Koran Burning - Lame Apologies Follow On Stupidity

How Canada Is Complicit In Torture

Canada has a history of trading information with Asian governments often accused of using torture, including China, India and Thailand. Canada has signed official Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties with each country and has other treaties in the works. What isn’t common is how a reporter for the Canadian Press was able to acquire such knowledge without the veil of “nation security” blocking the access to information request.
Could this be sloppy politics, or perhaps an administrative oversight in the management of sensitive political directives? After all, it isn’t every day that an individual member of civil society can prove that a sitting government is actively defending an uninspiring argument for the use of torture – one the government surely learned from a Hollywood script. Full story.

Failed, Failed, Failed

Pat Stogran – retired colonel, who led the first Canadian combat contingent in Afghanistan in 2002 and later served as Canada's first Veterans Ombudsman where he was a champion of better treatment for wounded soldiers speaks :-

WAS THE WAR WORTH THE COST? – 'Despite the heroic efforts of Canadian Forces men and women, and the great respect they deservedly won for our nation, our mission in Kandahar was definitely not worth the cost of over 150 Canadian lives lost and countless others destroyed by the fallout of war, let alone the tens of thousands of Afghan people and other coalition forces who have also been killed.'

WHAT WAS ACHIEVED? – 'Claims by ministers and mandarins of great accomplishments are impossible to verify. At best there is a thin veneer of progress concealing an Afghan society still tormented by smuggling, extortion, murder, intimidation and the narcotics trade. Kandahar will undoubtedly fall back into the hands of the Taliban. And because we demonized the Taliban as “murderers and scumbags,” Canada likely alienated itself from moderate factions and lost any credibility to possibly influence a peaceful transition to a more moderate form of government.'

Afghanistan's Karzai says speaks to Taliban every day: report - Yahoo! News

Afghanistan's Karzai says speaks to Taliban every day: report - Yahoo! News:

Why The West Should Stay Out Of Iran

John Baron is the Member of Parliament for Basildon and Billericay. A former soldier and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he resigned from the shadow frontbench to vote against the Iraq war, opposed our intervention in Afghanistan, and was the only Conservative MP to vote against the Libyan intervention. Excellent article by him for the New Statesman HERE.

US Designs On Baluchistan and Pakistan

The resolution garnered no coverage in U.S. mainstream media on Feb. 17, the day Mr. Rohrabacher introduced the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
But it was quickly picked up by Pakistani media, which interpreted the move as part of a grand plan by the U.S. to dismember Pakistan.
Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S., said in a statement in response to the bill that “provocations such as these will seriously impact the Pakistan-US relations.”
Then, on Saturday, Richard Hoagland, deputy U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, was summoned by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, which had this to say:
“Ambassador Hoagland was told in clear terms that the move in the U.S. Congress was contrary to the spirit of friendly relations and violative of the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law and recognized norms of inter-state conduct. He was asked to convey the serious concern of the Government of Pakistan to the U.S. Administration.” More here.

Children Killed By Cold Really Killed By The War

The 40 Afghan civilians, mostly children, belatedly being reported as killed by the weather were actually displaced civilians living under canvas. They were killed by the war and occupation.

Koran Burning - Mysterious NATO Apology

Protest Outside Bagram Airbase This Morning

Reports of the Koran burning have led to a large protest outside the US air base at Bagram outside Kabul.
Police told the BBC that about 3,000 people were taking part in the demonstration and that some elders have gone into the base to talk to Nato officials.
The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency has reported that the protesters have started a bonfire in front of the airfield.
In his statement, Gen Allen said that the investigation would examine whether troops at Bagram air base "improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials which included Korans".
"The materials recovered will be properly handled by appropriate religious authorities," the statement said but strangely omitted any further details. More

L'Election Présidentielle Yéménite Divise la Population

Un an après la révolte qui a embrasé le Yémen, la population doit se rendre aux urnes, le 21 février, pour élire son nouveau président. Un scrutin qui divise les électeurs, partagés entre espoir et désenchantement. Plus Ici.

Iranian Nuclear Weapons? - Who Has What?

