Polish Afganistan 2008

To Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan who killed Polish Scientist in Pakistan

2009-04-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

To Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan who killed Polish Scientist in Pakistan

Calling You Taliban do not kill Polish People the great People

2009-04-26T22:54:00.000-07:00

Calling You Taliban do not kill Polish People the great People

Egzekucja Polskiego Geologa ostatnie chwile przed (execution of polish engineer) Piotr Stańczak

I do not know what to say? It is to late now and why you had to kill my Polish brother?
Only one country in the western word knows Islam well is Poland. Polish Islamic history for 1000 years.
why? they did to the Polish Man Scientist Man of Poland and Geologist ? ask your masters?Alex Lech Bajan Washington DC

TERRORYZM A WOJNA CYWILIZACJI

2009-04-26T08:43:00.001-07:00

TERRORYZM A WOJNA CYWILIZACJI

TERRORYZM A WOJNA CYWILIZACJI PART1
Pan prof. dr hab. Piotr Jaroszyński - TERRORYZM A WOJNA CYWILIZACJI (4/4). Wykład został wygłoszony na VIII Międzynarodowym Sympozjum z cyklu «PRZYSZŁOŚĆ CYWILIZACJI ZACHODU», Terroryzm dawniej i dziś, który odbył się 21 kwietnia 2009 na Katolickim Uniwersytecie Lubelskim.
Plik dźwiękowy pochodzi ze stron Radia Maryja

TERRORYZM A WOJNA CYWILIZACJI (2/4)

TERRORYZM A WOJNA CYWILIZACJI (3/4)

TERRORYZM A WOJNA CYWILIZACJI (4/4)

Dziekanski of Poland brutally killed by Canadian airport security Inquiry reveals more of Dziekanski's life in Poland Updated Sun. Apr. 5 2009 3

2009-04-06T05:56:00.000-07:00

Dziekanski of Poland brutally killed by Canadian airport security

Inquiry reveals more of Dziekanski's life in Poland
Updated Sun. Apr. 5 2009 3:45 PM ET

The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER -- If most Canadians remember Robert Dziekanski as the panicked, out-of-control figure who died in RCMP hands at Vancouver's airport, Wojciech Dibon might tell them about the Dziekanski who acted as a father to him, taking him camping and teaching him about geography.

But Dibon wasn't able to tell the inquiry into Dziekanski's death about the man he knew.

Dibon, the son of a woman Dziekanski was living with, was 17 when he died and he remains so distraught over the man's death that he was unable to testify at the inquiry sorting out what happened at the airport early on Oct. 14, 2007.

"He and Mr. Dziekanski were very close," says Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer for Dziekanski's mother.

"This young man didn't have a father figure, Mr. Dziekanski took him camping, taught him the skills of manhood, spent time with him."

Dibon was one of the last people Dziekanski saw before he made his fateful trip to Canada, coming along for the two-hour ride to the airport on Oct. 13, 2007.

Upon arriving in Vancouver more than 20 hours later, Dziekanski spent hours lost in the airport, unable to connect with his mother who was frantically searching for him in another area of the facility.

RCMP were called after Dziekanski, sweating and exhausted, started throwing furniture in the international terminal. Within seconds of arriving, the four officers stunned the man several times with a Taser, and Dziekanski died on the airport floor in the minutes that followed.

The amateur video of Dziekanski's chilling screams and his encounter with police will be the epitaph left for most Canadians, but his friends and neighbours recall a different man, kind and friendly but also with his own share of flaws, eager to start a new life.

Dibon was hospitalized shortly after Dziekanski's death.

"He's had a hard time dealing with that," says Kosteckyj.

Dibon's absence, along with the inquiry testimony last week of others who knew Dziekanski in Gliwice, Poland, adds depth to the man Dziekanski's supporters have angrily accused government and police lawyers of trying to vilify.

He loved geography and read many books about the country that was to be his new home, the inquiry heard.

He played chess and gardened.

He may have had some trouble with the law as a teenager. He smoked and drank.

He was terrified of flying.

"Like a normal person," says Iwona Kosowska, offering a simple explanation when asked to describe her former neighbour.

