World preps for Afghan summit; Iraq tense following Awakening clashes

Afghan summit preparation under way

The international community prepared Monday to weigh in on Washington's new strategy for Afghanistan at a major conference scheduled at The Hague.

"This is a one-day meeting only, but the result we are looking to see is a renewed and tighter collective focus on the priority areas of security, jobs and better governance," spokesmen for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said.

The United Nations and the Afghan government will host 80 countries and 20 international organizations Tuesday for a major summit on a comprehensive strategy for the embattled nation at The Hague, Netherlands.

Kai Eide, the U.N.'s special envoy to Afghanistan, called the Tuesday conference "an occasion for us to push the doom-and-gloom atmosphere aside, roll up our sleeves and support the positive trends that we now see emerging in Afghanistan."

For his part, Adrian Edwards, the top U.N. spokesman in Afghanistan, said the conference would focus on the international effort to stabilize the country while giving the world community an opportunity to weigh in on a new U.S. strategy.

U.S. President Barack Obama outlined his new strategy for Afghanistan on Friday, calling for the deployment of additional U.S. forces, renewed focus on al-Qaida and non-military aid to Pakistan.

The Hague meeting comes on the heels of a Moscow conference on Afghanistan organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to tackle issues of terrorism and the drug trade.

U.S., Iran sit down for Afghan talks

U.S. and Iranian officials took part in a regional summit on Afghanistan in Moscow as part of a comprehensive effort to turn the corner in the embattled nation.

Moscow hosted a regional summit on Afghanistan sponsored by the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Moscow conference brought U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick Moon to the table with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Akhundzadeh, along with British and U.N. officials

"We've turned a page to have Iranians and Americans at the same table all discussing Afghanistan," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

The Iranians had supported the fight against the Taliban insurgency and the opium trade in Afghanistan, but the country's patience dwindled during the presidency of George W. Bush. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, has offered Iran the opportunity to play a role in the Afghan effort.

Washington has stressed its hesitant engagement with the Iranians is part of a broader regional effort. In a sign of thawing relations with Iran, however, Akhundzadeh is expected to attend a major international conference on Afghanistan Tuesday in the Netherlands, where he may meet with Clinton, The Times of London reports.

The Tuesday conference will consider comprehensive plans to help Afghan development in the counter-narcotics and political fronts, as well as ways to tackle the growing insurgency there.

U.S. President Barack Obama outlined a new strategy for Afghanistan on Friday that calls for a massive effort at boosting the size of Afghan forces, non-military aid to Pakistan and a renewed emphasis on al-Qaida.

Osprey not slated for Afghan duty

Though U.S. military commanders consider the V-22 Osprey air-transport vehicle ideal for Afghanistan, a lack of availability will postpone the assignment.

U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan that includes the deployment of some 17,000 troops and 4,000 military trainers to the battlefield. When 8,000 Marines with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade deploy to Afghanistan, however, the Osprey will stay behind, the Navy Times reports.

"It is unlikely that we'd have any Osprey squadrons to put into Afghanistan for a while," U.S. Maj. Eric Dent said.

The Times reports there are three Osprey squadrons currently in operation, though two are already committed and the third has just returned from a seven-month tour in Iraq.

The Osprey's unique tri-rotary design allows it the versatility of high-speed, long-range and short-takeoff capability. The craft is controversial for its expense and safety record, however.

The Marines plan to use heavy-lift CH-53D Sea Stallion in place of the Osprey for medical evacuations and troop transports.

Military commanders noted, however, that the capabilities of the Osprey necessitate its eventual deployment to Afghanistan as the troop level there increases in 2009.

"I really think that if we see the numbers of marines that we suspect in Afghanistan before the end of the year, you'll also see at least one Osprey squadron there, as well," said Gen. James Conway, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Baghdad tense following weekend clashes

Iraqi police officials in the Fadhil neighborhood of Baghdad fought members of the Sons of Iraq force following a high-level arrest amid weekend skirmishes.

Iraqi police and members of the Sunni-dominated Sons of Iraq paramilitary force clashed Monday following the weekend arrest of the leader of the Fadhil Awakening Council, Adil al-Mashhadani, on extortion, weapons and other charges.

At least three were killed in the latest clashes, al-Sumaria reports.

Qassim Atta, a security spokesman in Baghdad, said U.S. and Iraqi security forces detained 14 suspects and seized several weapons caches following the scuffle.

U.S. military reports said the Iraqi government issued an arrest warrant for Mashhadani on allegations of extortion of local citizens, ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups and for coordinating attacks on Iraqi security forces.

He was not arrested for his involvement in the Sons of Iraq, U.S. officials said.

The Sons of Iraq program spawned from the Sunni Anbar Awakening Council, a tribal political entity that helped drive al-Qaida from Anbar province in 2005. Allegations have surfaced that the Sunni group has ties to the insurgency and elements of al-Qaida, however.

Ahmed Abu Risha, the leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, blasted the paramilitary fighters in Fadhil for using their weapons against government forces but called on all sides to practice restraint in what has variably been called a Sunni uprising.

Anbar mired in political skirmish

A political dispute over the Anbar provincial council leadership in Iraq is straining the cohesion of the Sunni-led Awakening Council there.

The tribal awakening councils emerged in 2005 as a rival to al-Qaida in western Anbar province. Spawning the paramilitary Sons of Iraq, the group has emerged as an influential political force in the region.

Candidates backed by the Awakening Council won with eight of the 29 provincial council seats in the January election, giving the group the right to nominate provincial leaders.

Two of the candidates supported by Awakening leader Ahmed Abu Risha, however, were rejected by other leaders of the Awakening coalition, the Iraqi political Web site Niqash.org reports.

Opposition leaders rejected Muhammad Qassem for his long exile in the United Arab Emirates and ties to the former government of Saddam Hussein. Arkan Khalaf Tarmouz was rejected on similar grounds.

Rival Sunni leaders, for their part, have threatened to pull out of the provincial government if either of the candidates are appointed.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad, members of the Sunni group clashed with Iraqi police forces during the weekend following the arrest of one of its leaders. Risha, the tribal council leader, called on the Baghdad unit to stand down, putting further strain on the group.

Elections no panacea for Iraq

Pegging success of the democratic experiment in Iraq on the upcoming parliamentary elections is short-sighted and potentially dangerous, an analyst said.

Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group warned that simmering political conflicts in Iraq may frustrate plans to pull American forces out of the country according to the provisions of a bilateral Status of Forces Agreement reached in 2008.

Iraq held successful provincial elections in January, securing a victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his State of Law coalition. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for December, but if history is any indication, those elections may be delayed into 2010.

With violence approaching post-invasion lows in Iraq, many political and military analysts point to the parliamentary elections as a test case for the durability of Iraq after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime.

"This singular focus on the parliamentary elections is ill-conceived and dangerous," Hiltermann wrote, adding there is nothing to guarantee a durable democracy once U.S. strategists and military forces fade into the background.

Hiltermann said U.S. President Barack Obama will need to adopt an exit strategy for Iraq that hinges on political deals that are satisfactory to all parties involved, notably the Kurdish and Baghdad governments.

"Obama should make sure that the peace he leaves behind is sustainable, lest (George W.) Bush's war of choice turn into his war of necessity," he concluded.

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(dgraeber@upi.com)