A released Afghan prisoner of Guantanamo Bay, left, waits for transportation in Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006. Sixteen Afghans and one Iranian released from years in captivity at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday, an Afghan official said. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
By RAHIM FAIEZ ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER Thursday, October 12, 2006 · Last updated 4:31 p.m. PT
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Sixteen Afghans and one Iranian released from years in captivity at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday, an Afghan official said.
The 16 Afghans appeared at a news conference alongside Sibghatullah Mujaddedi [F6 note -- see my next post, a reply to this post], head of Afghanistan's reconciliation commission, which assists with the release of detainees from Guantanamo and the U.S. prison at the Bagram military base north of Kabul.
Mujaddedi said many of the detainees, who are now free, had served up to four years in Guantanamo. He said "most" of the prisoners were innocent and had been turned in to the U.S. military by other Afghans because of personal disputes.
The released Iranian prisoner, who also arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday, was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, he said.
A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul confirmed that 16 Afghans had been released from Guantanamo and turned over to the Afghan government. Lt. Marcelo Calero said he had no information about the Iranian prisoner.
One of the released prisoners, Sayed Mohammead Ali Shah, said he had been a delegate at the country's first loya jirga, a council of leaders that helped establish the interim government in 2002 after the U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban in 2001.
"For four years they put me in jail in Cuba for nothing," said Shah, a doctor from the eastern province of Paktia whose hands shook from nervousness when he spoke.
"All these people (the other prisoners) and all those Afghans still in Cuba, they are innocent," he told reporters. "All were arrested because of false reports, and the Americans, without investigating, they arrested innocent people and put them in jail for a long time."
Another former prisoner, Habib Rahman, 20, said he was arrested because he had a weapon in his home.
"They told me, 'You are against us, you are anti-American and anti-government and you are fighting with us,'" said Rahman, from Paktia. "At that time in our area everyone had weapons. I was innocent and I hadn't participated in any fighting."
Rahman said that he was treated harshly at Guantanamo, and that one time he was kept awake for 38 hours while being questioned about ties to terrorists.
"The last time they tortured me like that was four months ago," he said. "They were kicking us all the time, beating us with their hands."
Sayed Sharif Yousufy, a spokesman for the Afghan reconciliation commission, last month said that between 90 and 110 Afghans were still at Guantanamo, meaning that between about 74 and 94 would still be there.
One of the released prisoners, Sadir, who only goes by one name, said 74 Afghans remain in Guantanamo.
Taliban monster dope plants defy Canadian military
Fireproof Afghan marijuana
By Lester Haines Published Friday 13th October 2006 10:09 GMT
Afghanistan's fun-loving Taliban have deployed a hitherto unknown tactic in evading detection in their war against allied forces: take refuge in 10-foot high, fireproof marijuana forests.
Despite Canadian troops' best efforts to burn down the monster dope plantations, the weed continues to offer excellent cover for the insurgents, Reuters reports.
General Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defence staff, admitted yesterday: "We tried burning them with white phosphorous - it didn't work. We tried burning them with diesel - it didn't work. The plants are so full of water right now...that we simply couldn't burn them."
And when they did manage to get a fire going, the results were predictable. Hillier added: "A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those [forests] did catch on fire. But a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action."
As one grunt later told Hillier: "Sir, three years ago before I joined the army, I never thought I'd say 'that damn marijuana'."
It seems Taliban fighters have discovered a resilient and seemingly impenetrable camoflage using marijuana.
A forest of 10 foot marijuana plants has proven a difficult obstacle to Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Attempts to burn the forest has proven fluitless and intoxicating for the troops.
The plants are so rich with water, they provide camoflage, heat insulation and are difficult, if not impossible to burn. Few dried plants were destroyed using various methods, such as white phosphorus, only yielded a buzz for troops down wind.
Overlooking a field of eight foot tall marijuana plants, two Canadian soldiers from Alpha Company occupy a temporary observation post in Afghanistan's Panjwaii District, September 14, 2006. Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy -- almost impenetrable forests of marijuana plants. REUTERS/Canadian Forces/Sgt Lou Penney/Handout
A soldier of the International Security Assistance Force walks past a marijuana field that Taliban militants reportedly used for cover Sept. 19 outside Panjwayi, Afghanistan in Kandahar province. Bronwen Roberts / AFP-Getty Images file [F6 note -- from http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15239501/ ]
Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:12 PM EDT
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy -- almost impenetrable forests of 10-feet (three meter) high marijuana plants.
General Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defense staff, said on Thursday that Taliban fighters were using the forests as cover. In response, the crew of at least one armored car had camouflaged their vehicle with marijuana.
"The challenge is that marijuana plants absorb energy, heat very readily. It's very difficult to penetrate with thermal devices ... and as a result you really have to be careful that the Taliban don't dodge in and out of those marijuana forests," he said in a speech in Ottawa.
"We tried burning them with white phosphorous -- it didn't work. We tried burning them with diesel -- it didn't work. The plants are so full of water right now ... that we simply couldn't burn them," he said.
Even successful incineration had its drawbacks.
"A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those (forests) did catch on fire. But a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action," Hillier said dryly.
One soldier told him later: "Sir, three years ago before I joined the army, I never thought I'd say 'That damn marijuana'."
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
