Map of Language Distribution in Afghanistan

A map depicting the distribution of languages in Afghanistan is available online at suite101.com.  The major languages depicted include Dari (Persian), Pashto, Uzbeki, Turkmeni, Nuristani, Balochi, and Pashai.  See the map here.  To view other maps of Afghanistan visit "Afghanistan Maps", afghanwarnews.info.

Kandahar PRT Located at Camp Nathan Smith Transitions from Canada to U.S.

As the Canadians transition from a combat role to a training role in Afghanistan various moves will be made over the next year.  One is the transitioning of the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) from Canada to the U.S. military.  The PRT, located at Camp Nathan Smith, was turned over to the Americans this past month.  The KPRT is a mix of Soldiers and civilians from Canada (now the U.S.) and has been led by the Canadians since 2005.  Most PRTs number about 50-100 personnel.  Read more about the KPRT in the article below.
See "Canada turns Kandahar reconstruction team over to the U.S.", The Vancouver Sun, January 12, 2011.

COIN Strategy Not Working in Afghanistan

According to many critics (newspaper columnists, retired officers, and think tank writers) our current counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan is simply not working.  This is a result of many reasons - depending on who is talking about it (or writing about it) at the time.  One correspondent has provided us with a lengthy online article (via AOL Original News) in "Counterinsurgency Strategy Not Working in Afghanistan, Critics Say", Politics Daily, January 12, 2011.

Smuggling Afghans into Australia Is Big Business

A thriving crime organization exists in Australia that specializes in smuggling people from Afghanistan into Australia. Read more in "People smugglers operate as open secret", Sydney Morning Herald, January 29, 2011.

ANA Commandos and Special Forces Conduct Operation in Tangi Valley of Afghanistan

"CAMP MOREHEAD, Afghanistan— A force of more than 100 Afghan National Army Special Forces, Commandos, U.S. Army Special Forces, and soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division recently completed a two-day joint operation in the Tangi Valley of Eastern Afghanistan.

The goals were to uproot and remove an insurgent force consisting of improvised explosive device builders, a logistics cell that supported anti-coalition activities, and a large fighting force, all of which had been present in the valley for some time."

Read the rest of the article in "ANA Commandos, US Forces, partner to complete mission", DVIDS, January 26, 2011.

Afghan Local Police (ALP) Established in Zabul Province, Afghanistan by Special Forces Team

A shura was held in Shah Joy, Zabul Province, Afghanistan where it was announced that an element of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) would be established.  The ALP would be assisted by a U.S. Army Special Forces detachment.  Read more in "ALP program starting in Shah Joy", AFCENT, January 28, 2011.

One Day in the Life of a Female Interpreter in Afghanistan

Read an interesting account of a female interpreter working for a Marine Female Engagement Team (FET) in Afghanistan.  See "American interpreter takes a stand in Afghanistan", Stars and Stripes, January 28, 2011.

GAO Report on Afghan Army - January 27, 2011

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report on the Afghan Army.  It is entitled "Afghanistan Security: Afghan Army Growing, but Additional Trainers Needed; Long-Term Costs Not Determined", GAO-11-66, January 27, 2011.

See a news article about the report at "Lack of trainers puts U.S. Afghan exit strategy at risk, report says", CNN.com, January 27, 2011.  A summary of the report can be read at the GAO website that also provides a link where one can view the report or download it (PDF, 54 pages).

Gurkhas Honored for Tour of Duty in Afghanistan

The Gurkhas were honored for their recent tour of duty in Afghanistan.  See "Prince Charles honours Gurkhas' work in Afghanistan", BBC News, January 28, 2011.

Bad Relations between Karzai and New Parliament in Afghanistan

The new Afghan parliament is finally in session - four months after it was elected.  Karzai's power will be weakened by a parliament with less Pashtun representation and more outspoken members who do not politically align themselves with Karzai.  Read more in "An orchard of ills", The Economist, January 27, 2011.

Report Says Tide is Turning in Southern Afghanistan

An editor at Reuters writes on the war in southern Afghanistan and discusses a recent war report published by the the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War.  The report is somewhat optimistic in its outlook and the editor takes a stab at evaluating the report. See "Is the tide turning in southern Afghanistan?", Afghan Journal, Reuters.

