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).

Cultural and Situational Understanding

The United States Army has published ATP 3-24.3, Cultural and Situational Understanding, April 2015 - a manual that "establishes the techniques and procedures used by individuals, teams, and units of the United States army at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war." This manual is valuable for all members of the military (as well as contractors) who are engaged in security assistance. This publication elaborates on doctrine contained in FM 3-24, Insurgency and Countering Insurgencies. This manual should be suggested pre-deployment reading for those contractor or military personnel who will be engaged in the Security Force Assistance mission in Afghanistan. Many advisors deploy to Afghanistan without a basic knowledge of how to advise, how to engage in cross-cultural communications, and how to adapt to a different and strange environment. The reading of this pub will help the future advisor in knowing how to establish rapport and build a relationship - which is key to the ability to train, advise, and assist - and influence - a counterpart from another country.

Chapter 1 - Intro to Cultural and Situational Understanding
Chapter 2 - Cultural Perception and Mindset
Chapter 3 - Cross-Cultural Communications and Engagement
Chapter 4 - Cultural Understanding: a Three Level Approach
Chapter 5 - Cultural Counterparts
Appendix A - Working with Translators and Interpreters

Cultural and Situational Understanding, ATP 3-24.3, April 2015.
http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/atp3_24x3.pdf

Afghan War News Snippets (Mar 27, 2015)

The Ghani and Abdullah Tour. Secretary of State John Kerry hosted Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and President Ashraf Ghani for a state dinner this week. Being Secretary of State, John took the opportunity to make some remarks. (U.S. Department of State, March 24, 2015).
www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/03/239752.htm

Video - President Ghani and the Council on Foreign Relations. The CFR has a 'conversation' with President Ghani on March 26, 2015. Richard Haas of CFR hosts the presentation with Robert Rubin of CFR presiding.

https://youtu.be/xDZ6yllB560

Video - Dr. Abdullah Addresses Brookings Institute. On Thursday, March 26th, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the CEO for Afghanistan addressed the Brookings Institute. During his presentation and the follow-on question and answer period he touches on a number of issues to include peace talks, Pakistan, corruption, women's rights, who the Taliban are now, the reclusive Mullah Omar, relationship with China, drug trafficking, the National Unity Government, the Haqqani Network, ISIS, al Qaeda, and more. You can watch the video of his presentation (in English) at the link below posted on YouTube.com.
https://youtu.be/1zTki7_bK9g

Ghani to Visit India in April. President Ghani certainly knows how to travel. He spent last several days in the States and prior to that has hit several other countries (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc.). In April he heads to India. Top of the agenda will likely be the 'tilt' of Afghanistan to Pakistan leaving India out in the cold. Looks like it is time to patch up the Afghan-India relationship.

Afghanistan's Economic Plans - U.S. Not Included. An article published on March 26th reflects on the comments of President Ghani during his D.C. tour. Ghani believes that Afghanistan is at the center of an economic revival based on regional cooperation. The article points out that as we (the U.S. and international partners) fund the Afghan government and its security - the neighbors of Afghanistan will benefit economically - the U.S.? Not so much. Read more in "Afghanistan's fantastic plan for economic success leaves the US on the outside", Quartz, March 26, 2015.

Lose the Timeline. Jason Campbell writing in War on the Rocks (March 26, 2015) says we need a better Afghan strategy and we should lose the timeline for withdrawal. He discusses the Ghani visit to D.C., the new U.S.-Afghan relationship, and more.

What is the Endgame? While most observers applaud President Obama's decision to put a 'pause' on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan some are looking past 2016 and wondering what the U.S. commitment will be at that time. Read more in "What's the Afghanistan endgame?", LA Times, March 26, 2015.

Khost Attack. News reports indicate that five people were killed and 10 injured in a missile attack in Khost (eastern Afghanistan).

English for Afghan Air Force Pilots. The lack of English proficiency among Afghan pilots of the Afghan Air Force was creating hazardous conditions for flight operations in Jalalabad. U.S. Air Force Advisors of TAAC-Air responded to the problem with establishing an English course for Afghan aviators focused on aviation terminology. Read more in "Air advisors create English course for Afghan aviators", Air Force Times, March 25, 2015.

"Streetwise Agent vs. Brainy Analyst". The fusing of operations with intelligence is very important in a counterinsurgency environment as well as in the fight against terrorism; and sometimes the U.S. is found wanting in that regard. Yesterday, I wrote about the integration of intelligence processes at company level in Afghanistan (see blog post on the CoIST). Today the NY Times has an article about intelligence fusion at a higher level. The U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies (CIA, FBI, etc.) have a history of not properly coordinating the activities of the "analysts" and the "field operatives". Senior officials have recognized this deficiency and are trying to change the organization and culture. Which means if your are an "Intel Weanie" your status is going up a notch. Read more in "C.I.A. Officers and F.B.I. Agents, Meet Your New Partner: The Analyst", The New York Times, March 27, 2015. 

