Afghan Forces Winning Says IJC Cdr

The commander of the ISAF Joint Command, sometimes called IJC for short, provided an update on the Afghan War in a teleconference with Pentagon reporters. Army LTG Joseph Anderson said that the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are winning. He stated that the ANSF is ". . . the most trusted government organization in Afghanistan" and that it is ". . . a hugely capable fighting force that has been holding its ground against the enemy". The Afghan forces number about 352,000 - 156,000 in the army and 155,000 in the police.

In the transition from the ISAF mission to the Resolute Support mission there has been a steady decline in the number of Coalition forces in Afghanistan. Currently (early November 2014) there are 38,000 soldiers from 44 nations; with a planned strength of 12,500 Coalition members by the end of December 2014. The number of Coalition bases has decreased from 86 bases in January 2014 to a current number of 26 (as of early November 2014). There are no more Regional Commands. All of the RCs have transitioned to "Train Advise and Assist Commands" or TAACs. The last RC to transition was RC East (to TAAC East). The new mission, Resolute Support, is all about advising and assisting the Afghans at the corps, institutional, and ministerial levels to work systems and processes. The advisory effort is focused along Eight Essential Functions (the "8 EF's are the follow-on to the "Five Functional Pillars") which encompasses everything from planning, programming, budgeting and execution to sustainment and planning. Some of the capability gaps of the ANSF include aviation, intelligence, logistics, and medical.

Read more in "Afghan Forces Winning, ISAF Joint Command Chief Says", DoD News, November 5, 2014.

Ghani Removes "Handcuffs"

General John Campbell, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says that President Ghani has been very cooperative with ISAF and will likely lift some of the restriction imposed upon ISAF by President Karzai. Campbell says "Since about 2009, the security forces in some instances almost had handcuffs on them because of some of the policies that Karzai had". Read more in "New Afghan President Improves Ties with U.S.-led Forces", The Wall Street Journal, November 2, 2014.

ANASF Trains for Future after U.S. Exit

The Afghan National Army Special Forces (ANASF) are hopeful that they will be ready once the United States military finally leaves. While many of the U.S. SOF units have significantly trimmed down their force structure in Afghanistan - there is still an advisor capacity in country. This commitment will continue to scale back as time goes on. But the ANASF leadership is hopeful. Read more in "Afghan National Army trains to hold off Taliban after U.S. exit", The Washington Times, October 28, 2014.

Paper - Advisor Influence across NSMs and ANSF

An extremely well-researched and detailed paper is available that presents valuable information about advisor influence upon the Afghan national security ministries (NSMs) and the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The paper, a dissertation for a graduate student at Syracuse University with extensive military experience, ". . . is an in-depth case study of NATO advisors and their perceived influence in Afghanistan . . . " in the period of 2009-2012. The author reviews Security Sector Reform (SSR) literature, presents different theories on SSR, provides an analysis of security assistance partnering, and examines advisor influence across the Afghan security spectrum.  The paper, 370 pages long, explores a two-part question:

". . . how do foreign security actors (ministerial advisors and security force trainers, advisors, and commanders) attempt to influence their host-nation partners and what are their perceptions of these approaches on changes in local capacity, values, and security governance norms?"

The paper is entitled The Prospects of Institutional Transfer: A Within-Case Study of NATO Advisor Influence Across the Afghan Security Ministries and National Security Forces, 2009-2012, by Nicholas J. Armstrong, May 2014.
http://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=etd

Report - "Afghanistan in Transition"

The Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate has published a report entitled Afghanistan in Transition: U.S. Civilian Presence and Assistance Post-2014, dated October 27, 2014. The report is 31 pages long and consists of three sections: "Enhanced Accountability for U.S. Assistance", "A Refined U.S. Civilian Assistance Approach", and "Robust U.S. Diplomatic Posture and Civilian Presence". Topics include TMAF as a mechanism for incentivized assistance, improving Afghanistan's capacity to budget and collect revenue, enhancing women's rights, stemming corruption, sustainability of U.S. investments, lessons learned, interagency information sharing, monitoring program implementation, and the New Silk Road Initiative.

