Karzai Warns about U.S. Intentions

In a recent speech the President of Afghanistan (outgoing thank goodness) Karzai warned the incoming Afghan government leaders to beware of the United States. Karzai stated that the Afghan peace process failed because America did not want peace. Read more in "Afghan President Karzai warns successors to beware of US", BBC News Asia, September 23, 2014. See also "Afghan President Hamid Karzai slams U.S. government policy in Afghanistan", The Washington Post, September 23, 2014.

Amb Crocker Responds to Karzai Statements

Former Ambassador Crocker (to Afghanistan) reacted to President Karzai's outlandish statements about why the United States invaded Afghanistan. Crocker says that Karzai knows the invasion was in the best interests of Afghanistan. Read more in "Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Reacts to Karzai's Criticisms", Voice of America, September 23, 2014.

Ghani Says He Won't Tolerate Corruption

The president-elect of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, has said he will not tolerate corruption. During an interview with the BBC Mr. Ghani set out his vision for Afghanistan and stated that he was not corrupt. The video is about 8 minutes long. Ghani, a very good English speaker, says Afghanistan has great opportunities ahead. He mentions Afghanistan's supply of water, minerals, and business acumen. He acknowledges the immense corruption in the Afghan government. Watch the video at the following link - www.bbc.com/news/world-29312884.

Gender Integration into ANSF

One of the areas where ISAF has been working with the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) is in gender integration - growing the number of women working with in the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, military formations and police forces. A recent news release from ISAF explains some of the advances that have been made and the work that lies ahead. See "Afghan, ISAF leaders discuss gender integration into ANSF", ISAF News, September 21, 2014.

Paper - Are Contractors a Threat to the Military?

A recent paper published in Parameters contemplates the role of contractors in a war zone and the adverse effects the use of contractors has on the military. In what seems to be a paper aimed at discrediting the role of contractors (security and otherwise) the author advances the argument that the military can do the job just as well as contractors and at no greater cost if properly resourced (don't draw down the force too much). In addition he questions the legality of the use of contractors by pointing to isolated events like Nisoor Square (Iraq) - (there is no mention of the massacre in Panjwai district, Afghanistan by a U.S. Soldier). He also states that the professionalism of the military is at stake (at least I think that is what he is getting at) because the contractors are competing with the military. Hmmmm. You can read his paper "Military Professionalism & Private Military Contractors", Parameters, 44 (2) Summer 2014, by Scott L. Efflandt, pages 49-60.

Get Afghan News Daily

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Book - COIN in Eastern Afghanistan (2004-2008)

A new book is out on counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. It covers the period of 2004-2008 in eastern Afghanistan. "The book looks at how, working with their Afghan counterparts, they engaged in a complex effort to rebuild security, development, and governance, all while fighting a low-intensity war." The book recounts the efforts of American military officers and civilians to help the local government officials and citizens. Robert Kemp was a U.S. State Department Foreign Service Officer who served in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2008. He was the Deputy Director of the Pakistan Desk in Washington and also completed several short-term assignments in Pakistan. You can purchase the book on Amazon.com here:

Counterinsurgency in Eastern Afghanistan 2004-2008: A Civilian Perspective

Turkmenistan and Border Incursions

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) presence in northern Afghanistan is extremely limited. The current force array consists of less than 4,000 personnel (mostly from European nations) posted at Camp Marmal (near Mazar-e-Sharif). There is only one small contingent of troops posted at an international border crossing; otherwise the U.S. and ISAF must rely on reports from the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and principally from the Afghan Border Police (ABP) on what is happening along the border. The ABP is less than competent and extremely corrupt; so any news coming from that organization is questionable. Reports are surfacing about border incursions by Turkmenistan armed forces but they are not coming from the Afghan government or ISAF. Read more in "Turkmenistan Armed Forces Reportedly Cross Afghanistan Border", EurAsia Net, September 18, 2014.

Peace Day Celebrated in Afghanistan

"Peace Day" was celebrated on September 21st around the world. Afghanistan, not be be the exception, also held events across the country to celebrate peace. Read more in "Peace Day celebrated in events across Afghanistan", United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), September 22, 2014.

Pakistani Prisoners Freed From U.S. Custody

Fourteen Pakistani prisoners were released from the Bagram Prison in Afghanistan. They were under U.S. custody and were repatriated to Pakistan. Reportedly they are under the control of Pakistan authorities. Read more in "14 Pakistanis freed from U.S. custody in Afghanistan's Bagram prison", Reuters, September 20, 2014.

