Afghanistan

International Action Organization

Afghanistan

The New Year:
Afghanistan Timeline during America’s War on “Terror”

By Lila Schow
written, January, 2004 updated monthly

2005

September	Afghan Election Diary: Daily posts from Human Rights Watch members in Afghanistan
September 22	Afghan Women Risk Their Lives to Vote A little-noticed aspect of this past weekend's elections in Afghanistan was the high rate of voter turnout among women. It was a heroic effort deserving of international acclaim.
September 21	The Soviets built a runway here more than 20 years ago to land fighter jets. The Americans, having pretty much worn that one out with their jumbo cargo planes, are building a new, longer strip meant to withstand the US military's heaviest loads. All in all, the US military has more than $1.2 billion in projects either underway or planned in the Central Command region.
September 18	Turnout in Sunday's elections in Afghanistan was down by more than 20% on last year's presidential poll, officials say.
September 17	Fresh violence is reported in Afghanistan as the country prepares for elections
September 16	Nearly four years after the Taliban government was routed from Afghanistan by American-led forces, a newly emboldened insurgency has stepped up a campaign of threats and thuggery on the eve of the country's parliamentary and provincial elections, particularly in the badlands of the country's south. Elsewhere, the presence of former warlords on the ballot has led to charges of voter intimidation.
September 15	Allies Oppose US over NATO Mission Besides France and Germany, several countries, notably Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey, rose up against Washington's desire to obtain an extension of the mandate for the International security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan - taken over by NATO in August 2003 - to mix it in with that of Operation Enduring Freedom. Now, while the former is a stabilization and peacekeeping force, the latter indulges in war missions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Afghanistan on the Eve of Parliamentary and Provincial Elections This report documents an underlying climate of fear among many voters and candidates, especially in remote, rural areas-an atmosphere that has negatively impacted the political environment in the lead-up to the elections. And many Afghans are deeply concerned that alleged war criminals and human rights abusers are candidates and that others retain significant power behind the scenes as party or faction leaders
September 14	Taleban rebels kill seven people carrying voter cards ahead of Afghan elections on Sunday, officials say.
September 13	Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the US needs a new approach to bringing peace to Afghanistan. Nato defense ministers meeting in Berlin are set to discuss widening their role in Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the US needs a new approach to bringing peace to Afghanistan.
September 11	Shots fired near an Afghan minister's car were not an attempt to kill him but a soldiers' row, officials say.
September 8	Six Afghan policemen and two militants are killed after an attack on a security checkpoint in central Afghanistan, officials say.
September 7	An explosion in a car kills four people in southern Afghanistan in a suspected failed attack on US forces.
September 6	Up to 21 warlords standing for Afghanistan's parliamentary and provincial elections will be disqualified, officials confirm
September 4	Afghan Taleban fighters say they have killed six hostages, including a UK contractor and an election candidate.
September 2	Two bodies have been found in southern Afghanistan - officials say they may be of two missing Japanese tourists.
September 1	A British man has been kidnapped in Afghanistan after his convoy was attacked, Afghan officials say.

August	State Department's Facts on Essential Services in Afghanistan (since April, 2005) Reforestation: On March 21, the U.S. Government pledged $200,000 to the Afghan Conservation Corps (ACC) in support of Kabul Greening Week. An additional $10 million has been requested by President Bush for reforestation in Afghanistan. In addition, the campaign for a "Green Afghanistan" has been launched, which will add 80,000 trees to Afghan forests by developing family-owned orchards, nurseries, and forestry businesses. Combined Forces Command Afghanistan will contribute 150,000 tree saplings to the Defense Ministry for planting this spring. (U.S. Embassy Kabul)
August 29	Afghan Elections: Death Threats and Vote Buying "Almost all [the candidates] have described intimidations, feel they are in danger, and cannot campaign normally." US pushes military build-up in Afghanistan as armed resistance escalates
August 27	Uzbekistan's senate approves a government decision to evict US forces from a key regional air base. One US soldier is killed and four others injured in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan.
August 25	Afghanistan is disappointed by the punishment given to US soldiers convicted of abusing Afghan detainees. Six American soldiers are injured in an attack in eastern Afghanistan and a bomb wounds three in Kabul.
August 23	Tajik border guards say they have shot down a hang-glider smuggling heroin from Afghanistan.
August 21	Four US soldiers are killed and three wounded by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
August 22	The US says more than 100 suspected militants have been killed in recent operations in Afghanistan. Afghanistan Growing Deadlier for US Troops This year is already the deadliest for American soldiers in Afghanistan since the war of 2001, and the violence is likely to intensify before the nation's legislative elections on Sept. 18.
August 18	Afghanistan's parliamentary election campaign opened officially on Wednesday with political rallies in Kabul, but the day was marred by an explosion in Kandahar that killed one policeman and wounded 14 others. Officials had already been expressing concern that violence, mostly by insurgents, might disrupt the campaigning for the national and regional elections on Sept. 18. A Lebanese engineer kidnapped by Taleban militants in southern Afghanistan is released.
August 17	Beaten Afghan's Body 'Falling Apart' An Afghan detainee who died in military custody was injured so severely that his leg muscles were split apart. Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan Kills 17 Spanish Troops There were conflicting reports about what caused the crash, the biggest loss of life for NATO forces in Afghanistan.
August 16	Seventeen Spanish soldiers serving with Nato forces die in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
August 15	US Marines and Afghan troops launched an offensive Saturday to take a remote mountain valley from insurgents tied to the deadliest blow on American forces since the Taliban regime was ousted nearly four years ago.
August 11	Afghans Say 4 Died When American Plane Bombed Their Village
August 8	US-led troops kill eight suspected Taleban militants in a lengthy gun-battle in southern Afghanistan, officials say.
August 7	CIA Commander: We Let bin Laden Slip Away Berntsen says he had definitive intelligence that bin Laden was holed up at Tora Bora - intelligence operatives had tracked him-and could have been caught. "He was there," Berntsen tells NEWSWEEK
August 6	Afghanistan's Forgotten War Afghanistan is out of the headlines, but its war against the Taliban goes on. These days, it is not going well. One of the most important reasons for that is the ambivalence of Pakistan, the nation that originally helped create, nurture and train the Taliban.
August 5	Afghanistan to Take Guantanamo Detainees The Bush administration is negotiating the transfer of nearly 70 percent of the detainees at the US detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to three countries as part of a plan, officials said, to share the burden of keeping suspected terrorists behind bars.
August 3	Afghan women candidates in the upcoming September 18 parliamentary elections are running despite threatening letters and phone calls demanding that they withdraw from the election. In Logar province, one female candidate's door was set on fire, while in Helmand province, letters offering a US $4,000 reward for killing female candidates were given out, according to The Washington Post.

July	State Department's Facts on Security (since March, 2005) No new reconstruction has been listed by the US State Department.
July 31	Uzbekistan gives the US six months to move out of an air base used as a staging post for Afghan operations.
July 30	Russia and China call for closure of US bases in Central Asia CIA Blocks Book on Tora Bora, The CIA is squelching publication of a new book detailing events leading up to Osama bin Laden's escape from his Tora Bora mountain stronghold during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, says a former CIA officer who led much of the fighting.
July 26	Nearly 2,000 Afghans protested outside the US air base in Bagram, north of the Afghan capital, Kabul. Chanting “Die America!” the crowd threw stones and tried to break down an outer gate to the base, demanding the release of eight detained villagers
July 21	"I was horrified by the president's last speech on the war on terror [on June 28] - so much unsaid, so much disingenuous, so many half-truths," James Dobbins told me. Dobbins was Bush's first envoy to Afghanistan. From the start, he said, the effort in Afghanistan was "grossly under-funded and undermanned." The military doctrine was the first error. "The US focus on force protection and substitution of firepower for manpower creates significant collateral damage." But the faith in firepower sustained the illusion that the mission could be "quicker, cheaper, easier." At the same time, according to Dobbins, there was "a generally negative appreciation of peacekeeping and nation building as components of US policy, a disinclination to learn anything from the previous [administration's experience] in Bosnia and Kosovo."
July 19	A UK court jails Afghan Faryadi Zardad for 20 years for torture and kidnappings in his home country.
July 18	Taliban militants kidnap and hang a tribal leader and ally of President Hamid Karzai as violence in Afghanistan continues to intensify in the approach to elections planned for September.
July 13	Suspected Taleban militants kill a pro-government cleric in south Afghanistan, the fourth such killing in two months. Australia will send troops back to Afghanistan in September to help provide security for elections.
July 11	Four "dangerous enemy combatants" escape the main US base in Afghanistan, the US military says. The body of a US special forces soldier who went missing in Afghanistan is found, the US confirms.
July 10	Suspected Taleban guerrillas are blamed after an Afghan police convoy is ambushed and six police are beheaded.
July 8	US military reprisal in Afghanistan kills 17 civilians
July 7	US Medical Team Attacked by Afghan Insurgents US military officials in Afghanistan say they are still trying to locate an American soldier missing since last week.
July 5	2 Navy SEALs Found Dead in Afghanistan Russia, China and the Central Asian states told US-led troops to fix a date for departure from military bases in Central Asia that were set up to support operations in Afghanistan in 2001
July 2	US helicopters and hundreds of troops are searching for soldiers who went missing in Afghanistan just before a helicopter coming to their aid was shot down, while the Taliban claimed to be holding one American. US forces looking for members of the reconnaissance team since Tuesday's helicopter crash in mountainous Kunar province bordering Pakistan have no reason to believe any of them have been killed or captured, US spokesmen said. US planes bomb a suspected Taleban hideout close to where US servicemen are missing reportedly killing 25.
July 1	An unguided rocket-propelled grenade brought down the US Chinook helicopter, US commanders believe. Lt-Gen James Conway told reporters that the attack was a "pretty lucky shot, against a moving helicopter". All the 16 soldiers on board the helicopter died when it crashed on its way to the eastern province of Konar.

