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• The Taliban diversify into tobacco  

LAHORE // The smuggling of tobacco is helping to fuel the Taliban insurgency in Pakistan, according to analysts and officials. While the poppy trade still contributes nearly half of the funds funnelled to the Taliban - both in Afghanistan and Pakistan - officials now believe the militants are increasingly turning to other sources, including tobacco sales and smuggling, kidnappings, logging and mining.

"We believe tobacco has been second only to drugs as a source of finance to the Pakistani Taliban," David Kaplan, the editorial director of the US-based Center for Public Integrity (CPI), a non-profit organisation based in Washington, DC, said in a report last month.

With the US and Pakistan both engaged in fighting the Taliban, there is a growing consensus among officials that the only way to defeat the militants is to hit them where it hurts the most - their pockets.

But that is becoming increasingly difficult as the Taliban appear adept at switching sources of financing. . . .

But with efforts by the US to wipe out poppy farming in Afghanistan showing some success, and sanctions by the Pakistani government on charitable donations, the Taliban have been forced to look elsewhere for financial support.

According to the World Health Organization, cigarette and tobacco smuggling provides about $40bn a year to extremist groups, including the Taliban. Analysts inside Pakistan estimate the group receives about 20 per cent of its funding from counterfeit cigarette production and smuggling.

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Smokers Fight SCHIP With Tea Bags 

Cigar stores and pro-smoking organizations are encouraging smokers to send tea bags and images of tea bags to the White House or members of Congress to protest the increased taxation on cigarettes and cigars to fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

"Sending a tea bag is a relatively easy, non-expensive way to express your dissatisfaction," said Eloise Ensminger, owner of the Pipe and Tobacco Shop in Little Rock, Arkansas. Ensminger is one of many tobacconists who are encouraging their customers to send the politically charged leaf-filled pouches to Washington, D.C., sometime before April 15.

Ensminger fears she will not be able to keep her store open much longer due to the combination of SCHIP taxation and the recent Arkansas state excise tax increase from 32 to 68 percent on cigars, pipe tobacco and chewing tobacco. . . .

Since Santelli's tirade on February 20, several Web sites and organizations have been created to encourage those dissatisfied with recent government taxations and bailouts to protest in-person or through tea bag-filled packages. Many involved in the cigar industry have decided to protest the SCHIP tax increases by the same means.

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• Troops raise awareness of efforts to quit smoking  

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- More than 600 soldiers participated in a Cold Turkey Trot run held at Bagram, Nov. 20, to raise awareness of the many resources available to people trying to quit tobacco.

"We, in the military, have a lot of people who are addicted to nicotine, both through smoking and smokeless tobacco," said Maj. Heidi Whitescarver, a public health nurse in the Command Joint Surgeon's office for Combined Joint Task Force-101. "This event brings that fact to light. I just wanted to have one day to say, 'Hey, if there's people out there who want to quit, there are people here on BAF (Bagram Air Field) and around Afghanistan that are willing to help them do that."

Whitescarver, an Anchorage, Ala., native, coordinated the run and also created a proclamation that was signed by the commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force-101, officially declaring Nov. 20 as the CJTF-101 tobacco-free day. According to Whitescarver, the proclamation also talks about the resources available to help individuals who want to quit tobacco.

The "Great American Smokeout Day" was the perfect opportunity for Whitescarver to express her devotion to the health of soldiers, urging all tobacco users to quit for just one day.

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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.