Wall Street Journal | Challenging the US, Moscow Pushes Into Afghanistan Wall Street Journal KABULRussia is making fresh inroads into Afghanistan that could complicate U.S. efforts to strengthen the fragile Kabul government, stamp out the resilient Taliban insurgency and end America's longest war. Moscow last month disclosed details of ... |
Read more:
Challenging the US, Moscow Pushes Into Afghanistan - Wall Street Journal
The following column originally appeared on AEIdeas.org, the blog of the American Enterprise Institute.
In an interview with ABC News, President Donald Trump talked about the carnage taking place in Chicago, declaring, Afghanistan is not like whats happening in Chicago. People are being shot left and right. Thousands of people over a short period of time.
Is Trump right that Chicago is more dangerous that Afghanistan? For Americans, yes. If you compare US casualties in Afghanistan to those in Chicago, the Windy City has been a far more perilous place for Americans. Consider the statistics.
The total number of Americans killed in Afghanistan since 2001 underOperation Enduring FreedomandOperation Freedoms Sentinelis 2,377. By contrast, there have been 8,229 murders in Chicago during that same time period. Here is the year by year breakdown:
2001: 667
2002: 656
2003: 601
2004: 453
2005: 451
2006: 471
2007: 448
2008: 513
2009: 459
2010: 436
2011: 433
2012: 506
2013: 422
2014: 427
2015: 495
2016: 746
2017: 45 (so far)
TOTAL: 8,229
To continue reading Marc Thiessen's column, click here.
Marc Thiessen is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) where he studies and writes about American presidential leadership and counterterrorism. He also writes about general US foreign and defense policy issues and contributes to the AEIdeas blog. A member of the White House senior staff under President George W. Bush, Thiessen served as chief speechwriter to the president and to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Before joining the Bush administration, Thiessen spent more than six years as spokesman and senior policy adviser to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC). A weekly columnist for The Washington Post, Thiessen is also a contributor to Fox News, appearing several nights a week on The Kelly File. His book on the Central Intelligence Agencys interrogation program, Courting Disaster (Regnery Press, 2010), is a New York Times bestseller. Thiessen is also the coauthor, with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, of Unintimidated (Sentinel, 2013). Thiessen has done postgraduate studies at the Naval War College and has a B.A. from Vassar College
Excerpt from:
Marc Thiessen: Is Trump right that Chicago is more dangerous than Afghanistan? - Fox News
The hiring freeze that President Donald Trump slapped on the federal government his first week in office was meant to signal that serious change was coming to how the government is run. But according to some Afghanistan hands, its the kind of change that could leave the U.S. effort in that country understaffed and end up costing Washington more money in the long run.
The U.S. military mission has steadily declined from a high of about 100,000 in 2011 to 8,400 by the end of last year. And as those troops left but the Taliban threat remained constant many of the jobs in intelligence collection, security screening, other critical non-combat specialties were handed over to a small U.S. government civilian workforce.
But there have long been serious gaps in civilian staffing, and by the start of 2017 there were about 160 empty positions among the approximately 700 slots in the country. Under the hiring freeze, which also bars federal workers from moving to new positions, those positions will remain unfilled even though volunteers were getting ready to deploy over the next several weeks, a defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Foreign Policy.
The empty slots, if those workers arent granted a waiver, will make the already serious shortage of engineers and intelligence analysts even worse and could have a damaging effect on the war effort, the official said.
Its long been difficult to fill positions in Kabul with civilian government employees, as they have to volunteer to deploy for up to a year no government worker can be forced to deploy and their supervisors can veto their request.
But now that those volunteers are barred from traveling to Afghanistan, and their bosses stateside are likely unable to fill their jobs even if they were given permission to deploy. The official said the executive order will likely have a chilling effect on volunteerism and getting people to deploy to Afghanistan.
The force and management are already spooked by the hiring freeze, the official said, unless something changes were in a death spin given all of the empty desks.
At the time the executive order was signed, there were approximately 67,700 vacant civilian positions across the Defense Department, according to Johnny Michael, a Pentagon spokesperson. Those jobs will likely have to remain empty while managers and Pentagon officials figure out solution.