Forgotten Victims Of Afghanistan

Scoring The War On Terror

The task of demonstrating the validity of COIN beyond Iraq fell to General Stanley McChrystal, appointed with much fanfare in 2009 to command U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Press reports celebrated McChrystal as another Petraeus, the ideal candidate to replicate the achievements already credited to “King David.”
McChrystal’s ascendency came at a moment when a cult of generalship gripped Washington. Rather than technology being the determinant of success as Rumsfeld had believed, the key was to put the right guy in charge and then let him run with things. Political figures on both sides of the aisle fell all over themselves declaring McChrystal the right guy for Afghanistan. Pundits of all stripes joined the chorus.
Once installed in Kabul, the general surveyed the situation and, to no one’s surprise, announced that “success demands a comprehensive counterinsurgency campaign.” Implementing that campaign would necessitate an Afghan “surge” mirroring the one that had seemingly turned Iraq around. In December 2009, albeit with little evident enthusiasm, President Barack Obama acceded to his commander’s request (or ultimatum). The U.S. troop commitment to Afghanistan rapidly increased. Read More.

RealityZone; A New Era ?: US General: "Iran a Rational Actor", but is US one?

RealityZone; A New Era ?: US General: "Iran a Rational Actor", but is US one?:

'via Blog this'

Afghan Singer Sarban

Warning. Sarban has a good voice but he may be bit flashy and extrovert for some of our readers. It is possible to be too happy  :)

Minerals Of Conflict

Bordering the restive tribal areas of Pakistan, Khost Province is home to a number of criminal mining syndicates, many of which specialize in the surface extraction of chromite.[13] In May 2010, the director of Khost’s mining department, Engineer Laiq, admitted the provincial government has failed to prevent the smuggling and illegal extraction of Khost’s chromite ore despite the presence of 300 armed security guards tasked with securing the mines.[14] Afghan security officials indicate these syndicates are small in number, namely a few large families, who smuggle the ore across the border to Pakistan where members of the Wazir tribe buy and trade the mineral to international customers. Analysts previously speculated that the illegal extraction of chromite in Khost amounts to nearly 20 million Afghanis ($413,907) per year, although the Afghan government believes it loses one million Afghanis ($20,695) in lost revenue from illegal chromite excavations in Khost each day.[15] Besides lost revenue, the Afghan government faces a growing threat from the merger between corrupt business elites and local criminal syndicates who outsource chromite smuggling operations and pay “protection” fees to members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Haqqani network affiliates to ensure that the movement of illegally mined chromites reach market destinations in Pakistan without interference. MORE.

Iran Blockade - An Act Of War

Radio Afghanistan 4afghan Radio listen radio Afghan music Live TV Araiana TV Afghan Radio TV stream live Tv

Radio Afghanistan

Peace Talks Faltering

Karzai set up a 70-member High Peace Council two years ago, with Wafa as a member, to try and negotiate an end to the war, now dragging into its eleventh year.
It is meant to represent all ethnic and political alliances in a bid to reach out to the Taleban leadership, as well as convince grassroots insurgent fighters to join the government.
Wafa, however, questioned its effectiveness, and said its wide makeup actually made it difficult for the government to reach out to militant groups.
"I have told President Karzai and he promised that there would be repair of the peace council. I am not afraid to speak out, but it doesn't much bear fruit. There must be a review," he said in an interview.
"I think genuine people aren't part of the peace council, or there are individuals who the Taleban fought in the past or some communist baqaya (remains) in the council, because of whom the Taleban aren't interested in talks." Wafa, one of the Afghan government's most experienced bureaucrats, said a reorganization of the council could help kick-start talks in Qatar, where the Taleban has set up an office to build contacts with the United States, or elsewhere. MORE.

Iranian Warships In Mediterranean

NATO Killing Of 8 Children 'Not Co-ordinated'

The spin-routines and self-justification statements from the various sides aren't co-ordinated either.

"We have assigned a delegation to talk to NATO why they didn't inform us of the operation," Mohammadi said, insisting that the number of civilian casualties caused by Afghan and NATO forces had decreased "considerably" due to 'good coordination', but the Kapisa incident was an exception.However, a NATO spokesman last week said the operation was jointly conducted with Afghan police in the area.According to a UN report a record number of civilians were killed in Afghanistan's decade-long war last year -- the fifth straight year the death toll has risen. Full story.

