http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2008/new/apr/21/today-int1.htm
自由時報2008年4月21日

紐時驚爆 布希政府收買軍事名嘴

〔編譯陳泓達／綜合二十日外電報導〕紐約時報網站十九日報導，布希政府利用意識形態、軍事忠誠和物質利益等手段，收買任職於主要電視廣播網的軍事問題名嘴，使其在伊拉克戰爭等反恐議題上營造有利於當局的言論。

這些名嘴多半為退役高階軍官，他們固定出現在談話性節目中，針對伊拉克和阿富汗戰爭等議題發表評論。然而，紐時踢爆這些有利於布希政府的言論，背後都有著不堪聞問的利益驅策，因為這些名嘴代表一百五十幾家軍事承包商，他們的真正身分，是這些軍火商的說客、高層主管、董事或顧問。

報導指稱，這些軍火商既有重量級大廠，也有許多小型軍工企業，它們競逐的利益是反恐戰爭所創造的市場大餅，價值數千億美元。由於競爭激烈，內線消息和與政府高官的關係成為贏得先機的重要籌碼，因而值得重賞。

報導指稱，布希政府利用前述利益收買名嘴，進而在其任職的電視廣播網內部，扮演塑造反恐戰爭輿論的推手。這些軍評家獲邀參加對高層軍事將領、包括對合約招標和預算案擁有重要影響力的官員在內，私下舉行的簡報，場次之多數以百計。

此外，這些名嘴還受邀前往伊拉克考察、接觸機密情資，白宮、國務院和司法部高層也會特地為他們舉行簡報會。相對地，這些御用名嘴則以呼應政府論調予以回報，甚至是在他們懷疑情資有誤或誇大時也不改其志。

紐時的推論是以多達八千頁的電子郵件、謄本和紀錄為基礎，這些資料記載了前述簡報、前往伊拉克和古巴關達納摩灣基地考察的內情。紐時是在贏得向國防部提出的訴訟後，取得這些資料，披露了政府和媒體原來並非兩條平行線，兩者之間其實有著利益共生的關係。

五角大廈密件代號「代理人」

五角大廈內部文件一再以「訊息戰力倍增器」（message force multipliers）或「代理人」（surrogates）稱呼這些御用名嘴，其作用在於可透過「專業見解」形式，充當政府「立場和訊息」的傳聲筒。

紐時指出，這些在電視網擔任顧問的名嘴每上一次節目，酬勞介於五百至一千美元（約台幣一萬五千元至三萬元）之間，但他們參加五角大廈的會議時，宛如軍方潛伏在電視台的特工，他們會建議國防部如何反制媒體報導，甚至透露電視台規劃中的報導內容。

http://1-apple.com.tw/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Article&Sec_ID=3&ShowDate=20080421&IssueID=20080421&art_id=30472825&NewsType=1&SubSec=11
蘋果日報2008年4月21日

收買名嘴 布希操控媒體

【陳怡妏╱綜合外電報導】美國《紐約時報》昨揭發，許多在電視上評論伊拉克問題的軍事分析家和退休將領，都收過國防部的好處，包括接受招待出遊或擔任美軍包商顧問，換取他們在電視上為布希政府美言。
《紐時》詳閱國防部8000頁電郵和文件，發現「布希政府利用對情報的控制權，把分析家變成入侵媒體的木馬，試圖利用電視和電台操控媒體。」而國家廣播公司（NBC）兩名分析家，同時在解放伊拉克委員會和主要美軍包商擔任顧問，已構成利益衝突，但觀眾與電視台都被蒙在鼓裡。

專機載往關灣考察
如2005年關達那摩灣監獄虐囚事件沸沸揚揚之際，布希政府出動副總統專機將退役將領載到關灣考察，後來其中很多人都在電視上發表有利布希政府的評論。曾任福斯新聞台評論員的貝夫拉夸認為，布希政府把他們當成傀儡。
伊拉克戰情惡化時，布希政府提供給分析家的戰情簡報，也跟戰場實況落差極大。有的分析家即使對聽到的情況有所疑慮，但因怕失去接觸機密的機會只好極力壓抑疑惑。美國國防部昨則否認收買名嘴。

