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U.N. maps belie claims of Afghan progress
Monday, Dec 27, 2010 14:17 ET

Internal security documents show the situation in Afghanistan deteriorating, despite Obama's claims to the contrary.
By Justin Elliott


President Obama meets with troops at Bagram
Air Force Base in early December. AP/Jim Young

The big takeaway from the Obama administration's review of the Afghan war this month was that the strategy is working. But a new independent assessment suggests just the opposite: that, in fact, the situation is deteriorating.

It comes in the form of United Nations security maps obtained and described by the Wall Street Journal. These maps are used by UN personnel to make decisions about where they can operate within the conutry -- so presumably the UN takes their composition seriously. According to the Journal, this is the change that occurred between the March and October editions of the maps:

In the October map, just as in March's, nearly all of southern Afghanistan—the focus of the coalition's military offensives—remained painted the red of "very high risk," with no noted improvements. At the same time, the green belt of "low risk" districts in northern, central and western Afghanistan shriveled.

The U.N.'s October map upgraded to "high risk" 16 previously more secure districts ...

This, coming from an apparently disinterested and credible source, is a big deal, one that probably won't get the attention it deserves because of the holidays. It directly contradicts President Obama's claims of progress in Afghanistan. The White House has not commented on the report.

* Justin Elliott is a Salon reporter. Reach him by email at [e-mail] and follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin More: Justin Elliott
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/12/27/un_maps_afghanistan/

Car bomb hits southern Afghan city

At least three people killed and a dozen others injured after an explosion in a crowded bank in Kandahar.
Last Modified: 27 Dec 2010 10:11 GMT


Recent months have seen more international troops in southern Afghanistan, the Taliban's stronghold [Reuters]

At least three people have been killed and many more injured after a car bomb exploded near a crowded bank in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Kabul, the Afghan capital, said that the blast took place near Kabul Bank at a time of the month when many police officers were at the branch to draw cash.

"The bomb was apparently planted in a car near the bank," he said.

"Eyewitnesses told Al Jazeera that they saw many people being taken to the hospital."

Khan Mohammad, the city's police chief, confirmed that the explosion was a car bombing and one of the dead was a police officer.

The blast partly destroyed shops, some buildings and several police and army vehicles, a witness said.

Series of attacks

Several members of the Afghan security forces fired into the sky in panic after the blast, Mohammad said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban fighters have previously carried out suicide attacks in the province, which is a stronghold of the group.

Earlier this month, four policemen and two children were injured in a car bomb close to the police headquarters in the city.

Kandahar, the biggest city in southern Afghanistan and the birthplace of Taliban leader Mullah
Omar, is at the heart of a nine-year Taliban battle with some 140,000 US-led international troops.

It has been flooded with international troops in recent months and there is a regular stream of convoys and patrols on the streets.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/12/201012278273680716.html