Pakistan Objects to Pentagon Report

Pakistan is objecting to a recent report released at the end of October entitled the Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, DoD 1230 Report, October 2014. In the report the Pentagon states that the Taliban insurgent groups enjoy sanctuary in Pakistan (no big secret, everyone knows this) and that Pakistan is not quite doing enough to shut down the sanctuaries. What isn't quite spelled out in the report in plain language is the fact that Pakistan's intelligence service (ISI) is actively supporting the insurgent groups (especially the Haqqani Network) with money, training, and other types of support. The two excerpts below are from page 95 of the report cited above.

"Taliban attacks in Afghanistan launched from sanctuaries in Pakistan remain a serious problem. These sanctuaries exist primarily in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Baluchistan." 

"Afghan- and Indian-focused militants continue to operate from Pakistan territory to the detriment of Afghan and regional stability. Pakistan uses these proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter India’s superior military. These relationships run counter to Pakistan's pubic commitment to support Afghan-led reconciliation. Such groups continue to act as the primary irritant in Afghan-Pakistan bilateral relations".

NATO Secretary General Visits Afghanistan

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is visiting Afghanistan (trip beginning 6 Nov 14). He will meet with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah to discuss NATO-Afghanistan cooperation and the 2015 Resolute Support Mission. He will also meet with the ISAF commander (Gen John Campbell), other senior ISAF officers, NATO Senior Civilian Representative Ambassador Maurits Jochems, and others. One of his planned trips is to visit ANASOC Hqs as well as other ANSF units.

Iraq and Afghanistan: Compare and Contrast

A commentator provides us with her viewpoint on the differences and similarities between Iraq and Afghanistan. She discusses Obama's relief that the Iraq parliament did not sign the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) in late 2011. That 'non-signing' took Obama off the hook, he did not have to leave 5,000 advisors in Iraq, and he could declare victory (meaning he got us out of Iraq as he promised during his election campaign). The same model was to be followed by Obama in Afghanistan. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) were to be deemed independent and capable and we would slowly depart. (There is probably a little disappointment among Obama supporters and White House staffers that the Bilateral Security Agreement was signed by Afghanistan).

Obama would have liked to be done with Afghanistan as well so he could concentrate on his domestic policies and agenda. Unfortunately reality got in the way. The Afghans wanted us to stay and the ANSF still have some huge capability gaps in their ability to conduct operations (aviation, logistics, sustainment, intelligence, medical, etc.). That . . . and the Taliban are still a robust force and there is no indication that the ANSF have learned how to properly conduct a counterinsurgency campaign. (Yes, it is an insurgency and it is thriving). So, applying the Iraq model to Afghanistan, one would conclude we should stay committed to the Security Force Assistance mission; otherwise, we might face a similar situation such as now found in Iraq (conflict with ISIS). Read more in "Ending the Afghanistan War 13 Years Later: Is it Time to Leave?", Wall Street Politics Cheat Sheet, October 31, 2014.

Paper - "Advisor and His Counterpart"

The art and science of advising has been around for many, many years. The U.S. Army has a rich history of advisory efforts - some reaching back into the days of the Vietnam War (late 1950s to early 1970s). The lessons of yesterday are still applicable today. Read "The Advisor and His Counterpart in Vietnam", Handout 306, United States Army Special Warfare School, Fort Bragg, NC, November 29, 1968.

Corps of Engineers in Afghanistan

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been busy in Afghanistan. Currently it is attempting to complete many ongoing projects before the end of the year and the end of the Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) mission. There should only be 66 remaining projects as we head into the Resolute Support mission in January. Read more in "Transatlantic Afghanistan District completes 21 projects in September", DVIDS, November 4, 2014.