CIA Reorganization. In a move to shake things up at the CIA the head of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center is being removed from his post. The center has evolved over the past decade into a paramilitary force that employed armed drones to kill thousands of suspected terrorists and militants. Read more in "CIA official who directed hunt for bin Laden is being removed from post", The Washington Post, March 26, 2015. Matteo Fainl writing in The Weekly Wonk of the New America Foundation thinks that CIA Director Brennan's reforms will hurt the CIA.

Drones Suffer High Accident Rate. Drones are less dependable than regular military aircraft and have a higher accident rate. Read more in "How crashing drones are exposing secrets about U.S. war operations", The Washington Post, March 26, 2015.

Beau Bergdahl. The State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki, says that the Bergdahl swap for five high-level Taliban commanders held at Guantanamo was 'worth it'. (The Hill, March 25, 2015). Jack Goldsmith writes about the legal implications of the prisoner swap in "Was the Bergdahl Swap Lawful?", Lawfare Blog, March 25, 2015. In other news, Beau provides details of his captivity. (The Washington Post, March 25, 2015) and in article by PBS.  

General Officer Moves. MG Townsend of 10th Mtn Div (and formerly commander of Regional Command East) will move to Fort Bragg to replace LTG Joe Anderson who is commander of 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg (and formerly commander of ISAF Joint Command). The 18th Airborne Corps commands four divisions - 82nd Airborne Division, 3rd Infantry Division, 101st Airborne Division (but they don't jump anymore), and the 10th Mountain Division (despite their name they are not located near training areas with any real mountains). (Fayetteville Observer, Mar 26, 2015).

Leadership Changes in Garmser district, Helmand province. According to Tolo News (Mar 26, 2015) the District Governor, District Chief of Police (DCoP), and a former head of security for the district have been fired amid charges of corruption and negligence.

UK and Resettled Interpreters. The UK has resettled less than 100 local interpreters who worked with British forces during the 13-year-long Afghanistan War. (Express, Mar 25, 2015).

Norway and Afghan Refugees. If you are an Afghan refugee in Norway your future is somewhat is up in the air as the current Tripartite Agreement between Norway, Afghanistan, and the UNHCR is subject to re-negotiation. Read "An Uncertain Future in Afghanistan", Prio Blog, March 26, 2015.

Mercenaries in Warfare. The growth of Private Military Corporations (PMCs) over the past 14 years has been significant. In both Iraq and Afghanistan private contractors working for the DoD and DoS outnumbered military personnel. Many of the functions formerly done by the military have been assumed by PMCs - to include providing security for facilities and convoys. Read more in the transcript of an interview of Sean McFate, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and associate professor at National Defense University, who provides us with his perspective on contractors on the battlefield. Read "How Mercenaries Are Changing Warfare" by Kathy Gilsinan, The Atlantic, March 25, 2015.

Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Read about this academy that will train up aid workers. School to be set up by the Save the Children organization. (Devex, Mar 26, 2015).

Video - Afghans Seek Medical Care in Pakistan. This 3 minute-long video is about Afghans who cross over into Pakistan to seek medical care because they can't get the treatment they need in Afghanistan. (Gandhara Blog, Mar 26, 2015).

Behind-the-Scene Story on Women Pilots in the AAF. Resolute Support Headquarters and the U.S. Air Force made much of 'the first female Afghan pilot' who recently received a high-level award from the U.S. Department of State. She has appeared in press conferences, had numerous news reports released by DoD entities, and visited various Air Force units in the states. Behind the scenes and not readily known by the public are a number of previous failed attempts to integrate women into pilot training and getting them assigned to actual flying positions within the Afghan Air Force. Read more in "Why The US Wants to Forget About Female Afghan Pilots", Sunny in Kabul, March 24, 2015.

SOF Likes Palantir; Big Army Says Use DCGS. The ongoing saga of Big Army forcing the SOF community to use the very expensive but broke intelligence system known as Distributed Common Ground System or DCGS instead of the comparatively inexpensive but very able Palantir software application for intelligence processes and targeting continues. Read more in "Bureaucrats Block Special Ops Intel Requests", ABC News, March 26, 2015.

Unity Government Report Card. It has been six months since the National Unity Government (NUG) has taken over the leadership of the Afghan government. Some folks are taking this milestone as an opportunity to evaluate the NUG. Read "The Unity Government's First Six Months: Where is the governance?", Afghanistan Analysts Network,  March 26, 2015.

Taliban Leaders Enjoying Qatar. Taliban leaders (and their families) are living the good live in the Gulf region. Read more in "Taliban Leaders Are Living in Luxary in Qatar", Newsweek, March 24, 2015.

133rd Engineer Battalion, Afghanistan, and TAG Dismissed. Last year while the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard was deployed to Afghanistan news leaked out that The Adjutant General (TAG) of Maine was going to disband the 133rd. This was a shocked to the then-deployed Soldiers of the 133rd. The 133rd is a storied unit with a rich heritage of previous deployments in Iraq and news of its future demise was not received well. The TAG was caught in a series of lies about the incident and has just been fired by the Governor of Maine. Read more in "Maine ex-Guard chief lied about battalion plan", Army Times, March 26, 2015.

