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15PC OF GIRLS SMOKE IN FIVE AFGHAN PROVINCES 

Nearly 15 per cent of girl students in five provinces of Afghanistan smoke cigarettes while smoking prevalence among boys around 36 per cent, the Public Health Ministry said on Saturday.

"Smoking prevalence is 35.9 per cent for boys and 14.5 per cent for girls in schoolchildren of five provinces," the ministry said on the World No Tobacco Day. It urged the government to protect the youth by imposing a ban on all tobacco advertisements, promotion and sponsorship.

In a press release, the ministry said this year's campaign focussed on thwarting multi-billion dollar efforts of tobacco companies to attract young people to its addictive products through sophisticated marketing.

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Afghanistan begins campaign to cut smoking  

Afghanistan may be the world's largest producer of heroin, but the government has taken the first step towards to a ban on smoking in public places.

Local media said on Tuesday that the council of ministers had ordered a campaign through the media and mosques to inform the public that smoking in educational institutions, hospitals and government offices has been outlawed.

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• A Good Cigar, From Friends 

Amid the explosions echoing through the mountains of Afghanistan, or the ruins of an Iraqi neighborhood, the robust aroma of a fine cigar is helping U.S. troops remember life back home.

Quality cigars, by some estimates, are second only to Starbucks coffee on the wish list of troops overseas. Where but Tampa, Cigar City, can the need best be met?

Enter Thompson Cigars, a 92-year-old retailer near Tampa International Airport, along with a dedicated employee and an ex-Navy man with a passion for helping the troops overseas. . . .

A month after terrorists struck New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, Thompson began getting requests from overseas troops for cigars. Initially, the company just sent free boxes of cigars to those who asked.

Now, it's a big-time giveaway. About 10,000 free cigars of all brands and varieties were shipped last year to troops, mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan. That amounts to $50,000 worth of finely rolled tobacco, said Thompson Cigars' owner, Carlos Franzblau.

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• Afghanistan begins campaign to cut smoking  

Afghanistan may be the world's largest producer of heroin, but the government has taken the first step towards to a ban on smoking in public places.

Local media said on Tuesday that the council of ministers had ordered a campaign through the media and mosques to inform the public that smoking in educational institutions, hospitals and government offices has been outlawed.

The ban will be widened later to cover hotels and restaurants.

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Support Our Troops With Cigars 

Many of America's Finest who are serving overseas in places like Afghanistan and Iraq greatly appreciate being able to enjoy at least a few small luxuries, such as fine cigars. I have exchanged emails with cigar smoking members of the military, including those who have served multiple tours of duty, and even some older officers who were redeployed because of their special skills. One such officer is Major Mitchell E. Fadem, Ph.D. (age 56), who is a frequent visitor to this website. Mitch was recently deployed to Afghanistan, and would like to be able to distribute cigars to the troops . . .

Calling All Cigar Manufacturers and Retailers

If you would like to donate cigars to our troops serving in Afghanistan, here is the contact information:

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Sniper celebrates with cigar after killing Taliban officer 

A ROYAL Marine sniper from Edinburgh has described marking his first kill with a cigar after "slotting" a Taliban commander from more than 1000 metres.

British troops fighting in southern Afghanistan are embroiled in some of the most intense combat involving UK forces since the Second World War.

Meanwhile, Nato-led troops and Afghan police killed two suspected Taliban militants and detained four others in the latest round of fighting, a police official said today. . . .

"I just graduated from sniper school late last year after nine weeks' training.

"It was my first kill. I had a cigar afterwards. I didn't lose any sleep about it. He was a Taliban commander after all."

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Taliban rules target teachers / NO SMOKING ALLOWED FOR FIGHTERS  

The Taliban gunmen who murdered two teachers in eastern Afghanistan early Saturday were following their rules: Teachers receive a warning, then a beating, and if they continue to teach they must be killed.

The new list of 30 rules, decided on during a high Taliban meeting in September or October and since circulated over the Internet, span from the organizational (no jihad equipment may be put to personal use) to the health conscious (militants are not supposed to smoke).

They also contain a grave warning for aid workers and educators. . . .

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• New Taliban Rules Target Afghan Teachers 

The Taliban gunmen who murdered two teachers in eastern Afghanistan early Saturday were only following their rules: Teachers receive a warning, then a beating, and if they continue to teach must be killed.

The new list of 30 rules, decided on during a high Taliban meeting in September or October and since circulated over the Internet, span from the organizational - no jihad equipment may be used for personal means - to the health conscious - militants are not supposed to smoke. . . .

