Showing posts with label funding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label funding. Show all posts

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Afghan War Blog Snippets



Video - Mercy Corps. Learn how Mercy Corps provides economic opportunity for Afghan women in this short 5-min long video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=35BGPm1Flpk

Missing Afghan Food. One writer tells us of his fondness for Afghan food that he experienced as an Embedded Training Team (ETT) member during a deployment to Afghanistan. Read "Afghan Food Was One Great Thing about Deployment",  Task & Purpose, September 26, 2016.

AGO and HOOAC in War of Words. There is disagreement between the Afghan Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption (HOOAC) about how much the AGO is doing in pursuing corruption within the Afghan government. Read more in a news report by Tolo News, September 26, 2016.

Gas-fired Power Plant to be Built. The Ghazanfar Group has been awarded a contract by the Afghan government to build and operate a 50 MW plant in Mazar-e-Sharif. The plant will increase the country's power generation capacity by 30%. Read more in "Gas-fired power plant a first for Afghanistan", Power Engineering International, September 2016.

2nd LT Artillery Officer Advising Afghan Police. A female U.S. Army 2nd LT on her first Afghan deployment is advising the Afghan police in Train, Advise, and Assist Command - East. Read more in "Atypical Afghan Advising", Army.mil, August 26, 2016.

Coalition Patrol Delivers Med Supplies. A combination of Czech Republic, Polish, Afghan, U.S., and other international members delivered medical supplies to the Charikar Hospital in Parwan province. Read more in a news report by Army.mil, September 21, 2016.

Kajaki Dam and COIN. Jeff Goodson, a former USAID employee with extensive experience in Afghanistan, writes about the Kajaki Dam and its role in counterinsurgency. Read "An Afghanistan Perspective: The Kajaki Dam - Counterinsurgency (Part II)", Real Clear Defense, September 27, 2016.

SIGAR Report on Lessons from Afghanistan. In April 19-20, 2016 the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) and the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) held a two day conference entitled "Lessons from the Coalition: International Experiences from the Afghanistan Reconstruction". Participants included senior officials and experts from the nations and organizations involved in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. A number of themes emerged from the conference. Read more in the 24-page conference report recently published by SIGAR (September 2016).
www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-16-59-LL.pdf

Female Afghan Musicians. If you are a female musician and performer in Afghanistan you face some daunting challenges. Read more in "Hip-Hop and the liberation of Women in Kabul", Pacific Standard Magazine, September 27, 2016.

Afghan War Supplemental Request. Congress will be presented a request for a supplemental spending measure to fund the continued involvement of the United States in the Afghanistan conflict. The request will be presented to Congress in November 2016 by the DoD. Read more in a news report by Defense News, September 26, 2016.

Presidential Debate and the Taliban. It seems the Taliban watched the presidential debate this past Monday night (from a secret location) and were disappointed that Afghanistan did not get much attention. (NBC News, Sep 27, 2016).

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Funding the Afghan War

In a time of budget constraints the United States is asking its allies to cough up more money for the Afghan security forces after 2014. It is estimated that it will cost $4.1 billion to pay for the Afghan army and police. The U.S. is asking that foreign donors contribute at least $1.3 billion while the U.S. would pay for most of the remainder of the cost. Read more in "U.S. seeks more money for Afghan force", Stars and Stripes, March 29, 2012.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Can the Afghan War Afford the Obama Funding Cuts?

Max Boot has published an article criticizing the demobilization of over 120,000 Afghan troops and police over the next few years.  He calls this plan a disaster; particularly if the troops are left without a paycheck and with few legitimate job options.  Read more in "More Afghan cuts, more war", Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2012.

Read my comments on one way to reduce the size of the Afghan army and still provide for security and offer job prospects for the 120,000 to be demobilized in the blog posts below:

http://www.afghanwarnews.blogspot.com/2012/02/afghan-defense-minister-worried-about.html

http://www.afghanwarnews.blogspot.com/2012/02/us-to-switch-to-advisory-role-in-mid.html

Friday, February 17, 2012

Financing Afghan Security Forces After 2014

Defense ministers of the NATO alliance met recently (February 2012) to discuss funding of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) beyond 2014.  There are plans to establish a multibillion dollar fund to help pay for the $6 billion annual Afghan defense bill - with the realization that donor nations will provide the bulk of the money.  In May 2012, the alliance will meet again to decide what a sustainable force size should be for the ANSF.  Although the ANSF will number more than 350,000 by 2014 it is doubtful that a force of that size will be funded by the international community.  The French Defense Minister, Gerard Longuet, has been quoted saying "A reasonable number would be 230,000".  This 230,000 personnel level of the ANSF would be charged with containing (if not defeating) an insurgency of 20,000 fighters.  Read more in "NATO ministers mull financing for Afghan security forces post-2014", The Washington Post, February 3, 2012.