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The tide of the war in Afghanistan is running against the United States and its allies, in contrast to an improving trend in Iraq, a US military official and counter-insurgency expert said.
"Afghanistan (is) in my eyes an under-resourced war, a war that needs a whole lot more advisers, a whole lot more economic aid," Lieutenant Colonel John Nagl told a security conference in Stockholm.

"This war is the war I'm concerned about, a war in which the United States very much needs the help of our friends."

Nagl commands the 1st battalion of the 34th armoured regiment at Fort Riley, Kansas, training US transition teams that embed with Iraqi and Afghan security forces.

He was part of the writing team that produced the US military's manual on counter-insurgency, which is credited with transforming its approach to both conflicts with a new emphasis on winning over local populations and marginalizing insurgents.

Speaking to reporters, he drew a sharp contrast between developments in the two countries.

"My analysis is that al Qaeda in Iraq has essentially been defeated. That doesn't mean they can't come back but they really played their cards enormously poorly, I think," Nagl said.

He said the turning of Sunni tribal leaders against al Qaeda, and the merging of their militia into government security forces, were important signs of progress.

MOMENTUM MATTERS

"The trends are moving in our direction, and momentum matters in a counter-insurgency campaign because it's ultimately a struggle for the support of the people and the people can sense which way the tide is going," Nagl said.

In Afghanistan, he said, "the trends are not in the right direction. The number of suicide attacks was up dramatically in 2007, 2007 was a record year for opium production (which) obviously funds the larger Pashto-based insurgency."

Afghanistan has faced rising violence in the past two years, the bloodiest period since US-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban government in late 2001.

Washington is pressing reluctant European allies to do more to help combat a resurgent Taliban in the more volatile south and east of the country, an issue expected to loom large at Nato's April 2-4 summit in Bucharest. More than 50,000 foreign troops are stationed in Afghanistan, but the United States alone has more than three times that number in Iraq.

Nagl listed a catalogue of challenges in Afghanistan, including its harsh climate and terrain, its lack of centralized government in the past 30 years, the destruction of roads and other basic infrastructure, and the state of its army.

"I've worked with the Afghan security forces a little bit. I find them to be diligent and dedicated and trainable (but) not particularly well educated. . . The Iraqi security forces are far more advanced than are the Afghans," he said.

"The Taliban did extraordinarily harmful things to the intelligentsia of the country. The people you need to run a country no longer exist."

Reuters

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US soldiers accidentally shot and killed a child in Iraq's Diyala province, the US military has said.

The killing of Iraqi civilians has long put a strain on relations between Baghdad and Washington, who this week began talks on future relations and the presence of US troops after the current UN mandate expires at the end of this year.

The military said soldiers were operating in an area where roadside bombs had been found recently in ethnically and religiously mixed Diyala, one of four northern provinces where US and Iraqi have launched a series of operations this year.

The soldiers fired a warning shot into a sand berm after they found a "suspicious woman who appeared to be signalling to someone".

The military said a young girl was found on the other side of the berm suffering from a gunshot wound. Soldiers treated the girl and called for emergency help but she died on the way to a military hospital.

They said the incident was under investigation but no other details about the girl or the exact location were available.

"Coalition forces take the loss of any innocent civilian life seriously and the incident will be thoroughly investigated," US military spokesman Major Dan Meyers said in a statement.

Critics say US forces often fire on suspected militants without taking reasonable care to find out who else is in the area. The US military says militants often hide among civilians and deliberately use them as shields.

Last month, a child was among nine civilians accidentally killed in a US military strike south of Baghdad.

Reuters

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Japanese police said the number of domestic violence cases jumped 15 per cent last year to 21,000 cases as more women broke their silence about assaults in the home.

"An increasing number of cases concern women who had previously suffered in silence but have decided to come out to seek advice or support from police," Kyodo news agency quoted an agency official as saying.

A growing public outcry about violence behind closed doors prompted Japan to enact its first law on domestic violence in 2001. This was expanded in 2004 to cover former spouses and children.

Courts can order perpetrators to leave their homes for two months and force them to stay away from their children, spouse or former spouse.

Reuters

[OMEN]

The biggest protests by Tibetan monks in nearly two decades have rippled into Chinese provinces populated by Tibetans, as the government's tough response draws condemnation from international groups.

The demonstrations over past days have followed marches around the world to mark the 49th anniversary of an uprising against Communist rule in the remote, mountainous region that has become a focus for protest ahead of this year's Beijing Olympics.

While China has focused on condemning foreign-based critics of its presence in Tibet, the shows of bold defiance within its borders are likely to make security preparations for the Olympic Games an even bigger worry for officials.

"The reports of protests outside Lhasa show that Tibetans know the eyes of the world are upon them and are determined not to let the momentum drop," Matt Whitticase of the London-based Free Tibet Campaign said.

On Monday, 500 monks from Drepung monastery defied authorities by staging a rare march in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, an act that the Chinese government called "an illegal activity that threatened social stability".

About 2000 Chinese security personnel fired tear gas to try to disperse 600 monks from Sera monastery taking part in a second day of street protests in Lhasa, a source said.

They demanded the release of about a dozen fellow monks from Sera detained this month for waving a Tibetan flag and shouting pro-independence slogans, the source said.