June	State Department's Facts on Governance (Since February, 2005) No new reconstruction has been listed by the US State Department.
June 29	The U.S. military said Wednesday that hostile fire likely brought down a Chinook helicopter that crashed in eastern Afghanistan, and officials said the status of the 17 American servicemembers aboard was "unknown." If confirmed, Tuesday's attack would apparently be the first time a U.S.-led coalition aircraft here has been downed by hostile fire, representing a major new threat to the coalition.
June 23	China National Offshore Oil offers $18.5bn in cash for US firm Unocal to try to outbid Chevron's merger plan. Afghan officials now say that more than 100 Taleban fighters have been killed in southern Afghanistan. Increasing attacks on US and allies in Afghanistan Armed men attack and burn a girls' school in Afghanistan. Police said the school's single small building and two tents used as classrooms had been doused in petrol and burnt to the ground.
June 22	Fighting between suspected rebels and Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops in southern Afghanistan left about 40 insurgents and a policeman dead and five U.S. soldiers wounded
June 21	Afghan security forces say they have arrested three Pakistanis over an alleged plot to kill the US ambassador.
June 19	Taleban rebels in Afghanistan say they have killed a police chief captured with other officials in the south.
June 18	Suspected Taleban rebels capture at least 10 Afghan officials in an ambush in the country's south, authorities say.
June 14	Two militants have been killed and 12 others captured in a clash with Afghan and US-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, the US says. Pattern of Deception Persists in Tillman's Death Last week, the Army unconvincingly claimed that the suppression of field reports that Tillman was killed by friendly fire did not amount to an official cover-up but was merely the result of confusing regulations that should be changed - "an administrative error," in the words of Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, the head of Army public affairs.
June 13	The US says four of its soldiers have been wounded in a suicide attack in southern Afghanistan.
June 12	Kabul denies making a deal with an Italian hostage's kidnappers as Clementina Cantoni speaks of her ordeal.
June 8	Four Years Later, the Taliban Fight On
June 5	A top Taleban commander is captured by Afghan troops in western Afghanistan, a military official says.
June 4	Two US soldiers are killed in a roadside explosion in south-eastern Afghanistan, the US military says.
June 1	At least 20 people are reported to have died in an explosion at a mosque in the Afghan city of Kandahar.

May	In May, the German city of Hamburg began to deport 58,000 refugees back to Afghanistan, even though the security situation in that country has dramatically worsened in recent months and the economic and social conditions are desperate. State Department's Facts on Economy: (Since April 2005) Aviation: In late January, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a $309,705 grant to the Ministry of Transportation of Afghanistan to fund technical assistance on the aviation law and regulatory framework. The proposed legal and regulatory assistance will help the ministry to update current aviation law. The assistance supported by this grant will help the Ministry of Transportation develop its civil aviation sector and will contribute to improved aviation safety and security. (USTDA) Agriculture: On December 4, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad announced a wheat seed distribution program for farmers in Nangarhar Province. The program is part of a $500,000 counternarcotics project to provide alternative livelihoods to Afghan farmers currently involved in poppy cultivation. The program will allow farmers to plant 2,800 hectares of wheat instead of poppy. The United States is providing 490 tons of wheat seed and 1,000 tons of fertilizer to Nangarhar farmers. (U.S. Embassy Kabul)
May 31	A Cover-Up as Shameful as Tillman's Death
May 30	Women in Afghanistan are still being murdered, raped and imprisoned with impunity, Amnesty International says. Seven Afghans are wounded after a roadside bomb explodes as a Nato vehicle passes by in Kabul's outskirts.
May 29	Gunmen kill a leading cleric and opponent of the Taleban in southern Afghanistan, police say. There's Democracy, and There's an Oil Pipeline
May 28	The latest news from Afghanistan - anti-American demonstrations, a prisoner abuse scandal, continuing American casualties - sound a lot like the headlines from Baghdad. With a twist: Under the US-installed post-Taliban government, Afghanistan once again has become a haven for poppy cultivation, responsible for as much as 90 percent of world heroin supply.
May 25	Oil is set to flow from the Caspian Sea direct to the Mediterranean for the first time after a $3.6bn pipeline opens.
May 24	Afghan president feigns outrage over latest US torture revelations Afghanistan: Violence Surges
May 23	Pat Tillman's Family Blasts 'Disgusting' Army Lies
May 20	In US Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths
May 19	Suspected Taleban militants shoot dead six Afghans working for an aid agency, officials say.
May 18	Afghan officials say they have spoken to an Italian aid worker kidnapped in the Afghan capital. Afghanistan's ex-Taleban foreign minister, Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, chooses to stand for parliament in September.
May 15	Afghan President Hamid Karzai blames anti-US elements for riots in which at least 15 people have died.
May 13	Protests spread in Afghanistan over Newsweek's story that the Koran was desecrated at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay; 8 killed
May 6	A US Army pilot admits he was showing off when his Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, killing the crew chief. Chief Warrant Officer Darrin R Rogers was sentenced to 120 days in military custody for negligent homicide. The crash killed Sgt Daniel Lee Galvan and injured 14 others on board. Under a plea agreement, he must retire from the army but retains his pension.
May 5	The number of Taleban fighters and allies killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan has risen to 40, the US says. UN Calls Upon Afghan Government to Punish Murderers of Women. The three women, their bodies were found in Baghlan's provincial Pul-e-Khumri early this week, according to local officials were badly beaten, raped and later on strangled.The perpetrators, according to officials, left a note on their bodies warning women not to work with non-governmental organizations in the post-war nation.

April	State Department's Facts on Essential Services in Afghanistan (since December, 2004) Polio Eradication: In a press release issued February 4, the public-private partnership, Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), reported that Afghanistan is one of three South Asian nations on target to eradicate polio this year. Polio in Afghanistan was at its lowest level in 2004 with only four reported cases. (WHO) Humanitarian Assistance: The Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) conducted a humanitarian aid mission on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Nov. 16, providing clothing, blankets, school supplies, and tools to more than 780 men, women, and children living on government land. As of late November, 13 PRTs were operating in Afghanistan. Two more are scheduled to open in the near future, one each in Lashkar Gar and Tarin Kowt. (Defense Dept.)
April 30	An airstrike on a suspected insurgent camp in central Afghanistan killed three civilians and four militants, the US military said Saturday. "The attack killed one Afghan woman, one Afghan man and a child," the statement said. Two more children were wounded and taken to the US base in the southern city of Kandahar for treatment, it said. The military didn't say whether US planes carried out the attack or give details of the victims.
April 28	Afghanistan's perilous human rights situation demands ongoing monitoring by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch
April 26	An American soldier is shot dead in Uruzgan when his patrol was ambushed near Deh Rawood, 280 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul.
April 24	A woman is stoned to death in Afghanistan, reportedly for committing adultery. Under Afghan law, cases such as this should go through the local courts. Correspondents say this is the second time a woman has been stoned to death since the ousting of the Taleban in 2001. Both events happened in the same area.
April 13	US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrives in Afghanistan for talks on the future of America's military presence.
April 11	Four die in Afghanistan in protests sparked by reports the Koran was desecrated in a US military jail.
April 9	Two US marines and about 12 suspected insurgents die in a clash in eastern Afghanistan, the US military says.
April 8	A Burmese UN worker dies after an attack on a cafe in Kabul, bringing the number of dead to three.
April 7	At least 16 people have died in a US helicopter crash in Afghanistan - the worst such disaster suffered by US forces there since the 2001 invasion.
April 6	Nine people are killed in Afghanistan when a military helicopter crashes during severe weather. The CH 47 Chinook helicopter crashed in Ghazni province, 80 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, while on a routine mission. There were no survivors.
April 4	Afghan President Hamid Karzai opens a donor conference in Kabul with a plea for more control over aid. Army Concealed Grim Details of Tillman's Death
April 3	Six people are killed in separate attacks by suspected Taleban fighters in southern Afghanistan.
April 2	A cache of explosives stored at a former commander's house exploded in a village in northern Afghanistan, destroying much of the village, killing 34 people and injuring 16, most of them women and children.
April 1	Afghanistan has become the hub of a global network of detention centers, the frontline in America's 'war on terror', where arrest can be random and allegations of torture commonplace. Read Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark's investigation on the ground and talk to former prisoners. More than 80 prisoners held by the US military in Afghanistan have been released, Afghan officials say.

March	State Department's Facts on Security (since November, 2004) Disarmament: Afghan citizens have increasingly been providing assistance to Coalition Forces with regard to turning in weapons caches. Over the past two years the level of assistance has increased from 10 percent in 2003 to 31 percent in 2004. Since October 2004, 236 weapons caches have been discovered throughout Afghanistan. Of these caches, 99 were turned in by local Afghan citizens, local Afghan government officials, or Afghan security forces. (CENTCOM) Afghan Security Forces: As of December 2004, one-third of Afghan Militia Force (AMF) units have been decommissioned: 22,000 Afghan Militia troops have been disarmed, 22,000 have been demobilized, and 20,000 have been reintegrated. In excess of 13,000 Afghan National Army soldiers, 28,000 Afghan National police, 700 Border Police, and 200 Highway Police have been trained. (State Dept.)
March 31	An Afghan court reduces the sentences of three US citizens (Jonathan Idema, Brent Bennett and Edward Caraballo) jailed for torturing Afghans and running a private jail.
March 28	The United States announces it is pouring $83 million into upgrading its main military bases in Afghanistan. A sign that American forces will likely be needed in the country for years to come as al-Qaida remains active in the region. Meanwhile, in a reminder of the instability still facing the 25,000 foreign troops in the country, a roadside bomb hit a Canadian Embassy vehicle and another car in Kabul, injuring at least four people.
March 24	US forces kill Raz Mohammed, a suspected 'high level' Taleban militant in Afghanistan. An Afghan woman and two children were also killed in the exchange, a US military statement said. Two other suspected Taleban militants were also killed in the exchange.
March 23	A forensic pathologist testifies at a preliminary hearing for a military police officer charged in a 2002 assault that the Afghan detainee in U.S. custody was so brutalized before his death that his thigh tissue was "pulpified." "It was similar to injuries of a person run over by a bus," said Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rouse, who performed an autopsy on the detainee, identified only as Dilawar. US troops fatally shoot a boy in eastern Kunar province in pursuit of a suspected bomb-maker.
March 22	A firefight in the Paktika province kills seven people, including two children and a woman. A suspected militant and two other insurgents also are killed.
March 20	More than 200 people are now known to have been killed by severe flooding in Afghanistan after torrential rain and melting snow caused rivers to overflow. US military helicopters have rescued about 250 people and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has sent in supplies. The harsh conditions also took their toll on the population, with more than 300 people thought to have died of cold-related illnesses. Afghanistan will go to the polls on 18 September to choose a parliament, electoral officials say.
March 17	Afghan President Hamid Karzai says parliamentary elections due in May will now take place in September due to "technical matters".
March 8	Steven MacQueen, a UK citizen working as an adviser to the Afghan government is killed in his car in Kabul.
March 6	Afghanistan's delayed parliamentary polls may now take place in September, according to those close to the process.
March 5	More than three years after a pro-U.S. government was installed, Afghanistan has been unable to contain opium poppy production and is "on the verge of becoming a narcotics state. The area in Afghanistan devoted to poppy cultivation last year set a new record of 206,700 hectares, more than triple the figure for 2003.
March 2	Despite almost four years of US interference, Afghanistan ranks 173rd out of 178 countries in the United Nations 2004 Human Development Index. Only a handful of sub-Saharan African nations suffer more wretched conditions

