U.S. Funding Goes to Afghan Insurgency

According to a recent report (October 2014) by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) the United States refuses to 'suspend or debar' supporters of the Afghan insurgency from receiving lucrative government contracts because the information about these individuals is classified. Read more in "U.S. Refuses to Stop Giving Contracts to Backers of Afghan Insurgency", The Washington Free Beacon, October 30, 2014.

Video - "Spoke and Hub Footprint"

In a short video (1 minute) General John Campbell (COMISAF) describes the "spoke and hub" concept of the enduring footprint that NATO will have during the Resolute Support mission after December 2014. See "COMISAF Enduring Footprint", Defense Media Activity - Army, October 30, 2104.

Ghani Calls on Taliban to Join Peace Process

President Ghani wants the Taliban to join in on the peace process. He said at a recent press conference that peace is our highest priority. Read more in "Afghan President Calls on Taliban to Join Peace Process", Radio Free Europe, October 31, 2014.

China Replaces NATO?

Now that Operation Enduring Freedom is approaching the end of mission (December 2014), the insurgents have been defeated, the terrorist safe havens have been cleared, and al Qaeda has been eliminated we wonder who will reap the benefits of this hard 13-year long hard-fought victory. While we were slogging it out on the battlefield, suffering numerous deaths and wounded, and spending our money - someone was on the sidelines waiting to pick up the pieces and reap the benefits. Can you spell C - H - I - N -A? Watch for it. China has been slowly picking up its diplomatic activity with Afghanistan. It has cautiously invested in economic activities such as Afghanistan's extensive mineral wealth (see Mes Aynak copper mine). It has engaged other South Asian nations (India and Pakistan) to encourage regional stability. China has become very westward looking in its diplomacy and economic engagement (not Europe, but Central Asia) especially with the re-invention of the Silk Road. Of course, there are some security concerns as well. China, due to its subjugation of the Muslims in its western province of Xinjiang, wants to ensure that an unstable Afghanistan does not become a sanctuary for jihadists. Apparently it sees the problems that insurgents who have sanctuary in Pakistan can cause security forces in Afghanistan (something that ISAF could never seem to fix). Learn more in "Afghanistan: Out with NATO, in with China?", The Christian Science Monitor, October 28, 2014.

444 Days: Story of CIA Officers held Captive During the Iranian Hostage Crisis

This blog post has nothing to do with Afghanistan but everything to do with how vulnerable members of the U.S. military and other governmental agencies can find themselves in a quickly developing hostage situation. In November 1979, 35 years ago, six Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers stationed at the US Embassy in Iran suddenly found themselves as hostages. They, along with other embassy employees, were held by radical Islamist students in the American Embassy for 444 days. The CIA has posted (on their website) the story of their days in captivity. See "444 Days in Tehran: The Story of CIA Officers Held Captive During the Iranian Hostage Crisis", Central Intelligence Agency News & Information Blog, November 4, 2014.

Over the years there have been more than a few CIA officers held in captivity. Some of these officers died in captivity. One CIA officer, William Buckley, was captured while serving as the CIA Station Chief during an extremely dangerous time in Lebanon. He died after days of horrific torture by his Islamic Jihad captors. Buckley was also an Army veteran of the Korean and Vietnam War as well as a Special Forces officer. See "CIA Remembers Agency Hero William Buckley", Central Intelligence Agency Press Release, March 14, 2014 and a dedication to LTC William Buckley by the Special Forces Association.

UK - A Lasting Legacy in Afghanistan

On October 27, 2014 United Kingdom troops left Helmand province, Afghanistan marking the historic end of UK combat operations in the province for 13 years. UK forces have been in Afghanistan since 2001 and the end of 2014 will see the completion of the International Security Force Assistance (ISAF) mission. However, the ISAF mission will be replaced by the NATO Resolute Support mission and the United Kingdom will play a role in that mission as well. The UK will continue to provide officers and NCOs for the Resolute Support headquarters and staff in Kabul. In addition, the UK will continue its support of the Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA) also located near Kabul. The ANAOA is informally known as "Sandhurst in the Sand". The graduates of the ANAOA go through a 42-week long leadership course. Read more in "A lasting legacy in Afghanistan", UK Ministry of Defence, 1 November 2014.

Nepal Contributing to the ISAF Mission

There are a lot of contractors in Afghanistan. Many of them are from the United States. Many of them come from Europe. And some come from Nepal - yes, Nepal. The Nepalis work in a variety of jobs to include security, support, and food service. Some are legally in Afghanistan and others are skirting the rules a bit. There are about 5,000 Nepalis working in Afghanistan according to the Afghan government. Read more on this topic in "Thousands of Nepalis work illegally in Afghanistan", Kantipur.com, November 2, 2014.

Women in Afghanistan: Lost Opportunity

A commentator and author (Ann Jones) who spent lots of time living in Afghanistan provides us a history of the fight for women's rights in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. She identifies "failed opportunities" on the part of the international community. She slams the Bush administration hard on this issue. Along with the attack on the U.S. establishment she has some critical comments on the elite (male) politicians of Afghanistan for their lack of support for women's rights. She sees hope for Afghan women with the election of President Ghani. A very educational and in-depth (and perhaps slightly slanted perspective) picture of women's rights in Afghanistan - past, present, and future. Read "Democracy's ugly misogyny: The dark reality of "free" elections in Afghansitan", Salon.com, November 1, 2014.

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.