Afghan War Blog

Monday, December 1, 2014

Ranger School Open for Women

Women are slowly breaking down the barriers in the U.S. military. It appears that female soldiers will now be able to attend Ranger school. This 8 week course is a premier school and one of the hardest to successfully pass. Of the students that begin the course less than 50% will earn the right to wear the Ranger Tab. Of concern to many Rangers is the fear that the course will be "watered down" to allow women to graduate. The same "watering down" process took place in the U.S. Army when co-ed basic training was introduced. Learn more in "Ranger School PT Test May Be Top Obstacle for Females", Military.com, November 28, 2014.

Kabul Police Chief Replaced

Kabul has seen a string of high-profile attacks in the past two weeks. It is apparent that the Taliban are ignoring the traditional end of fighting season routine as they have stepped up the attacks quite a bit. The Kabul police chief, General Zahir, has resigned (or maybe he was fired). The new police chief is General Abdul Rahman Rahimi, who was the Balkh Provincial Chief of Police (PCoP). This will surely change the political landscape of Balkh province! Read news reports on the Kabul Police Chief: Gandhara Blog, Radio Free Europe, NBC News, Reuters.

ANSF Ill Equipped to Fight Taliban

ISAF keeps pumping out the positive feel good messages about how the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have "overmatched" the Taliban in 2014 but the situation on the ground seems to indicate otherwise. Some districts controlled by the government forces amount to the district center (a few buildings with a wall around the compound) in the control of the police but the remaining 99% of the district land area is controlled by the Taliban. The last few months of the fighting season (actually, it seems not to have ended yet) have seen the Coalition provide increased close air support to the ANSF to turn the tide of some of the battles. The Afghan Air Force is not yet able to provide the air support needed to the degree necessary. Read more in "Afghan forces ill equipped to fight Taliban without NATO", Reuters, November 30, 2014.

Corruption Number One Issue in Afghanistan

A columnist, Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times, argues that corruption is the number one recruiting tool for the Taliban. Government corruption ". . . makes it easier for insurgent movements to win support among aggrieved citizens". Relatively few Afghans support the Taliban, according to opinion polls, yet the Taliban is still able to attract recruits every year. Read more in "How corruption abroad threatens U.S. national security" (Nov 30, 2014).

Mefloquine and Mental Health

A recent news article about Mefloquine (Lariam) calls into question the medication used to fight malarial. According to UK studies Soldiers given Mefloquine are four times as likely to suffer from mental health problems. Lariam was developed by the US Army in the 1970s for preventing and treating malaria. In April 2013, prompted by the risks of psychosis and suicide, the US labeled it a drug of last resort. The United States Special Operations Command banned its use over a year ago. However, British soldiers are still given the drug. Read more in "Soldiers still suffering serious mental illness linked to controversial anti-malarial drug Lariam", The Independent, November 28, 2014.

Video on History of Drones

A video about drones is available for viewing on the Popular Science website. The video (9 mins) is a brief film (animated) that highlights the century-long evolution of unmanned aircraft. Topics include early drones up to the CIA's targeted killing program in Pakistan and elsewhere. View The History of the Drone in 9 Minutes:
www.popsci.com/watch-brief-history-drone

Ambassador Cunningham Says "Goodbye"

The United States Ambassador to Afghanistan, James B. Cunningham, is saying "Goodbye". He has spent 3 1/2 years here in Afghanistan - having been posted to Kabul in the summer of 2011. Read the transcript of his departure speech in an embassy press release (November 29, 2014) "Ambassador James B. Cunningham's Remarks at Official Farewell Reception".