The report can be viewed and downloaded at the link below:
www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/89860.pdf

State Department - Little Afghan War News

A few days ago Afghan War News posted a blurb about how the Department of Defense seems to be ignoring news about Afghanistan. An examination of a Daily Press Briefing by the U.S. State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki held on October 27, 2014 provides the same result. The graphic to the left is a snip of the contents of the briefing for Oct 27th. Topics covered in the briefing include Lebanon, ISIL, Canada, Ebola, Syria, Israel, Ukraine, Tunisia, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Indonesia, Russia, Iran and Egypt. Afghanistan? No where to be found. Afghanistan: The War that the Defense Department and State Department forgot!

History of Marines in Helmand Province

The Marines have handed over Camp Leatherneck to the Afghan National Army. Only a few hundred Marines remain to do the final packing . . . and they too, will soon depart. What was once a sprawling base is a ghost town. A recently posted account of the Marines time in Helmand province can be found in "Marines leave Afghanistan after tough years", Stars and Stripes, October 27, 2014.

Afghan Social Media

In a counterinsurgency environment information operations (IO) is key. IO can sway public perception to support the government or it can generate support for the insurgents. Proper messaging (defined themes that resonate) along with the means of getting a message out (TV, print, radio, etc.) are important. With the rapid technological advances in communications social media has been taking a bigger and bigger role. This is true of Afghanistan as well. Almost three million Afghans have Internet access and almost two million use social media. Over 70% of the population has access to cell phones. Read more in "Afghan Social Media Summit 2014 becomes talk of town", Central Asia Online, October 27, 2014.

ISAF Fails at COIN

Our counter-insurgency doctrine states that for COIN forces to win the insurgents have to be defeated; for the insurgents to win, they have to survive. It is quite evident, based on the high level of insurgent activity in the 2014 fighting season, that Hekmatyar's Hizbi-Islami, the Haqqani Network, and the Taliban have survived the long 13-year long counterinsurgency effort mounted by NATO / ISAF in Afghanistan. Some observers believe that NATO is more suited for strategic level interventions and a cold war environment than a counterinsurgency environment. They believe the NATO organization (ISAF) is not structured for and does not do counterinsurgency well. Read more in "In Afghanistan the west suffered from institutional failure. Let's learn from it", by Afzal Amin, The Guardian, October 28, 2014.

Taliban Efforts Hurt by ANSF in October

According to a recent news report the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) enjoyed some success against the Taliban during the last part of October (2014). Read more in "Afghan security forces cut into Taliban efforts in October", Central Asia Online, November 3, 2014.

ISAF Reports on ANSF Now Classified

The International Security Assistance Force is now classifying one of the reports that previously were available to the public. The reports were produced to provide a status of the ANSF each month. Read more in "Classified: Military Suddenly Doesn't Want You to Know How $61B Afghan Training is Going", ABC News, October 30, 2014.

Romanian NSE Reaches End of Mission at KAF

The Romanian National Service Element at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan reached the end of their mission in October 2014. Read more in "Romanian NSE celebrates Armed Service Day and end of mission at KAF", DVIDS, October 27, 2014.

Afghan Opium War a Failure

The United States and other nations as well have spent billions of dollars attempting to stem the export of opium from Afghanistan. The end result is an increase of the drug trade over the past 13 years. Learn more in "Down the Afghan opium rathole", Chicago Sun-Times, October 28, 2014.

Video - ANA Training at KMTC

One of the largest training centers for the Afghan National Army (ANA) is at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC). The subjects taught by ANA instructors at KMTC range from house clearing, convoy operations, medical training and more. Watch a short video (2 mins) produced by NATO TV entitled "Afghan army learns from the battlefield", October 15, 2014.

1569th Trans Company Completes Retrograde Mission

The 1569th Transportation Company of the New York Army National Guard has returned to the United States after a 10-month long deployment to Afghanistan. The company helped coalition forces consolidate and close operating bases in Afghanistan. The Soldiers were stationed in Regional Command North at Camp Marmal just outside of Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. Read more in "New York Army National Guard Soldiers return to United States following Afghan deployment", DVIDS, October 27, 2014.

Afghan Deputy Gov Killed in Attack

A deputy provincial governor was killed in an attack in southern Kandahar while attending a university class. Read more in "Attacks Kill Afghan Deputy Governor, Judge", The New York Times, November 3, 2014.

Advisor Selection for Afghan SFA Mission

The Security Force Assistance (SFA) mission is a difficult one. Members of ISAF are expected to deploy to Afghanistan and train, advise, and assist their Afghan counterparts in the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police. The SFA mission began in early 2012 with the deployment of hundreds of Security Force Assistance Advisor Teams (SFAATs). Unfortunately, the most important factor that contributes to the success of an advisory mission was not considered in many cases by the United States military. That factor is the proper selection of advisor personnel. In many instances, advisors did not (and do not) have the needed attributes to be effective with their Afghan counterparts (age, experience, training, education, rank, personality, etc.).

