Afghan War Blog

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Gender Equality - USAID Online Training

For those who feel that they are lacking in gender equality awareness (and in the spirit of today being International Women's Day) we refer you to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) online course - "Gender 101: Gender Equality at USAID". Successful completion of the course fulfills the USAID requirements for employees in gender equality awareness. An overall score of 85% is required to be "Gender Aware"! The online course takes about 90 minutes to complete. Nope. Didn't do it, but maybe you need some gender awareness! Take the plunge at the link below:
http://usaidlearninglab.org/sites/default/files/media/GLS_USAID_Gender101_SCORM_20130918/index.html

Video - Afghan Commandos

This short 3 minute long video by NATO Channel (posted Feb 6, 2015) provides a glimpse of what it takes to be a member of the Afghan Commandos. There are currently nine Commando Kandaks with plans for an additional one (maybe?).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT5uklT43hQ

Paper - RoL and Biometrics

In developing countries people have a stereotypical view about judicial systems being slow, rigid, and secretive. In Afghanistan these three views are prevalent as well as a widely-held view of corruption in the Afghan judicial system. This impression exists largely because of the slow judicial process and corruption within the system due to the unavailability of modern age technologies to establish accountability of judicial personnel. Biometric identification technology can help to establish more accurate and secure identification and thus help the judicial system become more efficient, fast, responsible, and user-friendly. Read a report entitled How Biometric Identification Can Help the Judicial Management System, International Network to Promote the Rule of Law (INPROL), February 2015. This report may be useful for Rule of Law advisors in Afghanistan working in the Resolute Support Mission's Essential Function 3 RoL.

Good News Story on an Afghan Interpreter

The Afghan interpreters that tried to get a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) over the past several years got screwed over (until 2014) by the U.S. State Department. Fortunately, for a few lucky ones anyway, some Afghan interpreters are finding their way to the United States . . . and they are being helped by a former U.S. Army Soldier and former Afghan interpreter who now lives in the United States. Read more in "Matt Zeller and Janis Shinwari Saved Each Other's Lives - and Now Help Others", People.com, February 19, 2015.

Hope for Afghanistan - An Optimist's View

There are a lot of doomsayers expressing concern and doubts about the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. Their arguments have many themes to include "the Afghan war is immoral", "U.S. supports warlords", "all Afghans are corrupt", "NATO/US is incompetent", "the intervention failed", "we already won, let's leave", "we already lost", "it is too expensive", "the Taliban will take Kabul", and so on. However, one observer seems more optimistic about Afghanistan. He examines the current situation and provides his outlook on the future of Afghanistan - with a look at the gains made, the challenges ahead, and what needs to be done to secure the future of Afghanistan. David Loyn is the BBC's Afghanistan correspondent. His article - "Don't be so quick to write off Afghanistan" - was posted by The Dallas Morning News on March 6, 2015.

CNN Video on Afghan Interpreters

A former U.S. Army Soldier talks to CNN about the thousands of Iraqi and Afghan linguists who helped U.S. troops and have since been forgotten. Watch a 10 minute long video on the topic.

America's Wartime Interpreters Try to Reach U.S., CNN, February 19, 2015.

Daily News Snippets (March 8, 2015)

John Sifton, writing for Human Rights Watch, claims that the United States continues to fund and support a network of abusive Afghan strongmen in the name of security and says "It's time to stop". Read more in his article - "Afghanistan's U.S.-Funded Torturers and Murderers", Human Rights Watch, March 6, 2015.

www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/06/afghanistan-s-us-funded-torturers-and-murderers

Thomas F. Lynch III says that there is still time to keep Afghanistan from going the way of Iraq. He believes that " . . . a comprehensive policy and strategy review for post-2014 military-intelligence support to Afghanistan needs to be conducted in early 2015." Read more of his analysis in Eurasia Review, March 7, 2015.

CIA Director John Brennan has decided to do a reorganization of the Central Intelligence Agency in light of " . . . the marked increase in the range, diversity, complexity, and immediacy of issues confronting policymakers; and . . . the unprecedented pace and impact of technological advancements". Read of his upcoming changes in a CIA press release dated March 6, 2015 and posted on the CIA website. Some observers see a bigger focus on cyber operations (Reuters, Mar 6, 2015).

A multi-service observation by special operators at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan on March 4, 2015 was held to remember the 13th anniversary of the death of seven special operators that died during Operation Anaconda. Read more in "Bagram remembers Operation Anaconda's fallen", U.S. Air Force News, March 7, 2015.

Tamim Asey writing for Eurasia Review is wondering whether Afghanistan's grand bargain with Pakistan will pay off. To many observers there seems to be a move by President Ghani to smooth over relations with Pakistan - despite the support that Pakistan's intelligence agency provides to the Haqqani Network and other Afghan insurgent groups. Read more in his analysis (March 6, 2015).

