The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread June 2009

[GAP]

The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread June 2009              

News only - commentary elsewhere, please.
Thanks for helping this "news only" thread system work!

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 2, 2009

Military wants $5B for army's fleet
Close-combat vehicle, LAV-3 upgrades sought
By David ********, The Ottawa CitizenJune 2, 2009
  Article Link

The Defence Department is ready to make a pitch to cabinet for its approval to purchase $5 billion worth of new armoured vehicles.

The proposal comes about six months later than planned, and two months after the head of the army, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, warned that many of the army's vehicles had been worn out or destroyed by the Afghan war.

The Defence Department has been working on the proposal since last fall and is hoping to get the OK on the projects before Parliament breaks for the summer.

The plan proposes the purchase of what is being called a close-combat vehicle, which would be used to accompany the army's Leopard 2 tanks. The proposal also calls for the purchase of a new armoured tactical patrol vehicle and an upgrade of the existing LAV-3 armoured vehicle fleet.

The package would be bundled together with the Conservatives being asked to approve all three at once.

Late last year, Leslie said the purchase of the new vehicles could be used as part of the government's economic stimulus. In particular, the upgrades of the light armoured vehicles would be attractive to the Conservatives since that work would likely be done at General Dynamics Land Systems Canada facilities in London, Ont. and Edmonton.

The rest of the vehicle purchases would likely be from foreign firms, with industrial input from Canadian companies.

Some firms, such as DEW Engineering of Ottawa, have already joined forces with BAE Systems of Britain in anticipation of the close combat vehicle program.

Asked to comment on the armoured vehicle package, Jay Paxton, Defence Minister Peter MacKay's press secretary, said the minister's office does not discuss cabinet business.

At a recent Senate defence committee meeting, Leslie noted that the LAV-3 fleet had been depleted because of the wear and tear in Afghanistan.
More on link

Roadside Bomb Kills at Least 5 Civilians in Afghanistan
By ADAM B. ELLICK  June 3, 2009
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan— At least five members of an Afghan family died Tuesday in an explosion that wrecked their car on a village road near the American air base at Bagram, according to Afghan and American officials.

But accounts of the incident — the second time in a week that a device was detonated near the strategic base — varied significantly. Initial reports said six people, including two children, died in the attack, but subsequent accounts said one of the children survived and was in a serious condition in a local hospital.

An Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemarai Bashary, blamed the attack on militants, who are known to plant roadside bombs in the area at nighttime.

But the ministry later revised its account to say the car was blown up by a suicide attacker, presumably on foot.

The Bagram district governor, Kabir Ahmad, who visited the scene, said there were indications that “someone put explosives in the car, because there was no crater on the road” and because there were no remnants of a mine.
More on link

MEB-Afghanistan assumes control of Marine battle space
By Cpl. Aaron Rooks, 2nd MEB Jun 1, 2009 - 7:05:48 PM
  Article Link

Blackanthem Military News

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Afghanistan transferred control of Marine battle space in southern Afghanistan to Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan during a transfer of authority ceremony here May 29.

The event, in which Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commanding general of MEB-Afghanistan, assumed authority of Marine battle space and forces in Helmand Province from Col. Duffy White, commanding officer of SPMAGTF-Afghanistan, began with an invocation from Navy Cmdr. Phil Pelikan, brigade chaplain, that echoed hope for the future, as representatives from the United States, United Kingdom and Afghanistan gathered in support of the brigade.

"Use us now," Pelikan said during his prayer, "to partner with and help the people of Afghanistan and preserve justice and freedom in their land."

That partnership has been built upon by SPMAGTF-Afghanistan.  The unit deployed in late 2008 as a bridging force, White said, to maintain a strong Marine Corps presence in southern Afghanistan, following the efforts of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Task Force 2/7, composed of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.  MEB-Afghanistan, he said, was the force they were waiting for.

"Our goal, in what was different from between the 24th MEU and 2/7, was that we knew a larger MAGTF was coming," White said.  "That was part of our design, to be able to facilitate, coordinate and enable the larger Marine growth here in southern Afghanistan."

White labeled SPMAGTF-Afghanistan as the "little MAGTF that could," stating that the unit was, "globally sourced and aggregated," so that Marines could come to the fight.

The SPMAGTF has now been absorbed by MEB-Afghanistan and today became Regimental Combat Team 3, the brigade's ground combat element.  White, who assumed command of RCT-3 during the ceremony, said his former command's mission was accomplished, and now they're moving on to accomplish a new one as an RCT.

"My deployment is halfway done," White said, "and as I see it, the best part is about to come.  It will be a game changer for this part of the country."

Nicholson then took the floor and brought attention to Forward Operating Base Delaram, where 11 Marines from 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, commanded by Lt. Col. David Odom, made the ultimate sacrifice to bring security and stability to the south
More on link

Militants storm prison in E Afghanistan   
www.chinaview.cn  2009-06-01 15:07:02     
  Article Link

    KABUL, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Anti-government militants raided a prison in Laghman province of east Afghanistan, local newspaper reported on Monday.

    "Armed Taliban fighters on Saturday night attacked the jail in provincial capital Meterlam but caused no loss of life and damage," daily Arman-e-Millie reported.

    This was the second attack of the prison in Laghman over the past one month which according to Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had inflicted casualties on jail officials.

    In the previous attack on the same jail, one Taliban detainee was killed and another made his good escape.

    In the other incident on the same day, Taliban fighters also gunned down a jail official in Helmand province south of Afghanistan.
More on link

 

[MarkOttawa]

The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread May 2009              

Everyone is welcome to post interesting/related articles about the current mission in Afghanistan and surrounding countries in this thread, but let's leave the commentary in the normal threads.

Thanks for helping this "news only" thread system work!

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND JUNE 2

McChrystal to Face Questions on Plans for Afghanistan
Washington Post, June 2
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/01/AR2009060103732.html

Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee today to answer questions about the future -- including his plans for reshaping U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan -- and a past marked by both acclaim and controversy.

McChrystal's confirmation hearing follows the abrupt dismissal three weeks ago of Gen. David D. McKiernan, the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan. In announcing McKiernan's replacement, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he wanted "fresh thinking" and "fresh eyes" on a conflict that has been spiraling steadily downward with the increase of Taliban attacks and U.S. and NATO casualties.

McChrystal, who serves as director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, led the military's Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) from 2003 until last year, overseeing the military's elite counterinsurgency units in their search for Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders. Although most of the command's activities remain cloaked in secrecy, JSOC forces were publicly praised by President George W. Bush in 2006 for tracking down and killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

At the time of McChrystal's nomination for the Afghanistan command, Gates praised his "unique skill set in counterinsurgency," and his appointment marks what Gates has outlined as a shift away from conventional military doctrine toward counterinsurgency tactics...

Senior military officials said they expected McChrystal to make rapid changes in the way U.S. and NATO forces are deployed in Afghanistan, in the command and control structure, and in the U.S. rotational structure that for years has depended largely on what forces remained available after military needs in Iraq were accommodated.

The current campaign plan, drawn up in October, leaves in place the division of Afghanistan into separate commands in the east, south, west and north, each assigned to a NATO country. U.S. forces are in charge in the east, although the 17,000 additional combat troops Obama authorized this year will be sent primarily to the south, the area with the most Taliban members and the most fighting.