"The decisive point of any SFA mission may very well be the selection, training, and education of personnel in preparation for deployment". SFA Handbook, Joint Center for International Security Force Assistance, June 2012.

For instance, if one traveled through Regional Command East in 2012 and met the Intelligence officers serving as advisors on SFAATs you would find that almost 50% of them were Infantry Lieutenants with less than two years in the U.S. Army. While these young men were undoubtedly intelligent, smart, physically fit, and motivated they had (maybe) six months experience as an Infantry platoon leader, no previous combat deployment, and knew very little about the importance and role of intelligence in a counterinsurgency environment. An Infantry Lieutenant, age 24, with no previous combat deployment, and no Intel training or experience was expected to establish rapport with, develop a relationship with, and train, advise and assist an Afghan Intelligence officer (Captain, Major, or Colonel) for an ANA kandak (battalion), who may already have Intelligence training and experience, who likely had ten to 30 years of combat experience, and who was in the range of 30 to 50 years old. A tough job for a young inexperienced Infantry Lieutenant. Probably the only thing the Infantry Lieutenant could offer of importance to the senior Afghan Intelligence officer were maps, printer cartridges, and fuel.

In 2013 the Intelligence advisors to the 201st and 203rd ANA Corps in Regional Command East were Captains (fortunately with an Intel MOS and both very capable, smart, and motivated). However, these young Captains were advising Afghan Corps G2 staff officers with the rank of senior Colonel or General, more than 30 years in the Afghan Army, and with over 20 years of combat experience. A difficult task for any Captain; even our best. So this is an example of the U.S. Army's best effort in personnel assignments to important advisor positions.

Contrast the experience level of the U.S. Army Intel Advisors to the 201st and 203rd ANA Corps in 2013 with the current Intelligence advisor to the 205th ANA Corps in southern Afghanistan - Australian Army Major Mich Hahn. Major Hahn works in Train Advise and Assist Command - South (formerly Regional Command South). Read more in "Finding credibility through experience: Australian Intel officer brings 30 years of intelligence experience to TAAC-South", DVIDS, October 28, 2014.

Burnout of SOF Operators

The last 13 years has seen multiple deployments for those in the U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF). However, just as things look like it would ease up (Iraq War ended in 2011 and Afghanistan is closing down in December 2014) trouble spots are erupting (Ukraine, North Africa, and Middle East). A very important factor in this ongoing, never-ending fight is "burnout" among the special operators of SOCOM. Read more in "Special Operations: SOCOM Operators Flee the House of Lies", Strategy Page, October 28, 2014.

Ghani on Security, Peace, and Corruption

President Ghani has returned from his trip to China. Upon his return to Afghanistan he made some comments about security, peace, and corruption. He promises to pursue corrupt officials (citing the reopening of the Kabul Bank investigation), increase security, and to bring the Taliban to the peace table. Read more in "Afghan President: Corruption, Security Top Issues", ABC News, November 1, 2014.

Afghan Economy is Suffering

The business climate in Afghanistan is suffering with the prospect of ISAF departing in December 2014. The business community in Kabul is worried and optimism is falling. Read more in "Afghan economy struggles amid security fears as U.S. troops pull out", The Washington Times, October 27, 2014.

Confronting the Afghan Narco State

A news report says that the new Afghan government will not be successful in curtailing the huge drug trafficking enterprise in Afghanistan. Read more in "Confronting the Afghan Narco-State: End the International Drug War", Forbes.com, October 30, 2014.

Incoming at ANDF-P

It appears that the Taliban conducted an indirect fire attack on a detainee housing unit at the Afghan National Detention Facility - Parwan (ANDF-P) located adjacent to Bagram Air Field. Twenty-six detainees - including members of the Taliban and other insurgent groups - were injured in the attack. Read more in "ISAF condemns indirect fire attack on Afghan detention facility", ISAF News, November 1, 2014.

Journalist Has Reservations on ANSF

A journalist who spent time with British forces in Afghanistan remembers his impressions of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Read more in "I have my reservations about Afghanistan, says defense reporter Tristan Nichols", The Herald, October 28, 2014.

