic development, open government, and democratic values.
 
The two leaders reaffirmed that India-U.S. strategic partnership is indispensable not only for their two countries but also for global stability and prosperity in the 21st century.  To that end, President Obama welcomed India’s emergence as a major regional and global power and affirmed his country’s interest in India’s rise, its economic prosperity, and its security.
 
A GLOBAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP FOR THE 21st CENTURY
 
            Prime Minister Singh and President Obama called for an efficient, effective, credible and legitimate United Nations to ensure a just and sustainable international order. Prime Minister Singh welcomed President Obama’s affirmation that, in the years ahead, the United States looks forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.  The two leaders reaffirmed that all nations, especially those that seek to lead in the 21st century, bear responsibility to ensure that the United Nations fulfills its founding ideals of preserving peace and security, promoting global cooperation, and advancing human rights.
 
            Prime Minister Singh and President Obama reiterated that India and the United States, as global leaders, will partner for global security, especially as India serves on the Security Council over the next two years.  The leaders agreed that their delegations in New York will intensify their engagement and work together to ensure that the Council continues to effectively play the role envisioned for it in the United Nations Charter.  Both leaders underscored that all states have an obligation to comply with and implement UN Security Council Resolutions, including UN sanctions regimes.  They also agreed to hold regular consultations on UN matters, including on the long-term sustainability of UN peacekeeping operations.  As the two largest democracies, both countries also reaffirmed their strong commitment to the UN Democracy Fund.
 
            The two leaders have a shared vision for peace, stability and prosperity in Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific region and committed to work together, and with others in the region, for the evolution of an open, balanced and inclusive architecture in the region. In this context, the leaders reaffirmed their support for the East Asia Summit and committed to regular consultations in this regard.  The United States welcomes, in particular, India’s leadership in expanding prosperity and security across the region.  The two leaders agreed to deepen existing regular strategic consultations on developments in East Asia, and decided to expand and intensify their strategic consultations to cover regional and global issues of mutual interest, including Central and West Asia.
 
            The two sides committed to intensify consultation, cooperation and coordination to promote a stable, democratic, prosperous, and independent Afghanistan.  President Obama appreciated India’s enormous contribution to Afghanistan’s development and welcomed enhanced Indian assistance that will help Afghanistan achieve self-sufficiency.  In addition to their own independent assistance programs in Afghanistan, the two sides resolved to pursue joint development projects with the Afghan Government in capacity building, agriculture and women’s empowerment.
 
            They reiterated that success in Afghanistan and regional and global security require elimination of safe havens and infrastructure for terrorism and violent extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Condemning terrorism in all its forms, the two sides agreed that all terrorist networks, including Lashkar e-Taiba, must be defeated  and  called for Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.  Building upon the Counter Terrorism Initiative signed in July 2010, the two leaders announced a new Homeland Security Dialogue between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Homeland Security and agreed to further deepen operational cooperation, counter-terrorism technology transfers and capacity building. The two leaders also emphasized the importance of close cooperation in combating terrorist financing and in protecting the international financial system.
 
            In an increasingly inter-dependent world, the stability of, and access to, the air, sea, space, and cyberspace domains is vital for the security and economic prosperity of nations.  Acknowledging their commitment to openness and responsible international conduct, and on the basis of their shared values, India and the United States have launched a dialogue to explore ways to work together, as well as with other countries, to develop a shared vision for these critical domains to promote peace, security and development.  The leaders reaffirmed the importance of maritime security, unimpeded commerce, and freedom of navigation, in accordance with relevant universally agreed principles of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and peaceful settlement of maritime disputes.
 
            The transformation in India-U.S. defense cooperation in recent years has strengthened mutual understanding on regional peace and stability, enhanced both countries’ respective capacities to meet humanitarian and other challenges such as terrorism and piracy, and contributed to the development of the strategic partnership between India and the United States.  The two Governments resolved to further strengthen defense cooperation, including through security dialogue, exercises, and promoting trade and collaboration in defense equipment and technology.  President Obama welcomed India's decision to purchase U.S. high-technology defense items, which reflects our strengthening bilateral defense relations and will contribute to creating jobs in the United States.
 
            The two leaders affirmed that their countries’ common ideals, complementary strengths and a shared commitment to a world without nuclear weapons give them a responsibility to forge a strong partnership to lead global efforts for non-proliferation and universal and non-discriminatory global nuclear disarmament in the 21st century.  They affirmed the need for a meaningful dialogue among all states possessing nuclear weapons to build trust and confidence and for reducing the salience of nuclear weapons in international affairs and security doctrines.  They support strengthening the six decade-old international norm of non-use of nuclear weapons.
 
             They expressed a commitment to strengthen international cooperative activities that will reduce the risk of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons or material without reducing the rights of nations that play by the rules to harness the power of nuclear energy to advance their energy security.  The leaders reaffirmed their shared dedication to work together to realize the commitments outlined at the April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit to achieve the goal of securing vulnerable nuclear materials in the next four years.  Both sides expressed deep concern regarding illicit nuclear trafficking and smuggling and resolved to strengthen international cooperative efforts to address these threats through the IAEA, Interpol and in the context of the Nuclear Security Summit Communiqué and Action Plan.  The two sides welcomed the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership being established by India.
 
            Both sides expressed deep concern about the threat of biological terrorism and pledged to promote international efforts to ensure the safety and security of biological agents and toxins.  They stressed the need to achieve full implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and expressed the hope for a successful BWC Review Conference in 2011.  The United States welcomed India’s destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile in accordance with the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention.  Both countries affirmed their shared commitment to promoting the full and effective implementation of the CWC.
 
            The two leaders expressed regret at the delay in starting negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament for a multilateral, non-discriminatory and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the future production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
 
India reaffirmed its unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing.  The United States reaffirmed its testing moratorium and its commitment to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and bring it into force at an early date.
 
           The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to diplomacy to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, and discussed the need for Iran to take constructive and immediate steps to meet its obligations to the IAEA and the UN Security Council.
 
TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, AND ENERGY
 
Recognizing that India and the United States should play a leadership role in promoting global nonproliferation objectives and their desire to expand high technology cooperation and trade, Prime Minister Singh and President Obama committed to work together to strengthen the global export control framework and further transform bilateral export control regulations and policies to realize the full potential of the strategic partnership between the two countries.
 
Accordingly, the two leaders decided to take mutual steps to expand U.S. - India cooperation in civil space, defense, and other high-technology sectors.  Commensurate with India’s nonproliferation record and commitment to abide by multilateral export control standards, these steps include the United States removing Indian entities from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s “Entity List” and realignment of India in U.S. export control regulations.
 
In addition, the United States intends to support India’s full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes (Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement) in a phased manner, and to consult with regime members to encourage the evolution of regime membership criteria, consistent with maintaining the core principles of these regimes, as the Government of India takes steps towards the full adoption of the regimes’ export control requirements to reflect its prospective membership, with both processes moving forward together.  In the view of the United States, India should qualify for membership in the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement according to existing requirements once it imposes export controls over all items on these regimes’ control lists.
 
Both leaders reaffirmed the assurances provided in the letters exchanged in September 2004 and the End-Use Visit Arrangement, and determined that the two governments had reached an understanding to implement these initiatives consistent with their respective national export control laws and policies. The Prime Minister and President committed to a strengthened and expanded dialogue on export control issues, through fora such as the U.S. - India High Technology Cooperation Group, on aspects of capacity building, sharing of best practices, and outreach with industry.
 
The possibility of cooperation between the two nations in space, to advance scientific knowledge and human welfare, are without boundaries and limits.  They commended their space scientists for launching new initiatives in climate and weather forecasting for agriculture, navigation, resource mapping, research and development, and capacity building.  They agreed to continuing discussions on and seek ways to collaborate on future lunar missions, international space station, human space flight and data sharing, and to reconvene the Civil Space Joint Working Group in early 2011.  They highlighted the just concluded Implementing Arrangement for enhanced monsoon forecasting that will begin to transmit detailed forecasts to farmers beginning with the 2011 monsoon rainy season as an important example of bilateral scientific cooperation advancing economic development, agriculture and food security.
           
            The two leaders welcomed the completion of steps by the two governments for implementation of the India - U.S. civil nuclear agreement. They reiterated their commitment to build strong India - U.S. civil nuclear energy cooperation through the participation of the U.S. nuclear energy firms in India on the basis of mutually acceptable technical and commercial terms and conditions that enable a viable tariff regime for electricity generated.  They noted that both countries had enacted domestic legislations and were also signatories to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation.  They further noted that India intends to ratify the Convention on Supplementary Compensation within the coming year and is committed to ensuring a level playing field for U.S. companies seeking to enter the Indian nuclear energy sector, consistent with India’s national and international legal obligations.
 
            India will continue to work with the companies.  In this context, they welcomed the commencement of negotiations and dialogue between the Indian operator and U.S. nuclear energy companies, and expressed hope for early commencement of commercial cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector in India, which will stimulate economic growth and sustainable development and generate employment in both countries.
             
            Just as they have helped develop the knowledge economy, India and the United States resolved to strengthen their partnership in creating the green economy of the future.  To this end, both countries have undertaken joint research and deployment of clean energy resources, such as solar, advanced biofuels, shale gas, and smart grids.  The two leaders also welcomed the promotion of clean and energy efficient technologies through the bilateral Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) and expanded cooperation with the private sector.  They welcomed the conclusion of a new MOU on assessment and exploration of shale gas and an agreement to establish a Joint Clean Energy Research Center in India as important milestones in their rapidly growing clean energy cooperation.
 
            The leaders discussed the importance of working bilaterally, through the Major Economies Forum (MEF), and in the context of the international climate change negotiations within the framework of the UNFCCC to meet the challenge of climate change.  Prime Minister Singh and President Obama reiterated the importance of a positive result for the current climate change negotiations at the forthcoming conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Mexico and affirmed their support for the Copenhagen Accord, which should contribute positively to a successful outcome in Cancun. To that end, the leaders welcomed enhanced cooperation in the area of climate adaptation and sustainable land use, and welcomed the new partnership between the United States and India on forestry programs and in weather forecasting.
 
INCLUSIVE GROWTH, MUTUAL PROSPERITY, AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION
 
            The two leaders stressed that India and the United States, anchored in democracy and diversity, blessed with enormous enterprise and skill, and endowed with synergies drawn from India’s rapid growth and U.S. global economic leadership, have a natural partnership for enhancing mutual prosperity and stimulating global economic recovery and growth.  They emphasize innovation not only as a tool for economic growth and global competitiveness, but also for social transformation and empowerment of people.
 
Prime Minister Singh and President Obama celebrated the recent growth in bilateral trade and investment, characterized by balanced and rapidly growing trade in goods and services.  They noted positively that the United States is India’s largest trading partner in goods and services, and India is now among the fastest growing sources of foreign direct investment entering the United States.  The two leaders agreed on steps to reduce trade barriers and protectionist measures and encourage research and innovation to create jobs and improve livelihoods in their countries.
 
They also welcomed expanding investment flow in both directions.  They noted growing ties between U.S. and Indian firms and called for enhanced investment flows, including in India’s infrastructure sector, clean energy, energy efficiency, aviation and transportation, healthcare, food processing sector and education.  They welcomed the work of the U.S. - India CEO Forum to expand cooperation between the two countries, including in the areas of clean energy and infrastructure development.  They also encouraged enhanced engagement by Indian and American small and medium-sized enterprises as a critical driver of our economic relationship.  They looked forward to building on these developments to realize fully the enormous potential for trade and investment between the two countries.
 
Recognizing the people-to-people dynamic behind trade and investment growth, they called for intensified consultations on social security issues at an appropriate time.  The two leaders agreed to facilitate greater movement of professionals, investors and business travelers, students, and exchange visitors between their countries to enhance their economic and technological partnership.
 
To enhance growth globally, the Prime Minster and President highlighted both nations’ interests in an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda negotiations, and in having their negotiators accelerate and expand the scope of their substantive negotiations bilaterally and with other WTO members to accomplish this as soon as possible.  They agreed to work together in the G-20 to make progress on the broad range of issues on its agenda, including by encouraging actions consistent with achieving strong, balanced, and sustainable growth, strengthening financial system regulation, reforming the international financial institutions, enhancing energy security, resisting protectionism in all its forms, reducing barriers to trade and investment, and implementing the development action plans.
 
Building on the historic legacy of cooperation between the India and the United States during the Green Revolution, the leaders also decided to work together to develop, test, and replicate transformative technologies to extend food security as part of an Evergreen Revolution.  Efforts will focus on providing farmers the means to improve agricultural productivity.  Collaboration also will enhance agricultural value chain and strengthen market institutions to reduce post-harvest crop losses.
 
 Affirming the importance of India-U.S. health cooperation, Prime Minister and the President celebrated the signing of an MOU creating a new Global Disease Detection Regional Center in New Delhi, which will facilitate preparedness against threats to health such as pandemic influenza and other dangerous diseases.   
           
            Embracing the principles of democracy and opportunity, the leaders recognized that the full future potential of the partnership lies in the hands of the next generation in both countries. To help ensure that all members of that generation enjoy the benefits of higher education, the Prime Minister and the President agreed to convene an India - U.S. Higher Education Summit, chaired by senior officials from both countries in 2011, as part of a continued effort to strengthen educational opportunities.  They welcomed the progress made in implementing the Singh-Obama 21st Century Knowledge Initiative that is expanding links between faculties and institutions of the two countries and the expansion in the Nehru-Fulbright Programme for Scholars.
 
