Daily brief: Taliban chief's brother reportedly killed

By Katherine Tiedemann Thursday, October 1, 2009 - 7:45 AM Share

Event notice: Join David Loyn, author of In Afghanistan, and Peter Bergen, AfPak Channel editor, on Friday October 2 at 3:30pm in Washington, DC for a discussion of Afghanistan's recent history. Details and RSVP available here.

Taking hits

The top American diplomat at the U.N. mission in Afghanistan was fired yesterday after clashing with his boss over how to handle the numerous allegations of fraud in the August presidential election; Peter Galbraith wanted to "face squarely the fraud that took place," and alleged that Kai Eide, the Norwegian head of the U.N. mission, has "downplayed the fraud" (Times of London, Financial Times, New York Times). For his part, Eide said that while he "understand[s] [Galbraith's] frustration at the moment," it was no longer possible to run a mission with "two voices" (Washington Post, BBC, AFP). Galbraith told Josh Rogin, "It was clear that Kai had been lobbying strongly against my return" to Afghanistan, after his departure earlier this month (Foreign Policy).

The row comes at a time when U.S. President Barack Obama seems to be reconsidering the counterinsurgency strategy he announced just six months ago, prompted in part by the fraudulent election (Reuters, AP). At yesterday's three-hour meeting of his national security team, key divisions on how to move forward in Afghanistan split top Obama advisers, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is among those who are undecided about the best course of action (New York Times, Wall Street Journal).

In light of increasing Democratic opposition to sending more troops to Afghanistan, Obama may have to reach across the aisle to Republicans for support if he chooses to follow top U.S. and NATO commander in the country Gen. Stanley McChrystal's recommendations for deepening U.S. involvement in Afghanistan (Washington Post). The next war council meeting is currently set for Wednesday, October 7 (Los Angeles Times).

There's no purchase in money

Yesterday, the U.S. Congress approved legislation to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year for the next five years, sending the compromise measure to the White House for Obama's signature (Voice of America, AFP, Reuters). The bill conditions aid on Pakistan making a sustained commitment to combat extremist groups on its soil and cooperating in stopping nuclear proliferation (AP). However, a bill Obama is seeking that would give trade advantages to areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan is stalled in the Senate Finance Committee (Reuters).

But evidence that increased aid will improve Pakistani public opinion of the United States is unclear, and new polling from the International Republican Institute finds that 80 percent of Pakistanis are opposed to U.S. assistance to Pakistan's fight against terrorism, while 76 percent reject U.S.-Pakistani partnership on carrying out drone strikes against extremist targets (New York Times). The full poll results are expected to be released on Friday (IRI).

The blow of justice

The younger brother of new Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, Kalimullah, was killed on Monday in a clash with Pakistani security forces in the lawless tribal region of North Waziristan (AFP, BBC). A TTP spokesman told Dawn, a leading Pakistani newspaper, that the group "will take revenge of the assassination of Baitullah and Kalimullah," referring to the last chief of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in early August (Dawn). The spokesman claimed suicide bombers have already been dispatched to their destinations.

One reason that Taliban militants were able to gain some support in Pakistan's northwest Swat Valley, site of a Pakistani military offensive earlier this year, is because local residents were frustrated with the slow and corrupt judicial system; however, courts in Swat are back after a three month hiatus and hope to improve this time around (AP). A major change is the introduction of time limits on cases -- parties can be fined for not showing up.

Kabul 2036?

In an election that hasn't been reported as wildly fraudulent or corrupt, Mohammad Zahir Aghbar was recently elected as the head of Afghanistan's National Olympic Committee (Pajhwok). Aghbar promised to do his part to improve the sports environment in the country.