Afghan War - What Went Wrong

As the commitment to Afghanistan subsides, U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, and our focus changes from Afghanistan to the Pacific, eastern Europe, and the Middle East some observers are reflecting on Afghanistan. Peter Tomsen is one of those observers. Read more in "The Good War? What Went Wrong in Afghanistan - - and How to Make it Right?", by Peter Tomsen in Foreign Affairs, November / December 2014 issue.

OSINT DL Required for all Army Personnel

The head of the Army Intelligence School and Center has announced that the Army will soon require all of its personnel to take online distance learning courses on Open-source Intelligence or OSINT. Read more in "Army to require open-source intel training", C4ISR & Networks, October 17, 2014.

Afghan War News - Daily Newsletter

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.

SIGAR - State Dept Wastes $3.6 Million on Three Trucks

A State Department contract for three mobile television production trucks that are to be donated to Afghan television networks is under investigation by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The trucks, delivered two years late, are still not in use. The trucks are reported to be in Kabul sitting under tarps. The trucks were satellite / microwave television broadcast trucks to be used for live sporting events such as football (soccer), cricket, buzkashi, and other sports. The cost of two of the trucks tripled in price. Read more in a letter from SIGAR to the Secretary of State John Kerry requesting clarification (dated October 15, 2014).

Report - SFAAT AAR and Lessons Learned

Two Captains who recently completed a tour of duty in Regional Command East have wrote a paper about their time on their respective Security Force Assistance Advisory Team (SFAAT). Their report provides some lessons learned that future advisors to Afghanistan could find helpful. First Brigade of the 101st Airborne deployed to Kunar and Nangarhar provinces in late 2012 on a nine-month long deployment for the Security Force Assistance (SFA) mission. The SFA mission involved a transition from fighting and winning the counterinsurgency to a train, advise, and assist role. This caused the 1st Brigade to transform itself from a combat brigade to an advisory brigade. One of the SFAATs advised an ANA infantry kandak (battalion) and the other SFAAT advised an ANA Combat Support Kandak (CSK). The paper highlights some of the operational mechanics involved in the SFAAT mission and also provides key lessons. Read the report online or download at "Passing it On: Two SFAAT Teams in Afghanistan and Lessons Learned for Future Advisors", by Thomas McShea and Kyle Harnitchek, Small Wars Journal, October 27, 2014.

Russian Prisoner at BAF to Be Tried in U.S.

There are 13 non-Afghans still residing in the Parwan detention center adjacent to Bagram Air Field (BAF). One of them is a Russian who will soon be brought to the United States for trial on several charges relating to a 2009 incident. The prisoner is a Russian veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan who deserted to the resistance. He stayed in the country and was captured in 2009 after an attack on Afghan Border Police and U.S. soldiers in Khost province. Read more in "Prisoner in Afghanistan to be tried in US", Star-Telegram, October 23, 2014.

Two Bases Handed to Afghans

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has handed over two large bases in Helmand province to the Afghan National Army (ANA). Camp Bastion and Camp Leatherneck were transferred to the Afghans in a recent ceremony. The complex, both bases are adjacent to each other, also has a large airstrip. Read more in "NATO coalition hands over two major bases to Afghan military", The Washington Post, October 26, 2014.

Problems in Afghanistan's Future

An observer of Afghan politics, Mili Mitra, comments on the past problems of Afghanistan and the obstacles laying before President Ghani and the National Unit Government (NUG). See "Escape from Anarchy: Do the Afghan Elections Offer Hope?", Brown Political Review, October 23, 2014.

SF Team Leader Criticize ANA Performance

Here is some earth shattering news. It appears that the performance of the Afghan National Army (ANA) is not up to par. At least that is what a Special Forces team leader is reportedly saying according to some news reports. The report is tied to an unfortunate "friendly fire" incident by a B1 bomber that killed five U.S. servicemen. An after action review found several procedural problems that contributed to the incident. Read "Army Green Berets reportedly criticize performance of Afghan army troops", Fox News, October 27, 2014.

19th SFGA Punished for Helping UK Wounded Warriors

It appears that members of the 19th Special Forces Group of the Utah Army National Guard are under investigation for their participation in a project to aid wounded warriors from the United Kingdom military services. The project sells calendars online to raise money for the benefit of wounded UK service members. Some of the Utah state politicians don't see that as a noble cause; instead focusing on some rules and regulations that may have been broken. The head of the Utah Army National Guard says that an investigation is in progress. Let's hope they focus in on the big picture; that the Guardsmen were supporting a worthy cause. The fact that the calendar's are featuring some very attractive women from the UK has some of the female legislators in Utah miffed. Read more in "Police, Guard members face penalties in risque bikini film shoot", Stars and Stripes, October 24, 2014.

