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Posts Tagged afghanistan
Obama Administration to Purchase 600,000 AK Magazines
It hasn’t been that long since the President called for the ban of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. Now the military is set to purchase almost 600,000 AK magazines to be sent to Afghanistan. He is comfortable with the military using those magazines to kill people but it completely against an American civilian having one to defend themselves.
From The Washington Examiner:
Army officials told Secrets that the 30-round magazines, which would be banned under Obama’s gun control proposals, are going to Afghanistan. But unlike the Pentagon’s controversial purchase of Russian helicopters for Afghan special forces, the Soviet-Russian-styled AK-47 magazines are likely to be purchased from an American firm.
Central Asia and Afghanistan: A Tumultuous History
“Central Asia and Afghanistan: A Tumultuous History is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
Summary
Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of a two-part series on the relationship between Central Asia and Afghanistan and the expected effects of the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan on Central Asian security. Click here to read Part 2.
Contrary to popular perception, Central Asia is not likely to see an immediate explosion of violence and militancy after the U.S. and NATO drawdown from Afghanistan in 2014. However, Central Asia’s internal issues and the region’s many links with Afghanistan — including a web of relationships among militant groups — will add to the volatility in the region.
Analysis
Central Asia has numerous important links to Afghanistan that will open the region to significant effects after the upcoming U.S. and NATO drawdown. First and foremost, Central Asia is linked to Afghanistan geographically; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan share borders with Afghanistan that collectively span more than 2,000 kilometers (about 1,240 miles). The Afghan border with Tajikistan, along the eastern edge of Afghanistan, makes up more than half of that distance, at 1,344 kilometers. The borders with Turkmenistan (744 kilometers) and Uzbekistan (137 kilometers) run along Afghanistan’s western edge. Most of the Tajik-Afghan border is mountainous and therefore poorly demarcated, and the topography of Afghanistan’s frontiers with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is largely desert. Read the rest of this entry »
Global Arms Markets as Seen Through the Syrian Lens
Posted by Brian in Long Guns, News, Threat Watch on 30/Jul/2013 12:53
“Global Arms Markets as Seen Through the Syrian Lens is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
By Scott Stewart
The many and diverse efforts to arm the various actors in the Syrian civil war are really quite amazing to watch. These efforts are also quite hard to decipher — and intentionally so — since many of the arms transfers occur on the murky gray and black arms markets. Indeed, it is quite doubtful that anyone, whether Syrian intelligence, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service or the CIA really has a complete picture of all the channels used to funnel arms into the conflict. Certainly, I cannot hope to catalogue all of them here. However, the efforts to arm all of the factions fighting in Syria do provide a great opportunity to discuss the global arms trade and its various facets.
The Nature of Weapons
To understand the global arms markets we must first understand some critical things about the nature of weapons. First of all, it is important to realize that weapons are durable goods. While certain types of weapons and weapon components have a limited shelf life — such as battery-coolant units for the FIM-92A Stinger missile — numerous other weapons remain functional for many decades. It is not unusual to find a militant or a soldier carrying an AK-47 assault rifle manufactured before he was born — and in many cases even before his father was born. Read the rest of this entry »
Tintype Photographs From Afghanistan
I have always liked the look of the photographs from the Civil War era. A photographer in Afghanistan apparently agrees with me.
Via imgur.com:
Army Reducing Amount of Combat Brigades
From MilitaryTimes.com:
The Army will cut 10 brigade combat teams over the next four years, bringing the number of active-duty BCTs to 33, Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said Tuesday.
IED Kills 5 Fort Bliss Soldiers in Afghanistan
From:KVIA.com
From left: Spc. Thomas Paige Murach, Spc. Brandon Joseph Prescott, Staff Sgt. Francis Gene Phillips IV, and Spc. Kevin Cardoza. All four were killed by an IED on May 4, 2013 in Afghanistan. Not pictured 1st Lt. Brandon J. Landrum, who also was killed.
