Soviet-Era Journalist Recalls End of Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan

A Soviet journalist who covered many years of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan spent much of the final year observing and reporting on the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Read his comments on what happened 25 years ago in "Soviet-Era Journalist, Face of Afghan War, Looks Back on Pullout", Radio Free Europe, February 18, 2014.

Dangerous Detainees Are Legitimate Targets Says Pentagon

The Afghan government recently released 65 dangerous insurgents from detention. This was done despite over-whelming evidence that the detainees were guilty of various crimes under Afghan law. A Pentagon spokesman says that if the released detainees (65) go back to the fight then they are legitimate targets and will be pursued by U.S. military forces. Read more in "Pentagon: If freed Afghan prisoners return to fight, they're legitimate targets", CNN, February 14, 2014.

Afghanistan's Plan B

The Karzai regime has been continuing and increasing its verbal attacks against the United States. At risk is the continued presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan post-2014 to continue the Security Force Assistance (SFA) mission (Resolute Support) and the many millions of dollars in foreign aid that will be tied to that SFA mission. However, Karzai may be willing to walk away from the advisors and the aid because he has a Plan B. Plan B could very well involve increases in support from Iran and India. Read more in "Could Iran and India be Afghanistan's Plan B", The Diplomat, February 14, 2014.

Photographer Records Daily Life for Troops in Afghanistan

SGT Julieanne Morse recently completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2013 as an Army photographer. She spent a lot of time traveling - much of it in Logar province when assigned to 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment. 5/8 Cav was responsible (in conjunction with the ANSF) with providing security in Logar and for the conduct of the Security Force Assistance mission. Logar was a very active province with several contested districts (Azra, Baraki Barak, Charkh, and Kharwar). Morse is a Black Hills State University photography student and also a member of South Dakota's National Guard 129th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. During her tour she embedded with a number of different units and took photographs of U.S. military units as well as the Afghan National Security Forces. Read more in "The daily life of troops in Afghanistan", Black Hills Pioneer, February 15, 2014.

ISAF Asked by Senator to Explain IO Campaign Against SIGAR

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has been getting hammered by reports by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). SIGAR reports have highlighted many failures in the Afghan Conflict relating to oversight of construction and development projects and of funding for the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Basically ISAF (and USAID) have not had enough accountants to follow the money and not enough contract specialists to ensure that projects and programs are implemented properly. A lot of money has gone south (actually it is in Dubai bank accounts). In response to the very damaging SIGAR reports ISAF developed an information operations campaign to counter the bad image it was receiving. Once this campaign was exposed it attracted a lot of attention. Read "Senator presses Afghanistan commander on critical audits", USA Today, February 13, 2014.

Relations Between Afghan Government and US Worsen

President Hamid Karzai has been increasing the volume in registering his discontent with the United States and the lack of respect the US has for Afghan sovereignty. The US is very concerned about Karzai not signing the Bilateral Security Agreement and the recent release of 65 dangerous detainees. Read more in "Karzai criticises lack of US respect for Afghan sovereignty as relations worsen", The Guardian, February 13, 2014.

Histories of the 65 Detainees Released by Afghaistan

The 65 detainees released by the Afghan government were hardened Taliban fighters - some who were directly responsible for the death of U.S. military members. Read the history of some of the detainees releases in a PDF document provided by BBC News. See "ANDF-P Pending Detainee Releases (65)".

Al-Qaeda Alive and Well in Afghanistan and Pakistan

An interesting and informative piece on al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Michael Kugelman. While the White House continues its story-line, developed during Obama's re-election campaign, that al-Qaeda poses a vastly diminished threat in Afghanistan - reality is providing us with a different perspective.  Although various leaders of al-Qaeda have been killed over the years (many by drone attacks based out of Afghanistan) the group is still very operational. Read more in "Al-Qaeda is alive and well in Afghanistan and Pakistan", War on the Rocks, February 14, 2014.

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USAID and the Office of Transition Initiatives in Afghanistan

One of the more successful programs of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is it's Office of Transition Initiatives in Afghanistan. OTI has just chosen the firms that will implement the vast majority of its programs through the next five years. The nine partner firms that will assist USAID in the implementation of the development contracts include AECOM, Casals and Associates, Chemonics International, Creative Associates International, DAI, International Relief and Development, International Resources Group/Engility, Management Systems International, and RTI International. Read more on this topic in "USAID's audacious transition initiatives finds partners", devex.com, February 14, 2014.