Special Operations Night Raids in Afghanistan - Are they Counterproductive?

The use of night raids by Special Operations Forces (SOF) have become very controversial.  President Karzai has repeatedly asked for them to be halted but the optemo has only increased over the past year.  The military says the night raids are having a dramatic impact on the mid-level leadership of the Taliban.  The critics say too many innocents have died and that it is one of the single most damaging event for losing "the hearts and minds" of the population.  Read one critics view in "Because the Night Belongs to Raiders: Special ops in Nangrahar", Afghanistan Analysts Network, January 11, 2010.

Head of Agency Watching Afghan Reconstruction Resigns

The head of the agency that oversees the investigation of corruption in Afghanistan has resigned.  Members of Congress have been displeased with his organizations performance.  Read more in "Arnold Fields, watchdog over Afghan reconstruction, resigns amid congressional pressure", The Washington Post, January 10, 2011.

New Afghan Parliament at odds with Karzai

The new Afghan parliament will be seated this week; over the objections of Karzai.  Read more in "Afghanistan's Karzai Nailed by Political 1-2 Punch", CBS News, January 25, 2011.

More News about Private Spies in Afghanistan

The ongoing saga about a private spy network of ex-CIA agents and former Special Forces operatives working in Afghanistan continues.  See "Spying for Profit", Allgov.com, January 25, 2011.

Petraeus Sees Tough Year Ahead

General Petraeus released a statement saying that the past year yielded progress in Afghanistan but that the coming year will be a tough one.  Read more in "Petraeus Sees Progress in Afghanistan, Next Year 'Tough'", Voice of America, January 25, 2011.

Military to Withdraw Support Troops, Keep Combat Forces in Afghanistan

It would appear that one method of withdrawing forces and lowering the number of troops in Afghanistan will be to take out support troops but leaving combat units intact.  Read more in "U.S. Seeks to Keep Afghan Troop Strength" in The Wall Street Journal (January 8, 2011).

Canadian Troops to Begin Withdrawal From Afghanistan in June 2011

Canada will begin withdrawing its combat troops from outposts from across southern Afghanistan in June.  Read more in "Canadian troops to begin withdrawing from Afghan combat in June", The Gazette, January 23, 2011.

IEDs a Growing Problem in Afghanistan

IEDs in Afghanistan continue to be a growing problem resulting in numerous injuries and deaths.  This, despite an enormous effort to defeat the IED networks and protect troops with expensive anti-mine vehicles.

"Insurgents in Afghanistan have answered the Obama administration's troop surge with a surge of their own, planting thousands of roadside bombs that caused more U.S. troop casualties last year than the prior eight years of the war.

Since President Obama took office in January 2009 and vowed to end Taliban gains in Afghanistan, casualties from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have nearly quadrupled.

In 2010, the bombs wounded 3,366 U.S. troops, which is nearly 60% of the total IED-wounded since the war's start in late 2001, according to Pentagon figures.

In nine years of war, 617 American troops have been killed by IEDs and the majority of those deaths came in the past two years. The 268 troops killed by IEDs in 2010 account for more than 40% of all deaths caused by bombs during the war."

Read more in "Afghan insurgents match surge with more IEDs" by USA Today.

Special Forces and JSOC on a Crusade Against Muslims? Not Likely

Seymour Hersh, an investigative journalist, author and contributor to The New Yorker, has accused General McCrystal and others of the Special Forces (and JSOC) community of secretly plotting crusades against Muslims.  He did this in a speech in Doha, Qatar on January 17, 2011.  (See the transcript provided by Foreign Policy).  Among his statements are nuggets such as accusing JSOC members of being members of the Knights of Malta and Opus Dei.  He says the war in Afghanistan is part of a huge secret worldwide crusade by these secret Christian organizations.  Several journalists have refuted his statements.  See "Seymour Hersh, the Knights of Malta, and me", Foreign Policy, January 21, 2011 and "Hersh rebuked on crusaders", The Washington Post, January 21, 2011.