“Attack on the Fourth of July” – Afghanistan 2009
REAL COMBAT footage in Afghanistan, “Attack on the Fourth of July”
Documentary telling the story of soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team 25th Infantry Division (Airborne) defending a combat outpost from a massive Taliban attack that took place on July 4th, 2009. This documentary is part of an EMMY nominated series that is currently airing on the Pentagon Channel. This “redux” version is in full HD and has actual footage taken by the Taliban on the day of the attack and was procured by U.S. soldiers after the battle. Produced and Shot by SSG Robert Ham.
KC-135 Crash in Kyrgyzstan
A KC-135 has crashed just a few days after a 747 crashed in Bagram.
From Military Times:
This is the third crash of a U.S.-based plane in the region in the last week, following two crashes in Afghanistan. An MC-12 Liberty surveillance plane crashed April 27 near Kandahar Airfield, killing crewmembers Capt. Brandon Cyr, Capt. Reid Nishizuka, Staff Sgt. Richard Dickson and Staff Sgt. Daniel Fannin. On April 29, a Boeing 747 belonging to National Air Cargo crashed on takeoff out of Bagram Airfield, killing seven crewmembers.
Avoiding the Wars That Never End
“Avoiding the Wars That Never End is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
By George Friedman
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the United States would transfer the primary responsibility for combat operations in Afghanistan to the Afghan military in the coming months, a major step toward the withdrawal of U.S. forces. Also last week, France began an intervention in Mali designed to block jihadists from taking control of the country and creating a base of operations in France’s former African colonies.
The two events are linked in a way that transcends the issue of Islamist insurgency and points to a larger geopolitical shift. The United States is not just drawing down its combat commitments; it is moving away from the view that it has the primary responsibility for trying to manage the world on behalf of itself, the Europeans and its other allies. Instead, that burden is shifting to those who have immediate interests involved. Read the rest of this entry »
Long-Term Prospects for the Afghan Peace Talks
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 6/Nov/2012 08:35
From RAND Corporation:
In the first few days of 2012, the Afghan Taliban confirmed in an email to media outlets what had been whispered about for weeks: that a tentative agreement had been reached to open an office in Qatar from which to engage in preliminary peace negotiations with the U.S.-led coalition. The move drew criticism for cutting the Afghan government out of the loop and for lending legitimacy and influence to the Taliban even as it continued carrying out serious attacks. However, it also represented the first important step toward the near-universally accepted reality that any resolution in Afghanistan would occur at the negotiation table and not on the battlefield.
Resurgence of al Qaeda
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 1/Nov/2012 08:44
From RAND:
One significant trend is the expansion of al Qaeda’s global network. The leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Shabaab in Somalia, al Qaeda in Iraq, and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (in North Africa) have sworn bayat, or loyalty, to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and provided him with funding, global influence, and a cadre of trained fighters. None of these affiliate organizations existed a decade ago. But, over the past several years, attacks by these affiliates have increased.
Military Dog to Get Equivalent of Victoria Cross
From ITV:
An Army sniffer dog who died of a seizure shortly after his handler was killed in Afghanistan will posthumously receive the highest Military Honour available to animals today.
Defining al Qaeda
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 19/Oct/2012 14:05
“Defining al Qaeda is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
By Scott Stewart
The Obama administration’s efforts to counter the threat posed by al Qaeda and the wider jihadist movement have been a contentious topic in the U.S. presidential race. Political rhetoric abounds on both sides; administration officials claim that al Qaeda has been seriously crippled, while some critics of the administration allege that the group is stronger than ever. As with most political rhetoric, both claims bear elements of truth, but the truth depends largely on how al Qaeda and jihadism are defined. Unfortunately, politicians and the media tend to define al Qaeda loosely and incorrectly.
The jihadist threat will persist regardless of who is elected president, so understanding the actors involved is critical. But a true understanding of those actors requires taxonomical acuity. It seems worthwhile, then, to revisit Stratfor’s definitions of al Qaeda and the wider jihadist movement. Read the rest of this entry »