美國國防部近年醜聞
2007/03 美軍華特里德陸軍醫學中心被披露環境髒亂，許多伊拉克與阿富汗戰場傷兵躺在黴菌遍布、蟑螂老鼠橫行的危樓養病
2006/04 國防部長倫斯斐被指直接涉及美軍在古巴關達那摩監獄虐囚案，親自批准偵訊計劃，導致1名囚犯遭受多種不人道待遇
2004/04 美國媒體披露駐伊拉克美軍在巴格達阿布格雷監獄虐待囚犯，震驚全球
2003年 美國媒體報導關灣囚犯遭虐待，後國防部稱關灣囚犯不能被視為戰俘，不適用《日內瓦公約》
資料來源：《蘋果》資料室

http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,110504+112008042100324,00.html
中國時報 2008.04.21　
美軍事名嘴 五角大廈祕密武器
閻紀宇／紐約時報特稿

    　美國政府進行全球反恐戰爭－特別是伊拉克戰爭，有一項鮮為人知的祕密武器：媒體軍事分析家。他們絕大部份是退役的將領或校級軍官，在媒體上以權威、獨立的姿態侃侃而談軍事議題。然而他們其實是政府與軍事企業豢養的傳聲筒。

    　他們專門在輿論戰場上對付各種負面報導與批評，撥「亂」反「正」。不僅一般閱聽人被蒙在鼓裡，連新聞媒體本身也未必清楚這些「專家」的來歷（見圖，摘自紐約時報網站）。

    　關達那摩虐囚案 負責消毒

    　2005年夏天，美國關押反恐戰爭俘虜的「關達那摩軍事監獄」遭國際社會新一波譴責，被「國際特赦組織」形容為「當代的古拉格群島」。負責媒體事務的政府官員立刻採取行動，召來一批經常在電視或廣播上亮相或發聲的「軍事分析家」，請他們搭上副總統錢尼的專機，飛往古巴關達那摩灣實地參訪，聽取簡報。

    　這些分析家果然盡忠職守，回國後立刻上節目大放厥詞，發揮「名嘴」的功力，宣揚政府期待他們傳達的觀點，照本宣科軍方提供的資料數據，駁斥人權團體的質疑批判，而且維持自身「權威、獨立」的形象。「有線電視新聞網」（CNN）的退役空軍將領謝波德、「國家廣播公司」（NBC）電視網的退役陸軍將領梅格斯…都沒有讓五角大廈失望。

    　與政軍共生 深入媒體陣地

    　《紐約時報》日前透過司法訴訟取得五角大廈一批近8000頁文件的調閱權，顯示從2001年「九一一恐怖攻擊事件」爆發前夕迄今，政府如何利用各種方式拉攏特定的軍事分析家，以各種內部簡報與實地參訪來餵養他們，協助他們營造攸關數十億美元合約的門路與人脈。簡而言之，這些分析家與政府形成共生關係，儼然是政府深入媒體陣地的「特洛伊木馬」。

    　以「福斯新聞網」（Fox News）分析家麥金奈尼為例，這位仁兄當年官拜空軍三星中將，退役後進入好幾家軍事公司的董事會。2006年4月，當時的國防部長倫斯斐遭到另一群退役將領聯名行文批判，直指他要為伊拉克局勢惡化負責。倫斯斐緊急召集一群分析家開會，商討反擊策略。與會的麥金奈尼當然義不容辭，隨即投書《華爾街日報》力挺倫斯斐。

    　退役陸軍上校蓋瑞特也是雙重身分，既擔任福斯新聞網的分析家，又是「巴頓波格斯公司」的遊說專家，協助企業爭取國防部合約，宣稱自己可以直達國防部長、參謀首長聯席會議主席等高層。他多次在軍方安排之下走訪伊拉克，回來後上節目大力讚揚美軍的成就、伊國局勢的進展。2007年1月他致函國防部官員：「如果你們有哪些論點要特別強調，或者有什麼問題要淡化處理，請務必告知本人。」

    　有重賞必有重罰。哥倫比亞廣播公司（CBS）電視網分析家麥考斯蘭表示，不聽話的分析家會失去所有門路，事業可能遭到重創。退役陸戰隊上校柯萬本來表現得可圈可點，可是2005年8月3日一天之內，14名陸戰隊員在伊拉克陣亡，他再也無法全盤接受五角大廈對伊國情勢的歪曲，不過還是先跟軍方打了聲招呼，然後上電視做一些溫和批評。結果他幾乎立刻被五角大廈「開除」，從此成為拒絕往來戶。