"He was a very, very good man."

Dziekanski was born in the town of Pieszyce in southern Poland and later moved with his mother to Gliwice, a small industrial city not far from the borders with Slokavia and Czech Republic.

He lived in the same apartment with his mother, Zofia Cisowski, for much of his life, until she moved in 1999 to Kamloops, B.C., where she found work as a janitor.

After Cisowski left, Dziekanski lived with Dibon's mother, Elzbieta, although it's still not clear whether they were romantically involved, and if so for how long.

While he was trained to typeset in a print shop, by the time he left for Canada he was mostly doing odd jobs, heavy labour or handy work. Without a full-time job or much money, his mother would send home cash from B.C.

He planned to learn English when he arrived and find a job, possibly working with his mother.

And he also wanted to travel across Canada to see a place he had only read about in the many books and atlases he had collected about the country.

His hobbies included playing chess and bridge with friends and working at a nearby garden plot given to him by a family member.

"I would play quite often chess with him and just before he left he gave me a gift of portable chess board," said Ryszard Krasinski, Dziekanski's friend of eight years.

"He had a huge collection of atlases and other geographical material and he had very deep knowledge of geography."

When he left for Canada, Dziekanski, who only spoke Polish, had barely been outside the country and never overseas.

His long trip to Vancouver was his first time flying, and the thought of being on a plane terrified him.

When a friend arrived to drive him to the airport, Dziekanski was in a panic, clutching a radiator, vomiting and refusing to leave.

The scene brings to mind the video of Dziekanski's final moments the next day in Vancouver, the would-be immigrant pacing around the international terminal, throwing furniture and rambling in Polish about smashing the area around him but also asking for help.

Dziekanski's neighbours insisted he didn't anger easily and was never aggressive -- a description echoed by border agents and airline staff who said he was calm and co-operative when they dealt with him.

RCMP lawyers at the inquiry have made much of Dziekanski's apparent legal troubles stretching back to an incident more than two decades earlier.

Dziekanski may have spent time in a reformatory school following a robbery when he was 17, but details have been foggy because it didn't result in a criminal record.

Police and prosecutors in Canada have also suggested Dziekanski was an alcoholic, but his neighbours say he was only a social drinker and had rarely, if ever, seen him drunk.

Whatever his problems, they weren't too much for Canadian immigration officials, who approved him to enter the country.

"He was talking about it quite often -- he told me he was going to Canada, where there is milk and honey," says neighbour and family friend Magda Czelwinska.

"He was very happy because he loved his mother very much and he couldn't wait to meet her."

Polish émigré 5 years since entering U.S., he gets into 7 Ivy Leagues

2008-09-15T06:00:00.001-07:00

Polish émigré 5 years since entering U.S., he gets into 7 Ivy Leagues

Poland - making a difference

By Bob Considine
TODAYShow.com contributor

Polish émigré 5 years since entering U.S., he gets into 7 Ivy Leagues
Polish émigré couldn’t speak English; now he’s admitted to 17 top schools

By Bob Considine
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 9:05 a.m. ET, Wed., June. 18, 2008
Lukasz Zbylut has taken “the old college try” to a whole new level.

The New York teenager, who emigrated from Poland only five years ago, applied to seven Ivy League schools — and was accepted by every one of them.

Now he’s thrilled to further his education at his “dream school” of choice — Harvard. What, Yale wasn’t good enough for him? How about Princeton?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I do feel sorry, and I feel awful for turning down such great institutions,” Zbylut told TODAY co-hosts Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira. “But it’s Harvard.”

Among the other schools he declined were Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, Cornell, Georgetown, Stanford and New York University.

There were 10 other prominent schools that also accepted the ever-smiling 18-year-old. But he knew he could only pick one.

“It’s a great feeling to have,” Zbylut added. “And it’s very exciting — and confusing, to an extent.”

A class act
Lukasz Zbylut (pronounced Loo-KASH Zbeh-LOOT) was in seventh grade when he came to the United States. At that point, he admits, he had only a limited grasp of the English language.