Noting that the ties of kinship and culture are an increasingly important dimension of India-U.S. relations, President Obama welcomed India’s decision to hold a Festival of India in Washington DC in 2011.  Recognizing the importance of preserving cultural heritage, both governments resolved to initiate discussions on how India and the United States could partner to prevent the illicit trafficking of both countries’ rich and unique cultural heritage.
 
A SHARED INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT
           
            Consistent with their commitments to open and responsive government, and harnessing the expertise and experience that the two countries have developed, the leaders launched a U.S.-India Open Government Dialogue that will, through public-private partnerships and use of new technologies and innovations, promote their shared goal of democratizing access to information and energizing civic engagement, support global initiatives in this area and share their expertise with other interested countries.  This will build on India’s impressive achievements in this area in recent years and the commitments that the President made to advance an open government agenda at the United Nations General Assembly.  The President and Prime Minister also pledged to explore cooperation in support of efforts to strengthen elections organization and management in other interested countries, including through sharing their expertise in this area.
 
            Taking advantage of the global nature of their relationship, and recognizing India’s vast development experience and historical research strengths, the two leaders pledged to work together, in addition to their independent programs, to adapt shared innovations and technologies and use their expertise in capacity building to extend food security to interested countries, including in Africa, in consultation with host governments.
 
Prime Minister Singh and President Obama concluded that their meeting is a historic milestone as they seek to elevate the India-U.S. strategic partnership to a new level for the benefit of their nations and the entire mankind.  President Obama thanked President Patil, Prime Minister Singh, and the people of India for their extraordinary warmth and hospitality during his visit.   The two leaders looked forward to the next session of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue in 2011.

The following is the joint statement issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United States President Barack Obama here today:

Reaffirming their nations’ shared values and increasing convergence of interests, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama resolved today in New Delhi to expand and strengthen the India-U.S. global strategic partnership.

The two leaders welcomed the deepening relationship between the world’s two largest democracies. They commended the growing cooperation between their governments, citizens, businesses, universities and scientific institutions, which have thrived on a shared culture of pluralism, education, enterprise, and innovation, and have benefited the people of both countries.

Building on the transformation in India-U.S. relations over the past decade, the two leaders resolved to intensify cooperation between their nations to promote a secure and stable world; advance technology and innovation; expand mutual prosperity and global economic growth; support sustainable development; and exercise global leadership in support of economic development, open government and democratic values.

The two leaders reaffirmed that India-U.S. strategic partnership is indispensable not only for their two countries but also for global stability and prosperity in the 21st century. To that end, President Obama welcomed India’s emergence as a major regional and global power and affirmed his country’s interest in India’s rise, its economic prosperity, and its security.

A GLOBAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP FOR THE 21st CENTURYPrime Minister Singh and President Obama called for an efficient, effective, credible and legitimate United Nations to ensure a just and sustainable international order. Prime Minister Singh welcomed President Obama’s affirmation that, in the years ahead, the United States looks forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member. The two leaders reaffirmed that all nations, especially those that seek to lead in the 21st century, bear responsibility to ensure that the United Nations fulfills its founding ideals of preserving peace and security, promoting global cooperation, and advancing human rights.

Prime Minister Singh and President Obama reiterated that India and the United States, as global leaders, will partner for global security, especially as India serves on the Security Council over the next two years. The leaders agreed that their delegations in New York will intensify their engagement and work together to ensure that the Council continues to effectively play the role envisioned for it in the United Nations Charter. Both leaders underscored that all states have an obligation to comply with and implement UN Security Council Resolutions, including UN sanctions regimes. They also agreed to hold regular consultations on UN matters, including on the long-term sustainability of UN peacekeeping operations. As the two largest democracies, both countries also reaffirmed their strong commitment to the UN Democracy Fund.

The two leaders have a shared vision for peace, stability and prosperity in Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific region and committed to work together, and with others in the region, for the evolution of an open, balanced and inclusive architecture in the region. In this context, the leaders reaffirmed their support for the East Asia Summit and committed to regular consultations in this regard. The United States welcomes, in particular, India’s leadership in expanding prosperity and security across the region. The two leaders agreed to deepen existing regular strategic consultations on developments in East Asia, and decided to expand and intensify their strategic consultations to cover regional and global issues of mutual interest, including Central and West Asia.

The two sides committed to intensify consultation, cooperation and coordination to promote a stable, democratic, prosperous, and independent Afghanistan. President Obama appreciated India’s enormous contribution to Afghanistan’s development and welcomed enhanced Indian assistance that will help Afghanistan achieve self-sufficiency. In addition to their own independent assistance programs in Afghanistan, the two sides resolved to pursue joint development projects with the Afghan Government in capacity building, agriculture and women’s empowerment.

They reiterated that success in Afghanistan and regional and global security require elimination of safe havens and infrastructure for terrorism and violent extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Condemning terrorism in all its forms, the two sides agreed that all terrorist networks, including Lashkar e-Taiba, must be defeated and called for Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Building upon the Counter Terrorism Initiative signed in July 2010, the two leaders announced a new Homeland Security Dialogue between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Homeland Security and agreed to further deepen operational cooperation, counter-terrorism technology transfers and capacity building. The two leaders also emphasized the importance of close cooperation in combating terrorist financing and in protecting the international financial system.

In an increasingly inter-dependent world, the stability of, and access to, the air, sea, space, and cyberspace domains is vital for the security and economic prosperity of nations. Acknowledging their commitment to openness and responsible international conduct, and on the basis of their shared values, India and the United States have launched a dialogue to explore ways to work together, as well as with other countries, to develop a shared vision for these critical domains to promote peace, security and development. The leaders reaffirmed the importance of maritime security, unimpeded commerce, and freedom of navigation, in accordance with relevant universally agreed principles of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and peaceful settlement of maritime disputes.

The transformation in India-U.S. defense cooperation in recent years has strengthened mutual understanding on regional peace and stability, enhanced both countries’ respective capacities to meet humanitarian and other challenges such as terrorism and piracy, and contributed to the development of the strategic partnership between India and the United States. The two Governments resolved to further strengthen defense cooperation, including through security dialogue, exercises, and promoting trade and collaboration in defense equipment and technology. President Obama welcomed India's decision to purchase U.S. high-technology defense items, which reflects our strengthening bilateral defence relations and will contribute to creating jobs in the United States.

The two leaders affirmed that their countries’ common ideals, complementary strengths and a shared commitment to a world without nuclear weapons give them a responsibility to forge a strong partnership to lead global efforts for non-proliferation and universal and non-discriminatory global nuclear disarmament in the 21st century. They affirmed the need for a meaningful dialogue among all states possessing nuclear weapons to build trust and confidence and for reducing the salience of nuclear weapons in international affairs and security doctrines. They support strengthening the six decade-old international norm of non-use of nuclear weapons. They expressed a commitment to strengthen international cooperative activities that will reduce the risk of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons or material without reducing the rights of nations that play by the rules to harness the power of nuclear energy to advance their energy security. The leaders reaffirmed their shared dedication to work together to realize the commitments outlined at the April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit to achieve the goal of securing vulnerable nuclear materials in the next four years. Both sides expressed deep concern regarding illicit nuclear trafficking and smuggling and resolved to strengthen international cooperative efforts to address these threats through the IAEA, Interpol and in the context of the Nuclear Security Summit Communiqué and Action Plan. The two sides welcomed the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership being established by India.

Both sides expressed deep concern about the threat of biological terrorism and pledged to promote international efforts to ensure the safety and security of biological agents and toxins. They stressed the need to achieve full implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and expressed the hope for a successful BWC Review Conference in 2011. The United States welcomed India’s destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile in accordance with the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Both countries affirmed their shared commitment to promoting the full and effective implementation of the CWC.

The two leaders expressed regret at the delay in starting negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament for a multilateral, non-discriminatory and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the future production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

India reaffirmed its unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing. The United States reaffirmed its testing moratorium and its commitment to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and bring it into force at an early date.

The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to diplomacy to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, and discussed the need for Iran to take constructive and immediate steps to meet its obligations to the IAEA and the UN Security Council.

TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, AND ENERGY

Recognizing that India and the United States should play a leadership role in promoting global nonproliferation objectives and their desire to expand high technology cooperation and trade, Prime Minister Singh and President Obama committed to work together to strengthen the global export control framework and further transform bilateral export control regulations and policies to realize the full potential of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Accordingly, the two leaders decided to take mutual steps to expand U.S.-India cooperation in civil space, defense, and other high-technology sectors. Commensurate with India’s nonproliferation record and commitment to abide by multilateral export control standards, these steps include the United States removing Indian entities from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s "Entity List" and realignment of India in U.S. export control regulations.
In addition, the United States intends to support India’s full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes (Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement) in a phased manner, and to consult with regime members to encourage the evolution of regime membership criteria, consistent with maintaining the core principles of these regimes, as the Government of India takes steps towards the full adoption of the regimes’ export control requirements to reflect its prospective membership, with both processes moving forward together. In the view of the United States, India should qualify for membership in the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement according to existing requirements once it imposes export controls over all items on these regimes’ control lists.

Both leaders reaffirmed the assurances provided in the letters exchanged in September 2004 and the End-Use Visit Arrangement, and determined that the two governments had reached an understanding to implement these initiatives consistent with their respective national export control laws and policies. The Prime Minister and President committed to a strengthened and expanded dialogue on export control issues, through fora such as the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group, on aspects of capacity building, sharing of best practices, and outreach with industry.

The possibility of cooperation between the two nations in space, to advance scientific knowledge and human welfare, are without boundaries and limits. They commended their space scientists for launching new initiatives in climate and weather forecasting for agriculture, navigation, resource mapping, research and development, and capacity building. They agreed to continuing discussions on and seek ways to collaborate on future lunar missions, international space station, human space flight and data sharing, and to reconvene the Civil Space Joint Working Group in early 2011. They highlighted the just concluded Implementing Arrangement for enhanced monsoon forecasting that will begin to transmit detailed forecasts to farmers beginning with the 2011 monsoon rainy season as an important example of bilateral scientific cooperation advancing economic development, agriculture and food security.

The two leaders welcomed the completion of steps by the two governments for implementation of the India-U.S. civil nuclear agreement. They reiterated their commitment to build strong India-U.S. civil nuclear energy cooperation through the participation of the U.S. nuclear energy firms in India on the basis of mutually acceptable technical and commercial terms and conditions that enable a viable tariff regime for electricity generated. They noted that both countries had enacted domestic legislations and were also signatories to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation. They further noted that India intends to ratify the Convention on Supplementary Compensation within the coming year and is committed to ensuring a level playing field for U.S. companies seeking to enter the Indian nuclear energy sector, consistent with India’s national and international legal obligations.

India will continue to work with the companies. In this context, they welcomed the commencement of negotiations and dialogue between the Indian operator and U.S. nuclear energy companies, and expressed hope for early commencement of commercial cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector in India, which will stimulate economic growth and sustainable development and generate employment in both countries.
Just as they have helped develop the knowledge economy, India and the United States resolved to strengthen their partnership in creating the green economy of the future. To this end, both countries have undertaken joint research and deployment of clean energy resources, such as solar, advanced biofuels, shale gas, and smart grids. The two leaders also welcomed the promotion of clean and energy efficient technologies through the bilateral Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) and expanded cooperation with the private sector. They welcomed the conclusion of a new MoU on assessment and exploration of shale gas and an agreement to establish a Joint Clean Energy Research Center in India as important milestones in their rapidly growing clean energy cooperation.

The leaders discussed the importance of working bilaterally, through the Major Economies Forum (MEF), and in the context of the international climate change negotiations within the framework of the UNFCCC to meet the challenge of climate change. Prime Minister Singh and President Obama reiterated the importance of a positive result for the current climate change negotiations at the forthcoming conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Mexico and affirmed their support for the Copenhagen Accord, which should contribute positively to a successful outcome in Cancun. To that end, the leaders welcomed enhanced cooperation in the area of climate adaptation and sustainable land use, and welcomed the new partnership between the United States and India on forestry programs and in weather forecasting.

INCLUSIVE GROWTH, MUTUAL PROSPERITY, AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION

The two leaders stressed that India and the United States, anchored in democracy and diversity, blessed with enormous enterprise and skill, and endowed with synergies drawn from India’s rapid growth and U.S. global economic leadership, have a natural partnership for enhancing mutual prosperity and stimulating global economic recovery and growth. They emphasize innovation not only as a tool for economic growth and global competitiveness, but also for social transformation and empowerment of people.

Prime Minister Singh and President Obama celebrated the recent growth in bilateral trade and investment, characterized by balanced and rapidly growing trade in goods and services. They noted positively that the United States is India’s largest trading partner in goods and services, and India is now among the fastest growing sources of foreign direct investment entering the United States. The two leaders agreed on steps to reduce trade barriers and protectionist measures and encourage research and innovation to create jobs and improve livelihoods in their countries.

They also welcomed expanding investment flow in both directions. They noted growing ties between U.S. and Indian firms and called for enhanced investment flows, including in India’s infrastructure sector, clean energy, energy efficiency, aviation and transportation, healthcare, food processing sector and education. They welcomed the work of the U.S.-India CEO Forum to expand cooperation between the two countries, including in the areas of clean energy and infrastructure development. They also encouraged enhanced engagement by Indian and American small and medium-sized enterprises as a critical driver of our economic relationship. They looked forward to building on these developments to realize fully the enormous potential for trade and investment between the two countries.

Recognizing the people-to-people dynamic behind trade and investment growth, they called for intensified consultations on social security issues at an appropriate time. The two leaders agreed to facilitate greater movement of professionals, investors and business travelers, students, and exchange visitors between their countries to enhance their economic and technological partnership.