Ghani, Abdullah, and DC Lobbyists

An interesting article on the lobbying efforts of Ghani (the new PoA) and Abdullah (new 'CEO') to work the PR machine in DC. Both candidates have been spending thousands of dollars per month to curry the favor of influence makers among Congress, the media, and think-tanks. Read more in "Afghan president-elect seeks favor in Washington", Kansas City Star, September 23, 2014.

Sarah Chayes Comments on Election Results

Sarah Chayes, a long-term observer (and resident) of Afghanistan, has posted her opinion on the results of the Afghan election at the LA Times. She believes that despite the huge turnout for the April 5th and June 14th elections the Afghan people were short-changed by Karzai's corrupt election mechanisms and the bargaining for the sharing of power between Ghani and Abdullah. Her opinion is that Afghanistan will not see a significant increase in good governance but just more corrupt officials taking their turn at the spoils. Read her Op-Ed in "New Afghan government; same old problems", Los Angeles Times, September 22, 2014. Chayes is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment and a contributing writer. She reported from and later lived in Afghanistan for most of the past decade and also served as special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Photo by U.S. Navy Captain Debbie Trader-Miller, 2007).

Arm-Twisting Yields "Unity Government"

There were a lot of behind the scenes conversations between the United States (Kerry and Obama) and the two Afghan presidential candidates to come to an agreement over the election results. These conversations are described in greater detail in "Finessing a power-sharing agreement in Afghanistan", The Washington Post, September 22, 2014.

SAGE - A New Terrain Awareness Tool

The Army is now using a new terrain awareness tool in conjunction with the Distributed Common Ground System - Army (DCGS-A). The Situational Awareness Geospatially Enabled (SAGE) tool is designed to increase the understanding of weather and terrain. Learn more in "US Army boots terrain awareness with new geospatial analysis tool", Army-Technology.com, September 19, 2014.

Pub - DoDD 2000.07, Irregular Warfare (IW)

The Defense Department has released a new publication that deals with irregular warfare. The pub is entitled "Department of Defense Directive Number 3000.07, Irregular Warfare, August 28, 2014. The directive establishes " . . . policy and assigns responsibility for DoD conduct of IW and development of capabilities to address irregular challenges or threats to national security . . . ". You can read online or download at the link below.
www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/300007p.pdf

Human Cost Afghan War for UK

The United Kingdom has lost 453 military members in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are many more who have been wounded and are still recovering from severe physical injuries. And, of course, there are those with the burden of mental scars not readily observed or recognized. Between 2001 and 2014 over 220,000 individuals deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan; some with multiple tours. Read more in "Iraq and Afghanistan: Human cost of war for British servicemen and women", BBC News UK, September 21, 2014.

Book Review -"Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution"

Richard Whittle, a fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., has recently published a book - "Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution". The history of the drones is examined as well as the current use of armed drones in the war against terror. Read a book review in "New Book Details History of Predator Drone", Defense Tech, September 19, 2014.

Daily Update on Afghan War

You can receive the Afghan War News Daily Newsletter each day. It should arrive in your e-mail inbox at 5:00 am Eastern Standard Time. It is easy to subscribe. Send an e-mail to staff@afghanwarnews.info or go to www.afghanwarnews.blogspot.com and submit your subscription request in the "Follow by Email" dialogue box in the top of the right hand column. It is easy to unsubscribe. At the bottom of the newsletter click "unsubscribe" and you will be automatically unsubscribed.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the TTP

We all know that the Pakistan intelligence agency (Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI) supports the Haqqani Network as well as other insurgent groups that have sanctuary in Pakistan but operate in Afghanistan. What is not so well known is that there are insurgent groups that have sanctuary in Afghanistan's remote and unsecured regions (Nuristan, Kunar, etc.) and that operate against the Pakistan government. Read an informative article about the Pakistan military's fight against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in "The Afghan Roots of Pakistan's Zarb-e-Azb Operation" by Umar Farooq, posted on The South Asian Channel (Foreign Policy), September 18, 2014. Additional sources of info on the TTP include info provided by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and info by WikipediA.

DoD Press Releases - No Afghan News

The Department of Defense press machine has virtually ignored Afghanistan but is providing a mountain of information about Iraq (and Syria). Although there are still over 20,000 (?) U.S. troops still in Afghanistan and only 1,600 (?) in Iraq. This, of course, is intentional. The military and the administration want the public's focus to be on building support for intervention in Iraq (and Syria) and want to push Afghanistan into the background. Read more in "DOD highlights information from Iraq as emphasis shifts away from Afghanistan", Stars and Stripes, September 21, 2014.