Afghan Newspaper in Trouble

An Afghan newspaper is in hot water for publishing an article that offended religious leaders and government officials in Afghanistan. Evidently it was a little too liberal in its writing of religious affairs. Read more in "New Afghan government investigates newspaper for blasphemous article", The Washington Post, October 22, 2014.

Al Qaeda, China, and Afghanistan

Al Qaeda is a wide-ranging entity with the aim to establish the Islamic Caliphate. It operates in South Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and in many other areas. It has recently singled out the area of "East Turkestan". This region is Xinjiang province located in the western hinterlands of China. Xinjiang province shares a border with Afghanistan and China is fearing that an "East Turkestan" resistance group affiliated with al Qaeda will operate out of sanctuaries located in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Read more in "Al Qaeda Has Set its Sights on Xinjiang - and China Isn't Happy About It", Lawfare Blog, October 23, 2014.

Books on Afghanistan

A quick review of several books about Iraq and Afghanistan are provided in "Texas Book Festival: The literary harvest of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars", Dallas News Arts Blog, October 25, 2014.

Bond Set for Afghan Soldiers Enroute to Canada

Three Afghan Soldiers who were detained trying to cross over the border from the United States to Canada are able to leave their jail if bond is posted for them. A U.S. immigration judge set bond at $25,000 for each. The three were on a short visit participating in a CENTCOM exercise held at Camp Edwards on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. During a visit to a shopping mall they went missing; hiring a taxi cab to drive them to Niagara Falls with hopes of finding refuge in Canada. Read more in "Bond set for Afghan soldiers who fled for Canada", Associated Press, October 22, 2014.

Afghan Daily News

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.

China's Afghan Policy

Red circle depicts the border area
between China and Afghanistan.

China has, over the past 13 years, taken a back seat in the Afghanistan war. However, that has changed in the past year, with an increase in Chinese diplomatic and economic activity within Afghanistan. Certainly there are a number of reasons for this. One driver for increased involvement with Afghanistan is the vast but untapped oil and mineral resources within the country. China already has made inroads both with the oil fields and a large copper mine. In addition to economic interests there are some security concerns. China's domination of the Turkic people of its western province of Xinjiang has resulted in a low-grade insurgency. The Uyghur resistance group has allied itself with terrorist groups from within Pakistan. There is concern that the Uyghur resistance group will spread and use Afghanistan as a safe haven as well if Afghan security deteriorates. Although the border between China and Afghanistan is not very long, it is not patrolled effectively by the Afghan Border Police (ABP). From a security standpoint, this porous border is a deep concern for China. Read more in "China's Afghanistan policy: Testing the limits of diplomacy", The Lowly Interpreter, October 24, 2014.

DoD Afghan War News Coverage Minimal

If you think that the U.S. media has stopped covering Afghanistan then you are spot on. Every day when I compile my Afghan War News Newsletter I scour the news services for news snippets, reports, and documentaries on Afghanistan. Sometimes the news is just not there due to lack of coverage on the part of the media. One of the primary sources for news coverage is the Department of Defense's news service. If you look closely the Department of Defense news service is practically ignoring Afghanistan as a topic. For instance, if you go to the "Latest Stories in DoD News" (see www.defense.gov/news/articles.aspx) you will see news stories listed for the past month. An examination of the news stories from 1 to 26 October 2014 reveals about 164 news stories listed in chronological order. 40 news stories were about the conflict with ISIS, 22 news stories about Ebola, and ONE news story was about Afghanistan. Hmmmmm.

Britain's 13-Year War Ends

Flags were lowered in a ceremony at Camp Bastion, Helmand province marking the end of the 13-year long war that Britain fought in Afghanistan. The long war claimed 453 British servicemen and women. The large base was handed over to the Afghan National Army. The remaining few hundred UK military personnel will leave the base within days. Camp Bastion was opened in 2006 and has been Britain's main operating base for the country. A few British military personnel will remain in the Kabul area to work on the ISAF staff as well as providing instructors to the Afghan officer training facility nicknamed "Sandhurst-in-the-Sand". Read more in "Britain's 13-year war in Afghanistan comes to an end", The Telegraph, October 25, 2014.

President Ghani Visits Saudi Arabia

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai visited Saudi Arabia. Ghani was reported to perform Umrah - a pilgrimage to Mecca; in addition, he was to meet with Saudi King Abdullah and other officials. His next scheduled trip will be to China in late October. Read more in "Afghan president visits Saudi Arabia", Yahoo! News, October 25, 2014.

Story on Woman Police Advisor from India

There are a lot of countries providing advisors to Afghanistan. India is one of them. Shakti Devi, is a female police inspector from India serving with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). She was awarded the 2014 International Female Peacekeeper Award for her "Exceptional Achievements". Read more in "From village girl to international peacekeeper", Thomson Reuters Foundation, October 22, 2014.