Insider Threat or Green-on-Blue a Big Problem in Afghanistan

Recent reporting indicates that Insider Threat or Green-on-Blue incidents are on the rise in Afghanistan.  This has many military leaders worried for a number of reasons. One is the possibility that coalition support for the fight in Afghanistan will diminish as Europeans and others step up the timetable for withdrawal. Another reason is that a lack of trust will overwhelm the advisory effort. As the coalition moves from "partnering" to "advising" coalition troops will need to spend more time one-on-one with their counterpart. This becomes problematic when there is a lack of trust between the two counterparts.  To read more on this issue see insider threat.

Afghan Border Police (ABP) Extend Presence into Southern Helmand Province

ABP Interacting with Children
(Photo: Cpl. Alfred Lopez, USMC)

Establishing a strong relationship with the local population is critical to any successful counterinsurgency operation.

Until recently Afghan National Security Forces have been unable to reach the people in the southern areas of Khan Neshin, Helmand province’s southernmost district.

Following Operation Highland Thunder, where Marines and sailors of 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and 3rd Bn., 3rd Marine Regiment, cleared previously unoccupied areas of Khan Neshin, Afghan Border Policemen have been able to engage with the population, ensuring their security and safety from insurgents operating in the area.

Afghan policemen with 2nd Tolai, 1st ABP Kandak, have partnered with Marines of Alpha Company, 1st LAR, to police and patrol through villages where ANSF presence was previously non-existent.

Read the rest of this story at the following link: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/86085/afghan-border-police-establish-presence-strengthen-security-khan-neshin#ixzz1qt216gN7.  Learn more about the Afghan Border Police or ABP.

Pukhtoon Jirga And Peace in Afghanistan

Some outside observers criticize the Jirga system in Afghanistan as an out-moded traditional system that is no longer valid in a modern nation-state. Unfortunately, Afghanistan is not a modern nation-state and will likely not be one for many years. It is more a weak nation in the midst of an insurgency (some think a civil war is not too far away). In addition, the judiciary and police forces are corrupt, inefficient, and ineffective in providing security, justice, and rule of law to most of the rural areas of Afghanistan. One writer believes that the international community needs to reinvigorate the traditional Jirga system at the community level in an effort to provide justice and peace in Afghanistan. Read more in "The Jirga in modern day Afghanistan", by Ali Gohar of Open Democracy, April 2, 2012.

Podcast - The Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan

The Brookings Institution recently held a discussion on March 22, 2012 about the future of the conflict in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Participants included Michael E. O'Hanlon, Ahmed Rashid, Stephen Cohen, and Bruce Riedel. The 1 1/2 hour long discussion can be listened to on the Internet (a podcast) at the link below. The event was entitled "Pakistan on the Edge: The Future of Pakistan and the U.S. Response".

Pakistan on the Edge: The Future of Pakistan and the U.S. Response

As the United States plans for its withdrawal from Afghanistan and reviews its policies toward Pakistan, President Obama must weigh the potential threats and challenges for U.S. interests in the region. Among the destabilizing factors in both countries is the ongoing presence and influence of the Taliban. Ahmed Rashid, prominent Pakistani journalist and author of the new book, Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (Viking Adult, 2012), examines these crucial issues as the president and other Western leaders grapple with how best to work with an often unreliable and unstable Pakistan.

To listen to the podcast click on the link box below:

Brookings Podcast - "Pakistan on the Edge"

Failure to Follow Vetting Procedures in Recruiting Afghans for Security Forces Contribute to Green on Blue Incidents

On paper the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have a robust vetting process to weed out criminals and insurgents intent on joining the security forces. However, this ANA recruit vetting process is not followed many times due to lack of training, inefficiency, poor work performance, and corruption. A lack of proper vetting means that the insider threat in Afghanistan could rise. Read more in "NATO admits to security failures in Afghan green on blue killings", New York Post, April 2, 2012.

Book - War, Will, and Warlords by Robert Cassidy

A new book about counterinsurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been published. It is entitled "War, Will, and Warlords: Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2011". The author is Robert M. Cassidy.  Read a recent book review on it here.  It is available at Amazon.com here War, Will, and Warlords.

Insider Attacks: Not Always the Taliban

A common perception is that the numerous insider attacks (called Green-on-Blue incidents) are by Taliban infilitrators who are members of the Afghan security forces and also members of the Taliban (or under their influence). This is not always true. Read more in "Stress and gripes, not Taliban, drive Afghan insider attacks: NATO", Reuters, April 2, 2012.

Amnesty International Requests Investigation of New Zealands's Special Air Service (SAS)

Amnesty International is requesting an investigation into New Zealand's Special Air Service activities in Afghanistan. Read more in "Afghan mission needs investigating, Amnesty", Politics stuff.co.nz, April 2, 2012.

Female Engagement Team - One FET Members' Perspective

Female Engagement Teams or FETs have been in existence for a couple of years now. For the most part they appear to be successful - providing U.S. forces with the ability to connect with the 50% of the Afghan population that are unreachable by males - Afghan women. Read more in "Face of Defense: Soldier Focuses on Helping Afghan Women", American Forces Press Service, April 2, 2012.

