US Plan Threatens Canadian Command
06 June 2008
'US Plan Threatens Canadian Command', The Globe and Mail, 5 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Canada may lose its next and perhaps last chance to command NATO forces battling the Taliban in southern Afghanistan under a new plan that will insert an American general into the rotation, according to defence officials in Ottawa and Washington. Several senior U.S. military officials have called for an end to the revolving-door rotations of allied commanders...
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Food Prices Alone Won't Stop Afghan Opium Growers: Experts
06 June 2008
'', Yahoo! News / Agence France Presse, 6 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Global food price rises may push some Afghan farmers to plant wheat instead of opium but officials say any real switch will only come from government pressure as poppies are still more profitable. This year's worldwide jump in prices has hit impoverished Afghanistan hard, with wheat -- the country's dietary staple food...
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Evaluation: Finnish Aid To Afghanistan
06 June 2008
'Evaluation: Finnish Aid To Afghanistan', Relief Web / Government of Finland, April 2008
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan became an important beneficiary of international assistance in 2002 when the international community embarked on efforts to stabilize and reconstruct the country and to support its democratic development after years of conflict. Afghanistan is still one of the world's poorest countries and a challenging operating environment...
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Bush, Dutch PM Discuss Military Cooperation In Afghanistan
06 June 2008
'Bush, Dutch PM Discuss Military Cooperation in Afghanistan', Voice of America, 5 June 2008
EXCERPT: "U.S. President George Bush and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende met at the White House Thursday for talks that included their military cooperation in Afghanistan. The Netherlands is one of the biggest contributors to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, and President Bush thanked Prime Minister Balkenende for that support. 'We're...
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Gunmen Kill Pro-Gov't Tribal Leader In Southern Afghanistan
06 June 2008
'', China View, 6 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Three gunmen driving a motorbike shot dead a pro-government tribal leader near his home in Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan Friday morning, officials said. Kandahar's provincial police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib told Xinhua the killing of Mohammad Malim Akbar, a tribal leader in the province, occurred around 7 a.m. local time in the north...
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"Gentlemen's General" Named New Defence Chief
06 June 2008
'"Gentlemen's General" Named New Defence Chief', The Globe and Mail, 6 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Lieutenant-General Walter Natynczyk will succeed charismatic and outspoken General Rick Hillier as the head of the Canadian Forces, the Harper government has announced. Defence Minister Peter MacKay called Lt.-Gen. Natynczyk a 'gentlemen's general' as he introduced him to reporters. He said the official change of command is to come in...
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Pakistan FM Says Peace Talks Not With 'Terrorists'
06 June 2008
'', Agence France Presse, 6 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Pakistan's foreign minister said in Afghanistan Friday that his government was not in talks with 'terrorists' but only with 'peace-loving' elements as part of a multi-pronged strategy to fight extremism. Shah Mahmood Qureshi met President Hamid Karzai and other officials amid concern in Afghanistan that Pakistan's dialogue with...
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Pakistan and Afghanistan Agree To Curb Extremism
06 June 2008
'Pakistan and Afghanistan Agree On Coordinated Efforts To Curb Extremism', Associated Press of Pakistan, 6 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Pakistan and Afghanistan Friday agreed on the need for broad-based and coordinated efforts to curb the twin menace of militancy and extremism that pose a grave challenge to the security of both the countries. Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, talking to journalists along with his Afghan counterpart...
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Teen Describes Madrasah Effort To Make Him A Suicide Bomber
06 June 2008
'Teen Describes Madrasah Effort To Make Him A Suicide Bomber', Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 6 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Ever since he was caught three months ago in Afghanistan's Khost Province trying to carry out a suicide attack, 14-year-old Shakirullah has been pondering how he went from childhood in Pakistan to imprisonment in Kabul as an international terrorist. Just one year ago, Shakirullah was living with his family in his native...
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US Military Deaths In Afghanistan Region At 443
06 June 2008
'', Associated Press, 5 June 2007
EXCERPT: "As of Thursday, June 5, 2008, at least 443 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Saturday at 10 a.m. EDT. Of those, the military reports 308 were killed by hostile action....
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