No. 18 says fighters "should refrain from smoking cigarettes."

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Blind Qur'an reader denounces violence and calls for peace in Afghanistan 

The village medicine woman caked the baby's eyes with a concoction of opium and tobacco, telling his parents it would cure his ailing sight. When the bandages came off two months later, he had lost 90 per cent of his vision. He was totally blind by 16.

But Barakatullah Salim, now 57, regards his affliction as a blessing.

He memorized Islam's holy book, the Qur'an, by age nine

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Vice and Virtue 

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. That's a thought that may have crossed the mind of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai this week, as his administration announced the re-establishment of a Department for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

Kabul has seen this before. While morals police are common in Islamic Republics, the Taliban's former Ministry of Vice and Virtues was notoriously brutal. . . .'

human rights groups are worried. They say the new department's mandate may expand beyond discouraging smoking, drinking, drug use and corruption -- offenses already outlawed in Afghanistan's criminal code -- and start to mimic the Taliban's old regime.

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Sketches of Guantanamo Detainees-Part II 

Yusef Abdullah Saleh Al Rubesh said his brother went to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban, which caused his parents great anguish, and that he followed to try to persuade his brother to return home. He said he was arrested by the Taliban for having music tapes and cigarettes and for having shaved. "I didn't know Afghanistan was a religious extremist country," he said. . . .

- Issam Hamid Ali Bin Al Jayfi, 25, described himself as a government clerk and wayward youth, using tobacco and drinking alcohol, who was persuaded by a more religious friend named "Sammy" to go to Afghanistan. Never having been outside Yemen, he said he thought it would be like Europe, a place where he could live freely. Once in Kandahar, the friend told him they had come to fight.

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• Marine gathers 'victory cigars' for platoons 

U.S. Marine Cpl. Benjamin Czap and 150 other Marines left Fallujah, Iraq, after 25 days of fighting.

The Marines gathered around a large fire as cases of cigars were passed around to the weary soldiers, including Czap, who had never smoked a cigar.

"It's pretty much a military tradition that when you get back from a battle you smoke a cigar," said Czap, who has been honorably discharged from the Marines and now lives in Menasha.

"We pulled out of Fallujah after nearly a month of fighting and with no showers and very little sleep. We lost 17 of my friends who were killed. We were all pretty well shell-shocked," Czap said. "That was the first cigar I had. It was almost a moving experience. It took me away from everything. It made me feel like I was home. I don't know why. It just did."

Czap wants to make sure fellow Marines still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have a chance to partake in what he calls "victory cigars."

Czap and a co-worker at Stowe-Woodward in Neenah are asking Fox Cities residents to donate cigars for shipment to frontline Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cigars are being collected at Appleton Souvenir & Cigar Co., 415 W. College Ave.

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It's pretty much a military tradition that when you get back from a battle you smoke a cigar. . . . The cigars represent victory. . . . "I just want to let them (soldiers) know that the American public still values and honors them and the public is taking the time out of their busy day to do something for them, to say 'Here. Here is your victory cigar because you guys are heroes in our book.'
U.S. Marine Cpl. Benjamin Czap, who is asking Fox Cities (WI) residents to donate cigars for shipment to frontline Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Smoking to be banned in hospitals 

Federal Health Minister Naseer Khan has said all state-run hospitals and medical institutions will be declared smoke-free to promote healthy lifestyle in the country. He was speaking at a seminar on healthy lifestyle organized by the ministry of health in collaboration with the World Health Organization at Fatima Jinnah Medical College on Monday.

The seminar was organized as a part of a series of seminars on 'Healthy Lifestyles' in medical and dental colleges across the country. Under this programme, the WHO has agreed to provide $1,000 to each institution to prepare and install banners and placards and prepare and distribute pamphlets, brochures, etc.

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Journalist Jailed for a Year in Kabul Feels Abandoned by U.S. as He Seeks Ways to Survive 

Edward Caraballo, 43, an independent filmmaker from the Bronx, who was one of the three Americans found guilty last year by a Kabul court of running a private jail and torturing hostages. . . .

The Afghans have surprised him. "They all love Bush, because he liberated their country," he said, "and they all say Osama bin Laden is Bush's friend," suggesting that in their minds there is a conspiracy that allows Al Qaeda's leader to remain at large.

"The young people all want to learn English here," he said. "They want to become Westernized. The top three requests I get at every corner are - No. 3: do I have any American cigarettes? No. 2: do I have an American magazine for them? And the top request is: 'Please take me to America.' [This graph only] "

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