We owe a moral debt to the people of Afghanistan, and our inability to cover the tab is largely because of the disaster in Iraq. The Iraq war has impacted the Afghanistan campaign in all sorts of negative ways. It has weakened the will of Western governments to meet their obligations, and has added immeasurably to public cynicism. Yet the inescapable fact remains that we owe a moral debt that must be honored.

Let’s not forget that the removal of the Taliban was mandated by the United Nations, and all the Muslim member countries stood together in a call for the removal of the regime. But five years down the road the campaign is mired in difficulty in the face of a resurgent Taliban, although I use that term advisedly since foreign fighters have moved into the arena also - small groups of jihadis along with increasing numbers of Pashtuns, some from homeland regions in Pakistan. This is happening in part because countries who made a commitment to Afghanistan have been reneging on their obligations.

The recent NATO meeting in Belguim yielded little in the way of guarantees since the needs of Lebanon appeared to trump the call for re-enforcements in Afghanistan. PM Harper needs to keep up the pressure in demanding that countries step up to the plate and meet their obligations. Why should Canadian soldiers pay the price for the failure of others to live up to their obligations? This has left a gaping hole in our military capability. It has forced our troops to fall back on emergency tactics at times in order to cover for short falls and weak links.

Canada has been struggling to meet its obligations, despite the difficult conditions. This effort isn’t only military. A Provincial Reconstruction Team in southern Afghanistan provides much needed security and is also engaged in development projects. Afghanistan is a major recipient of Canadian bilateral aid and by the year 2009 this will amount to some $600 million.

Canadian Chief-of-Defence staff, Rick Hillier, has been pushing the combat end of the Canadian role at the expense of other equally important considerations. In many ways the key to the Taliban position lies with the Pashtun, and there will never be any solution to the problems bedeviling Afghanistan unless they obtain adequate representation in Karzai’s government. The stated goals of the NATO mission require strenuous diplomatic efforts to seek a resolution over and above the military aspect of the campaign.

Afghanistan is a vast land and many adversaries have been defeated by the sheer odds presented by geography and the patience of an indigenous people who seem willing to hold out to the bitter end, no matter what the cost. Trying to obtain any type of conventional military victory under these circumstances is foolhardy.

The US has a vital role in this international effort. Those in the international community who have seen the contributions American aid, NGO’s and other outreach efforts have made, know well the tremendous power for good that America represents. Aid and development also needs to be accompanied with a serious attempt to bolster the Afghan military and police. As for the poppy crop, leave it alone. Farmers have no other means of supporting their families. Interfering with the crop will simply add to a widespread sense of grievance. Surely some marketing board solution could be implemented, so that the crop is used for legitimate pharmaceutical purposes.

We have to do it right - or give serious consideration to not doing it at all.

Aidan Maconachy resides in Ontario, Canada. He has a BA Hons and a BEd. He taught in the UK and Canada, and has been a contributor to a variety of magazines and newspapers over the years. You can visit his blog at http://aidanmaconachyblog.blogspot.com/

If you are troubled by both allergies and asthma you might thinking, “if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all”. The fact is that it is estimated that as many as sixty percent of the asthma cases in the U.S. are allergy related. You are not alone. There are many people like yourself who are suffering from the same double barreled malady. The fact is that allergies can induce or agrivate asthma. Both the lining of the nose and throat are susceptible to allergic reactions to molds. pollen and whatever els it is you may be allergic to. You may be suffering from allergy induced asthma and not even know it.

There is hope however. Ongoing research has made en roads into the connection between allergies and asthma. Over the years people who were treating their asthma with strictly asthma medications might have been treating the symptom and not the cause all along. Allergen immunotherapy has been shown to work on people with allergy induced asthma in many cases. For these people desensidation shots have been a blessing and have been successful of relieving them of their suffering by enabling their body to have the allergic reactions that were causing their asthma.

There are a number of medicines available that can help to reduce the inflammation in the throat of the asthma sufferer. The come in all forms from inhalers to pill form to injections and if your type of asthma is allergy induced they can be helpful in bringing you relief from allergy induced asthma. It is possible to have allergies and have asthma be your only reaction. That is, you need not show any other allergic reactions other that your allergy induced asthma. So you may be one of the many people out there suffering from allergy induced asthma who don’t even know that this is the cause of their suffering.

Who is at risk of having allergy induced asthma? If you have a family history of allergies and also have asthma than you are at a higher risk than normal that your asthma is allergy induced asthma. Studies have shown that up to seventy-two percent of people who have asthma also have hay fever. This is not to say that all asthma cases are allergy induced asthma. There are in fact several other forms of asthma that are not allergy induced asthma. Other forms of asthma are exercise induced asthma, and non allergic asthma, triggered by cold air or asthma triggered by gastroesophogeal reflux disease. It is important that you determine what type of asthma you have.

The fact is that there is hope for all asthma sufferers. Ongoing research is developing new treatments for both allergy induced asthma and non allergic asthma. Many research scientists believe that a cure is on the horizon. In the absence of a complete cure though, great strides have been made in the treatment of the symptoms that make those who suffer from the malady miserable. Some have found a combination of treatment strategies to be the answer to their problem. Finding and removing the source of their allergy symptoms is of course the first step if at all possible. Many times this is the solution. The important thing is that you not give up your hunt for help.

Article by Sven Ullmann, who runs href="http://www.deservedhealth.com/">Deserved Health - information on health for you and your family. Read more about popular href="http://www.deservedhealth.com/allergies-and-asthma/">asthma and allergies.