“It’s quite amazing that the first words you learn in any language are the curses,” Zbylut said with a laugh. “It’s ‘thank you’ and the curses. Someone should study that at some point. But I’ve come a long way since then.”

Zbylut said the transition to attending school in the U.S. was “easier than expected.”

“Schools in Poland are very rigorous, as you can imagine,” he said. “When taking my first exam, I was constantly turning to the girl next to me because in Poland, [testing] is very collaborative. Here, it’s the opposite.”

In addition to holding such high grades, Zbylut is co-captain of his school’s United Nations team; founder of its debate team; president of its mock-trial team and editor of the school newspaper. And, just for kicks, he plays soccer.

With such credentials, Lauer asked, why did Zbylut apply to so many schools when he knew he’d be accepted to so many of them?

“That isn’t really true, especially the last decade,” Zbylut explained. “[It’s] very competitive. We’re into the single digits when it comes to acceptance rates.

“I thought of myself as a great candidate, but I was never certain of getting into a single one college.”

Zbylut plans to study politics, law and philosophy at Harvard. But there was one school that actually did turn him down — the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Zbylut said he didn’t mind the snub.

“I really don’t regret it, because I would never be as passionate as a student they potentially could have given the spot to,” he said. “I’m hoping that the spot they gave would have been to someone who is very passionate about politics and everything.”

UN soldier in Lebanon trades her blue beret for a veil

2008-09-15T04:50:00.001-07:00

UN soldier in Lebanon trades her blue beret for a veil

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AFP) -- Sylvia Monika Wyszomirska is a Catholic from Poland, but in an effort to integrate better into south Lebanon's conservative society she has traded her UN peacekeeper's beret for a headscarf during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

""Out of respect for the environment I work in, I feel I need to try to integrate myself"" during Ramadan, said 37-year-old Wyszomirska who has been stationed in the country for four months.

""And since my contingent is deployed in a Muslim area, I have decided to wear the hijab,"" the Muslim veil, over military fatigues, the mother of a little girl told AFP.

Wyszomirska chose a veil in the same light shade of blue used for the berets worn by members of the 13,000-strong United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which keeps the peace along the tense Lebanon-Israel border.

A native of Krakow, Wyszomirska works as a translator for the 200-member Polish contingent of UNIFIL, and her job brings her into direct contact with the people who live in Shiite-majority villages across the Marjayoun region.

Her deployment to southern Lebanon is not Wyszomirska's first encounter with Muslim tradition. She has also been to Kuwait and Iraq and worked in Syria as well to perfect her Arabic.

""When I was studying Middle Eastern languages at Jagiellonski university back home we also learned about the customs, traditions, history and geography of the countries we might end up working in -- places like Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Kuwait,"" she said.

Wyszomirska's decision to wear the veil during Ramadan has helped to break the ice with local villagers, both for her personally and for her colleagues in the Polish contingent.

""At first relations were lukewarm, especially since we don't come from a rich country with things to offer the people,"" she said. ""All we can offer them is respect and a smile. But since I started wearing the veil, people have been more welcoming with me and also with my colleagues. This has opened more doors and opportunities to strike up friendships.”

""They began inviting us into their homes for coffee or sweets. And when we pass by the children smile and wave at us,"" she said.

""Today I feel almost as if I have a second family in Debbine, Blat and Arid,"" she added of the mostly Shiite villages in the area.

Wyszomirska said that wearing the veil was ""a gesture from the heart -- it was not imposed on me.""

Her superior welcomed the idea that she wear veil during the holy month.

""He also suggested to me that I explain Ramadan customs to the other soldiers so they can respect the traditions and refrain from eating and drinking in public during fasting"" between dawn and dusk, she said.

Another woman peacekeeper in the Polish contingent, a 36-year-old, said she thought ""wearing the veil was a smart move, because it brought us closer to the residents,"" but also added that she would not do the same herself.

""It would change my look completely, and that's not something I want.""

Some of the villagers were slightly taken aback by the sight of the fatigues-clad Wyszomirska wearing a veil.

""I was surprised to see Sylvia wearing the headscarf, because I know she's not a Muslim,"" said Zahraa Hijazi, a veiled student from the village of Debbine.

