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Fighting terror
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 19, 2003
WAZA, Afghanistan -- Padsha Khan Zadran, a powerful Afghan warlord who had opposed the American-backed government of President Hamid Karzai, may be finally bowing to pressure and coming into the fold, the American commander of forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Daniel K. McNeill, said Saturday.
Zadran, a fearsome Pashtun tribesman from eastern Afghanistan, who helped American forces in the war against the Taliban and al-Qaida, now commands his band of men from a small base here on the main road running through the provinces of Paktia and Khost.
Despite his pro-American, anti-Taliban position, he openly opposes Karzai and says he wants the former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, to lead the country instead.
Now after months of deadlock and bloodshed, negotiations between Zadran and Karzai, through a mediator, may be close to ending the standoff, McNeill said Saturday.
U.N. officials have been trying to negotiate a face-saving way for Zadran to end his opposition to Karzai.
Last year, his men rained rockets on Gardez, causing dozens of deaths or injuries. His opposition also has remained a humiliating thorn in the side of the Karzai administration, which is trying to extend its power beyond Kabul and show the Afghan people that it can effectively met their needs.
Zadran's status is complicated by confusion over whether he continues to have any support from American officials in the area.
Despite his bravado, Zadran is losing support. Backing for Karzai appears to be growing slowly in eastern Afghanistan as the resident tribal leaders and local commanders have been voicing their support to the central government in the hope of attracting reconstruction funds. Tribal leaders from the important Mangal tribe came to Kabul recently to pledge support to Karzai and said men from their tribe who fought with Zadran would be penalized.
FRIENDLY FIRE BOMBING: A U.S. pilot who mistakenly bombed Canadian troops in Afghanistan was under no threat of attack from small-arms fire before or after the 500-pound bomb was released, an Air Force commander testified at a military hearing Saturday at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.
Lt. Col. Richard Anderson II, who was in charge of all coalition pilots' combat orders, said the pilot and his mission commander were also under "extremely tight" restrictions on weapons use.
Standard procedure would have been to evade surface-to-air fire, not attack, he said.
However, Anderson indicated under cross-examination that he was unaware the pilot who dropped the bomb, Maj. Harry Schmidt, had been briefed that Taliban forces had rocket launchers powerful enough to put Schmidt's mission commander, Maj. William Umbach, in danger that night.
The defense has argued that Schmidt had good reason to believe he was under attack because the gunfire he saw coming from the Canadians appeared to be aimed at Umbach's F-16.
The Air Force charged Schmidt and Umbach with involuntary manslaughter in the bombing last spring that killed four Canadian soldiers and wounded eight.
The hearing, scheduled to end Jan. 24, is to decide whether the pilots should face a court-martial. If convicted, they could face up to 64 years in military prison.