A number of NATO and other countries participating in the multinational coalition in Afghanistan have prohibited their troops from performing certain combat duties. One option before McChrystal, a military official said, "is to lay out resources by tasks" rather than geography, allowing most non-U.S. forces to concentrate on training and other tasks, while U.S. combat forces deploy wherever they are needed. "You do a function, not a territory [emphasis added]," the official said.

McChrystal may also try to change rotational structures to build familiarity and expertise within a force that is likely to be fighting in Afghanistan for years to come. This would involve an effort to maintain continuity by assigning regular combat units to the same regions of Afghanistan where they have previously served, a practice now common only among Army Special Forces units... 

Extra U.S. troops in Afghanistan by mid-July
Reuters, May 31
http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSISL412184

The majority of the 17,000 extra U.S. troops being sent to fight a growing Taliban-led insurgency in southern and western Afghanistan should be on the ground by mid-July, the U.S. military said on Sunday.

A further 4,000 troops are arriving to train Afghan security forces and they will be deployed by August.

Washington pledged to send 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to reinforce security ahead of presidential elections scheduled for Aug. 20 and to support NATO-led troops which have struggled to fight an escalating insurgency there.

"10,000 Marines are beginning to arrive now and will continue to arrive for the next month and a half or so and they will be principally located in Helmand but also in Farah," said Colonel Greg Julian, spokesman for U.S. forces.

Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan and Farah in the west are among the areas that have seen the fiercest fighting as insurgents gathered strength in recent years, despite the presence of a growing number of foreign troops...

Some 7,000 U.S. army troops are also being deployed to southern Kandahar province [emphasis added].

"3,500 are already on the ground in Kandahar with additional helicopters. Following that an additional 3,500 army troops will arrive in Kandahar and will be located in rural areas of that province," Julian told a news conference.

All 21,000 troops will be deployed by August, another U.S. military spokesman said, but declined to comment further.

The 4,000 training troops will be sent mainly to south and west Afghanistan and more than half will train and mentor Afghan police, who are a younger force than the Afghan army and have suffered from poor training, illiteracy and corruption...

[Soldiers to train, mentor Afghans
Fayetteville Observer, April 11
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=323524

The 4th Brigade Combat Team expects to work with Fort Bragg Special Forces and civilian law enforcement to prepare for its upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

The Pentagon announced April 3 that 3,300 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division brigade will go to Afghanistan in late summer. The brigade will take part in the “training and mentoring” of Afghan National Security Forces, including army, national police and border police...

The 4th Brigade Combat Team, which is built around the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, will deploy for a year and will operate in NATO’s Regional Command West, based in Herat, and Regional Command South, based in Kandahar [emphasis added]...]

Afghan Valley Offers Test for Obama Strategy
NY Times, May 31
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/world/asia/01jalrez.html?scp=1&sq=afghanistan%20wardak&st=cse

JALREZ BAZAAR, Afghanistan — A year ago, the Taliban were tormenting this lush valley just miles from the Afghan capital, kidnapping people and blocking the road.

All that changed when American troops arrived in February. They dropped from helicopters and set up three camps where there had been none, expecting a fight. Instead, the Taliban put up almost no resistance and left for other areas. Now trucks travel freely and merchants no longer fear for their lives.

“Compared with last year, it’s 100 percent different,” said Muhamed Zaker, an apple farmer from the area.

The Jalrez Valley is a test case, the first area in Afghanistan where President Obama’s strategy of increasing troop levels has been applied, and it is a promising early indicator.

But in Afghanistan, a complex patchwork of tribes, ethnicities and rivalries, it remains unclear whether the early success in this area can be replicated. In the painstaking business of counterinsurgency, security requires more than just extra troops. It means giving Afghans reasons to reject the insurgents by providing the basic trappings of a state — an effective police force, enough government services, and economic opportunity so they can work rather than fight.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has said the troops here have about a year to show they can turn around the momentum of the war, before Afghan and American patience runs out.

But Afghanistan is a country where only a third of the population can read and even the most rudimentary infrastructure is lacking, and commanders on the ground say rushing the process would be a mistake.

“It’s construction, not reconstruction,” one American officer said, comparing the task with that in Iraq, where the American effort was referred to as reconstruction.

One problem is that the gains in Jalrez could still be temporary. Insurgents regularly leave areas where Americans appear, only to resurface later. “We are hearing it’s better now,” said Hoji Mir Ahmad, a fruit merchant based in Kabul, “but God knows what things will be like when the harvest comes.”

When the Americans came to the Jalrez Valley, a skinny finger of green just 30 miles west of Kabul, the capital, Taliban fighters had controlled it for more than a year, taking advantage of a virtual absence of American troops. A unit of about 200 American soldiers had patrolled an area of half a million people and was so thinly spread that its captain had to drive 12 hours to hold a meeting with a local leader...

Fearing that the Taliban were tightening their hold around Kabul, the Americans were sent to secure the two provinces just south and west of it, Logar and Wardak, the gateway to the capital and the location of the country’s main north-south highway.

Then came the first surprise: The Taliban left for other areas rather than fight [emphasis added]. Musa Hotak, a member of Parliament from Jalrez District who is a former Taliban commander, said the two main militant leaders had moved with their families to Pakistan.

The reason, American officers said, was simple math. The new contingent increased the number of Americans tenfold. “Mass counts,” said Lt. Col. Kimo Gallahue, a commander in the new battalion...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

New Approach to Afghanistan Likely
Nominee to Lead War Discusses Restructuring and a Focus on Civilian Protection
Washington Post, June 3
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/02/AR2009060203828.html

Army Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, President Obama's choice to lead the war in Afghanistan, said yesterday that violence and combat deaths will intensify as more U.S. troops surge into Taliban-held areas, but he vowed to execute a "holistic" strategy in which killing insurgents would be subordinate to safeguarding Afghan civilians.

McChrystal, a former Special Operations commander, pledged that if confirmed he will take extreme measures to avoid Afghan civilian casualties -- a problem that has long tarnished the U.S.-led military campaign -- putting civilians at risk only when necessary to save the lives of coalition troops...

McChrystal hinted at major organizational changes in the campaign [emphasis added].

One change would potentially abandon the current division of labor, in which the forces of individual NATO members are responsible for certain parts of Afghanistan. Instead, the effort would be divided according to function, with NATO performing most of the training of Afghan forces. But Adm. James G. Stavridis, who also appeared at the hearing as the nominee to become supreme allied commander of NATO [rather a surprise for the other members], said the coalition is having difficulty filling the current requirement for teams to train Afghans.

"The really bad news is, looking ahead, we're positioned to have 71 and need as many as 90-plus" teams, Stavridis said. In addition, he said non-U.S. forces are restricted in Afghanistan by 69 caveats that limit what they can do.

Another goal, McChrystal said, would be to promote greater continuity in U.S. personnel by developing a corps of experts in Afghanistan's language and culture who would be assigned to the country for repeated tours.

To improve the complicated command structure in Afghanistan, McChrystal said, he would seek NATO approval to put his deputy, Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, in charge of military operations in the five military regions of Afghanistan, allowing McChrystal to focus on higher-level strategy [emphasis added]...

U.S. Report Finds Errors in Afghan Airstrikes
NY Times, June 2
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/world/asia/03military.html?ref=todayspaper

A military investigation has concluded that American personnel made significant errors in carrying out some of the airstrikes in western Afghanistan on May 4 that killed dozens of Afghan civilians, according to a senior American military official.

