Tag: Taleban

A Good Chuckle From Afghanistan (Nothing Funny In Afghanistan)

Since day one the the CIA has been on the ground in Afghanistan…..first they were after the dick Osama….then they went silent but just there in the background……doing whatever it is the CIA does in the back ground (use your imagination)…..and since someone let Osama sneak passed them and into Pakistan and we have been fighting the Taleban for the hearts of the Afghan people the CIA hang whatever it is from the shadows (again use your imagination)….and all that time the Taleban has been killing and maiming….but now Trump and his at Langley have a new plan……….

CIA director Mike Pompeo has talked about the need to be more “aggressive” against militants, and the New York Times reports that his words are turning into reality in Afghanistan. The agency is ramping up its mission against the Taliban in the country, sending out small paramilitary units with Afghan forces to hunt down members of the group. Previously, the CIA focused more on al-Qaeda and in assisting Afghan intelligence services, but the newspaper says the aggressive new turn fits in to President Trump’s strategy of eventually bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table.

“We can’t perform our mission if we’re not aggressive,” Pompeo said at a security forum earlier this month. “This is unforgiving, relentless. You pick the word. Every minute, we have to be focused on crushing our enemies.” Trump himself had previously sounded a similar sentiment, declaring that “the killers need to know they have nowhere to hide, that no place is beyond the reach of American might and American arms.” One particular target of the new units will be Taliban bombmakers

One question……what have these f*ckers been doing for the past 16 years?

Hostages Rescued!

More good news…..hostages held by Islamic extremist in Pakistan were rescued by the Pakistani army….the couple have been held for 5 years after their capture in Afghanistan…..

An American woman, her Canadian husband, and their three children born during five years in Taliban captivity are finally free. Caitlan Coleman and Josh Boyle, both in their 30s, and their three children were rescued by Pakistani security forces shortly after the family crossed into the country on Wednesday, Pakistan’s army says, per CNN. Coleman and Boyle were abducted by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network while touring Afghanistan in 2012, when Coleman was seven months pregnant, reports Fox News. They were last seen with two children in hostage videos, believed to have been filmed in December 2016, in which the pair asked their respective governments to secure their release. “My children have seen their mother defiled,” said Coleman, who has since given birth to a third child.

The US government was tracking the family and alerted Pakistani officials when they crossed into Pakistan on Wednesday, reports Fox. Pakistani security forces then intervened. “All hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin,” the army says. A US official tells NBC News the family is with US Embassy officials in Pakistan. President Trump appeared to hint at the rescue in Coleman’s home state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday, per ABC News. “Something happened today, where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news,” he said. “And one of my generals came in. They said, ‘You know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would’ve never done that.’ … This is a country that did not respect us. This is a country that respects us now.”

I have few thoughts…..this reminds me of an incident about 6 years ago when some contractors in Iraq went for a hike and wound up in Iran and were captured and charged with espionage.  I though back then….what makes these people decide to go to a region, in a war zone and with NO marked borders and go for a stroll?

Now these people….as the story goes they decided to go for a hike in an area that was known to be a hot bed of Taleban activity….again what part of this story makes sense?

Were these people just ignorant or was there another reason for these “incursions”?

Finally, Trump’s comments….they were more about him and his “supposed” policies not the intel that was given to the Pakistanis so they could rescue the couple and their children.  Again a platform so that he, Trump, can pat himself on the back.

Welcome home….have a burger and some fire and a pie a la mode……hopefully you may find some normalcy in your lives now.

Afghanistan 2017

The forgotten war….that is what Afghanistan has become.  Americans hear very little about their longest war unless it is news that cannot be ignored.

What are the options that Afghanistan has when dealing with the Taleban?

There are not many options at all….below link has a couple to consider……

The Taliban has seen continuous conflict for over two decades now and despite its overthrow in 2001 by the United States and the 2013 death of its founder Mullah Omar, remains a potent force within Afghanistan.  The Taliban is currently estimated to hold more territory than at any time since 2001.

