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Posts Tagged afghanistan
US ARMY taking MultiCam to Afghanisan
Posted by Gary in Clothing, Warrior Tools on 12/Aug/2010 17:50
From: ARMY.Mil
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Aug. 11, 2010) — Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan will now go with a new uniform in their mobility bag — one that fights fire and fleas, and makes them more invisible to insurgents.
The next generation of uniform for Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom bears the new “OEF camouflage pattern” — called OCP for short. The pattern is better suited than the “Universal Camouflage Pattern” to blend-in in the Afghanistan environment. It is also known as “MultiCam.
Taliban X: The next generation of terrorists
Posted by Gary in News, Threat Watch on 10/Aug/2010 11:42
From: The Washington Examiner
Afghan police at the site where a suicide car bomber struck a police vehicle outside Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. Two police officers died in the blast, according to the provincial government.(AP Photo/Reza Shirmohammadi) (AP)
Early last month, Taliban suicide bombers, all believed to be in their early 20s, raided a compound of an American contractor in a northern province of Afghanistan, killing four security officers and themselves.
A month earlier, a boy about 13 years old crashed a wedding party in Kandahar and detonated his suicide vest, killing more than 40 people and wounding more than 80.
Those attacks are part of a troubling trend, according to some U.S. intelligence officers, in which young Afghanis radicalized by nearly nine years of war with Western forces are opting for suicide martyrdom rather than the traditional role of conventional fighting under a local warlord.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Taliban-X_-The-next-generation-of-terrorists-1008566-100291009.html#ixzz0wDpPR5Xz
Taliban Claims Responsibility for Killing ‘Christian Missionaries’
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Threat Watch on 7/Aug/2010 15:56
Photo: AP Dirk Frans, director of the International Assistance Mission, talks to the Associated Press at their office in Kabul, 07 Aug 2010
“The Taliban has claimed responsibility for killing ten people, including foreigners, after the bodies were found in dense forest in northern Afghanistan.
The International Assistance Mission, a Christian charity providing health services to the Afghan people, said on its website Saturday the dead people are … were returning to Kabul after working in Nuristan.
The bullet-riddled bodies were discovered Friday.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told the French news agency a patrol confronted the “Christian missionaries and we killed them all.”
WikiLeaks and the Afghan War
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 5/Aug/2010 16:48
“This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR”
July 27, 2010 | 0856 GMT
By George Friedman
On Sunday, The New York Times and two other newspapers published summaries and excerpts of tens of thousands of documents leaked to a website known as WikiLeaks. The documents comprise a vast array of material concerning the war in Afghanistan. They range from tactical reports from small unit operations to broader strategic analyses of politico-military relations between the United States and Pakistan. It appears to be an extraordinary collection.
Tactical intelligence on firefights is intermingled with reports on confrontations between senior U.S. and Pakistani officials in which lists of Pakistani operatives in Afghanistan are handed over to the Pakistanis. Reports on the use of surface-to-air missiles by militants in Afghanistan are intermingled with reports on the activities of former Pakistani intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, who reportedly continues to liaise with the Afghan Taliban in an informal capacity. Read the rest of this entry »
Running for Cover in Afghanistan
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Warriors on 2/Aug/2010 20:37
Petty Officer 3rd Class Simon Trujillo runs for cover as a CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter prepares to take off during the air evacuation of an Afghan boy in the Nawa District of the Helmand province of Afghanistan, July 30.
Study ties civilian deaths to attacks on US forces
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Threat Watch on 2/Aug/2010 20:27
“WASHINGTON — Each time U.S. or NATO forces accidentally kill Afghan civilians, insurgents and their sympathizers typically retaliate with six additional assaults on foreign forces over the next six weeks, researchers using newly declassified NATO data conclude.
A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research supports the prevailing view of counterinsurgency strategists who believe civilian casualties help Taliban recruiting drives. The study found that attacks on foreign forces increase slightly even when the insurgents are to blame for the deaths of non-combatants.
“Our results show that if counterinsurgent forces in Afghanistan wish to minimize insurgent recruitment, they must minimize harm to civilians despite the greater risk this entails,” says the study, to be released Tuesday through the Washington-based New America Foundation.”
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2010/08/02/4803311-study-ties-civilian-deaths-to-attacks-on-us-forces
Petraeus Issues First Guidance to Allied Troops in Afghanistan
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News on 2/Aug/2010 19:09
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, looks on during the Independence Day celebrations in Kabul, Afghanistan, 3 Jul 2010 (file photo)
“The U.S. and international commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, who took command a month ago, has issued his first guidance document for the nearly 150,000 troops under his command. He is emphasizing the need to provide security and good governance for the Afghan people.
In a three-and-a-half-page document, General Petraeus’ first two guidance points order his forces to “secure and serve the population” and “live among the people.” His 24 points also include fighting corruption and abuse of power, which he says fuel the insurgency. He also tells the troops to “pursue the enemy relentlessly,” to “fight hard” and also “with discipline,” and to consult local people and their leaders as they make plans.”
Dutch troops leave southern Afghanistan
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News on 1/Aug/2010 18:21
The Netherlands became the first NATO ally to pull combat troops out of Afghanistan on Sunday as it handed over its mission in southern Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province to U.S. and Australian forces.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/01/afghanistan.netherlands/
Time Magazine cover: Aisha
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Threat Watch on 29/Jul/2010 19:37
“Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws.
Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years.
Her picture is accompanied by a powerful story by our own Aryn Baker on how Afghan women have embraced the freedoms that have come from the defeat of the Taliban — and how they fear a Taliban revival.”