Afghan High Peace Council Blames US for Insecurity in Afghanistan

The Afghan High Peace Council has released a statement saying that the United States is a source of insecurity in Afghanistan and that the U.S. martyred Osama bin Laden. The High Peace Council is made of a number of influential politicians, statesmen, academics, business leaders, government appointees, and even former (or maybe current) Taliban members. Thus far it has been relatively ineffective in negotiating with the Taliban and has a dismal record of implementing the reintegration program. Powerful words from an organization appointed by Karzai to represent Afghanistan in peace talks with the Taliban. Time for the "Zero Option"? Read a news post on this topic in the "Threat Matrix" (Feb 13, 2014).

Afghan Prisoner Release Strains Afghan / US Relations

The release of 65 detainees from the high-security Bagram detention facility has strained relations between the Afghan government and the United States. Read more in "Q&A about the Afghanistan prisoner release", The Washington Post, February 13, 2014.

Insider Threat Still A Danger in Afghanistan

The Insider Threat or green-on-blue attacks is still a huge concern for NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan. While 2012 saw the most green-on-blue attacks on record - there were still some that occurred in 2013. And, as we have recently read in the news, 2014 has already seen some U.S. deaths caused by insider attacks. Read more in "Pentagon: Insider Threat in Afghanistan as dangerous as it ever was", Stars and Stripes, February 14, 2014.

Afghan Forces Becoming More Effective

As the United States and its allies in Afghanistan continue to withdraw the Afghan National Security Forces or ANSF is finding itself having to do almost all of the fighting and also picking up responsibility for sustaining itself (logistics, training, MEDEVACs, supplies, contracting, etc.). Read more on this topic in "Afghan forces have proved surprisingly effective", USA Today, February 15, 2014.

More Mi-17 Helicopters Going to Afghans

A news report says that more Mi-17s are heading to the Afghan Air Force. Read "Afghan Army Service to receive More Mi-17 Helicopters this Year", Defense World, February 13, 2014.

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Coast Guard Assists in Afghan Retrograde Mission

A small element of the U.S. Coast Guard is assisting in the retrograde mission - moving equipment, material and supplies out of Afghanistan back to the United States or other staging areas. One small element of the Coast Guard can be found at Camp Marmal in Regional Command North. The U.S. Coast Guard Redeployment Assistance and Inspection Detachment or RAID is in Mazar-e-Sharif. They are responsible for assisting U.S. military personnel in properly packing containers for shipping from the war zone. Read more in "US Coast Guard takes on Afghan retrograde mission", Stars and Stripes, February 14, 2014.

203rd Corps SFAAT Provides Assistance In SoK Area

Security Force Assistance advisers provide advice and assistance to a variety of organizations within the Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan military and police institutions at the regional and national level, and to the Afghan ministries (principally MoI and MoD). At left is a picture of U.S. Army Captain Jeffery Burgett advising a LTC and COL; of the 203rd Corps in the corps tactical operations center. (U.S. Army photo by PFC Dixie Rae Liwanag Feb 13, 2014).

4/3 ID Looks Back on Logar / Wardak Province Deployment in 2013

The 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (BCT) of the 3rd Infantry Division spent nine months in 2013 deployed to two of the most kinetic provinces in Afghanistan. Logar and Wardak provinces are located to the south of Kabul in Regional Command East. Logar province is a staging area and facilitation route into the soft underbelly of Kabul and Wardak province has the strategic Highway 1 that connects Kabul with Kandahar. The Afghan National Security Forces in both provinces were lagging a bit behind in their capability when compared with units in the rest of Afghanistan. Read more about 4/3 ID's deployment in 2013 in "A rough deployment: 4th Brigade overcomes challenges to enable Afghans", Savannah Morning News, February 15, 2014. In the photo at left, CPT Jason Imboden, an SFAAT advisor in Logar province instructs members of the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) in Counter IED techniques. (Photo by SGT Julieanne Morse - May 2013).

Comparison of 1989 and 2014 in Afghanistan

As we ease into 2014 observers of the Afghan conflict are looking at the post-2014 era in Afghanistan when ISAF will remove most of its troops. Up in the air is whether the new Afghan president will sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) which will allow NATO to leave up to 16,000 troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 to conduct Security Force Assistance and counter-terrorism operations against remnants of al-Qaeda. Many are comparing the post-2014 era with 1989 when the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan. The Afghan communist regime supported by the Soviets survived about four years before it was toppled. Some observers point out that the present Afghan police are corrupt and ineffective and that the Afghan National Army (although more capable) could easily divide along ethnic lines and ties to warlords and power brokers. Read more in "Withdrawing from Afghanistan - 1989 and 2014", DW.de, February 14, 2014.