February	State Department's Facts on Governance (Since October, 2004) Land Titling Reform: As part of a program to develop and support land titling in Afghanistan, USAID recently led an effort to reorganize property records in Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz, and Parwan provinces. Property records were catalogued more efficiently, reducing access time from two-three months to just 15 minutes. Afghans were hired and trained to electronically input deed information into a database system using digital cameras rather than traditional scanners, allowing more efficient and accurate access to records. (USAID) Elections: On December 7, Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first democratically elected head of state. Karzai won the October 9 presidential election with 55.4 percent of the vote and was officially declared the winner by the Joint Electoral Management Board in Kabul on November 3. Among the 600 guests at the inaugural ceremony were Vice President Dick Cheney and U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. (White House, State Dept.) Elections: An estimated 8.4 million Afghans turned out to cast ballots in Afghanistan's historic presidential election October 9. Eighteen candidates, including one female candidate, ran in the election. According to the United Nations, more than 10 million Afghans registered to vote, 41 percent of whom were women. The United States provided $78 million — 40 percent — of the $198 million needed to prepare for and carry out the election. (White House)
February 27	Soldiers and medical teams are trying to reach villagers cut off after weeks of heavy snow in Afghanistan and Indian-administered Kashmir
February 25	Taleban rebels ambush and kill nine soldiers in the bloodiest encounter in Afghanistan in recent months. The US government has recently announced plans to pull out large numbers of its 10,000 troops currently stationed in Afghanistan and redeploy them in Iraq to fight that country’s resistance movement. To fulfill this aim, Operation Enduring Freedom—the official name of the US forces in Afghanistan—will be merged with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the NATO mission providing security services to the Kabul regime.
February 22	The United States needs permanent military bases in Afghanistan to protect its "vital national security interests" in the region, Arizona Sen. John McCain says after talks with the Afghan president. Melting snow from the worst winter in South Asia in decades could cause floods in Afghanistan says the World Food Program
February 18	An Afghan aid agency says it fears 1,000 children may have died in the intense cold sweeping the country
February 17	United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ruud Lubbers urges donor governments to step up reconstruction aid to Afghanistan. The aim is to help millions of Afghans return home from Pakistan and Iran.
February 11	Nato is to expand its peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan with more troops being sent to western regions
February 3	Afghan authorities have discovered the bodies of 16 men in the eastern city of Jalalabad who they suspect have been killed by a criminal gang Kam Air Boeing 737 flight from Herat to Kabul vanishes amid heavy snowstorms with 104 passengers on board. The aircraft lost contact with traffic control after being turned away from the airport because of the weather.

January	State Department's Facts on Economy: (Since September 2004) Trade: The United States and Afghanistan signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in Kabul September 21. The TIFA establishes a joint council of trade officials, who will engage in a dialogue on a wide range of trade, investment and regulatory issues between the two countries. Trade officials expect bilateral trade to increase substantially as the two countries work to implement the TIFA. (USTR) Industrial Parks: USAID has started initial survey and infrastructure work for industrial parks in Kabul, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. Industrial parks help promote economic growth by maximizing use of infrastructure resources, helping to promote private investor interest, and creating jobs. The parks will help investors reduce their financial risk and avoid procedural delays. These parks are intended to serve as models for future industrial development in Afghanistan (USAID)
January, 29	Nine Afghan soldiers are killed and one injured in a landmine explosion near the town of Spin Boldak, close to the Pakistan border Afghanistan's human rights commission releases a report stating "69% of Afghans were victims of crimes against humanity" and the country must "address past war crimes if it is to find peace and stability"
January, 27	An Afghan soldier shoots dead five of his fellow troops at a coalition base in southern Helmand province. Six others were wounded before he was shot and killed
January, 20	Afghan warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum escapes an apparent assassination attempt. General Dostum is a controversial figure who helped oust the Taleban and ran for president in 2004. About 20 others were wounded. The Taleban said it carried out the attack to avenge the killing of its members.
January, 16	The United States military releases 81 Afghan prisoners from detention in what Afghanistan's chief justice, Fazel Hadi Shinwari, described as the first stage of a reconciliation program under which many suspected Taliban fighters held by the Americans might be freed during the coming months. 400 men remain in detention in Afghanistan.
January, 12	Newly disclosed documents in the John Walker Lindh case appear to conflict with assertions made to Congress by Michael Chertoff, nominated this week as homeland security secretary
January, 2	With the January planting season approaching, the US State Department is asking Congress to earmark nearly $780 million in aid to Afghanistan, the world's largest opium producer, for a counter-narcotics effort that would include $152 million for aerial eradication.

2004

December, 2004

State Department's Facts on Essential Services in Afghanistan (since July, 2004)

Construction & Education: More than 1,100 Afghan women will be able to pursue studies at higher education programs in Kabul thanks to a new women's dormitory, funded with a $9 million contribution from the United States. The 182-room dormitory will provide the first modern accommodation, specifically designed and constructed for female Afghan students. (U.S. Embassy Kabul)

Education: The United States is improving the lives of Afghan children through school construction and rehabilitation. So far, 205 schools have been finished and 33 are under construction. About 7 million textbooks delivered to the Kabul area will soon be distributed to schools. Half of Afghanistan's provinces now feature accelerated learning programs, with total enrollment in those programs reaching approximately 137,000 students. About 7,900 Afghan teachers have been trained. Radio-based teacher training is available in six provinces, and 25 programs have aired, reaching 40-60% of the teachers in the area. (State)

December 24

Afghan President Hamid Karzai swears in new cabinet members in a ceremony in Kabul.

December 18

Iran freezes bank accounts of a former Afghan warlord with links to the Taleban and al-Qaeda, the UN says.

December 17

Two al-Qaeda suspects and five prison guards die in a jailbreak attempt in Kabul.

December 15

A Turkish engineer kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday has been killed by his captors, officials say.

December 14

The U.S. Army acknowledges that eight prisoners have died in U.S. military custody in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban regime, two more than previously disclosed.

Unocal to Settle Rights Claims

December 11

US begins new Afghan offensive against Taleban and al-Qaeda militants, ahead of a planned poll.

Afghanistan remains in the grip of the most debilitating drought in living memory, now in its seventh year. Government and foreign aid officials warn that despite the outside help and a good harvest last year, the country is living on the brink, with nearly 40 percent of the population below subsistence levels.

December 9

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the rampant drugs trade poses a bigger threat than the Soviet invasion.

December 7

Hamid Karzai takes the oath to become Afghanistan's first elected president amid tight security in Kabul.

December 1

Six US bodies are found at the site of a US military plane crash in a mountainous area of Afghanistan.

November, 2004

State Department's Facts on Security (since August, 2004)

Afghan Security Forces: Afghan National Army troops, along with the Afghan National Police, provided security at 4,780 polling centers throughout Afghanistan. Leading up to the election, the Afghan police and army thwarted dozens of potential attacks and seized nearly 60 explosive devices and various other munitions. Efforts by the Taliban to disrupt voting were limited to small-scale, isolated attacks, largely in the south and east. (DOD, U.S. Embassy Kabul)

Afghan National Army (ANA): Fielding of the ANA Central Corps is complete. Total ANA strength has reached approximately 10,600 troops. The ANA's attrition rate has dropped to 1.3% per month due to improved retention efforts, and recruiting has also seen marked improvement. ANA soldiers are deployed to at least 16 provinces, demonstrating to Afghans throughout the country the strong commitment of their government to their security.

Police Training: The United States has worked with Germany to train more than 19,000 Afghan police. Attrition rates for graduated trainees is reportedly under 1%.(State)

Afghan National Army: The ANA's operational strength now exceeds 8,000 troops, and if recent recruiting and retention trends continue into Spring, the goal of 10,000 troops remains attainable by July 1. The leadership of the Afghan Ministry of Defense is paying dividends, as attrition rates have continued to drop. The ANA is taking a strong role in promoting security; ANA troops were deployed to Herat and Maimana to stabilize those cities after factional fighting. (DOD)

November 30

Kabul expresses concern to US and British officials after a mystery spraying of herbicide on opium crops. US and British officials, who control Afghanistan's airspace, assure the president that they had "never in the past and will never in the future support any aerial spraying either directly or indirectly".

November 28

Pakistani Soldiers Abandon Search for bin Laden saying that no sign of bin Laden has been found.

November 27

A British hotelier says Afghan authorities tried to get him to confess to kidnapping three UN workers.

A large group of suspected Taliban fighters stormed the offices of an aid agency in southwestern Afghanistan killing three Afghan workers and wounding three security guards in its heaviest attack since the elections last month. A seventh man, also believed wounded, is missing and may have been kidnapped.

November 23

Three UN workers captured in Afghanistan last month are freed, but it is unclear if they were rescued or released.

November 22

US and Afghan forces raid houses in Kabul as part of a hunt for three UN workers kidnapped last month.

Three Americans jailed for up to 10 years for torturing Afghans and running a private jail in Kabul begin their appeal.

November 17

Three UN workers kidnapped in Kabul are probably not being held by Islamic militants, the Afghan authorities say.

November 10

US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says in Kabul there should be no talks with kidnappers of three UN workers claiming talks would only "encourage more" abductions.

October, 2004

State Department's Facts on Governance

Note: As of October 20, 2004, there is no mention of the October 9, 2004 Afghanistan elections.

Political Parties: USAID co-hosted a conference on the role of political parties in Afghan democracy on April 17. More than 400 delegates attended, representing parties spanning Afghanistan's political spectrum. Delegates discussed their role in building democracy, and international officials outlined the voter registration and election process. (USAID)

Media Development: Working with Internews and the Afghan government, USAID supported the launch of "Radio Qara-Bagh Shura" on February 21. USAID provided the funding necessary for the opening of the station. It reaches more than 150,000 people and broadcasts 10 hours per day. (USAID)

October 29

Afghan security forces and international peacekeepers launch a hunt for three abducted foreign poll workers.

October 20

President Hamid Karzai's share of the Afghan election vote has dropped to 56%, with about 62% of ballots counted. He is still 39 points ahead of Yunus Qanuni but must secure just over 50% to avoid a run-off vote.

October 15

A newly completed Army criminal investigation has implicated 28 active-duty and reserve soldiers in the deaths of two Afghan men detained at the American air base at Bagram in December 2002, and describes potential offenses ranging from involuntary manslaughter to assault to conspiracy.

At least four people including a policeman are killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan.

October 14

The counting of ballots cast in Afghanistan's presidential election begins.

Two US soldiers are killed and three injured when their vehicle is blown up by a land mine.

October 11

Counting of ballots in Afghanistan's presidential election is delayed after allegations the vote was flawed.

U.S. Releases Saudi-American It Had Captured in Afghanistan

October 9

Afghans "vote" for the first time in 20 years

October 6

Nicholas D. Kristof a reporter for The New York Times in Afghanistan publishes his article about women's rights disclosing "In a new opinion poll in Afghanistan, 87 percent of those surveyed said women needed to ask their husbands' permission to vote."

A bomb explodes in the north-east Afghan city of Feyzabad, targeting interim President Hamid Karzai's running mate, Ahmed Zia Masood. Masood was not injured However two people were killed.

October 5

Afghan President Hamid Karzai holds his first campaign rally outside Kabul, four days ahead of presidential polls.

The only woman candidate in the election denounces the persistence of discrimination against women. "We've gone back to the pre-Taliban period, that's all," says Massouda Jalal.

