Stories from 2002-03-08

"Mr. Aslam described the transaction: the boys' father had offered to give up his sons so long as they were kept well fed. 'But I know about human rights,' said the restaurant owner. 'I knew I was obligated to pay him something.'
The compensation settled upon was 400,000 Afghanis per month ó about $5 at the time of the deal. 'After two years, I stop paying and the boys are mine forever,' Mr. Aslam said happily, presenting the situation as something as benevolent as an adoption.
He asked the youngsters to sit at his side. He requested a smile. They complied." [more]

"There is another reason why the US wants to stabilize Georgia, no easy task given its weak and corrupt central government. The Americans want to build a $2.9 billion, 1,530-kilometer pipeline from the Caspian Basin oilfields in Azerbaijan to Turkeyís Mediterranean terminal at Ceyhan through Georgia, sidelining Russia and Iran and extending US (along with Israeli and Turkish) influence into the former Soviet republics in the Caucasus and Central Asia." [more]

"As the fierce battle persisted for a sixth day, the Defense Ministry in Kabul announced the infusion of soldiers, in effect doubling Afghanistan's commitment to the campaign. Near dusk, a caravan of tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbled down the main road south of the capital toward Paktia Province and the high-elevation combat." [more]

Neighborhood Watch programs across the country were recently handed a new directive from Attorney General John D. Ashcroft: patrol for terrorists. [more]

"Additional Afghan fighters were called in after U.S. commanders realized they had significantly underestimated the size and firepower of the al Qaeda fighting force holed up in the Arma mountain range at Shahikot." [more]

At least $1 million was promised; $50 million is thought to be needed, but nothing has been delivered. "Afghanistan's new women's minister, whose job is to restore women's rights after years of Taliban oppression in which girls could not go to school and women could not go out alone, has yet to receive any funding to start her work." [more]

"Mohamad Murad, top military commander and number two overall of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said that as US and Filipino troops spread out across the southern island of Basilan, they could encroach on what the Milf considers to be its territory." [more]

"After five months during which some of the Bush administration's most willing international partners griped about being left on the sidelines of the Afghan war, at least seven U.S. allies are contributing troops to this week's U.S. offensive in eastern Afghanistan, elevating their profile in a war managed by the Pentagon." [more]

"Afghanistan always surprises, old hands say. But historically the pattern of victories followed by hard campaigning has actually been the norm. Just as in Vietnam, the Americans should have looked at history but on the whole did not, so they — and other countries — should consult the same lesson book in Afghanistan. [more]

"An Israeli F-16 jet which bombed a Palestinian police compound in Gaza City today narrowly missed more than 3,100 refugee children in UN-run schools, a UN spokeswoman said." [more]

"US forces are active in the biggest array of countries since the second world war. Troops, sailors and airmen are now established in countries where they have never before had a presence. The aim is to provide platforms from which to launch attacks on any group perceived by George Bush to be a danger to the US." [more]

"A US official said that there should not be any doubt that America was going to act to bring about a change of regime and that it was prepared to take unilateral military action if necessary. With no clear blueprint for the kind of government that would be established in Baghdad after the removal of President Saddam Hussein, Mr Cheney will spend much of his time soliciting the views of Iraqís neighbours." [more]

"The Justice Department is removing hundreds of Pakistani detainees from the United States at a 'hectic' pace and U.S. officials have told the Pakistani government that most of those arrested immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks will be returned home by the end of next month, a Pakistani official said today." [more]