Guam Air National Guard to Deploy on RSM. About 100 Guardsmen from Guam will go to Afghanistan this coming fall. The members of the 254th Red Horse Squadron received their alert recently. (Air Force Times, March 26, 2015).

Sham Air Force Summit on CAS and Dumping the A-10. The Center for Defense Information at POGO has provided us with their perspective on the U.S. Air Force attempt to rid itself of the close air support mission with its proposed retirement of the A-10 Warthog. Read all about it in "Running for Cover: A Sham Air Force Summit Can't Fix the Close Air Support Gap Created by Dumping the A-10", CDI at POGO, March 25, 2015.

Afghan War News Snippets (Mar 20, 2015)

Afghan PCoP Killed. Mattiullah Khan, the Provincial Chief of Police (PCoP) for Uruzgan province in central Afghanistan was killed while visiting Kabul on late Wednesday by a bomber dressed in women's clothes and a burqa according to the Ministry of Interior (MoI). The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Mattiullah, considered by many to be a warlord despite his official title, was a favorite of U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan. The general, a member of the Popalzai tribe, served as PCoP since 2011. He was the cousin of former Uruzgan Governor Mohammad Khan - a good acquaintance of Hamid Karzai. Prior to that he was involved in providing route security and was the beneficiary of lucrative convoy security contracts. He also was the head of a fairly competent armed force (call it a militia) that was far more reliable than the Afghan National Army or Afghan National Police. Read more in a news report (ABC News, Mar 19, 2015).

Police-e Mardume. One of the major goals of the Police-e Mardum (Community Policing) Department within the Ministry of Interior (MoI0 is how to ensure that all provinces have community policing teams. Read more in "Police-e Mardume needs to cover all the provinces", European Union External Action, March 2015. www.eupol-afg.eu/node/555

Pakistan & Afghanistan: Can they be Friends? President Ghani of Afghanistan is trying hard to improve relations with a nation that has a long-term policy of supporting insurgents who attack the Afghan government and its security forces. Ghani hopes the Pakistanis will abandon their support to the Afghan Taliban and pressure them to sit at the negotiating table. The resulting peace talks would diminish the conflict and open the door to economic prosperity. Not likely. Read more in "Ghani's Gambit: Can Afghanistan and Pakistan Ever Get Along?", The New York Times, March 18, 2015.

Ghani to visit U.S. President Ghani of Afghanistan will soon be on U.S. soil. This will be his first official U.S. visit - issues to be discussed include troop levels (U.S.), peace talks, and economic assistance. Not the first trip to the U.S. for Ghani - he taught at a U.S. university for years. Read "Afghan President Ghani set to embark on key US visit", Deutshe Welle, March 19, 2015.

TAAC East Encouraged by Police Training. The Train Advise Assist Command - East folks seem to be encouraged with the progress that the police Regional Training Center (RTC) located in Nangarhar province is making in training the Afghan National Police (ANP). Read more in "US Advisors see progress in Afghan police training", DVIDS, March 19, 2015.

Predicting Violence in Afghan Villages. A common refrain of "Population Centric COIN" is protecting the population in order to sway the community away from the insurgents and get them to support the government (and the counterinsurgents). Researchers at Yale University have developed a data project that forms a relationship between villages that supported the counterinsurgents and the levels of violence those villages experienced. The news is not good. Read more in "Violence Is More Likely To Occur in Pro-US Villages in Afghanistan", Defense One, March 18, 2015.

UK Policy on Interpreters Questioned. A former leader of the Liberal Democrats (I guess these folks can be found in other places besides the U.S.) has questioned the government's policy on allowing Afghan interpreters to resettle in the United Kingdom. Read more in a news report on Forces.TV, March 19, 2015.

Canada - "Relentless Boosterism". A correspondent provides us his view of Canada's role in Afghanistan in "From Afghanistan to Iraq, the perils of overconfidence", CBC News World, March 19, 2015. 

Afghan Women Worry about NATO Withdrawal. A report in Newsweek by Christina Lamb entitled "Afghan Women Dread Departure of U.S. Forces" (March 18, 2015) says that while things have improved dramatically for women - progress may well be reversed.

Taliban - Fragmenting or Re-consolidating? It must be tough being an Intel Analyst and trying to track which insurgent group is associated with others, what their ties are, and how much they coordinate and cooperate with each other. Some open source press accounts say the Taliban are fragmenting while others say they are consolidating. Put into the mix that you have the "Afghan Taliban" and the "Pakistan Taliban" - not to mention ISIS associated groups - and you have quite a task connecting the dots in your link analysis database. Read more in "Splinter Militant Groups Reunite with Taliban for 2015", The Diplomat, March 16, 2015.

Japan Pledges Aid for Refugees. A recent news report says that Japan has pledged $16 million in aid for Afghan and Pakistan refugees. (Japan Times, Mar 19, 2015).

M4A1 Carbine May get Upgrades. The U.S. Army is considering several upgrades to the M4A1 Carbine that will improve its performance and accuracy. Read more in a news report (Military.com, Mar 18, 2015).