The official said the civilian death toll would probably have been reduced if American air crews and forces on the ground had followed strict rules devised to prevent civilian casualties. Had the rules been followed, at least some of the strikes by American warplanes against half a dozen targets over seven hours would have been aborted.

The report represents the clearest American acknowledgment of fault in connection with the attacks. It will give new ammunition to critics, including many Afghans, who complain that American forces too often act indiscriminately in calling in airstrikes, jeopardizing the United States mission by turning the civilian population against American forces and their ally, the Afghan government.

Since the raid, American military commanders have promised to address the problem. On Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, nominated to be the American commander in Afghanistan, vowed that reducing civilian casualties was “essential to our credibility.”

Any American victory would be “hollow and unsustainable” if it led to popular resentment among Afghanistan’s citizens, General McChrystal told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a confirmation hearing.

According to the senior military official, the report on the May 4 raids found that one plane was cleared to attack Taliban fighters, but then had to circle back and did not reconfirm the target before dropping bombs, leaving open the possibility that the militants had fled the site or that civilians had entered the target area in the intervening few minutes.

In another case, a compound of buildings where militants were massing for a possible counterattack against American and Afghan troops was struck in violation of rules that required a more imminent threat to justify putting high-density village dwellings at risk, the official said.

“In several instances where there was a legitimate threat, the choice of how to deal with that threat did not comply with the standing rules of engagement,” said the military official, who provided a broad summary of the report’s initial findings on the condition of anonymity because the inquiry was not yet complete...

During his testimony, General McChrystal said that strikes by warplanes and Special Operations ground units would remain an essential part of combat in Afghanistan. But he promised to make sure that these attacks were based on solid intelligence and that they were as precise as possible [emphasis added]. American success in Afghanistan should be measured by “the number of Afghans shielded from violence,” not the number of enemy fighters killed, he said.

The inquiry into the May 4 strikes in the western province of Farah illustrated the difficult, split-second decisions facing young officers in the heat of combat as they balance using lethal force to protect their troops under fire with detailed rules restricting the use of firepower to prevent civilian deaths... 

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

Afghanistan: progress to report
Conference of Defence Associations' media round-up, June 5
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1244216020

MEB-Afghanistan assumes control of Marine battle space
2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade News, May 29
http://www.marines.mil/units/marforcom/iimef/2ndmeb/Pages/MEB-AfghanistanassumescontrolofMarinebattlespace.aspx

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan —

Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Afghanistan
http://www.marines.mil/units/marforcent/spmagtfa/Pages/default.aspx
transferred control of Marine battle space in southern Afghanistan to Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan during a transfer of authority ceremony here May 29.

The event, in which Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commanding general of MEB-Afghanistan, assumed authority of Marine battle space and forces in Helmand Province from Col. Duffy White, commanding officer of SPMAGTF-Afghanistan, began with an invocation from Navy Cmdr. Phil Pelikan, brigade chaplain, that echoed hope for the future, as representatives from the United States, United Kingdom and Afghanistan gathered in support of the brigade.

“Use us now,” Pelikan said during his prayer, “to partner with and help the people of Afghanistan and preserve justice and freedom in their land.”

That partnership has been built upon by SPMAGTF-Afghanistan. The unit deployed in late 2008 as a bridging force, White said, to maintain a strong Marine Corps presence in southern Afghanistan, following the efforts of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Task Force 2/7, composed of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. MEB-Afghanistan, he said, was the force they were waiting for...

The SPMAGTF has now been absorbed by MEB-Afghanistan and today became Regimental Combat Team 3, the brigade’s ground combat element.
http://www.iimefpublic.usmc.mil/public/iimefpublic.nsf/unitsites/rct3

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

Pentagon Quietly Sending 1,000 Special Operators to Afghanistan in Strategy Revamp
The Pentagon is sending 1,000 more special operations forces and support staff into Afghanistan and is revamping the way its covert warriors fight the Taliban, military sources tell FOXNews.com.
Fox News, June 5 (usual copyright disclaimer)
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/05/pentagon-quietly-sending-special-operators-afghanistan-strategy-revamp/

The Pentagon is sending 1,000 more special operations forces and support staff into Afghanistan to bolster a larger conventional troop buildup, and is revamping the way Army Green Berets and other commandos work to rid villages of the Taliban.

While much of the public focus has been on 24,000 additional American troops moving into the country this year, U.S. Special Operations Command is quietly increasing its covert warriors in what could be a pivotal role in finally defeating insurgents, military sources tell FOXNews.com.

The movement comes as Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a special operator who led successful manhunts in Iraq for Al Qaeda terrorists, is about to take command in Afghanistan.

McChrystal, who underwent a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing Tuesday, is expected to put more emphasis on using commandos in counterinsurgency operations and on finding or killing key Taliban leaders.

Underscoring that theme, McChrystal has asked two veteran special operators on the Pentagon's Joint Staff, which he directs, to accompany him to Afghanistan once he wins Senate approval for a fourth star. The two are Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn, who headed intelligence for the chief terrorist hunting unit in Iraq; and Brig Gen. Austin Miller, a Joint Staff director for special operations.

Military sources say Brig. Gen. Ed Reeder, who commands special operations in Afghanistan, went in-country earlier this year to revamp the way Green Beret "A" Teams, Delta Force and other special operators conduct counter-insurgency.

Green Berets, the same group that led the 2001 ouster of the Taliban from power, now primarily work out of fire support bases, often independently of conventional forces. They fight to control the Taliban-infested border with Pakistan, and train the Afghan army.

Critics within special operations have said the A Teams need to work more closely with conventional forces and with NATO counterparts. "This would give us a needed one-two punch," said a former operator who served in Afghanistan.

Reeder heads the new Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command. It is a mix of the more open Green Berets and Marine commandos, and the super-secret Delta Force and Navy SEALs who conduct manhunts.

The covert side works in task forces that are only identified by a secret three-digit number. They are aided by Army Rangers and a Joint Interagency Task Force made up of the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other intelligence units.

McChrystal is a former commander of Joint Special Operations Command, the home of Delta Force. He led the hunt in Iraq that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of Al Qaeda's leading terrorists in the Middle East, in 2006.

Those who worked with him talk of a tenacious warrior who worked to link his direct-action fighters with the intelligence operatives who provided crucial information on terrorist locations. McChrystal allowed Delta operatives at the troop level (akin to a conventional platoon) to call in Predator spy drones during a mission.

"We need a Predator on that house," is the way the former operative in Iraq described Delta's freer rein.

The increase in special operations forces is an attempt to rebalance commando presence there, after the demands of the Iraq War stripped some of its manpower in Afghanistan. The influx will bring the total special operations forces in Afghanistan to about 5,000, a spokesman at special operations command confirmed to FOXNews.com [emphasis added].

Usama bin Laden is believed to be hiding across the border in Pakistan, where U.S. ground troops are forbidden. But intelligence sources say if bin Laden is located, American commandos may be dispatched to kill or capture him.

Rowan Scarborough is author of "Rumsfeld's War: The Untold Story of America's Anti-Terrorist Commander," and "Sabotage: America's Enemies Within the CIA."

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

New US commander for ISAF Regional Command East
The Torch, June 5
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-us-commander-for-isaf-regional.html

The 82nd Airborne Division takes over...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

Changing strategy
Focus on winning 'trust and confidence' of Afghans expert
CP, June 8
http://thechronicleherald.ca/World/1126261.html

International forces have failed to quash the insurgency in Afghanistan because they have failed to understand the Taliban’s common-touch campaign, a key architect of Canada’s bold new "model village" strategy said Sunday.