"The demonstrations are the largest by monks since the 1989 protests that led to the imposition of martial law in Tibet's capital," the International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement.

Another rights group said about 400 monks from Lutsang monastery in the northwestern province of Qinghai, known in Tibetan as Amdo, protested on Monday and shouted slogans for their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to return.

The Dalai Lama fled to India after the failed uprising in 1959, nine years after People's Liberation Army troops marched into the predominantly Buddhist Himalayan region. The protesters shouted "Free Tibet!", the Free Tibet Campaign said on Thursday.

About 100 monks from Myera monastery in the neighbouring province of Gansu also protested on Monday, the rights group said, adding that police were investigating who was involved.

A source with knowledge of the protests quoted monks and witnesses as saying the sound of gunfire was heard outside the walls of monasteries. But no casualties have been reported.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the protesters in Lhasa were "seeking to spark social turmoil".

"This was carefully planned by the Dalai clique in a bid to separate Tibet and sabotage Tibetan people's normal life of stability and harmony," he told a regular news conference.

The strife "could be a harbinger of further clashes between Tibetans and Chinese authorities in this Olympics year", said Mary Beth Markey, vice president of the International Campaign for Tibet.

The demonstrations in the heavily policed region are precisely what China's Communist leaders are keen to avoid ahead of the Olympics starting Aug 8.

On Wednesday, China closed the north face of Mount Everest to expeditions until after the Olympic torch ascends the peak in early May. Five Americans, including an ethnic Tibetan, unfurled "Free Tibet" banners on Everest – known in China by its Tibetan name, Qomalangma – last year.

China's neighbour, India, which hosts many exiled Tibetans, has been careful to distance itself from the protests.

Indian police arrested around 100 Tibetans on Thursday, dragging them into police vans, when they tried to march to the Chinese border to press claims for independence and protest the Olympics.

The marchers set off on Monday as part of the global protests, leaving from Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama and the refugees' "government-in-exile".

The Indian police have said they are acting on government orders to restrain the marchers, claiming they have breached an agreement not to hold "anti-Chinese activities" on Indian soil.

Asked if China was satisfied with India's handling of the protests, Qin held back from direct comment.

"We hope that the Indian side will, based on broader considerations of bilateral relations, abide by the promise it made," he said.

Reuters

[OMEN]

Five fire fighters have been injured and a house has been destroyed as a bushfire rages out of control south of Adelaide.

Waterbombers and 160 fire fighters are battling the blaze near the historic town of Willunga, 47km from Adelaide, as the tinder-dry region swelters through its longest-ever heatwave.

The fire started about 3.30pm CDT on the edge of the winegrowing region of McLaren Vale, a Country Fire Service (CFS) spokeswoman said.

The blaze had burnt about 100ha of land by 5pm CDT.

"Unfortunately we have lost one house," she said.

Four or five firefighters were injured and were transported to the Willunga oval and treated by SA ambulance for minor injuries, an ambulance spokeswoman said.

Residents are being warned to activate bushfire plans and note there are roadblocks in place.

People who commute to the city should consider remaining there tonight, the CFS spokeswoman said.

The CFS says the fire is burning in a south-westerly direction along Bishop Road and is heading towards Meadows and Proctor Roads, driven by strong winds.

Adelaide, still in the grip of drought, surpassed today the previous capital city heatwave record of 10 days above 35 degrees recorded in Perth in February 1988.

Fire bans are in force across the state tomorrow.

AAP

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An archbishop seized by gunmen last month in Iraq has been found dead.



The body of Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul, was found in a shallow grave close to the city.

Pope Benedict XVI said he was profoundly moved and saddened, calling the archbishop's death an act of inhuman violence.

Archbishop Rahho was kidnapped not long after he left mass in Mosul, in northern Iraq, on 29 February.

According to the SIR Catholic news agency, the kidnappers told Iraqi church officials on Wednesday that Archbishop Rahho was very ill and, later on the same day, that he was dead.

However, Iraqi police say the condition of the archbishop's body suggests that he may have died at least a week ago.

It is not clear whether he was killed, or died of natural causes. Nobody has claimed responsibility for his death.

The archbishop's body was found by church workers who went to the area after being contacted by the kidnappers.

'Horrible crime'

The archbishop, 65, was the latest in a long line of Chaldean clerics to be abducted in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003.

Three people who were with him at the time, a driver and two guards, were killed by the gunmen.

Only last Sunday, Pope Benedict had appealed for the archbishop's release.

A Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said: "The most absurd and unjustified violence continues to afflict the Iraqi people and in particular the small Christian community, whom the Pope holds in his prayers in this time of deep sadness.

"This tragic event underscored once more and with more urgency the duty of all, and in particular of the international community, to bring peace to a country that has been so tormented."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said those behind the kidnapping would not escape justice.

It was, he said, a "horrible crime" by "a criminal, terrorist gang".

The Chaldeans are the largest sect within Iraq's Christian community, which was estimated at 800,000 before the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Many have left their homes after attacks linked to the continuing insurgency.

Baghdad blast

Earlier on Wednesday, a car bomb in the capital Baghdad killed at least 12 people, and injured dozens more.

Police said the bomb was in a car parked in Tahrir Square, a central commercial district just outside the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses much of the Iraqi government and the US embassy.

The attack is the latest in a series in Baghdad, following several months of relative calm.

BBC News

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