""But in any case nuns wear veils even though they are Christian,"" she added.

Debbine mayor Mohammed Sherif Ibrahim agreed that many of his constituents were surprised by Wyszomirska's decision to wear the veil ""because it is out of the ordinary"".

""But it is also a nice gesture that breaks down barriers between UNIFIL and the local people,"" he said.

wypowiedzi przedstawicieli niemieckiego Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych zdecydowanie dowodzą, że niemiecka dyplomacja w konflikcie rosyjsko-gruziński

2008-08-11T06:07:00.000-07:00

wypowiedzi przedstawicieli niemieckiego Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych zdecydowanie dowodzą, że niemiecka dyplomacja w konflikcie rosyjsko-gruzińskim wspiera Moskwę.

Minister stanu w niemieckim Ministerstwie Spraw Zagranicznych Gernot Erler (SPD) w udzielonych ostatnio wywiadach kilkakrotnie zarzucił Gruzji naruszenie prawa międzynarodowego. Jego zdaniem, Gruzja pogwałciła to prawo, ponieważ postanowiła rozwiązać problem prorosyjskiej separatystycznej Osetii Południowej za pomocą wojska. W wywiadzie dla monachijskiego "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" Erler ostrzega, aby nie oceniać Rosji zbyt pochopnie i zbyt ostro. - Eskalacja nastąpiła w wyniku obustronnych prowokacji - stwierdził wiceszef niemieckiej dyplomacji i dodał, że od początku było jasne, iż wtargnięcie wojsk gruzińskich na teren Osetii sprowokuje Rosję do działania. Wiceszef niemieckiego MSZ przyznał, że dobre stosunki rosyjsko-niemieckie, do których wyjątkowo przyczynił się poprzedni socjaldemokratyczny kanclerz Gerhard Schroeder, powinny zostać wykorzystane do tego, aby Niemcy zostały negocjatorem w konflikcie kaukaskim.
Również wypowiadając się dla radia NDR-Info Geront Erler obwiniał gruzińskiego prezydenta o to, że zamierza rozwiązywać problemy za pomocą wojska, czego nie da się zrobić. Niemiecki polityk stwierdził, że taka strategia jest zerwaniem nadzorowanego przez siły międzynarodowe zawieszenia broni z 1992 roku. Jego zdaniem, w obecnym stanie rzeczy przyjęcie Gruzji do NATO na pewno zostaje na długi czas odłożone.
Szef niemieckiej dyplomacji Walter Frank Steinmeier (SPD) rozmawiał telefonicznie zarówno z szefem rosyjskiej dyplomacji Siergiejem Ławrowem, jak i z gruzińskim prezydentem Micheilem Saakaszwilim, lecz efektem tych rozmów był jedynie apel o zawieszenie broni. Tygodnik "Der Spiegel" w jednym z komentarzy określił działania Waltera Steinmeiera jako naiwne.
Z kolei specjalista frakcji SPD w Bundestagu do spraw zagranicznych Gert Weisskirchen w wywiadzie dla "Deutschlandfunk" stwierdził, że prezydent Gruzji Micheil Saakaszwili ofensywą na Osetię dostarczył następnych argumentów przeciwko przyjęciu tego kraju do NATO.
Kanclerz Angela Merkel (CDU) także rozmawiała telefonicznie z przedstawicielami Moskwy i Tbilisi. Zaapelowała o natychmiastowy i bezwarunkowy rozejm w konflikcie w Osetii Południowej. Wezwała przy tym wszystkie siły uczestniczące w konflikcie do powrotu na pozycje, jakie zajmowały przed wybuchem walk. Podkreśliła też konieczność zachowania terytorialnej integralności Gruzji. - Rosyjskie naloty lotnicze na gruzińskie terytorium winny być natychmiast wstrzymane - powiedziała.
Niemieckie media nie potwierdziły jednak rosyjskich informacji, jakoby Angela Merkel miała zamiar w przyszłym tygodniu przylecieć do Moskwy na rozmowy o sytuacji kaukaskiej z prezydentem Rosji Dmitrijem Miedwiediewem.