October 4

The BBc reports that Karzai received over 75% of all state TV and radio coverage since the campaign for president's start in early September.

Two recent international reports on security and the Afghan elections find that repression by local gunmen and militia factions is a far more widespread concern than Taliban-related violence, even in southern border provinces such as Kandahar, just south of Zabol, where Taliban threats and attacks have been frequent.

October 1

Officials begin registering Afghans living as refugees in Pakistan for the nation's upcoming elections.

September, 2004

State Department's Facts on Economy:

Microfinance: The United States provided microfinance training to more than 80 field staff from the Afghan Ministry for Rehabilitation and Rural Development. USAID worked with the World Bank and Canadian and British agencies to train Afghans on basic microfinance methodologies and best practices. The training is intended to help the Afghan government build its capacity to implement microfinance loans -- a key component in fostering Afghanistan's economic recovery. (USAID)

Berlin conference: Afghan officials reached their goal of obtaining $4.4 billion in pledges to help meet their expenses for the new fiscal year at the International Afghanistan donors' conference in Berlin, including a new pledge of an additional $1 billion from the United States. Secretary Powell attended the conference, demonstrating the high level of U.S. commitment to Afghanistan's reconstruction. At a March 31 appearance with President Karzai, Secretary Powell said, "I just want to assure President Karzai, and through him all Afghans, that the United States views this as a priority mission for us, NATO views it as their number one priority operational mission. The international community knows its obligations and we will meet those obligations." (State)

Financial help for agriculture: USAID's microfinance program enables small Afghan businesses to take out loans averaging $200 in value. USAID is investigating whether it can work with Afghan agricultural associations to expand this credit program. These associations have demonstrated that they have the potential to use credit either for the organization as a whole or to be shared among its members. (USAID)

September 27

300 elders of the Terezay tribe have told members they must vote for Hamid Karzai in presidential polls or their houses will be burned in a broadcast by radio in south-east Afghanistan

September 24

The US blames an increase in the Afghanistan opium trade for endangering the upcoming elections.

September 23

American military investigators open a criminal probe into allegations of murder and torture involving an 18-year-old Afghan army recruit who died while in U.S. custody last year. The inquiry will also focus on the alleged torture of seven other Afghan soldiers.

September 19

NATO announces that "phase two" of their expansion in Afghanistan is stalled because no member state is willing to contribute troops to bases beyond Kabul.

September 18

The US confirms that it will be sending up to 1,100 extra troops to Afghanistan to provide security for next month's elections.

September 17

Officials arrest three in connection with the assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai

September 15

Jonathan Idema and Brent Bennett are sentenced to 10 years in jail and Edward Caraballo eight years for torturing Afghans and running a private jail in Kabul.

Defense lawyer Robert Fogelnest called for an end to the trial because the Afghan legal system was unfit to carry it out. Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari rejected the plea, saying "Come to the point if you have any arguments."

September 14

Pakistani troops attack a religious school in South Waziristan thought to house foreign al-Qaeda suspects.

September 13

Violent demonstrators ransacked and burned at least four United Nations office compounds and a human rights office as they clashed with the national police and army in an angry protest at the removal of Gov. Ismail Khan by the central government.

US forces kill 22 suspected Taleban and al-Qaeda militants in a gun battle in southern Afghanistan.

September 11

In an effort to step up anti-militant operations along the Afghan border, Pakistan's military moves into the South Waziristan area where al-Qaeda members are suspected of training.

September 9

More than 50 people are killed after Pakistan bombs a suspected training camp in a village in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border.

The military says most of the dead were Chechen, Uzbek and Arab militants with suspected al-Qaeda and Taleban links.

Witnesses say Pakistani tribesmen are also among those killed.

September 8

Lawyers for two Americans facing charges (Jonathan Idema and Edward Caraballo) of kidnapping in Afghanistan release a video showing them being greeted by senior officials. One of the charges they are facing is illegal entry to the country.

Eight Afghans were found in a private jail apparently being run by Mr Idema. One, Ghulam Sakhi, claims he had been tortured by Mr Idema.

Mr Idema's lawyers said Mr Sakhi agreed, in return for relocation to the US, to be implanted with an electronic device which would lead Mr Idema's team to his brother-in-law, who is said to be Osama Bin Laden's former head of security

September 6

The UN and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission say October presidential elections are threatened by insecurity and intimidation.

September 1

Army criminal investigators recommend that two dozen US soldiers face criminal charges or administrative punishment in connection with the
deaths of two prisoners at an American detention center in Afghanistan in December 2002.

August, 2004

State Department's Facts on Security

New Provincial Reconstruction Team: The newest Coalition-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) officially opened its doors in Khowst on March 25 following a ceremony at the site. The PRT will serve the whole of Khowst Province. PRTs serve as a catalyst for stabilization, building relationships and enabling the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. Coalition forces and NATO currently operate nearly a dozen other teams in Afghanistan, from Herat in the west to Mazar-e-Sharif in the north to Kandahar in the south to Jalalabad in the east. Several more are scheduled to open by this summer.

August 31

US warplanes bomb a remote village in eastern Afghanistan killing at least six people and wounding several others.

A statement from the US military says US-led forces responded to militant fire in the province, but made no mention of civilian deaths.

A Taleban claim it carried out the attack has not been confirmed. The area is a stronghold of renegade military commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

August 29

At least three Americans and three Afghans died in a blast, claimed by the Taleban. Dyncorp, the US firm hit by Sunday's explosion, provides Afghan President Hamid Karzai's bodyguards and trains the new Afghan police force.

The Kabul attack came just hours after an explosion at a school in south-eastern Paktia killed at least 10 people, nine of them children.

August 26

The US Department of Defense admitts having contact with a former US soldier, Jonathan Idema, charged in Afghanistan with torturing civilians.

But it says it rejected Mr Idema's offer to work together in capturing terror suspects in Afghanistan.

August 24

"We are very close to a war [with Russia], the population must be prepared," Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told French-language Liberation daily newspaper.

Denouncing military aid from Russia to rebels in Georgia's break-away region of South Ossetia, Saakashvili stressed that he had "no intention of provoking it [a war]" and called for an international conference to discuss the status of South Ossetia.

August 17

Officials acknowledge the number of voting cards issued far exceeds the estimated number of eligible voters - and that the illegal practice of multiple registrations is widespread.

August 14

Twenty-one people, including two senior Defense Ministry commanders, are killed in heavy factional fighting overnight in the western province of Herat, in another upset for Afghanistan as it prepares for elections

US Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, raises the prospect of the 17,000 combat troops based in tAfghanistan taking an active role against the drugs trade.

Mr Rumsfeld did not give details, but it is widely believed that after October's presidential elections troops may be called on to assist Afghan security forces in a strategy modeled on controversial efforts to destroy Colombia's cocaine industry.

August 9

A French and German-led military unit takes over command of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan for six months. The unit, called Eurocorps, replaces Canadian officers who have been leading Isaf (International Security Assistance Force).

Nato officials say that around 40% of the force will be so-called over-the-horizon troops--based outside Afghanistan.

And most of those in the country will be in barracks in Kabul, rather than being spread around the provinces where security is a greater challenge.

August 8

Two US soldiers and an Afghan interpreter die when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

August 4

The Federation of American Scientists is testing Alabama man, H H "Hoot" Haddock's, Polystyrene (Styrofoam) foam houses for mass production of new living areas for Afghanis.

July, 2004

State Department's Facts on Essential Services in Afghanistan

	Construction began May 16 2004 on the 122km Jalalabad-to-Asmar Road
	The first layer of paving on the Kabul-Kandahar highway was completed in December, and Afghans can now travel between the two cities in only six hours -- less than half the time required before the highway was refurbished. A taxi ride now costs 300 afghanis -- down from 1,000
	Accelerated learning started in September 2003 and up to January 2004, 15,921 students completed 1st grade and 58% of all accelerated learning students are girls. By end of July, 2004, 120,000 students will be enrolled. In addition, 680 provincial trainers and 4,800 village teachers will be trained by end of June, 2004
	On March 21, U.S. Ambassador Khalilzad announced the United States will build 152 new schools, and refurbish 255 more throughout Afghanistan by September 2004. The United States has constructed and rehabilitated over 200 schools, trained 2,100 teachers, and distributed 10.3 million textbooks.
	The United States Government and the Government of Afghanistan announced an initiative on March 25 to complete work on 378 new and refurbished health clinics in Afghanistan by December 2004
	the United States is working with the Afghan Ministry of Health to provide a basic package of health services that will reach 5.4 million people in 2004 alone.
	Bamyan University staff and dignitaries celebrated the April 3 reopening in Bamyan of the university which had been closed for more than five years. The school is ready to reopen with 14 classrooms and slots for more than 350 students. The project incorporates funding from the United States totaling $297,000 for construction; and from New Zealand totaling $187,000 for equipment and furnishings

Population of Afghanistan (July 2004 est.) 28,513,677 44% are 14 and under

Median age 17.5 years, both sexes

July 29

Relief agencies, trying to remain neutral as they struggle to deliver desperately needed supplies, have lost more than 30 workers in Afghanistan in 18 months.

Criticism is heavy for Colin Powell, who told NGO leaders in October 2001, just after the 11 September attacks, that they were the "force multipliers" of the military effort against terrorism.

"That was a disaster for us," says Dominic Nutt of Christian Aid, which is remaining in Afghanistan despite the security concerns that forced yesterday's shock withdrawal of Medécins sans Frontières (MSF). "We can't be afford to be associated with the military or politicians. But we're not seen to be neutral any more because of the way the Americans have set things up in Afghanistan."

Bush Administration Misleads About Afghanistan

Vice President Dick Cheney claims that under the President's leadership we "closed down the training camps [in Afghanistan] where terrorists trained to kill Americans."

As CNN reported on July 8, Bush administration officials are warning that "a
plot to carry out a large-scale terror attack against the United States in
the near future is being directed by Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda
members." According to the administration, these terrorists are operating in the Afghan-Pakistan border region.

Unfortunately, in 2002, the Bush administration shifted key special forces
out of Afghanistan, effectively removing them from the hunt for al Qaeda. These troops were sent to prepare for an Iraq invasion. That leaves the U.S. with only about 15,000 troops in Afghanistan hunting down al Qaeda, whom they now say are plotting an imminent attack against the country.

July 28

Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres says it will pull out of Afghanistan because of the killing of five of its staff and the risk of further attacks.

A bomb explodes in a mosque where Afghans are registering for upcoming elections. At least two people are killed and two others seriously wounded.

The U.S. military reported six dead, including two U.N. staffers. But the world body and the local governor said two people were killed, both of them Afghans.

July 27

Britain's Foreign Office says the opium harvest in Afghanistan this year will be one of the biggest on record and it has triggered a flood of heroin in Britian.

