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Is Afghan military pulling the rug out from under NATO?

05 Feb 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Saint Paul took a pragmatic approach to preaching the gospel with his willingness to “become all things to all” if it helped spread the good news, we hear in this Sunday’s reading from 1 Corinthians. It appears Afghanistan’s security forces are taking a similar approach, continuing to woo Western military aid while at the same time cooperating with the Taliban opposition, according to a NATO study leaked to the press. The report reveals that despite having received billions in training and equipment from Western allies, Afghan forces are not only cooperating with the Taliban but in some cases ceding territory without a fight or even joining forces with their supposed enemies. The report is based on the interrogation of thousands of captured Taliban prisoners, but it makes depressing reading for coalition forces more than a decade after the start of the Afghan conflict. Training the Afghan police and army to take charge of security in Afghanistan is the foundation of NATO's strategy to withdraw combat troops by the end of 2014. The report, however, said detainees had claimed Afghan security forces were selling or giving away the weapons the West has supplied. According to the study, Taliban fighters believe they have overcome the U.S. troop surge, that victory and their return to power is "inevitable," and that they can easily subdue President Hamid Karzai's forces once the latter takes charge of security in 2014. It also says that despite all coalition efforts to turn Pakistan away from its covert support for the Taliban, the Pakistani government remains "intimately involved" with the insurgent group. Following the leak of the study, NATO headquarters in Kabul insisted it was not an analysis of the state of the military campaign. It said that while it "may provide some level of representative sampling of Taliban opinions and ideals," it should "not be used as any interpretation of campaign progress." Source: An article by Ben Farmer for Telegraph.co.uk

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Pakistani army post buried by mountain of distrust

15 Apr 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The gospel for the second Sunday of Easter describes how fear kept the disciples behind locked doors and distrust kept Thomas from believing. An avalanche that buried 138 soldiers and staff at a Pakistani military base in a remote Himalayan region has put a spotlight on what critics say is the world's most pointless military deployment: two poverty-wracked nations who because of mutual fear and distrust are engaged in a costly standoff over an uninhabitable patch of mountain and ice.A huge wall of snow crashed into Pakistan’s Siachen Glacier military installation high in the mountains in disputed Kashmir early last Saturday morning, smothering an area one square kilometer wide. Harsh weather conditions have hampered search efforts, and while more than 450 rescuers are working in sub-zero temperatures at the site, at an altitude of around 13,000 feet, experts said there is little chance of finding any survivors at this point. The northern part of Kashmir region is contested by Pakistan and India and the main source of tension between the nuclear-armed rivals who have fought three wars since 1947. The conflict over Siachen began in 1984 when India occupied the heights of the 49-mile long glacier, fearing Pakistan wanted to claim the territory. Islamabad deployed troops in response. A 2003 cease-fire largely ended skirmishes on the glacier, where troops have been deployed as high as 20,000 feet, but both armies remain camped there. Analysts say resolving the Siachen situation should be possible before attempting to resolve the much more difficult conflict over Kashmir. Because no one lives in the region and it is of no strategic value, a joint or even unilateral withdrawal from one side could break the logjam. Each country spends many millions of dollars to maintain troops in the remote sector. "We should do joint research in the area on how to stop the glacier melting," said Imtiaz Alam, the head of the South Asian Free Media Association, which promotes regional peace. "Make it a peace park instead of wasting money." Sources: Articles by Chris Brummit for the Associated Press and Nasir Jaffry for Agence France Presse

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Hundreds die in Pakistan factory fires