    　不聽話 會失去所有門路

    　政府滲透或策反媒體，古已有之，於今為烈。布希政府早從九一一恐怖攻擊事件之前，就開始積極培養深入媒體的「第五縱隊」，主其事者是當時的國防部公關主管克拉克（Torie Clarke）女士，出身報社攝影記者的她，認為公關工作的核心是取得「資訊主宰」，目標則鎖定那些在媒體上具有權威、獨立形象的「關鍵影響人物」，徵召他們為國效力。

    　克拉克的理念得到倫斯斐全力支持，她提出的名單也由倫斯斐親自審閱敲定。幾年下來，五角大廈至少網羅了75位退役將領與校級軍官出身的分析家，Fox News最多，其次是NBC與CNN，CBS與「美國廣播公司」（ABC）電視網也有。這些分析家的確「表現優異」，然而他們自欺欺人的結果，雖然肥了自身的荷包與事業，卻對國家與社會造成無法彌補的損失。

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080420056831.html
粉飾反恐戰爭 布希政府培養御用軍事評論家
法新社╱劉學源 2008-04-20 20:50     
 
 
（法新社華盛頓十九日電）「紐約時報」網站今天報導，布希總統領導的美國政府操控受雇於美國主要電視網的軍事分析專家，刻意營造有關伊拉克戰爭等議題的有利報導。

報導指出，為達成所要目標，布希政府不僅利用意識形態和軍事忠誠，也動用龐大財務影響力，因為事實上絕大部分這類分析專家都與軍備承包商有關，與他們被要求在電視上發表評論的戰爭政策有直接利害關係。

經常上電視針對伊拉克和阿富汗戰爭發表評論的軍事分析家，通常都是退休高階軍方官員。

報導稱，但從未向觀眾披露的是，這些分析專家擔任為數超過一百五十家軍備承包商的說客、高層主管、董事或顧問。

報導又說，這些公司除重量級國防承包商，也包括規模較小企業，這些承包商全都極力爭取因布希政府反恐戰爭而衍生的數千億美元商機。

報導指稱，由於競爭激烈，內線消息以及與高層政府官員的關係備受重視。

紐時表示，布希政府利用此事實，把分析家變成在主要電視和廣播網內刻意形塑反恐報導的工具。這些分析家獲邀參加數百場高層軍方首長私下舉行的簡報，這些軍方首長包括對預算和招標擁有重大影響力的官員。

這些分析家也被送往伊拉克視察、接觸機密情報和聽取白宮、國務院和司法部高層的簡報。這批分析家則回報以附和美國政府的主張，即使他們懷疑所獲資訊不實或遭過度誇大時，仍然如此。

紐時在仔細檢視描述私下簡報、前往伊拉克和古巴關達那摩灣基地考察等的長達八千頁各種電子郵件、謄本和記錄後，獲得以上結論。紐時在贏得對五角大廈提出的訴訟後，取得前述資料。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080420/pl_afp/usmediatelevisionmilitaryanalysts_080420041319;_ylt=AtJ87zDoCGYT7dIG0nDCO4msOrgF
Bush administration manipulated TV military analysts: report

Sun Apr 20, 12:13 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The administration of President George W. Bush has manipulated military analysts working for leading US television networks to generate favorable coverage of the war in Iraq and other issues, The New York Times reported on its website Saturday.
 
The newspaper said in trying to achieve its goal, the administration exploited not only ideological and military allegiances but also a powerful financial dynamic, namely the fact that most of these analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on television.

Military analysts, who regularly appear on TV commenting on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, are usually retired high-ranking military officials.

But what is never disclosed to viewers, the paper said, is that the men represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants.

The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all contractors seeking hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration's war on terror, the report said.

It is a furious competition, in which inside information and easy access to senior administration officials are highly prized, The Times pointed out.

According to the report, the Bush administration has used this fact to transform the analysts into an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.

Analysts have been invited into hundreds of private briefings with senior military leaders, including officials with significant influence over contracting and budget matters, the paper said.

They have been taken on tours of Iraq, given access to classified intelligence and received briefings from top White House, State Department and Justice Department officials, The Times said.

In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated, the report said.

The conclusion came following The Times' examination of 8,000 pages of e-mail messages, transcripts and records describing years of private briefings, trips to Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that the paper obtained after winning a lawsuit against the Pentagon.

These records reveal a symbiotic relationship where the usual dividing lines between government and journalism have been obliterated, the paper said.

Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as "message force multipliers" or "surrogates" who could be counted on to deliver administration "themes and messages" to millions of Americans "in the form of their own opinions."