Overall, the new rule looks like it will hit veterans particularly hard, since vets make up about 30 percent of the more than 2.8 million employees in the federal workforce. According to statistics provided by the Office of Personnel and Management, the federal government hired 221,000 workers in fiscal 2015, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
One way to fill the empty slots is with contractors, adding to the 33,000 private contractors already working in Afghanistan.
When former president Barack Obama announced in July of last year that troop numbers would level off at 8,400 by the end of December, we started downsizing, the official said. And the plan was for the civilians to replace the military, but in actuality we werent able to get the civilians in the proper numbers and the proper skill sets to fill in the gaps, so contracts were signed with companies such as DynCorp and Fluor to fill some jobs with contractors.
The deal to bring in some 200 contractors came to work under deals worth about $84 million, and if more civilians cant deploy, requirements will likely go empty or be filled by more contractors at a cost of $400,000 a per person, the official added.
There might be a reprieve, however. Officials at the Pentagon are working on getting waivers to the executive order to allow the 160 employees to deploy to Afghanistan. But its uncertain if their superiors will still allow them to go, since theyre barred from filling their empty positions at home under the new rule.
Fifteen years into the countrys longest war, the campaign still is managed as an ad-hoc endeavor, with a short-term outlook, cobbled together month-to-month, year-to-year.
Photo Credit WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images
Twitter Facebook Google + Reddit
Go here to read the rest:
Trump's Hiring Freeze Could Hurt U.S. in Afghanistan, Raise Costs ... - Foreign Policy (blog)
SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
Under former commander-in-chief Barack Obama, a top spokesman for the U.S.-NATO mission in Afghanistan suggested to Pentagon reporters in October 2016 that the American military and their Afghan counterparts may never defeat the Taliban, adding that the ultimate goal is a negotiated solution and reconciliation between the terrorist group and the Afghan government.
SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
The Taliban has repeatedly claimed victory over the U.S.-led foreign troops and their Afghan allies.
In the letter to journalists, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid warned President Trump that, as long as the U.S.-led coalition remains on Afghan soil, peace will be difficult to attain, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Independence from foreign dominance is the only asset an impoverished nation like Afghanistan truly has, reportedly added the letter.
The Afghan Taliban made a similar demand in a statement issued soon after Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November 2016, telling the then-President-elect to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.
Citing the statement, Khaama Press (KP) reported, the Taliban urged the newly elected [U.S.] President to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan as it claimed victory in the ongoing war in Afghanistan, claiming that the [U.S.] should not further harm its prestige, economy, forces and generals in the country.
However, it is unlikely President Trump will heed the demand of the Taliban, which captured more territory under Barack Obama than at any time since its regime was overthrown by the U.S. military in 2001.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) learned from unnamed Afghan official earlier this week that then-President-elect Trump told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in a phone call in December that he would certainly continue to support Afghanistan security forces and will consider a proposal for more troops after an assessment.
According to the Taliban, Russia also wants the United States to leave Afghanistan.
We had a common enemy, an unnamed senior Taliban official told Reuters last month. We needed support to get rid of the United States and its allies in Afghanistan and Russia wanted all foreign troops to leave Afghanistan as quickly as possible.
While Taliban officials claim Moscows support does not extend beyond moral and political support, Afghan intelligence and defense officials are reportedly worried about more direct support including weapons or funding, noted Reuters.
American Gen. John Nicholson, top commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, has also expressed dismay towards the malign influence in Afghanistan of external actors such as Pakistan, Russia, and Iran.
In late October 2016, American Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, a top spokesman for the U.S.-NATO mission in Afghanistan, indicated the American-led coalition may never defeat the Taliban when asked, Do you [think] the United States and the Afghan government will ever defeat the Taliban?
The goal for the government of Afghanistan is to ultimately come to a negotiated solution with the Taliban, he responded. So, our expectation is it there is really not a military solution to what is happening here in Afghanistan.
Gen. Cleveland also described the end game as a reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Taliban jihadists have repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops as a condition for peace talks with the United States and the Afghan government.
