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[What's a 5,000 year old culture matter when the armed enforcer of the World Bank, IMF and WTO decides to conquer and colonize a once proud people?] Wednesday January 2, 11:21 PM Waves of international peacekeepers arrive in Afghanistan The deployment of the international peacekeeping force for Afghanistan began in earnest with the arrival of the first French troops and an advance party of officers from 12 nations. The 24 officers arrived before dawn at Kabul airport and were taken to the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the centre of Kabul, ISAF chief of staff Colonel Richard Barrons said. A contingent of 15 French soldiers arrived later at Bagram air base north of Kabul. The personnel, mainly engineers, will prepare the way for the main French deployment to the force, said Colonel Denis Reumaux. Barrons said the 24 officers are all reconnaissance experts who will survey the five sites identified as bases for the 4,500-strong UN-mandated multinational force. The officers -- nine from Germany, one from Holland, one from Denmark, one from Austria, two from France, two from Greece, two from Italy, one from Norway, one from Romania, two from Spain, one from Finland and one from Sweden -- will also assess the needs of their own troop deployments. ISAF's main task, he said, was to provide support and security to the interim administration sworn in for a six-month period on December 22. Britain will lead the force for the first three months of its six-month deployment and will contribute up to 1,500 soldiers. An advance guard of about 270 British troops is already operating in Kabul. French Defense Minister Alain Richard said Wednesday that Turkey will assume the ISAF command when Britain's leadership term expires. Turkey is the only Muslim member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Turkish troops would be among the first soldiers to be deployed in Afghanistan, alongside the British, French and German contingents, he said in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. Underlining the risk the international troops face, a vehicle carrying US special operations forces came under fire Tuesday while travelling along the perilous highway between Kabul and the eastern city of Jalalabad. A US military spokesman said a soldier was shot in the leg but his condition was not serious. The unidentified assailants fled the scene, which was near the spot where four journalists were killed by bandits in November. Afghan authorities said Tuesday they were planning a massive operation with the help of US Marines to flush out Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar from his hiding place in southern Afghanistan. Gulalai said the "clean-up" operation would involve 4,000 to 5,000 Afghan soldiers backed by US Marines. The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) also reported Wednesday that the Taliban regime's intelligence chief Qari Ahmedullah was killed in last week's US bombing raids on eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province. In a sign that instability may be returning to southern Afghanistan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Wednesday that up to 5,000 Afghans were massed at the Pakistan border. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
