Afghan Constitution

Dec. 30 - Troops wary after attack yesterday by a homicide bomber in Kabul who killed 4 Afghan security officers and their driver after they took him into custody. The Taliban claim that 60-120 would-be terrorists are already in the country and set to attack UN workers and ISAF forces during the upcoming conference being held in Kabul to draft a new consitution.

Kabul police chief Baba Jan said the suspect was a foreigner, but refused to identify him further.

It wasn't clear if the constitutional convention, being held by a grand council, or loya jirga, about 10 km from the blast, was the intended target.

Osama bin Laden had no comment. He's been awfully uncommunicative these days.

The Daily Telegraph reports from the conference: Like drinking water from the edge of a sword.

By mid-morning yesterday it was clear the debate was not going well. The anger among the 500 delegates of the loya jirga - now dragging into its 17th day - was palpable.

So the deputy chairman of the grand assembly did what any Afghan politician would do in a time of crisis: he announced a poetry reading session.

[...]

A powerful group of former jihadi leaders and Islamic fundamentalists demanded six major amendments, including the appointment of three vice-presidents and the establishment of provincial councils.

This would dilute the powers of the central government. Mr Karzai and his supporters are pushing for a strong presidential system to unite the country after years of factional fighting.

So far, 124 of the 160 articles have been approved and he seemed to be winning. But by mid-afternoon, the petition demanding the changes appeared and the chairman of the loya jirga, facing a major crisis, adjourned the proceedings with a suitably poetic speech.

"The job of our delegates to create a constitution is surely a difficult one," he said. "It is like drinking water from the edge of a sword."

Read the whole thing.

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Bombing attempt at Kabul airport

Dec. 29 - You've all probably already read about today's attack and the claim that 60 bombers ready to strike: Taliban:

SIX people were killed when a suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body after being arrested by intelligence agents near Kabul international airport, Afghan officials said today.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the blast, which he said was aimed at International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) peacekeeping troops based at the airport.

He warned that dozens more suicide bombers were in the capital.

Kabul police chief Baba Jan told reporters at the blast scene: "Chairman (Abdul) Jalal along with four bodyguards were killed while trying to arrest a terrorist who had explosive devices with him."

Jalal was the head of the 21st intelligence directorate, a department of the Afghan intelligence service.

The bomber was identified as Abdullah, a 35-year-old from Chechnya.

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Raija-Liisa Teigen

Dec. 22 - Another dispatch from Licia Corbella of the Calgary Sun about a rather remarkable young women, Raija-Liisa Teigen, who believes (with justification) that Afghanistan is in her soul. She has been running a woman's centre in Zaranj, a city of about 70,000 people in southern Afghanistan near the Iranian border.

Read the whole thing.

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Tiger Williams supporting the troops

Dec. 22 - Some interesting observations in this article on Dave "Tiger" Williams' visit to Kabul about reconstruction progress in Kabul and how the people living there feel about the presence of Canadian and other forces.

The forces at Camp Julien held a ball hockey tournament in memory of the two soldiers killed last October by a land mine:

To help out, the Maple Leafs donated 2,000 t-shirts and the Vancouver Canucks gave 2,000 ball caps for a raffle to raise money for a Canadian Mine Awareness program.

"It doesn't only benefit the charity itself, it benefits everybody that's over here, trying to help out the people of Afghanistan," said Cpl. Steve Posthumus of Burlington, Ont.

"So far they've cleared a 60,000 square foot ( 5,570 square metres) area (of landmines), and that's 60,000 square feet that is safe to walk on for the troops that are over here."

A number of hockey jerseys, hats, headbands and pins were also donated by Team Canada, the Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Leafs and Canucks, with many of the items autographed by Williams, former Canucks goalie Kirk McLean and Olympic Women's Hockey Gold medalist Cassie Campbell.

McLean and Campbell are also in Kabul with Williams.

Hockey figures in Canada have been very active in supporting the troops. I don't know how well known Don Cherry is to non-hockey fans in the US, but his strong denunciation of the Sept. 11 attacks as well as his staunch support last winter of the US in Iraq eclipsed anything said by any national leader, and Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Tiger Williams have been among those active in reminding Canadians that the soldiers are in harm's way and letting the troops know that they are appreciated.

UPDATE: The Toronto Sun has an update and picture of the rink (Hockey night in Kabul) and a bit more information on the raffle and jersey auction held to raise money for the Mine Awareness Program.

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Licia Corbella from Afghanistan

Dec. 21 - Another dispatch from Calgary Sun editor Licia Corbella: Khaki Christmas in Kabul. Arghh, the clock is ticking on me, so read the whole thing!

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Licia Corbella from Afghanistan

Dec. 20 - Another dispatch from Calgary Sun editor Licia Corbella from Kabul: Smiles and waves win fans.

Don't forget to send your thanks and holiday greetings to the Canadian troops here.

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Licia Corbella from Afghanistan

Dec. 18 - This is bittersweet: Near riot for gifts at camp. Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian aid organization, put together shoeboxes with toys, candy, toothpaste and other sundries for distribution to kids at a refugee camp in Afghanistan but there was a near riot as children and adults fought for the gifts.