US Special Forces Village Units to Expand in Afghanistan

"The U.S. military is drawing up plans to sharply expand a network of village security forces across Afghanistan, a program U.S. officials say could be a cost-effective way to make up for shortages in the regular army and police in rural areas. But the U.S. needs a green light from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has long been wary because such local forces could potentially threaten his government's authority unless they are kept in close check." 

Read the rest of the story in "U.S. Builds Afghan Village Force", Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2011.

Karzia Agrees to Allow New Afghan Legislature to Convene

"A showdown between President Hamid Karzai and his country's newly elected parliament was averted late Saturday when the Afghan leader agreed to convene the inaugural legislative session this week rather than push for a one-month postponement.

Lawmakers were intent on defying Karzai's order to delay the first session, initially scheduled for Sunday, and had said they would meet at a mosque or in the street if security forces blocked them from the parliament building.  The standoff pushed the Afghan leader and his government to the brink of a full-blown political crisis."

Read the rest of the article in "President Hamid Karzai agrees to let new Afghanistan parliament meet, averting crisis", Los Angeles Times, January 23, 2011.

170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to Deploy to Northern Afghanistan

The 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team currently stationed in Germany will soon deploy to northern Afghanistan.  It will replace the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division that will return to Fort Drum, New York.  Part of the brigade will deploy to RC-South and one of its battalions will be engaged in training units of the Afghan National Security Forces.  Read more in "Baumholder-based brigade to patrol northern Afghanistan", Stars and Stripes, January 10, 2011.

Providing Electricity to Afghanistan - An Overwhelming Project

In an effort to increase development, spark the economy, provide for a better standard of living, and increase support for the central government the U.S. has embarked on many infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.  One of the more important development projects is providing electricity.  The providing of electricity in Afghanistan the past few years has seen some success but not at the desired levels.  Read more on this topic in "Firm with checkered record hired for Afghan work", The Washington Examiner, January 10, 2010.

Working With Village Elders in Afghanistan - Or how to Test Your Patience!

American combat leaders are tasked with building rapport with the village elders at the community level in an attempt to gather intelligence about Taliban activities, increase the level of support for the Afghan central government in Kabul (Karzai's corrupt cronies), and to provide for increased security within the community against the Taliban.  This is a difficult task at best given the many variables our young combat leaders must deal with.  Factored into this task is the language barrier, a lack of understanding of the Afghan culture, the Taliban's successful efforts to intimidate the local village elders (with death threats), and the fact that the U.S. will not be there in force in a few years while the Taliban will be there forever.  Read a news report that provides more info on this in "Reliance on Afghan elders tests troops", Stars and Stripes, January 10, 2011.

Different Viewpoints on the Afghan Local Police (ALP)

A few days back I provided a link to a post on "The Best Defense" blog found on the Foreign Policy website done by Thomas E. Ricks.  The blog post was about an artillery battalion commander who was involved in setting up an Afghan Local Police (ALP) unit in his sector of operations.  The action of the battalion commander was heavily criticized by another blogger with extensive knowledge of Afghanistan.  The Battalion Cdr has wrote a response.  It is interesting to see the different views of the endeavor to set up local defense units - referred to as ALP.

Glowing Statements about Progress of ANP from Kabul Do Not Reflect Reality in the Field

A columnist reporting from Afghanistan files a pessimistic report of the progress of the war.  He states that while optimistic reports emanate from ISAF headquarters in Kabul - closer to the fight the view is much different.  His observations of the performance of the Afghan National Police (ANP) provides an example of the challenges ahead.  See "Ugly Victory in Afghanistan", Buffalo News.com, January 16, 2011.

Local Defense Groups in Afghanistan Continue to Form

"The Afghan government has organized more than 2,000 villagers into armed local defense forces so they can keep out insurgents and support coalition and Afghan forces. The self-defense groups are part of an expanding U.S.-backed program that bears a resemblance to a similar tactic in Iraq, the program has helped protect villages from insurgent attacks and the plan could expand to up to 10,000 people, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said. If the plan proves successful it could grow even larger, he said."

Read the rest of the story in "Afghanistan turns to local defense groups", USA Today, January 19, 2011.