To enhance growth globally, the Prime Minster and President highlighted both nations’ interests in an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda negotiations, and in having their negotiators accelerate and expand the scope of their substantive negotiations bilaterally and with other WTO members to accomplish this as soon as possible. They agreed to work together in the G-20 to make progress on the broad range of issues on its agenda, including by encouraging actions consistent with achieving strong, balanced, and sustainable growth, strengthening financial system regulation, reforming the international financial institutions, enhancing energy security, resisting protectionism in all its forms, reducing barriers to trade and investment, and implementing the development action plans.

Building on the historic legacy of cooperation between the India and the United States during the Green Revolution, the leaders also decided to work together to develop, test, and replicate transformative technologies to extend food security as part of an Evergreen Revolution. Efforts will focus on providing farmers the means to improve agricultural productivity. Collaboration also will enhance agricultural value chain and strengthen market institutions to reduce post-harvest crop losses.

Affirming the importance of India-U.S. health cooperation, Prime Minister and the President celebrated the signing of an MOU creating a new Global Disease Detection Regional Center in New Delhi, which will facilitate preparedness against threats to health such as pandemic influenza and other dangerous diseases.

Embracing the principles of democracy and opportunity, the leaders recognized that the full future potential of the partnership lies in the hands of the next generation in both countries. To help ensure that all members of that generation enjoy the benefits of higher education, the Prime Minister and the President agreed to convene an India-U.S. Higher Education Summit, chaired by senior officials from both countries in 2011, as part of a continued effort to strengthen educational opportunities. They welcomed the progress made in implementing the Singh-Obama 21st Century Knowledge Initiative that is expanding links between faculties and institutions of the two countries and the expansion in the Nehru-Fulbright Programme for Scholars.

Noting that the ties of kinship and culture are an increasingly important dimension of India-U.S. relations, President Obama welcomed India’s decision to hold a Festival of India in Washington DC in 2011. Recognizing the importance of preserving cultural heritage, both governments resolved to initiate discussions on how India and the United States could partner to prevent the illicit trafficking of both countries’ rich and unique cultural heritage.

A SHARED INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT Consistent with their commitments to open and responsive government, and harnessing the expertise and experience that the two countries have developed, the leaders launched a U.S.-India Open Government Dialogue that will, through public-private partnerships and use of new technologies and innovations, promote their shared goal of democratizing access to information and energizing civic engagement, support global initiatives in this area and share their expertise with other interested countries. This will build on India’s impressive achievements in this area in recent years and the commitments that the President made to advance an open government agenda at the United Nations General Assembly. The President and Prime Minister also pledged to explore cooperation in support of efforts to strengthen elections organization and management in other interested countries, including through sharing their expertise in this area.

Taking advantage of the global nature of their relationship, and recognizing India’s vast development experience and historical research strengths, the two leaders pledged to work together, in addition to their independent programmes, to adapt shared innovations and technologies and use their expertise in capacity building to extend food security to interested countries, including in Africa, in consultation with host governments.

Prime Minister Singh and President Obama concluded that their meeting is a historic milestone as they seek to elevate the India-U.S. strategic partnership to a new level for the benefit of their nations and the entire mankind. President Obama thanked President Patil, Prime Minister Singh, and the people of India for their extraordinary warmth and hospitality during his visit. The two leaders looked forward to the next session of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue in 2011.

New Delhi
November 8, 2010

NNN

Exclusive: Ministry of Defence releases documents linking three military units to bulk of civilian casualties

The conduct of three British military units in Afghanistan has come under serious question after the Ministry of Defence released unprecedented details of incidents in which troops attacked Afghan civilians.

The disclosure, in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act made by the Guardian, revealed that of the casualties caused by British forces, two-thirds involved troops from the three units, triggering calls for an inquiry into their behaviour.

Releasing information about 21 incidents, the MoD revealed that the Coldstream Guards shot four civilians in Kabul over a period of three weeks; the Royal Marine commandos killed or wounded civilians eight times in six months; and the third unit, the Rifles, were involved in three incidents last year.

Among the casualties were children, and on one occasion a man with mental health problems.

Details of the attacks were not released at the time, but they were among thousands of incidents mentioned in US army logs posted by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks in the summer. Today's release came after the Guardian pressed for more details of those cases.

One cluster of incidents involved the Coldstream Guards in Kabul in autumn 2007. On 21 October, they killed one individual and wounded two others in a silver minibus while on patrol in Kabul.

The MoD says the minibus failed to stop when the soldiers signalled for it to do so, and the guardsmen shot at it.

In another incident, on 6 November 2007, the son of an Afghan general was killed. He was driving a Toyota car and was said to have accelerated towards a Coldstream Guards patrol. The soldiers could only shout a warning before shooting at the car; it skidded to a halt and the man fell out, the MoD said.

The Coldstream Guards' unofficial blog described the mood within the detachment at the time: "The overriding threat is that of suicide bombers, of which there have been a number in the recent past."

The second cluster of civilian casualties involved the Royal Marines, who were stationed in Helmand province.

On 19 November 2008 they shot dead a child in a white Toyota which they believed was driving towards them. "There had been a report of a suicide bomber in the area," said the MoD.

On 4 December 2008, marines wounded a man who had been "trying to locate his family as they had moved compounds". The marines thought he had been tracking them, the MoD says.

That month, a 12-year-old boy was wounded when a van sped towards a Royal Marines patrol and "failed to stop after verbal warnings were given".

On 19 January 2009, two children were injured "in their abdomens by shrapnel" after missiles were fired from above by unmanned drones. The Royal Marines had called for the air strikes, fearing they were being threatened by Taliban insurgents.

A few days later, the marines shot a man and a child after they believed two men were "reporting their progress" in order to prepare a bomb attack.

A mentally ill man was shot in the last incident, on 26 March 2009. The marines had received a report of a bomb threat when a man on a motorcycle "approached the patrol driving slowly and observing them". He disappeared after warning shots were fired. But he soon returned. The marines thought he was an "imminent threat" and shot him, according to the MoD.

The Rifles were involved in three incidents last year, including calling in RAF aircraft whose bomb killed an undisclosed number of civilians in Nad-e-Ali, Helmand last September.

The Labour MP Paul Flynn called for an inquiry into the conduct of the units in what he said could be "atrocities in the name of the British people". "Truth has a cleansing function," he added.

Royal Marine commandos were the last UK troops to be stationed in Sangin, one of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan, before handing over to US forces earlier this year. The Rifles sustained particularly severe casualties when they were deployed in Sangin at the beginning of this year. The Coldstream Guards, one of the oldest regiments in the British army, have been deployed in Afghanistan at regular intervals.

An MoD spokesman said: "We deeply regret all civilian casualties. Protecting the Afghan civilian population is a cornerstone of ISAF's mission, and all British troops undergo comprehensive training on the strict rules of engagement. This contrasts directly with the attitude of the insurgents, whose indiscriminate use of suicide bombs, roadside explosive devices and human shields cause the majority of civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan. We will continue our efforts to prevent insurgents harming civilians and to develop the capacity of Afghan security forces to protect the population."

Meanwhile, MEPs have demanded that European leaders challenge the US president, Barack Obama, over WikiLeaks' disclosures of alleged torture in Iraq. They want the issue to be raised at the EU-US summit agenda next month.

Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberals group in the European parliament, said on Tuesday that the Obama administration had to investigate the "abuses" revealed by WikiLeaks.

"This will obviously be a sensitive topic for the US administration, but partners in the transatlantic alliance must be clear on common rules of engagement in times of conflict if we are to retain any moral standing in the world," Verhofstadt said.

"Whilst the allegations concern actions undertaken during the previous Bush administration, it will be incumbent on the present one to investigate the abuses, pursue those complicit and lay down stricter guidelines for conduct in combat."

"The US remains a hugely important ally in terms of security. We cannot afford to allow our standards to slip so far that respect for the rule of law is ignored."

King's Battle With Clerics Dictates Fate of Saudi's Oil Economy

When Saudi King Abdullah appeared in a newspaper photo with 40 veiled women in April, he broke a taboo by mixing with the opposite sex in public.

Since then, the 86-year-old monarch has crimped the power of conservative Muslim clerics more than any of his five predecessors since the foundation of the kingdom in 1932. He prohibited unauthorized religious edicts, or fatwas, and shut some of the websites where they’re issued. In the past month, he backed supermarkets employing females for the first time.

...The friction between king and clerics underscores a shift in Saudi society away from the dominance of strict Islamic law. The king is spearheading the move by forging a Saudi national identity and bringing women into the workforce as part of an attempt to make the economy less dependent on oil.

Crude Trades Near One-Week Low Because of Outlook for Weaker Fuel Demand

Oil traded near its lowest level in more than a week in New York on a stronger dollar and concern that U.S. fuel consumption is rebounding too slowly.

Crude fell as the Dollar Index climbed for a second day, damping the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment. Work began on 3 percent fewer houses in September in the U.S., the world’s largest oil user, than a month earlier, economists estimated before a Commerce Department report tomorrow.

Hedge Funds Cut Bullish Bets on Natural Gas to 2010 Low

Hedge funds cut their bullish bets on natural gas to the lowest level this year as expanding stockpiles drove prices to a 13-month low.

The funds and other large speculators cut wagers on rising prices by 36 percent in the seven days ended Oct. 12, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report. It was the third week of declines, bringing the reduction since Sept. 21 to 71 percent.

OPEC: A lifeboat in a turbulent sea

So why [is OPEC] a lifeboat? Through its policy on oil production, the organization has succeeded in maintaining oil prices at a reasonable level. It has also succeeded, through production cuts, in credibly and sincerely defending prices, in the wake of their collapse at the start of the global financial crisis (falling to nearly 30 dollars per barrel), all without dealing any blows to the global economy. In addition, the majority of OPEC’s member states have since injected the necessary funds for investments and new projects, particularly in the petroleum sector, in contrast to the deflationary policies of the industrialized nations which, first and foremost, attempted to rescue their crumbling financial institutions, while approving spending cuts in their budgets.

OPEC seems keen to draw Viennese blinds

OPEC appeared uncomfortable in the spotlight of the global media last week in Vienna.

Perhaps members were a little embarrassed that oil revenue this year is on target to be the second highest in the history of the 50-year-old organisation as the world faces the prospect of a double-dip recession.

France seeks to calm fuel fears as strike momentum builds

PARIS (AFP) – France sought Sunday to calm fears of petrol shortages, with the oil industry admitting it cannot hold on forever as strikes against pension reform intensified ahead of another wave of mass protests.

French Truckers Block Roads as State Pledges Fuel Supplies

French truckers blocked highways and officials said they’d use police to prevent strikers from cutting fuel supplies as the standoff hardened over President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to raise the retirement age to 62.

The government said it won’t give in to demands that it suspend parliamentary debate on the change and keep the minimum retirement age at 60. Sarkozy’s ministers sought to guarantee fuel, saying police would be deployed to ensure access to storage sites as refinery strikes entered a second week.

Oil workers defy French demand to open depots

French oil workers on Monday defied the government's demand to get back to work and end scattered fuel shortages, stepping up their fight against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age to 62.

Striking workers piled up tires and set them ablaze in front of a refinery at Grandpuits, east of Paris, after authorities issued a legal order insisting that some strikers reopen the facility. Workers said Monday they would refuse, as curls of heavy black smoke wafted into the air.

Dh5bn power station for Abu Dhabi by 2014

The next major power station for Abu Dhabi will cost Dh5 billion and over time generate the cheapest electricity the emirate’s utility has secured since 1998, according to an official statement today.

Cnooc's Overseas Acquisitions May Increase Its Credit Risk, Moody's Says

Cnooc Ltd.’s debt may rise if China’s biggest offshore oil explorer increases overseas acquisitions following its stake purchase in Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Eagle Ford project, Moody’s Investors Service said.

TNK-BP to acquire BP's Vietnam, Venezuela assets

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russian oil company TNK-BP said on Monday it had agreed a deal with its part-owner BP to acquire the troubled British oil giant's assets in Vietnam and Venezuela for 1.8 billion dollars.

TNK-BP, Russia's third-biggest oil company, is owned 50 percent by BP and 50 percent by a group of Russian billionaires including banking magnate Mikhail Fridman known collectively as Alfa Access-Renova (AAR).

Halliburton Net Income Increases as Work Shifts to Onshore

Halliburton Co., the world’s second- largest oilfield-services provider, said profit rose as onshore work in North America more than made up for a slowdown in the Gulf of Mexico following an April oil spill.

In Collins, effects of gas drilling are debated

Since July, Natalie Brant has complained to anyone who will listen that U.S. Energy isn't living up to its promises and isn't drilling safely.

But state environmental regulators say methane gas is found naturally in well water in this part of the area, and there's no proof the drilling is causing the family's health problems.

And U.S. Energy officials said they have tried to help the Brants and their neighbors, but the gas in their water is coming from a nearby septic system.

Analysis: Uncertain Energy Policy Among Key Risk to Upstream O&G;

Uncertain energy policy poses a key risk to upstream oil and gas companies worldwide, according to the Ernst & Young Business Risk Report 2010.

Uncertainty, which was ranked second in Ernst & Young's previous report in 2009, has grown as a risk as direction of energy policy have been prolonged, partly by the vague outcome of the Copenhagen climate conference in December 2009 and partly by the inability of the U.S. to adopt a clear energy policy. Policy decisions worldwide have further been complicated by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

India to launch shale gas auction before end-2011

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India will launch bidding for the exploration of shale gas before the end of 2011, Petroleum Secretary S. Sundareshan said on Monday at the opening of a new bidding round for conventional oil and gas blocks. Although India's estimated shale gas reserves are not known, the government is assessing the potential for the energy source and is seeking data and technology from the United States, petroleum ministry officials said.