Pessimism Of US Defence Officials

What they say in their committees is at serious odds with what NATO/ISAF and the Pentagon put out for the soporific US public and the world.

Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, has told the Senate Armed Services Committee at its annual worldwide threat hearing, that endemic corruption and persistent qualitative deficiencies existed in the Afghan army and police forces, and these drawbacks were undermining NATO-led coalition efforts to extend effective governance and security.
James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, said that while the Taliban had lost ground in the last year, he was of the view that the Hamid Karzai government may find it difficult to survive if the U.S. steadily pulls out its troops and reduces military and civilian assistance. The only people who objected to the gloomy findings were Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, commander of Western forces in the war, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.
"Without going into the specifics of classified National Intelligence Estimates, I can certainly confirm that they took issue with the NIE on three counts, having to do with the assumptions that were made about force structure -- didn't feel that we gave sufficient weight to Pakistan and its impact as a safe haven, and generally felt that the NIE was pessimistic," Clapper said.
Clapper, who has served nearly half a century around U.S. intelligence, argued that it was only natural for intelligence analysts to see things differently than ground commanders.
"If you'll forgive a little history, sir," he said, "I served as an analyst briefer for Gen. [William] Westmoreland in Vietnam in 1966. I kind of lost my professional innocence a little bit then, when I found out that operational commanders sometimes don't agree with their view of the success of their campaign as compared to and contrasted with that perspective displayed by intelligence.
"Fast-forward about 25 years or so and I served as the chief of Air Force intelligence during Desert Storm," he said. "Gen. Schwarzkopf protested long and loud all during and after the war about the accuracy of the intelligence. In fact, it didn't comport with his view."
"Classically, intelligence is supposedly in the portion of the glass that's half empty, and operational commanders and policymakers, for that matter, are often in the portion of the glass that's half full," he said.
"Probably the truth is somewhere at the water line. So I don't find it a bad thing. In fact, I think it's healthy that there is contrast between what the operational commanders believe and what the intelligence community assesses."

Cutting Back In Afghanistan

Illustration from the Brookings Institute.U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, speaking to reporters in Brussels, said the size of the future Afghan force will largely depend on "the funds that are going to be put on the table." The U.S. is looking for additional contributions from countries outside NATO, such as Japan, South Korea, Sweden, and Arab Gulf monarchies. There is serious disagreement about this within NATO.

AfPak, Iran Seeking Non-Interference

From the Press Trust Of India - 

The statement said the three countries “reiterated their full support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned inclusive process of peace and reconciliation” in Afghanistan.
Pakistan President Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai that they would “extend full cooperation and stressed that any initiative in this regard must have authentic Afghan ownership”, the statement said.
Though the statement made no mention of the sanctions imposed on Teheran or reported Israeli threats to mount an attack on Iran, the statement said the three countries would not “allow any threat emanating from their respective territories against each other”.
They also agreed to “commence trilateral consultations on an agreement in this regard”, the statement said without giving details. Link.

US Cannot Hold Talks - Karzai

A Taliban spokesman said last week that the office in Qatar was opened at their suggestion.
But the Afghan President told the anchors and columnists that that the US cannot hold talks with the Taliban on behalf of his government.
Karzai is currently in Islamabad for a trilateral summit of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan being hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari. Read More.

Eurodrones - UK To Play Leading Role

Under the plan, Britain's BAE and the French planemaker Dassault – rivals in the battle for sales of the present generation of fighter planes – will be asked to collaborate in the creation of a prototype of a Star Wars-type, ground-controlled "fighter drone" by 2020. Mr Cameron and Mr Sarkozy are expected to present the project as proof of continuing – or revived – Anglo-French friendship despite last year's rift over tighter fiscal discipline in the eurozone. More here.

'Peace' Talks 'Confirmed'

it is noticeable that attacks on NATO/ISAF by the Taliban have decreased since the start of February. It's possibly just an effect of the Winter, though.