While analysts are paid network consultants who make between 500 dollars to 1,000 dollars per TV appearance, in Pentagon meetings they sometimes spoke as if they were operating behind enemy lines, the report said.

Some offered the Pentagon tips on how to outmaneuver the networks, and some warned of planned network stories.

"Good work," Thomas G. McInerney, a retired Air Force general and Fox News analyst, wrote, according to The Times, to the Pentagon after receiving fresh talking points in late 2006. "We will use it."

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080420056433.html
伊拉克安全情勢改善 美國務卿籲鄰國伸出援手
法新社╱何世煌 2008-04-20 12:50     
 
 
（法新社愛爾蘭善農二十日電）美國國務卿萊斯今天表示，既然什葉派領導的伊拉克政府正在嚴懲什葉派民兵並改善安全情勢，她呼籲遜尼派阿拉伯國家盡到「對鄰國伊拉克應有的責任」。

萊斯今天在飛往巴林與科威特的途中說：「我認為公平的來說，伊拉克鄰國可以做得更多，來盡到他們的責任，因為我確實認為伊拉克已開始盡到他們的責任。」萊斯將在中東地區與阿拉伯國家的外交部長舉行會談。

萊斯宣稱伊拉克安全已經獲得改善，什葉派阿拉伯領導階層也努力試圖保護國家而非自身教派的利益。她呼籲遜尼派阿拉伯領導人讓外交人員重回巴格達，並紓解伊拉克的外債負擔。

美國二零零三年發動伊拉克戰爭，推翻遜尼派領袖海珊以來，阿拉伯國家不止憂心伊拉克動亂，也擔心支持的伊拉克政府投向波斯人組成的什葉派伊朗伊斯蘭共和國。

然而萊斯在專機降落愛爾蘭善農加油前表示，伊拉克安全情勢已經改善，總理馬里奇正遵照呼籲行事，讓伊拉克遜尼派及什葉派阿拉伯人與庫德族人和解。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080420/pl_afp/usiraqdiplomacyunaid_080420013044;_ylt=Ar78ROguZod8ceYsLatcWGqsOrgF
Rice urges Iraq's Arab neighbors to seize moment in Iraq

by Lachlan Carmichael
Sat Apr 19, 9:30 PM ET

SHANNON, Ireland (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew Sunday to the Gulf urging Arabs to seize what she sees as an opening for them to grab a stake in neighboring Iraq and blunt Iran's influence there.
 
Claiming improved security in Iraq and a determined bid by its Shiite Arab leadership to defend national rather than sectarian interests, Rice urged Sunni Arab leaders to send their diplomats back to Baghdad and ease Iraq's debt load.

Her call came as hardline Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr threatened on Saturday to declare "open war" if the crackdown by Iraqi and US forces against his loyalists is not stopped.

"The neighbors could do more to live up to their obligations because I do believe the Iraqis are beginning to live up to theirs," Rice told reporters en route to face-to-face talks with top Arab diplomats in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Iraq's Sunni leader Saddam Hussein, its Arab neighbors have worried not only about violence there but also about backing a government tilted toward non-Arab Shiite Iran.

However, speaking before her plane stopped to refuel in Shannon, Ireland, Rice said security has improved and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is acting on Arab calls to reconcile Iraq's Sunni and Shiite Arabs as well as Kurds.

She urged the Arabs to take special encouragement from Maliki's decision to crack down last month on Iranian-backed Shiite militias, even though it has produced a spike in violence.

"At some point Arab states need to take yes for an answer in terms of ... Iraq's commitment to its Arab identity," Rice said.

Rice will press her point further in face-to-face talks with her Arab counterparts in both Bahrain on Monday and Kuwait on Tuesday.

In Bahrain, she will meet with the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan and Gulf oil states Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Iraq's top diplomat will also be there, she said.

Although the Bahrain talks will touch on Iraq, they will also cover the political crisis in Lebanon, the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, Afghanistan, Sudan and other issues, she said.

The larger conference in Kuwait will be attended by Iraq's Arab and non-Arab neighbors Iran and Turkey, UN Security Council permanent members including the United States and other Group of Eight leading industrial nations.

The meetings come two weeks after General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador in Baghdad, testified before Congress about Iran's alleged support for Shiite militias.

Crocker returned to Baghdad via Riyadh a week ago to urge Saudi Arabia to lead the way in reopening Arab embassies and sending ambassadors back to Baghdad.

But Rice indicated Washington might settle for something less. "I believe that there are ways that political representation can be carried out even if you didn't have a permanent continuing presence," she said.