Afghan National Police - Story on One Policeman in Afghanistan

An article has been published depicting the life of one member of the Afghan National Police (ANP).  Interesting look at the motivations of an Afghan policeman.  See "Afghan Police bring national pride, self-reliance to eastern Kandahar", DVIDS, January 17, 2011.

Negotiations Needed in Afghanistan

A columnist writes that we have lost the war and it is time to negotiate for peace.  Read his critique of the Afgahan War in "Afghanistan: Killing Peace", The Berkley Daily Planet, January 19, 2011.

Winter Lull in Fighting Provides Opportunity for U.S. in Villages to Establish Afghan Local Police (ALP)

The lull in the winter fighting is going to provide an opportunity for U.S. forces to make inroads into the villages in rural areas that are under Taliban control.  Many Taliban return to Pakistan or to their homes in Afghanistan during the winter months.  This provides the U.S. military with more occasions to meet with village elders to reinforce the theme of local ties with the district sub-governors, Afghan National Police (ANP), to start or finish development projects, and to institute a local village defense force sometimes referred to as Afghan Local Police (ALP) or neighborhood watch groups.  This is true in the village of Bangi, Afghanistan where military personnel recently met with village elders.  Read more on this topic in "US troops hope for Afghan winter breakthrough", Google Hosted News, January 11, 2011.

A Culture of Business in Afghanistan

Deputy Undersecretary for Defense Paul Brinkley has as one of his tasks the building up of a business culture in Afghanistan.  This task can lead one into many areas of endeavor as the article at the following link reveals.  See "The US military is fighting to build . . . Afghan business culture?", The Christian Science Monitor, January 14, 2011.

Protective Eyewear in Afghanistan Saves Eyes

An embed reporter has wrote an article about the importance of protective equipment that Soldiers and Marines wear while on patrol in Afghanistan.  In this article he specifically addresses protective eyewear.  Read "The Gear That Saved a Marine Corporal's Eyes", The New York Times, January 14, 2011.

Afghan Reintegration Program - Not Quite Up and Running

The Afghan reintegration program, where Taliban are persuaded to rejoin their community and stop fighting against coalition and Afghan security forces, is having a slow start.  The program started some months ago and has been heavily publicized but the crossovers have not occurred at the desired rate.  The "reintegrated" Taliban will be provided jobs and monitored by their community leaders to ensure they do not resume fighting.  The reintegration program was announced by Karzai and is supported by ISAF (see backgrounder notes entitled "ISAF Support to Reintegration and Reconciliation" - Adobe Acrobat PDF file).  However, success has been limited.  Read more in "U.S. military, Afghan officials put faith in underused reintegration program", Stars and Stripes, January 10, 2011.

Correspondent Reports on VSO and ALP in Southern Afghanistan

A correspondent has wrote a post on the Village Stability Program (VSO) / Afghan Local Police (ALP) implementation in a village in southern Afghanistan.  A Field Artillery Battalion Commander is attempting to set up an ALP element in his sector.  Read about the pitfalls and challenges he has in making this happen.  See "Doping out how to do the VSO-ALP backburn", Foreign Policy, January 18, 2011.  Read more about village stability operations and Afghan Local Police here.

9th Marines Conduct Operation Integrity in Marjah, Afghanistan

The battle of Marjah may now be over but the coalition forces are still conducting operations searching for remnants of the Taliban. 

"On Jan. 15, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment launched Operation Integrity, in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. The main purpose of the operation was to successfully cordon off a suspected hotspot for Taliban activity, search for weapon and IED caches, disrupt enemy logistical operations and gather census data on locals in the region of Sistani." 

Read the rest of the story in "Marines say insurgency weakening in northern Marjah", Marines.mil, January 18, 2011.

COIN Theory: COIN Training Center in Afghanistan Teaches How to Succeed With Counterinsurgency

The Counterinsurgency Training Center in Afghanistan teaches Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and coalition partners about the basics of COIN.  COL Chadwick W. Clark of the COIN Training Center has a small blog explaining their very basic COIN theory.  He provides us with a basic guide called the three P's of Perception, Partnering, and Praxis.  Read more in "COIN: Theory is Easy, Execution is Hard", NTM-A, January 5, 2011.