Iraqi province pushes for more say

Iraq's western Anbar province is demanding more control over its potentially huge energy reserves ahead of this week's auction of gas fields, including the vast desert province's Akkas reservoir.

Blessing or Curse? Exploration of oil discoveries in Afghanistan not without risk

In September 2010 the Afghan government announced the discovery of an oil field containing an estimated 1.8 billion barrels in the northern region between Balkh and Jawzjan provinces. The find was made after a survey conducted by Afghan and international geologists and represents a key opportunity for the country to resume commercially viable industrial activities.

US says Sudan votes must be held on time

(CNN) -- The United States says that January's planned voting in Sudan on the southern region's independence should proceed as scheduled, despite a snag in talks over the status of a key oil-rich region.

Angola's oil-fuelled tragedy

Angola, where British oil companies have substantial interests, does not feature on the UK's list of countries whose human rights records are of concern.

A battle begins

In July, Ukraine’s Government announced coal market reorganisation for 2011 – 2014. The plan assumes the liquidation of unprofitable mines, coal trade liberalisation and privatisation.

Three major players will definitely compete in mine privatisation: System Capital Management (SCM), ArcelorMittal and the Russians. China may also enter the game.

Global Hydro and Nuclear Power in Perspective

The prospects for any future growth from nuclear power are now very dim, at least, if one was hoping to extract a meaningful contribution from that energy source. The reasons are myriad, but, in the developed world because of societal concerns and the pricing of risk it’s not even possible for the nuclear industry to function without government support–from financing to insurance. Meanwhile wind power, with its relatively fast construction times and consequent return on investment at moderately attractive levels, is now more competitive by comparison. Yes, wind is a different kind (and different quality) of energy. But we are already witnessing wind power construction globally pulling way, way ahead of the nuclear industry.

Unfortunately, the entire discussion of Wind, Solar, and Nuclear power is marginal when considering how the world powers itself, in the main. The title of my ASPO conference talk, Return to Coal, addressed the coming crossover point when coal once again becomes the primary energy source of the world. When we consider these energy sources, and their actual use in perspective, we can see that the politics of Climate Change legislation for example is actually just a parlour game played in the developed world: and one that offers no practical solutions.

Severn barrage tidal power plan axed

Chris Huhne, the Secretary of State for Energy, is to give the go-ahead to a string of new nuclear power stations, wind farms and clean coal plants as he sets out how the coalition plans to keep the lights on in the next three decades.

But tomorrow's major statement on energy policy will pull the plug on the vast Severn barrage plan, which it was claimed could generate 5 per cent of Britain's electricity. Wildlife campaigners are delighted at the news, ending fears of the destruction of unique habitats.

Government to announce plan for ocean energy

A new blueprint for a billion euro ocean energy industry is being developed by the government, and energy minister Eamon Ryan is expected to make a major announcement over the next few months.

Financing Dearth Holds Solar Back in U.S.

NEW YORK — The U.S. solar energy industry is having its best year ever, yet financing remains scarce for the billion-dollar projects needed for it to gain ground on global leaders like Germany.

For the U.S. solar sector to move up from rooftop add-on technology to the scale of fossil fuel power plants, the country needs to build large plants covering hundreds of acres. Each can cost as much as $1 billion, a huge sum for the nascent industry to finance, even with U.S. government incentives.

“Because the debt market is so thin right now, it is very difficult to find lenders who are able to lend long-term,” said Scott Frier, chief operating officer of Abengoa Solar, which has two big U.S. plants under development.

NASCAR to use ethanol fuel mix

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- NASCAR says that it will use a 15% ethanol blend in its racing fuel, days after the government approved the mix.

Global Macro Notes: Fed Simply Driving Markets Toward a Brick Wall

And finally, there is simply a lot of crude oil in the world. Crude oil inventories just keep hitting record levels. New production keeps coming online in all sorts of places. The peak oil thesis, if not flat-out defeated, seems at least very much on hold from a medium-term supply and demand perspective.

Apple poised to become largest public company in America

With suggestions that the world is approaching 'peak oil' as supplies begin to dwindle and increasing concern over the role that fossil fuels play in climate change, Exxon looks set to be replaced by perhaps the most potent symbol of the digital age.

Blowout in the Gulf: The BP Oil Spill Disaster and the Future of Energy in America

In this intelligent and refreshingly readable--if inevitably depressing--expose, Freudenburg and Gramling, professors of environmental studies and sociology respectively, and longtime collaborators and observers of the oil industry, analyze the origins of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and its aftermath, concluding that we may be facing a "technological Peter Principle": we may have elevated "the societal significance of our technology up to, and perhaps beyond, the point where it can actually do what we expect it to do."

Our Thirst for Oil: A Deeper Dive

This summer's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico called attention to the world's thirst for oil and the hazards of that dependence. It also heightened concerns about the health of the world's oceans. We asked experts in these areas to recommend books that shed light on these topics. Here's what they say about some of their favorites.

Cable cars: back to the future to help combat peak oil?

A plan to run cable cars along High St could be a "small but significant" start to Dunedin preparing for the effects of peak oil, an Australian transport researcher says.

"Cable cars and trams worked wonderfully 100 years ago when we did not have cheap oil," Associate Prof Philip Laird, of Wollongong University, told the Otago Daily Times last week.

New Zealand: Pipe upgrade urgency signalled

Dunedin's water pipes must be upgraded before oil shocks intensify and worldwide energy prices surge, a draft paper prepared for the city council suggests.

The paper warns potentially expensive improvements could be much harder to afford in the maelstrom of supply crunches and price spikes as the world grapples with peak oil.

Funky cob house is first to meet extreme-green standard

On a hilltop in Victoria, British Columbia, Ann and Gord Baird lived in a trailer with his two children for 20 months while they hand-built their dream home -- out of cob.

Their funky, multi-generational home has curved, two-foot thick cob walls -- a mixture of water, clay (the glue), sand and straw (the strength) as well as pumice (for extra insulation.)

Fossil fuel future

So there is no denying that cheap fossil fuel has been a boon to humankind, and we are not about to foist guilt feelings on anyone for its use, or even on those who made bundles of money in its extraction and trade. But we now know that like any business, the cost analysis is deficient in one area-the cost on the environment. Carbon emission as a consequence of fossil fuel use is like cigarette smoking to cancer. When we started costing the consequences and saw facts our business bottom lines did not like to see, we went into massive denial. Up to now, there are still people who refuse to see that climate warming is a consequence of the accumulated emissions that retain solar heat in the environment, melting the polar caps and putting additional water into our oceans with consequences on the weather we are now just beginning to suspect are not pleasant.

Global warming issue spans two ballot items

Fundraising for a ballot initiative to suspend California's global warming law has flagged, but oil companies and other business interests are pouring millions of dollars into a separate ballot measure that could dry up funds to implement the law.

Global warming will be a problem for youth, NASA climatologist warns

James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, visited the University Saturday to talk about the scientific impacts of climate change on the Earth's species and the importance of protecting the planet for future generations.

CG admiral asks for Arctic resources

ABOVE NORTHERN ALASKA — The ice-choked reaches of the northern Arctic Ocean aren't widely perceived as an international shipping route. But global warming is bringing vast change, and Russia, for one, is making an aggressive push to establish top of the world sea lanes.

This year, a Russian ship carrying up to 90,000 metric tons of gas condensate sailed across the Arctic and through the Bering Strait to the Far East. Last year, a Russian ship went the other way, leaving from South Korea with industrial parts. Russia plans up to eight such trips next year, using oil-type tankers with reinforced hulls to break through the ice.

All of which calls for more U.S. Coast Guard facilities and equipment in the far north to secure U.S. claims and prepare for increased human activity, according to Rear Admiral Christopher C. Colvin, who is in charge of all Coast Guard operations in Alaska and surrounding waters.

"We have to have presence up there to protect our claims for the future, sovereignty claims, extended continental shelf claims," Colvin told The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview conducted aboard a C-130 on a lumbering flight to the Arctic Ocean.

Thank you for inviting me to speak at the opening of your 2010 Annual Council. It is a great pleasure to be back again this year.

I'd like to acknowledge your national executive committee and your national president Robin Klitscher. Robin has done an excellent job in his role as president since 2007.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association members for the good work you do in our communities, and on behalf of veterans.

The RSA is a well respected and trusted institution in New Zealand. You play a vital role, advocating for veterans and keeping alive the memory of their sacrifices and their contributions.

Thank you for all that you do.

As Prime Minister I have had the privilege of meeting many veterans and hearing their remarkable stories.

You are an inspiration to us all, and I know I speak on behalf of New Zealanders when I say how much we value the contribution you have made to our peace and our security, our prosperity and our future. 

You will always hold a very special place in our nation's history, and the National-led Government is committed to honouring the sacrifices you have made.  

Today I'd like to talk about some of the Government's initiatives that will be of interest to you.

But first, I'd like to reflect on some commemorative events I've been involved in recently.

Commemorations

In April I went to Turkey for the 95^th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

This was my first trip to Gallipoli, and it was an extremely moving experience.

The Gallipoli campaign is a deeply significant part of our history, and that history comes alive when you stand at places like Quinn's Post and the summit of Chunuk Bair.

In 1915, our forebears in the armed services landed at Gallipoli, thousands of miles from their homes and families.

More than 2700 New Zealanders did not return home. Thousands more were wounded. I cannot begin to imagine the suffering, hardships, and horrors they endured.

It was humbling to be in Gallipoli this year to mark their courage and sacrifice.

I was proud to be accompanied by 22 veterans of subsequent wars as well as a group of 21 young New Zealanders.

The Ministry of Culture and Heritage is currently planning commemorations for 2015 - which will mark the 100^th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

Although it's too soon to provide a definitive list of events, 2015 will be an important commemorative year for New Zealand and many countries around the world.

A major project to mark the First World War centenary will be the development of a memorial precinct around the National War Memorial here in Wellington. This is due to be completed in time for the centenary celebrations.

This year I also had the opportunity to visit Korea for the 60^th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.

I went to the War Memorial in Yongsan, Seoul, for a wreath laying ceremony in tribute to New Zealanders who lost their lives in the conflict.

Like Gallipoli, it was a very moving experience, and I salute those of you who served in that war.

This year New Zealand also marked Merchant Navy Day for the first time.

I hope the annual commemorations on September 3 will continue to raise awareness of the invaluable contribution made by the Merchant Navy in both world wars.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, in which more than 2700 New Zealand soldiers were killed, declared missing in action, or wounded.

More New Zealanders died on that single day in 1917 than in any other day in our history.

This was a terrible loss for our country and we will never forget the incredible sacrifice by these soldiers on the 12^th of October, 93 years ago.

Commemorations are very important for veterans, their families and friends, and for fellow Kiwis.

They help keep the stories and spirit of our valued veterans alive. 

New Zealand Defence Service Medal

Another way to remember and recognise those who have served is by the awarding of medals. 

The RSA has proposed a defence service medal for many years, and National has supported this idea.

We set up a working group last year to consider the medal and its eligibility criteria, under the direction of an independent chair, Neil Walter.

The working group reported back late last year and I am pleased to update you on our progress. 

I am delighted to announce today that the Government has established the New Zealand Defence Service Medal, subject to the Queen's approval.

Cabinet has also approved an additional $3.85 million for the manufacture and distribution of the medal.

The medal is for those who have served in the military for more than three years since World War Two, and those who did compulsory military training or national military service.

This is a fantastic way to give our servicemen and women the recognition they deserve.

It is estimated that there are more than 160,000 people eligible for the medal.

The initial call for applications will be restricted to those aged 50 years and over, but after six to 12 months we will open it up to all others.

In cases where an ex-serviceman or woman is deceased, their family can apply for the medal.

We hope that applications will open early next year, and that the first batch of medals will be delivered soon after.  

Defence policy

Today I'd also like to update you on the Government's defence policy.

As you know, the Government is conducting a defence review.

Our Defence White Paper is on track to be released soon and I want to thank the RSA for your contribution to this.

The White Paper will be a blueprint of the future strategic and defence challenges for New Zealand, and the type of defence force we will need to face them. 

It will make sure that the New Zealand Defence Force has what it needs to protect New Zealanders and New Zealand's interests well beyond 2020.

It's important for us to take the time to make the right decisions.

We've consulted with a lot of people, including the public and a panel of independent experts.

We've also undertaken a comprehensive value for money review because we want to get the most out of our defence budget, and put as many resources as possible into the frontline.

Because it's our troops that matter most of all.

And they are doing a fantastic job at home and abroad.

Just last month we saw the Defence Force step up to help Canterbury after the devastating earthquake.

And at present, New Zealand forces are proudly representing us in Timor Leste, the Middle East, Sinai, Iraq, the Solomon Islands, Korea, Sudan, and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

In May this year I had the privilege of visiting our troops in Afghanistan.

It was good to spend some time with our servicemen and women in Kabul and Bamiyan.

They're doing a great job, helping to build schools and hospitals, protecting the Afghan people, and restoring security to the region.

I enjoyed visiting the bazaar in Bamiyan and meeting some of the locals.

It was clear to me that the people there are very grateful for the support of our troops.

I was also struck by the camaraderie, commitment, and courage on display by our servicemen and women.

You can be really proud of them and the work that they are doing.

They are continuing in the spirit and traditions that you, and those before you, have left.

And I know that they do this wherever they are sent.

In August New Zealand lost a fine young officer in action in Afghanistan, Lieutenant Timothy O'Donnell.

Tim was a man who exemplified the Defence Force's values of courage, commitment, comradeship, and integrity.

His death was a stark reminder that when our servicemen and women leave home to serve overseas it comes with very real risks.

But when I was in Afghanistan I saw first hand that our men and women are making a real difference.

I'd like to take this opportunity to pay my respects to all our troops serving us so proudly in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas.