Rice said there been "not enough but some improvement" in stopping the flow of Sunni militants to Iraq from Syria, Iran's Arab ally, as she pressed for more Arab efforts to control borders.

Three working groups on border security, energy, and refugees are due to give reports.

She added that US officials "continue to hope" Iran will act on its avowed aim to back the Maliki government and a stable Iraq, but said its support for militias and other behavior "don't seem to be in line with that goal."

Rice said last week she does not plan to meet Iran's envoy to the conference.

US officials privately call the diplomatic push a "surge," an echo of last year's troop surge which is seen as having contributed to a decline in violence without leading yet to a political settlement.

David Pollock, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, voiced vague hope that the new conditions might bring the Arabs on board US efforts.

"There are some new fragments in the kaleidoscope that have shifted in a potentially more positive direction," Pollock told AFP.

It will be the third conference with Iraq's neighbors; the first launched in Egypt in May last year and the second taking place in Turkey in November.

http://1-apple.com.tw/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Article&Sec_ID=3&ShowDate=20080420&IssueID=20080420&art_id=30469972&NewsType=1&SubSec=11
蘋果日報2008年4月20日

荷蘭軍司令 愛子命喪阿富汗神學士宣稱設陷阱 「報復反伊斯蘭影片」

【陳怡妏╱綜合外電報導】荷蘭新任國防軍司令彼得范鄔（Peter van Uhm）上周四才風光就職，不料派駐阿富汗的愛子丹尼（Dennis van Uhm）隔天竟誤觸路邊炸彈喪命，當地伊斯蘭激進組織「神學士」（Taliban）宣稱犯案，目的是報復荷蘭議員在網路上散布反伊斯蘭影片。
23歲的荷蘭陸軍中尉丹尼范鄔和同袍搭乘的車輛，前天在結束大型偵察任務回程途中，誤觸路邊炸彈，車上人員兩死兩傷，死者除丹尼范鄔外，還有另一名士兵。
國防部長考量到彼得范鄔的喪子心情，改派其他將領代為向全國昭告國軍死訊。
 
「路邊埋下炸彈」
神學士發言人阿馬迪宣稱，這起攻擊事件是神學士掌握范鄔行蹤後蓄意布下的死亡陷阱，「我們在他離營後埋下路邊炸彈。這是我們針對荷蘭的攻擊行動，一是因為荷蘭佔領了我們的國土，二是因為荷蘭影片汙辱了我們偉大的先知穆罕默德。」
然而荷蘭政府對神學士的說法嗤之以鼻，總理巴克南德說：「沒有跡象顯示這起攻擊事件與遇害軍人的特殊身分有任何關聯。」負責軍方人事的范登堡也認為神學士不可能事先鎖定司令之子行兇，「我懷疑他們根本不知道范鄔是誰，他們只是藉機宣傳。」

身分特殊被鎖定
丹尼范鄔兩周前才被派到阿富汗服務，參與北約組織在當地的維安任務，軍方拒絕說明是否在其父榮升司令後為他提供特別保護。本次不幸事件引起荷蘭各界質疑特殊身分的軍人是否應該派駐中東之類的危險地區。
今年初英國王位第三順位繼承人哈利王子曾秘密派駐阿富汗，但消息曝光後立即被護送返英，就是為了避免成為攻擊目標。
神學士曾在1996到2001年統治阿富汗大部分地區，後來被北約部隊剝奪執政權淪為叛軍。荷蘭從前年8月起派遣1650名士兵加入北約部隊，圍剿神學士、重建阿富汗，至今已有16名士兵命喪阿富汗。

荷蘭軍司令之子遇害事件簿
2008/03/27 荷蘭議員魏德斯在網路上張貼反伊斯蘭影片，觸怒全球穆斯林。
2008/04 荷蘭陸軍中尉丹尼范鄔奉令調派阿富汗。
2008/04/17 丹尼范鄔之父、彼得范鄔就任荷蘭國防軍司令。
2008/04/18 丹尼范鄔和同袍在阿富汗南部誤觸路邊炸彈身亡，伊斯蘭激進組織神學士聲稱犯案，遭到荷蘭政府駁斥。
資料來源：綜合外電

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080414041635.html
阿富汗戰鬥激烈 十餘名警察與北約士兵喪生
法新社╱樊劍萍 2008-04-14 21:50    

 
 