In 2001, At the time of the invasion, Mr Blair justified going to war "because the al-Qa'ida network and the Taliban regime are funded in large parts on the drugs trade 90 per cent of all heroin sold in Britain originates from Afghanistan. Stopping that trade is directly in our interests."

July 26

President Hamid Karzai drops defense minister, Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim as his choice for vice president.

Marshal Fahim has the support of many of the powerful warlords and regional commanders in the north who have felt
increasingly unhappy with efforts to disarm them and to reduce their power in the central government.

Mr. Karzai's decision shows the growing divide within the government over the persistence of armed private militias,
which the president has called the greatest threat to the country's nascent democracy.

President Hamid Karzai also postpones a state visit to Pakistan amid political tension as the deadline for Hamid Karzai to register his candidacy for the presidential election approaches.

Marshal Fahim is required to resign immediately from his positions of vice president and defense minister, something he has reportedly resisted.

July 22

US military spokesperson, Major Jon Siepmann, admits they accepted a detainee from American Jonathan Idema, a US citizen under arrested and accused of running a freelance counter-terrorism operation in Afghanistan.

July 21

A US citizen arrested in Kabul over an alleged freelance counter-terrorism operation says he was working with the knowledge of the US defense secretary

July 20

The Afghan government announces new jobs for three provincial militia leaders, widely known as warlords. Militia leaders in Nangarhar and Kandahar provinces become police chiefs. Powerful commander Atta Mohammad becomes Balkh governor. in an effort to reduce their power before the election.

July 14

The Nato-led international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan (Isaf) says it was duped by suspected bounty hunters into providing bomb disposal services. These allegations come after three Americans were arrested in Kabul on July 5 for allegedly running a private jail.

The US State Department moved quickly to say that its arrested citizens were counter-terrorism mercenaries operating outside Washington's command. Correspondents say the US bounty for al-Qaeda fugitives has drawn many foreign vigilantes to Afghanistan.

July 11

President Hamid Karzai says that Afghanistan's private militias have become the country's greatest danger - greater than the Taliban insurgency - and that new action is required to disarm
them.

A bomb kills at least five people in Herat, a west Afghanistan city. The Taliban are blamed.

July 13*

*date of story

Afghans sell to the world online. Afghans are selling rugs, jewelry and embroidery online, with help from a US internet retailer

July 10

Afghanistan sets their general election date for October 9, 2004.

June 30

US Department of State's website on rebuilding Afghanistan's latest entry is February 13, 2004. <NOTE: This is because they moved the website without posting the new link on the page that dealt with reconstruction.

The last action of the US government to rebuild Afghanistan took place January 8, 2004 "U.S. Implements More Than 175 Programs on Behalf of Afghan Women"

The US army has moved to recall nearly 6,000 former soldiers to active service to help maintain its force levels in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two bombs wreak havoc in Jalalabad while a convoy is attacked killing one man and injuring more than 25 others. An Australian journalist reported missing in incidents near Kandahar

June 28

14 Afghans are killed after registering to vote.

June 26

Two women are killed in a bomb attack on a minibus carrying female election workers in Afghanistan. 12 others were injured and at least three, including a child, are said to be in a critical condition.

June 19

Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says it is"simply intolerable" that he is forced to beg member states to commit resources to existing operations, notably in Afghanistan. With Hamid Karzai's government barely able to extend its authority beyond the capital, Nato has still not provided the extra personnel and equipment promised several months ago. "Given the vast quantities of personnel and equipment available to the alliance overall, we have to ask ourselves why we still cannot fill them. What is wrong with our system that we cannot generate small amounts of badly needed resources for missions that we have committed to politically?"

June 18

A renegade militia commander takes control of a provincial capital in Afghanistan, causing the governor to flee amid heavy fighting

A US contractor who worked for the CIA in Afghanistan is arrested and charged over the death of a prisoner last year.

June 12

Afghanistan announces it is delaying elections for the second time

June 10

11 Chinese construction workers are killed in an attack described by Beijing as a "brutal terrorist act" after 20 armed men attacked two tents in which the construction workers slept

June 4

The international relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres suspends operations in Afghanistan after five of its workers are killed in an ambush.

May 31

US Department of State's website on rebuilding Afghanistan's latest entry is February 13, 2004.

The last action of the US government to rebuild Afghanistan took place January 8, 2004 "U.S. Implements More Than 175 Programs on Behalf of Afghan Women"

May 30

Four US soldiers assigned to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - Afghanistan died when an explosive device detonated under the military vehicle - a Humvee - that they were travelling in approximately 30 kilometres east of Qalat

New details about the death of Pat Tillman, the former pro football player, members of his elite Army Ranger platoon gunned him down after a Ranger squad leader mistook an allied Afghan Militia Force soldier standing near Tillman as the enemy.

That Tillman, 27, wasn't killed by enemy fire in a heroic rescue attempt was a major revelation by the U.S. military more than a month after the April 22 incident, which the Pentagon and members of Congress had hailed as an example of combat bravery. Tillman's sacrifice of millions of dollars when he left the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals to become a soldier has been held up as a stark contrast to the prison scandal in Iraq

May 24

Afghan Deaths Linked to Unit at Iraq Prison

May 23

A rocket-grenade attack near Jalalabad kills a Norwegian member of the Nato-led security force.

May 20

Reintegration of Factional Armies a Priority in Afghanistan

May 13

Human Rights Watch accuses US troops in Afghanistan of "systemic" abuse of prisoners, documenting "numerous cases of mistreatment of detainees," similar to those reported in Iraq.

May 12

The US military begins checking complaints by Afghan police officer, Sayed Nabi Siddiqui, 47, that he was stripped naked, beaten and photographed at a US base in Afghanistan after reporting police corruption.

May 7

Osama Bin Laden offers gold for the killings of top US and UN officials in Iraq.
The message is posted on a website known to be used by Islamist militants and declares jihad, on the interim government due to take power in Iraq on 30 June.

Smaller rewards of 1kg of gold are offered for the deaths of ordinary Americans and Britons, and half that is pledged for the killings of citizens of Japan and Italy, who are called "slaves" of the UN Security Council.

May 6

Aslan Abashidze Ajaria's rebel leader resigns after pressure from his Russian supporters. Georgia President Saakashvili declairs "Georgia will be united," though two other regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have been out of Tbilisi's control for years. Russia, a giant among the world's oil exporters, retains a military base in Ajaria where the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is expected to pass through.

May 5

Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili imposes direct presidential rule in the rebel region of Ajaria amid growing pressure on Ajaria's leader Aslan Abashidze to accept Tbilisi's authority or resign. Ajaria's leader Aslan Abashidze refuses to resign, claiming that Tbilisi is driving the region towards conflict. The US is backing the construction of a multi-billion dollar pipeline to transport Caspian Sea oil through the volatile region to the international market.

Two Britons and their Afghan interpreter helping the United Nations prepare for landmark national elections due in September are killed in an attack in the east of the country.

May 4

The bodies of five Afghan government soldiers abducted on May 3 are found in the south. Officials blame members of the ousted Taleban regime for killing the five who were seized in the Shah Joy district of Zabul province.

April 28

US Department of State's website on rebuilding Afghanistan's latest entry is February 13, 2004.

The last action of the US government to rebuild Afghanistan took place January 8, 2004 "U.S. Implements More Than 175 Programs on Behalf of Afghan Women"

April 27

Afghanistan carries out its first execution since the fall of Taleban hardliners. Amnesty International says the prisoner, Abdullah Shah, was denied even basic standards of fairness. Amnesty fears the "execution may have been an attempt by powerful political players to eliminate a key witness to human rights abuses".

Instead of focusing on reconstruction, the US builds a new airbase in southern Afghanistan to improve regional security and allow more troops to hunt for bin Laden. The airbase is constructed in less than four days.

April 22

Pat Tillman (the football player who gave up his $3.6m contract to play for the Arizona Cardinals when he enlisted in the army for an annual salary of $18,000 six months after the 11 September 2001 attacks) is killed south of Kabul.

Pakistan announces it is ending operations against tribespeople near the Afghan border accused of sheltering al-Qaeda members.

April 21

The UN announces camps housing Afghan refugees on the Pakistan side of the border will close by September.

April 15

Unrest in Georgia threatens the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline

April 13

At a meeting in Berlin, the US pledges $2.2 billion in 2004 and $1.2 billion in 2005 for “financial commitments” in Afghanistan that include reconstruction. A UN-sponsored study, “Securing Afghanistan’s Future” estimates $28 billion wwill be necessary in the next seven years to lift the country’s annual per capita GDP to just $500 by the year 2015.

April 6

Pakistan angrily denounces comments made by the US ambassador to Afghanistan that America may move against "terrorists" based in Pakistan. Pakistan's information minister said Pakistan would never allow foreign troops on its soil.

April 1

President Hamid Karzai says Afghanistan is very grateful for the $8.2bn (£4.4bn) over the next three years pledged by the international community at a meeting in Berlin.

March 27

US Department of State's website on rebuilding Afghanistan's latest entry is February 13, 2004.

The last action of the US government to rebuild Afghanistan took place January 8, 2004 "U.S. Implements More Than 175 Programs on Behalf of Afghan Women"

March 26

About 2,000 additional US Marines are to be sent to Afghanistan to strengthen operations against al-Qaeda.

March 19

Colin Powell pledges Afghan commitment. The US Secretary of State vows support as Pakistan says 39 died in a border drive against al-Qaeda.

Two U.S. Marines Killed in Iraq

March 8

Human Rights Watch releases a report citing numerous examples of "US troops . . .operating outside the rule of law, using excessive force to make arrests, mistreating detainees and holding them indefinitely in a "legal black hole" without any legal safeguards.

The HRW report went on to add that having gone to war to combat terrorism and remove the oppressive Taliban regime, the United States is now undermining efforts to restore the rule of law and endangering the lives of civilians.

February 28

President Bush approves a plan to intensify the effort to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

February 26

Five Afghan aid workers die in an ambush near Kabul, shortly before US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrives in the country.

February 15

A US soldier is killed and nine others wounded by a landmine explosion in southern Afghanistan

U.S. Aides Hint Afghan Voting May Be Put Off

February 10

The United Nations launches a reintegration and rehabilitation program for thousands of former child soldiers in Afghanistan

February 8

Official Afghan Report Says 10 Civilians Died in U.S. Raid

January 29

Seven U.S. soldiers are killed, while investigating a weapons cache near Ghazni.

President Hamid Karzai offered condolences to George W Bush, "It is another sacrifice of your soldiers for peace and stability in Afghanistan."³⁷

UK soldier killed by Taliban in suicide attack in Kabul. Hamid Agha, the Taliban's top spokesman, tells the BBC, "No patriotic Afghan supports occupation of Afghanistan by foreign forces." ³⁶

January 28

Canadian peacekeeper killed by Taliban in suicide attack in Kabul.³⁶

January 18

US military forces kill 11 civilians when a US helicopter attacked a group of people in the village of Saghatho, resulting in the deaths of four children, three women and four men. ³⁸

General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the notorious warlord*, announces to the press he is seeking a senior central government post, “The post is not important, but I would like to work with the government. I will ask [President Hamid] Karzai to appoint me as defense minister, army chief-of-staff or give me a military position with 20,000 soldiers.”