Kabul was initially suspicious that direct contact between American and the Taliban would marginalise his own government, but Mr Karzai said he had now "reached an agreement" with Washington.Diplomats have cautioned that contacts are still at their earliest stages and talk of a peace process is beset by mistrust from all sides.Many Afghans and members of the international coalition fear the Taliban are insincere about seeking a political deal and have only talked of opening an office to boost their prestige, raise funds in the Gulf, or buy time as Nato troops withdraw.In the meantime a United Nations report last week said the number of Afghan civilians being killed in the conflict remains at a decade-long high. More.

Taliban Interview With CNN

CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson explains that when the Taliban admitted to having talks with U.S. officials, it also showed, for the first time, the group's political strategy and how Taliban leaders might be hoping to get a better deal from the negotiating table than they can hope for from the battlefield. Full interview here.

Obama - The Darling Of The Hawks

The key to making this work, as Andrew Bacevich suggests here, is to insulate the vast majority of the American population from the effects of this effort. Obama understands that there's no stomach for big, costly, and inconclusive wars like Iraq and Afghanistan (he's right, and there's also little to be gained from them). But he and his advisors are betting that the American people will tolerate active efforts to hunt down and kill perceived bad guys, provided that the costs are low and occur far away and mostly out-of-sight. And it is in this context that one has to view recent proposals to give U.S. Special Forces greater presence, autonomy, and capability, an idea that remains controversial within military circles. LINK.

Afghanistan Forecast Grim For Karzai

The Karzai government has remained extremely weak, dysfunctional, corrupt and untrustworthy. Most Afghans do not know what it precisely stands for: is it a perverted form of a politically pluralist Afghanistan with an Islamic face, with which most Afghans cannot identify, or a kind of tribalised authoritarian Muslim Afghanistan, with some distorted democratic trappings, which have proved to be very confusing to most Afghans? As for the Taliban's stance, it is easily discernable by the mostly illiterate, conservative Muslim Afghan population: defence of Islam, country and honour.

Secondly, the US and its allies have pursued a strategy that has been inappropriate for Afghanistan's conditions. The shift from counter-terrorism to counter-insurgency under president Obama has been more in name than substance. In the absence of a credible Afghan partner on the ground, no strategy can achieve its objectives. The US and its allies have certainly sunk a lot of money and energy into building the Afghan National Army and Police Force. From Here.

Death Of Mohammed Lamari

Gen. Mohammed Lamrari died of natural causes in Algeria it is being reported today. He led an anti-Islamic force during the Algerian civil war in the 80s and 90s. An estimated 200,000 people died during the civil war, at least half at the hands of security forces.
The civil war in oil-rich Algeria, one of Africa's largest countries, ended about 2002, and Lamari retired two years later, reportedly for reasons of ill health. But many suspected it was due to differences with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was then promoting a political amnesty for Islamists.
Lamari began his military career as an officer of the French army, then joined Algeria's national liberation army during its fight for independence from France. After independence in 1962, he was trained at the Soviet Union's military academy in Moscow. He is to be buried in Algiers on Tuesday.

Afghan Development In The Wrong Hands

But some major and unavoidable contradictions are built into the NSP framework, keeping the program from realizing its potential. Namely, by relying on unskilled local populations, the program dooms itself to inefficiency. Meanwhile, the NSP's too-short project timelines mean that there is hardly time to transfer any skills to locals, so gains are fleeting, if ever achieved at all. Unless its weaknesses are addressed, the NSP will prove unsustainable and could end up further undermining the Afghan people's confidence in their government -- the exact opposite of what the program was once hoped to deliver. LINK.

The Iraqification of Syria

Syria is looking a lot like Iraq | GlobalPost:

'via Blog this'

Bombs Target Israeli Embassies In Georgia, India. Clip

Drones, Prisons, Black Ops And That's Just For Starters

The 'super-secure' facility at the massive air base in Kandahar is just one of many building projects the U.S. military currently has planned or underway in Afghanistan. 450 bases and more to follow..

Mystery Around Tajik Chopper Crash

Russian MI-8 Transport Helicopter

What is a military helicopter from Tajikistan doing in southern Afghanistan? 