Critic Says "Hearts and Minds Campaign" Not Working

A critic of the war in Afghanistan, Bing West, says that the U.S. military should get back to fighting the enemy and spending less time on nation building and winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan populace.  Read more in "Hearts and Minds Won't Get Us Out of Afghanistan", Newsweek, January 4, 2011.

Police Mentoring in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2009 | A Report by CNA

The CNA Strategic Studies research group has published a report entitled "Police Mentoring in Afghanistan 2007-2009".  The report is wrote by William Rosenau, Ph.D. and is available for download on the CNA website (Adobe Acrobat file, 98 pages).  A description of the report (text taken from website) is below:

"The role of the police is an important but largely overlooked aspect of contemporary counterinsurgency and stability operations. Although academic and policy specialists have examined the role of police in post-conflict environments, the question of how police should be organized, trained, and equipped for counterinsurgency campaigns has received little systematic attention.

Similarly, US military doctrine and the professional military literature, while not ignoring the subject entirely, do not consider it in any systematic way.2 This gap is particularly ironic, given the prominent role that soldiers and Marines have played in training indigenous police and other security forces in counterinsurgency campaigns from Vietnam to Afghanistan.

If the broader topic of police and counterinsurgency is under-examined, the subject of mentoring—that is, advising and training—foreign police forces is even more neglected. American Marines, soldiers, and other military personnel preparing to deploy to Afghanistan for the police mentoring mission have few sources of information and analysis available to them.

This monograph addresses that gap. Using a series of ten vignettes, this report examines in depth the experiences of individual American and British soldiers and Marines who served as mentors in Afghanistan during the 2007-2009 period."

The following link will take you to the report. 

http://www.cna.org/research/2010/police-mentoring-afghanistan-2007-2009

Canadian Soldiers Use Tough Love for Panjwaii District - Afghanistan

Canadians are working hard to win over the population and reduce the amount of insurgents fighting for the Taliban.  One of the many methods is the establishment of development projects that increase the standard of living of Afghans (schools, medical clinics, etc.), hiring of young men for these projects in work programs that are designed to take the foot soldier out of the insurgent band, and the conduct of capture/kill operations against the Taliban.  Some villages are more receptive to these development and work programs than others.  Read more on this topic: 

"Months of sometimes tough and bloody fighting by Canadian, U.S. and Afghan forces over the summer and fall weren’t enough to pacify a village that remains a refuge for insurgents in southern Afghanistan.

That’s when the Canadians, with plenty of cash for "icebreaker" projects designed to get young men more interested in jobs than war, decided to just bypass Nakhonay and fund a flood of development projects for its closest neighbours.

Canada’s soldiers have taken on a newer, tough-love approach as two deadlines loom — their summer pullout from Kandahar, and, preceding that, the traditional spring start of another insurgent fighting season."

 "Canadian soldiers try tough love, jealousy to win over Afghan villagers", Montreal Gazette, January 15, 2011.

Report from Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Zabul, Afghanistan

Zabul Province in Afghanistan has recently deserved the attention it deserves from the military.  It is an important province due to a number of factors.  Highway 1 runs through Zabul Province (it connects Kandahar with Kabul).  The province is home to leaders and members of the insurgency and neighbors Kandahar Province.  Recent military operations have enhanced security which in turn helps with efforts to improve governance and development.  The following news release paints a rosy picture of the Afghan government's efforts in Zabul Province.  Let's hope it is true.  See "Measurable progress made in Afghanistan's Zabul Province", The Reading Eagle, January 16, 2011.

Karl Eikenberry - U.S. Ambassador - Optimistic on Afghanistan

The U.S. Ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, has been quoted in a recent news article as being optimistic about Afghanistan.  He says that as the U.S. begins to transition from a combat role to a support role over the next four years that things will improve.  Eikenberry notes that sufficient resources have now been provided to the U.S. military for the first time since the invasion in 2001-2002.  Read more in "U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan optimistic about reaching goals", Fayetteville Observer, January 16, 2011.