At its heart, Prof. Thomas Johnson said, the counter-insurgency is "essentially an information war" the Taliban have been winning hands down.

"We need a change in strategy," said Johnson, the director of the Program for Culture and Conflict studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

"All counter-insurgency is local (and) this is a rural insurgency. We need to go where the Taliban are operating 24/7, 365 days a year."

The only way to do that is to leave the military-secured bases that are essentially garrisons cut off from the country and people around them and go into villages on a full-time basis, he said.

"We need to embolden the traditional villager system so they can give the Taliban the finger," he said in an interview at the Canadian out-reach compound in Kandahar city.

Johnson’s work caught the eye of Canadian Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, the senior military commander in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province.

The two men, along with a couple of other experts, joined forces to design Canada’s leading-edge approach of trying to normalize small population centres on the five main approaches to Kandahar, the country’s second-largest city.

The aim is to create "model villages," where normal daily and economic activity can flourish in a secure environment under local Afghan leadership.

Vance, who has just won formal approval from Ottawa for the plan, has said he wants the villagers to feel a positive impact...

[See also:

Town by town: A new strategy in Afghanistan
Deh-E-Bagh is Ground Zero for an Afghan-Canadian approach against the Taliban, reports Matthew Fisher.
Canwest News, April 16
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Town+town+strategy+Afghanistan/1500565/story.html ]

7,000 US Marines patrolling southern Afghan desert
AP, June 8
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1691542

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (AP) - Some 7,000 of the new U.S. troops ordered to Afghanistan are fanning out across the dangerous south on a mission to defeat the Taliban insurgency and to change the course of a war claiming American lives at a record pace.

The Marines represent the first wave of 21,000 troops ordered to Afghanistan this summer by President Barack Obama. Most of the Marine buildup will occur in Helmand, the world's largest opium poppy-growing region and Afghanistan's most violent province. Helmand borders Pakistan, where the Taliban's top leadership is believed to be based.

"This is where the fight is, in Afghanistan," said 1st Sgt. Christopher Watson, who like many here has also served in Iraq. "We are here to get the job done."

Some 7,000 Marines from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, are now in the country, Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Abe Sipe said. The forces have brought fighter aircraft, transport helicopters, artillery and the infrastructure needed to support what will ultimately be a force of around 11,000 [emphasis added]...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND JUNE 10

In Congress, Gates Sounds Positive Note on Afghanistan (usual copyright disclaimer)
NY Times, June 9
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/world/asia/10military.html

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday that he was more hopeful than he had been in a long time about progress in the war in Afghanistan, but that there would have to be significant improvement a year from now for the American public to support the effort.

Mr. Gates’s comments, made before the Senate Appropriations Committee, were a departure from his previous assessments as well as those of top military commanders that the security situation in Afghanistan was increasingly grim and deteriorating.

He provided few details to support his new view but said his optimism came in large part from Pakistan’s offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley. Until recently, Pakistan’s army had essentially acquiesced to the Taliban, who had found a haven in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan but are now at war in both countries.

“The newest development of the Pakistani Army taking on these extremists, in Swat and elsewhere, I think, is an extremely important development,” Mr. Gates said. “And the possibility of the Afghans, the Pakistanis, ourselves and our allies together, working against this problem, has given me more optimism about the future than I’ve had in a long time in Afghanistan.”

Mr. Gates did not mention the refugee crisis in Pakistan in the wake of the army offensive. A huge explosion by militants at a five-star hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan, that killed at least 11 people had yet not occurred on Tuesday when he addressed the panel.

Mr. Gates did say that he had learned Tuesday morning in a video conference with American commanders in Afghanistan that they believed that 2009 would be the first time in 30 years that Afghanistan would not need to import wheat to feed its people, because its own crop was sufficient [emphasis added--more here mentioning UN estimates:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-7SMS3M?OpenDocument ].

In addition, Mr. Gates said, he had been told that the price for wheat was almost the same as the price for opium poppies. Afghanistan’s poppy trade helps finance the Taliban insurgency.

“Maybe I’m grasping at straws, but I thought that was pretty interesting,” he said of the higher wheat price, which could present farmers with an alternative to growing poppies.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also appeared at the hearing. Like Mr. Gates, he said the administration had to reverse the trend of violence in Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months — about the time of the midterm elections in the United States — and that the military would have to reduce civilian casualties.

“The more we do that, the more we back up, and it hurts our strategy,” Admiral Mullen said of the civilian deaths.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 11, 2009

Al Qaeda says short of food, arms in Afghanistan
Thu Jun 11, 2009 By Daren Butler
Article Link

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan says militants are short of food, weapons and other supplies needed to fight foreign forces there, a Web site linked to the group said.

Al Qaeda has been severely weakened in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces toppled their Taliban hosts in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. A gap may also have opened up between al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban, many of whom blame Osama bin Laden's group for causing the U.S.-led invasion, analysts say.

"In Afghanistan, we have a severe supply deficit. The main reason for the weakness in operations is insufficient supplies. Many mujahideen sit and wait and cannot fight for lack of supplies," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said on a Web site used by top al Qaeda leaders and other militants to post statements.

Nearly 90,000 U.S. and international troops are currently helping around 160,000 Afghan forces battle a Taliban insurgency across southern and eastern Afghanistan, but al Qaeda's presence and influence is thought to be concentrated along the mountainous eastern border with Pakistan.

"If a mujahid (holy fighter) does not have the money to get weapons, food, drink and the materials for jihad, he cannot fight jihad," Yazid said. "Fear Allah and be ambitious in waging jihad through (donating) goods."

Yazid called on Turks to provide money and supplies for al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan, appealing to their common Muslim identity, and called for Turks to pray for the militants.
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40 Taliban killed in Afghan operations: officials
By Mohammad Reza – 7 hours ago
Article Link

HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) — Security forces killed more than 40 Taliban rebels in operations in western Afghanistan, officials said Thursday, as sweeps continued of militant hotspots ahead of August elections.

Twenty-five Taliban were killed on Wednesday in the troubled northwestern Badghis province, on the border with Turkmenistan, in an operation that involved Afghan security forces and NATO troops, the military said.

Another 10 were wounded, said Afghan army spokesman for the western region, Abdul Basir Ghori.

"The operation will continue until the end of elections and also until the ring road from Faryab to Herat is completed," he said, referring to a road between two centres in the west.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said a "significant number of insurgents" were killed and wounded in the sweep involving Italian and Afghan soldiers in the Bala Murghab area.

Two helicopters were struck by insurgent gunfire but no security forces were hurt, it said.

In the southwestern province of Farah Wednesday, Afghan security forces killed 16 militants including a man who appeared to be an Arab commander, a deputy provincial governor said.

The fighting was in Bala Buluk district, where US air strikes on militants struck compounds last month. Kabul says 140 civilians were killed then; the US military says 20-30 died
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New Afghanistan Commander Brings Skill, Controversy to Tough Mission  
By Al Pessin Pentagon 10 June 2009
  Article Link

President Obama's pick for a key role in implementing his new Afghanistan strategy as commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan is Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal of the U.S. Army. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday. The general has spent most of his career in combat special operations, but officials say he has also become an expert in the complex warfare of counterinsurgency.