Laser Guns and Microwaves. The U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) is considering how to integrate emerging technologies such as laser guns and high-powered microwaves onto its AC-130J Ghostrider gunship. It is still a concept for the distant future. Read more in "Laser Weapons Could be Outfitted on Special Ops Aircraft", National Defense Magazine, March 18, 2015.

Retrograde in Afghanistan. The movement of personnel and equipment out of Afghanistan - known as retrograde - over the past few years has been a tremendous accomplishment for the logistics organizations of the Army and the U.S. Air Force. Beginning in 2012 thousands of pieces of equipment had to be moved or disposed of. Read more in "Afghanistan Retrograde: Materiel Command's Logistics Feat Like No Other", Army Magazine,  March 12, 2015.

AWN Daily Snippets (Mar 12, 2015)

Pashtun Poet. A very famous Pashtun poet, Abdul Ghani Khan (1914-1996), has had many of his poems translated into other languages - including English. Read more in "The Pilgrim of Beauty: A Pashtun Poet's Continuing Appeal", Gandhara Blog, March 11, 2015.

ANSF Operations. Tolo News reports that the ANSF are conducting clearing operations in the provinces of Farah, Zabul, Kandahar, Helmand, and Paktika to prepare for operations against the insurgents once the spring fighting season begins (Mar 11, 2015).

Afghanistan is the source of 80% of the worlds opium. Most of it goes through Iran and Central Asia to Europe; however, it appears that a 'southern route' is steadily being used - transiting the drugs through East Africa and then into Europe. (Business Insider, Mar 7, 2015).

China is paying a lot more attention to Afghanistan and folks are noticing. Some believe that China will play a helpful role in Afghanistan's future economic and security prospects. (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 8, 2015).

Humanitarian organizations are having a recruitment problem in Afghanistan. Development recruiters find that it is difficult to hire local and international aid workers for Afghanistan due to the security concerns. (DEVEX.com, Mar 10, 2015).

The Dutch Foreign Minister and Defense Minister visited Afghanistan recently. One of their stops was Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan. (NL Times, Mar 10, 2015).

Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst, has penned a report entitled "A gripping glimpse into bin Laden's decline and fall", CNN News, March 11, 2015. It also provides information on just how devastating the CIA's drone war in the skies of Pakistan has been on al Qaeda.

General John Campbell regularly posts warnings on Facebook the fact that he is happily married. It seems there are over 700 fake profiles on the Internet claiming to be him. (The Washington Post, March 10, 2015.

Not many Afghan interpreters are fortunate enough to escape the violence of Afghanistan and get to American (Visas from the State Dept are hard to get). However, the struggle does not end once in the United States; many suffer economically. Read more in "No Way to Treat an Ally", Free Beacon, March 11, 2015.

TAAC North Charity Run. The Europeans at Train, Advise, Assist Command - North located at Camp Marmal (near Mazer-e Sharif) held a charity run (called the "Wasa Run") for the families of fallen Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) personnel. The run, held on March 8, 2015 (Sunday is a "low ops" day at Camp Marmal), was initiated by soldiers of the Swedish contingent with help from other organizations on the base. Over 2,222 Euros (over $2K) was handed over to the Afghan Red Crescent Society Widow Center Maraston. There are over 21 countries working at Camp Marmal. (RS News, March 10, 2015).

Maintenance in the Afghan Air Force (AAF). While the pilots get all the glory the support personnel in the Air Forces the world over do much of the work to keep the pilots (and planes) flying. This is true of the newly-built (not quite ready) Afghan Air Force. A recent news release by U.S. Air Forces Central Command highlights the work that Afghan maintainers do to keep the Mi-17 helicopters flying. Read "Afghan Air Force runs on maintenance", CENTCOM, March 10, 2015.

Daily News Snippets (Mar 9, 2015)

The Fire and Disaster Police Directorate of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) received 54 new fire trucks. The trucks were financed by the Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan (CSTC-A). They will be deployed to fire stations in Kabul and the provinces.
www.eupol-afg.eu/node/548

Hazara Hostages. A few days back the Ministry of Defense issued press reports that a major operation was underway to rescue 30 Hazara hostages taken off two buses in Zabul province. Not a peep since on how the operation is going. Hmmmm.

Afghanistan's National Water Polo Team. So you have no doubt heard that Afghanistan's football, cricket and Taekwondo teams have done very well in the international sports arena. Perhaps you have also heard of the Afghan Women's Cycling Team as well? But did you know about the Afghan National Water Polo Team? Probably not. A U.S. Marine reservist is the coach. Read more in "Marines help coach Afghanistan's first water polo team", Marine Corps Times, March 8, 2015.

Afghan Prison Riot. A number of casualties has occurred during a prison riot and hostage situation in northern Afghanistan in the provincial capital of Shebirghan in Jawzjan province. Two police officers were killed after taken hostage.  Read more in a news report by Stars & Stripes, March 8, 2015.

Some Army officers with Fort Bragg ties are heading to or departing Afghanistan. One of them is MG Jeffrey S. Buchanan - he will become the deputy chief of staff for operations of the Resolute Support mission. (Fayetteville Observer, March 8, 2015).