Fox News Calls Karzai Villain Who Should be Tried for Corruption

Fox News (Bill O'Reilly) has stated that President Hamid Karzai is a "villain" and should be tried for corruption. Read more here on Fox News Insider.

Afghan Presidential Debate

The pace of the road to the Afghan elections is picking up with active campaigning by all eleven candidates for president. A series of presidential debates are being held so the candidates can get their views across to the Afghan public. A recent televised debate was held in Kabul. Read more in "Afghan Presidential Hopefuls Debate Corruption, Peace, Women's Rights", Radio Free Europe, February 16, 2014.

Photos of Osama bin Laden's Death Were Ordered Destroyed

Photos of Osama bin Laden's death were ordered destroyed by Admiral McRaven the U.S. Special Operations Command commander. This was a wise move as it was determined that any photos would be used as a propaganda tool by our enemies. However there is one organization that has taken objection with the destruction of the photos. Judicial Watch seems to think they have a right to the photos and is questioning on whether any laws were broken. One would think Judicial Watch would have more important things to worry about and you have to question their overall motives for this request. Read more in "Admiral: Destroy photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse", USA Today, February 12, 2014.

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101st Sustainment Brigade of 101st Div Returns to Campbell

Soldiers from the 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division returned from a nine-month long deployment to Afghanistan. It was the sixth deployment for the brigade since 2001. While in Afghanistan the brigade ran sustainment and retrograde operations for Regional Command Capital, East and North. Read more in "Lifeliners Return", The Fort Campbell Courier, February 13, 2014.

715th Military Police Company Returns from Afghanistan

Members of the 715th Military Police Company of the Florida National Guard returned home after a nine-month long deployment to Afghanistan. Read the story here in "After more than a year away, Brevard-based soldiers return home", Florida Today, February 11, 2014.

Some Question Youth Awareness about Afghan Election

There are questions being raised about the awareness level of the Afghan elections among young people that will take place in April 2014. About 68 per cent of Afghanistan's population of 28 million are under the age of 25 and 77 per cent of the people live in rural areas. Read more in "Afghan Youth Debates: Concerns About Youth Awareness of Polls", Institute for War & Peace Reporting, February 14, 2014.

Odierno Says U.S. Needs to stay in Afghanistan

In a Council of Foreign Affairs event the chief of staff for the Army, General Odierno, said it is important to keep a U.S. presence in Afghanistan.  Read more in "Odierno: Important that US troops stay in Afghanistan", DEFCON Hill Blog, February 12, 2014.

Dangerous Taliban Prisoners Released by Karzai

Sixty-five dangerous prisoners were released by the Afghan government recently. The U.S. has registered strong discontent with this action but Karzai went ahead with the release anyway. Read more in "Afghanistan frees 65 inmates U.S. calls dangerous", USA Today, February 13, 2014.

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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.

Two Fort Bragg Soldiers Killed in Green-on-Blue Incident

Two Fort Bragg Soldiers from 3rd Special Forces Group were killed in a 'green-on-blue' attack this week. At least two men wearing Afghan National Security Forces uniforms opened fire on their unit. SPC John Pelham of Portland, Oregon and SFC Roberto Skelt of York, Florida were killed on Wednesday. Both Soldiers were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group. They died of wounds suffered when struck by small-arms fire in Kapisa province. Read more in "Two Fort Bragg soldiers killed in Afghanistan", Fayetteville Observer, February 15, 2014.

USAID Public Relations Problems

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) feels it has a publicity problem. In military parlance that could mean Public Affairs (PR), information operations (IO), or inform and influence activities (IIA). Whatever you want to call it - PR, IO, or IAA - USAID has a perception problem. The USAID has been on the receiving end of countless reports detailing waste, fraud, and corruption in the development projects it oversees in Afghanistan. So in an attempt to counter the bad publicity it has been getting it wants to hire professional photographers to photograph its various projects upon which it has oversight. However, it appears (according to the solicitation) that photographer needs to be able to operate within Afghanistan independent of USAID and military forces - as the photographer will be visiting places USAID and the US military no longer can visit because of security reasons (security still is not that great in Afghanistan evidently). This begs the question. If USAID can't visit the project sites to take its own photographs how can USAID provide proper oversight on those projects involving millions of dollars? Things that make you go "Hmmmmm". Read more in "USAID struggles to capture a different picture of Afghanistan", The Washington Post, February 13, 2014.