Daily News Snippets

According to the Ministry of Interior (MoI) the Kabul guest house attacked on Friday night belonged to a family working for "Partnership in Academics & Development (PAD). Originally it was reported in the press that they worked for a group called "PATH". The victims are reported to be South Africans - a man, his son, and his daughter as well as one Afghan. The family lived in Afghanistan for over 12 years. The father worked for charity organizations and the mother is a doctor. The son, 17 years old, was applying to U.S. universities. The daughter was 14 years old. The organization is reportedly based in Redlands, California.
www.padaf.org
www.purecharity.com/pad
WBTV.com news report

Over 100 members of the Arkansas National Guard have returned home. They just completed a six-month rotation to Afghanistan. The 216th Military Police Company left for Afghanistan in May. The 1038th Horizontal Construction Company of the Arkansas National Guard is still deployed in Afghanistan. See article in Army Times (Nov 28, 2014).

The Army plans to return to "full-spectrum training" is being hampered by budget cuts. Despite the fact the Army will most likely face hybrid or asymmetric threats in the future it feels compelled to know how to fight the "big battles" as well; and switching over to that type of training takes time and money. Read more in a news article by Stars and Stripes (Nov 2, 2014).

The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), an independent non-profit research organization based in Kabul, has been tracking women's issues in Afghanistan for several years. The AAN offers online a "thematic dossier" on Women Rights and Politics. Available here (30 Nov 14).

The attack at Camp Bastion in Helmand province is finally over. The attack against the (now) ANA base recently vacated by the British occurred on Friday. It appears that some of the Taliban were holding out over the past few days but were finally killed/captured on Sunday. Some critics have pointed out the attack as evidence that the ANA are not ready to take the lead for security in Helmand province. On a good note: apparently no Harrier jump jets were lost in the attack.

Afghan Cabinet. Although the cabinet ministers have not been announced it appears that the Deputy Ministers will take over for the time being. President Ghani has dismissed most ministers in the government (The New York Times, November 30, 2014).

President Ghani ratified the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) and NATO SOFA that the two houses of the Afghan Parliament recently approved.

President Ghani signed two additional pieces of legislation. One dealing with a national census (which should help in the establishment of national ID cards) and another with protection of information.

A recent news story (see NBC News and UPI) circulating websites and Twitter was about an endangered bird (bustard) that was shot down by Afghan Security Forces for having a GPS and VHF transmitter. Some news reports indicated that the bird also was carrying explosives. Now it appears the mystery is solved. (On Twitter @KateClark66 pointed us to a news story entitled "2,000 endangered bustards released in Kazakhstan", Yahoo! News India, May 7, 2014. The story outlines a conservation effort to increase the wild population of bustards. The GPS and VHF transmitter were providing data to scientists of the migratory patterns of bustards; no explosives though. Score one victory for the ANSF and one loss for science.

The Washington Post writes about how the Taliban is bringing the war to Kabul threatening stability and endangering foreigners. (November 30, 2014).

Guest Bloggers Wanted

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

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Sunday, November 30, 2014

U.S. MEDEVAC Crews Less Busy Train More

A recent news article provides us with a glimpse of the daily routine of MEDEVAC crews stationed at Bagram Air Field. Now that U.S. combat troops are doing little to no fighting the incidents of MEDEVACs is very low. So low, in fact that ". . . the operational tempo has slowed to a crawl . . " the flight crews are spending a lot of time conducting training and ". . . are finding other ways to break the monotony of the deployment, such as table tennis and Whiffle ball games . . ." Read more in "With fewer coalition troops in Afghanistan, 82nd medics running at a slower pace", Fayetteville Observer, November 28, 2014. In the meantime the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police are getting hammered by the Taliban. Casualties have increased dramatically for the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) over last year and the ANSF is struggling to get its wounded soldiers off the battlefield before they bleed out.

Old Landmines Still A Hazard

Afghanistan was once one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Most of the mines were planted by the Mujihadeen during the Soviet occupation and many of these have since exploded or have been dug up by de-mining organizations such as HALO Trust. Some old minefields have yet to be discovered - this recently happened in a refugee camp recently setup in Gurbuz district, Khost province. This past summer the Pakistani Army conducted a massive sweep of North Wazirstan (part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan along the Afghan border) to target the Tehrik-i-Taliban (Pakistani Taliban or "the bad Taliban). Over 100,000 refugees crossed over into neighboring Afghanistan to escape the fighting. While setting up the refugee camp it was discovered that parts of it were sitting on top of a minefield dating back to the Soviet occupation. Read more in "Finding Refuge on a Minefield", Foreign Policy Magazine, November 28, 2014.

