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SHAPE
News Summary & Analysis
11
August 2004
AFGHANISTAN
- NATO
forces given freer hand in Afghanistan
- Gen.
Jones expresses optimism over election process
- New
plan to tackle Afghan drugs
IRAQ
- NATO
advance party in Iraq
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AFGHANISTAN
- According
to Reuters, Gen. Jones told a news briefing in Kabul
Wednesday governments contributing troops to ISAF had removed
some limits on use of force, giving a French general who took
command this week a freer hand. “I’m happy to
report … real substantive progress that translates into
greater usability for Gen. Py in Afghanistan with our forces,”
Gen. Jones is quoted saying. He reportedly did not
go into specifics on the changes but said: “Nations
are starting to understand that overly restricting forces
has the opposite effect from safeguarding forces. I honestly
believe it puts forces at risk because the opposition knows
full well what forces are capable (of), able to do or not
able to do.” Noting that at the Istanbul summit,
NATO agreed about 10,000 troops would be sent for the Afghan
elections, but several Alliance nations were reluctant to
participate and a smaller number is being deployed, the dispatch
quotes Gen. Jones saying: “It is better to have
fewer people with less caveats than twice as many people with
so many restrictions.”
- Reuters
reports that during a visit to Kabul Wednesday, Gen.
Jones expressed optimism over the election process in which
more than 9 million people out of 10 million eligible voters
have registered to vote. Radio Afghanistan, Aug.
10, quoted an Afghan government spokesman saying at a news
conference Tuesday the number of registered voters for the
presidential elections was 9.4 million people and 41.6 percent
of them were women. Registration would continue until Aug.
15, the spokesman reportedly indicated. According to the program,
he added that according to NATO’s pledge, additional
forces will be deployed in polling stations to ensure security
during the elections.
- According
to the BBC World Service, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld
said Tuesday a new plan is being prepared to deal with the
drugs trade in Afghanistan. Speaking in Oman at the
start of a tour of the region, Rumsfeld reportedly said a
master plan was being developed by the Afghan government and
the U.S.-led coalition to deal with the problem.
He would not be drawn on details of the new plan such as what
the involvement of U.S. or other forces might be.
IRAQ
- AFP
reports a JFC Naples spokesman said Tuesday an advance
party of four officers had arrived in Iraq to prepare the
ground for the Alliance’s mission to train the country’s
new army. “I got confirmation that the team
did arrive (Monday). The full team will arrive by the end
of the week…. Altogether they will be in the order of
50,” the spokesman is quoted saying.
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