That question has been prompted by conflicting reports about a February 11 crash that killed four Tajik air force officers, including the son of the deputy defense minister, in Zabul Province. 

Tajik state media report the Soviet-era MI-8 helicopter, which belongs to the country’s Defense Ministry, had been ferrying about supplies since May 2011 on behalf of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Khovar, the state news agency, said on               February 13 that the reasons for the crash are unknown, but that bad weather was likely to blame. A source in Tajikistan’s Defense Ministry told the Asia-Plus news agency that the helicopter crew was delivering “humanitarian cargo to remote mountain villages in Afghanistan.”

But the Associated Press reports that the helicopter was delivering food to US troops on behalf of Supreme Group, a private contractor. Supreme, which supplies military bases around Afghanistan and operates a duty-free food and liquor store for expatriates in Kabul, told the AP that the helicopter was operated by a company called Central Asian Aviation Services. That company’s website is under construction, but lists a phone number in the UAE. 

So which is it: humanitarian shipments or for-profit contracting? The conflicting reports make it seem like someone is leasing state property under the cover of “humanitarian operations.” Either way, it’s unclear if any proceeds are going back into Tajikistan’s state budget.

Pakistan - Gilani Inculpé

AQ In Syria

Syria's Second City Hit by Devastating Explosions - Link News

Syria's Second City Hit by Devastating Explosions - Link News:

'via Blog this'

£7 Million To Turn 19 'Militants'

Another dose of NATO/ISAF parallel reality and profligacy. Another sham.

Some 200 insurgents in the northern province of Sar-e Pol have recently been struck off the programme, officials told The Sunday Telegraph, because checks subsequently found they were not genuine fighters but instead imposters seeking cash handouts.The news will not surprise the scheme's sceptics who allege that Western tax-payers are being duped by criminals, the unemployed and corrupt local officials while the real fighters stay in the conflict, or only join the government temporarily.A leaked Nato report earlier this month also appeared to cast doubt on the very premise of the reintegration programme - that Taliban fighters are tired, motivated by money and want a way out. More.

Lt.Col Daniel Davis's Report

FULL ANALYSIS OF DAVIS REPORT HERE.

The improving picture NATO/ISAF keep telling us about.

Legacy Of The Russian Defeat

The Soviets retreated in 1989, leaving Afghanistan to a civil war that swept up the Soviet-constructed edifices in the conflagration. However improbably, a few of these are still inhabited, like an engineering school, the Auto Mechanic Institute, where a second-year student in a green T-shirt picked his way one recent afternoon from the ghostly wreckage of bombed-out classrooms.
Others are simply wrecks, prowled only by the homeless, drug addicts and dogs — sobering artifacts that confront the United States and its allies as they begin pondering what their own legacy might be.
"The Soviets came in believing they could re-engineer other people's societies, releasing Afghans from their medieval backwardness," said Sir Rodric Braithwaite, a former British ambassador to Moscow whose book "Afgantsy" is about the Soviet occupation. "They didn't transform Afghan society any more than we are going to."
In 1980s Kabul, the Soviet Embassy on Darulaman Road, bustling with technicians and ideologues, was the locus of power, just as the U.S. Embassy across town is today.
The current Russian ambassador, Andrey Avetisyan, 51, worked here as a young diplomat during the 1980s. He was here, too, when things became dicey in the early 1990s: He spent 16 days hiding in a bomb shelter as the mujahedeen divided up Kabul, and he was one of the last Russians to flee Afghanistan, in August 1992. Link.

Anonymous Message To Israel

More On NATO Massacre In Kapisa

Among the dead were seven boys under 14 and an 18-year-old, according to Abdul Mubin Safi, the administrative director of Kapisa province. They were herding sheep less than half a mile from their homes when the bombing happened.
NATO representatives and Afghan officials traveled to the area by helicopter to investigate the incident and returned Friday, said Maj. Jason Waggoner, a NATO spokesman. He said there was no word yet from NATO officials on the joint Afghan-NATO team's whitewash 'findings.'
One member of the team, Mohammad Hussain Khan Sanjani, the chairman of the provincial council, who was reached by phone in Kapisa, said that after talking with people in the village, it seemed that 'misinformation' had been passed to NATO forces.
"These people are involved in animal husbandry; they own sheep and goats and their children went out to feed the animals behind their village under some oak trees," Sanjani said.
France's military high command did not respond to requests for comment on the airstrike in Kapisa.
President Karzai condemned the 'loss of life' in what has become a perfunctory condemnation of such massacres in standard wording.