Tuberculosis in Afghanistan

Japan and the World Health Organization (WHO) are engaging in a partnership to combat tuberculosis (TB) in Afghanistan. The agreement provides funding for $12 million (USD) for the procurement of anti-tuberculosis medicines and implementation of other activities related to fighting TB in Afghanistan. In 2013, 58,000 new TB cases were documented with 13,000 deaths. Learn more in a press release by WHO (29 November 2014).

ANA Overrun at Sangin Base

A small Afghan National Army outpost in Helmand province was overrun by the Taliban on late Friday night. Fourteen ANA Soldiers were killed and several are missing. With the departure of the U.S. Marines and British troops observers have been predicting an uptick in violence in Helmand province. Read more in "Taliban Overrun an Afghan Army Base", The New York Times, November 29, 2014.

India Provides Soil Research Service

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), in collaboration with agricultural universities in Afghanistan, is providing soil research and training to improve agriculture. Part of this service is the use of a soil testing device (a digital meter) that checks the fertility of the soil for better fertilizer recommendations. Read more here in Sify News (November 29, 2014).

National Seminar - Ten Years of Constitution

The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has posted a video (2 hours November 29, 2014) of a National Seminar entitled "Ten Years of Constitution". (Not in English).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir7sIEoP3ss

Pomegranates Not Poppies

An entrepreneur from the United Kingdom is on a mission to replace poppy cultivation with pomegranates. It appears that his program is having some success in Kandahar and has attracted the backing of some influential personalities. He has set up a charity called Plant for Peace. Read more in a news report (November 29, 2014) in Scotland Now.

Video - "Crafting Afghanistan's Future"

During the civil war and Taliban regime, art in Afghanistan was non-existent. But thanks to the work of Turquoise Mountain, there is a new generation of young Afghan artists, like Storai and Saida, who are working hard to bring the traditional schools of craft back to Afghanistan as it moves forward. Watch "Crafting Afghanistan's Future", NATO TV, November 25, 2014 (2 mins).

Afghan Daily News Snippets

On November 29, 2014 the Taliban attacked the office of an organization that provides aid and services in Afghanistan. The attack took place near the Afghan parliament. ~~The organization, PATH, operates around the world. www.path.org.~~ IT APPEARS THAT THE ORGANIZATION IS "PARNERSHIP IN ACADEMICS & DEVELOPMENT (PAD)". Initial reports indicate that hostages were taken but then the CRU conducted an assault and rescued them. The Taliban claimed that it was a Christianity center and also used for intelligence gathering with many Australians attending a meeting. It was the 11th attack in Kabul in just two weeks. Read more in a news report by The Washington Post (November 29, 2014). See also a news report by Stars and Stripes.

The Mail Online (UK) has posted an article (28 Nov 14) about how Afghan interpreters have been left to the mercy of the Taliban. The news is that the Taliban are targeting interpreters who worked with US forces and that the interpreters live in constant fear of attack. Although a few have been fortunate to be able to get visas to immigrate to the U.S. many more have been denied visas for apparently trivial reasons.

President Ghani appears to be taking a different approach with his countries foreign policy by maintaining relations with international and regional players. Regional politics in South Asia and in greater Asia is complex and this article tries to explain some of it. Read more in "Signs of change in Afghanistan's foreign policy", DW.de, November 29, 2014.

A news report details the death of a British special forces officer, a member of the Special Boat Service (SBS), in a raid against the Taliban in December 2013. Read more in "Special Forces soldier died in perilous raid on Taliban haven", The Telegraph, November 27, 2014.