If you are looking for a delightful and adventurous way to spend your vacations in Kenya, it would be fun to choose tented camping sites which are pitched on specific grounds with nice scenic views of grasslands and mountaneous ranges. You will watch game stremming around watering holes at night as you enjoy Lavish dinner and entertainment. There are several tented campsites scattered all over the game reserves and parks, along rivers, cliffs, hills and mountain tops. These tented camps have good beds, bathrooms and shower blocks, while others are so luxurious they will offer furniture, hot showers, and Beds rivelling only a five star hotel. I wish to list here the various places you can enjoy the confort of tented camps. My list may not be exhaustive but it can serve as a guide to those who would wish to live in tented camps while on vacation in Kenya.

The Amboseli National Park has tented camps and cottages where you can have un-inturrupted view of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The wildlife are kept off by a fence running around the camp site, making it safe to watch game and walk around in the night. These tented camps are a complete contrast to the more luxurious cottages at the Amboseli Lodge, Tortilis Camp, Amboseli Serena Lodge and the Ol Tukai Lodge Where you will be treated to well kempt gardens, worderful views of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Swimming pools and enough ammenities making your stay very confortable and spiritually rewarding. But ofcourse if you are travelling on a budget, you could try the Namanga River Hotel, Campi ya Kazi, or the Nyati Safari camp, all with nice tented camps erected under acasia trees, giving you the advantage of the nice scenic view of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The Tsavo National Park offers a wide range of wild life and birds within the dense vegatation, swamps, remarkable rolling hills, volcanic caves and huge rocks. Here you will find tented camps with basic ammenities like running water, bathrooms, mosquito nets, bedding and toilet facilities. Unlike in the Amboseli, one will have to make arrangement for lunch and dinner at nearby lodges and hotels. However a few of them have luxurious tented camps but are abit more costly to rent. There are good places where you can arrange for tented camps like the Severin Safari Camp in Mombasa, the Voyager Safari Camp at the Zimani Gate, the Finch Hatton’s Safari Camp lacated on the western side of the Tsavo National Park and the Satao Camp on the banks of the Voi River

This list would not be complete without reference to the Kenyan coastral town of Mombasa. This town is home to the Simba Hills National park where you can wactch elephants, antelopes and zebras grazing on the grassands, the sandy beaches of Malindi, the Watamu marine National Park and the age old Lamu town. You are sure to be treated to the best tented camps at the Makurumuji Tented Camping site at the Simba hills National Park, the Shompole Camping site on Lake Magadi which offers a Jakuzzi to keep you cool From the warm breezes.

One thing about tented camping sites is the amount of backpacking one has to carry, which is a little cumbersome but this should not undermine the benefits that accrue from tented camping sites. You will definately be able to save lots of maney that you can invest in many ways like either in eating at a five star or shopping for yourself antique Masai Lingerie, traditional artifacts and the like. It should also be important to appreciate the fact that life at tented camping sites teaches you and makes you self-dependent. Its very interesting to see men and women who do not do any household work at all cleaning plates while in camping sites.

Wanjiku Jaqueline is a tour operator and has been organizing and reporting on Vacation, Travel and Tours for years. For more information on Tented Camps Kenya, visit her site at http://www.bushtroop-safaris.com/‘ target=’_blank’ class=’navigation’>7th Wonder of the World

Car fans across the world, especially those who are interested and starving for a new off-road vehicle are waiting for the production model of Chrysler Group’s latest on- and off-road concept, the Jeep Trailhawk.

Unveiled at the 2007 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) early in January, the Jeep Trailhawk concept “merges the spectrum of the Jeep brand by combining the core off-road features of the new body-on-frame four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with the refined sophistication of an all-new on-road open-air concept vehicle, providing a unique and fresh expression for Jeep”, according to the Auburn Hills-based automaker.

Chrysler Group released the full details of the Jeep Trailhawk concept at NAIAS. Customers should expect the technical specs and features describe at the show to be installed on the production model of the vehicle. Chrysler Group did not release the exact time frame for the production version though.

The overall appearance of the Jeep Trailhawk concept embodies the traditional Jeep classic style along with new design cues like the open top roof resembling roof styling found on convertible coupe models. The Trailhawk concept features a bold and aggressive exterior body and has a long 116-inch wheelbase. Other exterior features include, stretched fender flares, tall trapezoidal vent, HID projector beam quad lamps, cross-car instrument panel, signature seven-slot Jeep grille, LED park and turn signals, four cup holders, sliding Jeep Load ‘N Go cargo tray drop-down tailgate, and large 22-inch five-spoke wheels. The left and right lamps show the eyes of a bird of prey, that is why the designers called the vehicle Trailhawk.

The Jeep Trailhawk comes with interior space for four passengers with premium leather seats. The two-tone leather-wrapped aluminum steering wheel offers an exciting driving feel wheter it is on- or off-road. Other interior features of the Jeep Trailhawk concept include steering wheel mounted switches and controls, remote control fold-away flat screen navigation unit, two front and rear armrest, storage bin modules, and a premium audio system with MP3 capability.

On the technical side, customers should expect a 3.0-liter BLUETEC CRD engine under the hood of the Jeep Trailhawk. The engine pumps out 215 hp at 4,000 rpm produces 376 lb.-ft. amount of peak torque at 1,600-2,800 rpm. To cool off the engine, a radiator with Jeep fan shroud will be included. The engine is coupled with a 5-speed automatic gearbox to power the four-wheel-drive (4WD) drivetrain configuration of the Trailhawk concept. Suspension parts come with a front axle with 4 bar links, and rear axle with 5-bar links.

You should expect these specs and features on the production model of Jeep Trailhawk when it rolls out anytime soon.

For more detail about your href="http://www.jpartsonline.com/jeepfanshroud.html"title="Jeep fan shroud">Jeep fan shroud needs kindly check your source online..

Lisa Ziegler is a 29-year old native of Waldport, Oregon and is currently working as a senior research analyst in a top Automotive Research Consultancy firm.