In December, spokesman Mujahid indicated that the Talibans two conditions for peace talks are the removal of the group leaders name from the U.N. blacklist and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan, reported Military.com.
However, the Afghan government rejected the groups demands an indication of the depth of the rift between the two sides in Afghanistans protracted conflict, it added.
In May 2016, Hibatullah Akhundzada became the leader of the Taliban following the execution of his predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mansour by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan.
See the original post:
Taliban Threatens Trump: Get Out of Afghanistan - Breitbart News
Gul Khanim, 30, was forced to leave her home in Parwan provinces Shinwari district after the Taleban killed her husband four years ago.
Now living in the Ashaba valley of Jabal us Saraj district, she is spending the freezing winter months living in a threadbare tent with her five children.
One day the Taleban stopped my husbands car, took him out and murdered him just because my brother-in-law Abdul Maalik was a local police commander, she told IWPR. I was so scared, I didnt say a word because I thought they would kill me.
While she is now safe from insurgent threats, she struggles to support her family.
My brother-in-law helps us financially, but the amount of money he can give me is not enough, Gul Khanim said.
Her two daughters and three sons, aged between three and 13, spend their days trying to find scraps of wood to burn so they can warm their tent.
Eight-year-old Rafiullah said that he used to love going to school, but understood that the family was now too poor for him to continue his education.
My uncle was a policeman, but my father wasnt, he said. So why did the Taleban kill my father?
A three-month IWPR investigation has revealed how numerous civilians in Parwan province have fallen victim to retaliatory attacks by insurgent forces. Some have been forced to flee their homes, while others have been murdered.
But IWPR also found that local people whose family members had joined the Taleban also found themselves targeted by the state security forces. In some cases, merely coming from an area outside government control made people instantly suspicious.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, both sides deny resorting to such tactics.
STRATEGIC AIMS
Najib Danish, the deputy spokesman of the ministry of interior affairs, said that such harassment was one way the insurgents tried to discourage local people from working for the state.
The Taleban want to use various tactics to harm the security forces, he continued. Threatening and intimidating their family members is one of their methods. The Taleban aim to dishearten and frighten security officers through pressure and coercion.
Sometimes people were summarily executed for no other reason than their link to police officers or soldiers.
Alozai Ahmadi, the commander of the security forces joint base in Parwan, told IWPR, More than 20 people have been killed by the Taleban in Shinwari, Siyahgird and Koh-e Safi districts just because members of their family were in the Afghan police force and national army.
Ahmadi continued, In the second week of December 2016, the Taleban seized three relatives of a member of the security forces, including two brothers, in the Ashtar area of Shinwari district in Parwan. All three were shot.
In other cases, relatives were forced to flee their homes because of threats from the Taleban, Ahmadi explained..
Forty-two families from the Yakh Dara and Syedan areas of Siyahgird district and 35 families from the Qawl Heer area of Shinwari district have had to move to more secure areas like Hofyan, Sharif, Tatmadra and the centre of Siyagird district. Some families have even gone to Kabul and other areas, he said.
IWPR met and interviewed tens of families who had been displaced due to such threats.
Bibi Ayesha, 60, is from Kuhn De in Shinwari district but now lives in rented accommodation in the centre of the province.
The Taleban killed my 18-year old young son because he refused to join them. The fighters accused him of spying for the government, she said. I, along with my five grandsons and my daughter-in-law ran away from our home and came to the centre of Parwan province. If we had not escaped, we would have been killed by the Taleban too.
She said that her experience was far from unique, adding, The Taleban harass, torture and even kill the family members of those who work for the Afghan government.
Abdul Samad, a 50-year old tribal elder from Hofyan Sharif in central Parwan center, said, Two hundred families of security forces, of whom 30 are relatives of local police officers, have moved to Hofyan Sharif and the Tatmadra area of central Parwan from Shinwari district and these families now have many problems.
Those who stay put risk injury or kidnapping.
Noor Mohammad, who lives in the Qawl Heer area of Shinwari district, said, Because my brother was a local policeman, his daughter-in-law was held hostage by the Taleban and now the Taleban want her husband to divorce her wife so that one of the Taleban fighters can marry her.