A correspondent with time in Afghanistan writes a discouraging piece on the prospects of success for Afghanistan. He provides a long detailed explanation of all that is wrong with Afghanistan and why the future seems dim. Read "So long, good luck", The Economist, November 29, 2014.

Thanksgiving in Afghanistan is a bitter sweet time of the year for Americans. (I know having spent 7 Thanksgivings away from my family in the past 12 years in places like Africa, Iraq, and Afghanistan). The break from the routine and the good meal served up by the dining facilities is a welcome event; but realizing your not with your family is a letdown. However, the military does try to make it a good day for all. Read how TAAC-S and the 1st Cav spent their Thanksgiving (DVIDS, November 28, 2014).

Kabul has seen a dramatic increase in attacks in 2014. Read more in a Stars and Stripes report (November 27, 2014) entitled "2 attacks in Kabul target foreigners".

The United States, despite overwhelming odds against success, is continuing its efforts to reduce the narcotics trade in Afghanistan. CACI International has been awarded a $62 million contract to support counter narco-terrorism for U.S. Central Command to include work to be done in Afghanistan. Read a press release by CACI (November 25, 2014) for more information.

Afghanistan's music culture is slowly taking shape. Read more in "Afghan band: We use love songs to make a statement", The Times of India, November 29, 2014.

Radio Free Europe has posted an article about Rula Ghani and her very open support of women's rights in Afghanistan. See "Afghanistan's First Lady Seeks to Blaze New Trail" (November 28, 2014).

The RAND Corporation recently conducted a survey and published a paper that reveals basic training 2014 to be much easier than training in earlier years. Apparently this trend is across all three services; although the report acknowledges that basic training for the Air Force was "always easy". Read more in "Survey: Basic Training Now Easier Than When You Were There", Duffel Blog, November, 28, 2014.

Share Your Afghan News With Us

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 let us know.

staff@afghanwarnews.info

News on Afghan War via Email

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Afghan High Peace Council

Most counterinsurgencies do not end with a military victory by the insurgents or the counter-insurgents. The majority of insurgencies end with a political settlement. With this in mind many observers push for a political accommodation with the Taliban; but thus far the Taliban have been difficult to negotiate with. In addition, the High Peace Council, the Afghan organization charged with reintegration and reconciliation with the Taliban has been hampered by meddling from Karzai and ill-informed efforts of the United States. Amir Ramin is a member of the Afghan High Peace Council and the deputy chief executive officer of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program. He has wrote an online article about the purpose of the High Peace Council, some of the problems plaguing progress in the peace talks, the confusion associated with the function and roles of the High Peace Council, the interference by Karzai with the peace process, and some recommendations for the future. Read more in "Forging Policy for Peace After Karzai", The South Asia Channel - Foreign Policy, November 21, 2104.

Paper - Lessons Learned on Advising

Lt. Col. Remi Hajjar of the U.S. Army has published an article entitled "What Lessons Did We Learn (or Re-Learn) about Military Advising After 9/11?", Military Review, November-December 2014, pages 63-75. Hajjar is an academy professor at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). His paper takes a look at the history of the U.S. military advising mission, recounts relevant lessons from the Korean and Vietnam Wars to the present, provides several major advisory lessons learned or re-learned since 9/11, lists conditions that characterize the U.S. military advising mission, defining military advisory success, and he provides a conclusion and recommendations for future advisory missions.

http://www.afghanwarnews.info/documents/LL-MilAdvisingMilRev20141231.pdf

"Fly to Advise"

CPT Katherine Zamperini inspects
xray machine at FOB Gamberi
(photo SSG Houston)

