The conference will run for two days, with Tuesday's proceedings being broadcast from 9:00 to 17:45 Central European Time (CET), and Wednesday's from 9:00 to 13:00 CET. The full conference program and participants list is available here.
PRT conference participants from RFE/RL include: Jeffrey Gedmin, President; John O'Sullivan, Chief Editor; Akbar Ayazi, Director of Radio Free Afghanistan (Radio Azadi) and Mohammed Amin Mudaquiq, RFE/RL's Kabul Bureau Chief. RFE/RL's Afghan service, known locally as Radio Azadi, is the most popular radio station in Afghanistan, with a weekly audience of 7.9 million people and a market share of about 50%.
Conference organizers say their goals are to contribute to a coherent Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) strategy in Afghanistan based on an assessment of their operations to date and to identify the challenges PRTs face. The conference also aims to increase awareness among policymakers, the media, and the broader public of the challenges and the critical importance of reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
Comments
ISAF Commander General McChrystal has said he sees his strategy leading to a likely 'negotiated peace' with the Taliban(see - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/30b0c4d8-091f-11df-ba88-00144feabdc0.html?ncl… ) While eradicating these cut-throat, sub-human creatures has now apparently become completely unpalatable. He has in fact equated his hope for a 'negotiated peace', with wars in the past where reasonable peoples and nations have chosen to cease hostilities and come to a meeting of the minds. Must we again remind everyone that theirs (the Taliban and Al Qaida) is a war of religious necessity? We need to remember that these 'insurgents' don't represent any flag, nation or people. They represent, and legitimately, their religion. They fight, kill, maim. slaughter, torture, brutalize and rape in the name of Allah - their god. They don't take to the field of combat in a uniform or conform to the Geneva Conventions. They don't differentiate between women, children, foreign uniformed soldiers or Mother Theresa. They are equal opportunity murderers carrying out the mandate of their Holy Book, the Koran. They are neither any more violent nor any more peaceful than their predecessors and have purposefully supported efforts by Al Qaida to export death and destruction to the shores of the United States of America.
STRATFOR - Afghanistan: McChrystal Focuses On Peace With Taliban
January 25, 2010
U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, said his troop surge could lead to a negotiated peace with the Taliban, AFP reported Jan. 25. McChrystal stated that he hopes his allies will leave the Jan. 28 meeting in London with a "renewed commitment" to the increasingly bloody conflict. By using the 30,000-strong surge in U.S. troops to secure territory stretching from the Talibans southern heartlands to Kabul, the general said he aims to weaken the insurgency so much its leaders would accept a political settlement. McChrystal added that a political solution to all conflicts is the inevitable outcome.
We have lost some 5000 men and women in the effort to cordon both the Taliban and Al Qaida in their continued efforts to force the world to submit to Islam and specifically to kill and maim Americans and destabilize our nation. Eight years ago, our Commander in Chief handed down his Commanders Intent to Locate, Close with and Destroy Al Qaida and all those who stand with them. Dutifully, Honorably and Courageously, our Warriors took to the field of battle and began a campaign to do just that. Within 90 days we had completely disrupted the Taliban and all but destroyed Al Qaida's presence in Afghanistan. Now, we're hoping to make peace with them. While we can only hope for peace, the reality of peace with an element whose focus is world-wide submission, is unlikely. This is tantamount to the Police choosing to make peace with a mass murderer rather than risk anything further in trying to bring them to justice. And this comparison is not without merit because we decided long ago to hold these Islamic murderers to the 'Law of the Land' - American law, American land, American Rights, rather than to hold them accountable in a Military setting. We effectively covered them with our coveted Constitutionally guaranteed rights (rights the Islamist finds repugnant), and to treat them like US citizens.
In addition, the United Nations, that bastion of honor, courage and honesty, has decided to take Senior Taliban Leaders OFF THE UN LIST OF TERRORISTS! One has to wonder if a grievous injustice was done by placing them on the list to begin with. Did we make a mistake and were they just gentle farmers? Did we mis-ID quiet respectful, God-fearing souls for cold blooded murders and are now determined to right this injustice? No; this is just another reflection of the cowardice that is all pervasive.
Stratfor - Afghanistan: Remove Some From Terrorist List
January 25, 2010
Kai Eide, the United Nations special representative to Afghanistan, called on Afghan Officials to push for the removal of some senior Taliban leaders from the United Nations' list of terrorists, in an attempt toward opening direct negotiations, the New York Times reported Jan.25. Eides also asked the U.S. military to speed cases through of about 750 detainees in U.S. military prisons in Afghanistan.
Hey; here's one for you Kai Eides; how about we release our Warriors from prison who have been charged with crimes on Afghan and Iraqi soil? No chance, huh?
MG asked a great question; Why does Trijicon have to remove Bible Scripture from their ACOG scopes currently in use by our Warriors (presumably over 'separation of church and state' issues as well the fear of 'insulting' the Taliban) but then require our Warriors to help in the re-building of Mosques, when many good Christian and Jewish, American Warriors might find that repugnant - not to mention the whole separation thing.
(see - http://www.marine-corps-news.com/2010/01/afghan_government_leaders_join…)
We are rapidly moving toward Sharia being introduced into our American system of justice. Our European partners in the 'War on Terror', or whatever we are calling it today, are already having serious discussions along these lines. We can only speculate as to the motivation but whatever it is, it is insane. In our case, it will be nothing short of sedition.
Call me crazy. Maybe I am in the minority and maybe we should all be taking a knee to Islam and the Taliban and Al Qaida as some seem to be suggesting. Or maybe; just maybe, these people have sold their collective souls to the highest bidder for assurance of a bright future career.
Lest we forget the ultimate goal of this blog and all who have followed and understand; we are adamant that the Rules of Engagement under which our Warriors must try to perform, win and still come home alive, must change to reflect the reality of war not some social experiment. Knowingly placing our Warriors in an untenable situation with unreasonable expectations born of a fanciful, theater-wide, controversial, historically improvable strategy with an implacable enemy whose sole purpose for fighting and existing is the propagation of their religion is IMMORAL if not insane. The very administration that appointed the current ISAF Commander and that is bending over to accommodate the enemy with this surreal vision of the battlefield; even they don't envision being able to hold any support from the people who elected them beyond the next 18 months.
Does this tell us anything; do you think?
Semper Fidelis;
John Bernard