303 EFS Departs Bagram Airfield (A-10s)

The 303rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt pilots have completed their deployment in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan they conducted close air support missions throughout the country. They will return to the 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base.

19th SFGA NCO "Retired" Over Bikini Video

An NCO of the 19th Special Forces Group is being "retired" because he provided support to a United Kingdom firm that produces a "Wounded Warrior Calendar" that raises money for wounded U.S. and British solders. The NCO, who was also wounded during a deployment (receiving a Purple Heart), assisted in the photo shoots for the 2015 "Hot Shots Calendar" by providing access to a National Guard military installation and some equipment (vehicles). Most of the video and calendar photos were actually produced on the property of a private gun club utilizing the facilities, equipment, and weapons of the private shooting range. The company that produces the calendar donates proceeds toward wounded British and American veterans. In an older (not so politically correct) Army this sort of patriotic behavior was encouraged (and enjoyed by the male members of the military). But the times have changed (unfortunately for us older Soldiers who remember the good times) and our military leaders are much more politically correct now. It would have been great to see the NG leadership in Utah to stand up to the Utah politicians and state that the NCO was just doing his part in the overall fight but it seems they caved very quickly on this issue. Seems to me he was just putting his Special Forces training to good use! Read more in "Utah National Guard disciplines four servicemen over bikini-model video", Yahoo! News, November 2, 2014.

News and Coffee at 5:00 A.M.

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.

Get Your Morning Afghan Intel Update by Newsletter

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.

Afghan Warlords and Democracy

A recent article provides us with an alternative and "kinder" view of warlords in Afghanistan. The author refers to the interaction of warlords within Afghanistan's political environment as "Warlord-Democracy Nexus" - a transition of warlords from fighters to politicians. The author shows us that the warlords provided a useful function in the early formation of the Afghan state post-2001. These warlords, typically based on regional and ethnic lines, provided support to the early Karzai regime. Afghanistan is a country used to de-centralized power and regional power brokers; early support from these regional power brokers ensured the weak central government could survive. One example provided is the warlord Rashid Dostum, who was chosen by President Ghani to be one of his vice-presidents. Dostum is an Uzbek warlord from northern Afghanistan who has wielded power of great importance over the past twenty years. Read more in "Afghanistan: Warlords and Democracy", The Diplomat, October 26, 2014.

Video - COMISAF Explains Afghanistan

The commander of the International Security Assistance Force, General John Campbell, is interviewed by Gail McCabe about the current and future status of Afghanistan. He covers topics such as capability gaps of the Afghan National Security Forces (aviation, intelligence, logistics, etc.), effectiveness of President Ghani, how the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement and SOFA has sent a strong message to the Taliban, and how the Train, Advise, and Assist mission will work at the MoI, MoD, and corps level. He says corruption won't go away but it should subside now that President Ghani is now on board. Campbell says that the difference between Afghanistan in 2001 and 2014 is significant. He believes that more work has to be done and feels confident the international community will continue to support Afghanistan and continue its investment. The video is 20 minutes long and can be viewed at this link.

www.dvidshub.net/video/369675/closer-look-moving-forward

Tajik Militants in Badakhshan

News reports say that a number of Tajik militants are fighting alongside the Taliban in the remote province of Badakhshan, Afghanistan. There are a number of militant organizations fighting in this province including the IMU, al-Qaeda, and Jamaat Ansarullah. The Taliban have started to mass their numbers and attack district centers. Over 300 insurgents attacked a police outpost in Warduj district, Badakhshan province in late October. Read more in "Tajik militants fighting in Badakhshan, Afghan official says", Central Asia Online, October 28, 2014.

ANSF is Winning

The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) is winning. So says LTG Anderson, ISAF Joint Command leader. Ummm, okay. Read about LTG Joe Andersons's thoughts on how the war is going in "Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson gives update on Afghanistan mission", Fayetteville Observer, October 31, 2014.