Waldemar Maszewski, Hamburg

POLSKA DOBRZE SMAKUJE - „Czar Kaszub i kozie sery Romana Sidorkiewicza” - 17 min

2008-08-08T12:06:00.001-07:00

POLSKA DOBRZE SMAKUJE - „Czar Kaszub i kozie sery Romana Sidorkiewicza” - 17 min

Hiroszima i Nagasaki a “Tarcza” w Polsce

2008-08-08T11:23:00.001-07:00

Hiroszima i Nagasaki a “Tarcza” w Polsce
W obliczu zagrożenia Polski bombami nuklearnymi z Kliningradu i innych baz rosyjskich, na wypadek budowy w Polsce wyrzutni rakiet amerykańskich typu „Tarcza,” warto przypomnieć pierwsze dwie bomby nuklearne, użyte przez USA w 1945 roku. Jest to sprawa istotna, ponieważ kłamliwa propaganda uzasadniająca „Tarczę” w Polsce zagrożeniem z Iranu, jest zupełnie nie do przyjęcia.
Natomiast pociski amerykańskie w Polsce, oddalone o cztery minuty lotu od Moskwy, stawiają Rosję wobec bardzo ryzykownego zagrożenia „szachem i matem” przez USA, jeżeli Rosjanie dopuszczą do takiej sytuacji. Logicznie można się spodziewać, że n.p. w Kaliningradzie, czekają już automatyczne wyrzutnie rakiet, z głowicami nuklearnymi, gotowe do strzału, w chwili, kiedy na radarze rosyjskim pokażą się przygotowania do odpalenia rakiety amerykańskiej z nuklearną głowicą, potencjalnie tylko, zagrażającej Moskwie.
W obliczy takiego prospektu zniszczenia Polski przez nuklearne bomby rosyjskie, warto przypomnieć rocznicę bombardowania Hiroszimy 6go sierpnia, 1945 roku i w trzy dni później Nagasaki, gdzie celem, czyli „ground zero,” była jedyna katedra katolicka na terenie Japonii. Wówczas około dwieście tysięcy osób zostało zabitych w samych atakach oraz z powodu zatrucia radioaktywnego. Większość ofiar stanowili cywile, włącznie z kilku tysiącami robotników z Korei. Dwunastu pilotów lotnictwa morskiego USA, uwięzionych w miejscowym więzieniu, również było wówczas zabitych.
Prezydent Harry Truman, wielki mistrz masonerii, szczycił się tym, że on ponosi całkowitą odpowiedzialność za to pierwsze bombardowanie nuklearne w historii, dokonane wbrew protestom amerykańskich dowódców sił lądowych i morskich. Jedynie masońscy i syjonistyczni doradcy Trumana, byli z tego bombardowania zadowoleni, bo niby miało ono, między innymi, ostrzec Stalina o potędze USA i ogóle destabilizować świat, wprowadzeniem go w epokę nuklearną.
Trzeba pamiętać, że w czasie epoki nuklearnej, po raz pierwszy w historii ludzkości, ludzie mają broń, którą mogą dokonać samobójstwo całej ludzkości. Słusznie pisze profesor Noam Chomsky, z prestiżowej politechniki Massachussets Institute of Technology, kiedy ostrzega Amerykanów przed „wojną ostateczną” („terminal war”).
Trzeba pamiętać, że na wypadek nuklearnego bombardowania Polski przez Rosję, Waszyngton, zawsze może starać się nie dopuścić do wymiany salw nuklearnych między USA i Rosją. Byłoby to niestety dopiero po obróceniu Polski w teren skażony radioaktywnie.