SFAAT Mission in Afghanistan

A large number of a new type of advisory unit are being deployed to aid in the transition of coalition combat troops out of Afghanistan. The advisory teams are called Security Force Assistance Advisory and Assistance Teams or SFAATs. The concept was developed by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) staff and approved by COMISAF (General John Allen) last fall. The first teams were notified over the winter of 2011 for an upcoming deployment in the spring of 2012.

Most of the teams are being deployed as part of a new concept called Security Force Assistance Brigades or SFABs. These SFABs are understrength brigade combat teams (BCTs) with about half of their authorized manning. The SFAATs are formed into 9, 12, or 18 man teams depending on the type of Afghan unit they are advising.  All SFAATs are assigned interpreters who assist them in the advisory effort.  In addition, those units advising Afghan Uniform Police (AUP) or Afghan Border Police (ABP) are assigned Embedded Police Mentors (EPMs). The EPMs are provided by a DynCorps contract.

For more information on SFAATs visit the link below:

http://www.afghanwarnews.info/units/sfaat.htm

Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy Network (GREEN) Used by Marines in Helmand Province

The Marines are leading the way in the military in the use of solar power in Afghanistan. They are now using a new technology called Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy Network (GREEN) to power small operations centers in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Read the news release and watch a short video describing this technology in "Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy Network - G.R.E.E.N. Marines", Armed with Science DoD Live, March 31, 2012.

Reintegration and ALP: A Bad Combination?

Recent reports indicate that a Taliban fighter who recently passed through the Afghan government's reintegration program and subsequently was accepted into Afghan Local Police (ALP) killed nine other ALP members. The Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program or APRP tries to get Taliban fighters to quit fighting and return (or reintegrate) back to Afghan society. The APRP offers pay for the first three months and then subsequent vocational training. There are reports that some Taliban reintegrees have been assimilated into the Afghan Local Police or ALP. The ALP is associated with the Village Stability Operations program - sometimes referred to as VSO. The ALP is a part of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and is heavily supported and trained by the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command - Afghanistan or CFSOCC-A. Read more on the reintegrated Taliban fighter and ALP member who killed his fellow policemen in "Rogue Afghan police officer: A Taliban infiltrator's road to fratricide", The Washington Post, April 1, 2012. Unfortunately, the recruiting of former Taliban into the Afghan Local Police is going to result in an increased number of insider threat incidents.

Reintegration in Laghman Province

Laghman Province has reintegrated 223 former fighters, with more than 100 in the first half of March 2012 alone. The success, in part, can be attributed to the efforts of Gov. Mohammad Iqbal Azizi and the Provincial Peace Committee.

Read the rest of the article in "Afghan reintegration program works toward long-term peace and stability", RC-East.com, March 26, 2012. Read more reintegration news here.

Marine Reflects on His Afghan Tour of Duty

A Marine who spent the good part of a year working at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan reflects on the progress made in the transition to Afghan control. Read "Shaping Afghanistan's future rewarding for assistant chief of staff", DVIDS, March 31, 2012.

International Donors Find it Hard to Address Corruption in Afghanistan

Despite overwhelming evidence that a large amount of the money sent to Afghanistan for use in development and establishing governance is misused (corruption) international donors still have not instituted financial control measures so that they may "follow the money". The United Kingdom is no exception to putting the blinders on when addressing the actual end point of a great portion of its aid money (that would be Dubai). Read more in "Donors still can't talk about the c-word", International Development Department Blog of the University of Birmingham, March 23, 2012.

Slow Progress in Zabul Province

As members of 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment prepare to redeploy to the states they are reflecting on their past year in Afghanistan and on the progress made in Zabul Province. See "At southern Afghan outpost, U.S. soldiers prepare for transition", The Kansas City Star, March 31, 2012.

New Zealand SAS Completes Afghan Tour

The New Zealand SAS has completed a two and one-half year tour of duty in Afghanistan. Read more in "SAS returning home from Afghanistan", New Zealand Herald, April 1, 2012.

Short-Term Thinking about a Long-Term War

Someone once said that Vietnam was a war fought one-year at a time for ten years. The same could be said of the Afghan war. Commanders (and Soldiers) deploy to Afghanistan for one year and then move out to their next assignment. Many do more than one tour in Afghanistan - which from an experience point of view is a good thing as Soldiers have a clue during those subsequent tours. During the time between those tours the Soldiers are not usually preparing for their next trip to Afghanistan. Most do a brain-dump and proceed on to mastering their next job - most likely very unrelated to Afghanistan or counterinsurgency. Unless of course they are a member of Special Forces or the very small AFPAK Hands program. Read more on this topic in an article by Joshua Foust entitled "How Short-Term Thinking Makes the U.S. Worse at Fighting Wars", The Atlantic, March 31, 2012.

Drones in Afghanistan

In the last ten years the inventory of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles has increased significantly.  Many of these drones are deployed to the Afghanistan area of operations and are used to conduct surveillance on targets, provide situational awareness during enemy engagements or targeting, and to help defeat the IED networks.  Learn more about drones in Afghanistan at the link below.

http://www.afghanwarnews.info/equipment/drones.htm

The Hard Life of Female Addicts in Afghanistan

Afghanistan, a country that supplies over 90 percent of the world's opium, also has an internal drug use problem. Although most drug users in Afghanistan are men there are also female addicts as well. An Afghan woman's access to medical care to combat her drug addiction is limited. Read more in "Insight: Lifting the veil on Afghanistan's female addicts", Reuters.com, March 31, 2012.