Iowa Cornfields Changing Afghanistan Agriculturally

Afghanistan and Pakistan sent their agriculture ministers to visit family farmer Keith McKinney's cornfield in Colo, Iowa to observe and bring back beneficial information to better their country's agriculture system. Afghan Agriculture Minister Mohammad Asef Rahimi watched the American farmers with keen interest while thinking about how Afghanistan's crops could improve. Afghanistan is known for growing poppy and they are the world's biggest producer of opium.

"You have to understand that what the Afghan farmer is doing is rational. The Taliban give farmers the cost of raising poppies upfront; the farmers don't have to risk any money."  -Rahimi


"So what we have to do for building the Afghan economy is to suggest that there are other cash crops that could be grown...and benefit the farmers to a greater extent than growing poppy." -U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

Rahimi hopes he could help his country fight this notorius reputation by implementing the ideas he gained from Iowa. He is aware that most American farmers are educated and machine/tech-savvy so he would only apply the ideas that would benefit Afghan farmers. Vilsack hoped the agriculture ministers could see the many possibilities to better their agriculture economy and the success it could bring to the communities and families. Raising crops like the ones in Iowa means that the Afghan government would have to create a credit system, build storage facilities, and many other supports would be needed. To bring hope to Afghan and Pakistani's agriculture minister, Keith McKinney believes that change is very possible. McKinney thinks it wouldn't take a lot to improve crop yields and that in the end it comes down to "better seed, better cultural practices, the way you till your land and take care of it."

Friendly-Fire Mishap

A British aid worker, Linda Norgrove (36), was taken hostage by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan on September 26. Ms. Norgrove was working for an American aid organization called Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI). She left in an unarmored car to go to Kunar to review a project with three Afghan men; two drivers and a DAI employee. All were held hostage but the three Afghans were released while Ms. Norgrove was still being held in the remote and mountainous area. She was killed in a failed American rescue raid. The cause of her death is still being determined by autopsy (carried out by British officials) as well as a joint U.S.-U.K. investigation, officials said earlier that Ms. Norgrove was killed by her captors with a suicide bomber’s vest. U.S. special forces unit raided the area to free her. British Prime Minister David Cameron stated that the raid had been approved before the U.S. troops went in. There is a high possibility that Ms. Norgrove was accidentally killed by a grenade that was detonated by the U.S. special forces unit and not by the suicide vest. A review of surveillance footage, mission plan, communications, members of the rescue team, and video from the operations are all being investigated (led by U.S. Maj. Gen. Joseph Votel, chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command). The investigators said that there is conflicting evidence about whether Ms. Norgrove was killed by a U.S. grenade, an Afghan suicide vest, or both.  A suicide vest was found near her body but it was not clear if it had been detonated or if other explosives had killed her.

U.S. Soldiers Killing Civilians and Keeping Body Parts

Twelve U.S. soldiers are faced with charges for killing three unarmed Afghan civilians. Five of the soldiers are being charged for the actual murders while the other seven are charged for helping with the coverup. The soldiers that did the killing were under the influence from smoking hashish and some were said to have brain damage from IED attacks. The sadistic soldiers were lead by Sgt. Calvin Gibbs.


Overview of what the soldiers did:

• throwing grenades and shooting at civilians (separate incidents)
• forcing an Afghan man out of his house and then shooting him
• kept finger and leg bones as well as a tooth as souveniors
• kept a skull from the corpse
• taking pictures with them stabbing the corpse

One of the victim was Mullah Allah Dad, 45, a poppy farmer. He was at home with his wife and children sipping tea when a group of American soldiers in tanks came. The victim's wife, Mora, describes the incident:


“In a minute I heard shooting,” she said. “I saw my husband face down, and a black American stood next to him. Another soldier pushed me away. They pushed me back into the house and the interpreter made me go inside one of the rooms."
"Minutes after that I heard an explosion...I rushed out of that inner room and out the gate and the translator was telling me to stop, but I did not pay any attention, and then I saw my husband, my husband was burning.”


The soldiers claimed that Mullah Allah Dad was armed with a grenade and that it went off and he was killed. Mullah Allah Dad was unarmed and had no link to the Taliban.

Karzai's Woes

On the International Literacy Day, President Hamid Karzai gave a speech at a high school and was expressing his concerns about the current state of Afghanistan. He touches on the topics of how Afghanistan is being plauged by Taliban attacks and threats. The constant suicide blasts are putting a toll on the country's education system. As Karzai was giving his speech he began to get teary-eyed. 1 out of 4 Afghans (which is about 10 million) are illiterate and all he wants is for his people to get an education so they would be able to be independent and self-sufficient. He urged for Afghans to do more to educate their children and he fears that his own son would be forced to flee his own country one day and become a refugee.