"We had a plan to have the adults help us control the movement of people," said Maj. Steve Whelan, in charge of the military unit that distributed the boxes. "But clearly ... they overwhelmed us very quickly. It was a mob scene."

Several times, soldiers had to wave off adults, who beat the children with sticks and tightly wound blankets as they advanced on the flatbed truck.

No one suffered serious injuries as the children appeared to accept what, for them, is considered normal treatment by adults.

"It's a bit overwhelming," said Godfrey Vandeleur of Vancouver, who helped organize the delivery. "I feel happy to give them out, but then you also feel a bit sad when you see them fighting for the boxes."

Licia Corbella, editor of the Calgary Sun, is in Kabul and writing about her experiences there. Her description of the distribution is here centers on the response of the child who received the box she and her children had packed in Calgary.

This 10-year-old boy lives with five sisters and four brothers in a ramshackle structure at the internally displaced persons camp (IDP) known simply as "the big one."

That, of course, is bad enough, but two months ago, Anjomudin had his left leg amputated below the knee after he was run over by a truck carrying bricks to a neighbouring shack.

Nevertheless, if he thinks he's lucky, I'm certainly not going to tell him otherwise.

"This is the best day of my life," he declares.

What made yesterday so special? For the first time in his life, Anjomudin was given a present -- a shoebox packed to the brim with toys, school supplies and hygiene items.

The box he received was the one my six-year-old boys and I put together back in Calgary and it was jam-packed with goodies.

Toy cars and trucks, three balls, school supplies galore, socks, gloves, stickers, sugarless gum, hard candies, a stationery kit with scissors, glue, an eraser, ruler and doodle pad bought by my boys, a harmonica, a yo-yo, toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap and much more.

But Anjomudin was not alone. Santa came to many good little boys and girls yesterday -- more than 1,450 of them -- on this stinking, dirty hillside.

But, rather than red, Santa -- or rather, many Santas -- wore camouflage green, a big smile, and an assault rifle strapped across his chest.

The shoeboxes are organized by the Christian aid organization, Samaritan's Purse under its initiative called Operation Christmas Child, that will put some seven million shoeboxes into the hands of the world's poorest children this year.

And for all of those Scrooges out there who object to a Christian aid organization helping Muslim children, all I can say to you is bah, humbug.

May I second that? (I'm going to anyway!) Samaritan's Purse does not proseletize when the shoeboxes are handed out, but it's a Christian based organization and the politically correct in Canada find that objectionable.

Master Warrant Officer Wayne Bartlett, 40, says the recent return to Kabul of Afghan refugees is proof that peacekeeping is making a difference.

"When I got here in August, this camp had just 70 or 80 people in it," says Bartlett.

"Now, there's 1,400 kids alone. I think that just shows the confidence Afghans have in Kabul now and the ability to start a new life."

At that, Bartlett, a father of Natasha, 16, and Emily, 12, shows a couple of little boys how to work a toy truck.

"I'm not going to be home for Christmas, so doing this helps," says Bartlett, who has helped hand out shoeboxes three times in Bosnia, once in Somalia and once in Rwanda.

It takes a special kind of person to care so much about others. He sounds like quite a guy.

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Canadians in Afghanistan

Dec. 11 - There are some additional Canadians in Kabul these days, such as Rick Mercer and Tom Cochrane who are there to entertain the troops.

The entertainers have three shows scheduled for the troops. All the while, video cameras will be rolling to provide the backdrop for a TV special Mercer is preparing, to be aired in Canada Dec. 21.

I'm marking my calendar.

Always remember those who serve.

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Canadians in Afghanistan

Dec. 5 - War On Terrorism - Kids boost morale of Canadian soldiers which indicates that truly, the children shall lead the way:

KABUL (CP) - "Dear Peacekeeper: Please Don't Die."

Simple messages of hope such as this can be found in holiday greetings from young children in Canada that are reaching appreciative Canadian Forces soldiers in Afghanistan. Thousands of Christmas cards, letters and coloured-in posters have been delivered to the troops in Kabul, with hundreds more streaming in every day.

"I got at least 40," a smiling Sapper Paul Zuwerkalow of Barrie, Ont., said Thursday.

[...]

Messages have also come from Girl Guide troops, family members and business people, offering wishes that the soldiers come home "safe, happy and uninjured."

While many letters and cards are addressed to specific soldiers, thousands simply read "Dear Peacekeeper."

Seeming governmental indifference to Canadian troops is not matched by how Canadians feel, and the failure to fund the military has resulted in more respect for the troops and their steadfast adherence to duty as well as their adaptive ability to jerry-rig (remember how they painted their blankets to provide desert camo on the first Afghanistan deployment?)

I don't have numbers, but I saw many messages from Canadians posted at the
"Operation Dear Abby" website at the beginning of the Iraq war.

How about a bit of reciprocation, people? Anyone and everyone can send their good wishes to Canadian soldiers here.

God bless and protect they who serve.

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