（法新社阿富汗阿爾甘達卜十四日電）阿富汗官員說，數十名塔利班組織游擊隊今天凌晨衝入南部坎達哈省一個警察哨站，射殺十一名警察，在另外一起爆炸事件中，北大西洋公約組織的兩名士兵喪生。

塔利班宣稱，攻擊坎達哈省警察哨站事件是他們幹的。阿富汗塔利班政權於二零零一年年底被推翻。

坎達哈省警察廳副廳長卡恩說：「阿爾甘達卜地區的一個警察哨站遇襲。目前我可以證實有十一名警察喪生。」

卡恩表示，穿著警察制服的叛亂份子於午夜過後攻擊這個四面有圍牆保護的哨站，這次攻擊顯然有內應。

卡恩說：「初步調查顯示，哨站內一名警察與塔利班組織有關連。塔利班好戰份子滲透進入後，朝警察開槍，並未出現交火情形。」攻擊者搶走數輛警車和一批武器。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080414/wl_afp/afghanistanunrest_080414111641;_ylt=AkLRBZRgiz9gRw.05XfsmZuQOrgF
Eleven police, two British troops killed in Afghanistan

by Nasrat Shoaib
Mon Apr 14, 7:16 AM ET

ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan (AFP) - Dozens of Taliban militants stormed a police post in southern Afghanistan early Monday, shooting dead 11 policemen, while two British troops were killed in a blast, officials said.
 
The Taliban, a hardline Islamist movement that was ousted from government in a US-led invasion in late 2001, claimed responsibility for the attack on the policemen in troubled Kandahar province.

"One of our police posts was attacked in Arghandab district. At this point I can confirm that 11 policemen have been killed," deputy provincial police chief Amanuallah Khan told AFP.

Khan said it appeared that the insurgents were disguised in police uniforms and there were indications that the attack on the walled compound, launched just after midnight (1930 GMT), was an inside job.

"Initial investigations indicate that one of the policemen had ties with the Taliban. The Taliban infiltrated the post and opened fire on the police -- there was no exchange of fire," he said.

Police vehicles and weapons were also seized by the attackers, Khan said.

Local witnesses said they heard gunshots for about half an hour after the attack began at the site, which is on a road linking Kandahar to neighbouring Uruzgan province.

A burnt-out police pick-up truck and a motorcycle littered the scene while blood was spattered around the room where the policemen were killed, an AFP reporter witnessed.

Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary confirmed that 11 policemen were killed and another wounded but could not immediately confirm Khan's account of the attack.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said rebels had seized 15 weapons and torched two vehicles in the assault on the police post. "We claim responsibility. Fifty Taliban carried out the attack," he told AFP.

The attack came hours after two British NATO soldiers were killed and two wounded by a blast near Kandahar Airfield, where thousands of foreign troops are based in an effort to tackle the Taliban insurgency.

The servicemen were conducting a routine patrol two kilometres (just over a mile) west of the base on Sunday evening "when the vehicle they were travelling in hit an explosive device," the British Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

"Medical care was given at the scene and all four servicemen were evacuated to the field hospital at Kandahar Airfield. Sadly, despite the best efforts of the medical team, two of the servicemen died as a result of their wounds."

Forty foreign soldiers have now died in Afghanistan this year, according to an AFP tally.

Kandahar province is where the Taliban rose to prominence in the early 1990s and is one of the worst hit regions in an insurgency led by the hardline militia since their ouster.

The French and Canadian foreign ministers visited Kandahar in the past week to witness the efforts of troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

More than 8,000 people, including 1,500 civilians and nearly 220 foreign troops, were slain in the conflict last year, according to a UN report.

Nearly 1,000 Afghan policemen were among the dead. The under-resourced Afghan police force, which lacks the equipment supplied to the US-backed Afghan army, is seen as a weak target by the Taliban.

Meanwhile Afghan and US-led troops arrested six militants including a commander "directly" involved in the preparation of suicide attacks in eastern Afghanistan, said the US-led coalition, which operates alongside ISAF.

Mohammad Ghanam, who was seized in Khost province bordering Pakistan on Friday, was part of the Haqqani network, the statement said, referring to a group headed by key Taliban-linked militant leader Jalaluddin Haqqani.