Karzai:

"I'm afraid that my son, my own son will become a refugee one day. Please, I don't want my son and your son to be a foreign citizen...I want him to go to school here, I swear to God I'm worried, I'm worried, oh people, I'm worried."

"I have pain in my heart...Our sons cannot go to school because of bombs and suicide attacks. Our teachers cannot go to school because of clashes and threats of assassination. Schools are closed."


During his emotional speech, several bearded men and hundreds of teachers and students in the audience began to cry as well. Karzai and his family are under a lot of pressure from Taliban threats and the pressure from being criticized and investigated.

Taliban Claiming They Shot Down Aircraft

A helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan in the province of Zabul killed nine members of the International Security Assistance Force, which was led by NATO. Three other people were also injured, an Afghan National Army soldier, a NATO soldier, and a U.S. civilian. The nationalities of the nine were identified as Americans. The cause of the crash is still under investigation by ISAF and it was reported that there were no enemy fire at the time of the crash. The Taliban claims that their insurgents were the ones who shot down the aircraft and their spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, is confident that this is true. This statement could not be proven and the ISAF force says that the Taliban is known for exaggerating their reports on attacking foreign troops. There was a similar incident back in April when three U.S. troops died in Zabul due to a helicopter crash that the Taliban also claimed they shot down.
**Please note: the BBC and CNN are both reporting this event differently. According to BBC the nationalities of the nine are unknown and won't be released until family members are contacted. It also stated that there were only three other people injured due to the crash. CNN says that there were actually four people who also sustained injuries and identified the nine as U.S. service members.**

Death or Democracy?

UPDATE: 3.6 million ballots were cast, this was the final count (pre-sorting for fraudulent). Illegitimate votes would delay the result for months. There were ballot box stuffing even after the polling was finished, underage voting, votes being bought for $10 each, and also voting a second or third time by washing the "indelible" ink.


Fear and frustration is surrounding Afghanistan. Civilians are debating whether to risk their lives and vote or heed the Taliban's threats. The Taliban went around posting hand-written notes on people's doors in a village saying that they will kill anyone taking part in embracing democracy. This notorius group had in the past beheaded, cut fingers and noses of people who had voted or fought for democracy. Afghans are afraid of the violence that this election will cause and fear for their own lives. Despite the threats, about 40% of Afghans had come out and voted. For these people, freedom and democracy is worth dying for. Fear of dying is not the only reason why Afghans are refusing to vote, but the corruption in the government itself is making people in this country doubt that there will be any progress made. The Taliban is known for violence and the politicians have been known for deceiving its citizens, the elder Afghans have little hope that the government will change and will actually help the poor. For the 40% who came out to vote, they believe that by standing up for themselves then the Taliban will lose their power. Most vote knowing that the parliament won't be doing much (especially for the poor) but they vote because they know that they can and to show Taliban that they can't take away their rights. In the capital of Kabul it is relatively safe to participate in the election but in other places the risk of dying is very high and some ask, "Is this vote more important than my life?"

Quran Burning

Dove World Outreach Center, a 50-member church in Gainesville, Florida lead by Pastor Terry Jones is continuing with their plans of burning copies of the Quran to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The church even coined the event as "Burn A Koran Day" and to justify their actions the church says the burning will be a warning to radical Muslims. U.S. General David Petraeus already warned Terry Jones that if the church continues with their plans then this will endanger our troops in Afghanistan as well as other innocent civilians. Hundreds of Afghans are protesting in Kabul and chanting "death to America" and "death to Obama" while burning the U.S. flag and effigy of Terry Jones.
The Quran is very sacred to Muslims and by burning it shows a sign of hostility and disrespect. Not only is this causing an outrage in the Muslim community but many Americans are pleading for the church to stop. Terry Jones stated that he "is concerned" by Gen. Petraeus' warning but Jones never indicated whether the church will continue or cancel the event this Saturday. As far as we all know the church will carry out their plans. What happened on 9/11 was a shocking loss of life and to mark the ninth year anniversary by inspiring yet more killing is probably not the best route to go. This has become a "radical Christians vs. radical Muslims" type of situation, snowballing from the (unnecessary) chaos over building a mosque near Ground Zero.

Afghans burning an effigy of Pastor Terry Jones in Kabul