| OCR Text |
Show -r-i2aigai HutmwaiamMimmijmjJgwumimwiui sta ...i ,vr?',? ymtewtTiT. ..ria da r t FEBRUARY 29, 2012 TpNESDAY, pulls MCI le commander of the international ,e in Afghanistan on jurday withdrew all j0 personnel from eminent ministries in Kabul after j around oU.S. soldiers were ,Cd mside the Afghan .led 5 Ministry, ierior of the two inside the ,1iencans Interior .security ilimstry compound came , the fifth day of violent jtests over the appar-,i- y inadvertent burning (jurans and other reli- -' materials at Bagram ugase, the largest U.S. fhe killings i)Us Afghanistan, fliey also are the latest rising number of 'jcks on members of d international in ,e ictiou U.S.-le- by ltce Afghan security members, known in military parlance as incidents. ireen on blue R. Jolrn Gen. Allen, rce S nmander of the U.S.-- j international force in condemned attack and announced personnel recall. U.S. d ulitary officials that two coalition .rsonnel had been killed jidid not say whether were American, and Jed that they were still thering information, d Interior et 'mistry source, speaking its ue condition of anonymity ice k ,ause of the sensitivity iiohanistan, con-nie- ey bee opic t dead were Americans. We are investigating the crime and will pursue all leads to find the person responsible for this attack "Allen said. The perpetrator of this attack is a coward whose actions will not go unanswered. Allens order indicated that U.S. commanders are deeply concerned about the safety of American military personnel assigned as advisers to government ministries, including the defense and interior ministries, which sit at the heart of the Obama administration s strategy of building up Afghan security forces as U.S. led international combat forces withdraw by the end of 20 14. Sediq Sediqi, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said that the reason behind the killing was not clear but that a joint investigation by the U.S. led NATO coalition and Afghan national police has been launched. An Afghan official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to speak officially said that no Afghan police were involved in the shooting. The Taliban was quick in claiming the responsibility for the killings. In a statement, the group said the attack was carried out by a holy warrior named Abdul Rahman and cited the recent burning of Qurans and other Islamic religious materials -- -- v S & ? $ bI ! If -- t V 1 jv protesters gathered on February 24, 2012, in central Kabul, near the Afghan presidential palace, on the 4th day of demonstrations against the burning of Qurans at U.S.-ru- n base. Anti-Americ- by American soldiers at Bagram Air Base. Earlier this week, two U.S. soldiers were shot dead by a man wearing an Afghan national army uniform in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province during protests over the Quran burnings. riots across the country the past week have left nearly 30 people dead and hundreds wounded. President Barack Obama apologized this week to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the Quran burnings. The rising violence over the Quran burnings appears to underscore the massive frustration and anger among ordinary Afghans over the failure of the U.S. led international forces to subdue the Anti-Americ- -- Taliban-le- d insurgency a decade after the U.S. invasion. The White House and U.S. commanders claim significant progress against the Taliban. But U.S. intelligence officials question whether that progress is sustainable as U.S. forces draw down, while other experts point out that the Taliban still control or influence large sections of the country. On Saturday, four demonstrators were killed and more than 50 were wounded in protests outside the United Nations compound in Kunduz, said the director of citys health department, Dr. Saad Mukhtar. Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, the spokesman for Kunduz chief of police, said that thr ee Taliban were among demonstrators in Saturdays protest in Kun duz who were arrested by the police. Three active members of the Taliban were among the demonstrators who provoked the people to march towards UNAMAs office in Kunduz, said Hussaini, referring to the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. He added that as protesters wanted to enter UNAMAs office, security forces reacted. Hussaini confirmed that 1 1 police officers were also wounded in the clash. UNAMA in a statement thanked the Afghan forces for their timely response in Kunduz but regretted the casualties among the demonstrators. In Laghman province, 26 were injured, including four police and two intelligence officers, when several hundred protest ers tried to force their way into the governors compound, said the police chief of Laghman, Gen. Abdul Rahman Saijang. Shukoor Rahimi, a protester in Kunduz, told McClatchy that Afghans are Muslims and burning the Quran means an