Afghan War Blog

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Afghan War News Snippets

Parliament Approves Ministers. It appears that President Ghani's cabinet is growing. The parliament has approved many of the more recent nominees for ministry positions. Perhaps the Afghan government can start governing now that the ministries have some leadership. Evidently enough bribes were paid to enough MPs to get all 16 ministers approved. Now if only folks could agree on the MoD minister - because, like, there's a war going on. Kate Clark, of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, provides us a detailed look at the ministers and the approval process.

Ghani Visits Troubled Badakhshan. President Ghani visited this contested province and provided a speech calling Afghans to unite against the insurgents and to support the Afghan National Army. He indicated that the province's leadership was poor and dominated by a few powerful individuals.

Jalalabad Suicide Bombing kills Scores. There were a lot of fatalities in Jalalabad on Saturday from a suicide bomb blast. Estimates indicate that there were about 35 fatalities with over 100 wounded. The Taliban have said they are not responsible; the Islamic State has claimed responsibility. News reports are below:

The Washington Post
Gandhara Blog - Radio Free Europe
UNAMA

Islamic State and Afghanistan. This news story covers a broad range of topics including the fear of the growth of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, persecution of the Hazaras, Afghan Local Police, militias, and warlords. Read "Has the Caliphate Come to Kabul?", by Leela Jacinto, Foreign Policy, March 23, 2015.

India and Pakistan - Proxy War in Afghanistan. Catherine Putz provides us with a summary of the involvement of India and Pakistan in the Afghan conflict and the evolving relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Learn more about why ". . . we may be fighting the wrong enemy in the wrong country". (The Diplomat, April 15, 2015).

Iran Shoring up the Shiites? President Ghani's charm offensive seems to be working. He has reached out to regional neighbors requesting assistance. Iran has responded with a statement by the Iranian Interior Minister (April 13th) that Iran was willing to execute joint operations with Afghanistan. Hmmmm. Does that mean providing stability to neighboring Herat and Ghor provinces (and maybe even Bamian) through advisors or even security forces ensuring that the Shiites are protected and that their favorite strongman is shored up (is that still Ismail Khan?). This could all be part of the wider Sunni-Shiite War currently engulfing the Middle East. Perhaps Iran is worried about Islamic State penetration in Afghanistan - a bordering neighbor to its east. So, Iranian advisors in Afghanistan working side by side with American advisors. Just like in Iraq! Actually they would probably be engaged with the Spanish and Italians in TAAC West. Are the Spanish and Italians in Iraq? Likelihood of it happening? 1%.

Russia Fearing Islamic State? On April 15th the Russian Foreign Minister said that his nation was prepared to support Afghanistan. This fight would be against terrorism and drug trafficking. A big part of the opium grown in Afghanistan finds its way to Russia's many addicts. In addition, Russia does not want to see the Islamic State make any inroads into Central Asia - an area of the region that Russia feels is in its sphere of influence - economically, politically, and militarily. Russia back in Afghanistan - wouldn't that be simply lovely. So . . . Russian advisors, probably assisting in northern Afghanistan working side-by-side with their TAAC North NATO allies at Camp Marmal in Mazer-e-Sharif. Wouldn't that be special. Likelihood of it happening? 1 %.

Cast Your Vote for "Return to Hope". NATOs web movie is one of three contestants for the 19th Annual Webby Awards. It is nicely done. You can cast your vote at webbyawards.com.

Britain Suspends $ for MoI/ANP Pay. Britain has suspended payments to a multi-billion pound aid project in Afghanistan following allegations of corruption and mismanagement of a UN-led payroll contract. Read "Corruption claims halt police aid for Afghanistan", The Times, April 17, 2015. Ahhh, good old Afghan corruption.

Book Review - "The CIA in Hollywood". Julius Taranto reviews a book about how the CIA helps out Hollywood in the film business and improves its public image (Lawfare, Apr 17, 2015).

Georgian CoS visits RS HQs. The Chief of General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces visited Resolute Support officials and Georgian troops currently supporting the RS mission at Bagram Airfield, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Kabul. Georgia has been assisting in the counterinsurgency fight since 2004 and they are currently the second largest contributing nation in Afghanistan. Read a news report by RS HQs, April 18, 2015.

'Muhajideen Special Group" training camp. The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan released a lengthy video of some fighters attending the "Mujahideen Special Group" training camp in Pakistan. This group is the movements version of 'special forces'. The film was released on April 17th by Umar Media - the official propaganda unit of the the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Read more in a news story by Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal, April 18, 2015.

United Nations Women Peacekeepers. The UN has provided an info piece that shows women have become an increasingly part of the peacekeeping family. (UN, April 17, 2015).
www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/issues/women/womeninpk.shtml

Capital Guardians Heading to CENTCOM. The D.C. National Guard's 276th Military Police Company is heading to the Resolute Support Mission. They will actually be at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait assisting in the management of the Theater Field Detention Facility. (ReadMedia, Apr 17, 2015).

High Cost of Afghan Weddings. Read Joseph Goldstein's story in The New York Times about Afghan weddings (April 18, 2015) - "At Afghan Weddings, His Side, Her Side, and 600 Strangers".

The F-35 We Can't Afford. A new report by the GAO says America can't afford the replacement for the A-10 and other types of aircraft. Read a news story on War is Boring, by Matthew Gault, April 18, 2015. You can read the GAO report here.

Afghan Novelist Reminisces. Rahnaward Zaryab is interviewed in this New York Times story by Mujib Mashal (April 17, 2015) - "Writer Retreats to a Kabul That Lives Only in His Memories and Books".