USAID Conducting Propaganda on US Public?

Some questions are being raised on a recent USAID solicitation for independent professional photographers to visit and photograph recent USAID projects in an attempt to provide pro-USAID photos that depict the projects in a positive light. It seems that the USAID cannot visit the sites and take their own photos because of security concerns. The same security concerns that prevent USAID from taking their own photographs probably hamper the oversight USAID is supposed to provide on these expensive projects. And therein lies the problem. It isn't a public perception problem; it is a poor oversight problem. But I guess USAID doesn't get it. Read more in "USAID cancels contract for good news from Afghanistan", USA Today, February 13, 2014.

Video on Air Missions Run by 10th CAB at Bagram

A short video can be seen that describes some of the air missions that the 10th Mountain Combat Aviation Brigade is running out of Bagram Air Field in Regional Command East. CW5 William Butler is featured; interviewed by Gail McCabe. Mr. Butler talks about the flight hours, retrograde of equipment, how young troops are working hard and learning a lot, and how the aviation support mission has changed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJOzEez_gBc

Interview of DoS Official for Counter-Narcotics

Ambassador William R. Brownfield, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs was recently interviewed upon his return from a trip to Afghanistan. He attempts to explain how, despite the expenditure of 6-8 billion dollars since 2001 the production of opium is higher now than what it was in 2002. "Warning Sounded Over Drug Trafficking In Afghanistan", Radio Free Europe, February 13, 2014.

Look Past Karzai on the BSA

Most American officials and members of Congress are fed up with President Karzai. Many believe that we need to table the Bilateral Security Agreement until the next President of Afghanistan is elected (possibly in the April elections; probably in a run-off in mid-summer). Read more in "U.S. Looking Past Karzai to Post-Election Afghan Security Accord", Bloomberg Businessweek, February 12, 2014.

65 Afghan Detainees Freed by Karzai

Afghan insurgents under detention by the Afghan government have now been freed. Many were confined due to attacks against NATO or ANSF troops over the past several years. Over sixty-five detainees were released from the high-security Bagram detention center. The U.S. embassy in Kabul has labeled the move as "deeply regrettable". Read more in "Afghan prisoners freed from Bagram amid US protests", BBC News Asia, February 13, 2014.

Pakistan's Taliban University

Just 90 minutes (driving) northwest of Islamabad, Pakistan is an Islamic seminary that is considered a jihadist factory producing Taliban fighters for decades. It is unofficially known as the "University of Jihad". Among its alumni are Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani. About 3,500 students currently live and study at the compound. Read more in "At Pakistan's 'Taliban U' jihadists major in anti-Americanism", Fox News, February 7, 2014.

ISAF / USAID and Messaging

Some wars are won in the public arena not on the battlefield. The Vietnam conflict in the 60s and early 70s is ample proof of that. Unfortunately - when looking at Afghanistan, the U.S. military and evidently, USAID, is not that adapt at messaging. They both have been getting hammered by all sorts of sources to include Karzai, the Taliban, the press, Congress, SIGAR, and others. A key tenet of public relations and information operations (or inform and influence activities) is to base your message on the facts - and there is the rub. Read more in "No news is good news from Afghanistan", USA Today, February 13, 2014.

Explaining Karzai - Peter Tomsen Gives it a Shot

Peter Tomsen provides us with his insight on Karzai and his anti-American rhetoric. While we may feel that Karzai has left his senses others are thinking he is ensuring his future and his legacy in Afghanistan. Tomsen is a former U.S. special envoy and ambassador on Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992. He also published a book on the wars of Afghanistan. Read more in "What Is Hamid Karzai Thinking? And should we even care anymore?", Politico.com, February 10, 2014.

Afghanistan - "As Good As it is Going to Get"

The commandant of the United States Marine Corps spends a lot of time in Helmand and Nimroz provinces which make up Regional Command Southwest. He was recently interviewed and asked his perspective on Afghanistan. He says that Afghanistan is "as good as it is going to get". Read more in a Breaking Defense blog post dated February 11, 2014.

