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Title: Afghans tell media not to broadcast violence before vote
Source:
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URL Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/A ... before+vote/1905095/story.html
Published: Aug 18, 2009
Author: Matthew Fisher and Mike Blanchfield
Post Date: 2009-08-18 18:40:10 by Jethro Tull
Keywords: None
Views: 106
Comments: 7
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — If a car bomb explodes in Kabul, and no one reports it, does it make a noise? Faced with escalating violence, and incessant allegations of fraud, the Afghanistan government made an unusual request Tuesday of local and international journalists: Refrain from reporting violent incidents Thursday when the war-torn country holds its national election. If people see dead and wounded people on television, one government spokesman reasoned, it could "weaken their confidence" and keep them from voting. "All domestic and international media agencies are requested to refrain from broadcasting any incidence of violence during the election process from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 20," the government said in a statement. A version of the same decree in the Afghan language of Dari went much further, reportedly saying such reports were "strictly forbidden." A big voter turnout is key to lending legitimacy to the western efforts to build democracy in Afghanistan, but stepped-up attacks by the Taliban and al-Qaida — including Tuesday's suicide car-bomb attack on a NATO convoy in Kabul, as well as renewed allegations of fraud and abuse of power by incumbent President Hamid Karzai — are presenting massive challenges. The Afghan government and its international allies affirmed their resolve Tuesday, but, for good measure, the Afghans made their unusual appeal — or order, depending on which government department was being quoted — for a violence news blackout on Thursday. Though there would be no penalty for reporting violence, a government spokesman said there was a "journalistic responsibility to avoid creating public fear." The unusual plea came as more pre-election violence rocked Afghanistan's capital on Tuesday, leaving 10 dead and more than 50 wounded when a suicide car bomber rammed a NATO convoy. In a separate attack, two U.S. military personnel were killed in roadside blast in Eastern Afghanistan. Those attacks followed Saturday's car bomb at the front gate of NATO headquarters in Kabul that killed seven people and wounded more than 90. Violence has increased dramatically in recent days, said Canadian Brig.-Gen. Eric Tremblay, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Seven Afghan civilians were among those killed in Tuesday's attack, Tremblay noted, and also included one ISAF soldier and two United Nations civilians. "This incident, once again, proves that the insurgents have no respect for the Afghan population," Tremblay said Tuesday. "As you can imagine, conducting elections throughout an insurgency and counter-insurgency makes these elections even more challenging." Tremblay said insurgents had averaged about 32 attacks a day over a recent 10-day period, but that average rose four days ago to 48 attacks per day. But the Canadian general argued that was still not enough to stop Thursday's polls. "Clearly, they do not have the capacity to intimidate and prevent 15 million Afghan voters that have registered for this election, considering that only one per cent of 6,500 potential polling stations is 65, and the maximum number of attacks they've done in one day was 48," said Tremblay. As the result of a countrywide NATO directive, the 2,800 Canadians serving with Task Force Afghanistan are to suspend all offensive operations on Thursday. Instead, the coalition forces will support Afghan soldiers and policemen if they come under attack from insurgents while defending voters or polling stations. In another security measure that has proven successful in Iraq, all civilian vehicular traffic will be banned across Afghanistan on Thursday. As elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban has issued a series of "night letters" in Kandahar, demanding that voters stay home. One of the leaflets issued by "the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" that was obtained by Canwest News Service said, "Dear citizens, we are warning you not to participate in the election. If you do, you will fall prey to our operations." NATO officials said the Afghan army and police would take the visible lead in protecting polling stations on Thursday, though international forces would be close by to provide support. "I think it is a critical step in the development of both the Afghan security forces, but also the country as a whole, for the people to see and develop trust and confidence in their own security agencies. That's an important step forward for them," said Australian Brig.-Gen. Damian Cantwell, ISAF's election task-force chief. Cantwell said western troops were "fully committed" to support Afghan forces, and would operate in "the outer tiers, around each particular polling centre, in a low profile, but agile posture." Cantwell said that would include "air overwatch capabilities, and also ready ground forces, if we need to move to where any security incidents may arise." Kai Eide, the United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan, said he was "shocked and greatly saddened" by the loss of his two staffers, but said, "We have been preparing for a more difficult security situation." Eide was upbeat about the success in preparing for Thursday's historic ballot, saying "they represent a milestone in political maturity in Afghanistan." But he added: "I'm not trying to hide that there have been irregularities, but my overall assessment is that this has been a success for the Afghan people." Karzai remains the favourite to win a second term on Thursday, but polls and strong turnouts at campaign rallies by his former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah have caused increasing speculation that Karzai will not get 50 per cent plus one of the ballots cast. If he doesn't, he would have to face Abdullah in a second-round run-off in October. In explaining why journalists were being asked to not report violent incidents on voting day, Karzai's spokesman Siamak Herwak was quoted by Reuters as saying, "This decision will control the negative impact of the media. If something happens, this will prevent them from exaggerating it, so that people will not be frightened to come out and vote." Karzai may have the most to lose if his fellow Pushtun tribesmen in the south are too intimidated by the Taliban to go to the polls. The incumbent predicted in a statement Tuesday that the attacks would not deter Afghans from voting, "despite the efforts of the enemies" because they will want to "show their opposition to their barbaric acts." Meanwhile, fresh allegations of fraud surfaced Tuesday as a report by the BBC found that one of the British news agency's Afghan employees was offered 1,000 voter registration cards for $15 each. There were also complaints that Karzai improperly used government clout to prevent Abdullah's helicopter from landing and distributing campaign literature. With almost 100,000 troops from 44 countries already contributing to Afghanistan, and with almost 60,000 of those from the United States, a group of U.S. senators touring Afghanistan on Tuesday called for more military reinforcements. "It is very clear to me that more resources are needed in the form of additional troops, as well as material, economic and other support," Republican Senator John McCain, who led the team of U.S. lawmakers, told reporters in Kabul. "I am confident that, within a year to 18 months, if we give the right resources and employ the right strategy, we can see significant success here."
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#1. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
Censoring the news is probably a bad move. With publicity the Taleban would need to blow up one or two polling stations to get their "Don't Vote" message across. Without it they'd have to blow up dozens.
Discouraging ballot voting is a worse move.
Ballot voting may give you a good feeling but doesn't mean all that much. Just look at good old USA where the electorate voted in the Democrats to get America out of its pointless Afghan and Iraq wars but the Israeli lobby's directive to continue fighting has prevailed.
It will stabilize the nation. The sooner the nation is stabilized, the sooner the U.S. soldiers can leave.
They will wait us out until we give them a "surge". A surge in bribe money that is.
Hasn't been much stabilization after Karzai was elected for his first term. Some reports suggest the country is more out of control than it was under the Taleban.
And who is reporting that? Everyone has an agenda.
#2. To: Tatarewicz (#1)
Censoring the news is probably a bad move.
#3. To: PaulCJ (#2)
#4. To: Tatarewicz (#3)
Ballot voting may give you a good feeling but doesn't mean all that much.
#5. To: PaulCJ (#4)
It will stabilize the nation. The sooner the nation is stabilized, the sooner the U.S. soldiers can leave.
#6. To: PaulCJ (#4)
#7. To: Tatarewicz (#6)
Hasn't been much stabilization after Karzai was elected for his first term. Some reports suggest the country is more out of control than it was under the Taleban.
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