DCGS-A. The Big Army's IO machine is at work again trying to convince us that the Distributed Common Ground System - Army or DCGS-A is a good deal getting better. Read more in "Army says intelligence system is getting easier to use", Defense Systems, April 17, 2015.

New Acronym - "CF / SOF I3". You learn something new everyday while traveling through the Internet. www.specialforcestraining.info/glossary/glossary_C.htm

Send in News to Add to Newsletter

If I missed an important story about Afghanistan - please let me know. Send the link!

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. Frequency of submission is up to you. If you wrote a paper on a relevant topic and would like to share it send it to us for posting on the blog and website. And naturally, if you see errors, outdated information, or broken links please let us know.

staff@afghanwarnews.info

Afghan News with Your Morning Tea

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Saturday, April 18, 2015

Social Media and Afghanistan

"Social media is another component of unconventional strategies, and the security environment in general, that is playing a central role in recruiting individuals to causes. We must therefore develop our ability to interact with key influencers through this medium, or else risk blinding ourselves to this important conduit of information and influence in unfolding crises. We all must view this space as routine operational area; it is redefining how humans interact. Our success in leveraging these tools will be determined by how well we cultivate the networks in which we participate; it is important to note that these are not 'our' networks - the very nature of these relationship tools is decentralized and participatory, rather than centrally controlled. We require new thinking on this subject". Statement of General Joseph Votel, USSOCOM Commander, before the House Armed Services Committee, March 18, 2015.

By now everyone who studies or works within the conflict area in today's world should be aware of the growth of importance of social media. Some of our opponents have proved very adept at the use of social media to recruit fighters and supporters for their cause and to influence the conversation about their movement. One obvious example is the Islamic State.

Unknown to many Americans is the fact that there are a few U.S. organizations that are actively engaged in a 'Twitter' fight with the Islamic State. The effectiveness of this fight is still to be determined. It is ". . . like most governmental campaigns, long on bureaucracy and short on details". Adam Weinstein has several recommendations for the U.S. government social media organizations. You can read them in "Here's How the US Should Fight ISIS with Social Media" (Wired.com, March 12, 2015). Some of these recommendations could be of use in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Department of State's Center Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC) is America's combatant in the social media area. The website for the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications is www.state.gov/r/cscc/. Read a news report on the CSCC by Hayes Brown (Think Progress, September 18, 2014) - "Meet the State Department Team Trying to Troll ISIS into Oblivion".

Social media is also important in a counterinsurgency fight - like the one taking place in Afghanistan. Many observers see the Afghan counterinsurgency effort focused on three areas; security, governance, and development. Some COIN adherents would add a fourth - information operations, inform and influence activities, or social media - pick your favorite phrase.

In the past ISAF has had a dismal record in the information operations field and ISAF was clearly outclassed by the Taliban. The Taliban could post a video of a roadside IED attack against a Coalition convoy on social media within an hour of the incident. ISAF would comment on it one or two days later. For the most part the Taliban smoked ISAF in the IO fight; although ISAF did have some bright moments and effective practices (use of the RIAB for instance). ISAF would tell you there are an abundance of TVs, radio stations, and print media where the Afghan government's message is being carried. But the reach of those media outlets is limited mostly to urban areas; where households have radios, TVs, and are sometimes literate. In the rural areas, the contested areas where the COIN fight takes place, a 'night letter' tacked on a villagers front door by insurgents has much greater effect.

Resolute Support HQs (replacing ISAF) is continuing the IO effort; with some success stories. They are doing a much better job at informing the public through its use of Facebook, Twitter and their website. At the same time RS HQs has reduced the frequency of 'cheerleader' news releases that discredited their message - something which plagued ISAF in the past with reduced credibility.

While the Coalition continues its efforts in this area of the conflict (IO and the use of social media) it is also working to improve the Afghan capability to conduct Strategic Communications through its advisors working in Essential Function 8 - STRATCOM. One good example of the Afghans conducting work in this field is the Afghan RMIC located in Mazar-e-Sharif (TAAC North's AO - the Europeans can take some credit for this). The RMIC has their own website (Bayanshamal) up and running supporting the Afghan governments message. The RMIC is something the other TAACs should check out. It is worth the visit to Camp Marmal to see what right looks like when it comes to Afghan IO. And you can always sneak into one of the many discreet pubs for a beer or two! The Rose Garden (all allowed except U.S.) or GPPT pub (invitation only) comes to mind.

Afghan War News Snippets

NATO Soldier Wounded. Press reports say that a NATO soldier was wounded while training Afghan soldiers in Logar province. (Stars and Stripes, April 17, 2015).

MoD Spokesman Resigns. According to tweets on Twitter the MoD spokesman has resigned but he is still head of the Strategic Relations department of the ministry.

NATO Website Nominated for Award. A NATO website about its mission in Afghanistan has been nominated for the prestigious Webby Awards. The documentary Return to Hope is nicely done and worth viewing. Read more in a news release by NATO (April 15, 2015).

Fight over MoD Minister Position. The Afghan Ministry of Defense desperately needs leadership; but leadership at the helm of the government is lacking. Neither President Ghani nor CEO Abdullah can agree on who should lead the MoD. Many observes believe that there is an ethnic divide at play. Read more in "Rivals row over top Afghan defence posts as Taliban goes on attack", Thomson Reuters Foundation, April 16, 2015.

Paper - "How to Ensure Project Sustainability". The International Network to Promote the Rule of Law (INPROL) has published a paper by Ena Dion that addresses building RoL systems and processes that are sustainable by the host nation once the international community walks away. Could be useful for the Resolute Support Essential Function 3 - RoL advisors assisting and advising in the MoI and MoD.

http://inprol.org/publications/14646/how-to-ensure-project-sustainability

Rula Ghani. The 1st lady of Afghanistan has been selected by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people. (Time.com, April 16, 2015).