Taliban Establish Camps for Training in Helmand Province

Reports from Afghan police officials say that the Taliban have established some training camps in southern Helmand in the districts of Dishu and Khanishin. Learn more in a recent blog post of the Long War Journal dated February 12, 2014.

End Game in Afghanistan - A Canadian's View

A commentator, Scott Taylor, for a Canadian newspaper provides us his outlook on possible outcomes of the Afghan War. He looks at the eleven candidates running in the 2014 Afghan election and comes to the conclusion that things look dismal. He observes that the main objective of the International Security Force Afghanistan (ISAF) is to make the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) as capable as possible so that they can support whoever gets elected in April (or May, or June, . . . depending on the schedule of election runoffs). His concluding sentence is revealing - "We just need the Afghan army to hold the airfields until the last NATO plane has departed". Read the story in "West hopes for best of worst in Afghanistan", The Chronicle Herald, February 9, 2014.

Video Interview on SFAAT Advisor - ANA and C-IED Training

DVIDS has released a video of Captain Rober Soriano, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division being interviewed on C-IED training for the ANA. CPT Soriano serves as an engineer advisor as part of a Security Force Assistance Advisor Team for the ANA 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps. The use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have dramatically influenced the course of the Afghan conflict. IEDs cause over 50% of the casualties of the Afghan National Security Forces. You can view the video here.

Green on Blue Shouldn't Prompt a US Withdrawal

A commentator blogs about the recent green on blue attack in Kapisa and states it should not cloud our judgement and prompt a zero option attitude on Afghanistan. Read more in "Afghanistan: No Reason for Retreat", The American Spectator, February 14, 2014.

Karzai Sidelined

The rhetoric of Hamid Karzai has been muted. The U.S. politicians and military brass (of ISAF) have be preening up to Karzai for so long that it was getting rather sickening. However Karzai finally pushed it too far. The most important event for the Afghan state and its security, next to the Afghan election this April, is the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement that will allow U.S. and NATO troops to remain in Afghanistan in a counter-terrorist and Security Force Assistance role beyond December 2014. It was hoped that Karzai would sign the Bilateral Security Agreement in early Fall of 2013. Instead he delayed it time and again while verbally attacking the United States on every issue imaginable. We (ISAF) kept cow-towing to him but it would appear that has finally stopped. Someone (Obama, General Dunford, Hagel?) has suddenly developed a little common sense and a set of Br*** B****. It seems (hopefully) that we are now waiting on the results of the election to see if the new President will sign the agreement. Can you spell "Lame Duck". It is easy: "Karzai".

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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.

White House May Delay Signing of BSA Until New Afghan President Takes Office

The White House is considering delaying the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Afghanistan until after the new president of Afghanistan takes office. It is very unlikely that Karzai will sign the BSA; and it is time to treat him like the 'lame duck' that he is. While the Afghan election is scheduled for April 5, 2014 it is very likely going to be headed for a run-off that takes place later in the summer. There are eleven candidates running and if the winner doesn't get 50% of the vote a run-off will be scheduled. That means the BSA won' be signed until later in the summer; providing ISAF, the U.S., and the international community three to four months to either pull out of Afghanistan completely or to implement plans to keep up to 16,000 troops in Afghanistan past December 2014. 10,000 would be from the United States and 6,000 from other NATO countries. Read more in "U.S. said to mull shifting Afghanistan exit plans", United Press International, February 11, 2014.

New Afghan Law Will Roll Back Women's Gains in Afghanistan

A new law passed by the Afghan parliament and awaiting signature by President Hamid Karzai will effectively silence victims of domestic violence. Things improved for women in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime; however, over the past few years there has been a roll-back of rights and conditions for Afghan women. In 2013 there was (according to the United Nations) a 28 per cent increase in reports of attacks against women - but very little rise in the number of prosecutions. Although there are some laws on the books that protect women they are rarely enforced. The article linked to below points out that with ISAF and the international community pulling out of Afghanistan things will likely get worse for women in Afghanistan. Read more in "New Afghan Law Disastrous for Women, Says National Geographic Photographer", National Geographic, February 8, 2014.

Green on Blue Attack in Kapisa

An insider attack took place in Kapisa province killing two U.S. Soldiers and wounding four others. Read more in "Afghan security forces kill 2 US soldiers, wound 4 in insider attack", All Voices.com, February 13, 2014.