New Zealand awarded military medals to two former Afghan interpreters who worked with NZ forces in Afghanistan. The men and their families were among dozens of Afghan interpreters who were allowed to resettle in NZ in recognition of their service. (TVNZ.co News, March 8, 2015).

Sufi Order Attacked. Unknown gunmen attacked a Sufi Muslim center in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday night killing at least five and possibly 11 people. This is the first time that a Sufi spiritual center has been attacked in Afghanistan. Read more in "Afghanistan's ancient Sufi order shocked by deadly attack", LA Times, March 8, 2015.

Good News Story on an Afghan Interpreter

The Afghan interpreters that tried to get a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) over the past several years got screwed over (until 2014) by the U.S. State Department. Fortunately, for a few lucky ones anyway, some Afghan interpreters are finding their way to the United States . . . and they are being helped by a former U.S. Army Soldier and former Afghan interpreter who now lives in the United States. Read more in "Matt Zeller and Janis Shinwari Saved Each Other's Lives - and Now Help Others", People.com, February 19, 2015.

CNN Video on Afghan Interpreters

A former U.S. Army Soldier talks to CNN about the thousands of Iraqi and Afghan linguists who helped U.S. troops and have since been forgotten. Watch a 10 minute long video on the topic.

America's Wartime Interpreters Try to Reach U.S., CNN, February 19, 2015.

ANP in Baraki Barak District - Logar Province

A very interesting and revealing news article about the Afghan National Police (ANP) in Baraki Barak district, Logar province. The author is Azam Ahmed, the Kabul bureau chief for The New York Times. He spent some time in the district hosted by the District Chief of Police (DCoP). This district is one where the Taliban control over 50% of the terrain depending on the time of day. At one time, as late as 2012, there was a U.S. infantry company, U.S. Special Forces detachment, many enablers (Intel, interpreters, LEPs, SFAAT, etc.), an ANA company, an ANASF detachment, the district police and an Afghan Local Police unit. Since that time the SF dudes, U.S. infantry company, SFAAT, enablers, and ANA company have departed. The Afghan police are on their own. As many observers of insurgencies realize the police are in the forefront in a counterinsurgency effort. This article provides us a glimpse of how the counterinsurgency fight in Afghanistan is going.

The " . . . war, by most accounts, has been lost. the nation is not pacified, the political future remains deeply uncertain and the death toll has never been higher. For the central government in Kabul, the real fight is to persuade the population, not to kill insurgents. And the police, local and national, are the only ones who can win it."

Read the article in "The Hardest Job in Afghanistan", The New York Times Magazine, March 4, 2015.

Daily News Snippets (Mar 4, 2015)

The remnants of the Karzai administration are still in place. This is especially true of the Acting Governors that remain in charge of provinces. There is a lack of any accountability to the new government. As of February 2015 only three governors have been introduced (Farah, Paktika, and Kunduz). The remaining 31 provinces are governed by appointees of Karzai. Therefore corruption still remains a major problem and a root cause of the insurgency. Read more in "Accusations of Corruption, Negligence Against Acting Governors Increase", Tolo News, February 19, 2015.

Ambassadors Fired. Some Karzai appointees are finding their futures uncertain. Reports indicate that President Ghani has sacked eleven Afghan Ambassadors on March 2, 2015. 

Police Officials Sacked. President Ghani has fired 27 senior police officers as part of a drive towards good governance. Many of them had strong connections with politicians, strongmen, or warlords. Most have found their way into other jobs - so don't cry too much for them. Read the news article (BBC News Asia, March 2, 2015).

Afghan Police Women. Press reports say that over 190 female police officers returned to Afghanistan after completing four months of training in Turkey. 

Kidnapped Hazaras. The 30 kidnapped Hazaras are still in captivity in Zabul province. They were taken off two buses traveling to Kabul when taken hostage. Reports indicate a rescue operation may be underway soon. Khaama Press says the rescue effort is taking place in the Khah-i-Afghan district of Zabul. There is speculation that the 30 passengers were kidnapped by DAISH (ISIS).

Avalanches in northern Afghanistan are taking its toll. Over 285 citizens have died thus far and three districts are heavily impacted. This is a yearly event. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has issued a condolence statement. General Campbell of Resolute Support HQs has done the same on Facebook. U.S., Czech, and Georgian troops are assisting with the delivery of aid. This year the avalanches have taken place in the Panjshir valley (Panjshir province). Recent snowfall accumulation has caused some flash flooding as well.

ANP Funding. International donors worry whether Kabul has the administrative capacity to oversee Western taxpayer money properly. Read "Afghanistan Struggles With Police Funding", The Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2015.

Rula Ghani. The First Lady of Afghanistan is now on the U.S. Afghan Women's Council (USAWC) along with Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. Read more in this news release by Georgetown University.

Interpreters who worked for the Coalition are under threat in Afghanistan. Read "Interpreter pleads for protection from Taliban killers", The Times, March 3, 2015.