General Martin Dempsey. Rula Ghani is in good company. Another member of this year's 100 most influential people is the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Time.com, April 16, 2015).

Passengers Beheaded. Tolo News is reporting that four of 11 passengers kidnapped a week ago from Ghazni have been killed.

Women in Combat. "Last week, the Marine Corps announced the scheduled end of an 18-month experiment to vet females through its Infantry Officer Course. The results were bleak: 0 of 29 women made it past the three-month course." The USMC trained the women to the same standards as men. Some critics think that medical research should be conducted to develop new physical fitness and training standards for women. Read more in "Opinion: It's time to reevaluate standards for women in the military", The Washington Post, April 16, 2015.

Bastogne Troops Return from Afghanistan. Fort Campbell welcomed home troops from the 1st Brigade Combat Team after a six month deployment. (The Leaf Chronicle, Apr 16, 2015).

Bergdahl. Former platoon mates provide more info on his desertion. (Fox News, Apr 17, 2015).

Operation Reliable Tempo. This retrograde operation took place in Afghanistan from June 2012 to December 2014. Read about it in "Reliable Tempo draws down 13-year combat footprint in Afghanistan", DVIDS, April 16, 2015.

Army Morale Low. Most of the Army's Soldiers are pessimistic about their future in the military and many are unhappy with their jobs. The Army has spent over $247 million to improve morale over the past six years but seems to be making little progress. (Military Times, Apr 16, 2015).

Badakhshan Province Fighting. Mustafa Sarwar writes in Gandhara Blog - Radio Free Europe (April 14, 2015) that there are problems brewing in northern Afghanistan. Read "Afgahn Underbelly Exposed in Remote Region".

Failing Defense Strategy. One observer believes that the Afghan government is failing in the fight against the insurgents and that peace talks with the Taliban is futile. Read Dr. Florance Ebrahimi's thoughts on this topic in "Afghanistan with no defence strategy", Khaama Press, April 17, 2015.

CIA Agent - Afghanistan Overwhelmed with U.S. Assistance. A former CIA agent says the US intervention in Afghanistan undermined infrastructure-building efforts. The Daily Texan, Apr 17, 2015.

Drones - A War Crime? An article by Brenda Mwale explores the legal issues of using drones in a counterterrorism or counterinsurgency campaign. Read "Is Use of Drones a War Crime According to International Criminal Court", Euroasia Review, April 17, 2015.

Afghans Abused in Serbia. Human Rights Watch says that Afghan asylum seekers and migrants in Serbia are being harassed and abused by Serbian police. (Tolo News, April 17, 2015).

Haqqani Ldr Killed in Pakistan. Government (and Taliban) sources say that a key commander in the Taliban-linked Haqqani Network has been killed in a clash with security forces in Pakistan's south Wazirstan tribal area. (Radio Free Europe, April 17, 2015).

Tajikistan: Religious practice controlled by state. Religion is tightly controlled by the government of this Central Asian country to the north of Afghanistan. Read more in "Tajikistan: No Hajj, No Hijab, and Shave Your Beard", The Diplomat, April 17, 2015.

Leidos gets Intel Contract w/ U.S. Army. The U.S. Army has a $7.2 billion contract for the provision of world-wide intelligence support services for the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). Leidos, a firm providing defense services, has been awarded a prime contract as part of the five-year program. (Shepard Media, April 17, 2015).

Video - Economy Faltering in Kleptocracy. Afghanistan's government, despite President Ghani's best efforts thus far, is a sophisticated kleptocracy. This rampart corruption in Afghanistan is hurting the ability of the Afghan government to finance its government, hurts the confidence of the Afghan people, and has an impact on the likelihood of continued international financial assistance in the future.. Listen to a video (4 mins, April 8, 2015, CNN) on this topic - "Afghanistan hit by faltering economy".

Effective Use of CAS. A U.S. Advisor to an ARVN Ranger Battalion recounts a day of combat where the South Vietnamese unit escaped annihilation because of superb close air support. At the end of the day only 32 Rangers of over 400 escaped the battlefield. Read "Memories of Vietnam: Bombing our way out of being encircled by the VC", The Best Defense Blog, Foreign Policy, April 16, 2015.

U.S. Woman Shot in Karachi. A U.S. woman was shot by gunmen in Karachi, Pakistan who claim Islamic State allegiance. The incident happened on April 16th. The gunmen says she was targeted because she was from the U.S. Debra Lobo was a vice principle at a dental college in Karachi. She was shot in the face and hand by gunmen on a motorcycle while driving home from her office. (Gandhara Blog - Radio Free Europe, April 17, 2015).

Send Me Your Stories!

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. Frequency of submission is up to you. If you wrote a paper on a relevant topic and would like to share it send it to us for posting on the blog and website. And naturally, if you see errors, outdated information, or broken links please let us know.

staff@afghanwarnews.info

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Friday, April 17, 2015

TAAC-South Commander Profile

BG Viet Luong, the 1st Cavalry Division's Deputy Commander of Maneuver, has been deployed to Afghanistan with about 60 1st Cav unit members since January 2015. He is in charge of the Train, Advise, Assist Command - South (TAAC-South) based at Kandahar Airfield. Many of the troops in his Afghan command are from the 101st Airborne Division. In addition he commands Coalition personnel from other countries including Australia, Bulgaria, and Romania. His last deployment to Afghanistan was in 2011 when he was a brigade commander with the 101st Airborne Division. The members of the 1st Cav - who form the principal staff of the TAAC - will redeploy in the summer to their home base. They will be replaced by staff from the 7th Infantry Division.