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2007269,00.html
Firing an illumination round
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Warriors on 29/Jul/2010 17:50
Cpl. Ryan Thayer, a squad leader of 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, and Cpl. Jonathan Roblespaul, a section leader with Alpha Co., duck while firing an illumination round from their M224 60 mm light weight mortar firing tube at Combat Outpost Cafferetta, June 26, to light the sky and expose any enemy fighters from planting improvised explosive devices nearby. “In Now Zad, we have been getting hit with improvised explosive devices along our resupply routes. Last night an observation post reported seeing some suspicious activity,†Thayer said. “We fired illumination rounds to let them know we see them, and if they want to keep putting IED’s in the ground, we are going to take them out.†Photo by Cpl. Daniel Blatter
Poll: Nearly 6 in 10 Pakistanis view US as enemy
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Threat Watch on 29/Jul/2010 17:41
by ROBERT BURNS
Despite billions in aid from Washington and a shared threat from extremists, Pakistanis have an overwhelmingly negative view of the United States, according to results of a Pew Research Center poll released Thursday.
Most Pakistanis want improved relations with the United States, according to the poll. But most view the U.S. with suspicion, support for American involvement in the fight against extremists has declined, and nearly two-thirds want U.S. troops out of neighboring Afghanistan.
Nearly six in 10 Pakistanis polled described the U.S. as an enemy and only one in 10 called it a partner.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/AP/Search/World/Default.aspx?id=1105790
Rangel introduces Bill to Create Cumpulsory Draft.
Posted by Jack Sinclair in Law, News on 28/Jul/2010 18:28
By Chelsea Schilling
“A bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., would reinstate a compulsory military draft during wartime and require U.S. citizens not selected for military duty to perform a “national-service obligation” – as defined by President Obama – for a minimum of two years.
Rangel introduced the Universal National Service Act, or H.R. 5741, on July 15. The measure was referred to the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel on July 23.
Rangel introduced similar bills in 2003, 2006 and 2007. His current bill does not have a co-sponsor.
Rangel took to the floor of the House to reintroduce H.R. 5741, stating, “I have introduced legislation to reinstate the draft and to make it permanent during time of war. It is H.R. 5741, and what this does is to make everyone between the ages of 18 and 42 – whether they’re men or women, whether they’re straight or gay – to have the opportunity to defend this great country whenever the president truly believes that our national security is threatened.”
- The bill provides for a national-service obligation – either military or civilian – for every citizen and permanent resident, male and female, of the U.S., aged 18 to 42.
- Persons may be inducted to perform military service only if a declaration of war is in effect, or if the president declares a national emergency necessitating the induction of persons to perform military service and immediately informs Congress of the reasons for the declaration.
- Defines “national service” as either military or civilian service as defined by the president that promotes national or homeland security.
- Gives the president the authority to establish the numbers of persons to be selected for military service and the means of selection.
- Requires those not selected for military service to perform their national-service obligation in a civilian capacity for a period of two years.
- Directs the president to prescribe the regulations necessary to carry out the act.
- Deferments for education are only permitted through completion of high school, to a maximum age of 20.
- Deferments may be made for physical or mental disability, or under claims of conscientious objector.
Rangel: “What troubles me most about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is the total indifference to the suffering and loss of life among our brave young soldiers on the battlefield,” Rep. Rangel said. “The reason is that so few families have a stake in the war which is being fought by other people’s children.
Meeting with Village Elders
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Warriors on 28/Jul/2010 01:35
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 From left, U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth R. Shriver of Clarksville, Tenn., a platoon sergeant, and 1st Lt. Hugh A. Lewis of Layton, Utah, a platoon leader, both with 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Bulldog, join with elders of the village of Shamun in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province July 14 to listen to discussions of various local programs. Coalition Forces visited the village in order to reconnect with the community, which has seen few official visits during the past several years. Photo by Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte
Chemical-weapon attack by the Taliban: revealed in U.S. military logs released by WikiLeaks
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News, Threat Watch on 26/Jul/2010 19:46
“Most of the reports catalog counterinsurgency’s basics — weapons caches found, gun battles fought, village elders chatted up.
But buried in the tens of thousands of U.S. military logs dropped Sunday night by WikiLeaks are incidents that are anything but routine: a suspected chemical-weapon attack by the Taliban; rumors of Al Qaeda poisoning the U.S. military food supply; a tip about Osama Bin Laden’s status.”
Pakistan Aids Insurgency in Afghanistan, Leaked Reports Assert
Posted by Jack Sinclair in News on 26/Jul/2010 00:41
Nadeem Khan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, center, the former head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, was arrested during a 2007 demonstration.
“Americans fighting the war in Afghanistan have long harbored strong suspicions that Pakistan’s military spy service has guided the Afghan insurgency with a hidden hand, even as Pakistan receives more than $1 billion a year from Washington for its help combating the militants, according to a trove of secret military field reports made public Sunday.
The reports suggest that the Pakistani military has acted as both ally and enemy, as its spy agency runs what American officials have long suspected is a double game — appeasing certain American demands for cooperation while angling to exert influence in Afghanistan through many of the same insurgent networks that the Americans are fighting to eliminate.
Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul ran the ISI from 1987 to 1989, a time when Pakistani spies and the C.I.A. joined forces to run guns and money to Afghan militias who were battling Soviet troops in Afghanistan. After the fighting stopped, he maintained his contacts with the former mujahedeen, who would eventually transform themselves into the Taliban.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/asia/26isi.html?_r=1