The nonprofit organization - International Relief and Development (IRD) - has been suspended by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). IRD had some significant problems in meeting the contract stipulations of some of the aid projects it was in charge of in Afghanistan. Read more in a news report by Non Profit Quarterly, dated March 2, 2015.

A women serving a 20-year sentence in the women's section of Nangarhar Prison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan is a notorious character. She is convicted of taking part in the murders of 27 men. Read more in a news article by The New York Times, February 28, 2015.

Lack of Transparency in Mining Contracts. The Minister of Mines and Petroleum says that a team of technical experts will be reassessing the majority of the mining contracts because of a lack of transparency in the process that awarded the contracts. Read more in "Minister Says Mining Contracts to be Reexamined", Tolo News,  February 20, 2015.

For years commentators will be writing on whether we won the war in Afghanistan. Some say it is too soon to tell. Others want to declare victory now. I guess it depends on how you define victory. Read one view point in "Yes, we did win in Afghanistan", War Council Blog, February 23, 2015.

U.S. Navy in a Landlocked Country. Even though Afghanistan has no ocean the U.S. Navy has had a long-time presence in the country since the start of the conflict. This continues today under Resolute Support. For instance, the NATO Role 3 Multi-national Medical Unit on Kandahar Airfield has a diverse group of Navy reservists from 22 different states. (DVIDS, March 3, 2015).

The U.S. Army continues to sink money into its Distributed Common Ground System - Army (DCGS-A). This computer-based intelligence program has cost billions of dollars and is still wanting. See "Textron to enhance DCGS-A data", C4ISR & Networks, February 5, 2015. See also DCGS-A.

A Promise to Afghan Interpreters

The United States has some unfinished business to attend to in regards to Afghanistan. That is the fair treatment of the many Afghan interpreters who risked their lives helping the United States military conduct their operations. Many are now unemployed after years of working with the U.S. military; some are under constant threat from the Taliban because of their long-time association with the Coalition forces. We need to do more to ensure that these Afghan interpreters acquire the necessary Special Immigrant Visa so they can come to the United States to live if that is their desire. That we owe them. Read more in "Keeping a Promise to Afghans", editorial by The New York Times, January 13, 2015.

Daily News Snippets (Jan 14, 2015)

Parliament approval of the nominees for the Afghan cabinet will start next week when the lower house holds sessions for vote of confidence.

An explosion in Kabul killed one and wounded four in Kabul zone seven early on Tuesday morning. Witnesses say the attack was probably against a vehicle belonging to the Afghan intelligence however the bomb struck civilians. (LA Times, Jan 13, 2015).

A road side bomb killed three people in Zurmat district of Paktia province. 

Shawn Snow writes for The Diplomat about President Ghani and his plan to end corruption. He says the process of picking the cabinet has been slow and is hurting governance. Read his January 13, 2015 article in "Ashraf Ghani and a Game of Fiefdoms".

Massoumeh Torfeh writes in Al Jazeera about the picking of the new Afghan cabinet. Read the artilce "The new old cabinet in Afghanistan", January 13, 2015, posted on Yahoo! News. Torfeh is the former director of strategic communication at the UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) and is currently a research associate at the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

The State Department has taken a lot of heat for its inability to process Special Immigrant Visas for the Afghan interpreters that served the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Read a humorous poke about a deadly situation directed at DoS for its failure to do the right thing in "State Department Awards Immigration Visas to 1,000 Dead Interpreters", Duffel Blog, January 6, 2015.

An important aspect of advisory work in Afghanistan is Force Protection. Part of an advisor's Force Protection plan is the use of Guardian Angels (security detail) when appropriate. Read an account of how one GA detail performs their duties in "Major Isn't Sure Where His Security Detail Went", Duffel Blog, January 3, 2015. (caution . . humor attack). 

Afghan interpreters who were injured while working with British forces have won the right to argue before the high court a decision to restrict the numbers coming to Britain. (The Guardian, Jan 13, 2015).

The U.S. can't totally account for the $300 million it gives the Afghan National Police each year. (Business Insider,  January 12, 2015).

A news article provides us information on the operations of a Air National Guard unit that supports the drone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) mission. Read about the 162nd Wing of the Air National Guard in Arizona. (Tuscon News Now, January 13, 2015).

Ryan Goodman, an editor with the blog and website called Just Security has penned a piece entitled "A Turning Point in the Afghan War?" (Jan 12, 2015) where he reflects on the prospects of ending the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan in the future.

The Ukraine will continue to participate in the Afghan War mission under Resolute Support. Currently there are 10 Ukrainian soldiers in Afghanistan. Three are staff officers and seven are de-mining specialists. (SE Times, Jan 12,  2015).

Read an article about the Afghan National Police - where personnel management is wanting and corruption abounds - in "Afghanistan, Land of 157,000 National Police and 300,000 National Police ID Cards", National Review Online, January 12, 2015.

Polish advisors will continue to work in Afghanistan to train, advise, and assist the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Read more in "Polish advisers ready for Resolute Support in Afghanistan", The Daily Blog (New Zealand), January 13, 2015.