Veterans' affairs

Now I'll touch on a few of the National-led Government's initiatives that may be of interest to you.

This Government has made good progress in the area of veterans' affairs and I'd like to acknowledge the hard work of Minister Judith Collins.

The Law Commission report into the review of the War Pensions Act was tabled at Parliament in June. It contains 170 recommendations on changes to the war pension scheme.

The Government is considering the report at the moment and will make an announcement in due course. This is a large report and it is important that we work through it carefully and take the time to ensure that we get it right.

You will also be aware of our work to increase engagement between the Government and veterans.

Veterans' Affairs New Zealand started Case Management in the Community last year.

Under this initiative, case managers travel throughout New Zealand to hold events with groups of veterans. There are four a month.

It's a chance for veterans to share their views and get information on what support is available.

I'm pleased to report that the initiative has been very successful so far and has had good attendance.

It's important that veterans can express their views directly to the government.

That is something the RSA has strongly advocated for, and the case management initiative is one way to make sure that happens.

Since your last annual council we have also changed travel concessions for severely disabled war veterans.

Our changes bring fairness and certainty back into the system.

As you will know, Cabinet considered a number of options and decided to make changes which reflected the proposal made by the RSA.

We really appreciate your input into veterans' affairs issues such as this, and we hope this will continue.

Wider government policy

I'd like to finish today by sharing my thoughts on New Zealand's future prospects.

This Government is intent on ensuring this is a country where your children and grandchildren are able to enjoy the quality of life that you and our forebears were prepared to fight for.

To that end, the Government is firmly focused on lifting the long term performance of New Zealand's economy.

That's the only way we will create jobs, boost incomes, raising living standards, and provide the world-class public services New Zealanders deserve.

Our October 1 tax changes are an important part of our plan to grow the economy.

We've cut all personal income tax rates, GST has increased to 15 per cent, and we've boosted New Zealand Super, Working For Families, and benefit payments by 2.02 per cent to compensate for the rise in GST. That includes the Veteran's Pension.

The tax package leaves the vast majority of New Zealanders better off.

It's worth nothing that since mid-2008, thanks to tax cuts and other adjustments, New Zealand Super and Veteran's Pension payments have increased significantly.

The rate for a married couple has risen from $439.80 for each person a fortnight to $511.06 after 1 October. That's an increase of $142.52 a fortnight per couple - a 16 per cent boost in just over two years.

We're also relentlessly focused on providing better public services in areas such as health, education, and law and order.

In health, more patients are getting the elective operations they need than ever before. That includes the likes of hip replacements, cataract removals, and ear, nose, and throat surgery.

In law and order, we are putting victims first, getting tough on criminals, and addressing the drivers of crime. We've put more police on the street, made sentences tougher, and strengthened bail laws.

In education, we've implemented National Standards to make sure our young people are getting the reading, writing, and maths skills they need to succeed.

We're also expanding the successful Limited Service Volunteer programme for 17- to 24-year-olds. This programme is a six-week military-style camp, supported by life skills courses.

We've had fantastic feedback on the LSV programme. Many graduates go on to study, get a job, or join the armed forces.

These initiatives are just a snapshot of the work we are doing to secure a brighter future for New Zealanders.

Ladies and gentlemen.

We will never forget the New Zealanders who gave their lives in the service of their country.

We will never forget the sacrifice that all veterans have made for a peaceful, secure, and prosperous world.

And we will never forget those who are proudly serving us today.

This Government remains committed to honouring your contributions.

Thank you to all members of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association for the invaluable job you do.

I wish you all the best for a successful 2010 Annual Council.

Thank you for inviting me to speak at the opening of your 2010 Annual Council. It is a great pleasure to be back again this year.

I'd like to acknowledge your national executive committee and your national president Robin Klitscher. Robin has done an excellent job in his role as president since 2007.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association members for the good work you do in our communities, and on behalf of veterans.

The RSA is a well respected and trusted institution in New Zealand. You play a vital role, advocating for veterans and keeping alive the memory of their sacrifices and their contributions.

Thank you for all that you do.

As Prime Minister I have had the privilege of meeting many veterans and hearing their remarkable stories.

You are an inspiration to us all, and I know I speak on behalf of New Zealanders when I say how much we value the contribution you have made to our peace and our security, our prosperity and our future. 

You will always hold a very special place in our nation's history, and the National-led Government is committed to honouring the sacrifices you have made.  

Today I'd like to talk about some of the Government's initiatives that will be of interest to you.

But first, I'd like to reflect on some commemorative events I've been involved in recently.

Commemorations

In April I went to Turkey for the 95^th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

This was my first trip to Gallipoli, and it was an extremely moving experience.

The Gallipoli campaign is a deeply significant part of our history, and that history comes alive when you stand at places like Quinn's Post and the summit of Chunuk Bair.

In 1915, our forebears in the armed services landed at Gallipoli, thousands of miles from their homes and families.

More than 2700 New Zealanders did not return home. Thousands more were wounded. I cannot begin to imagine the suffering, hardships, and horrors they endured.

It was humbling to be in Gallipoli this year to mark their courage and sacrifice.

I was proud to be accompanied by 22 veterans of subsequent wars as well as a group of 21 young New Zealanders.

The Ministry of Culture and Heritage is currently planning commemorations for 2015 - which will mark the 100^th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

Although it's too soon to provide a definitive list of events, 2015 will be an important commemorative year for New Zealand and many countries around the world.

A major project to mark the First World War centenary will be the development of a memorial precinct around the National War Memorial here in Wellington. This is due to be completed in time for the centenary celebrations.

This year I also had the opportunity to visit Korea for the 60^th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.

I went to the War Memorial in Yongsan, Seoul, for a wreath laying ceremony in tribute to New Zealanders who lost their lives in the conflict.

Like Gallipoli, it was a very moving experience, and I salute those of you who served in that war.

This year New Zealand also marked Merchant Navy Day for the first time.

I hope the annual commemorations on September 3 will continue to raise awareness of the invaluable contribution made by the Merchant Navy in both world wars.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, in which more than 2700 New Zealand soldiers were killed, declared missing in action, or wounded.

More New Zealanders died on that single day in 1917 than in any other day in our history.

This was a terrible loss for our country and we will never forget the incredible sacrifice by these soldiers on the 12^th of October, 93 years ago.

Commemorations are very important for veterans, their families and friends, and for fellow Kiwis.

They help keep the stories and spirit of our valued veterans alive. 

New Zealand Defence Service Medal

Another way to remember and recognise those who have served is by the awarding of medals. 

The RSA has proposed a defence service medal for many years, and National has supported this idea.

We set up a working group last year to consider the medal and its eligibility criteria, under the direction of an independent chair, Neil Walter.

The working group reported back late last year and I am pleased to update you on our progress. 

I am delighted to announce today that the Government has established the New Zealand Defence Service Medal, subject to the Queen's approval.

Cabinet has also approved an additional $3.85 million for the manufacture and distribution of the medal.

The medal is for those who have served in the military for more than three years since World War Two, and those who did compulsory military training or national military service.

This is a fantastic way to give our servicemen and women the recognition they deserve.

It is estimated that there are more than 160,000 people eligible for the medal.

The initial call for applications will be restricted to those aged 50 years and over, but after six to 12 months we will open it up to all others.

In cases where an ex-serviceman or woman is deceased, their family can apply for the medal.

We hope that applications will open early next year, and that the first batch of medals will be delivered soon after.  

Defence policy

Today I'd also like to update you on the Government's defence policy.

As you know, the Government is conducting a defence review.

Our Defence White Paper is on track to be released soon and I want to thank the RSA for your contribution to this.

The White Paper will be a blueprint of the future strategic and defence challenges for New Zealand, and the type of defence force we will need to face them. 

It will make sure that the New Zealand Defence Force has what it needs to protect New Zealanders and New Zealand's interests well beyond 2020.

It's important for us to take the time to make the right decisions.

We've consulted with a lot of people, including the public and a panel of independent experts.

We've also undertaken a comprehensive value for money review because we want to get the most out of our defence budget, and put as many resources as possible into the frontline.

Because it's our troops that matter most of all.

And they are doing a fantastic job at home and abroad.

Just last month we saw the Defence Force step up to help Canterbury after the devastating earthquake.

And at present, New Zealand forces are proudly representing us in Timor Leste, the Middle East, Sinai, Iraq, the Solomon Islands, Korea, Sudan, and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

In May this year I had the privilege of visiting our troops in Afghanistan.

It was good to spend some time with our servicemen and women in Kabul and Bamiyan.

They're doing a great job, helping to build schools and hospitals, protecting the Afghan people, and restoring security to the region.

I enjoyed visiting the bazaar in Bamiyan and meeting some of the locals.

It was clear to me that the people there are very grateful for the support of our troops.

I was also struck by the camaraderie, commitment, and courage on display by our servicemen and women.

You can be really proud of them and the work that they are doing.

They are continuing in the spirit and traditions that you, and those before you, have left.

And I know that they do this wherever they are sent.

In August New Zealand lost a fine young officer in action in Afghanistan, Lieutenant Timothy O'Donnell.

Tim was a man who exemplified the Defence Force's values of courage, commitment, comradeship, and integrity.

His death was a stark reminder that when our servicemen and women leave home to serve overseas it comes with very real risks.

But when I was in Afghanistan I saw first hand that our men and women are making a real difference.

I'd like to take this opportunity to pay my respects to all our troops serving us so proudly in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas.

Veterans' affairs

Now I'll touch on a few of the National-led Government's initiatives that may be of interest to you.

This Government has made good progress in the area of veterans' affairs and I'd like to acknowledge the hard work of Minister Judith Collins.

The Law Commission report into the review of the War Pensions Act was tabled at Parliament in June. It contains 170 recommendations on changes to the war pension scheme.

The Government is considering the report at the moment and will make an announcement in due course. This is a large report and it is important that we work through it carefully and take the time to ensure that we get it right.

You will also be aware of our work to increase engagement between the Government and veterans.

Veterans' Affairs New Zealand started Case Management in the Community last year.

Under this initiative, case managers travel throughout New Zealand to hold events with groups of veterans. There are four a month.

It's a chance for veterans to share their views and get information on what support is available.

I'm pleased to report that the initiative has been very successful so far and has had good attendance.

It's important that veterans can express their views directly to the government.

That is something the RSA has strongly advocated for, and the case management initiative is one way to make sure that happens.

Since your last annual council we have also changed travel concessions for severely disabled war veterans.

Our changes bring fairness and certainty back into the system.

As you will know, Cabinet considered a number of options and decided to make changes which reflected the proposal made by the RSA.

We really appreciate your input into veterans' affairs issues such as this, and we hope this will continue.

Wider government policy

I'd like to finish today by sharing my thoughts on New Zealand's future prospects.

This Government is intent on ensuring this is a country where your children and grandchildren are able to enjoy the quality of life that you and our forebears were prepared to fight for.

To that end, the Government is firmly focused on lifting the long term performance of New Zealand's economy.

That's the only way we will create jobs, boost incomes, raising living standards, and provide the world-class public services New Zealanders deserve.

Our October 1 tax changes are an important part of our plan to grow the economy.

We've cut all personal income tax rates, GST has increased to 15 per cent, and we've boosted New Zealand Super, Working For Families, and benefit payments by 2.02 per cent to compensate for the rise in GST. That includes the Veteran's Pension.

The tax package leaves the vast majority of New Zealanders better off.

It's worth nothing that since mid-2008, thanks to tax cuts and other adjustments, New Zealand Super and Veteran's Pension payments have increased significantly.

The rate for a married couple has risen from $439.80 for each person a fortnight to $511.06 after 1 October. That's an increase of $142.52 a fortnight per couple - a 16 per cent boost in just over two years.

We're also relentlessly focused on providing better public services in areas such as health, education, and law and order.

In health, more patients are getting the elective operations they need than ever before. That includes the likes of hip replacements, cataract removals, and ear, nose, and throat surgery.

In law and order, we are putting victims first, getting tough on criminals, and addressing the drivers of crime. We've put more police on the street, made sentences tougher, and strengthened bail laws.

In education, we've implemented National Standards to make sure our young people are getting the reading, writing, and maths skills they need to succeed.

We're also expanding the successful Limited Service Volunteer programme for 17- to 24-year-olds. This programme is a six-week military-style camp, supported by life skills courses.

We've had fantastic feedback on the LSV programme. Many graduates go on to study, get a job, or join the armed forces.

These initiatives are just a snapshot of the work we are doing to secure a brighter future for New Zealanders.

Ladies and gentlemen.

We will never forget the New Zealanders who gave their lives in the service of their country.

We will never forget the sacrifice that all veterans have made for a peaceful, secure, and prosperous world.

And we will never forget those who are proudly serving us today.

This Government remains committed to honouring your contributions.

Thank you to all members of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association for the invaluable job you do.

I wish you all the best for a successful 2010 Annual Council.

Simple handshake as flags are lowered and raised in town that claimed the lives of more than 100 British troops

The handover of control of the district where more British blood has been shed than anywhere else in Afghanistan was kept low-key. No journalist was on hand to record the simple handshake and the lowering and raising of flags that marked the assumption of US command in a town that became a death trap for British soldiers.

One British military spokesman even described the handover of the Helmand district of Sangin as a relatively "private affair" between 40 Commando Royal Marines and the US marine corps.

But if in military terms the reallocation of a few Nato bases was just a small "tactical" matter it was an immense turning point for the British mission in Helmand, and a moment of relief as well as regret.

Of the 337 deaths of British service personnel in Afghanistan since 2001, nearly a third – 106 – happened in Sangin.

Military commanders today rebuffed suggestions that British troops had failed in their mission.

However, they joined with independent analysts in criticising some of the thinking behind the deployment.