Truman fałszywie tłumaczył się zemstą, za japoński atak na Pearl Harbor i mordowanie jeńców przez Japończyków, podczas gdy w rzeczywistości prezydent F.D. Roosevelt, już w 1937 roku, doszedł do przekonania, że jedynie wojna może uratować USA od załamania ekonomicznego. Z tego powodu zaczął prowokować Japonię i wykorzystywać imperializm japoński, wówczas sprzymierzony z hitlerowskimi Niemcami. Rząd w Berlinie chciał sobie podporządkować Polskę i przyłączyć do Niemiec Gdańsk oraz przejąć kontrolę ziem polskich byłego zaboru pruskiego.
Ironią losu jest fakt, że dziś rozmaici autorzy dowodzą w USA, że Polska spowodowała wybuch Drugiej Wojny Światowej, ponieważ nie chciała podporządkować się woli Hitlera, którego postać w literaturze amerykańskiej pojawia się ostatnio jako człowieka racjonalnego. Jest to portret daleki od rzeczywistości, w której Hitler chciał jak najszybciej i to za wszelką cenę doprowadzić do wojny Niemiec przeciwko Rosji.
Polska była fizyczną barierą między Niemcami i Rosją tak, że Polacy mieli do wyboru albo poddać się woli Hitera, albo ulec zniszczeniu tak, żeby Niemcy miały bezpośrednią granicę z Rosją. W celu uzyskania bezpośredniego dostępu do Rosji Hitler musiał zdradzić Japonię, która staczała ciężkie bitwy z sowiecką armią syberyjską. Mimo protestów japońskiego sojusznika, Berlin zawarł pakt o nieagresji z Sowietami w sierpniu 1939.
Hitler mścił się na Polakach za doprowadzenie go do zdrady jego japońskiego sojusznika, oraz za bezpośrednie spowodowanie wypowiedzenia wojny Niemcom, przez Francję i Anglię. Hitler chciał pokonać Rosję i zagarnąć Ukrainę, bez walki na froncie zachodnim Niemiec. W literaturze USA sprawa ta nie jest jasno opisana i dzięki temu możliwe i często akceptowane są oskarżenia Polski jako „nieodpowiedzialnego prowokatora” Drugiej Wojny Światowej.
Mało ludzi w USA i w Polsce zdaje sobie sprawę z walk japońsko-sowieckich, w latach 1937-1939 i z faktu, że po przegranej bitwie pod KhalKhim-Gol, nad rzeką Kalką w Mandżurii, w sierpniu 1939, Japończycy starali się o zawieszenie broni z Armią Czerwoną. Zawieszenie broni między Sowietami i Japonią zostało popisane w dniu 15go września, 1939, następnego dnia weszło ono w życie tak, że w dniu 17go września, 1939 Armia Czerwona, nie zaangażowana już przeciwko Japończykom, dokonała inwazji Polski.
Ryzykowna dla Polski, strategia USA, szachowania Rosji wyrzutniami „Tarczy” na polskim terenie, grozi Polsce ponownym atakiem rosyjskim, tym razem jeszcze bardziej niszczącym, niż najazd sowiecki na Polską w 1939 roku. Niebezpieczeństwo rosyjskiego ataku nuklearnego na Polskę, w celu zapobieżenia atakowi Amerykanów na ośrodki kontroli i dowodzenia w Rosji. Trzeba to sobie uzmysłowić, zwłaszcza w sierpniu, w rocznicę ataku USA na Hiroszimę i Nagasaki, ponieważ gra strategiczna USA za pomocą wyrzutni „Tarczy” w Polsce zagraża Polakom rosyjskim bombardowaniem nuklearnym.info from http://www.pogonowski.com/Prof. Iwo Pogonowski