U.S. Airman helps Afghan Interpreter in U.S.

Afghan interpreters are a key part of the Coalition's success in Afghanistan. It is difficult to conduct combat operations, civil affairs projects, training or advising because of the language barrier. However, because of a few thousand brave Afghan interpreters this task became easier. It addition to the interpretation, Afghan interpreters functioned as cultural advisors and were an important part of the Force Protection plan for Coalition members. Now that the war for the U.S. and Coalition is winding down many of the interpreters employed for years by the U.S. military are in search of employment. In addition, some are at risk of retribution by the Taliban. Some Afghan interpreters have been fortunate enough to receive a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) from the U.S. State Department. A few of these interpreters have also benefited from the assistance of an American sponsor. Read the story of one interpreter and his family who are being helped out by a U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant in "Academy Airman helps Afghan interpreter start new life in US", U.S. Air Force, January 10, 2015.

Commentator on "Right Thing to Do"

Captain Robert Newson, a Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) officer has penned an article about "doing the right thing" for our Afghan allies. Specifically, the Afghan interpreters who risked their lives assisting the U.S. military during combat operations. He calls for the U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive visa legislation to increase the number of authorized visas for Afghan interpreters, expanding the application window, and to fully fund its execution to include rapid processing and resettlement. He also proposes new legislation to enhance the "Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI). MAVNI is a program that would benefit the former interpreters (gives them a job) and provides the U.S. military with talented personnel useful in counterinsurgency environments (insurgencies are NOT going away). Read more in "In the Last Days of Afghanistan, To Many Shadows of Vietnam", Defense in Depth Blog, Council on Foreign Relations, December 17, 2014.

Daily News Snippets (Dec 21, 2014)

Rumor has it that President Ghani has ordered the security ministries (MoI, NDS, and MoD) to report to the national security advisor (Hanif Atmar) and not to the office of the president.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has received a briefing on the security challenges, political landscape, and drug trade in Afghanistan. The briefing was conducted by the Chief of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) - Mr. Nicholas Haysom. Read more in a news report by Afghanistan Times (Dec 18, 2014).

Many Afghans seeking medical attention will travel to India. However, it is a journey that only some Afghan citizens can afford. The cost of medical care in India is rising - some say due to rising fees and others due to extortion practices. Some of the money goes to interpreters. Read more in "High Costs Burden Afghan Medical Patients in India", Tolo News, December 19, 2014.

Army Learning Concept 2015. The Army is changing up the learning experience for its Soldiers. Students will be learning about new concepts, immerse himself in the concept, and then shares that experience with others. There is a YouTube video posted by Military Review that explains the Army Learning Concept published on December 19, 2014.

According to the United Nations civilian deaths in Afghanistan have reached a new high. At least 3,188 Afghan civilians have been killed in the war with the Taliban in 2014 - making it the deadliest year on record for non-combatants. (The Huffington Post, Dec 19, 2014).

A news report says that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is moving in to compete with al Qaeda and the Taliban in the legendary region of Khorasan - which comprises Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Read "ISIS Targets Afghanistan Just as the U.S. Quits", The Daily Beast, December 19, 2014.

"Leaving Afghanistan: A Look Back in Photos" by Stars and Stripes.
www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/afghanistan

View pictures of Afghans working the saffron fields of Herat, Afghanistan (The Guardian, December 19, 2014).

Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) has published its "Thematic Dossier VII: Detentions in Afghanistan - Bagram, Transfer and Torture", December 20, 2014 available here.

Stars and Stripes  has posted an article entitled "Rising casualty count takes toll on Afghanistan's veterans", December 19, 2014. Care for wounded veterans needs to improve.

The United Nations is reporting that casualties among Afghan civilians is up nearly 20 per cent in 2014 (UN News Centre, Dec 19, 2014).

Airstrikes targeting Pakistan Taliban continue in response to school massacre (The Washington Post, Dec 20, 2014).

Daily News Snippets (Dec 16, 2014)

Some Afghan interpreters have been fortunate enough to obtain special immigrant visas for the United States. That is part of the struggle for these brave men to leave Afghanistan behind. The next part of the struggle is surviving in the United States. Adapting to a foreign culture, learning a skill or trade, and finding employment is difficult. Read more in "Afghan interpreters risked all for U.S., struggle in Omaha", Omaha.com, December 14, 2014.

There have been a lot of attacks by the Taliban across Afghanistan. Read more in "An Especially Deadly Day in Afghanistan", Defense One, December 14, 2014.

The Afghanistan War, the longest overseas conflict in United States history, has been expensive. The cost has been nearly $1 Trillion dollars and rising. However, that is just the costs that can be tracked. In reality the cost of the war is much higher; especially when taking into the consideration the lifelong medical costs of veterans who were injured or wounded. Read more in "$1tn cost of longest US war hastens retreat from military intervention", CNBC 25 News, December 15, 2014.