The draw down of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to 9,800 by the end of December 2014 forced ISAF to make some difficult decisions on force structure and the overall mission. The two primary missions for the U.S. and ISAF in Resolute Support will be Security Force Assistance and counter-terrorism. Unfortunately, the planners at IJC and ISAF decided to leave two Afghan National Army corps uncovered - the 203rd in the southeast and the 215th in the southwest - citing manpower, medical, force protection, and support constraints. Both of these corps are in very conflict ridden areas. But according to ISAF the corps are still being covered by advisors - from a distance. For instance, the 203rd Corps is being 'advised' - but only through occasional visits by advisors (once a month?) and contact through email and cellphone. The ISAF Security Force Assistance Guide refers to this as either "Level 2" or "Level 3" advising. Some advisors are referring to this type of advising as "fly to advise". Read about how a medical doctor "flies to advise" her medical counterpart in the 203rd Corps in "Brave Rifles medical officer ensures Afghan medical facilities are sustainable", DVIDS, November 27, 2014.

Video - "Female Food Entrepreneur"

The NATO channel has published a video about a woman from Herat that started her food business in a mud hut but now sells in numerous market places. The female entrepreneur spent the last nine years building up a successful business. Watch "The Female Food Entrepreneur", NATO TV, November 24, 2014.

Kabul Under Attack

The Taliban have forgotten that the fighting season is over. By this time of year they should be looking at making their way to the sanctuaries provided by Pakistan. Instead they seem to be hanging around the Kabul area and increasing the rate of attacks in Kabul. The number of attacks in Kabul in 2014 is double the number of attacks in 2013. The phrase "Kabubble" used to mean safety and security for the many foreign military and expats working in Kabul. But now it appears those days are over. Read more in "Afghanistan's heavily guarded capital no longer immune from violence", Stars and Stripes, November 28, 2014.

Paper - Foreign Culture and Train, Advise FSF

The United States is conducting train, advise, and assist missions in areas of the world where foreign cultures are sometimes perplexing and will complicate the mission. In many of these locations the private sector and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have experience that DoD should learn from and adapt into its training and education programs. This paper presents some of those lessons gained in the non-security development sector that could be useful in future training and advising missions for foreign security forces. Read "Foreign Culture and its Effect on US Department of Defense Efforts to Train and Advise Foreign Security Forces", Small Wars Journal, November 26, 2014.

Book - "Knife Fights"

John A. Nagl is getting a lot of reviews of his book "Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice". Read one more review by Rosa Brooks in The Washington Post.

Bob Work Visits Afghanistan

Deputy Defense Security Bob Work traveled to Afghanistan to visit U.S. service members during the Thanksgiving holiday. Read more in "Deputy Secretary Visits Deployed Troops in Afghanistan", DoD News, November 28, 2014.

Paper - "The Taliban in 2024"

Micheal Semple has provide us with his assessment of the future of the Taliban in a recent article posted in Stability: International Journal of Security & Development, November 18, 2014. An abstract of the paper, "The Taliban in 2024", is provided below:

"Reacting to corruption and oppression in the Kandahar of 1994, the Taliban is seen as working with Sunni clerics to foster a shariat movement for advancing economic justice and (corporal) punishment. Before long, the organization began substantially rewarding joiners, arming for jihad, and resisting international forces in Afghanistan. Now, with less foreign resources to fight the Taliban, the Kabul central government has unfinished business with its still-robust challengers. In the face of recent modernization in sectors such as education and media, the author details three plausible scenarios for the Taliban to maintain its core shariat mission. One scenario is for the Taliban to re-secure (through continued force) its initial goal, viz., overall state power to promote and enforce shariat across urban as well as rural areas. Another possibility projects Afghanistan as operating a dualist system of separate zones, one for the Taliban's ‘liberated territory,’ the other for the rest of Afghanistan as governed by Kabul. Achieving scenario three would be formidable: it posits that Taliban leaders may be persuaded that their armed jihad has run its course and can profitably be disconnected from the Middle East's broader Islamic conflict. Conceivably, then, through accommodations with a shariat-accepting Kabul government, Taliban might be able to win buy-in for peace from its own military and its own fighting priests with their strong ties to Afghan communities in Pakistan."