Commentary (Ex) Senator Lieberman on Afghanistan

Joseph Lieberman, a former senator from Connecticut, and a one-time "moderate" who could cross party lines and actually help Congress do "governance", has provided us with his thoughts on Obama and Afghanistan. Joe says that Obama needs to re-consider his plan to fully withdraw U.S. advisors by 2016 (end of ) in light of the disastrous effects of pulling out advisors from Iraq in 2011. He says, that although Iraq and Afghanistan are different, there are some parallels and lessons that we can ignore (at our peril). He warns that pulling out of Afghanistan fully may unravel everything that we have accomplished thus far (much as Iraq unraveled). Good commentary by one of our more capable former U.S. Senators. Read his opinion piece in "Obama repeats his Iraq mistake in Afghanistan", The Washington Post, June 20, 2014. (I know, it is dated but still valid!).

Bagram: DoD Busiest Runway

Bagram Air Field (BAF) in eastern Afghanistan is the Department of Defense's busiest runway. There are 46 different types of aircraft that fly in and out of BAF. A mission flies on average about every two minutes. Read more in "Expeditionary Airmen operate DOD's busiest single runway", DVIDS, October 28, 2014.

Afghanistan: A Dire Outlook

There are conflicting reports on how well or poorly Afghanistan is doing. The latest DoD 1230 report says that the Afghan National Security Forces are "winning" and the future is promising. The latest report by SIGAR is far less optimistic. Read one outside assessment in "Afghanistan Going off the rails as U.S. Withdrawal Speeds Up", Foreign Policy, October 30, 2014.

Paper - "American Advisors" by Joshua Potter

If you are on your way to Afghanistan (or Iraq . . . or anywhere) to be a military advisor then a paper wrote by LTC Joshua Potter (US Army) will be very useful. American Advisors: Security Force Assistance Model in the Long War, Combat Studies Institute Press, Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (2011) is a good education and should be a must for pre-deployment training for advisors heading overseas. You can view or download the paper at the following link:
http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/AmericanAdvisors.pdf

ANSF Casualties Not Sustainable

A top United States military commander in Afghanistan says that the casualties suffered by the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are not sustainable. LTG Joseph Anderson, the commander of the ISAF Joint Command (IJC), says that since the beginning of 2013, the ANSF have suffered nearly 9,000 fatalities. In comparison, the U.S. has lost 2,246 troops in OEF since 2001. The number of troops from the ANSF going AWOL is also high. Currently the Afghan National Police (ANP) is at 89 percent strength while the Afghan National Army (ANA) is at 81 per cent strength. LTG Anderson reports that the ANSF are winning since they are able to hold their ground against the enemy. Hmmm. Most counterinsurgency experts say that if the government forces are not defeating insurgents in their base areas (support and attack zones), the insurgents are continuing to operate, have freedom to move in the rural areas, and can pick the time and place to attack the government forces then the insurgents are considered to be winning. I guess it depends on which Field Manual you read. Read more on ANSF casualties in "US commander: Afghan casualties not sustainable", Stars and Stripes, November 5, 2014.

RC East is now TAAC East

The 10th Mountain Division is closing up shop in Regional Command East and heading back to Fort Drum, New York. 10th Mountain has been in Afghanistan from the very beginning, and the very end, and . . . a few times in between. In late 2001 elements of 10th Mountain deployed to "K2" in Uzbekistan and then later to Bagram Air Field as part of the initial conventional forces to enter Afghanistan (after the SF teams and the occasional CIA agent). The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is transitioning to the Resolute Support mission; and the Regional Commands are transitioning to "Train Advise and Assist Commands" or TAACs. Thus, RC East is being renamed TAAC East. Read more in "10th Mountain Division ends operations in Afghanistan, 13 years after it arrived", Stars and Stripes, November 4, 2014.

TAAC-East Replaces RC-East

Regional Command East is no longer with us. It has been replaced by Train, Advise, and Assist Command East or TAAC East. The RC had a two-star commander; the TAAC has a one-star commander. U.S. Army BG Christopher Bentley will lead TAAC East - an organization comprised of 60 division staff officers and Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division (Fort Stewart, GA) and 1,000 Soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Fort Hood, TX).