A detailed biography of BG Luong is posted on the Resolute Support portal at this link.

More info on TAAC-South is available on the Resolute Support portal at this link.

Read more about BG Luong in the news story "A closer look: 1st Cav's ongoing mission in Afghanistan", Fort Hood Herald, April 15, 2015.

Afghan War 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, 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 in avoiding this mistake. Fortunately, there is one available entitled the Afghan War Glossary. Enjoy.

Afghan War News Snippets

Electoral Reform Commission. There is lots of confusion about who is heading up the Afghan ERC. Currently Shukria Barakzai insists she is a member of the commission but others say she has been removed.

Fighting in Badakhshan. The Afghan government will be (or currently is) launching a counteroffensive to reverse some recent gains by insurgents. Khaama Press reported on Twitter that the Interior Minister, Noorulhaq Uloomi, recently visited Badakhshan checking things out. Other reports indicated that four Afghan Local Police were killed in the province recently. It appears that the Taliban pickup a lot of military equipment as a result of the recent fighting. Read more in a news report by Tolo News, April 16, 2015.

Afghan Institute for Civil Society (AICS). This organization was recently established in February 2015 as an independent, national agency to improve the quality and credibility of Afghan Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The AICS will also strive to act as a national platform for fostering cohesive relationships between CSOs, the government, donors and the broader sector. The process for establishing this Institute has been facilitiated by the Agha Kahn Development Network with support from the USAID-funded Afghanistan Civic Engagement Programme. Read more about the AICS in an news report by the director of the AICS, Maiwand Rahyab, in "A step forward for civil society", posted on the British & Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG) website, April 16, 2015.

Drug Trafficking and Russia. The EastWest Institute has released a new report that says Russia and the United States can jointly combat narcotrafficking out of Afghanistan. Much of the Afghan heroin finds its way to Russia to supply the many addicted customers living there. Read more in "Can the United States and Russia Jointly Combat Afghan Heroin?", by Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat, April 16, 2015.

Lariam - Problems with Use Plague UK Military. The United Kingdom military is under fire for continuing to use a drug that has resulted in cases of mental health problems among British soldiers who served in Afghanistan. Read more in a news report by The Independent, April 16, 2015.

Video about Magnetic Bomb on ANP Vehicle. In this video - "Lucky bomb escape leaves clue for Afghan police", NATO Channel, April 13, 2015. (3 minutes, posted on YouTube.com).

https://youtu.be/Ul4gOkbwhxI

Pakistan Army Discovers Small Unit Tactics. The Pakistani military is adapting the way it trains so it can field a more effective counterinsurgent fighting force against the Pakistani Taliban and other insurgent and terrorist groups. They are incorporating something bizarre called 'small unit tactics' or SUT into their COIN training. This is something Resolute Support could encourage the Afghan National Army to do - but at the moment the RSM advisors are concentrating on some essential functions in the areas of procurement, strategic planning, personnel management, and other areas at the ministry level - because the ANA already knows how to fight - and presumably uses SUT as well. Read more in "To Fight the Taliban, Pakistani military turns to unorthodox but simple tactics", by Tim Craig, The Washington Post, April 16, 2015.

Police Commander Killed. A local police commander was killed by the Taliban in Bati Kot district, Nangarhar province. Tolo News, April 16, 2015.

Ghani Going to India. President Ghani is due to visit India; probably around April 27th. There's lots to talk about - continued Indian support in the economic sector, military training, and India-Pakistan relations.

Book Review. Leigh Neville has penned The British Army in Afghanistan 2006-2016 (Osprey Publishing, 2015). His book is reviewed by George Vlachonikolis in War on the Rocks, April 16, 2015.

Podcast on Kabul Security. Tom Bowman, NPR correspondent, provides us his thoughts on Kabul security and the Afghan security forces in "Kabul Appears to be More Tense Since U.S. Troop Drawdown", NPR podcast, April 16, 2015 (3 minutes). Podcast.

Anti-Corruption Advisor for Ghani. A news article profiles an anti-corruption advisor for President Ghani. One of his first inquiries was the Ministry of Defense (MoD) fuel contract. (aquila-style.com, April 16, 2015).

News Clip on JIEDDO. The director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) explains the organizations mission in this short (1 min) video posted on YouTube.com on April 16, 2015.

https://youtu.be/quPMEe9IzYA

Another News Clip on JIEDDO. The short news clip (1 min) explains how JIEDDO was recently realigned (can you say downsized?) to become a combat support agency - because our future enemies will be using jet fighters, big tanks, submarines, and aircraft carriers - not homemade explosives. Posted on YouTube.com on April 13, 2015.

https://youtu.be/UR98w6TiFcg

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Thursday, April 16, 2015

Badakhshan Offensive

The Taliban scored some initial successes in the opening rounds of the 2015 fighting season in Badakhshan where it overran some army and police posts. Now the Afghan military is planning some operations to try and reverse those gains. Most of the fighting will be done by units of the 209th Corps based in Mazar-e-Sharif in Balkh province. The corps hqs is there but its three brigades are spread out across northern Afghanistan. One of those brigades has responsibility for Badakhshan province and several other nearby provinces. Those troops will likely be augmented by a Special Operations Kandak of Afghan National Army Commandos. In addition, one or two special police units may find its way from Kabul to the conflict area. Read more in "Afghan military prepares for major counterinsurgency operation in north", Stars and Stripes, April 14, 2015.