The Obama Administration has shifted the U.S. national security focus firmly toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the president says his top priority is to deter, defeat and destroy al-Qaida and related groups, including the Taliban. To spearhead that effort, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced in May that command of the U.S. and NATO effort in Afghanistan would change, a year ahead of schedule.

"If there were to be a change, this is the right time to make the change, at a time when we are at the beginning of the implementation of a new strategy," said Robert Gates.

Gates said he wants "fresh thinking, fresh eyes" on the problem, and that General McChrystal is the right man for the job.
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U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Is Given More Leeway
By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT Published: June 10, 2009
Article Link

WASHINGTON — The new American commander in Afghanistan has been given carte blanche to handpick a dream team of subordinates, including many Special Operations veterans, as he moves to carry out an ambitious new strategy that envisions stepped-up attacks on Taliban fighters and narcotics networks.

The extraordinary leeway granted the commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, underscores a view within the administration that the war in Afghanistan has for too long been given low priority and needs to be the focus of a sustained, high-level effort.

General McChrystal is assembling a corps of 400 officers and soldiers who will rotate between the United States and Afghanistan for a minimum of three years. That kind of commitment to one theater of combat is unknown in the military today outside Special Operations, but reflects an approach being imported by General McChrystal, who spent five years in charge of secret commando teams in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With his promotion approved by the Senate late on Wednesday, General McChrystal and senior members of his command team were scheduled to fly from Washington within hours of the vote, stopping in two European capitals to confer with allies before landing in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

General McChrystal’s confirmation came only after the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, went to the floor to make an impassioned plea for Republicans to allow the action to proceed, fearing that political infighting would delay approval of the appointment. He told of a phone call on Wednesday from Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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Contractor oversees security guards in Afghanistan
By RICHARD LARDNER – 1 day ago
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AP) — A major security contractor is running an office overseeing armed guards in Afghanistan, a situation at odds with the Pentagon's claim that military officers would be in charge of such sensitive work.

A new report on wartime spending to be made public Wednesday at a congressional hearing says the contractor, Aegis Defense Services, has operated with limited U.S. government supervision.

The company disputed claims that it was in charge, saying its main role was to provide reports on the actions of private security contractors in Afghanistan.

The company's responsibilities include working with Afghan authorities investigating "escalation-of-force" incidents involving for-hire security guards, the report by the independent Wartime Contracting Commission says.

The London-based Aegis was hired in January under a nearly $1 million deal to support the Armed Contractor Oversight Directorate. The directorate, along with a similar one in Iraq, were formed in the wake of deadly shootings involving private security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Shortly after the award to Aegis, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the company would have no oversight duties or direct input into the daily operations of security contractors. Only government personnel would do those jobs, he said.
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Wartime Contracting Report: We Have Big, Costly Problems
Article Link

As promised, here's the new report by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the organization formed by Congress to examine where all the money went.

It's a sad reminder about just how bad the contracting system has been in recent years, and all the billions that have been wasted because of poor oversight, poor planning and plain old corruption.

"The environment in Iraq and Afghanistan has been and continues to be susceptible to waste, fraud, and abuse," the report said.

The report, called "At What Cost? Contingency Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan," contains the interim findings of the commission, which will issue a final report next year. It underscores the gloomy finding about the troubled federal procurement system from a host of other analysis in recent years.

It'll be the subject of a hearing today by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's national security and foreign affairs subcommittee.
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[Yrys]

Articles found June 10, 2009

Looted treasures return to Afghanistan

Police seized 1,500 treasures from
smugglers at Heathrow airport

In a small room inside Kabul museum, staff are slowly unwrapping
hundreds of stolen pieces of Afghanistan's past.


Articles found June 12, 2009

China mulls Afghan border request

Chinese and Afghan foreign ministry officials may open up a strategically important and scenic border area,
officials say after a meeting. The two sides met in Beijing this week to discuss the 76km (47 mile) border
that divides the two countries, known as the Wakhan Corridor.

Afghanistan wants the border to be opened as an alternative supply route to help forces battling the Taliban.
The Chinese say they will "earnestly study" the proposal.

'Positive attitude'

"The (terrorism) solution must be comprehensive, regional and international," Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin
Dadfar Spanta said in a speech earlier this week. He said it was his "personal wish" to open the Wakhan
Corridor.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said his country would adopt "an earnest and positive attitude"
on co-operation with Afghanistan "on transport, trade and economy". "We're willing to earnestly study his
suggestions," he said.

The Wakhan Corridor is about 210km long (130 miles) long.

Correspondents say that the idea of using it as an alternative route for supplying US and Nato forces in
Afghanistan has been floated before. They say the call by Afghanistan is likely to fall on deaf ears in China,
which fiercely resists any initiatives viewed as undermining its national sovereignty.

 

[Yrys]

Articles found June 14, 2009

Electricity transforms Kabul living

With the advent of electricity, Kabulis have been buying televisions

Electricity has finally arrived in Kabul, bringing with it some of the small comforts that many
in the developed world take for granted.

Mr Rahim's clothes are now ironed regularly, he is able to enjoy daily hot baths, his children
no longer have to squint at their homework by candlelight, and his 10-year-old son, Ajmal,
never misses his favourite Indian soap operas on television. All of these changes have been
brought about by a deal struck earlier this month between the Afghan finance ministry and
the government of neighbouring Uzbekistan.

Life at the house of Sayed Abdul Rahim has become, in his words, "easier and more entertaining".
A handful of Kabul's districts now enjoy 20 hours of electricity every day following a four-year
project to build a high-voltage line between the two countries.

Afghan officials hope that in the coming years, many more provinces will also get electricity.
But progress comes at a price. Nearly one third of Rahim's salary goes on his electricity bill.

"We are very happy that we have electricity all the time but poor families like mine can't afford
to pay $40 (£12) a month. They need to bring the prices down," he said.

An official at the finance ministry defended the policy saying that for poor Afghans, electricity
cost three cents per kilowatt but for businesses and international organisations it was 20 cents
per kilowatt.

Sick of war

Shopkeepers throughout central Kabul have reported a big spike in the sale of electrical products.
At Sediq Omar market, known locally as "the electric market", traders talk about the big rise in
in television and DVD sales. "People buy televisions and DVDs everyday. They are tired of war,
corruption and problems, so they want to watch television and movies to escape from these
problems," says shopkeeper Wali.

Mohammad Shafiq, 42, is one of Wali's customer. He works for the Afghan army. Today he has
come to buy a television and a DVD player because he too is getting 20 hours of electricity a day.
"I couldn't afford a generator in the past so I didn't want to have a television and DVD. We either
argued in the family or listened to radio or went to bed early. But now we can watch television
and movies and have hot baths in the morning," he says.

And it is not just inside the home that Kabulis can see the difference. Night drivers no longer rely
solely on their sense of direction and the narrow, yellow beams of their headlights to guide them
through the city's labyrinthine streets. Nowadays the hills surrounding Kabul are speckled with
golden orbs from street-lights, gleaming like thousands of small fireflies hovering in the night
sky. However, there remains much work to be done.

The Afghan government estimates that only 7% of the country has access to electricity. Many
Afghans complain that while most of their political leaders can boast of 24 hours of electricity,
the majority of villages and valleys still rely on kerosene lamps and firelight. Although Afghanistan
has several of its own hydroelectric dams, the output of these dams has been hit hard by a series
of droughts. But officials at the water and energy ministry are optimistic about the coming months,
after a winter of heavy snow and a rainy spring.