Guest Bloggers

The Afghan War News Blog and the Afghan War News website are constantly striving to keep its blog, daily newsletter, and website factual, current, and relevant. If you have a link to a website or document you feel should be shared with the greater community then please send it to us. In addition, we are looking for individuals with some knowledge, experience, and expertise in Afghanistan on a wide range of topics to contribute blog posts and articles to our blog and add content to our website. And naturally, if you see errors, outdated information, or broken links please let us know.

staff@afghanwarnews.info

Early Morning News on Afghanistan

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. Go to www.afghanwarnews.blogspot.com and submit your subscription request in the "Follow by Email" dialogue box at the top of the right hand column. The only info needed is your email. No personal data, forms to fill out, or passwords needed. It is also easy to unsubscribe. At the bottom of the newsletter click "unsubscribe" and you will be automatically unsubscribed.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

TAAC-North Commander

A new commander has taken over as the leader for the Train, Advise, and Assist Command - North (TAAC-North). TAAC-North is responsible for the TAA mission in northern Afghanistan. The lead nation in TAAC North is Germany and historically this country has always provided the commander. TAAC-North is based at Camp Marmal just outside of Mazar-e Sharif. The new commander is Brigadier General Andreas Hannermann. In 2008-2009 he was the German LNO to AFG GS, AFG MoD, and CSTC-C in Kabul. He replaced BG Harald Gante, who spent one year at Camp Marmal - first as chief of staff and then later as commander. Read more about BG Hannemann and TAAC-North.

Corruption Report by Transparency International

Transparency International has published a comprehensive report on corruption in Afghanistan. Afghanistan ranked 172 out of 175 countries in the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index. Despite billions of dollars allocated for military training, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reports that just 29 per cent of Afghan Army units have the level of training required to allow them to operate independently with advisors (and many units no longer have advisors attached). The report, entitled Corruption: Lessons from the international mission in Afghanistan, was published in February 2015. The report identifies nine reasons the international community was slow to develop a response to corruption in Afghanistan. It proposes a framework for policy makers to address corruption issues in Afghanistan and in future interventions. There is no doubt that the Resolute Support Advisors working in Essential Function 3 TAO found this report interesting. The report is an Adobe Acrobat PDF, 72 pages long, and 2 MBs big. It can be read online or downloaded at the link below.

www.transparency.org/files/content/pressrelease/2015_Corruption_Lessons_From_Afghanistan_EN.pdf

A-29 CAS Aircraft to be Fielded Dec 2015

A recent press report says that a few of the twenty A-29 Super Tucano turboprop aircraft for the Afghan Air Force (AAF) will start to arrive in Afghanistan in December 2015. This will be just in time for the 2016 fighting season. However, the bulk of the aircraft won't be deployed until 2017 and 2018. The ANSF will have to rely on a variety of stop-gaps until the A-29's arrive and are integrated into combat operations. Some of those stop-gaps were described by General Campbell during his recent testimony before Congress on March 4, 2015 as use of Quick Reaction Forces (QRFs), employment of artillery fires (D-30 122mm Howitzer), employment of organic mortars (82mm Mortar), and the helicopters in the AAF armed with weaponry (such as the Mi-35, MD 530s, and Mi-17s). The fielding of the A-29s was caught up in a contract dispute aggravated by congressional members who were playing politics. Read more in "Afghan Military to Receive A-29 Close Air Support Planes in December", Military.com, March 5, 2015.

A-10 Retirement - AF Math Doesn't Add Up

The U.S. Air Force wants to retire the A-10 Warthog. The close-air-support aircraft provides air support to ground troops, conducts ground attack against tanks, armored formations, enemy positions, enemy troops, and provides an on-scene rescue capability. The Air Force plans to retire the 300 plus A-10 Warthogs so it can afford to field the very expensive, but not quite yet capable F-35. There are many opponents to the A-10 retirement plan - and among those are the very combat troops that need the A-10s support - the Army! An Army officer has done the math and concludes that the Air Force, instead of retiring the entire fleet of A-10s, should just retire one of its six active fighters (F-15, F-16, F-22) and bombers (B-1, B-2, B-52) or end F-35 procurement. The author breaks down the math for us in "The Air Force's Argument to Retire the A-10 Warthog Doesn't Add Up. Here's Why.", Defense in Depth - Council on Foreign Relations, March 5, 2015.

TAPI Pipeline and India's Marginalization

The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline promises to bring economic growth and increased prosperity to the four countries participating in this natural gas project. The TAPI pipeline will move natural gas from Turkmenistan to the other three countries. Unfortunately politics, competition, and security are obstacles to be overcome. Current plans are for the much-delayed development project to be completed in 2018. India, once seen as a major benefactor and leader in the pipeline project, is becoming sidelined. Read more in "TAPI and India's Future in Eurasia", The Diplomat, February 27, 2015.