In response Karzai said, “If he asks for a higher position in the Ministry of Defense, it is a legitimate request and we are thinking about it."

*Dostum, a close ally of US forces, presided over the massacre of thousands of prisoners in the desert near Mazar-i-Sharif after the fall of the Taliban November 25th-27th 2001 .3 He supported the Soviets during their invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980's, later changing sides. His troops are accuses of atrocities crimes against humanity as well as mass looting of the capital.³⁹

January 16

BBC reports that a study by American non-governmental agency (Care, and the Centre on International Co-operation in New York) shows only 1% of Afghanistan's reconstruction needs have been met.⁴¹

In spite of the loya jirga, or grand assembly, recent constitution which gives women equal rights, the Afghanistan Supreme Court issues a letter demanding that images of female singers be banned from the airways. Programming chief of state-run TV, Azizullah Aryanfar agrees and pulls the plug on artists such as Salma claiming, "Current circumstances are not suitable to air women singing."⁴²

January 6

Two explosions kill 13 people, eight of them school children, and injures another 60 in Kandahar. It remains unclear who is behind the explosions.⁴⁰

January 5

A song by popular female artist Salma, is broadcast, marking the first time women have been allowed to perform on air since 1992.⁴²

January 4

After three weeks of bitter debate and a 200 member vote boycott,³¹ Afghanistan's grand assembly or loya jirga has agreed on a new constitution.³² Key points include:

	Afghanistan is an Islamic republic with Islam as its "sacred religion"
	Followers of other religions are free to perform religious ceremonies in accordance with the provisions of the law;
	No law shall be contrary to the beliefs and practices of Islam;
	Men and women have equal rights and duties before the law;
	Afghanistan will have a presidential system of government;
	The president is responsible to the nation and the lower house, or Wolesi Jirga;
	The president will be directly elected by the Afghan people with two vice-presidents, who are nominated by presidential candidates when standing for election;
	A national assembly will consist of two houses: a Wolesi Jirga or "house of people" and a Meshrano Jirga or "house of elders";
	The Wolesi Jirga will be directly elected by the Afghan people;
	The Wolesi Jirga has the authority to impeach ministers;
	The president will appoint ministers, the attorney general and central bank governor with the approval of the Wolesi Jirga;
	Ministers should not hold foreign passports but the Wolesi Jirga should vote whether to approve appointments of ministers holding dual nationality;
	Former king Mohammad Zahir Shah is to be accorded the title "Father of the Nation" for his lifetime ;
	Pashto and Dari are the official languages with other minority languages to be considered official languages in the areas in which they are spoken.

2003

December 19	Sanctions on Azerbaijan are lifted by Congress with the passage of Senator Brownback’s sponsored Section 907, an amendment to FY02 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. A proviso in the bill provides a one year waiver if military aid to Azerbaijan undermines peace with Armenia.²⁴ ^{The U.S. government has been in the process of removing the sanctions against Libya since March, 1999 when Libya turned over the men suspected of planting the bomb on Pan-Am flight 108 in 1988.}
December 18	The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN) distributes wheat seeds and fertilizer to 60,000 Afghanistan farmers for their 2004 planting season. It is estimated that 500,000 will benefit from this donation.²⁰
December 6	10 civilians are killed by US strikes, 9 are children.²³
December 5	Bush appoints James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state and principle attorney of Baker & Botts the law firm that represents BP and their interests in Afghanistan, as his personal envoy to Iraq.¹⁴ This appointment is especially interesting given Baker's oil interests: Baker is Senior partner at Baker Botts LLP, which is heavily invested in Middle East oil (View More Information ), and he sits on the US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (Azerbaijan & the Caspian Sea are estimated to be the largest untapped oil supplies outside of the Middle East). With Iraq in his pocket, Baker III will be in a position to influence over 70% of the world's oil supplies.¹⁴ 6 civilians are killed by US, they are children who are crushed to death when a wall collapses on them after a US-led airstrike.²³

November 23	Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze resigns after huge pressure from tens of thousands of protesters.¹⁵ They felt he fraudulently won the election, corrupted his regime and led their country into poverty.¹⁵ 5 US troops killed.²²
November 14	1 US troop killed.²²
November 12	1 US troop commits suicide.²²
November 11	The board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approves up to $250 million in loans to the Baku-Tbilisi [Georgia]-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. Partners in BTC Co are: BP (operator), SOCAR, Unocal, Statoil, TPAO, ENI, Total, Itochu, Inpex, ConocoPhillips and Hess. The BP-operated South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) will be built alongside the BTC line and will take gas from the BP-operated Shah Deniz field to the Georgia-Turkey border. First gas exports are expected in 2006.¹²
November 4	International Finance Corporation (IFC) approves financial package for the Baku-Tbilisi [Georgia]-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline. Partners in BTC Co are: BP (operator), SOCAR, Unocal, Statoil, TPAO, ENI, Total, Itochu, Inpex, ConocoPhillips and Hess. The BP-operated South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) will be built alongside the BTC line and will take gas from the BP- operated Shah Deniz field to the Georgia-Turkey border. First gas exports are expected in 2006.¹² BP, is represented by the law firm of Baker & Botts. The principal attorney at this firm is James Baker III, secretary of state under Bush’s father and chief spokesman for the 2000 Bush campaign during its successful effort to shut down the Florida vote recount.¹⁴
November 2	Eduard Shevardnadze is re-elected as president of Georgia.¹⁵

October 30	1 US troop is killed.²²
October 3	1 US troop is killed.²²

September 29

1 US troop is killed.²²

August 31	2 US troops are killed.²²
August 29	1 US troop is killed.²²
August 21	1 US troop is killed.²²
August 11	NATO takes over UN peacekeeping roll in Afghanistan.⁹

July	George W. Bush dispatches James Baker III to the former Soviet republic of Georgia to discuss political and economic issues with Georgia's president, Eduard A. Shevardnadze.¹⁴

June 28	1 US troop is killed.²²
June 27	1 US troop is killed.²²

May 22	General Tommy Franks announces his retirement.
May 21	4 US troops are killed
May 17	1 US troop is killed.²²
May 10	3 civilians are killed by US
May 6	George W. Bush announces his appointment of L. Paul Bremer as special envoy to Iraq, making Bremer the senior civilian in charge of rebuilding the country's government and Infrastructure. Zalmay Khalilzad, the White House liaison to former Iraqi opposition groups, will stay on to advise Bremer on Iraqi politics and assist in starting a representative government.¹⁶ At the American Enterprise Institute forum on “The Future of Iran” Senator Brownback deliveres the keynote speech. In it he calls for regime change in Iran, claiming the country is “the most significant source of terrorism in the world.”³²
May 5	5 civilians are killed by US

April 25	1 US troop is killed.²²
April 8	11-12 civilians are killed by US

March 29	1 US troop is killed.²²
March 25	11 civilians are killed by US
March 23	6 US troops are killed.²²
March 22	2 civilians are killed by US
March 19	The United States begins George W. Bush’s attack and invasion on Iraq.²⁶
March 13	5-6 civilians are killed by US

February 14	5 civilians are killed by US led troops who cordon off strike zone and deny entry to media.
February 13	US announces that General Tommy Franks will be in charge of any invasion of Iraq and head any post war government.¹²
February 10	17-30 civilians are killed by US
February 7	6 civilians are killed by US

January 27	5-18 civilians are killed by US 7 US troops and 15 Afghanistan troops are also killed
January 23	1 civilian is killed by US
January 13	1 civilian is killed by US
January 5	1 civilian is killed by US

2002

December 26	The leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan sign an agreement facilitating the laying of a $2-3 billion gas pipeline from Turkmenistan's gas fields to Pakistan through Afghanistan.¹³ *The three countries have agreed not to levy any taxes, royalties, profits on the activities related to the implementation of the project and on the transportation and transit of gas.*¹³ The Asian Development Bank is funding a feasibility study of the project set to be complete by mid 2003.²¹ The pipeline is not to be confused with the "pipeline of peace" which will start at the oilfields of Turkmenistan's Daulatabad, pass through Afghanistan and end at Pakistani seaport Gwadar. ¹³
December 21	1 civilian is killed by US
December 13	4 civilians are killed by US
December 1	2 civilians are killed by US

November 30

1 civilian is killed by US

September 6	4 civilians are killed by US
September 2	4 civilians are killed by US

August 25	General Tommy Franks agrees to look into a mass grave of Taliban prisoners, killed after they surrendered.⁹
August 7	4-6 civilians are killed by US
August 1	The BTC Co (Baku-Tbilisi [Georgia]-Ceyhan Pipeline Company) is formed.¹ Shareholders are currently: BP (38.21%); SOCAR (25.00%); Statoil (9.58%); Unocal (8.90%); TPAO (7.55%); Eni (5%); Itochu (3.40%); and Amerada Hess (2.36%). In addition, TotalFinaElf has acquired the right to purchase a 5% interest in BTC Co.¹ Bechtel (US) will continue as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management services contractor.¹

July 31	1 civilian is killed by US
July 18	2 civilians are killed by US
July 6	Afghanistan Vice President Haji Abdul Qadir is assasinated.⁹
July 4	4 civilians are killed by US
July 1	61-81 civilians are killed by US

June 25	2 civilians are killed by US
June 18	2 civilians are killed by US
June 13	Zalmay Khalilzad is elected as head of state in Afghanistan.⁹
June 2	1 civilian is killed by US
June 1	3 civilians are killed by US

May 26	8 civilians are killed by US
May 23	3-6 civilians are killed by US
May 17	9-10 civilians are killed as US planes fire on a wedding party after celebrants fired into the air following local custom.
May 13	5 civilians are killed by US
May 12	5 civilians are killed by US
May 8	1 civilians are killed by US
May 6	10 civilians are killed by US

April 27	US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld visits Afghanistan.⁹
April 16	9 civilians are killed by US

March 25	Earthquake kills over 2,000 in Afghanistan.⁹
March 17	16-31 civilians are killed by US
March 7	14-39 civilians are killed by US
March 2	12-100 civilians are killed as US bombs 200-300 homes in Pakita

February 21	U.S. deployes troops in Georgia, the first deployment of U.S. combat forces in the Caucasus region. The forces will be replaces with 200 Special Operations soldiers.³⁴
February 17	1-2 civilians are killed by US
February 14	A mob beats interim government Civil Aviation Minister Abdul Rahman to death after rumors that he canceled their flight.⁹The mob consisted of pilgrims who had waited for two days in freezing temperatures to board flights to the holy city of Mecca to perform the Muslim required Hajj, many may have spent their life savings for the pilgrimage.
February 7	The Bush Administration declares that the Geneva Convention applies to captured Taliban but not Al-Qaeda.⁹
February 3	3 civilians are killed by US