Afghan National Border Police Receives Contraband Training in Afghanistan

Members of the Afghan National Border Police received training in customs and border procedures recently in Afghanistan.  A Military Police platoon of the 10th Mountain Division provided the training with assistance from the U.S. Customs Border Patrol.  The training was for a Contraband Enforcement Team (CET).  Read more in "Ready, CET, Go! A new training program begins at Afghan border", dvidshub.net, January 16, 2011.

Senator Webb Disagrees With Army Version of the Battle of Wanat, Afghanistan

Nine U.S. Army Soldiers died in the Battle of Wanat in July 2008.  The Army has recently released the historical record (Adobe Acrobat file) of the battle but many are finding fault with its conclusions.  This includes Senator Webb of Virginia.  Read more on this in "Sen. Webb decries Army's flawed history of controversial Wanat battle", The Washington Post, January 7, 2011.

The COIN Curve

Reading a recent news article this morning I was introduced to a new phrase - "The COIN Curve".  It appears, based on the explanation provided in the article, that in a counterinsurgency the level of violence will increase before it gets better - meaning the violence level goes down.  This is caused by a number of factors - and in Afghanistan can be attributed to two major factors (I am sure there are more than two but these come to mind right now).  New troops - "the surge" - are introduced into traditional Taliban sanctuaries and the level of fighting increases.  As the pressure mounts on the Taliban as a result of an increased optempo the level of violence increases across the board - more Taliban are being engaged more frequently. An example of the increase in violence, as the article points out, is the increase in security incidents during January - a month where the "winter recess" means the Taliban return to their safe havens in Pakistan or to their homes in Afghanistan.

Level of Security Incidents in January:

January 2008 - 100
January 2009 - 200
January 2010 - 400
January 2011 - 700 (this is just in the first week of January)

So, there you have it.  "The COIN Curve" explained.  Hopefully in January 2012 we will see the downward trend begin?

See "Petraeus blames 75% increase in violence on mild Afghan winter", The Examiner, January 15, 2011.

Should We Leave the Pech Valley in RC-East?

A video is circulating around the blogs about the upcoming decision on whether to withdraw from the Pech River Valley in RC-East (Afghanistan).  James Foley of Global Post interviewed members of a battalion from the 101st Airborne Division on the merits of the U.S. military staying in the Pech River Valley.  Some members of the battalion believe that the presence of U.S. forces provide a common enemy for the various anti-government forces to come together against - giving them a unity of effort and a reason for existance.  The Pech River Valley is sparsely populated and the value of "owning" the valley is in question.  If the military were to secure the valley it certainly would be a modest military gain but would come at a high cost utilizing resources that might be more valuable elsewhere in Afghanistan.  It would appear that much of the valley will be left to the Taliban as early as May 2011 when the battalion pulls out - putting into the question the work and effort (and lives) expended thus far by U.S. military members.  It is possible that the Afghan security forces would remain to secure the valley - but . . . .   Click on the link below to view the video.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/110103/afghanistan-war-video-pech-valley

US Pushes Local Governance in Southern Afghanistan

The US military is trying to expand local government as rapidly as possible in southern Afghanistan during the winter months - traditionally a period where there is a decrease in fighting.  Read more in "US rushes to build local governments in southern Afghanistan before expected spring offensive", Google Hosted News, January 13, 2011.

Marjah Now a Peaceful Farming Community

Marjah has been described by a high-ranking Marine officer as "a peaceful farming community".  This is a long way from the fierce battle that was fought last February and over the past several months by the Marine Corps and other combat units.  Read the news article in "Marine official: We're beginning to see a turn in Afghanistan", Jacksonville Daily News, January 13, 2011.

Kabul, Afghanistan Embassy to be Built by Montgomery, Alabama Firm

A Montgomery, Alabama construction firm has been awarded the contract to build the new U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.  Read more in "Montgomery firm set to build $416 million US Embassy in Afghanistan", Montgomery Advertiser, January 13, 2011.

Oil Contract Awarded for Northern Afghanistan

An oil development contract has been awarded to a local Afghan firm for an area in northern Afghanistan that is near the Afghanistan / Turkmenistan border.  Read more in "Afghanistan Awards First Oil Deal", LogisticsWeek, January 14, 2011.