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080414041181.html
掃蕩什葉派民兵未盡責 伊拉克開革1300軍警
法新社╱劉學源 2008-04-14 18:50     

 
 
（法新社巴格達十三日電）伊拉克內政部發言人哈拉夫少將今天表示，伊拉克已開革一千三百名軍警，這批軍警於安全部隊掃蕩伊拉克南部什葉派民兵期間未履行職責。哈拉夫說，「這些人在巴斯拉和庫特怠忽職守」，他指的是伊拉克南部和中部的兩個城市。

哈拉夫自巴斯拉接受法新社電話採訪時表示，「我們接獲很多投訴，他們是這些掃蕩行動的成員，他們並未盡到他們該履行的職責。」

在安全部隊於三月二十五日起在巴斯拉展開掃蕩什葉派民兵期間，據報導有數百名軍警臨陣脫逃或倒戈。

聯合國指出，該掃蕩行動引發包括首都巴格達在內的伊拉克其他什葉派地區暴力衝突，造成至少七百人喪生。

在巴格達薩德市的戰鬥仍持續進行，當地是影響力龐大回教教士薩德麾下「救世軍」民兵的勢力的大本營。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080413/wl_afp/iraq_080413220714;_ylt=AgF.RrpO0nc3JwFiFtNpBvqQOrgF
Iraq sacks 1,300 troops over Shiite crackdown

by Salam Faraj
Sun Apr 13, 6:07 PM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq has dismissed 1,300 troops for failing in their duties during a crackdown on gunmen in Basra, an official said Sunday, as the government vowed to flush Shiite militias out of their Baghdad bastion.
 
The sackings come after hundreds of Iraqi troops and police are reported to have either deserted or joined the other side during a government offensive against Shiite militias that began March 25.

"Those people did not do their duties in Basra and Kut," interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdel Karim Khalaf said referring to army offensives in the southern and central cities.

"There were many complaints against them. They were part of these operations but they did not perform the duties they were supposed to," he told AFP by telephone from Basra.

The raids which mainly targeted areas controlled by Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr sparked fighting which spread to Kut, Baghdad and other Shiite areas of Iraq.

Some 700 people were killed in the fighting before Sadr pulled his militiamen off the streets on March 30 in return for an agreement by the government to halt random raids.

Battles resumed in renewed fury in Sadr City, a Mahdi Army stronghold, on April 6 when Iraqi and US forces moved tanks and armoured vehicles onto the streets and began taking on militias.

Around 90 people have died in Sadr City and other Baghdad Shiite enclaves since then and although there was a lull in the fighting on Sunday, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said there would be no let-up in security force operations.

"We will continue until we secure Sadr City. We will not come out, we will not give up until the people of Sadr City have a normal life," Dabbagh told AFP.

"(The security forces) will do what they have to do to secure the area. I can't tell you how many days or how many months but they will not come out until they have secured Sadr City."

The township is still under partial curfew and residents reported sporadic gunfire on Sunday, although the heavy battles of the past few days have eased.

Dabbagh told a news conference that the security forces were not specifically targeting the Mahdi Army in its nationwide crackdown on militiamen.

"The government doesn't send its forces after any political bloc," he said. "Anyone who is carrying a weapon illegally will be prosecuted. It is not dependent on their political persuasion, whether they be in the Sadrist trend or any other bloc."

But the Sadrists accused the government of using the security forces to weaken the movement ahead of provincial elections due in October.

"This statement (by Dabbagh) shows the government is persisting in carrying out its political agenda before the elections by using the security forces for party political purposes," Sadr spokesman Salah al-Obeidi told AFP in the shrine city of Najaf.

US military spokesman Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll told the joint news conference that those being targeted are "individuals who illegally carry weapons and launch attacks on law-abiding citizens and security forces."

Driscoll said that operations against "illegally armed gangs, extortion groups and other criminals" are continuing in Basra.

"Although there is still much work to be done, Basra is beginning to return to normal life," he said.

US air strikes in east Baghdad, meanwhile, killed two people and set homes ablaze, injuring three civilians and two American soldiers, the US military said on Sunday.

Saturday's air strike targeted a group of people planting roadside bombs in the mainly Shiite neighbourhood of New Baghdad, which adjoins Sadr City, a military statement said.

One Hellfire missile killed two "criminals" planting a roadside bomb but a second missile "overshot its intended target" and struck a US armoured vehicle, sparking a fire which spread to nearby houses and injured the five.