January 29	10 civilians are killed by US
January 24	22 civilians are killed by US
January 14	12 civilians are killed by US
January 13	15 civilians are killed by US
January 9	12-15 civilians are killed by US
January 3	32 civilians are killed by US

2001

December 31	Zalmay Khalilzad is appointed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Afghanistan.⁸
December 29	52-107 civilians are killed by US
December 28	15 civilians are killed by US
December 27	US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announces his plan detain al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners at US Navy base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in order to avoid allowing the prisoners access to basic American legal protections. ¹⁹
December 26	25-50 civilians are killed by US
December 23	Hamid Karzai appoints northern warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum as deputy defense minister. ⁹ The London Telegraph reports that [U-238 Depleted] uranium was found in an al-Qaeda tunnel near Kandahar airport, affirming fears that Osama bin Laden is seeking materials for a nuclear "dirty bomb".¹⁹
December 22	On a Paris to Miami flight, passenger Richard C. Reid, aka Tariq Raja from Sri Lanka, attempts to set off a bomb in his shoe and is overtaken by flight crew and passengers.¹⁹
December 21	Swearing in of interim government headed by Hamid Karzai.⁹ The Pentagon announces that it will use daisy cutter BLU-82 on suspected al-Qaeda caves around Tora Bora. At 15,000 pounds, BLU-82 is the biggest conventional bomb. It drops by parachute and explodes just above the ground.¹⁹The bomb is actually a large aerosol dispenser. It first dispenses a large cloud of flammable material. The cloud is ignited and huge explosion results. In Afghanistan's dry, dusty conditions, the Daisy Cutter produces a mushroom cloud similar to that created by a nuclear explosion (and for the same reason, the sheer size of the explosion creates an upward pull that sends up a "mushroom" of smoke and dust on a column of smoke). The force one of these explosions will kill any people within several hundred meters of detonation.³⁵
December 20	56-75 civilians are killed by US
December 18	George W. Bush signs legislation designating September 11 as Patriot Day in honor of those killed in the attacks.¹⁹
December 17	2 civilians are killed by US
December 16	Last Al-Qaeda strong hold falls in Tora Bora. ⁹
December 14	Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visits Azerbaijan. Meeting with officials of the oil-rich Caspian state. he assures them that the Bush administration will lift arms sanctions imposed in 1992 in the wake of the conflict with Armenia over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.²⁵ He plans to visit Armenia and Georgia before returning to the United States.²⁵
December 11	15 civilians are killed by US
December 10	34 civilians are killed by US
December 9	8 civilians are killed by US
December 6	Kandahar, the Taliban’s last stronghold falls to US troops.⁹ 72 civilians are killed by US
December 5	UN signs accord to set up post-Taliban government, known as the Bonn Agreement.⁹ 80 civilians are killed by US
December 4	Hamid Karzai named as interim leader of Afghanistan.⁹ 50 civilians are killed by US including 8 who die after American bombs hit a clinic and ambulance in Kandahar
December 3	196-210 civilians are killed by US
December 2	US government officials announce the dispatching of diplomatic, military, and intelligence agents to Central Asia to lay the groundwork for the US’s future war on “terrorism.”¹⁹ 145-176 civilians are killed by US
December 1	223-373 civilians are killed by US

November 30	24 civilians are killed by US
November 28	6 civilians are killed by US
November 27	Foreign Taliban soldiers who escaped the prison battle hole up in a mud-brick fort outside of Mazar-e-Sharif, and engage in another round of fighting which kill US led soldiers and a CIA operative Michael Spann who was questioning Taliban captives (including John Walker Lindh) at the time of the prison uprising on Nov. 25th.¹⁸ Michael Spann is the first combat casualty in the war on “terror” and in Afghanistan.¹⁸ 15 civilians are killed by US
November 26	3 civilians are killed by US
November 25	Kunduz falls to US troops. ⁹ Foreign Taliban prisoners riot at a prison near Mazar-e-Sharif, overpowering guards. The battle ends when US air and ground forces join, but a CIA official is wounded in the jailbreak attempt.¹⁸ Former Afghanistan president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, the leader of the Northern Alliance, suggests the Taliban could have a place in the future Afghanistan government.¹⁸ 168 civilians are killed by US
November 24	8-13 civilians are killed by US
November 23	150 civilians are killed by US
November 22	Despite Taliban’s offers of surrendering Konduz, US led troops advancing toward the city are fired upon by sustained volleys of Taliban artillery shells. ¹⁸ 27 civilians are killed by US
November 21	Taliban offer to surrender their last northern stronghold, Kunduz.⁹ 17 civilians are killed by US two of them are children who die after running over an unexploded bomblet while the try to recover food packages in a field.
November 20	US bombers strike Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold. The Northern Alliance gives the Taliban three days to surrender or face a military assault.¹⁸ 49-53 civilians are killed by US
November 19	Rumsfeld says he hopes the Taliban “[W]ill be either killed or taken prisoner" in the last major battle at Konduz.¹⁸ Afghanistan. 800 Taliban forces are killed in Konduz.¹⁸ The Taliban surrender under certain conditions, including giving up under United Nations supervision.¹⁸ 44 civilians are killed by US
November 18	Taliban leadership declare Osama bin Laden is no longer a "guest" and will no longer enjoy Taliban protection or help.¹⁸ 965-1015 civilians are killed as US led forces carpet bomb villages.
November 17	175 civilians are killed by US
November 16	The first day of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.¹⁸ 8-12 civilians are killed by US
November 15	8 civilians are killed by US
November 14	9 civilians are killed by US
November 13	7 civilians are killed by US
November 12	Reports indicate US led forces killed up to 600 Taliban supporters after the takeover of Mazar-e-Sharif.¹⁸ US forces claim Kabul. ⁹ 15 civilians are killed by US
November 11	125-135 civilians are killed by US
November 10	151-318 civilians are killed by US
November 9	US led forces capture the Afghanistan city Mazar-e-Sharif.¹⁸ 43-64 civilians are killed as US led strikes destroy two buses fleeing Kandahar, no one on board survives.
November 8	39 civilians are killed by US
November 7	50 civilians are killed by US
November 6	For the first time since World War II Germany commits 3,900 non-peacekeeping soldiers to war on the side of the US in Afghanistan.¹⁸ 24 civilians are killed by US
November 5	The US begins using daisy cutter BLU-82 on Afghanistan. At 15,000 pounds, BLU-82 is the biggest conventional bomb. It drops by parachute and explodes just above the ground.¹⁸ The bomb is actually a large aerosol dispenser. It first dispenses a large cloud of flammable material. The cloud is ignited and huge explosion results. In Afghanistan's dry, dusty conditions, the Daisy Cutter produces a mushroom cloud similar to that created by a nuclear explosion (and for the same reason, the sheer size of the explosion creates an upward pull that sends up a "mushroom" of smoke and dust on a column of smoke). The force one of these explosions will kill any people within several hundred meters of detonation.³⁵ 91-93 civilians are killed by US
November 4	1 civilian is killed by US
November 1	2 civilians are killed by US

October 31	33-47 civilians are killed by US
October 30	18 civilians are killed by US
October 29	46 civilians are killed by US
October 28	27 civilians are killed by US
October 27	Senate introduced bill 1465, sponsored by Senator Brownback, becomes law. The bill has a Pakistan-only waiver which waives America’s military coup provision (no arms or aid to countries that have undergone a military coup until democracy is restored). The bill also exempts Pakistan from restrictions on aid relating to loan defaults. The bill expands to include all countries who responds/prevents international acts of terrorism by shortening the congressional notification period for transfers of weapons from current US stocks (drawdowns) from 15 to 5 days.²⁴ ^{The U.S. government has been in the process of removing the sanctions against Libya since March, 1999 when Libya turned over the men suspected of planting the bomb on Pan-Am flight 108 in 1988.} 39-58 civilians are killed by US
October 26	11 civilians are killed by US
October 25	43-53 civilians are killed by US
October 24	74-96 civilians are killed by US
October 23	152-193 civilians are killed by US
October 22	131-168 civilians are killed by US
October 21	178-194 civilians are killed by US. The strikes also destroy a 200 bed hospital in Heart. Also targeted were a tractor and trailer near Tarin Kut. The trailer was being used to evacuate children from the bombing. Nine children are killed.
October 20	125-135 civilians are killed by US
October 19	US ground forces are deployed in Afghanistan.² 30-42 civilians are killed by US
October 18	Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld holds a press conference announcing that ground troops are needed in Afghanistan.² 72-151 civilians are killed by US
October 17	66-84 civilians are killed by US
October 16	66-79 civilians are killed by US Missiles that hit a Red Cross warehouse, destroying 35% of the food stored there.
October 15	21-43 civilians are killed by US
October 14	4 civilians are killed by US
October 13	23-35 civilians are killed by US
October 12	60 civilians are killed by US
October 11	George W Bush Announces "America's Fund for Afghan Children” asking American children to mail in $1, money that will be used to provide food and medical help for the children of Afghanistan. ¹⁷ From the Red Cross Website: The Plight of the Afghan Children · One in four Afghan children will not make it to their fifth birthday. · One in three Afghan children is an orphan. · Almost 1/2 of Afghan children suffer malnutrition. · Millions face the threat of starvation. With the highest infant and maternal mortality rates and lowest nutritional and literacy rates in the world, The White House created America's Fund for Afghan Children to help the most vulnerable in Afghanistan and the world. Total Donations $11,758,897.08 211-251 civilians are killed by US
October 10	American forces continue to strike military targets in Afghanistan, but the focus for Americans is quickly turning to Anthrax mailings, feared to be bioterrorism within the US.² 108-362 civilians are killed, including worshipers in a mosque who are bombed by the US Rescue crews for the mosque victims are also bombed.
October 9	American air strikes on Afghanistan continue for the third day.² 10-12 civilians are killed by US
October 8	American air strikes on Afghanistan continue for the second day.² From October 7^th-8^th, 49-56 civilians are killed, including 19 women in the genecology ward of a 400 bed hospital in Wazir Akbar Khan, the target of a US bomb.
October 7	Less than one month after the terrorist attacks on 9-11-01, Bush begins his war on “terror” by attacking Afghanistan. This amazingly complex mobilization of soldiers and equipment as well as the plans created to find and destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces is brought to action three weeks after the worst terrorist attack on the United States. These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime. -George W. Bush⁷
October 6	Bush tells Taliban to surrender bin Laden and close terrorist camps in Afghanistan. Taliban refuse, offering instead to release eight imprisoned foreign aid workers if the United States stops their "massive propaganda campaign" and ensures Afghan civilians will not be targeted in any attack. White House turns down offer.²
October 5	1,000 US Army troops are dispatched to Uzbekistan, the country bordering northern portions of Afganistan.² The scale of the US attack on the already devastated Afghan cities is clear now, but the duration and the scope of the military campaign is still unclear. ... It would be understandable if Washington's military attack is based only on the principle of eye for an eye. But if, as President Bush insists, the aim is to eradicate terrorism and bring peace to all corners of the world, then an eye for eye is not the right principle to follow.³
October 2	Taliban refuses to hand over bin Laden unless Washington provides specific evidence of his guilt.²