Option #1:  Enter negotiations with the Government of Afghanistan (GOA).  Although announcing their intentions not to participate in peace talks, the Taliban, or factions within it, have previously indicated a willingness to engage in negotiations to achieve political goals.  This is evidenced by their opening of a political office in Doha, Qatar and engagement in talks in 2014 among other events.

read on…….

Source: Options for a Future Strategy for the Afghan Taliban | RealClearDefense

Everywhere think tanks are trying to make sense of Afghanistan and most offer papers on what the US needs to do to be successful in the country (if that is truly possible)…….

Source: Rightsizing expectations: U.S. policy options for Afghanistan

Just ducky….but there is another option that the US could take……

The generals asked President Trump for a surge of 5,000 troops for Afghanistan, America’s 16-year-long lost war. But the buck doesn’t stop at the Trump White House. Trump told the generals, “You decide.” The White House gave the go-ahead for another surge.

“Only” 5,000 troops, supposedly to help the peace process. Kill and bomb more people to encourage people to negotiate for peace. Do you believe it?

We Americans are persistent. But when it comes to wars, we exhibit perseveration, defined as “the inappropriate persistence or repetition of a thought or action.”

Source: Buzz Davis: Admit defeat in Afghanistan and engage the United Nations | Column | host.madison.com

Me?  I would pull a GW and declare “Mission Accomplished” and bring the troops home.

I would agree with the use of the UN if only there were not a group of five that control everything it does.  If it were truly a body of “united nations” then maybe a real compromise or solution could be found….but we know that is not going to happen so….bring the guys and gals home and turn our backs to the landscape of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: Long And Winding Road

The US and its allies have been ass deep in Afghanistan fort 16 years and no one wants to call it what it is….quagmire.

From 2001 to about 2004 success was in reach but since then it has become a debacle with no one wanting to admit failure….so countries just keeps throwing money at a war that has NO end.

Just recently a general has asked for many more troops…..

Gen. Nicholson now says he wants another 5,000 US and NATO troops, saying he believes the US needs that many to “break the stalemate” in the war. Nicholson has repeatedly labeled the conflict a “stalemate” in recent weeks, which appears to be an overestimation of the situation, with the Taliban continuing to gain ground against Afghan security forces.

After 16 years and all the weapons and technology at its disposal….we are not winning this war (sound familiar?)….there is a good possibility that we could be losing ground…..

In an unusual move, the Taliban has issued a report of their own on the amount of territory that they consider under their control in Afghanistan, insisting that they estimate themselves to have total control over 34 districts, and that they are at least contesting another 167. That gives them a presence in more than half of the country’s 398 districts.

This comes amid recent reports from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) noting that the Taliban controls more territory now than at any time since the 2001 US invasion and occupation began. SIGAR’s recent estimates on Taliban control aren’t far out of line with the Taliban’s own report, as they split it into three segments, controlled, heavily influenced, or contested, and said the Taliban had 9, 32, and 133, respectively. The Taliban has, naturally gained ground since that report.

To keep fighting and killing in a war without end is not a logical pursuit…..even The American Conservative sees this…..

According to Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the situation in Afghanistan is a “stalemate” that “will require additional U.S. and coalition forces.” The senators cite testimony by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John W. Nicholson, to the Senate Armed Services Committee in which he said he needed several thousand more troops. There are currently about 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, plus another 6,300 troops from other countries. So will a few thousand more soldiers—presumably American—make a difference?

The clear answer is no.

Source: We Can’t ‘Win’ Afghanistan | The American Conservative

It is another war that we carry out to a quagmire…..you know the last one and it has left scars on our society….then why repeat the failure?

This war is being fought for the profits of the M-IC that cares nothing about the human cost as long as their money keeps pouring in from a worthless government.

Closing Thought–27Jan17

America’s longest war……

We have a new president and his cabinet is beginning to take shape…..and he, Trump, will have to deal with the US longest war…Afghanistan….

Mr. Trump has not said much on this subject…I am hoping it is not because he is unaware but rather just has not given it much thought…..

But to help him out I will let him know that there is mixed signals coming out of Afghanistan and the Taleban…..

Two days after President Donald Trump took office, the Taliban asked him to remove all U.S. troops from Afghanistan but hinted at a willingness to work with the United States.

