Afghan military tied to drug trade
The arrest of a lieutenant in the Afghan army for possession of 167 kg of raw opium is the first substantial proof that many of the same Afghan commanders (interchangeable with warlords) who helped fight the Taliban two years ago may be involved in a business that could destabilize Afghanistan and lead to the Taliban’s return.
Opium, and the money it generates, is the engine for the Taliban’s resurgence, as evidenced in the growing number of attacks across southern provinces of Afghanistan in recent months. Afghan warlords who traffic drugs — useful to America in the past — now pose a dire threat to the future of Afghanistan. (Christian Science Monitor)

US to miss weapons destruction deadline
The US Defense Department said it would not be able to liquidate 45 percent of its chemical stockpile by Apr. 29, 2004 as required by the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. The military is expected to reach the elusive milestone by December 2007. No detailed explanation for the postponement was given.
Signed by more than 150 countries, The Chemical Weapons Convention bans production, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons — and compels its signatories to destroy their arsenals by 2004. (AFP)

Skirmish in Afghanistan ends fatally
Five Afghan government soldiers were killed and two American soldiers wounded in a series of attacks in south and east Afghanistan last week. Thirteen Taliban suspects were arrested. The attacks are the latest in a wave of violence largely blamed on the ousted Taliban militia, and came on the same day Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited the country.
There are around 12,500 US and allied troops combing Afghanistan for Taliban and al-Qaida members. The Afghan soldiers killed were part of a 150-strong force searching for Taliban and allied rebels. (Reuters)

US war budget close to Vietnam era
The monthly bill for the US military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan now rivals Pentagon spending during the Vietnam War. The Pentagon is spending nearly $5 billion per month in Iraq and Afghanistan, a pace that would bring yearly costs to almost $60 billion. Those expenses do not include money being spent rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure, costs that had no parallel in Vietnam.
While there are 150,000 all-voluntary troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, there were over 500,000 mostly low-paid draftees in Vietnam at the peak of the war. Today’s army, though, is better paid, better trained, and better equipped — hence the bigger budget.
President Bush plans to ask Congress for $87 billion for US operations next year in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice said Bush believes that the “cost of freedom and cost of peace cannot be measured.” (USA Today)

Number of wounded in action on the rise
US battlefield casualties in Iraq are increasing dramatically in the face of continued attacks by remnants of Saddam Hussein’s military and other forces, with almost 10 American troops a day officially declared “wounded in action.”
The number of those wounded in action, which totals 1,124 since the war began in March, has grown so large, and attacks have become so commonplace, that US Central Command usually issues news releases listing injuries only when the attacks kill one or more troops. The result is that many injuries go unreported.
The rising number and quickening pace of soldiers being wounded in action has been overshadowed by the number of troops killed since Pres. Bush declared an end to major combat operations May 1. But alongside those Americans killed in action, an even greater toll of battlefield wounded continues unabated, with an increasing number being injured through small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades, remote-controlled mines, and what the Pentagon refers to as “improvised explosive devices.” (Washington Post)

8,000 AIDS experts to meet in Nairobi
The 13th International Conference on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) will be held in Nairobi in two weeks. Over 8,000 health providers, government officials, politicians, and non-governmental organization delegates will share experiences on the continent’s responses to AIDS. The ICASA, held every two years, is being co-hosted by Kenya. (The Nation)

Hong Kong forced to abandon security bill
Hong Kong’s embattled Chief Executive, Tung Chee-Hwa, has shelved the draft anti-subversion bill that prompted the city’s record political protests in July.
After first postponing the so-called Article 23 legislation and removing three of its most draconian clauses, Tung finally gave in to pressure last week and said the bill would be dropped. Tung said the bill was removed to give the public more time to understand it and that it will be reintroduced.
A timetable has not been set but it could take several years to reintroduce the bill, which would give pro-Beijing legislators a better chance in next year’s election. (Independent (UK))