Some Afghans argue that more rivers should be diverted to feed more hydroelectric dams. But this
is politically sensitive. In the past, several neighbouring countries - including Pakistan, Iran, and
Uzbekistan - that also rely on the water from these rivers have blocked such initiatives.

Despite all this, Afghans like Mr Rahim have had their spirits buoyed. But the destruction of the past
three decades also leaves him wary that such luxuries may not last. "I won't get rid of my Bukhari
[wood-fired stove]. We have used it for a long time, and I am not convinced that the electricity will
always be able to provide us with heat in the winter. But we are still very thankful because for many
many years we were deprived of it in the past."

 

[MarkOttawa]

New Afghan mission commander vows to protect civilians
CBC, June 15
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/06/15/mcchrystal-command-nato-afghanistan015.html

A four-star U.S. general took charge of roughly 88,000 American and NATO soldiers in Afghanistan Monday in a move the Pentagon hopes will help advance efforts to end the increasingly violent eight-year war.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal officially took command during a low-key ceremony at the headquarters of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in central Kabul.

He now commands roughly 88,000 American and NATO soldiers, including some of the most elite troops in the world: Canada's JTF-2 commandos, U.S. marines and British special forces [emphasis added].

Under his command, the mission is expected to rely less on controversial aerial bombings to shut down Taliban bomb-making factories and cut off militant supply routes from Pakistan and make more use of ground operations...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

ARTICLES FOUND JUNE 16

New Afghanistan Commander Will Review Troop Placements
Washington Post, June 16
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/15/AR2009061502884.html

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who took over Monday as the top commander in Afghanistan, said he will launch a broad assessment of how U.S. and NATO troops are arrayed in the country to ensure his forces are focused on safeguarding key population centers and not hunting down Taliban fighters.

"We are going to look at those parts of the country that are most important -- and those typically, in an insurgency, are the population centers," McChrystal said in an interview shortly after pinning on his fourth star. He replaced Gen. David D. McKiernan, who was fired by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates after 11 months on the job.

McChrystal's comments suggested that he wanted to pull forces out of some of the more remote, mountainous areas of Afghanistan where few people live and where insurgent fighters may be seeking refuge. In recent months these isolated pockets have been the scene of some of the most intense fighting between U.S. troops and insurgents.

The debate over whether to use U.S. troops to hunt down the enemy in the remote mountains or employ them in cities and villages to protect the population against Taliban intimidation and attacks has dogged U.S. commanders since the beginning of the Afghan war in 2001. Some senior military commanders have argued that the U.S. has never committed enough troops to the country to execute a classic counterinsurgency strategy focused on safeguarding the Afghan people.

"We've got to ruthlessly prioritize, because we don't have enough forces to do everything, everywhere," McChrystal said. He added that he would be especially reluctant to commit his forces to rugged areas where it would be difficult to extend the reach of the Afghan government or spur economic development. "If you are not prepared to come in with a reasonable level of governance and a reasonable level of development, then just going in to hold [the ground] doesn't have a strong rationale," he said.

One area that is likely to receive scrutiny from the new commander is the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/world/asia/14korangal.html?_r=1
where U.S. troops have for several years been locked in an intense battle that has produced more American casualties than just about any region of the country.

Senior U.S. officials in eastern Afghanistan say most of the hard-core insurgents battling American troops there are Korengalis who receive weapons, training and money from al-Qaeda and Taliban facilitators, crossing the porous border from Pakistan. In recent months, U.S. commanders have debated whether to increase the American force in the Korengal Valley in an effort to rout the insurgents, or simply leave the isolated area. A third option is to hold force levels in the area steady...

...McChrystal said the core of his review will focus on which areas the U.S., NATO and Afghan troops could secure with the current force levels [emphasis added].

In judging the effect his strategy was having on security, McChrystal said he will avoid such measurements as the number of insurgent attacks, enemies killed or raids initiated by U.S. forces. Instead he pledges to focus on indicators that shed light on local governance and economic development.

"One indicator might be how well commerce is moving," McChrystal said. "If an individual can move his product to market right away from his village or town, that is telling. If he's got to go through six checkpoints and pay a bribe at each one, that is a sign that you've got abuse of governance or an insurgency, depending on who's doing it."

He said he will also inquire regularly whether local government officials feel comfortable enough to live with their families in the areas they are serving. In places such as restive Konar province in the east and Taliban-controlled Zabol province in the south, most government officials move their wives and children to safer areas of the country...

Earlier:

CF--with Afghans in lead--to "clear and hold" near Kandahar
The Torch, April 16
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2009/04/cf-to-clear-and-hold-near-kandahar.html

Changing strategy
Focus on winning 'trust and confidence' of Afghans expert
CP, June 8
http://thechronicleherald.ca/World/1126261.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

NATO boss says Afghan strategy was flawed: report
Reuters, June 16
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090616/ts_nm/us_nato_scheffer

Making individual NATO members responsible for specific provinces in Afghanistan has hindered international cooperation efforts, NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in a magazine interview.

"All countries like to think they are the champions of reconstruction," NATO Secretary General De Hoop Scheffer said in an interview with Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland on Tuesday.

"But that has not stimulated real international military and civil cooperation, and from time to time it has even worked against it," he told the magazine.

De Hoop Scheffer, who is stepping down as NATO chief on August 1, said individual members of the 28-nation military alliance had become too focused on their own interests [emphasis added] during reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

"In hindsight I would have chosen a stronger combination of military effort and reconstruction," he said...

At a meeting in Brussels last week, NATO ministers backed a U.S. shake-up of military command in Afghanistan based on a model used in Iraq.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 18, 2009

Canadian combat engineers tackle the Afghan mission's most dangerous work
June 16, 2009 7:20 p.m.
Article Link

VIDEO
PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan -- It's some of the most dangerous work Canadian soldiers do in Afghanistan. Highly trained combat engineers spend their days trying to ensure the roadways are safe from the insurgents’ weapon of choice -- the improvised explosive device
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Up to 10,000 NATO troops for Afghan polls: secretary general
20 hours ago
Article Link

KABUL (AFP) — Between 8,000 and 10,000 international troops will join a NATO-led military force in Afghanistan for August elections, the outgoing NATO secretary general said on a farewell visit to Kabul Wednesday.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer steps down in August after five-and-a-half years in the job, during which he made regular trips to Afghanistan, leading NATO's deepening involvement in the insurgency-hit nation.

At a press conference after talks with President Hamid Karzai, Scheffer stressed the importance to the international community of presidential and provincial council elections on August 20.

The vote is a milestone in a Western-backed push for democracy adopted in the months after the extremist Taliban regime was removed in a US-led invasion in late 2001 for sheltering Al-Qaeda after the September 11 attacks.

With Taliban attacks at a record high, there are fears that the intensifying insurgency will affect the polls, Afghanistan's second-ever presidential vote.

"We are bringing in extra troops in Afghanistan for a protection role -- between eight and 10,000, if you want to know the numbers, will come on a temporary basis to Afghanistan," Scheffer said.
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Army secretly armed security guards at Afghan base with rifles and uniforms
By Murray Brewster – 17 hours ago
Article Link

OTTAWA — Canada's military secretly armed Afghan civilians hired as security guards at a forward operating base in Afghanistan, federal documents show.