"They were so stretched before it was ridiculous," Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute, said. "We have belief in the expertise of British soldiers, but in a counter-insurgency numbers counts as much as expertise."

Both military commanders and ministers had been complacent, Clarke suggested.

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Helmand, said: "We should have gone in with much greater strength from the very beginning."

Like the town of Musa Qala and the Kajaki Dam to the north, two districts that British troops handed over to the US marines earlier this year, Sangin, a town of about 20,000 people, is an important vital supply route for the Taliban.

Sangin is also a place with no clear tribal loyalties and where it has been particularly difficult to get trustworthy national Afghan police forces to patrol alongside British soldiers. British troops were first deployed in 2006 as part of a policy of creating "inkspots", the idea being they would establish themselves in a town centre and gradually expand outwards.

It was a policy pushed by the Afghan government anxious to get British soldiers to fight the insurgency in key districts, and one eagerly pursued by overconfident British officers.

But after heavy casualties, President Barack Obama agreed last year to send thousands more American soldiers to southern Afghanistan.

As a result there are now twice as many US troops in Helmand as there are British, whose 9,500 troops are concentrating on a much smaller area of central Helmand.

"The handover of Sangin by UK forces represents sound military rationale," Liam Fox, the defence secretary, said today. "The level of sacrifice has been high and we should never forget the many brave troops who have lost their lives in the pursuit of success in an international mission rooted firmly in our own national security in the UK."

Ian Sadler, whose son Jack was killed when a landmine exploded under his army Land Rover near Sangin in 2007, said he was glad troops were getting out. "I think it is a shame that while our soldiers were in Sangin they did not have the best vehicles that could have been provided and I still don't think there's enough helicopters."

Colonel Stuart Tootal, former commander of 3 Para, the first battle group sent into Sangin, said: "We can't ignore the emotion the British are going to attach to Sangin.

"My own battle group went in there four years ago and half our casualties were lost in Sangin."

Lieutenant Colonel Paul James, the commander of 40 Commando, said: "It's not going to be British forces who deliver success in Sangin and it's not going to be American forces. It's not going to be anyone else other than the Afghans themselves." The Ministry of Defence said progress was being made in Sangin, with more than 850 shops trading in its bazaar, twice as many as summer last year, and grain being distributed to promote the production of alternatives to narcotics. Afghan medics were also being trained at a new health clinic to treat 300 patients a week.

A British soldier killed in Afghanistan on Saturday was named by the MoD today as Trooper Andrew Howarth, of The Queen's Royal Lancers.

He died alongside a soldier from the Royal Engineers in an explosion in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand.

British troops paid a heavy price for misguided military strategy in the most dangerous area of Afghanstan

Nato commanders have acknowledged Sangin, where more than 100 British troops were killed, as the most dangerous place in Afghanistan – and Britain's role there was ill-conceived from the start.

Like the town of Musa Qala and the Kajaki dam, to the north, which British troops left to US stewardship earlier this year, Sangin has long been prized territory for the Taliban. It is an important commercial crossroads, especially for the opium trade, and has no coherent tribal structure. This means it is difficult to get trustworthy national Afghan police forces to patrol alongside British soldiers.

British troops were deployed there in 2006 as part of a misguided policy of creating "inkspots", the idea being that they would establish themselves in a district and gradually expand outwards. It was a policy pushed by an Afghan government anxious to get British soldiers to fight the insurgency in key areas, and overconfident British officers eagerly pursued it.

British troops were too thinly spread over too many areas. Defence chiefs understood this, though how hard they pressed the point with ministers in the Labour government remains unclear. The issue was addressed seriously only when President Obama finally agreed last year to send thousands more US troops to southern Afghanistan. As a result, there are more than twice as many US troops as British in Helmand. The 9,500 remaining UK troops are now concentrating on a much smaller area of central Helmand.

"The handover of Sangin by UK forces represents sound military rationale," Liam Fox, the defence secretary, said. Responding to questions now raised - and not least by British troops - about the departure from Sangin, Fox added: "The level of sacrifice has been high, and we should never forget the many brave troops who have lost their lives in the pursuit of success in an international mission rooted firmly in our own national security in the UK."

The Ministry of Defence says a new Afghan governor and community leaders are making progress in Sangin, where it says more than 850 shops are trading in the bazaar - twice as many as in summer last year.

Improvements to route 611, from central Helmand through Sangin to Kajaki, has increased access to agricultural land and markets. Grain is being distributed to promote the production of legal alternatives to narcotics, and trained Afghan medics at a new health clinic are treating 300 patients a week.

British troops have no doubt achieved much in Sangin. But they have done so at a high cost and in a way that raises the questions of why more was not done much sooner - and whether the Taliban will yet return.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 16 September 2010 – Designed to increase investment in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for Afghan schools, a new Call to Action has been jointly issued by the government's Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Ministry of Public Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. Its intent is to engage policy makers at all levels, involve multiple stakeholders and monitor WASH in schools.

A Japanese journalist who was abducted by apparent Taliban militants in Afghanistan five months ago has been freed by his captors, reports said Sunday.

Associated Press

...

A disturbing New York Times article published this week brings to light a very scary reminder that the plight of feminism isn't over yet: poison gas attacks targeting all-girls schools in Afghanistan. According to an Afghan official, said attacks have been going on for two years, with two attacks occurring in the past week.
 
According to the article "The spokesman, Dr. Kargar Norughli, said his ministry and the World Health ...

Mail Online: Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in an apparent mass poisoning showed traces of toxic chemicals found in nerve gas, the Health Ministry said today. Suspicion has fallen on the Taliban, the hard-line Islamist militia that opposes education for women and prohibited girls from going to school before it was ousted in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said.

Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.

Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.

Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.

Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.



Pesticide - Herbicide - Nerve agent - Afghanistan - Business

Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.



Pesticide - Herbicide - Nerve agent - Afghanistan - Business

Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.

From the New York Times: Blood tests have confirmed that a mysterious series of cases of mass sickness at girls’ schools across the country over the last two years were caused by a powerful poison gas, an Afghan official said Tuesday. … The spokesman, Dr. Kargar Norughli, said his ministry and the World Health Organization [...]

The age of easy, cheap oil maybe getting over slowly

The Arctic is thought to hold the world’s largest reserves of untapped oil and gas, with as much as a fifth of remaining undiscovered oil located there. It is also one of the most remote and extreme regions on the planet. As per a 2008 US Geological Survey report, the Arctic Circle could hold estimated 90 billion barrels of recoverable oil. It also said the Arctic holds around 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas and 20 percent of the undiscovered natural gas liquids.

But with the specter of dwindling energy resources haunting some, exploiting these new “frontier” resources is becoming increasingly apparent. Martin Pratt, director of research at IBRU underlined that “for any state, control over hydrocarbons is significant as other resources dwindle.”

Deepwater Horizon fears resurface as rigs probe for oil under Arctic ice

In a few days' time, officials at the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum in Greenland will reveal the winners of a new round of licences to drill for oil and gas in its waters. The announcement promises to be explosive.

Among those waiting are most of the world's leading oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Shell and Norway's StatOil. Watching with equal attention will be the planet's leading green groups, who they have pledged to block every effort to drill in the Arctic.

Natural Gas Supply on the Rise

Though the ongoing surge in the commodity’s demand (on account of hot weather) has erased a hefty surplus over last year’s inventory level, following a high of 101 Bcf for the week ending April 23, the specter of a continued glut in domestic gas supplies still exists, with storage levels remaining 6.2% above their five-year average. In fact, the latest build, though in line with market expectations, has send natural gas inventories above the 3 Tcf mark for only the second time since January 1, 2010.

Further pressurizing the commodity is the rapid rise in the number of drilling rigs working in the U.S. (the natural gas rig count has climbed 48% from the seven-year low reached last July) that signals a supply glut later this year in the face of consumer worries regarding high unemployment and economic recovery.

Venezuela's Chavez says oil price "stabilized"

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday that oil prices were stabilizing, giving his South American OPEC member nation's crude an average barrel price of nearly $70 this year.

"The price of oil recovered and it's more or less stabilized," he said in comments carried live on TV.

Iraq says it may abide by OPEC quotas in 2-3 years

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's oil minister says Baghdad will consider abiding by OPEC quotas once its crude production increases to at least 4 million barrels a day in two to three years.

Hussain al-Shahristani says there is no rush to discuss quotas with other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries while Iraq's production level remains at the current 2.5 million barrels a day.

Gulf Navigation Seeks to Acquire Oil Tankers as Economy Recovers, CEO Says

oil-tanker owner, is seeking to buy new crude carriers as an improving global economy boosts shipping volumes, the company’s chief executive officer said.

Gulf Navigation may acquire two very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, this year, Per Wistoft said in an interview Aug. 26. Oil output that’s set to rise by 2011 will bring enough added crude supply onto the market to necessitate 45 more VLCCs, Wistoft said in Dubai.

Kuwait posts $22.4 billion budget surplus

KUWAIT CITY — OPEC member Kuwait posted a budget surplus of 22.4 billion dollars in the past fiscal year on the back of strong oil revenues, an economic report said on Sunday, citing official figures.

It is the third largest windfall in the Gulf state’s history and its 11th consecutive year of budget surpluses, which have allowed Kuwait to accumulate 145 billion dollars in public revenues, according to AFP calculations based on official figures.

Qatar July Consumer Prices Decline 2.9% as Housing Costs, Fuel Prices Drop

Qatari consumer prices fell in July for the seventh consecutive month this year on lower housing and fuel costs in the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.

Consumer prices declined 2.9 percent in July, compared with a 2.8 percent fall in June, the Qatar Statistics Authority said on its website today. Rent, fuel and energy prices declined 15.3 percent in July, compared with the same month last year, the data showed.

Putin hails China ties at oil pipeline completion

(Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Sunday opened a pipeline branch to carry Siberian oil to China and hailed Russia's energy business in China as an important counterweight to its traditional European clients.

Brazil Needs Billions to Drill Really Deep

Brazil has a sunken-treasure problem. The discovery three years ago of a huge offshore stash of oil unleashed a gusher of nationalist euphoria. At somewhere between 9 billion and 15 billion barrels, it was the largest find in the Western Hemisphere in more than a quarter century. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva hailed the find as a ticket to Brazil’s “second independence,” and called on the country’s legislators to tighten state control over the oil industry.

Iraq says Kurd gas deal with Germany's RWE illegal

(Reuters) - Iraq's Oil Ministry said on Sunday the agreement Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE) signed with the Kurdish Regional Government, which included possible future gas supply for the Nabucco pipeline project, is illegal.

Alaskans sound off on Arctic offshore drilling

ANCHORAGE - Alaska's U.S. senators urged the Obama administration Thursday to get Arctic Ocean offshore petroleum development back on track.

The Alaskans who live closest to the proposed drilling rigs said federal regulators have not done enough to ensure the industry protects the environment and prepares for a catastrophic spill.

If drilling moratorium drags on it could drain Gulf of Mexico activity, expert says

Only a few rigs have left the Gulf of Mexico because of the federal deepwater drilling moratorium, but the directive could dampen long-term activity in the Gulf if it drags on, a senior policy adviser at the American Petroleum Institute said last week.

BP Internal Report Said to Find Engineers Misread Gulf Well Test Results

BP Plc’s internal investigation of the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster found company engineers misinterpreted pressure data that indicated a blowout was imminent, according to a person familiar with the report.

BP managers aboard the Transocean Ltd.-owned rig misread a test of the Macondo well’s stability on April 20 and began replacing drilling fluid, which is heavier than oil and natural gas, with seawater, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report’s findings haven’t been publicly released.

On Louisiana coast, residents bemoan a lost summer

(Reuters) - On a typical summer weekend in Grand Isle, Louisiana, Frank Besson's small gift shop would be filled with customers picking up a souvenir as they headed back home from a weekend visit to the beach.

But this summer, business at the Nez Coupe is down about 95 percent, Besson said, as most of this coastal community's beaches remain shut. Motels are filled with workers hired by BP Plc to clean up its oil spill, not tourists.

Energy Holdings of Billionaires

That's Buffett, Icahn, and Paulson — three of the most legendary investors in the game.

But do you know what they all have in common besides being multi-billionaires?

They each added to energy positions in the last quarter.

New Zealand - Greens: Govt ignoring imminent oil crunch

The Government is ignoring international warnings of an imminent oil supply crunch and price spike, the Green Party says.

Co-leader Russel Norman revealed today he had been asking the Government to open a formal inquiry into the impact of these problems but had been rebuffed.

Study: Drinking water polluted by coal-ash dump sites

A new study identifies 39 additional coal-ash dump sites in 21 states that pollute drinking water with arsenic, lead and other heavy metals.

The analysis comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begins regional hearings on whether to regulate coal ash waste from coal-fired power plants. It will hold the first of seven hearings Monday in Arlington, Va. A public comment period ends Nov. 19.

China coal drive will not end health risks: report

(Reuters) - China's drive to promote clean coal technology is unlikely to reduce significantly the health risks of extracting what remains the dirtiest of fossil fuels, environmental group Greenpeace said.

A hopeless cause without nuclear power

HONG KONG, PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES — Ask the average environmentally concerned person how our power generators will achieve the tough emissions reductions needed to play their part in cutting global warming, and you will probably get a simple, clear answer: wind and solar.

Recent research by the International Energy Agency shows that nearly half of interviewees worldwide think that wind and solar power will be the two main sources of electricity generation by 2040. There is just one problem: That idea is naive, overoptimistic and almost certainly mistaken. Quite literally, it is "hot air."

India Risks Nuclear Isolation With Break From Chernobyl Accord

India’s push to end a three-decade ban on buying nuclear equipment from abroad may founder on laws passed by its own parliament.