The insurgent group posted a statement on its website Sunday calling on Trump to “put an end to the invasion.” But it also asked him to “help countries with their development” rather than with “bloodshed and destruction.”

Well that was about as a positive comment from the Taleban than we will ever hear….

But just a short time later……

The Taliban has warned President Donald Trump to reverse U.S. policy on Afghanistan or face a “historically shameful defeat”, a U.S.-based monitoring group reported Sunday.

An article, which the SITE Intelligence Group said appeared on the Taliban’s website and social media, described the freshly inaugurated leader of the free world as “an enigma both to the Americans and the billions of people around the world”.

Here is my thought….BRING THE TROOPS HOME!

But what will Trump do in Afghanistan?  Heed the words of the Taleban or something else?

From Ehsanullah Amiri, Jessica Donati, & Gordon Lubold, The Wall Street Journal: ““President-elect Donald J. Trump said he would certainly continue to support Afghanistan security forces and will consider a proposal for more troops after an assessment,” according to one Afghan official briefed on the call.”

We have spent enough blood and treasure in this country….time to leave them to their fate.

The weekend approaches….Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy…..Be Well and Be Safe…..chuq

Death Comes To Helmand(Afghanistan)

What was the headline in your preferred news source yesterday?

Was it about the idiot swimmer that gives a whole new definition to the term “Ugly American”?  Perhaps it was the health of a candidate or two…….or even some celeb did something they always do…something stupid…..what was your headline?

It should have been the story about the death of an American soldier in Afghanistan……

The US military says an American soldier has been killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb during an operation in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, the AP reports. A statement says their patrol was struck by a roadside bomb on Tuesday in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, and that six Afghan soldiers were wounded. The attack came a day after officials said that 100 US troops had been sent to Lashkar Gah to help defend the city, which appears to be at increasing risk of falling to the Taliban. Afghan officials say the insurgents effectively control around 80% of the province. The US military says the unidentified soldier was killed while “conducting train, advise, assist activities with Afghan counterparts under NATO authorities.”

He died in a region that has a major uptick in activity, armed activity….it is so bad that the US is sending more troops…..

With gains in the Helmand Province mounting for Taliban forces, and the Afghan military struggling to defend both that and the other provinces around the country which the Taliban are advancing into, the Pentagon has announced an additional deployment of US ground troops into the Helmand capital of Lashkar Gah.

Officials are trying to present the deployment as primarily a “training” operation, in keeping with a policy of claiming that everything they do is “non-combat,” but the reality is that there are very limited Afghan forces in Lashkar Gah, and a deployment of around 100 troops by the US is almost certain to mean direct combat roles.

Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland insisted US forces were committed to not allow the loss of Lashkar Gah, and clearly they can’t do this with a little idle encouragement to Afghan forces who are increasingly out-numbered and have been beaten by the Taliban time and again in the area.

More troops….more activity….the chances are rising for the possibilities of more American deaths and injuries…

When will this ever end?

Really!  When?

Maybe never….why?  It seems that the rise of the Taleban may not be the only problem that our military will have to face…….

The U.S is monitoring Daesh and its affiliated groups in Afghanistan besides helping the latter’s security forces to fight out the terrorist organization which is trying to expand its base in Afghanistan, a top American official has said.

“We are always looking at ISIL’s (Daesh) ability to find safe haven and then expand to work with, these affiliate groups, factions of groups such as the Taliban that they might be able to exploit. We are monitoring it very closely,” State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Wednesday.

Source: US is Monitoring Islamic State Presence in Afghanistan: State Dept Official | World Affairs Journal

As long as we continue our deployments the more problems we will have to face…..and the chances for more American causalities….

America’s Forgotten War

That would be Afghanistan…..that little war that No one seems to give a crap about….a war that still has Americans in harm’s way……a war that Americans will continue fight….a war that few know why we continue to fight…..

It is Summer and the Taleban has decided to make another push in southern Afghanistan…..

With the Taliban controlling most of the southern Afghan province of Helmand, the capital city of Lashkar Gah has looked less and less secure. It looks like that city could be facing another direct offensive quite soon, as major battles were reported just south of the city.