UNDER SUSPICION
Local people in Parwan also accuse the government forces of unfairly targeting those with family links to insurgents.
Mirza Gul, whose son joined the Taleban six years ago, said that the security forces regularly harassed him despite the fact that he was not in touch with his child.
The 40-year old, from the village of Qamchaak in Siyahgird district of Parwan province, said, I have been threatened by the security forces, especially by the local police, just because my son is with the Taleban. My son is living a separate life and doesnt have any contact with me.
Mirza Gul continued, Whenever I went to the bazaar in Siyahgird I was arrested by the local police, who would take me in for questioning and keep asking why my son was with the Taleban. I told them that my son doesnt listen to me and does whatever he wants.
This harassment had become so bad that he was too frightened to go to Siyahgird for fear of arrest. Other family members had also been targeted, he said, including his other son Syed Mohammad.
Last year when he went to the bazaar on his motorbike to buy some food, he was arrested by local police just because his brother had joined the Taleban. The local police took his bike and his cash and it was only after spending many days in prison that he was freed.
Mirza Gul said, My brother-in-law had two gas shops in Siyahgird bazaar which were set upon by the police and burnt down just because his nephew was with the Taleban. He had to escape the area for fear of his life.
Mirza Gul said that he knew of 20 other families who were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in other provinces because of harassment from the security forces.
If the security forces keep torturing and oppressing us, we will have to join the Taleban ourselves, he concluded.
Others said that they had been harried by the security services just because they came from areas under insurgent control.
Ghulam Mohammad, 65, lives in Gharo in the Siyahgird district of Parwan province, an area ruled by the Taleban. He said that this made him instantly suspicious to the security services every time he had to travel to the provincial capital.
Ive been arrested many times by the security forces and they ask, Why do you do you come to the city from an area controlled by the Taleban? I was even imprisoned for nine months by the security forces and only freed when they were finally unable to find any evidence against me.
According to a 2016 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, insurgents were responsible for most of last years 8,000 civilian casualties.
However the 687-page report also noted that the government had made little progress in improving its human rights record.
Mosa Mahmoodi, chief executive of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said, The protection of civilians lives and properties should be the priority in both politics and during military operations, but unfortunately this has not happened. This issue needs across-the-board improvement.
Mawlawi Abdul Rahim Shah Hanafi, head of Parwans council of religious scholars, said that the Koran prohibited any retaliatory action. This applied to both state actors and insurgents.
Islam doesnt permit parties involved in war to attack and injure civilians and vulnerable people who are non-combatants and not involved in the war, even if these civilians are unbelievers and non-Muslim.
Deputy Parwan governor Shah Wali Shahid acknowledged that relatives of security forces personnel had been targeted, but denied that there had been any retribution.
The Taleban have killed some family members of the security forces, but government officials have not tortured or threatened relatives of Taleban. Their claims are false.
But Parwan police chief Mohammad Zaman Mamozai appeared to contradict this when he described an incident that took place some months ago.
Last year one of the relatives of a local policeman was taken hostage by the Taleban in the Siyahgird district of Parwan, so Afghan police forces had to take a relative of a Taleban member hostage, he said. After some days, when the Taleban freed the local policemans family member, police forces also freed the Taleban fighters relative in exchange.
Although IWPR interviewed dozens of families threatened by the Taleban, the armed group also denied all such allegations.
Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that it was the states forces that were carrying out revenge attacks and intimidation campaigns.
Thirty relatives of Taleban members have been tortured, wounded and even killed by the Afghan security forces in Shinwari, Siyahgird and Koh-e Safi districts, he told IWPR in a telephone interview
If the relatives of members of the security forces are tortured, harassed or injured by our group, we investigate such cases, he continued. Our policies do not permit us to abuse these families.
This report was produced under IWPRs Promoting Human Rights and Good Governance in Afghanistan initiative, funded by the European Union Delegation to Afghanistan.
Read more:
Afghanistan: Civilians Caught Up in Revenge Attacks - Institute for War and Peace Reporting