LTG Sacolick & Hostage Policy Review

The Obama administration has faced some harsh questioning on its hostage policy. For years the United States position has been that it won't negotiate with terrorists - and for the most part the country doesn't. However recent events have put that policy into the spotlight - the trade of five Taliban commanders (long-term residents of the Guantanamo detention center) for SGT Bowe Bergdahl, failed rescue attempts in Yemen and elsewhere, and the beheading of U.S. citizens in Syria. In addition, some hostage family members feel that they are not kept informed by the U.S. government of attempts to release or recover hostages. The Department of Defense has a Personnel Recovery (PR) program (see Joint Personnel Recovery Agency or JPRA) that educates its service members on avoiding capture, surviving captivity, and coordination personnel recovery. However, while this PR program and structure is robust in war zones (like Iraq and Afghanistan), it isn't as mature or developed in other trouble areas of the world and usually does not extend beyond the military. American citizens who are in the news media, humanitarian organizations, business, or in the wrong place at the wrong time are subject to capture - but many feel there is not a coordinated effort among all U.S. agencies for their recovery. LTG Bennet Sacolick, a long-time Special Forces officer, is tasked with a review of the hostage recovery program. Read more in "Meet the General Shaking Up America's Yemen, ISIS, and Hostage Rescue Plans", The Daily Beast, April 15, 2015.

Panel Discussion - Private Sector Investment

John Hopkins University will be hosting a panel discussion entitled "Sounding the Bell: Opening the Market to Private Sector Investment in Afghanistan and Pakistan" on Thursday, April 16, 2015 from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm (EDT). The panel event will explore how international aid organizations can partner with the private sector to support economic growth and promote foreign investment. The university and USAID are hosting and organizing the event. Panelists include:

Larry Sampler, USAID
Gulmaqsood Sabit, Ministry of Finance, Afghanistan
Dr. Asad Khan, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Pakistan
Arsalan Lutfi, Chief of Operations, Trivision
Dean White, President, Tetra Tech ES Inc.

You can access the webcast at this link "Sounding the Bell".

Afghan War News Snippets

Islamic State 'Psychological Warfare'. A former Afghan spy chief (National Directorate of Security) Amrullah Saleh says that the presence of the Islamic State amounts to propaganda and does not reflect reality on the ground. Read more in a news report by Gandhara (Radio Free Europe), April 14, 2015.

Ismail Khan on ISIS. In an interview the former warlord, governor, cabinet member, muhjahideen fighter, and "Lion of Herat" says that the Islamic State is a huge problem. (Yahoo! News, April 14, 2015).

IED in Kandahar. A road planted IED killed two civilians in Podena village of Arghandab district on April 15th. (@KandarharMedia, Twitter).

Kabul Hail Storm. Kabul saw some big chunks of hail fall on Wednesday.

Faryab Province Under Taliban Control? A member of the Afghan parliament representing northern Faryab province says that insurgents have much of the province under their control. He says that a prominent leader of the ANSF in the area is corrupt and he has sent his family to Canada and Sweden to live. He also says that clearing operations are ineffective - as soon as security forces depart a 'cleared area' the insurgents move back in. See news report. (Gandhara Blog - Radio Free Europe, April 15, 2015).

Blackwater. The private military corporation known as Blackwater was in the news again. This company provided many security contractors (and other specialties) to the Iraq and Afghan conflicts over the years. Former employees involved in an incident in Baghdad years ago were just sentenced to lengthy prison sentences. James Risen and Matthew Rosenberg look into the history of Blackwater in their article "Blackwater's Legacy Goes Beyond Public View", The New York Times, April 14, 2015.

Afghan Cabinet. Some nominees for the cabinet are having difficulty with current or past dual citizenship status. Many are 'technocrats' with years of foreign work experience and residence but that is a hard sell for some conservative members of the Afghan parliament.

Soft Security Issues in Central Asia. Kazakhstan has taken regional leadership on soft security issues (water management, regulating migrations and refugees, disaster preparedness, etc.) in Central Asia. Read more in "Addressing Soft Security Challenges in Kazakhstan and Central Asia", Central Asia Program (CAP), February 15, 2014.

MARSOC and Glock 19. It appears that the Marines Special Operators will be using the 9mm Glock 19. Read a recent news report in the Daily Caller, April 145, 2015.

Women in Combat and the "Silent Majority". Those members of the military who favor the integration of women into infantry units and on Special Forces Operational Detachments (ODAs) usually will not be suffering the consequences - as they are far removed from those units activities on the battlefield or the training environment. On the other hand - there appears to be a majority that are keeping their opinions to themselves - worries about retaliation for not supporting the administration's efforts and because they are avoiding the label of 'chauvinist'. Read more in "Women in Ground Combat Units: Where's the Data?", by Anna Simons in War on the Rocks, April 15, 2015.

Women and Ranger School. The Washington Post has a news story about the women that are helping the Army with integrating women into Ranger School. (April 14, 2015).

F-35 Fighter's Maintenance System. The next-generation software system designed to detail maintenance problems and issues for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is having some debut issues. Read a news story in Air Force Times, April 15, 2015.

Pentagon Channel No More. The Defense Department's Pentagon Channel is being discontinued. Read more in Defense One, April 14, 2015.

Afghan Interpreters and the UK. There are some who say that the United Kingdom has let down the loyal Afghans who served as interpreters for British forces in Afghanistan. Read a news story on the topic (Express, April 15, 2015).

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Afghan News with Your Morning Coffee

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Guide - "Civil-Military-Police Language Guide"

This publication - a language guide for those personnel working in conflict zones provided by the Australian Civil-Military Centre - is ideal for those working in the military, police, humanitarian, or development sectors in Afghanistan. There are many different 'cultures' in Afghanistan. The first and most obvious is the Afghan culture. But also important are the differing cultures within the international community working in Afghanistan - from the military of Resolute Support, the police trainers of EUPOL, or the many humanitarian workers belonging to the hundreds of international organizations working in the development, government, and humanitarian sectors. The document is 80 pages long and worth taking a look at. An abstract from the introduction is provided below.

