[R-G] Karzai Only Controls 1/3 of Afghanistan

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/27/karzai-only-controls-13- 
_n_88822.html

Karzai Only Controls 1/3 of Afghanistan

PAMELA HESS | February 27, 2008 09:29 PM EST | AP

WASHINGTON — More than six years after the U.S. invaded to establish  
a stable central regime in Afghanistan, the Kabul government under  
President Hamid Karzai controls just 30 percent of the country, the  
top U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday.

National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell told the Senate  
Armed Services Committee that the resurgent Taliban controls 10  
percent to 11 percent of the country and Karzai's government controls  
30 percent to 31 percent. The majority of Afghanistan's population  
and territory remains under local tribal control, he said.

Underscoring the problems facing the Kabul government, a roadside  
bomb in Paktika province killed two Polish soldiers who are part of  
the NATO force in the country and opium worth $400 million was seized  
in the southern part of Afghanistan. That brought the number of  
foreign troops killed in Afghanistan to 21 this year, according to an  
Associated Press tally.

In 2007, insurgency-related violence killed more than 6,500 people,  
including 222 foreign troops. Last year was the deadliest yet since  
the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

Officials estimate that up to 40 percent of proceeds from  
Afghanistan's drug trade _ an amount worth tens of millions of  
dollars _ is used to fund the insurgency.

Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, the Defense Intelligence Agency director,  
told the committee at the same hearing that the Pakistan government  
is trying to crack down on the lawless tribal area along the Afghan  
border area where Taliban and al-Qaida are believed to be training,  
and from which they launch attacks in Afghanistan. But neither the  
Pakistani military nor the tribal Frontier Corps is trained or  
equipped to fight, he said.

Maples said it would take three to five years to address those  
deficiencies and see a difference in their ability to fight  
effectively in the tribal areas.

"Pakistani military operations in the (region) have not fundamentally  
damaged al-Qaida's position. ... The tribal areas remain largely  
ungovernable and, as such, they will continue to provide vital  
sanctuary to al-Qaida, the Taliban and regional extremism more  
broadly," Maples said.

Under questioning from committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., Maples  
also said he considers the harsh interrogation technique known as  
waterboarding to be inhumane. That would put it outside the bounds of  
U.S. law, which since late 2005 has prohibited cruel, inhumane and  
degrading treatment of detainees.

The Bush administration has refused to rule on whether waterboarding  
is torture. Waterboarding involves strapping a person down and  
pouring water over his or her cloth-covered face to create the  
sensation of drowning. It has been traced back hundreds of years to  
the Spanish Inquisition, and is condemned by nations around the world.

Waterboarding remains among the interrogation methods potentially  
available to the CIA but its use must be approved on a case-by-case  
basis by the attorney general and the president.

The U.S. military specifically prohibited waterboarding in 2006.  
Maples said the 19 other interrogation techniques allowed under  
military rules are effective.

"We have recently confirmed that with those who are using those tools  
on operations," Maples said.

Earlier this month, Congress approved a bill that would limit the CIA  
to the military's interrogation techniques. The White House has  
threatened to veto that measure.

CIA Director Michael Hayden said in a statement to the Associated  
Press on Wednesday that other lawful, Geneva Convention-compliant  
interrogation techniques not in the Army Field Manual would also be  
outlawed.

"There will be no conditions of threat or danger that would cause us  
to make an exception. This is an important national decision and it  
will have a direct impact on our ability to gather intelligence and  
to detect and prevent future attacks."

Hayden told the House Intelligence Committee on Feb. 7 that he  
prohibited CIA operatives from using waterboarding in 2006 in the  
wake of a Supreme Court decision and new laws on the treatment of  
U.S. detainees. He said the agency has not used waterboarding for  
five years.

President Bush could authorize waterboarding for future terrorism  
suspects in certain situations, including "belief that an attack  
might be imminent," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Feb. 6.  
The president would consult with the attorney general and  
intelligence officials before authorizing its use, Fratto said.

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On the Net:

State Department's Afghanistan Country Page: http://www.state.gov/p/ 
sca/ci/af