Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Video: SFAAT visits COP Kherwar, Logar Province
A Security Force Assistance Advisory Team (SFAAT) accompanied their Afghan National Army (ANA) counterparts on a clearing operation in the areas surrounding Combat Outpost Khewar in southern Logar province. COP Khewar was built in 2009 by the U.S. Army and for three years infantry companies occupied the COP; alongside their ANA counterparts. In 2011 the COP was turned over to a company of the ANA and the U.S. departed Khewar district. Watch a 13 minute video featuring the SFAAT advisors from "Dragon Troop" based at FOB Shank (also known as "Rocket City"), a "Show of Force" run and close air support by U.S. fighters, and some sniper activity in "VIDEO: US troops sent to advise Afghan forces drawn into firefight", Stars and Stripes, September 26, 2014.
Wine, Women, and Jihad
The growth of jihad wars throughout the world - but especially in the Middle East is a phenomenon that is not easily explained. We have seen the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan wage on for years and the troubling outcome of "the Arab Spring" where democratic movements and uprisings (Egypt, Syria, etc.) were hijacked by extremist Muslin groups. There are many observers and commentators that try to explain how adherents to the "religion of peace" can be so prone to violence. One interesting explanation is made by Roger Scruton in "Men without women", Forbes.com, September 26, 2014.
ISAF Statement on Inauguration of PoA
ISAF Commander, NATO SCR release joint statement
on inauguration of President Ashraf Ghani
"KABUL, Afghanistan (Sept. 29, 2014) — The Commander of ISAF and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, U.S. Army General John F. Campbell, and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative to Afghanistan, Ambassador Maurits Jochems, congratulate the Afghan people on the inauguration of Ashraf Ghani as the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and the appointment of Abdullah Abdullah as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Unity Government. Today the world witnessed Afghanistan’s first peaceful transfer of presidential power. It is a testament to the determination of the Afghan people and their national security forces to move their country forward.
Ambassador Jochems said, “I want to congratulate President Ashraf Ghani on his inauguration, and also Abdullah Abdullah on his appointment as Chief Executive Officer. I wish them well as they lead Afghanistan into a future of promise and peace that all Afghans want and deserve.”
General Campbell added, “While it has been a long, hard road, the people of Afghanistan have shown incredible courage. Their tireless and unwavering efforts to bring peace and security to Afghanistan by exercising their democratic rights provide me great optimism and confidence as they confront the future.”
“I reiterate our continued commitment to the partnership forged between NATO and Afghanistan over the last decade," said Campbell, "as all Afghans support the government that will lead them into a future of unity, peace, and prosperity.”"
Central Asia Worries about Afghanistan Threat
The nations of Central Asia have a good memory - and they remember the turmoil of the last half of the 1990s when the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. The Taliban rule covered over 90% of Afghanistan except for a small area held by Tajiks. The United States and its allies are closing up shop. By December 2014 the troop numbers will be small - probably 15,000 or less. By December 2015 the number will be around 5,000. ISAF has removed almost all of its combat troops (except some Special Operations Forces) and will soon remove much of its intelligence, aerial ISR, logistical, MEDEVAC, and close support assets. These enabling forces have assisted the Afghan security forces in 2013 and 2014. The Taliban are not defeated and prospects of the ANSF to clear them from the battlefield is remote. Central Asian states are concerned that the difficulties in Afghanistan will bleed northward into their countries. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is tracking the actions that the Central Asian states are taking to counter this potential threat from Afghanistan in a series of articles entitled "Central Asia Prepares for Afghan Threat". You can read part 1 and part 2 here.
3d Expeditionary Sustainment Command's Retrograde Mission
There are two big simultaneous missions being conducted in Afghanistan at the moment. The first is the Security Force Assistance (SFA) where SFAATs are advising various units of the Afghan National Police (ANP) and Afghan National Army (ANA) - as well as the Ministries of Interior and Defense. The second but equally important mission is the retrograde of men, equipment, vehicles, and airframes from Afghanistan back to the United States. The 3d Expeditionary Sustainment Command (ESC) is one of the primary units responsible for the retrograde mission. Read more in "Army and Air Force Teamwork and Persistence Critical to Retrograde Mission", DVIDS, September 27, 2014.