Tensions between the Mahdi Army and the security forces have been further inflamed by the killing of senior Sadr aide Riyad al-Nuri after Friday prayers in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2008-04-14/1036495104.html
阿情報官員稱聯軍直升機誤將武器空投給塔利班

http://www.sina.com.cn 2008年04月14日 10:36 中國新聞網

　　中新網4月14日電 據美聯社報導，一位元阿富汗情報官員13日稱，一架試圖向阿富汗警方哨所空投彈藥的聯軍直升機把武器彈藥投在錯誤的地點，塔利班武裝分子後來獲得了那批彈藥。一位阿富汗議員則表示，他不認為這是一起事故。

　　阿富汗情報部門首腦薩利赫對議會安全委員會稱，聯軍三月底試圖向阿富汗南部紮布林省的一個邊遠警方哨所投送武器、彈藥和食品，但直升機將物資空投至一個距哨所很遠的地方，塔利班分子隨後趕到，將這批物資運走。”薩利赫在作證時稱，直升機空投了一個小箱子，但是他沒有披露箱子內有多少武器。目前還不清楚是哪一方的直升機空投下了那批物資，北約國際安全協助部隊和美軍領導的聯軍都否認直升機是它們的。

　　紮布林省議員土克希對安全委員會稱，這批武器被空投至距塔利班指揮官阿拉姆住所100米的地方，這批供應物資包括重機槍、AK-47、火箭彈和食物。他說，議員們就此事與卡爾紮伊總統、北約駐阿最高指揮官麥克尼爾將軍討論了此事。他說：“我認為麥克尼爾將軍本人稱這是一起事故，但我不相信他的這一說法。我不知道是哪個國家的直升機空投下那批物資的。”薩利赫對記者稱，土克希的說法是基於傳聞之上的。

　　北約國際安全協助部隊發言人蜜雪兒-多威德爾少校稱，捲入此事件的直升機不是北約的直升機。駐阿巴格拉姆美軍基地的發言人烏爾什中尉稱，美軍領導的聯軍直升機也沒有捲入此事。(關新)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080413/ap_on_re_mi_ea/afghan_missing_weapons;_ylt=At9DKy1wIvJ2DJ8T7eBi0roSewgF
Taliban grab coalition arms after drop

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer
Sun Apr 13, 5:44 PM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan - A coalition helicopter trying to supply Afghan police with munitions dropped them in the wrong location and Taliban fighters later recovered the weaponry, an intelligence official said Sunday.

A member of parliament, however, said he did not believe the arms drop was an accident.

Amrullah Saleh, the head of Afghanistan's intelligence service, told a parliament security committee "coalition forces" intended to place weapons, ammunition and food at a police checkpoint in a remote section of the southern province of Zabul in late March.

"By mistake it was dropped somewhere far from the checkpoint. Later the Taliban came and they picked it up," Saleh told reporters after addressing the committee.

In his testimony, he said a "small box" had been dropped but did not say how many weapons were inside.

It was not clear whose helicopter left the supplies. NATO's International Security Assistance Force and the U.S.-led coalition said it was not theirs.

Hamidullah Tukhi, a lawmaker from Zabul, told the security commission the weapons were placed 300 feet from the home of a Taliban commander named Mullah Mohammad Alam. He said the supply drop contained heavy machine guns, AK-47s, rockets and food.

Lawmakers discussed the issue with President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, he said.

"I think Gen. McNeill himself said that it was a mistake, but I don't believe it," Tukhi said, adding he did not know which nation dropped the supplies.

Saleh told journalists Tukhi's version of events was based on "rumors."

http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,110504+112008041400348,00.html
中國時報 2008.04.14　
駐伊美軍掃蕩民兵 誤擊同袍
陳文和／綜合巴格達十三日外電報導

    　駐伊拉克美軍12日下午在伊國首都巴格達執行掃蕩任務時，一架美軍「阿帕契」攻擊直升機朝地面在路旁裝置炸彈的4名反政府游擊戰士，發射2枚「地獄火」飛彈，其中1枚擊中目標而炸死2名民兵，而另1枚則偏離目標，誤擊1輛美軍裝甲悍馬運輸車和鄰近的幾戶民宅，造成2名美軍以及3名伊國民眾受傷。

    　據伊境美軍發言人巴克納上校13日發布的聲明指出，美軍當局正著手調查這起誤擊事件，並就此事造成伊國無辜民眾受傷表達歉意。

    　過去不斷有輿論抨擊伊境美軍，在執行掃蕩反伊國政府武裝游擊戰士的任務時，經常恣意貿然開火，而不顧射程範圍內是否有無辜民眾可能遭波及。而美軍則辯稱，游擊組織在對付美軍時，經常利用民眾作為人肉盾牌。