The unidentified "guard force" was also provided with uniforms so they would not be "mistaken for Canadian soldiers or for that matter members of the Afghan National Army," says a briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

All Canadian bases in southern Afghanistan have some form of private protection involving paramilitary forces. They often employ local Afghans under the supervision of former Western soldiers.

The handover of surplus C7 rifles - the Canadian variant on the American M16 - was approved by the Strategic Joint Staff, the military's senior decision-making body.

"The distribution of weapons to civilian personnel remains problematic in terms of potential for public criticism, especially in the event of misconduct by an Afghan guard using a Canadian weapon," says the censored document from May last year.

But it was deemed an urgent operational requirement.
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U.S. to issue new uniforms for troops in Afghanistan 
www.chinaview.cn  2009-06-18 05:21:10
  Article Link

    WASHINGTON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives has required the Pentagon to issue new uniforms for troops in Afghanistan after hearing complaints that camouflage that was fine in Iraq doesn't work well in Afghanistan.

    The requirement was included in a 106-billion-U.S.-dollar war funding bill which passed the House on Tuesday night, the Military Times reported on Wednesday.

    The bill asks the Pentagon to "take immediate action to provide combat uniforms to personnel deployed to Afghanistan with a camouflage pattern that is suited to the environment of Afghanistan."

    There is no extra money in the bill to cover the cost of issuing new uniforms, but lawmakers indicated that they will make budget adjustments if necessary.
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House Approves War Spending Bill
By Bernie Becker
Article Link

The House passed a $106 billion spending bill on Tuesday that will help finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, overcoming almost universal opposition from Republicans.

The measure passed 226-202, with only five Republicans voting for it. (One of those five was Representative John McHugh, President Obama’s choice to be Secretary of the Army.)

House Republicans had been very supportive of the spending bill, but balked at a provision in the latest version that would give billions to the International Monetary Fund. The version passed by the House today also shelved a ban on releasing photos documenting abuse of foreign prisoners by American soldiers, a move also decried by Republicans.

With Tuesday’s vote, the spending bill now moves to the
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[GAP]

Articles found June 19, 2009

The Yankees are coming
How will 30,000 more U.S. troops in Afghanistan affect Canada’s mission?
Article Link

The U.S. Chinook helicopters from Task Force Wings’ 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, clawed for altitude as they departed from Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Maywand district of Kandahar, jammed with American, Afghan and Canadian soldiers. Apache gunships pulled tight turns above, deterring any nearby Taliban from engaging the force. The crews from a detachment of Canadian M-777 artillery pulled the canvas covers off the barrels, checked their ammunition and prepared to drop smoke or high-explosive rounds. The female gunner in one of the Chinooks, her faceplate painted to resemble a pair of bright red Rocky Horror Picture Show lips, tested her machine gun with a few short bursts. Her partner, with a smiling Japanese demon painted on his, did the same. In minutes, the aerial force swooped low over the Dasht, a prairie-like area in Maywand district west of Kandahar city, and made its run into western Zharey district just as the sun came up. Involving one of the largest air assault operations in Afghanistan since 2003, Canadian-commanded Operation Jalay was on.

The Chinooks flared in to the landing zone, and the troops poured out as the rear ramp dropped. The helicopters lifted off, showering the troops with dust and rocks. Shouted commands got the soldiers off their feet, loads adjusted, and moving out of the open as quickly as possible. Further east, Canadians from 3rd Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment, led by Lt.-Col Roger Barrett, crossed the Arghandab riverbed on foot, while an armoured force from the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) pressed in from the north. The sudden, three-pronged attack shocked enemy leaders. Instead of engaging the Canadian and American force, the insurgents went to ground and tried to get out of the area on foot, abandoning their weapons and caching their equipment—leaving IEDs behind which later killed three personnel.
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Private security called a boon to Canadian bases in Afghanistan
By Colin Perkelx – 20 hours ago
Article Link

PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan — The increased reliance on private companies to provide basic security for Canadian bases in southern Afghanistan is freeing up critical military manpower, officers say, although some soldiers worry about the effectiveness of local Afghan guards.

Several operating bases in the dangerous Panjwaii district are now farming out the sentry work, the latest switch-over coming just this week.

"It definitely gives us flexibility," said Maj. Steve Jourdain, infantry commander and head of a patrol base. "If it was not for the private security, it would not be possible for me to do the next operation."

In this particular case, the Canadian-owned security company Tundra Strategies won the contract with the Department of National Defence.

Tundra, one of four private companies working for Canada, runs an Afghanistan-based operation that hires and trains mostly Afghans as guards, but deploys them as far from their home regions as possible in order to avoid conflicts of interest.

After complaints from some of the NATO soldiers - some of the Afghan guards were found sleeping on duty, for example - Tundra sent in a full-time commander, a 22-year veteran of the Canadian army.
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Germany to deploy heavy hardware in Afghanistan 
Thu, Jun 18, 2009 AFP 
Article Link 
 
BERLIN - Germany plans to deploy heavy military hardware in Afghanistan for the first time to tackle rising Taliban attacks, a newspaper said on Thursday.

The army chief of staff Wolfgang Schneiderhan told a parliamentary defence commission behind closed doors this week that Germany would be sending tank-like Marder infantry fighting vehicles, the Handelsblatt daily reported.

The Marders will be used by Germany's 200-strong Quick Reaction Force (QRF), it said, along with 27 Dingo armoured cars, 19 Fuchs armoured personnel carriers and an unspecified number of Igel transporter vehicles.
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Reporters in Afghanistan face restrictions
Two Al Jazeera journalists spent three days in custody after officials decided that a report on the Taliban was 'in favor of terrorism.' It's not an uncommon fate for reporters who upset officials.
By David Zucchino June 19, 2009
Article Link

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- Journalist Qais Azimy and a colleague spent three nights as unwelcome guests at Kabul's fortress-like National Directorate of Security headquarters this week before they were released.

Their crime? Committing journalism, apparently.

Or, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai put it, Azimy, a producer for Al Jazeera, was guilty of reporting "a story in favor of terrorism."

What happened to Azimy and another Al Jazeera producer, Hameedullah Shah, happens often to local reporters who offend top Afghan political and security officials.
More on link

 

[old medic]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-briefs19-2009jun19,0,6375535.story
8 die in suspected U.S. aerial strikes

Suspected U.S. missiles pounded militant hide-outs in the tribal belt near Afghanistan where Pakistani troops are building up for a major offensive against their country's top Taliban leader.

The strikes, which killed at least eight people and were described by Pakistani officials and witnesses as coming from unmanned drone aircraft, appeared not to be directly connected to Pakistan's preparations in South Waziristan.

But they came as Pakistan's military continued its own airstrikes and shelling, which for days has pummeled suspected militant positions ahead of an expected attack by ground forces.

The military said it had killed an additional 34 militants in its separate, 7-week-old offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley region.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6530321.ece
From The Times
June 19, 2009
US kills nine in missile attack on Taleban base in South Waziristan

A US missile attack killed at least nine militants at a South Waziristan training camp yesterday ahead of a planned ground offensive by the Pakistani Army on the mountainous tribal region.

Two or three pilotless American aircraft fired at least four missiles at a camp near the village of Raghzai, witnesses said. A building was destroyed and four local militants and five foreigners, including Arabs and Turkmen nationals, are thought to have been killed.

The attack coincided with Pakistani artillery and airstrikes and an economic blockade on the region, which is home to Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taleban leader, and considered the likely hiding place of Osama bin Laden.