Hiroshima - Sandra

2008-06-03T10:07:00.001-07:00

Hiroshima - Sandra

Afghan returnees hope for sweet returns from buzzing business

2008-06-02T05:44:00.000-07:00

Afghan returnees hope for sweet returns from buzzing business

A beekeeping demonstration for returnees in Behsud district of Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan. © UNHCR/V.Tan

BEHSUD, Afghanistan, September 5 (UNHCR) – If there's one area in Afghanistan's patriarchal society where females are valued highly, it is beekeeping. That seems apt considering that the female bee dominates the hive – a fact which may have surprised some 30 male students listening intently to a recent lecture by agronomist Abdullah Ahad Qarashi in this eastern district.

"Male bees are only good for producing the next generation. We need more female bees, especially queen bees, because they do all the work," explained Qarashi, whose audience ranged from children to old men. The class members were among 150 Afghans – 90 men and 60 women – who are learning about beekeeping after returning from Pakistan to Behsud in Nangarhar province.

The six-month course by the Society for Afghan Development and Assistance Technology is one of the income-generating activities funded by the UN refugee agency to help returnees settle back in their place of origin after years in exile.

Lectures are held in an orange grove, with morning sessions reserved for female students and the afternoons for males. Even under the strict Taliban regime, beekeeping was one of the few jobs deemed acceptable for women because it could be practised in a home compound.

The honey business has a long tradition in Afghanistan, with the first honey bees thought to originate in the region. Since the late 1970s, wars and droughts have depleted the flowers that bees need to produce honey.

But today, there is hope for beekeepers in Nangarhar province. Fed by the resurgent Kabul River, the area's lush vegetation provides abundant forage for bees, while equipment is easily made locally. "We're using new techniques, and trying to educate people on the importance of bees in pollination," said instructor Qarashi, who studied agriculture in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The first half of his class focused on theory. "First we need to know which flowers have nectar that is good for producing honey, so the bees that are attracted to these flowers are good bees," he said, adding that orange trees were ideal in the right season. "In the hot season, there are fewer flowers, so honey production drops."

The second half of the lesson involved practice. A beekeeper dressed in a hat and veil approached the hive – a wooden box containing one queen bee and many workers. The worker removed a frame from the box after spraying it with water, which he said made "the bees think it's raining so they stay inside the box." He then gently brushed off the few straying bees.

Encrusted with concentrated honey and pollen, the frame is slotted into a centrifuge that spins and extracts liquid honey, which is then filtered. Under ideal circumstances, each hive produces 20-30 kilogrammes of honey per year selling for US$2.50 per kilo.

"The course is very useful," said returnee Ghulam Nabi. "But you need courage in this job to survive the stings. One or two stings don't make a difference."

When the lessons end in December, the beehives will be distributed to the returnees so that they can continue the project. "Beekeeping is now our profession. We'll start from one box and keep growing more," said Nabi, adding that they would pool their resources and share the income.

A similar honey-making project is being held in neighbouring Laghman province, where returnees have started to harvest and sell their produce.

In addition to beekeeping, other income-generating projects funded by UNHCR in Afghanistan include fish farming, sewing and pasta-making for returnee women, as well as broom making and basket-weaving for blind returnees. All projects are community based and benefit other residents in areas of return.

Livelihood is one of the main concerns of Afghans still in exile. In a 2005 census of Afghans in Pakistan, 18 percent of the 3 million counted said they were not ready to repatriate because of a lack of job opportunities in Afghanistan.

"These activities benefit a given community, but they are a mere drop in the ocean considering the enormous livelihood problems of returnees," concedes UNHCR's representative in Afghanistan, Jacques Mouchet. "However useful our projects are, much more needs to be done for reintegration as part of the longer-term reconstruction and development of Afghanistan, with the support of the international community."

More than 4.6 million Afghans have returned home since UNHCR started assisting repatriation in 2002, mostly from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran.

By Vivian Tan in Behsud, Afghanistan

Polish army suffers first casualty in Afghanistan

2007-08-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

Polish army suffers first casualty in Afghanistan
14 Aug 2007 17:14:40 GMT

Officer 28 years old graduate of the 5 years physical academy and 1 officers academy
6 month Turcology / afgan study was ambushed in attack on Polish afgan forces
Taken to us hospital and died on the way.
In Afghanistan there are a lot of regular criminals and the drug smugglers besides former Taliban
Allied forces has do more to stop the opium production and work close with local authorities to repair the country infrastacture water, sewage, schools hospitals and train the Afgan people to more ways to produce agriculture then only Opium. Afghanistan is the world largest producer of opium to make heroine.
Maybe beekeeping is the option.
US has to start to buy the Afghanistan products than only give all the money to Halliburton and KVR

Alex Lech Bajan
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A Polish soldier was killed Tuesday by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, the first fatality for Poland since it joined the NATO-led security force in March 2002.

Defence Minister Aleksander Szczyglo said that Lukasz Kurowski, 28, had "died in the line of duty" after his convoy was attacked some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from a base in Gardez in Paktia province near the border with Pakistan.