Latest 1230 Report - ANSF Improving

The latest assessment by the Department of Defense (1230 report) states that the Afghan National Security Forces held together during the 2014 fighting season. The report states that the Taliban failed to achieve their goal of disrupting the elections (true statement, the ANSF did well in April and June during the elections). In addition, the Taliban were ". . . unable to hold any significant terrain and were consistently overmatched when engaged by ANSF enabled by coalition air and intelligence support". Yep. When coalition air support and intelligence was provided to the ANSF in a battle the ANSF typically came out on top. And when the coalition air support and intelligence was NOT provided the ANSF . . . probably did not fare as well. Wording in the 1230 report is everything. The report makes a big deal about the Taliban not controlling significant territory. I guess "significant" has to be defined. Obviously the districts of Sangin, Azra, and Charra Darra are not significant. Neither is the province of Nuristan I suppose. Usually guerrilla and insurgent groups are less concerned about controlling terrain and more concerned about controlling the population and having freedom of movement. Read more in "In latest Afghan war report, Pentagon lauds Afghan security forces", Stars and Stripes, October 31, 2014.

Taliban Free Russian Pilot

The Afghan Taliban has freed a Russian contract helicopter pilot who was captured in eastern Logar province in April 2013. The pilot had fallen seriously ill. Eight Turkish engineers, and one Afghan citizen were captured when their helicopter made an emergency landing in a part of Logar province that has been controlled by the Taliban for a number of years. Read more in "Taliban free Russian pilot after 18 months in captivity", Reuters, October 31, 2014.

Afghanistan: Never Ending Story

A commentator paints a dismal picture of the state of Afghanistan in "The Neverending Story, or How to Mess Up Afghanistan", The Huffington Post Blog, October 30, 2014.

Six Surprising Facts on Afghanistan

There is a lot of doom and gloom in the news reporting about Afghanistan. Two writers, Mehreen Farooq and Waleed Ziad, are fretting that we won't appreciate some of the good things about Afghanistan. They have penned an article entitled "Six Things About Afghanistan That May Surprise You", The South Asia Channel (Foreign Policy), October 27, 2014. Briefly:

1. Hardline Islamism is not the mainstream religion in Afghanistan.
2. Afghanistan has had some famous poets and artists.
3. Kabul and Kandahar were not always the backwaters of Asia.
4. While socially conservative some women have played major roles.
5. Sectarianism is not as big a problem as viewed by westerners.
6. It is possible to promote progressive values.

Suicide Car Bomber Kills 11 ANSF

A suicide car bomber killed eleven members of the Afghan security forces and wounded over 20 civilians near a police checkpoint in Azra district eastern Logar province in Afghanistan. Read more in "Suicide car bomber kills 11 police, soldiers in Afghanistan", Reuters, November 1, 2014.

Coffee and Afghan War News at 5:00 AM

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.

Prospects of Regional Integration in Central Asia

Fatema Z. Sumar, Deputy Assistance Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, recently addressed a gathering at George Washington University (October 28, 2014) where she provided comments on Central Asia and Afghanistan. She highlighted a number of developments in the region that are having an impact on the political, economic, and security situation in Central Asia. She pointed out that Afghanistan is on the right path. The country recently held elections, elected a new president, signed the Bilateral Security Agreement with the United States, and that the United States has renewed its commitment to the train, advise and assist mission over the next two years. She also stated that the U.S. has "redoubled efforts to advance the New Silk Road initiative economically linking Afghanistan with Central and South Asia . . .". You can read all of her comments in "Prospects for Regional Integration in Central Asia", U.S. Department of State, October 28, 2014.

October 2014 DoD 1230 Report

One of the most informative unclassified reports about the state of the conflict in Afghanistan is published twice a year. The report, compiled by the Department of Defense, is mandated by Congress. Informally known as the "1230 report" - a name derived from the Section 1230 of Fiscal Year 2008 Public Law 110-181 (National Defense Authorization Act) - the report is formally know as Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan. It is 114 pages long and contains sections on security, the ANSF, governance, reconstruction and development, regional engagement, and more. The report covers the progress (and lack of progress) in Afghanistan from April 1 to September 30, 2014. If you need to know what is going on with the Afghan National Security Forces and don't have access to classified data this is an extremely useful report.

www.defense.gov/pubs/Oct2014_Report_Final.pdf

Afghan War News Glossary

The Afghan War has provided us with a wealth of new terms, phrases, and words that were not in our vocabulary prior to September 2001. Add to this terminology the large "military" vocabulary that already existed and it is easy to understand how the novice or non-military person may be confused. Even if you have years in the military, if you have not deployed to Afghanistan before (as in the new CSTC-A commander), then you have to learn certain words and phrases quickly. For instance, one common mistake is referring to Afghans as "Afghanis". A quick reference guide could be helpful. Fortunately, there is one available entitled the Afghan War Glossary. Enjoy.

Paper - How Has COIN Changed?