Jordan to Sign Nuclear Cooperation Deal With Japan, Jordan Times Reports

Jordan and Japan are due to sign a nuclear cooperation treaty to allow Japanese companies to export atomic technology to the Middle Eastern kingdom, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Jaafar Hassan was cited as saying by the Jordan Times.

Ethanol Futures Soar to Seven-Month High in U.S. on Increased Corn Demand

Ethanol futures soared to a seven- month high in Chicago as corn advanced after a report showed increased demand for U.S. exports.

7 U.S. troops killed in Afghan weekend attacks

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Seven U.S. troops have died in weekend attacks in Afghanistan's embattled southern and eastern regions, while officials found the bodies Sunday of five kidnapped campaign workers for a female candidate in the western province of Herat.

Two servicemen died in bombings Sunday in southern Afghanistan, while two others were killed in a bomb attack in the south on Saturday and three in fighting in the east the same day, NATO said. Their identities and other details were being withheld until relatives could be notified.

Good Companies Guide: easing the planet's growing pains will help business to profit

In the face of a looming environmental and demographic crisis, weak companies will go to the wall. Only those that address the needs of a rapidly changing world will prosper.

Earth’s response to human stresses on the natural landscape

Globally the supply of phosphorus is dwindling. Phosphorus is an intrinsic part of our DNA. We add phosphorus-rich fertilizers to increase world food production, but much washes off into rivers and lakes, where it feeds excessive growth of weeds and algae and removes dissolved oxygen. When animal manure is applied directly to fields, rain also washes off some phosphorus that pollutes streams. Phosphorus is generally not recovered from human waste water treatment, so a “peak phosphorus” crisis is approaching.

Like the peak oil crisis, it is double-edged. We have a growing population dependent on finite resources — phosphorus and food, oil and energy — and growing waste problems affecting the natural environment, including fresh water pollution and atmospheric greenhouse gas pollution. Yet in both cases, we are afraid to invest in non-polluting sustainable solutions, because they are costly and require structural changes in society.

A Sticky Climate Protest

Climate change protest is becoming a sticky business in Britain.

Last Thursday, hundreds of activists with Climate Camp, a grass-roots protest group, descended on the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland to protest the bank’s financing of carbon-intensive energy projects like mining and processing of Canada’s tar sands into oil.

After thousands of years, Canada's 'majestic' ice shelves disintegrating

Canada is home to plenty of ice, but the ancient, undulating ice shelves on the north coast of Ellesmere Island are something special.

For starters, the shelves are "beautiful landscapes," says earth scientist John England, at the University of Alberta, who considers the "majestic" shelves in Canada's Arctic a national treasure.

They are also unique in the Northern Hemisphere and home to the oldest sea ice in the northern half of the planet, says England, noting the shelves are 3,000 to 5,500 years old.

And they are disintegrating. A century ago, they covered almost 10,000 square kilometres, an area one and half times the size of Prince Edward Island.

U.S. and Afghan troops repelled attackers wearing American uniforms and suicide vests in a pair of simultaneous assaults on NATO bases near the Pakistani border, including one where seven CIA employees died in a suicide attack last year.

Associated Press

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Shooting of two officers and translator by their driver in Badghis province was premeditated, says interior minister

A driver for the Spanish police in Afghanistan opened fire during a training exercise today, killing two Spanish officers and their translator. The incident appeared to be the latest in a series of attacks by infiltrators linked to the insurgency, officials said.

The assailant was shot dead by Spanish officers who were conducting the course at their base in Badghis province, says Spanish interior minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba.

"I can't say if the Taliban were behind this or not," said Pérez Rubalcaba. "What is clear is that it was a premeditated attack. The person who opened fire knew exactly what he was doing. Therefore, this was a terrorist attack."

Pérez Rubalcaba said the gunman was the longtime driver of one of the victims and not actually a policeman himself. The man had worked with the Spanish police unit since it arrived in Afghanistan five months ago, he added.

The officers, both aged 33, were members of the Civil Guard, a paramilitary unit under the command of the interior ministry. Their translator was a Spanish citizen of Iranian origin, the ministry said.

Following the shooting hundreds gathered outside the Spanish base, chanting religious slogans and hurling stones. The protesters tore down fences around the base and started fires. Shots were also fired.

Provincial health director Abdul Aziz Tariq said 25 people were wounded in the protest, with two in a critical condition. Seven of those hospitalised were under 18 years old, but their wounds were not life-threatening.

Nato said it was monitoring the protests. "According to our reports, soldiers did not open fire on civilians," said spokesman James P Judge.

A government spokesman, Sharafuddin Majidi, said shots had been fired from the base and towards it. He claimed people in the crowd appeared to have deliberately incited the violence, but that order was restored by mid-afternoon.

Shootings by Afghans against coalition partners are a growing concern for foreign forces in Afghanistan. Two US civilians and two soldiers were killed last month when an Afghan soldier who trained others at a base outside Mazar-e-Sharif opened fire during a weapons exercise.

The falling of the rain

As flood waters inundated dozens more villages in Pakistan's Sindh province, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari defended his government's response to the flooding, saying that the criticism over his trip to Europe is actually a sign of how much he is "wanted" at home (Geo, Dawn, ET, AP, Tel, Independent, Guardian, AP, McClatchy). Zardari also said recovery from the flooding will take at least three years. The Pakistani government has reportedly decided to issue three-month "relief work" visas to foreign aid workers, with the exception of Indians and Israelis (The News, Hindu). The government announced that it will give 20,000 rupees ($230) to every family affected by the floods, and a Pakistani official said that this week's full moon could increase the risk of more flooding in Sindh (AP, AFP). [[BREAK]]

Pakistan's prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, is set to hold talks today with senior doctors, health ministry officials, U.N. representatives, and NGOs to discuss the health implications of the flooding, which has put millions at risk for diseases like cholera (BBC, AP). Talks are underway between Pakistan and the IMF as Pakistan seeks to loosen the terms of the $11.3 billion lending program (FT). The BBC is featuring a map of areas affected by the floods, and the Post observes how $18 billion in U.S. civilian and military aid to Pakistan over nine years has not led to increased U.S. popularity there (BBC, Post).

Shot down

The brother of a national assembly member and senior leader in the Awami National Party, the secular Pashtun nationalist group, was killed in Karachi by unknown gunmen yesterday (Dawn, Daily Times, ET, The News). In addition to yesterday's attacks in Kurram and South Waziristan, a bomb in a cart exploded on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing the leader of a local anti-Taliban militia and two others, and wounding three children (AJE, Geo, LAT). In the northern tribal area of Bajaur, one Pakistani paramilitary soldier was killed when dozens of militants reportedly attacked security checkposts in the area yesterday (Daily Times).

The 53rd reported drone strike this year killed as many as 20 people, including up to seven civilians, and fighters in the Afghan Taliban and/or Haqqani network yesterday just outside the main town of North Waziristan (Reuters, Geo, Dawn/AFP, CNN, AJE, Daily Times, AP). There have now been as many drone strikes reported so far in 2010 as there were in 2009 (NAF).

The high-wire act

The commanding general of NATO's training mission for Afghan security forces Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV said yesterday that Afghanistan's police and army forces won't reach their full capacity until October 2011, three months after the Obama administration's scheduled deadline for the start of U.S. withdrawal, because of ongoing problems with illiteracy, desertion, and resignations (NYT, AP, AFP, Times, Reuters). The recruitment goals for the Afghan Army and police by October 2011 are 171,600 and 134,000 respectively; currently there are 134,000 members of the army and 115,500 police officers.

Siobhan Gorman has today's must-read examining how the CIA's station chief in Kabul, a former Marine in his 50s known by his nickname of "Spider," is playing the role of "security blanket" to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, according to one of Spider's former colleagues (WSJ). The relationship between Karzai and the station chief dates to before the start of the Afghan war, and in December 2001, the chief reportedly saved Karzai's life by shielding him from an accidental bomb drop on a meeting with other tribal leaders.

An Afghan official blamed the U.S. and foreign contractors for Afghanistan's endemic corruption, saying they have created an "economic mafia" and calling on the international community to work with the Afghan government to address graft (NYT, Wash Post). The two Western-backed anti-corruption agencies in Afghanistan have not taken any action against Karzai's family, despite widespread allegations of its involvement in corruption.

Tear down or move these walls

Afghan officials and residents of the district of Tala Wabarfak in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan have accused NATO of killing as many as eight civilians during an early morning raid (NYT, AFP, Pajhwok, AP). Heavy fighting has been reported in Nimroz and Uruzgan, and coalition forces reportedly killed up to 40 Taliban fighters east of Kabul (AP). In Nangarhar, a bomb reportedly targeting a district police chief injured six (Pajhwok). In spite of ongoing insecurity, Karzai ordered the 10 foot tall blast walls that encircle various government buildings, embassies, banks, and other potential targets in the Afghan capital to be taken down or moved, in order to improve traffic flow in the city (AP).

The Post reports that a militant campaign of violence and intimidation ahead of next month's Afghan parliamentary elections is cowing candidates and voters alike, with authorities announcing that 938 of the country's 6,835 polling centers will be closed on voting day, September 18, because of security concerns (Post). "I'm not going to vote. I can't risk my life for nothing," a shopkeeper in Kandahar told the AP (AP).

Museum of Afghan Archaeology

Archaeologists have found as many as 42 artifacts from Buddhist temples, some dating back to the second century, while excavating near Aynak in central Logar, where China is mining copper ore (Pajhwok). The finds include coins, statues, frescoes, and beads.

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Motorola, CARE and CURE International today announced that the Motorola Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Motorola, is donating funds totaling $200,000 to the two aid organizations to support education and healthcare programs in Afghanistan. CARE received a $100,000 grant from the Motorola Foundation to support the Community-Based Education for Girls Project in Afghanistan. The project began in 2006 and seeks to expand sustainable access to quality secondary education for rural girls in Khost province through community-managed schools. Teaching kits, student-teaching internships and access to certificate programs from the Ministry of Education will empower students in rural areas to secure jobs in teaching and health education after graduation. Schoolteachers and administrators also will be trained to self-manage the schools and employ community-based education. With support from the Ministry of Education and its local departments, the project provides rural Afghan girls an opportunity to complete secondary schooling for the first time. CURE International received a $100,000 grant from the Motorola Foundation to support the CURE International Family Medicine Residency Program, the first of its kind in Afghanistan. This three-year program educates Afghan doctors in a variety of medical disciplines such as internal medicine, pediatrics, general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and orthopedics. CURE's family medicine residency program, which is officially recognized by the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, provides both short- and long-term benefits to an Afghan healthcare system that is in dire need of doctors. According to the World Health Organization, there are only two doctors per 10,000 people in Afghanistan, compared to 26 doctors per 10,000 people in the United States. "Motorola is committed to supporting inspiring and worthwhile organizations like CARE and CURE International," said Eileen Sweeney, director of the Motorola Foundation. "We are proud to assist these valuable programs that make such a difference for the people and communities of Afghanistan." According to Marcela Hahn, executive director of CARE's Strategic Partnerships and Alliances, "A major constraint in the educational system in Afghanistan is a shortage of quality secondary schools in rural areas. This generous grant from Motorola Foundation will provide an opportunity for girls living in rural areas to advance beyond 6th grade, complete secondary school and gain valuable jobs in their local communities." "We are very grateful for this generous grant from the Motorola Foundation," said Dr. Scott Harrison, CURE International's president and CEO. "One of the greatest challenges facing the Afghan healthcare system is the lack of skilled doctors. Training represents a major part of the solution. For the past eight years, CURE International has invested heavily in the training of Afghan medical professionals with initiatives like this family medicine residency program. Through this grant from the Motorola Foundation, our residents will acquire the skills that will enable them to deliver life-saving medical care to thousands of Afghans." About the Motorola Foundation The Motorola Foundation is the charitable and philanthropic arm of Motorola. With employees located around the globe, Motorola seeks to benefit the communities where it operates. The company achieves this by making strategic grants, forging strong community partnerships, fostering innovation and engaging stakeholders. Motorola Foundation focuses its funding on education, especially science, technology, engineering and math programming. For more information, on Motorola Corporate and Foundation giving, visit: www.motorola.com/giving. About Motorola Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on advancing the way the world connects. From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to mobile and wireline digital communication devices that provide compelling experiences, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $22 billion in 2009. For more information, please visit www.motorola.com. About CARE CARE fights root causes of poverty in the world's poorest communities. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. In 72 countries, women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve education, health and economic opportunity. Last year, CARE and our partners helped more than 59 million people effect real, positive changes in their lives. For more information, go to: www.care.org. About CURE International CURE International is a nonprofit organization that transforms the lives of children and their families in the developing world through medical and spiritual healing. Since 1998, it has treated more than 1.1 million patients and performed more than 78,000 life-changing surgeries. For more information, go to: www.cure.org.

Civilian war deaths in the first seven months of 2010 rose by six percent over the same period last year, Afghanistan's human rights commission said Sunday. The modest increase suggested that U.S. and NATO efforts to hold down civilian casualties were having some success.

Also Sunday, the bodies of 10 members of a medical team — six Americans, two Afghans, one German and a Briton — were flown to Kabul from the northern province of Badakhshan, where they were gunned down three days ago at the end of a humanitarian mission. The Taliban claimed responsibility and accused the group of spying and seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity.

The Taliban and their allies were responsible for 68 percent of the at least 1,325 civilian deaths recorded by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, the organization said in a report. Twenty-three percent were ascribed to NATO or Afghan government forces.

Responsibility for the remaining nine percent could not be determined because they occurred in areas that were too dangerous for a thorough investigation, the commission said.