"The civil-military-police community is as diverse as it is broad. It contains a wide range of actors who employ varying methodologies, use a variety of techniques, utilize unique equipment and often pursue different objectives in service of different masters. Diversity is a strength of the civil-military-police domain, although a common understanding is require between community members to realize that strength. The range of different terminology employed across the civil-military-police community can make it difficult to form a common understanding. Strategic level decision making should be driven by shared information and understandings. A Civil-Military-Police Language Guide can help ensure that information sourced from the operational level is precise, consistent and unambiguous. The demand for these qualities increase during crises."

"Civil-Military-Police Language Guide", Australian Civil-Military Centre, March 26, 2015.
www.acmc.gov.au/civil-military-police-language-guide/

Afghan Air Force - Still Not Big Enough

General Karimi, Afghan Army Chief of Staff, says that the ANSF needs more air support - Currently there are only four Mi-35 Attack Helicopters operating (flying) in the Afghan Air Force (AAF) - two for the northern regions and two for the southern regions. The AAF recently received six MD-530 helicopters armed with weaponry but they are still in the fielding phase - not yet committed to the fight. In addition some Mi-17s, a transport helicopter not really suited to ground attack, are armed with machine guns. The fielding of the twenty A-29 Super Tucanos is still many months away. So for fire support the ANA must depend on their D-30 122mm Howitzers and the limited air support that Resolute Support headquarters can provide. One aspect of the current fighting is that the Taliban can now mass for large-scale attacks against small outposts and combat bases. In previous fighting seasons these large formations of 200 plus insurgent fighters would have been pounded by Coalition air strikes. Not so much now.

Afghan War News Snippets

Badakhshan Woes. The recent fighting in this northeastern province of Afghanistan resulted in some heavy casualties for the ANSF. Some Twitter accounts say that up to 28 army soldiers were beheaded; other reports say only 8.. There are concerns that "Daesh" is working with other insurgent groups in the province. There is a criminal element involved in the provincial fighting as the province has gem mines that provide revenue and the province also serves as a transit route for drug trafficking. General Sher Mohammad Karimi, Chief of Army Staff, says that "issues in leadership" was the main cause of the casualties according to a Khaama Press news report. (Khaama Press, April 14, 2015). Read more on this topic (Badakhshan) in a news report by Reuters (April 13, 2015).

Fighting Season Begins. Usually the Taliban will officially announce the beginning of the fighting season - giving it some glorious name to inspire the rank and file. Sometimes they put an actual date to the beginning. I am not sure if they have done that yet but by my observation it seems the fighting season has already begun - irregardless of whether the snow has melted in the mountain passes.

Foreign Fighters Helping the Taliban. Sudarsan Raghavan, the bureau chief in Kabul for The Washington Post says "Foreign Fighters are spilling into Afghanistan, helping the Taliban" (April 14, 2015).

Long Flight Home for Contractors. Anyone familiar with the Dubai-Dulles or Dubai-Atlanta flights will appreciate this article - "Airplane Seat Swapping Turns Rough-and-Tumble", The New York Times, April 13, 2015.

Kill or Capture. In times gone by the typical mission statement for some SOF units contained the words "kill or capture". If you could capture a mid- to high-level insurgent you could possibly gain some valuable intelligence - killing sometimes made that difficult. In the counter terrorism world capturing is preferred but it appears that the killing methodology (using drones) has taken priority. Read more in an news report in Foreign Policy by Micah Zenko (April 14, 2015).

MD 530F Helicopters. IHS Jane's 360 provides us with a brief description and pictures of the MD 530F helos recently field to the Afghan Air Force. View the news report (April 12, 2015).

Afghan Army to be Tested. Joseph Goldstein writes that the Afghan army will have an intense fighting season in 2015. He says this past winter there was an increased fighting level than past winter seasons. Read his column in "Afghan Army is Tested by the Taliban as Fighting Season Begins", The New York Times, April 13, 2015.

Two ANP Killed in Takhar. According to Tolo News two policemen were killed by the Taliban in Takhar.

TAAC North advises RMIC. The Regional Media Information Center (RMIC) located in the 209th Corps area of responsibility (northern Afghanistan) is a collaboration between TAAC North, public affairs officers of the ANSF, and the local media. Strategic Communications is one of the 8 Essential Functions that Resolute Support advisors are working in to improve the capability of the ANSF. Read more on this topic in a RSM Facebook posting and visit the website of the RMIC. Sounds like the Europeans have got it going on in the old Regional Command North AO. I wonder if TAAC East, South, and West are working with similar organizations in their area of operations?

9 Abducted Civilians Released. According to Pajhwok Afghan News nine civilians abducted by the Taliban in Sar-i-Pul province two weeks again have been released as a result of negotiations with local leaders.

Two Killed in Kabul. According to Pajhwok News two civilians were killed by armed men in police district 11 of Kabul on Tuesday morning (Apr 14).

Cabinet Nominees. Five cabinet nominees addressed Afghanistan's lower house of parliament on Monday. They got the opportunity to present their proposed agendas. The parliament will need to approve their nominations.

MCSCG Deploys to Republic of Georgia. The Marines and troops of Georgia have a long-standing close partnership that pays off in dividends. The program puts Marines into Georgia to train up with Georgian Army units that are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan. Then, the Georgian units deploy into Afghanistan with U.S. Marines. Read more in a news report by Marines.mil (April 14, 2105).

Bergdahl. The opinion pages of The New York Times seems to think that there is "No Need to Prosecute Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl", March 26, 2015. Hmmmm.