The Afghan government is rushing military reinforcements into the area, and insists the district of Nawa, where the fighting is ongoing, has yet to fall. US officials have similarly insisted they will “not allow” the city of Lashkar Gah to be captured, but whether they can do anything about it is unclear.

The largely rural Helmand Province is the center of the lucrative opium poppy farming operations in Afghanistan, and Taliban control over many districts, including the districts bordering neighboring Pakistan, allow them to control the flow of opium traffic out of the country

we have de-fanged Al-Qaeda and the Taleban can only operate one region at a time without massive losses…..just what was our objective in Afghanistan…..the boss of the group that did the 9/11 attacks is dead…dead….dead…..

Afghanistan is a money pit…..do you know what that is?  A hole in the earth into which you pour money.

What the US needs is a way out of this quagmire, right?

The failure of U.S. policy in Afghanistan has been obvious for years, but neither President Bush nor President Obama wanted the defeat hung on them, so the bloody folly goes on, a test for the next president, says Alon Ben-Meir.

Two weeks ago, President Obama announced that the U.S. will draw down its troops in Afghanistan from 9,800 to 8,400, altering his original plan to reduce the number to 5,500. His decision suggests that conditions on the ground are not as promising as he expected them to be, and maintaining a larger number of troops is important as he believes “it is in our national security interests … that we give our Afghan partners the best opportunities to succeed.”

The President, however, did not spell out what success actually means. If he meant that Afghanistan will eventually become a stable and functioning democracy, he is fundamentally mistaken. Indeed, even if the U.S. stations three times as many troops for another 15 years or more, given the multiple conflicts, ruthlessness and duplicity of the players involved and the country’s long history, the U.S. cannot rescue Afghanistan from the quagmire in which it finds itself.

Source: Needing an Exit from Afghan Quagmire – Consortiumnews

This election will bring NO relief for our troops and their families and most Americans will just keep thumping their chests and waving their flags and the troops keep living dangerously….

Time for someone to step up and make the government face reality….we had such a person, Chuck Hagel, but he would not play ball with the M-IC so he had to go in favor of the bobble head yes man Carter.

If not your grandchildren will be fighting this unwinnable war….is that what you desire?

Were We Truly Prepared?

Do you remember those words?

They are words that most of us try to live by…..especially if you live where I live…..in the path of a hurricane.  If you do then you are well aware of what “be prepared” means.

But for this post I am not going to go on about a hurricane….nope this time I want to talk about our longest war…..Afghanistan and the Taleban.  Now with the mission extended indefinitely….are we more prepared now?

Were we as a nation ready to fight the Taleban?  Were we prepared?  I mean they, Taleban, are having some amazing successes….why is that?

I know that we, at least to some, have an unbeatable military….but the problem is we were fighting with the tactics of our last war…..Gulf War in 1991.

For instance in the 1960’s when the CIA and the Bolivian government were hunting down Che they made it mandatory that his book on guerilla warfare was “must” reading and they used his tactics against him….he was captured and murdered.

Vietnam is an example where they were employing the wrong strategy….the Viet Cong and the NVA were masters at guerilla warfare….it was a winner against the French….but for some reason we did not take their tactics seriously and look where that lead the country.

If our “leaders” had spent a little time reading the book by Giap, “People’s Army People’s War” then were would have been more successful….for in his book he outlines the best strategies to use against a larger more powerful enemy….

This brings me to our 2001 invasion of Afghanistan……it is true that we routed the Taleban in a very short time….but it was NOT defeated and has been a hit and run pain in the ass for 15 years.

I know hindsight is 20/20 but it also can be very telling of inadequacies….

Are you scratching your head yet?

In 1995 a book was published entitled “the Other Side Of The Mountain” about the Afghan guerilla warfare….it is choked full of tactics used by the Mujahideen fighters against the Russians in the 1980’s…..

The book is full of detailed tactics that were used….the same tactics that are being used today by the Taleban against the forces that are occupying the country.

I believe that we would be having greater success against the Taleban if this had been required reading of those that were leading the fight in Afghanistan….