Syrian Unrest - Clashes Spread To North Lebanon

Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani described Saturday the ongoing clashes in Tripoli as worrisome and as an attempt to incite strife.
"He urged the Lebanese Army to swiftly place the area under its control and put an end to the violence in a bid to strengthen civil peace and national unity," Qabbani’s press office quoted him as saying Saturday.
Qabbani also warned against similar security breaches which he said could he believes could reflect negatively on Lebanon’ situation.
Friday’s clashes, which included the use of rocket-propelled grenades, came after midday prayers when 700 people marched from a mosque in Tripoli and demonstrated in the city center against the Syrian government.
Seven people were wounded Friday in the fighting, including three soldiers, when the Lebanese Army tried to restore order in the area.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Feb-11/162912-tensions-still-high-in-tripoli-army-patrols-neighborhoods.ashx#ixzz1m4hGPVc6
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

Heart And Mind O-Matic

Afghanistan too full of foreigners with their strange customs and culture for you? Try out the Heart-And-Mind O-Mattis O-Matic. 


Details HERE.

Neocons' Big Iran Lie

Go On, Tony. Give him a Kiss

The latest upsurge in calls for military action against Iran began with a piece in Foreign Affairs by Matthew Kroenig, a former analyst at the Pentagon and fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, titled “Time to Attack Iran.” The U.S. should carry out limited strikes on Iran’s key nuclear facilities, Kroenig argued, and could “reduce the political fallout of military action by building global support for it in advance.” “By building such a consensus in the lead-up to an attack and taking the outlined steps to mitigate it once it began,” Kroenig wrote, “the United States could avoid an international crisis and limit the scope of the conflict.”
The Internet quickly worked its magic, as numerous writers dismantledthe elements of Kroenig’s argument. Among the most effective and devastating rebuttals came from Kroenig’s own former Pentagon boss, Colin Kahl, who wrote that Kroenig’s “picture of a clean, calibrated conflict is a mirage. Any war with Iran would be a messy and extraordinarily violent affair, with significant casualties and consequences.” From Here.

Helmland Police Training A Full On Disaster

Keviquin writes :
Round-em all up into 'strategic villages' where security, education, health and government services can be provided. Ring the villages with defenses and guard them with local militias trained and equipped for the task. Provide security to ensure none but those who 'belong' are inside the village after the gates close. Anybody still outside is a potential enemy.
Back that up with free fire zones, search and destroy missions, and de-herdization poisoning outside the wire and the insurgents will be done by next Independence Day.
History will repeat itself, and vic'try will obtain!

FULL ARTICLE.

Marine Team Nazis - Picture Emerges

It was only a matter of time and here it is:

MOD Waste Contributes To UK Deficit

The delusion that Britain is a serious player as a part-time constable in America's World Police continues. Think about this when a coalition suit tells you that you need to tighten your belt and social care has to take more cuts.

The MoD will incur further costs from cancelling contracts and substituting alternative capabilities. The committee has asked the National Audit Office to investigate the decision to scrap Nimrod aircraft as well as all of Britain's Harrier jump-jets.

It also wants investigation of the delays surrounding the nuclear-powered Astute submarine fleet, which led to an extra £1.9bn in costs, and of the expenditure on two large aircraft carriers, the cost of which has so far risen by £2.8bn over the £3.5bn estimated when first approved in 2008. The PAC believes the carriers could end up costing as much as £12bn.  From here.

Handover Of Parwan Delayed

Parwan Detention Facility is located outside Bagram Air Field, a main NATO base north of the capital, Kabul.
The statement said the delay was caused by a lack of cooperation from the U.S. side.
There was no comment from the U.S.-led international coalition.

Read More.