Is Russian Hyping the IS Threat in Central Asia. There is lots of concern by the Central Asian states to the north of Afghanistan that the conflict in Afghanistan will spill over the border into the their territories. Some dismiss the Islamic State threat and say that the situation is being exaggerated. Others are accusing Russia of hyping the IS threat so they can put more pressure (military, economic, political, etc.) onto countries in the region to counter inroads by China and western nations. Read more in "Islamist Threat: Why is Russia Scaring Turkmenistan?", Qishlog Ovozi Blog - Radio Free Europe, April 14, 2015.

NUG Stalled. The National Unity Government (NUG) of Afghanistan is not so united. The Afghan government is in a holding pattern while the two competing camps (Ghani and Abdullah) fight over the appointments of ministers, governors and other government officials.

Karzai Engaged. Former President Karzai is still engaged in the political world of Afghanistan. He recently met with district administrators, police chiefs and other leaders from two southern provinces.

Air Quality in Kabul? Not very good. Of course, you just have to breath or smell the air to know that. CNN has a news report on the air quality of the five worst capitals in the world. Did Kabul make the top five? Of course. Read the news report in CNN, April 13, 2015.

Minister of Defense Wanted. The job of Minister of Defense is still vacant. Two nominees have been presented to the Afghan parliament. The first, General Karimi - Chief of the Army Staff - would have been an excellent choice according to many informed observers but was rejected by parliament. The second nominee withdrew his name after determining he was a disputed choice. Hopefully Ghani and Abdullah can come to some agreement soon as the 2015 fighting season now here.

Women Attending U.S. Army Ranger School. Dan Lamothe writes in The Washington Post (April 13, 2015) of the progress the U.S. Army is making in selecting women to attend Ranger School.

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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Balkh PGov: Strongman of North Afghanistan

Governor Atta Mohammad Noor, the Provincial Governor (PGov) of Balkh province has been in his position for over ten years when he was first appointed by President Karzai. Atta is a former school teacher, turned mujahedeen fighter, turned warlord, and now governor. He has many supporters who say he has brought economic prosperity and security to Balkh province and the large city of Mazar-e Sharif. His critics say that political freedom is at a minimum, he is corrupt, manages a massive criminal patronage network, is suspected of human rights abuses, has his own private militias, and is just a powerful warlord appointed to a governorship. The international Coalition, in the past Regional Command North or RC-North, and now Train Advise, Assist Command - North (TAAC North) recognize the governor for who he is - a rich, powerful, influential governor with a firm grasp of the political, economic, criminal, and security environment. I spent many months at Camp Marmel (where the regional command for ISAF was headquartered) and it was apparent that the most powerful figure in northern Afghanistan was Noor. His information (intelligence network) is widespread and effective and he has good control over the police in his province. Read more in "Afghanistan's defining fight: Technocrats vs. strongmen", The Washington Post, April 12, 2015.

Paper - "IO and Human Domain"

The Center for Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups of the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhodes Island has published a new paper on "Influence Operations and the Human Domain" by Thomas M. Scanzillo and Edward M. Lopaceinski. The authors use the example of the Joint Special Operations Task Force - Philippines (JSOTF-P) as a way of showing how Influence Operations can be used in an irregular warfare situation.

Influence Operations and the Human Domain

ATP 3-39.20 Police Intelligence Operations

Headquarters, Department of the Army has released Police Intelligence Operations, ATP 3-39.20, April 2015. This manual could be valuable to those advisors who are working with the Afghan National Police, the National Directorate of Security, Operational Coordination Center (OCCs), or the various intelligence agencies of the Ministry of Interior or the Ministry of Defense.

Chapters:
Police Intelligence Foundation
Integration into the Operations Process
Police Information Sources
Police Information Analysis
Production and Dissemination

Some of the content includes info on incident maps, link analysis, association matrix, time-event charts, targeting methodology, source reliability code, and more. The manual, an Adobe Acrobat PDF, can be read online or downloaded from the Army's publication portal.
http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/atp3_39x20.pdf

Other manuals, papers, reports, and publications about police intelligence that may be useful to the police advisor in Afghanistan can be found at the website link below.
www.specialforcestraining.info/intel/le-police-intelligence-pubs.htm

CSIS Gender Equality Webcast (Apr 20, 2015)

The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) will be hosting a panel discussion on "Advancing Global Gender Equality" on Monday, April 20, 2015. The event will take place at CSIS in Washington, D.C. but can also be viewed online as well. The panel is moderated and hosted by Bob Schieffer (Chief Washington Correspondent for CBS News) and panelists include Catherine Russel (Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, U.S. Department of State), Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Director, U.S. Peace Corps), and Dr. Sarah E. Mendelson (Senior Advisor and Director, CSIS Human Rights Initiative). I am certain that the webcast will touch on gender issues in Afghanistan (how could they not?).

Monday, April 20, 2015, 4:45 PM - 6:30 PM EST. Register for webcast online at link below.
http://my.csis.org/csis/CSIS1700/CSISEventRegistration.aspx?eventcode=2015_149

Afghan War News Snippets

Clashes Pickup. Reports indicate that clashes between insurgents and government forces have risen in the past few days to include incidents in Kapisa and Badakhshan provinces. Some reports say that eight ANA soldiers were beheaded in Badakhshan. The government spokesmen for the MoD and MoI are painting the recent clash in Badakhshan as a victory for the ANSF. However, it could be there is some spin going on there (of course). The Afghan Lower House of Representatives have summoned the Afghan National Security Advisor for some questioning on the northern province. (CBS News, Apr 13, 2015).