Fighting delays deployment of peacekeepers
The deployment of West African Peacekeepers into volatile central Liberia was delayed again this week due to renewed fighting between Liberian government troops and rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy. Both the government troops and the rebels blame each other for starting the latest fighting on Sunday.
Relief workers said at least 10,000 displaced people had fled the fighting and were walking the 40km to the capital, Monrovia. (UNIRIN)

Pressure mounts on Malaysia over refugees
The Malaysian government is walking a tightrope on the fate of some 2,500 Acehnese asylum seekers in the country, as it tries to balance increasingly vocal demands to shelter them with pressure from Indonesia to deport them.
The asylum seekers have been granted temporary protection letters by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, but remain slated for deportation by the government.
At the same time, pressure is mounting from the UN, the US, academics, and activists to avoid deporting the Acehnese who fled after the Indonesian military began its offensive on May 19 to quell the 27-year-old separatist rebellion in its province of Aceh.
Indonesian officials asked Malaysia to send the Acehnese back to Indonesia. (IPS)

Activists halt preparations for arms fair
On Sept. 1, a group of 40 activists halted preparations for Europe’s largest arms fair, Defense Systems Equipment International, by blocking vehicle access to the conference venue, the ExCel Center in London. The action is just one of many being organized this week by a range of different groups intent on shutting down the conference.
Held Sept. 9-12 and organized in association with the UK Ministry of Defense, the arms fair is one of the largest in the world, where more than 600 arms companies queue up to strike deals with those willing and able to buy arms. (A-Infos)

Bové banned from WTO meeting
A French judge on Monday barred high-profile anti-globalization activist Jose Bové from attending the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) summit in Mexico.
Bové, who has called for wide-scale protests ahead of the Sept. 10-14 WTO summit, was released from prison a month ago after serving six weeks of a 10-month sentence for two counts of destroying genetically modified crops in France. His sentence was reduced after a partial amnesty by French Pres. Jacques Chirac, and a judge ruled he could serve the rest of his term under a conditional release program.
The judge who barred Bové from leaving the country was following a recommendation made by the public prosecutor and said he was treating Bové like any other person in a conditional release program. Bové’s situation is still that of a prisoner, the judge said. (AFP)

Cambodian fury at Pol Pot‘theme park’
A Cambodian plan to build a theme park in the jungles where Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge killed nearly two million people has outraged relatives of the victims of the killing fields.
The government’s plan includes building a replica of the house where the former dictator died. Some of his former cronies, including his cook and housekeeper, will be tour guides to show visitors around 26 proposed Khmer Rouge sites, which will feature reconstructed offices and barracks.
A new road will link the temples of Angkor Wat to a multi-million dollar museum and theater complex at Anlong Veng, about 200 miles from the capital Phnom Penh, which Khmer Rouge guerillas held out until 1998. This would put the grave of Pol Pot on the tourist circuit. Many Cambodians prefer that he continue to lie in ignominy in his grave under a tin shack next to an old village latrine.
Youk Chhang, director of a center that collects evidence to be used against surviving Khmer Rouge leaders — many of whom are still at large — at proposed genocide tribunals, is incensed at the plans to cash in on the bloodbath.
“Why not pay attention to the 19,000 mass grave sites in this country? Why only pay attention to the murderers?” he demanded. “This is debasing the memory of all those people who were killed by the Khmer Rouge. It’s all about money.” (Independent (UK))

Italy struggles to deliver EU constitution
Italy’s hopes of clinching a deal on a European constitution during its six-month European Union (EU) presidency have suffered a crushing blow, after a rebellion by nations demanding more negotiations.
At a meeting in Riva del Garda, foreign ministers from the EU’s smaller countries, and from some of those about to join the EU, insisted that more issues need to be discussed and extra time allotted if necessary.
The weekend row killed any lingering hopes that the draft treaty, compiled by the former French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, will be adopted with little debate. That increases the risk that, as more issues are reopened, the whole exercise will unravel. (Independent (UK))