Second Lieutenant Kurowski was taking part in a joint patrol of NATO troops and the Afghan army on Tuesday when his Hummer vehicle came under fire, the Polish defence ministry said.

He was injured by a grenade blast and later died in hospital, the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier Tuesday, security officials in Afghanistan had announced that a NATO soldier had been killed when insurgents ambushed a patrol in the area, without revealing the victim's name and nationality because of standard policy.

Five Afghan soldiers were wounded in the same incident, an Afghan army general told AFP.

Last month, four Polish soldiers were injured by a roadside bomb north of the Afghan capital Kabul.

Polish troops in Afghanistan have recently complained that their vehicles are not sufficiently protected against attacks.

Eleven soldiers were sent home in June after refusing to go on patrol because of what they called "insufficient armouring of the American Hummer vehicles," defence ministry spokesman Jaroslaw Rybak said at the time.

Poland earlier this year increased its existing Afghanistan contingent of around 200 troops to the current 1,200.

But their presence their remains controversial at home, with parliamentary opposition coming from both the left and the far-right.

A June poll of 903 people in Poland found almost 78 percent of respondents opposed to their country's participation in the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

The Poles are part of the 36,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which is battling a Taliban-led insurgency.

They are responsible for security in the provinces of Paktika and Ghazni in the southeast of the country.

Polish crack units are also stationed in southern Afghanistan as part of a separate US-led force which is hunting down insurgents.

Kurowski's death brought the number of international troops killed this year to 135, according to an AFP count, most of them in action as the Taliban insurgency has spiralled. Five have been killed since Saturday.

NATO troops are battling the extremist religious Taliban movement, which launched an insurgency months after being removed from government in 2001 in a US-led invasion, and has stepped up attacks over the past year.

Meanwhile in Kabul on Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed US and British claims that Iranian weapons were being supplied to the Taliban.

Afghan turmoil
More WARSAW, Aug 14 (Reuters) - A Polish soldier died on Tuesday when his patrol was attacked near the city of Gardez in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Aleksander Szczyglo told television station TVN24.

The 28-year old Lukasz Kurowski was injured in an exchange of fire and died on the way to hospital. He is the first Pole to be killed from Poland's Afghan military mission, which began last year.

Poland has around 1,100 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led mission to help restore order in the country.
Polish armoured personnel carrier runs over land mine in Afghanistan

Created: Sunday, August 12. 2007

A Polish Rosomak armoured vehicle hit a land mine last night, 40 kilometres from the military base in Sharan, Paktika province, eastern Afghanistan. No Polish soldiers were injured but the blast severely damaged the vehicle.

The Rosomak was on its way to assist US troops under fire from insurgents. The vehicle has since been taken back to base.

The Polish force, which are part of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, has 24 Rosomak armoured personnel carriers which are reinforced with a composite steel outer layer.

Poland sent an additional 1000 troops to Afghanistan this year after an appeal from NATO for reinforcements to tackle a regrouped Taliban.
Polish armoured personnel carrier runs over land mine in Afghanistan
Polish Radio ^ | 12.08.2007

Posted on 08/12/2007 12:19:10 PM PDT by lizol

Polish armoured personnel carrier runs over land mine in Afghanistan

12.08.2007

The Rosomak - a Polish armoured vehicle hit a land mine in eastern Afghanistan, 40 kilometres from the military base in Sharan in the Paktika province. No Polish soldiers were injured although the blast severely damaged the vehicle.

The vehicle was on its way to assist US troops under fire from insurgents when the accident happened. The vehicle has been taken back to base afterwards.

The Polish force serving as a part of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, has 24 Rosomak armoured personnel carriers reinforced with a composite steel outer layer.
Hopefully US military will study why everyone was unhurt, and why, asap

The Poles are tough!!

God Love Them All !

LOL! Amazing no troops injured. Someone quick, call the Pentagon! Tell them to order a few thousand.
God bless Poland for their faithfulness to America and the WOT!!!
You’re right ... might be cheaper and better then those patch-job Hummers that were never designed to be armored.