Afghanistan - Doomed Mission from the Start

A former military member who deployed to Afghanistan writes about why the Afghan mission was certain to fail. He states "The United States tried to fight a counterinsurgency in an environment tailor-made for insurgents . . . " and " . . . attempted to promote legitimacy and good governance without honest, reliable Afghan partners . . ." In addition, the U.S. never solved the problem of the insurgency having sanctuaries in Pakistan nor stopped the Pakistanis from providing intelligence, equipment, and financing to the Taliban. Read more in "Our mission in Afghanistan was doomed at the start; nothing could have saved it", Foreign Policy, February 18, 2015.

US Efforts of Reconstruction Misplaced

A recent article by Kiran Nazish in The Diplomat states that the United States had the wrong approach to humanitarian and reconstruction aid provided to Afghanistan. While many look at the senior government officials and their corrupt practices as the principle reason for the failure of much of the reconstruction effort - Nazish puts most of the blame on the United States. Hmmmm. Not sure about that. Read his thoughts on U.S. reconstruction aid to Afghanistan in "The Misplaced Priorities of US Reconstruction Efforts in Afghanistan" dated February 18, 2015.

Daily News Snippets (March 7, 2015)

A recent report released by the Director of National Intelligence predicts that a number of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will return to the Taliban insurgency or terrorism activities if they are released. The report is based on trends identified during the past eleven years. Overall, the number of those confirmed and suspected of reengaging in terrorism is about 29 percent. There are about 122 detainees left in the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Read more in "US intelligence finds Gitmo prisoners returning to fight", The Hill Defense Blog, March 5, 2015.

The Army has recently defined the requirements for the wearing of bronze service stars with the Afghanistan Campaign Medal. Operation Freedom's Sentinel is a qualifying operation for the award. Read more in "Rules for wearing service stars with Afghanistan Medal", Army Times, March 5, 2015.

The German news outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) provides us with their thoughts on why Afghanistan's security forces are dwindling. The news article comments on the recent report issued by SIGAR that states the number of ANA members has declined by more than 8.5 percent since Feb 2014 - the lowest force strength since August 2011. Some of the factors for the smaller force includes combat casualties (up drastically over last year), desertions, discharges (term of service has expired), and some accounting irregularities. Contributing factors are the poppy growing season where soldier go on unauthorized leave to assist with the harvest, excessive absences (not returning at end of leave date), and attending to family matters during an unauthorized absence, and lower morale among the members of the ANSF. (DW, Mar 5, 2015).

Gandhara Blog has a video posted about the ". . . hundreds of female convicts in Afghanistan." Children up to the age of seven live with mothers in the prison. Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Freba Mohd Zaher visited prisons across Afghanistan to investigate the conditions for the women and children behind bars. (March 5, 2015).
http://gandhara.rferl.org/media/video/afghan-women-prisons/26885157.html

The 2015 MRE menu is out and Duffel Blog has evaluated the top five MRE meals. See if your favorite is at the top of the list. (March 6, 2015).
www.duffelblog.com/2015/03/mre-review-duffel-blog/

The Sayedabad district executive director (Wardak province) was killed by unknown gunmen a few days ago (early March). The incident took place as he was leaving his office heading to his home.

The Georgian 51st Battalion stationed at Bagram Air Field (BAF) carried out a humanitarian mission in its operational area. The mission was performed in the village of Musa Bala in conjunction with U.S. Marines and the Afghan National Security Forces. (The Messenger Online, March 6, 2015).
www.messenger.com.ge/issues/3323_march_6_2015/3323_4.html

The author of Green on Blue, Elliott Ackerman, explains how he came to write his book on Afghanistan. Ackerman spent time as an advisor to Afghan commando units. (Slate.com, March 5, 2105.). Watch a short video with Ackerman. The book can be purchased on www.amazon.com.

Guest Articles Welcomed

Start Your Day w/ Afghan News

Friday, March 6, 2015

Rula Ghani in the Spotlight

Rula Ghani, the wife of President Ghani and Afghanistan's First Lady, has been stepping out into the spotlight recently. In February she conducted a trip to the United States where she conducted a number of interviews in the Washington, D.C. area. During these interviews she provided her perspective on a number of concerns and issues facing Afghanistan. She plans of taking a leading role in some aspects of Afghan life (women's rights, orphaned children, internally displaced people, education, etc.). She has some views on humanitarian aid - saying that it should be provided in a different form than it is currently given. Some aid is temporary but good aid helps people provide for themselves. She presents her take on being a Lebanese Maronite Christian in Muslim Afghanistan - saying it is not a problem for her. Read more in "For the First Time, An Afghan First Lady Steps into the Spotlight", National Public Radio, February 19, 2015.