SOCOM Needs Drone Contractors for Afghanistan. The United States Special Operations Command based in Tampa, Florida is seeking contracting firms to run drone operations (pilots, maintenance, engineering) in six countries around the world - including Afghanistan. The Request for Proposal (RFP) says the contract will be for the purposes of gathering intelligence and conducting surveillance and reconnaissance. The contract, Mid-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations and Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance Support (MEUAS III) is for LoS and BLoS operations. Read more in a news report by Defense World, April 13, 2015.

Afghan Commandos Visit Texas. The members of the ten Afghan Commando Kandaks are among the best fighters in the Afghan National Army. They suffer casualties - killed and wounded - quite frequently. Many of the wounded lose limbs and adjustment to that situation is quite difficult in a poor country like Afghanistan. Some wounded Afghan Commandos are learning how to adjust to their new situation in Texas. Learn more in "Afghan amputees tell their stories at Texas gathering", Fayetteville Observer, April 12, 2015.

Australia Aids Girls Schools. Read some news about how Australia is helping to increase the number of girls who return to school in a news report by SBS.com, April 9, 2015.

"First Kill". A retired infantryman (COL Keith Nightingale) writes about killing in combat. Read his story in "First Kill" posted on Small Wars Journal, April 3, 2015.

For Some U.S. Families the War is not Over. Read "War in Afghanistan Continues for Families of Fallen U.S. Soldiers", NBC Nightly News, April 13, 2015.

Does Mullah Omar Still Matter? Michael Kugelman, writing in War on the Rocks (Apr 13, 2015) says that the religious leader and head of the Taliban is seeing some of his power and influence erode away. For instance, one group of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has recently declared its allegiance to the Islamic State. Read Kugelman's news article to see what he has to say about Mullah Omar.

Canadian Visit by Ghani Nixed. President Ghani, and his 75-man party, was planning on visiting Canada in conjunction with his U.S. tour. However, Canada didn't fully embrace the idea. Read more in "Visit of New Afghan President to Canada Quietly Scrubbed Amid Iraq Debate", Huffington Post, April 12, 2015.

U.S. Accounting Professor Helps Out in Afghanistan. Karen Tower of Ivy Tech Richmond spent two weeks in Afghanistan helping out a community college in preparing for international accreditation. (Pal-Item, Apr 12, 2015).

Military Meals and Celebrity Chef. Could we be seeing an improvement in Army cuisine? Celebrity chef Padma Lakshmi is joining forces with the Pentagon to develop a spinoff of the "Top Chef" show featuring military meals. I do miss my C-ration Beans and Franks. Can we bring pound cake back? (Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2015).

Missing IJC's (KAIA) Fancy Cuisine. As the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan down-sizes the footprint diminishes as well. One of the units to shut down was the ISAF Joint Command or IJC based at Kabul International Airport. And one unfortunate result of the unit closing was the shuttering of the doors of the many small restaurants on the airbase (I have passed through KAIA many times; the Thai restaurant was my favorite). A past article by Dufflel Blog (Oct 13) provides us more info on the culinary delights found on KAIA. (caution - humor zone).

U.S. Still at War in Afghanistan. The top Pentagon lawyer says that the United States is still in 'armed conflict' in Afghanistan. Glad he clarified that! Read more in a news report by The Hill Blog, April 13, 2015.

Publish Your Paper

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. If you wrote a paper on a relevant topic and would like to share it send it to us for posting on the blog and website. And naturally, if you see errors, outdated information, or broken links please let us know.

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Monday, April 13, 2015

New Zealand Mandate

New Zealand Mandate Decision. The island country of New Zealand has been active in Afghanistan for more than a decade and they officially ended operations recently. New Zealand was one of the first nations to commit their SOF units - the New Zealand Special Air Service (SAS). I can remember them doing their 'long-range desert patrols' in desert mobility vehicles for six weeks at a time in western Afghanistan in 2002 - getting resupplied with ammo, water, and fuel by helicopter every few days. At that time the closest friendly forces were a Special Forces A-team (12-man detachment) in Zaranj and Herat and some conventional forces at Kanadahar. It was an austere environment during that period. The nearest MEDEVAC helicopter would come from Kandahar using CSAR birds - but only if an airborne refueler could meet the chopper on the return leg. Then, because medical care was limited at KAF, a seriously injured patient would be transloaded off the chopper onto a C-130 to fly to BAF where a surgical unit was located. Some NZSAS MEDEVACs took more than 14 hours. There was no "Golden Hour" back then. The New Zealanders were also very involved in governance and development projects including the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Bamyan province. At this time the Kiwis have some military personnel working at the Afghanistan National Army Training Academy in Kabul. The New Zealand government is expected to make a decision soon on whether to continue the Afghan mission. (Radio New Zealand, April 10, 2015).

Jan - Mar 2015 Record High CIVCAS

The latest report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) shows a continued high rate of civilian casualties for 2015. The main cause is ground engagements. The figures from the first quarter of 2015 is not a good sign of the civilian casualties (CIVCAS) projected to occur during the 2015 fighting season (which is probably just kicking off now). In the first three months of 2015 civilian casualties rose by eight per cent compared to the same period in 2014. Ground fighting between Pro-Government Forces and Anti-Government Elements (UN terminology) caused 521 civilian casualties. Read the UNANA news release (April 12, 2015).

AREU Research Newsletter (Jan-Mar 2015)

The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has re-started its "Afghanistan Research Newsletter". The first issue (now resumed) is Number 31, January - March 2015. This is essentially an annotated bibliography covering all aspects of Afghanistan. It is very well documented and ideal for researchers, policy-makers, humanitarians, development SMEs, and military advisors and personnel. The publication provides a listing of papers, books, publications, and reports by the AREU and many other organizations and government agencies.

AREU Research Newsletter