NATO and Afghan government forces have accelerated military operations in the Taliban's southern heartland, a move that brought a sharp increase in allied casualties. On Sunday, three U.S. troops died in two roadside bombings in the south, increasing to six the number of Americans who have died so far in Afghanistan this month. NATO did not disclose the details of the deaths.

Last month a record 66 American troops were killed, compared with 44 in July last year. A record total of 103 international troops, including Americans, died in June, more than triple the figure for the same month in 2009.

The top U.S. and NATO commander, Gen. David Petraeus, has maintained strict curbs on air power and heavy weapons implemented last year by his predecessor, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Those measures have tamped down the number of civilian deaths but have raised complaints from the ranks that they put soldiers' lives at risk and give an advantage to the Taliban.

Still, a daily drumbeat of violence continues. Three Afghan civilians were killed by insurgent attacks or bombs Saturday, while five NATO service members — three Americans and two Danes — were killed the same day, the military coalition said.

Most of this year's civilian deaths occurred in the Taliban's southern heartland with bombs the biggest single killer, the commission said.

Insurgent bombs were responsible for 425 civilian deaths, with more than 200 of them in June and July. Fighting in Afghanistan traditionally increases during summer months.

Another 122 people were killed in suicide attacks and 197 either directly assassinated or caught in the crossfire of assassination attempts, according to the report.

In the first seven months of 2009, 1,252 civilians were killed — 67 percent of them by insurgents and 23 percent by government-allied forces, the group said.

The U.N. is expected to release its own figures on civilian casualties for the first six months of the year in coming days. In all of 2009, at least 2,412 Afghan civilians were killed in fighting, according to the U.N. That was up 14 percent from 2008.

The bodies of the assassinated medical team, which included three women, were returned to Kabul aboard helicopters of the Afghan counternarcotics agency. The families of the six Americans were formally notified of their deaths after U.S. officials confirmed their identities, said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the embassy.

Names of most of the foreigners have not been released by officials.

Officials have said the victims included team leader Tom Little, an optometrist from Delmar, New York, who had lived in Afghanistan for about 30 years, and Dr. Karen Woo, who gave up a job in a private clinic in London to do humanitarian work in Afghanistan.

The team was attacked while returning to Kabul after a two-week mission in the remote Parun valley of Nuristan province about 160 miles (260 kilometers) north of Kabul. The bullet-riddled bodies were found Friday near three four-wheeled drive vehicles in a wooded area just off the main road through a narrow valley in the Kuran Wa Munjan district of Badakhshan.

The gunmen spared an Afghan driver who told police he recited verses from the Islamic holy book the Quran as he begged for his life.

The driver was being questioned by police in Kabul on Sunday, officials said.

"As he is the key witness in the investigation, his explanation and information are very important," said Zemeri Bashary, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. Bashary said they would not be able to say whether the driver was a suspect until the investigation had gotten further.

The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan decried the killings.

"The Taliban has called this group of medical aid workers spies and proselytizers. They were no such thing. These were selfless volunteers who devoted themselves to providing free and much-needed health care to Afghans in the most remote and difficult parts of your country," Karl Eikenberry said in a statement.

Eikenberry said it was not clear if the Taliban were behind the killings.

"We do not know whether they are responsible or simply taking credit for the cowardly and despicable acts of others," he said.

In northern Kunduz province, meanwhile, gunmen attacked the home of a local police commander, killing the commander, a bodyguard and five other people who were guests at his house, according to provincial government chief Abdul Rahman Aqtash.

In the west, a suicide car bomber killed two police officers Sunday outside Herat city when he struck their vehicle on the road, according to Raouf Ahmadi, a police spokesman. And in southern Kandahar province, another police officer died when a minibus carrying officers back from training hit a bomb, provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayubi said.

Associated Press

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Organized chaos

A wave of violence swept through Karachi yesterday, and at least 11 people have been killed by targeted gunfire in different parts of the city (Geo, Dawn, Dawn, ET). Police believe the killings, which touched off a series of riots, were linked to fighting between two political parties, the Punjabi-Pashtun Ittehad (PPI) and the Awami National Party (ET).

The Lahore High Court yesterday took responsibility for the investigation of the shooting deaths of two Christian brothers in the city of Faisalabad Monday, ordering the regional chief of police to appear before the court today with an update on the case (ET, Daily Times, Dawn). The killings occurred while the men were in police custody for allegedly writing a "blasphemous pamphlet" and sparked riots in Christian neighborhoods Faisalabad.

[[BREAK]]

Elsewhere, Pakistani authorities claim to have killed 25 militants in clashes in Orakzai agency (Dawn). According to these authorities, Pakistani security forces have killed 1,500 militants in the last three months; many remaining fighters are fleeing to nearby Kurram.

Departure and expansion

The head of Pakistan's National Counterterrorism Authority, Tariq Pervez, resigned from his post yesterday, citing "personal reasons" (AP, The News). The post was created in 2009 to increase coordination between Pakistan's security and intelligence services on terrorism issues; Pervez was reportedly frustrated with bureaucratic fighting, and the AP reports that his resignation came after his organization was placed under the authority of the Interior Ministry, rather than the Prime Minister's office as he had wanted.

The Wall Street Journal yesterday described the expansion of U.S. Special Operations forces and activities in Pakistan's volatile border regions, where U.S. troops now accompany Pakistani units on aid missions and are reportedly growing closer to the Pakistani Frontier Corps (WSJ). And during her trip to Pakistan this week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that she still believes someone in the Pakistani government knows where Osama bin Laden is (ToI).

Water, water, everywhere

Yesterday on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control, riots broke out as Kashmiri nationalists demonstrated for the right to cross into Indian Kashmir (AFP). Currently those on the Pakistani side can only cross over if they have relatives in India. Indian police also killed a top Harkat-ul-Mujahideen commander in a gunbattle near Srinagar yesterday (NDTV, Hindustan Times).

The Los Angeles Times profiles the strict system of curfews in Indian Kashmir, where by some estimates authorities have shuttered businesses and kept residents home for 1,560 days in 20 years, at a cost of $50 million lost production per day (LAT). And Sabrina Tavernise and Lydia Polgreen cover the ongoing fight over India's attempts to build a hydroelectric dam that could potentially threaten the water supply to Pakistan's agricultural heartland (NYT).

A continued threat

Fearful of police efforts to track the sale of explosive materials, failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad reportedly used weaker materials to avoid detection, according to New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly (WSJ). The F.B.I. secretly exploded a working replica of Shahzad's bomb in Pennsylvania, and found that the ensuing explosion could have been "extremely deadly" according to Kelly (AP).

After India's accusation that Pakistani intelligence officers were involved in planning and executing the 2008 Mumbai attack, Pakistan is reportedly investigating two former army officers and four militants (WSJ). Despite Pakistani objections to the charge, India is standing by the evidence it says it gained from interrogations of David Coleman Headley, who is in U.S. custody for his role in planning and facilitating the attacks (Bloomberg).

2014: a withdrawal odyssey

As the international summit in Kabul drew to a close yesterday, delegates from more than 60 countries expressed their support for a plan to turn Afghanistan's security over to Afghan forces by 2014 (WSJ, FT, Wash Post). Plans for beginning to transfer security control to Afghan forces at the end of this year have reportedly been quietly dropped (Guardian). Confidence in the course of the war is beginning to slide noticeably in Congress, and key allies like Britain are planning to begin withdrawing forces possibly starting next year (LAT, BBC, Guardian). Meanwhile, the Washington Post today has a must-read on the increasingly close relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan (Wash Post).

And representatives of women's advocacy groups met in Washington to discuss women's health in Afghanistan (McClatchy).

Bloody day in Afghan north

An Afghan army sergeant shot and killed two U.S. civilian trainers on a shooting range near Mazar-e-Sharif yesterday after an argument, before being killed along with an Afghan soldier in the ensuing gunfire (AP, Wash Post, NYT, Tel, Independent). And six Afghan police were beheaded in the northern Baghlan province after Taliban fighters overran their police checkpoint during an attack (AP, AFP, AJE, Reuters).

The painting was a gift

Bin Laden hunter Gary Faulkner has reportedly accepted the gift of a painting depicting his "mission" to kill the al-Qaeda leader (AP). The painting was originally made in 2008 after Muncie, Indiana resident Jerry Cool had a dream about a "man with gray hair and a dark beard" killing bin Laden.

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KABUL : Three people were killed on Sunday and another 35 injured in a suicide attack in the Afghan capital, a spokesman for the ministry of public health told AFP.

Two very good reports on the situation in Kandahar, both found originally on the milnews links page.

The assassination campaign continued Thursday as gunmen shot to death a tribal elder in Kandahar city, officials said. At the same time, Afghan leaders called on the Taliban to release five health ministry workers kidnapped in Kandahar province on Wednesday.

Among the victims of the campaign was 24-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim, who was shot 36 times and hanged by the Taliban in March because his brother works as an interpreter for Western forces, friends and family said Thursday.

"If the Americans leave, things will get worse," said Ibrahim's 70-year-old father, Ghulam Sakhi, said Thursday.

Gunmen kidnapped five Health Ministry employees in Afghanistan’s volatile Kandahar Province while insurgents killed a district official elsewhere, reportedly on the orders of the Taliban supreme leader, officials said yesterday.



Afghanistan - Kandahar Province - Taliban - Asia - Politics

Gunmen kidnapped five Health Ministry employees in Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar province while insurgents killed a district official elsewhere, reportedly on the orders of the Taliban supreme leader, officials said Thursday.

Health ministry employees latest victims of unrest in Afghan area

Gunmen kidnapped five Health Ministry employees in Afghanistan"s volatile Kandahar province while insurgents killed a district official elsewhere... reportedly on the orders of the Taliban supreme leader... officials said Thursday.
from ABC 7 News

Afghan Health Team Abducted; Local Official Killed, The Associated Press, 15 July 2010 EXCERPT: "Gunmen kidnapped five Health Ministry employees in Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar province while insurgents killed a district official elsewhere, reportedly on the orders of the Taliban supreme...

A bloody attack

In the deadliest attack in Pakistan's Swat Valley since February, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near a bus terminal and a military convoy in the main town of Mingora, killing at least five and wounding around five dozen more earlier today (Geo, ET, AP, AFP, BBC, Reuters). There have been no claims of responsibility yet. Fighting continues in Orakzai, and Pakistani police have reportedly arrested nearly 100 more people in the third day of a sweep in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa, that has netted close to 700 suspected militants (Geo, The News).
[[BREAK]]
Flashpoint

Tensions remain high in Indian-administered Kashmir, where thousands of locals in Srinagar are involved in separatist protests, as the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan meet today to discuss Indian concerns about terrorism, Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Pakistan's role in the deadly 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai (AFP, AP, AFP, Indian Express, AJE). Likely to be high on the agenda in the talks are recent allegations by India's home secretary G. K. Pillai that Pakistan's spy agency the ISI was "literally controlling and coordinating [the Mumbai attacks] from the beginning until the end," based apparently on information that has emerged from interrogation by Indian officials of David Coleman Headley, the Chicago man who has pleaded guilty to working with Lashkar-e-Taiba to plan the assault (Indian Express, Reuters, NDTV, Tel, LAT).

The two ministers are expected to give a joint press conference later today (Hindustan Times, The News). India's S. M. Krishna has dodged the question of whether India and Pakistan will resume playing cricket, and reportedly plans to call on Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani after the presser.

The Guardian has a fascinating look at timber smuggling in Kashmir, where local men who cut down the region's tall pine trees are paid around 2,000 rupees (£30, $46) per tree, though half that sum goes to bribes for forestry officials and police (Guardian).

Failed at martyrdom

Al-Arabiya television broadcast excerpts of what it reports is failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad's 'martyrdom video,' in which Shahzad claims his planned attack was for "revenge," mentioning the killings of al-Qaeda in Iraq founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud (Arabiya-Arabic, AP, Tel, BBC, ABC, NYT, Bloomberg, Wired, Geo). Featured at some point in the 40 minute Umar Media video are Bajaur Taliban head Maulvi Faqir Muhammad and current TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud, underlining the Taliban in Pakistan's involvement in Shahzad's plot.

Stamping approval

After nearly two weeks of talks, the Afghan government approved a controversial program backed by Gen. David Petraeus to expand and arm local defense forces across Afghanistan (NYT, WSJ, AP). Afghan leader Hamid Karzai was reportedly hesitant to endorse the local forces, which he feared could "harden into militias that his weak government could not control," but the Local Police Force initiative will be directly administered and paid for by Afghanistan's Interior Ministry (NYT). The initiative calls for 10,000 "community police" officers across the country (Wash Post).

In one of the deadliest periods for the U.S. in Afghanistan in recent weeks, eight U.S. soldiers were killed in three separate attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, as the coalition continues preparing for military operations in the southern province of Kandahar (LAT, Wash Post, ABC). Five officials with Afghanistan's Ministry of Health have been kidnapped in Kandahar, while a local district leader from Uruzgan has been killed reportedly on the orders of Taliban leader Mullah Omar (AP, ISAF). And in Helmand, Marjah leader Haji Zahir has been replaced by Abdul Mutalib, while London's Independent reports that Talib Hussein, the Afghan National Army soldier who is on the run after shooting three British troops in Helmand earlier this week, is a member of Afghanistan's minority Hazara community (AP, Independent).

More options for wasting time online

Pakistani engineers have launched BuddyFlick.com, a uniquely Pakistani version of the social networking site Facebook (Daily Times). Though still in the development stages, the website will eventually feature Twitter integration, games, photos, quizzes, fan pages, and more.

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Gunmen kidnapped five Health Ministry employees in Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar province while insurgents killed a district official elsewhere, reportedly on the orders of the Taliban supreme leader, officials said...