TAAC East's mission is to train, advise and assist (TAA) the Afghan National Security Forces in eastern Afghanistan. The TAAC is no longer advising at the tactical level; the organization will work to strengthen ties between the operational and strategic levels - providing the connective tissue between corps-level Afghan units to the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior.

The 201st ANA Corps is located in Laghman province and advisors will be stationed at FOB Gamberi to provide advise and assistance on a daily, persistent basis. It is believed that this is called "Level I" advising. The 203rd ANA Corps is located at FOB Thunder near Gardez; however, there is no "advisor platform" from which to project an advisory effort. Perhaps TAAC East will conduct "Level II" advising -which is basically a visit once or twice a month and some phone calls. (I wonder how that will work out?).

Read more in "3ID, 3CR form TAAC-E in eastern Afghanistan", DVIDS, November 5, 2014.

Afghan Detainee Transfer to U.S. - Analysis

The U.S. will soon be shutting down the U.S. administered military detention facility at Bagram. The questions remains of what to do with the non-Afghans currently detained there. One interesting development is the transfer of one of the detainees to the United States for prosecution. Read more in "Detainee Transferred from Afghanistan to US for Trial: A Model for GTMO Closure?", Lawfare, November 4, 2014.

Iran and Pakistan Destabilize Afghanistan

The Pentagon's latest assessment on security in Afghanistan has criticized Iran and Pakistan - stating that both countries are destabilizing regional security by supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Read more in "Pentagon Says Policies of Iran, Pakistan Destabilize Afghan Security", Radio Free Europe, November 5, 2014.

Video - COMISAF Speaks on Afghan Future

In a short video clip COMISAF (General John Campbell) speaks about transition, Afghan security, and the need for the Taliban to come to the peace table. See Changes Underway with Afghanistan Drawdown, DoD News, October 30, 2014.

Book - "Swimming with Warlords"

The journalist Kevin Sites has wrote a book on Afghanistan entitled Swimming with Warlords: A Dozen-Year Journey Across the Afghan War. His view on the current state of affairs in Afghanistan is not a pretty one yet he says that "hope" is alive and he is optimistic about the future of Afghanistan. The book is available on Amazon.com.

"The Long Goodbye to Afghanistan"

On November 6, 2001, Defense Security Donald Rumseld said "I do not think it will take years to deal with the Taliban or the al-Qaida organization". 13 years later the United States is leaving Afghanistan and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) will come to an end. However, the U.S. will keep 9,800 troops in country to continue the Security Force Assistance mission and conduct limited counter-terrorism operations. The Defense Department says the Afghan security forces can stand on their own; however, they seem to be having some difficulty in some parts of the country (Helmand and Kunduz provinces). Read more in "The Long goodbye to Afghanistan", Chicago Tribune, October 31, 2014.

Afghan's Minerals Law

Afghanistan has a new minerals law. The question is will it improve sector governance and catalyse the massive investment needed? Read more in "The new minerals law: breaking new ground for Afghanistan?", The Guardian, October 30, 2014.

Dismal Outlook for Helmand Province

The U.S has left Camp Leatherneck and the Brits have departed Camp Bastion. According to ISAF the transfer of the bases was smooth and the Afghan National Security Forces will be able to handle the security situation within Helmand province without the assistance of the International Security Assistance Force. But . . . some news reports seem to indicate otherwise. Read more in "Continued violence in Helmand elicits disillusionment, fear as coalition departs", Stars and Stripes, October 31, 2014.

Australia Combat Pay Cut

It seems that Afghanistan is a less dangerous place and the Australian combat troops will get their combat pay cut after 2014. Read more in "Defence says Afghanistan 'less dangerous' so cuts Australian military's pay", The Sydney Morning Herald, October 31, 2014.