Afghan Senate Approves BSA and SOFA

The upper house (Senate) of the Afghan parliament has approved the bilateral security agreement with the United States and the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with NATO. Only 7 lawmakers out of a total of 102 voted against the approval. Read more in "Afghan Senate Approves Security Agreements with U.S., NATO", Radio Free Europe, November 29, 2014. The NATO Secretary General seemed happy with the news - see a press release dated November 27, 2014.

Daily News Snippets on Afghanistan

A veteran, Kyle Dykstra, speaks out about those commentators, observers, and critics who say the war in Afghanistan is lost. He argues it is too soon to determine if the war was won or lost; more time is needed to see the end result. Read more in "Don't Tell Me We Lost the War in Afghanistan", Task and Purpose, November 24, 2014.

A former rule of law advisor in Afghanistan, Jade Wu, has penned an article that says the Afghan judicial system is a glimmer of hope in the midst of a lot of bad news coming out of Afghanistan. I don't think she is looking at the same judicial system I have looked at the past four years I have been in Afghanistan. Read more in "In Afghanistan, What Counts?", Small Wars Journal, November 26, 2014.

Some news reports say that the British embassy in Kabul was bombed causing casualties. Others are reporting that a British convoy was attacked. See The Guardian for more info. See also Voice of America.

Is it possible to find good governance in Afghanistan? If you look hard enough it is there . . . occasionally. But the bottom line is the Afghans have yet to form a cabinet. Read more in The New York Times here.

The Guardian asks what will happen when the ISAF combat troops depart and the international funding levels go down.

A German newspaper writes about the expansion of the Resolute Support mission for the United States from just training to support of the Afghan National Security Forces.

The European Council on Foreign Relations posted an article entitled "China Moves Into Afghanistan".

The Institute of War & Peace Reporting has a posting entitled "Afghans See Corruption as Enduring Legacy".

The editor of the TomDispatch.com, Tom Engelhardt, writes a discouraging piece of how little we have accomplished in the past 13 years in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you haven't gotten your daily dose of "woe is us" and "did we ever screw up" then I suggest "Russians Invade Afghanistan (Again!)", The Huffington Post Blog, November 25, 2014.

Camp Bastion was attacked by the Taliban causing the deaths of 6 ANA soldiers. Read more in Military Times. The Brits just recently departed Camp Bastion.

According to the Afghanistan Analysts Network only ten "foreigners" are being detained at the U.S. run Bagram detention center. View report here.

Rula Ghani has been in the news ever since her husband was elected President. Read more in "Afghanistan's First Lady Seeks to Blaze New Trail", Gandhara Blog, November 29, 2014.

End of the fighting season? Not so much; at least somebody forgot to tell the Taliban that they should be heading over the mountain passes into Pakistan to rest up and refit in their sanctuaries (courtesy of the Pakistan intelligence service). Read more in "In Afghanistan, War Now Knows No Season", The New York Times, November 28, 2014.

The TAPI pipeline may finally be getting some traction. Read "TAPI Pipeline Finally sees Some Momentum", The Diplomat, November 27, 2014.

Guest Bloggers Wanted for Afghan War News

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 let us know.

staff@afghanwarnews.info

Receive Daily Afghan War News by Email

Friday, November 28, 2014

Kilcullen - Muddling Through to 2024?

David Kilcullen, a renowned expert on counterinsurgency and no stranger to Afghanistan has published a paper (6 pages) about the future of Afghanistan over the next ten years - out to 2024. An abstract from the paper is found below.

"This paper highlights trends in Afghan security and development, including
capacities of Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgencies, national forces’ casualty and
desertion rates, and citizen rage spurred by abusive authorities, profiteering elites and ethnic leaders. In coming years, the unity central government may fall apart. As in Pakistan, U.S. targeted killings by drones and raids within Afghanistan may prove counter-productive, radicalizing civilians. While little is certain, a modest degree of successful stability and reconstruction may be achieved by 2024 – most large cities and many small towns may be controlled by the Kabul government, official corruption may decline, and conceivably the country may integrate into a regional economy shared with Iran, Russia, China, and India."