A local intelligence official told The Times that Taleban militants surrounded the camp after the attack and blocked all access.

The camp was on the edge of the area of South Waziristan controlled by Mr Mehsud, a former bodybuilder in his late thirties, who is believed to command 10,000 men and is blamed for a string of recent suicide bombings.

The Pakistani Government announced this week that it had ordered its army to open a new front against Mr Mehsud, seven weeks after launching an assault on the Taleban in the northwestern region of Swat.

However, yesterday’s target was inside the territory of Mullah Nazir, another militant leader who has close links to Mullah Omar, the Afghan Taleban leader, and recently formed a loose alliance with Mr Mehsud.

US and British officials say that Mullah Nazir has launched regular attacks on US and Nato forces over the border in Afghanistan but Pakistani officials do not consider him a threat to Pakistan.

Pakistani authorities are now negotiating with Mullah Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a Taleban commander in North Waziristan, to discourage them from helping Mr Mehsud against the army, according to Pakistani military sources.

Local officials say that the camp in Raghzai was run by one of Mullah Nazir’s lieutenants — a man named Wali Mohammed, who is also known as Malang Wazir. They said that it was not immediately clear if Wali was among the dead and locals were still searching the ruins of the camp for more casualties.

The US has carried out about 40 drone airstrikes since the beginning of last year, killing more than 335 people, including many foreign militants, according to Pakistani officials.

US officials do not usually confirm individual drone attacks in Pakistan but the Pentagon and the CIA are the only forces in the region that use the unmanned drones.

An investigation by The Times in February revealed that the CIA was secretly using the Shamsi airbase in the southwestern province of Baluchistan to launch the drones.

Pakistan has repeatedly protested in public about the drone strikes, saying that they violate its national sovereignty, cause hundreds of civilian casualties and fuel anti-American sentiment in the region.

But US officials say that there is an understanding between the two governments that Pakistan will allow the drone strikes, even while objecting to them publicly.

Among those killed in drone attacks on Waziristan last year was Rashid Rauf, a Briton with al-Qaeda links and the suspected ringleader of a 2006 plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic.

In January a US drone killed three foreign fighters in South Waziristan, according to Pakistan agents. A week later a US counter-terrorism official said that Usama al-Kini, al-Qaeda’s operational chief, had been killed with an aide in South Waziristan.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-park19-2009jun19,0,2719323.story
Afghanistan aims to put itself back on the tourist map
By Laura King
June 19, 2009

Reporting from Band-E-Amir National Park, Afghanistan -- Big dreams are reflected in the azure-hued shimmer of these pristine mountain lakes: Afghanistan's quixotic ambitions of becoming a tourist paradise.

With the dedication Thursday of the country's first national park, made up of six linked lakes rimmed by breathtaking travertine cliffs, officials voiced hope that visitors might slowly begin to return to Afghanistan after three decades of war.

This nation hasn't had a place on the tourist map since the 1970s. In those days, it was a popular stop on the hippie trail, its Silk Road exoticism and cheap hashish an irresistible lure.

Nowadays, with a Taliban-led insurgency raging unabated, the State Department continues to "strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan," adding that no part of the country "should be considered immune from violence."

Still, U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry was among the dignitaries who joined in the dedication of Band-e-Amir National Park, telling an audience of VIPs and villagers gathered under a makeshift tent that the occasion marked a "proud moment for Afghanistan . . . a reawakening."

The park lies in the central province of Bamian, known for the otherworldly beauty of its landscape as well as a notable lack of insurgent violence. But the province's sunlit valleys harbor a dark past.

In 2001, the Taliban's destruction of the giant Buddha statues of Bamian became an emblem of the movement's repressive rule. In the late 1990s, minority Hazaras in Bamian and elsewhere were the targets of ethnic violence.

The creation of a national park at Band-e-Amir is the culmination of 35 years of efforts by Afghan and international groups, repeatedly derailed by war and threatened at one point by a huge proposed hydroelectric project. That was headed off largely through the efforts of the province's strong-willed female governor, Habiba Sarabi, who was present for the dedication.

For centuries, invading armies have made up the vast majority of Afghanistan's foreign visitors. Only a trickle of international tourists can be counted now, but Bamian has long been a steady draw for Afghan families, along with foreign aid workers and other expatriates.

"I think more and more people will come as they realize this is a very secure corner of the country," said Sher Husain, whose hotel overlooks the empty niches where the Buddhas once stood.

As to when the country as a whole might be safe enough for the casual traveler, Eikenberry -- a former three-star Army general and a veteran of the Afghan war before taking up his ambassadorship -- acknowledged, "It's going to be some time."

Still, the park's scenic charms are such that they give rise to a rarity in Afghanistan: the impulse to frolic. At lakeside, the ambassador clambered into a pale blue swan-shaped pedal-powered boat and took the country's dignified, turbaned vice president, Karim Khalili, for a spin.

Band-e-Amir is relatively inaccessible; getting here requires a bumpy 10-hour road trip through two mountain ranges from the capital, Kabul, about 110 miles to the east. A U.S.-funded road project is expected to eventually shorten that journey to three hours.

Some, fearing for the area's fragile ecosystem, would be happy to see it remain off the beaten path.

Marnie Gustavson, an American who runs a nonprofit organization in Kabul that works with disadvantaged Afghans, recalled visiting the lakes as a child in the 1960s with her parents, who were development workers. She described bathing in the crystalline lakes after a long, dusty journey as "magical."

"Some tourist development is good, because it will help the local people and the local economy," she said. "Just not too much of it."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6542093.ece
From Times Online
June 20, 2009
Another British soldier killed in Helmand
Latest military death as 1st Battalion Welsh Guards hit by improvised explosive device, brings total combat toll to 169

Another British soldier has been killed by an explosion in Afghanistan, bringing the combat death toll to 169.

The soldier was on routine patrol near Lashkar Gah in central Helmand province yesterday morning, when his party were hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) commonly used by the Taliban.

The Ministry of Defence have not named the soldier but confirmed he is from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and that the next of kin have been informed.

The death takes the number of British combat fatalities in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001 to 169.

Task Force Helmand spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson said: “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the deceased and also to the soldiers of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.”

Brigadier-General Richard Blanchette, spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force, confirmed that the death was the result of an IED strike.

He added: “With sadness, on behalf of Isaf, I offer our condolences to this service member’s family and friends.

“The absolute commitment of this service member shines like a beacon to guide us as we pursue peace for the people of Afghanistan.”

 

[old medic]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-as-afghan-nyt-reporter,0,5492887.story

New York Times reporter escapes Taliban kidnappers after 7 months in captivity

JASON STRAZIUSO - Associated Press Writer
June 20, 2009

KABUL (AP) — A New York Times reporter known for making investigative trips deep inside dangerous conflict zones escaped from militant captors after more than seven months in captivity by climbing over a wall, the newspaper said Saturday.

David S. Rohde was abducted Nov. 10 along with an Afghan reporter colleague and a driver south of the Afghan capital, Kabul. He had been traveling through Logar province to interview a Taliban commander, but was apparently intercepted and taken by other militants on the way.

The Times reported that Rohde and Afghan reporter Tahir Ludin on Friday climbed over the wall of a compound where they were held captive in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan.

The two then found a Pakistani army scout, who led them to a nearby base, the Times said. On Saturday, the two were flown to the U.S. military base in Bagram, the Times reported.................

continued at link above.