Afghan Foreign Minister Addresses UN
The Afghan Foreign Minister, Zarar Osmani, addressed the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014. He outlined his country's achievements over the past year and said that Afghanistan was on the eve of a transformative decade and that it had developed credible political institutions, an elected parliament, a constitution, provincial councils,and conducted a presidential election. He says that Afghanistan looks forward to continued mutual cooperation with the international community. Read the full article in "Afghan minister at UN Assembly lauds country's achievements, vows international cooperation", UN News Centre, September 27, 2014.
Australian SF Advise Afghan GCPSU
Along with the rest of ISAF the Australians have pulled many of their troops out of Afghanistan. However, there still are some working on the ISAF staff and advising some Afghan security force units. Australia's Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) - made up of elements of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), 2nd Commando Regiment, and other support units withdrew from Afghanistan at the end of 2013. Only a small number of SF types remain in Afghanistan - some doing VIP protection work and others advising the headquarters of the "General Command of Police Special Units" or GCPSU. This hqs unit, formerly known as GDPSU), coordinates Afghan Special Police units across the country. Read more in "Afghan work continues for Aust SF", News.com.au, September 28, 2014.
Battle for Ajrestan District, Ghazni Province
The Ajrestan district of Ghazni province is at risk of falling to the Taliban. Only the reinforcement of Afghan Commandos and the threat of US close air support is keeping the district center in government hands. Recently villages of Ghazni hung four Taliban fighters. Read more in "Afghan villagers hang Taliban fighters as battle for district rages", Reuters, September 27, 2014.
Kerry Enthusiastic about Afghan Election
Despite the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) not releasing the results of the extremely fraudulent Afghan presidential run off election held on June 14, 2014 Secretary of State John Kerry seems quite pleased with the end result of the Afghan election. Kerry has provided The Washington Post with an op-ed piece that was published on September 26, 2014 entitled "Afghanistan's triumph of statesmanship and compromise". He marked the event as " . . . the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan's history and the first peaceful leadership transition in more than 40 years". He states that "The United States supported a credible, transparent and inclusive electoral process without favoring any particular candidate. He really did say "credible" and "transparent". You can read the full text here.
Report - "Drugs or Hope", AREU (Sep 14)
The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has published a new report on the opium poppy cultivation dynamics in Afghanistan. The AREU conducted field research in Badakhshan, Balkh, Helmand and Nangarhar provinces during three agricultural years from 2010 to 2012. The intent was to explore the dynamics of opium poppy cultivation, the history of government policies and programs, and the ways in which these policies and programs affected the ability of rural households to maintain their livelihoods. The paper is entitled "Despair or Hope: Rural Livelihoods and Opium Poppy Dynamics in Afghanistan", AREU, September 2014. You can view an abstract online here or read online and download here.
Start Off Your Day with Afghan War News
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Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Bulgarians Celebrate Independence Day in Afghanistan
The Bulgarian contingent working at Kandahar Air Field (KAF) in Afghanistan celebrated the 106th anniversary of Bulgarian Independence Day on September 22, 2014. The day celebrates the independence of Bulgaria as it moved from being a vassal of the Ottoman Empire to self-rule. The Bulgarians will continue to serve in Afghanistan as part of the new Resolute Support mission. Read the entire story in "KAF celebrates Bulgarian Independence Day with ceremony", DVIDS, September 23, 2014. (Photo at left by SSG John Etheridge, Regional Command South shows Col. Nikola Mitev of the 27th Bulgarian Contingent making comments at the ceremony).
Afghanistan to Sign BSA on Tuesday (Sep 30)
Reports in the media state that the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) will be signed on Tuesday, September 30, 2014. This is good news for Afghanistan. It is also a relief for the international community which has expended billions of dollars and countless lives to bring Afghanistan out of the 14th century and into . . . . a modern era (hard to pick which century) with cell phones and automatic weapons. Read more in "Afghanistan's new government set to sign BSA on Tuesday", Stars and Stripes, September 29, 2014.
Taliban Behead 12 in Ghazni Province
The Taliban have been busy in Ghazni province - reportedly overrunning one of the districts in the western area of the province. In addition, the Taliban beheaded at least twelve family members of Afghan police. See "Taliban beheads 12 in Afghan clash", Los Angeles Times, September 26, 2014.