Kilcullen, D 2014 "Afghanistan in 2024: Muddling Through?", Stability: International Journal of Security & Development, 3(1): 37, pp. 1-6., November 20, 2014.
www.stabilityjournal.org/article/view/sta.ej/

Video - Kate Clark Comments on Ghani

Observers have noted that President Ghani has not wasted much time in asserting himself as the new President of Afghanistan. Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analyst Network is interviewed by NATO TV about Ghani and the challenges that lie ahead. She comments on the formation of the cabinet, Ghani's practice of conducting unannounced visits to prisons, hospitals, and police stations, his recent visit to Pakistan to open up relations, and his quick action on the Kabul Bank corruption case. Several Afghans on the streets of Kabul are also interviewed. Watch President Fosters Hope with Strong Start, posted on YouTube, November 26, 2014, (4 mins).

Inequality in Afghanistan

Insurgencies have root causes and in Afghanistan these root causes are easy to identify. One of the biggest is the vast divide between the "haves" and "have nots". There are many ways of classifying the "haves" and "have nots" but one of the easiest is to use the urban and rural labels. Read more in "The Price of Inequality: The Dangerous Rural-Urban Divide in Afghansitan - Analysis", Eurasia Review, November 26, 2104. The author is Tamin Asey - a fellow at the Asia Society and a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University. He was also a former Government of Afghanistan official and taught at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).

Paper - Aviation and COIN in Afghanistan

The adapting of conventional aviation units to fight in a counterinsurgency environment is complex. Some aviation units are successful in this transition while others fail or do not contribute as much as they could have to the COIN effort. One aviation battalion that thinks it did it right is the Air Assault Battalion of the Third Infantry Division. In 2010 this battalion was ordered to deploy as part of the Third Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) to Afghanistan. The unit conducted a re-organization of personnel and equipment to prepare for the deployment. Officially named Task Force (TF) Brawler, the unit adapted its mind-set from a conventional, lethal, offensive approach to one required by the counterinsurgency environment of Afghanistan. the task force deployed to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank in Regional Command East supporting the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team that operated in Logar and Wardak provinces. Read a paper describing the train-up and deployment of TF Brawler to Afghanistan by the battalion commander, Colonel Robert T. Ault, in "Adapting Army Aviation for Irregular Warfare: Developing Leadership and Trust in a COIN Fight", Small Wars Journal, November 25, 2014.

Got a Tidbit of Info Not Yet Reported?

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 let us know.

staff@afghanwarnews.info

Afghan Daily News

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Paper - Women and Leadership in Afghanistan

Aarya Nijat of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has published a report (policy note) about women and leadership in Afghanistan. The paper analyses the dilemma of women in a quest to provide answers to questions about the future of women as well as provide policy recommendations. The paper is entitled The Dilemma of Women and Leadership in Afghanistan: Lessons and Recommendations, AREU, November 2014.

Analysis - Kabul Guesthouse Attacks

Edinburgh International (EI), a security firm based in the United Kingdom, has posted an extensive security analysis of the Kabul area for those contractors, ex-patriots, and NGO types that are living in guesthouses or on contractor compounds. There has been a recent uptick in Taliban attacks in Kabul in the fall of 2014 and many of these attacks are against the foreigners working in the Kabul area. The analysis provided by EI reviews the guest house attacks that have taken place for the purpose of developing common insurgent tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and best practice mitigation and control measures. The documents provide key findings, background of insurgent attacks, data on frequency of attacks, locations of attacks, trend analysis, and case studies.

http://insidetrack.edinburghint.com/kabul-security-analysis/

Book - "Why We Lost"

Jeff Schogol, a staff writer for the Military Times, offers us his review of the book by retired Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Bolger, entitled Why We Lost: A General's Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Bolger argues that the U.S. lost the wars because it stayed in place after its initial victories in 2001 (Afghanistan) and 2003 (Iraq). Schogol says not many solutions are offered and a better title might be "What Went Wrong". Read Schogol's book review in "Why We Lost: offers few answers on Iraq and Afghanistan (November 20, 2014).