Remember:  Reading is Fundamental!

How the Taliban and the US fell out of love

After 15+ years of war in Afghanistan one might want to know how the US and the Taleban came to blows.  Some say it is because of their support for AQ and Osama (for the mentally challenged…that is Osama with an “S” not a “B”)….it is a good explanation but is it the only reason for the division?

Let’s look back….in the 1980’s when Afghanistan was fighting for survival and liberation from Russian occupation……the US was the biggest and best suppliers of weapons and funds to the Afghans fighting the Russians and that included the beginnings of the Taleban……

It would seem that the Afghans have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to the US…..if so then what would drive a wedge between the 2 countries?

I read a good perspective piece in AJE on the situation between the US and the Taleban

The relationship between the US and the Taliban from the late 1990s onwards was defined by one thing: ignorance.

There is a saying that “man is an enemy to that of which he is ignorant”. It seems to perfectly sum up the relationship between the Taliban and the US during the late 1990s.

I recall in the autumn of 1997 interviewing the Taliban’s acting prime minister, Mullah Mohammed Hassan Akhund. He would later become the deputy to Mullah Omar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban.

During our conversation, he received what seemed to be a very important phone call. Wanting to give him some privacy, I stood up to leave the room. But he motioned to me to remain and then put the call on loudspeaker.

Source: How the Taliban and the US fell out of love – News from Al Jazeera

Is there any way to salvage a friendly relationship between the two countries and the 2 ideologies?

Taleban: Up From The Ashes

If you are looking for good news from the battlefront…then Afghanistan is NOT the place to look……why?

Remember in 2001 when the US went to war in Afghanistan against the Taleban and AQ?  After a couple of months we had everyone deemed a bad guy on the run….and we have been fighting an uphill battle ever since.

After we defeated the Taleban with the help of the Afghan Northern Alliance…all was never well.  After 16 years of blood and death what is the prognosis?

The installation of Lt. Gen. John Nicholson Jr. as the 17th commander of nearly 15 years of US-led occupation in Afghanistan provided yet another occasion for the US to take stock, this time with an eye on Nicholson’s proposals to loosen the rules of engagement for US combat troops. (once again our leaders are willing to throw American troops into the death mill again)

That meant another accounting of just how badly the war is going, and it’s bad. After ousting the Taliban, which was Afghanistan’s government before the 2001 invasion, they’ve been slowly but surely losing ground back to them, and the Taliban now controls more territory than any time since the war began.

That reflects both the steady erosion of Afghan government territory in the south, and more rapid Taliban gains in both Helmand Province and around the city of Kunduz. The Taliban has intermittently taken Kunduz itself, a northern city which was largely rebel-controlled before the war.

If there is a need of more information…..this article will help (that is if you care enough to watch what is to be done with our troops)……

KABUL, Afghanistan — The new U.S. commander in Afghanistan has submitted his first three-month assessment of the situation in the war-torn country and what it’s going to take to defeat the Taliban, a U.S. military official has told The Associated Press.

And though the content of the review by Army Gen. John W. Nicholson is secret, the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan received a major incentive this month when President Obama decided to expand America’s involvement with more airstrikes against insurgents, giving the U.S. military wider latitude to support Afghan forces, both in the air and on the ground.

Source: US Commander: Taliban Holds More Ground in Afghanistan Than Any Time Since 2001 | World Affairs Journal

The events in Afghanistan are telling in that the Taleban is not going away……

The security problems in northwest Afghanistan continue despite several trips to the region by Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former general who comes from the region. Dostum has led at last four offensives against militants there since the summer of 2015, but when he leaves the militants return.The Taliban spring offensive is well under way in northern Afghanistan. Barely three years ago, northern Afghanistan was a relatively peaceful part of the country. It was a welcome situation for the governments of the Central Asian states, who fear Afghanistan’s problems could create instability among its neighbors.

Source: The Taliban Threat to Northern Afghanistan | Informed Comment

Afghanistan like the other interventions that the US has decided is in our country’s best interests is not going well….and the only answer our leaders have is to use more American lives as fodder for yet another failed conflict.