16 Sep 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The servant of the Lord suffers for his service, we learn from this Sunday’s first reading. Factory workers in impoverished Pakistan suffer in dangerous, exploitative conditions to try to make a living. Early Wednesday, over 300 workers lost their lives in fires in textile and shoe factories. Many were trapped behind locked doors, raising questions about the woeful lack of regulation in a vital sector of Pakistan’s faltering economy.The textile factory fire, which killed at least 285 workers, was the worst industrial accident in Pakistan’s history, officials said, and it came just hours after another fire at a shoe factory in the eastern city of Lahore had killed over 20 workers.Flames and smoke swept through the cramped textile factory in Baldia Town, a northwestern industrial suburb, creating panic among the hundreds of poorly paid workers who had been making undergarments and plastic tools. They had few options of escape—every exit but one had been locked, officials said, and the windows were mostly barred.In desperation some flung themselves from the top floors of the four-story building, sustaining serious injuries or worse, witnesses said. But many others failed to make it that far, trapped by an inferno that advanced mercilessly through a building that officials later described as a death trap.The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called on the government to mount an immediate investigation. “The head of the firefighting operations in Karachi has noted that the factory was dangerous, flimsily built, and had no emergency exits,” said Zohra Yusuf, chairwoman of the rights group. “Why did all of that escape official attention earlier?”Workplace safety is guaranteed under Pakistan’s constitution, but labor leaders say that government oversight has crumbled rapidly in recent years along with a general decline in governance. Sources: Articles by Zia Ur-Rehman, Declan Walsh, and SalmanMasood for the New York Times and Imtiaz Shah for Reuters

pakistan fires human rights commission of pakistan workplace safety zohra yusuf lahore baldia town industrial accidents
Hundreds die in Pakistan factory fires

16 Sep 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The servant of the Lord suffers for his service, we learn from this Sunday’s first reading. Factory workers in impoverished Pakistan suffer in dangerous, exploitative conditions to try to make a living. Early Wednesday, over 300 workers lost their lives in fires in textile and shoe factories. Many were trapped behind locked doors, raising questions about the woeful lack of regulation in a vital sector of Pakistan’s faltering economy.The textile factory fire, which killed at least 285 workers, was the worst industrial accident in Pakistan’s history, officials said, and it came just hours after another fire at a shoe factory in the eastern city of Lahore had killed over 20 workers.Flames and smoke swept through the cramped textile factory in Baldia Town, a northwestern industrial suburb, creating panic among the hundreds of poorly paid workers who had been making undergarments and plastic tools. They had few options of escape—every exit but one had been locked, officials said, and the windows were mostly barred.In desperation some flung themselves from the top floors of the four-story building, sustaining serious injuries or worse, witnesses said. But many others failed to make it that far, trapped by an inferno that advanced mercilessly through a building that officials later described as a death trap.The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called on the government to mount an immediate investigation. “The head of the firefighting operations in Karachi has noted that the factory was dangerous, flimsily built, and had no emergency exits,” said Zohra Yusuf, chairwoman of the rights group. “Why did all of that escape official attention earlier?”Workplace safety is guaranteed under Pakistan’s constitution, but labor leaders say that government oversight has crumbled rapidly in recent years along with a general decline in governance. Sources: Articles by Zia Ur-Rehman, Declan Walsh, and SalmanMasood for the New York Times and Imtiaz Shah for Reuters

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Taliban attacks Pakistani schoolgirl for speaking out

14 Oct 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The author of the first reading praises wisdom this Sunday, considering “riches nothing in comparison with her.” Pakistanis from across the political and religious spectrum praised the wisdom and courage a 14-year-old girl who was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban for campaigning for educational rights for girls.Malala Yousafzai was shot as she left school Tuesday in an attack that outraged the nation. Yousafzai, who is in critical condition but expected to recover, had blogged about life under the Taliban after they occupied her home district of Swat in 2009 and she is known for her media appearances bringing attention to atrocities carried out by the militant group.Officials have offered a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the girl's assailants, but human-rights activists remain skeptical. “This is not the first time that extremist militant groups have carried out atrocities. I am pleased to see the strong reaction but fear that little will change,” said I. A. Rehman, the Secretary-General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. A Taliban spokesperson said if Yousafzai recovers, they will attack her again, as well as her family.Homily hint: One of the gifts of wisdom is the realization that ideology, religious or otherwise, can never be used to justify acts of violence. This shocking story of religious intolerance can be used to remind worshippers of the blessings of liberty and also the wisdom of resisting vigilantism in any form. Sources: Articles by Scott Stearns for the Voice of America and Mahvish Ahmed for the Christian Science Monitor

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