Strategic Education in 300 Words

The folks at the War Council Blog are contending that they can educate a person in strategy in one hour or 300 words. See "Zero to Clausewitz in 60 Minutes: Your Complete 300 Word Strategic Education", November 22, 2014. Also see the actual guide.

Video - "War on the B-Huts"

As the Coalition forces in Afghanistan withdraw the number of housing units needed become less and less. The B-huts on Bagram Air Field at one time stretched for miles along Disney (the main road on BAF). The Resolute Support footprint will be very much reduced in 2015. Wooden buildings provide little protection to incoming rocket attacks and BAF has seen its share of that (although not nearly as much as FOB Shank used to get). See a video about the destruction of B-huts on Bagram Air Field (BAF) in "Bagram: the war on wood", NATO (YouTube), November 24, 2014.

French RAID Unit Trains ANP

A unit of the French RAID has been training and advising elements of the Afghan National Police (ANP). RAID is short for Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion - learn more about RAID on Wikipedia. Read about the training efforts of RAID with the ANP in "As casualties soar, Afghan police taught how to stay alive", Mail Online, November 26, 2014.

New - Coyote Brown Combat Boot

Next year the Army will be wearing a darker, coyote-brown version of the combat boot. The boot will be worn with the new Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) uniform. T-shirts and belts will be in a darker "tan 499 color". Read more in "Army Selects Coyote Brown Combat Boot", KIT UP! Military.com, November 20, 2014.

More Afghan War News Snippets

A firm in Massachusetts had been contracted to make Afghan Uniform Police jackets. The firm, Sterlingwear of Boston, Inc. was awarded almost $7 million in the contract.

An article in Cicero Magazine (November 25, 2014) informs us about several new online forums where military ideas and issues are presented and discussed. Read "The Long Gray Online".

Once again Pakistan has condemned a drone attack against members of "the good Taliban". The recent UAV strike was carried out by CIA-operated drones (either a Predator or Reaper) in North Wazirstan. The drone attack was most likely against the Haqqani Network - an insurgent / terrorist group supported by the Pakistan intelligence agency. Read more in "Pakistan condemns drone strike that targeted 'good Taliban' and foreign fighters", The Long War Journal, November 26, 2014.

There have been many attempts to introduce or buttress a cash crop that Afghan farmers could grow that would replace the lucrative poppy harvest. One of the latest is the onion. Read more in "The social life of the onion: the informal regulation of the onion market in Nangarhar, Afghanistan", Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium, November 25, 2014.

The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has introduced the Lapis Lazuli Corridor initiative to increase economic and trade transit routes through neighboring countries. Read more in an online post by the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce & Industries (ACCI) on November 25, 2104.

The International Crisis Group has published a report entitled Afghanistan's Political Transition. The document, dated October 16, 2014, provides a background to the "National Unity Government" and offers recommendations to Afghanistan and the international donors funding the Afghan government.

Reuters reports that the U.S, will leave more troops in Afghanistan than first planned.

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is completing construction of a $25.5 million military base facility in Kunduz, Afghanistan in support of 2nd Brigade 209th ANA Corps. The new base integrates modern building codes with local culture functionality (Arab toilets and no AC?) providing a sustainable facility for ANA facility engineers to maintain. (DVIDS, November 26, 2014).

A writer, Nasurullah Brohi, provides us his thoughts on the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan in "Rethinking a Progressive Democratic Afghanistan - Oped", Eurasia Review, November 25, 2014.

The Duffel Blog provides us with news of an amusement park in Kabul that recently opened providing Kabul residents with a diversion from the daily doom and gloom of war. Read "Afghan Amusement Park Lasts Almost 13 Hours", (Nov 26, 2014).

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