The Small Wars Journal has posted another paper about counterinsurgency. "How Counterinsurgency Has Changed Across the 20th and Into the 21st Century?" (October 26, 2014) is penned by Wayne Tyrrell - a member of the Irish Defence Forces who has served in Liberia, Lebanon, and Chad. His paper on counterinsurgency is focused on ". . . the modern doctrine crafted in the wake of Iraq and Afghanistan, its foundational basis and its adequacy to cope with a new form of globally networked and ideologically based insurgency".

Good Taliban Killed; Pakistan Unhappy

Pakistan is very supportive of U.S. drone strikes (CIA I would think) striking the "bad Taliban". The "bad Taliban" would be the ones who are opposing the Pakistan regime. It seems that one of our drones hit the "good Taliban" (the ones that the Pakistan intelligence service arms, equips, trains, and provides sanctuary to and that attack the ANSF and ISAF) and Pakistan is somewhat dismayed. Read more in "Pakistan condemns drone strike that targeted 'good Taliban", Threat Matrix, a blog of the Long War Journal, October 31, 2014.

Afghan Oversight

A writer comments of the importance of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report provided to Congress on 30 October, 2014. See "A Big Week in Washington War Oversight", Just Security, October 30, 2014.

How Can Afghanistan Kick Its Drug Habit?

A writer, M. Ashraf Haidari, provides us an explanation of the poppy cultivation problem in Afghanistan and some recommendations on how to reduce Afghanistan's dependence on the drug trade. Read "How Afghanistan Can Kick Its Drug Habit", The South Asia Channel (Foreign Policy), October 24, 2014.

Senate Report - Aid to Afghainstan

The United States Senate will be supporting Afghanistan's future with billions of dollars but the aid is tied to human rights reforms and closer oversight on how Afghanistan spends its money. The United States is expected to provide between $5 and $8 billion annually for at least a decade. Read more in "Senate report outlines plan to keep tens of billions of dollars flowing to Afghanistan", The Washington Post, October 25, 2014.

DCGS - A Failure with Revolving Door

The Distributed Common Ground System - Army or DCGS-A has proven to be a money pit. The "pie in the sky" fix for all things intelligence has not worked to its expectations and certainly has not been worth the billions of dollars spent on it. A recent news report now states that there is a "revolving door" that allows contractors and DoD officials to work first for the government on DCGS related projects and then for the many firms that are sub-contracting on the DCGS program. Read more in "INSIDE WASHINGTON: Profiting from failure", AP The Big Story, October 27, 2014.

Questions on Classification of RASR

The media has picked up on the story about ISAF classifying a previously unclassified portion of the RASR. Read more in "U.S.-led forces rebuked for making Afghan troop evaluations secret", Reuters, October 30, 2014.

Afghan War Amputees - A Harsh Future

The land of Afghanistan is scattered with mines from past conflicts - although many have been policed up there are still thousands lying beneath the surface waiting to be stepped on. In addition, one of the highest casualty producing methods employed by the Taliban is the use of IEDs or Improvised Explosive Devices. IEDs cause injuries among the civilian population as well as among members of the Afghan National Security Forces and International Security Assistance Force. Those Afghans who are wounded by IEDs usually suffer one or more amputations. Read more on this topic in "War amputees in Afghanistan face harsh lives of discrimination and poverty", The Washington Post, October 26, 2014.

Army Is Downsizing Too Fast

Manpower officials within the United States military are concerned that the U.S. Army may be downsizing too quickly. Assumptions were made in 2012 about what the Army size should be based on the Iraq conflict ending in 2011 (at least for the U.S.) and the Afghan War ending in December 2014. However, events have turned those expectations into dashed dreams. The Taliban are as strong as ever in Afghanistan and Iraq is a mess. Couple that with Russia's intervention in the Ukraine and potential hot spots in Asia and you have a gloomy picture of the world. Read more in "Personnel chief: Army may be drawing down too fast", Army Times, October 26, 2014.

Rula Ghani May Play Decisive Role

The wife of the new President of Afghanistan, Rula Ghani, has generated some excitement within the "gender crowd" of expats, international aid workers, and development advisors. They see Rula Ghani has a modern women who will lift the status of Afghan women. Mrs. Ghani is a Lebanese-American who is highly educated. Read more in "Afghanistan's New President Thinks His Wife Can Play a Decisive Role", History News Network, by Ali A. Olomi, October 27, 2014.