attack on all Muslims and their dignity. Haji Abdul Aziz, a member of the Laghman provincial council, condemned the burnings but he said that insurgent groups were trying to exploit the burning incident for their own gain. Continuing the protests for such a long time is led by the armed opposition, Aziz said. (c)2012 the McClatchy Washington Bureau. Courtesy of McClatchy Tribune Services. elec stedon President Obama approves Keystone pipeline in Ohio CLARK AND RENEE SCHOOF MCT LESLEY dents its. at an eight-yehigh. The companys decision, Carney said, highn fact lights a certainly, you wouldnt hear it from some of our critics that we approve, pipelines are approved and built in this country all the time. Obamas decision last month to reject the full e Keystone XL from Canadas pipeline a become has tar sands focal point of Republican efforts to portray him as responsible for the recent spike in gasoline prices, and they fault him for ar little-know- President Barack under fire from publicans over the 'ing cost of gasoline, White House moved uckly Monday to ation-:nio- With iama lajor is a for : rsonnel after protests of the issue, continued the BYALI SAFI AND JONATHAN LAN DAY clubs Canadian com-ny- s decision to build ection of the Keystone Jmpet candi-1- VOli onstffl s. Bod; ref a i pipeline from to Houston ier Obama blocked a ger path last month. Cush-tOkla- ines! Press ., Secretary Jay hailed TransCan-T- s announcement and :orge irney n the counter Repub- criticism that the ;d it r DSC to ministration has stifled eds to p for land b said gas production. that the Oklaho-"Ho-Tex- haves section of pipeline would ipass le dress rstand wl needs is the in help the bottleneck Cushing that part resulted in large i increased domestic production, Yf i; ,0of i. ,pos des'1" as s currently y i! f 1,661-mil- blocking a project they say would create jobs and reduce Americas dependence on oil imports from unstable foreign sources. House Speaker John poked Boehner, House White fun at the salute of TransCanadas decision. The president is so far on the wrong side of the American people that hes now praising the companys decision to start going around him, Boehner said in a statement to ABC News. A recent national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press suggests that Obamas Keystone decision could become a political liability. Though 37 percent of those surveyed said they had not heard of the pipeline, 66 percent of those who had heard of it said the government should approve it, while 23 percent opposed it. Energy experts say that the Keystone XL pipeline wouldnt do much to lower gasoline prices. The recent price increases stem largely from speculators bidding up prices at a time of growing fear of future disruptions in oil-supp- ly the event of a war with Iran over its nuclear program. TransCanada will be the second pipeline moving oil from Cushmg to the Gulf Coast. The other is already built and owned by Enbridge Inc. The two pipelines will reduce the glut of oil in the Midwest and in doing so will raise the price of oil in Cushing and the Midwest and will lower the price very slightly in the rest of the world, said Severin Borenstein, a professor at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Prices in the Midwest could go up 10 to 30 cents a gallon, ending the regions cheaper gasoline compared to other areas, he said. If the full pipeline is constructed, the effect on prices would never really be noticed because it would be so small, a few cents or less per gallon, that it would be lost in the noise of other changes. TransCanada also told the State Department on Monday that it plans to submit a new application for the rejected segment of the pipeline, and Carney said the presidents rejection last month in no way prejudged future applications. The White House contends that House Republicans forced Obama to reject the earlier application by not it giving enough time to review the project. Republicans accuse Obama of putting off the decision until after the 2012 election to avoid upsetting environmentalists. Environmental groups made the pipeline a test of Obamas will to move the country off fossil fuels and to slow climate cross-bord- er change. They also say the pipeline would put the Ogalalla Aquifer under the Great Plains, streams, farms and wildlife habitat at more of a risk of oil spills. Kim Huynh of Friends of the Earth said in a ; statement Monday that the pipeline would be an environmental disaster and called the administrations welcome of TransCanadas plan an alarming about-facThe administration must stop trying to have it both ways, Huynh said. President Obama cannot expect to protect the climate and to put the country on a path toward 21st century clean energy while simultaneously shilling for one of the dirtiest industries on Earth. (c)2012 the McClatchy Washington Bureau. Courtesy of McClatchy Tribune Services. e. |