Ghani - An Intellectual President
Ashraf Ghani is looked upon by the western world as someone who can turn Afghanistan around. Just as the United States, Europeans, and others fell in love with Karzai in the early 2000s - we seemed to have also lost our heart to Ghani. Hopefully this admiration for the "technocrat" is well-placed. Thus far many of the Afghan leaders have been a profound disappointment - none greater than Karzai. However, despite the high hopes of the western world, Ghani has his work cut out for him. One of the admirable attributes of Karzai (I hate putting "admirable" in the same sentence as "Karzai") was his ability to hold together an ethnically diverse population (Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, etc.), keep the loyalty of warlords and power brokers who many times hated each other (Dostum and ATTA come to mind), and maintain the allegiance of the military (there were no military coups against him . . . unfortunately). So Ghani will have to weld his "intellectual world" with the "Afghan reality". It will be interesting to see how well he does that. Read a newspaper article that looks at how this "academic" will overcome the Taliban, the crooks, the warlords, a poor economy, the drug trade, and the power brokers -"Ashraf Ghani: the intellectual president who can now put theory into practice", The Guardian, September 26, 2014.
AQSL in AfPak a "Dormant" CT Fight
One of the objectives of the invasion of Afghanistan, toppling of the Taliban regime, and occupation of Afghanistan for over a decade was the elimination of a terrorist threat from Afghanistan. It isn't clear that objective has been achieved despite thousands of lost lives, more thousands of wounded and injured personnel and billions of dollars spent. Certainly al-Qaeda has been degraded. Over the past several years we continually "decapitated" the senior leadership and thinned out the"middle management". However, truth be told al-Qaeda still exists in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. A senior Obama administration official recently said that the war in Afghanistan is now a " . . . dormant counterterrorism fight . . .". However, the U.S. ability to continue that counterterrorism fight will also be degraded. The CIA has closed all but two of eight forward operating based that were located along the Pakistan border. This affects the ability of CIA case officers to manage their spy network extending into Pakistan, to command and control their paramilitary formations (many of the very experienced Afghan fighters are now unemployed or doing other work), gather intelligence with drones (armed and unarmed), and to gather signal intelligence (SIGINT). This closure of CIA bases can be tied to the closure of U.S. Army FOBs throughout the region. Two questions remain - 1) Does the remaining core al-Qaeda presence pose a significant threat to the United States, and 2) Can al-Qaeda rebound to its former self? Greg Miller and Kevin Sieff have wrote a comprehensive news article on this topic in "Qaeda remains degraded but not defeated", The Washington Post, September 26, 2014.
Biscuit Factory-in-a-Box for Humanitarians
The United Nations World Food Program has introduced a unique method of helping Afghans provide food for humanitarian disasters. A biscuit factory from Italy was shipped to Jalalalbad, Nangarhar province. The self-contained "factory" employs about 25 people and produces nutrient-rich cookies. The biscuit factory is also having a positive effect on the local business. Read more in "Biscuit Factory-in-a-Box Shows its Value in Afghanistan", World Food Programme, September 15, 2014.
United Nations Appoints New Head of UNAMA
The United Nations has appointed Nicholas Haysom as the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Haysom is a South African national and has spent considerable time in Afghanistan. According to a UN press release "He is a lawyer with a long international career focused on democratic governance, constitutional and electoral reforms, and reconciliation and peace processes". Read more in a UNAMA press release dated September 26, 2014.
Anthrax Reported in Badakhshan
Reports of over 40 cases of Anthrax have surfaced in Badakhshan province. Anthrax is a disease affecting both humans and animals. Read more in "Anthrax hits dozens of Badakhshan residents", Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies (CAPS), September 24, 2014.
Constitutional Issues of a Unity Government
Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief now that the election results have been released (well, sort of released) and a "national unity government" headed by Ghani (and Abdullah) has been established. But one has to wonder about the future of Afghan elections; and there is a lot of speculation as to the legitimacy of the Afghan government. A lot of work has to be done in the future to ensure that future elections are not marred by fraud (Karzai is gone so that should help) and that the legitimacy of the Afghan government is established. Read more in "Constitutional Implications of a National Unity Government", Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), September 2014.
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