An agreement is likely to be concluded that will provide a contract mechanism for a Czech arms maker to provide spare parts and repair T-55 tanks for the Afghan National Army. Read more in "Czech firm may repair T-44 tanks of Afghanistan", Khaama Press, December 15, 2014.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah met in talks during a gathering of prime ministers at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana on December 15, 2014. (Gandhara Blog, Radio Free Europe, December 15, 2014).

Macedonia will provide 38 servicemen to serve in Afghanistan on the Resolute Support mission. The Macedonian parliament endorsed the action on Monday, December 15th. Macedonia has continued the mission in Afghanistan that started back in 2002 with its first deployment. The 38 Soldiers will consist of staff officers that will augment the German-led Train Advise and Assist Command in northern Afghanistan as well as the Turkish-led contingent conducting the TAA mission in Kabul (hmmm . . . Macedonia and Turkey  . . . ). The Macedonian Soldiers (quite often fondly referred to as the M . . .  Nuts) have provided expert and diligent force protection duties at ISAF HQs for the last several years. (Global Post, December 15, 2014).

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense stated that five more ANA soldiers were killed in an IED attack.  According to security officials the ANA is averaging 4 deaths a day; most from IED attacks.

Three post 9/11 veterans will serve on the Senate Armed Service Committee. Good to see we will have some military members with recent combat experience on that very important committee. (Defense One, December 15, 2014).

Kabul is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. People from rural areas flocking to Kabul are straining the infrastructure, overloading the municipal services, and having trouble finding employment. A news article in The Guardian (Dec 16, 2014) asks if Kabul can handle its growing pains. 

Daily News Snippets (Dec 13, 2014)

Veterans of the Afghan War are attempting to get the State Department and Congress to provide more visas for Afghan interpreters. Read more in "Vets fight for Afghan interpreters", The Boston Herald, December 11, 2014.

The Weekly Standard comments on the current situation in "Afghanistan Uncertainties" (Dec 11, 2014).

Daily News Snippets (Dec 10, 2014)

ISAF Joint Command (IJC) has shut down. Established in November 2009 the command (3-star billet) served as NATO's operational headquarters in Afghanistan. At its peak, IJC controlled over 130,000 troops from more than 40 nations across six regional commands. Read more in "ISAF Joint Command ends mission, makes history", ISAF News, December 8, 2014.  

Read a news report about Najiba Ahmadi - a quiet revolutionary working to end violence against Afghan women (The Independent, Dec 7, 2014).

The move to integrate women into combat arms is proceeding. The Army has selected 31 female Soldiers to be "Observer/advisers". They will report to Ranger School in January 2015 to observe men going through Ranger School from January to March. Read more in "Female advisers will report to all-male Army Ranger School in January", The Washington Post, December 9, 2014. (OMG!).

While visiting Tactical Base Gamberi (used to be FOB Gamberi) Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel attempted to explain the difference between the withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq. Read a DoD news report here (Dec 8, 2014).

Integrity Watch Afghanistan celebrated the International Anti-Corruption day on Tuesday, December 9, 2014. Read all about it here. (Integrity Watch Facebook, Dec 9, 2014).

A program to help Afghan interpreters escape retribution by the Taliban for assisting the U.S. military in Afghanistan may see some new life if Congress does the right thing. Congress is looking at approving 4,000 more visas for Afghan interpreters; but that number is still thousands short of the visas that are needed. Read more in a news report by The Washington Times, December 8, 2014.

In a video posted by the Wall Street Journal LTG Michael T. Flynn, former director of the U.S. Defense Department Intelligence Agency is interviewed about intelligence gathering in Afghanistan. See the video here (7 minutes).

The 2014 SPECA Economic Forum was recently held in Turkmenistan. The forum is a gathering of representatives from land-locked nations (Afghanistan would be one of them) to increase economic prosperity through the establishment of transit routes. This forum was held to look at how regional cooperation can most effectively contribute to the stabilization and economic development of Afghanistan. Read more in "Central Asian cooperation forum reviews connectivity successes in Afghanistan", UNESCAP, December 8, 2014.

The Australian Defence Force's (ADF) Heron remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) has flown its last mission from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Read more in a news report by airforce-techonology.com, December 8, 2014.

Afghan Interpreters - "No One Left Behind"

An organization calling itself "No One Left Behind" has been established to assist Iraqi and Afghan interpreters. The mission of the organization is to assist Iraqi and Afghan combat interpreters who have received Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) with resettlement in the United States. The charity focuses solely on Afghan and Iraqi SIVs recipients who served honorably alongside US forces in combat. The goal of the charity is to provide targeted, short term housing and cultural adaptation aid and to quickly transition them to self-sufficiency through various employment programs. Learn more about "No One Left Behind" here - www.nooneleft.org.

Two Interpreters Finally Make it to U.S.

Afghan interpreters, who risked their lives to assist the U.S. military, are finding it difficult to get to the United States on a visa. Two interpreters finally did complete their journey but it was not easy. The two interpreters, with their families, have re-located to Alexandria, Virginia. But getting to the United States was a four-year-long ordeal. Read more in "Two Afghan interpreters, targeted for helping the US military, finally make it to America", Public Radio International, November 29, 2014.