September 30	Taliban tells US that Osama bin Laden is still in Afghanistan and is being kept in a secret location.⁴
September 27	Taliban say they have sent a message to bin Laden through his clerics to leave Afghanistan voluntarily.⁴
September 25	Saudi Arabia, one of only three countries to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan, cuts all ties to the government.¹⁰ 2,000 more reservist are called to active duty.⁴
September 23	Taliban claims they can't find bin Laden. US officials dismiss this as untrue.⁴
September 22	Taliban shoot down unmanned US spy drone.⁴
September 21	Taliban refuses to hand over bin Laden. More US aircrafts are deployed to the Persian Gulf.⁴ Unocal issues a statement declaring they are not supporting the Taliban in any way.²⁰
September 20	5,131 members of the Air Force National Guard and Air Force Reserve ordered to active duty by the Pentagon.⁴
September 19	Pentagon orders combat aircraft to bases in Persian Gulf.⁴
September 18	Taliban says it will wage a holy war if the US attacks.⁴
September 17	The supreme leader of Afghanistan's Taliban says a grand council of Islamic clerics will decide whether to hand over bin Laden.⁴
September 16	On US orders, Pakistan tells Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden or face US attack.⁴
September 15	Pakistan agrees to support US attack on Afghanistan.⁴
September 14	Bush gives authority to the military to call 50,000 reservists to active duty.⁴
September 12	US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asks head of the US military's Central Command, General Tommy Franks to plan the US led attacks on Afghanistan.¹²
September 11	2,973 are killed in the US as a result of terrorism traced back to Al Quaeda and their training facilities in Afghanistan.
September 9	Ahmed Shah Masoud, portrayed in Rambo III, is killed by suicide bombers posing as journalists with explosives hidden in their cameras. Masoud was leader of the Northern Alliance, the key opposition faction fighting the Taliban. His death could rip apart the only movement left fighting the ruling Taliban.¹¹

Post appointment of Bush to President by the Supreme Court

Zalmay Khalilzad heads the Clinton-Bush transition team for the Defense Department, directly advising US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (also a member of Project for the New American Century).

Zalmay Khalilzad avoids a Senate confirmation (he was not named to a sub cabinet position), which could have brought to light questions over his role as Unocal adviser in Central Asia and intermediary with the Taliban. Instead, he is named to the National Security Council, where no confirmation vote is needed.¹⁴

1999

Zalmay Khalilzad leaves the RAND corporation.²⁹

The RAND Corporation defines itself as "a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world." An interesting statement considering the Rand Corporation used Department of Defense employees to write its "independent" study of Depleted Uranium.

1998

January 26

Zalmay Khalilzad signs an open letter from PNAC (Project for the New American Century) to President Bill Clinton urging him to use force to remove Saddam Hussein as President of Iraq before Saddam uses Weapons of Mass Destruction to destroy the security of the world.⁶

Another conflict of interest with his work at the RAND Corporation as Director of the Strategy, Doctrine and Force Structure.

1997

December 7

Unocal hosts Taliban officials in Texas in efforts to win contracts for pipelines in Afghanistan. The pipeline entry is 87 miles away from heavy fighting and the Taliban cannot guarantee Unocal workers safety from the Northern Alliance in this area. ²⁷

Zalmay Khalilzad joins Unocal officials in Texas during this time. Khalilzad conducted risk analyses for Unocal while working for the Cambridge Energy Research Associates. The analyses are for a proposed 890-mile, $2-billion, 1.9-billion-cubic-feet-per-day natural gas pipeline project from Turkmenistan to Pakistan.²⁸

Both of these actions can be considered a conflict of interest with his work at the RAND Corporation as Director of the Strategy, Doctrine and Force Structure.

June 3

Zalmay Khalilzad signs PNAC’s (Project for the New American Century) Statement of Principles.⁵

1993

Zalmay Khalilzad becomes Director of the Strategy, Doctrine and Force Structure program at RAND's Project Air Force. During this time, he founds the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.²⁹

1990

United States sanction Pakistan after they seek material and information to build nuclear weapons.³⁰

Rebuilding Afghanistan - US official site

A Dossier on Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing of Afghanistan: A Comprehensive Accounting provided Afghanistan Civilian Casualty figures and dates http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mwherold/ unless otherwise noted

A Dossier on Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing of Afghanistan: A Comprehensive Accounting provided US Casualty figures and dates http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mwherold/ unless otherwise noted

For more information about the pre-September 11, 2001 events in these areas, please read Deception of America.

Sources

News release issued by Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company formed
Aug. 1, 2002 http://www.Unocal.com/uclnews/2002news/080102.htm
October 2001 Daily Timeline & Daily Images. A Daily Chronology and Timeline of Events from October 1, 2001 to October 31, 2001. http://www.september11news.com/DailyTimelineOct.htm
International Reaction to the October 7th American and British Strikes in Afghanistan. International Newspaper Editorials & World Leaders Reaction. http://www.september11news.com/October.htm
September 2001 Daily Timeline & Images. A Daily Chronology and Timeline of Events from September 11, 2001 to September 30, 2001. ©September11News.com http://www.september11news.com/DailyTimeline.htm
Project for the New American Century’s Statement of Principles June 3, 1997 http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm
Project for the New American Century’s Open Letter to President Bill Clinton January 26, 1998 http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm
For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary October 7, 2001 Presidential Address to the Nation The Treaty Room http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011007-8.html
Oil company adviser named US representative to Afghanistan By Patrick Martin 3 January 2002 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jan2002/oil-j03.shtml
And Then There Was One: Saudi Arabia Cuts Ties to Taliban; Only Pakistan Recognizes Regime ABCNEWS ^ | Tuesday, September 25, 2001 Posted on 09/25/2001 2:59:55 AM PDT by JohnHuang2 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/531807/posts
Suicide Bombing Targets, Kills Key Afghan Guerrilla Leader By Robin Wright and Paul Watson LOS ANGELES TIMES -- WASHINGTON http://www-tech.mit.edu/V121/N41/afghan_bombing-41.41w.html Sep
from the February 13, 2003 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0213/p01s03-woiq.html Plan: US general to run Iraq In Ankara and Washington, the US outlined its plans for a post- Hussein Iraq. Some Iraqi opposition leaders object. By Cameron W. Barr | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor tem
Alexander’s Gas and Oil Connections: News and Trends: Central Asia. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan sign pipeline deal 27-12-02 volume 8, issue #2 - Friday, January 24, 2003 http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/ntc30469.htmbe
Oil company adviser named US representative to Afghanistan By Patrick Martin 3 January 2002 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jan2002/oil-j03.shtml
CNN Georgians party as president steps down Opposition leader hails 'the birth of a new Georgia' Sunday, November 23, 2003 Posted: 11:49 PM EST (0449 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/11/23/georgia.protests/index.html
Retired envoy named by Bush to lead transition in Iraq New York Times: May 6, 2003http://www.jsonline.com/news/gen/may03/139005.asp The Washington Post and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011011-8.html October 11, 2001 President Announces "America's Fund for Afghan Children"
The East Room Excerpt From Tonight's Address
November 2001 Daily Timeline & Daily Images. A Daily Chronology and Timeline of Events From November 1, 2001 to November 30, 2001. http://www.september11news.com/DailyTimelineNov.htm
December 2001 Daily Timeline & Daily Images. A Daily Chronology and Timeline of Events From December 1, 2001 to December 31, 2001. http://www.september11news.com/DailyTimelineDec.htm
Unocal Statement: Company not supporting Taliban in any way 9/21/2001 - Score: 509, Lines: 26, Bytes: 2571
Trans-Afghan gas pipeline agreement signed By Marina Kozlova Published 12/27/2002 4:11 PM United Press International http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021227-015124-6021r
Calendar of US Military Dead during Iraqi War (Includes 23 dead in Afghanistan during Iraqi war.) http://cryptome.org/mil-dead-iqw.htm
CNN US assault: Children found dead Wednesday, December 10, 2003 Posted: 7:12 AM EST (1212 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/central/12/10/afghan.deaths/
US Arms Sales Policy Related to Counter-Terrorism and
Near East / South Asia : America's War on Terrorism “ Federation of American Scientists http://fas.org/terrorism/at/
United States Department of Defense Press Advisory
On the web: Rumsfeld to Visit Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Belgium No. 290-P December 14, 2000 http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2001/p12142001_p290-01.html
On March 19, 2003, without formal declaration from Congress, the United States launched a preemptive strike against Iraq : InterActOrg http://www.interactorg.com/March%2019%202003.htm
The Telegraph Oil barons court Taliban in Texas
By Caroline Lees Sunday 14 December 1997 Issue 934
Zalmay Khalilzad and the Bush Agenda by Jennifer Van Bergen t r u t h o u t | January 13, 2001 http://www.truthout.com/docs_01/01.14A.Zalmay.Oil.htm
05 December 2003 Biographical Data of US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad Khalilzad presented credentials to Afghan President Karzai Nov 27
Christian Science Monitor WORLD Pakistan decries US sanctions By Agence France-Presse ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2000 http://search.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/11/24/fp7s3-csm.shtml
BBC Afghan council paralysed by split 1 January, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/3360813.stm
BBC Afghans endorse new constitution Sunday, 4 January, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3366455.stm
SENATOR BROWNBACK: CHANGE REGIME IN IRAN, FUND OPPOSITION By Shalizeh Nadjmi National Iranian American Council Washington DC, May 6, 2003 http://www.niacouncil.org/pressreleases/press082.asp
US troops deployed to former Soviet republic of Georgia By Patrick Martin 1 March 2002 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/mar2002/geor-m01.shtm
Strategy Page Photo Gallery http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/?target=moab.htm
BBC UK Soldier Dies in Afghan Bombing Wednesday, 28, January, 2004http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3436405.stm
BBC US fears Afghan blast booby-trap Friday, 30 January, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3444601.stm
WSWS US forces kill 11 more civilians in Afghanistan By David Walsh 20 January 2004 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jan2004/afgh-j20.shtml
BBC Profile: General Rashid Dostum Tuesday, 25 September, 2001 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1563344.stm
BBC Children killed in Afghan blast Tuesday, 6 January, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3371559.stm
BBC US envoy warns of Taleban return Friday, 16 January, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3402813.stm
BBC Afghan TV U-turn on women singers Friday, 16 January, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3402283.stm

Political violence is an act of force, intimidation or abuse by a group or individual aimed at influencing, maintaining or seizing political power. The time has come to end such illegitimate violence perpetrated by our own United States government.

US troops deployed to former Soviet republic of Georgia By Patrick Martin 1 March 2002 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/mar2002/geor-m01.shtm

Strategy Page Photo Gallery http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/?target=moab.htm

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