Afghanistan Sniper Training - AW50 M24 XM2010
Afghanistan Sniper Training - AW50 M24 XM2010 5/8/2012 - Marine Scout Snipers from Weapons Company 2nd Battalion 6th Marines, conduct a week long class to sharpen Afghan soldiers #39; ...
By: World War
Read more:
Afghanistan Sniper Training - AW50 M24 XM2010 - Video
Afghanistan ANA Special Forces Unit Night Raiders
Afghanistan ANA Special Forces Unit Night Raiders 5/16/2012 - About 200 Afghan soldiers participate for 3 days in a grueling selection process for the ANA Special Forces. This includes log...
By: World War
See original here:
Afghanistan ANA Special Forces Unit Night Raiders - Video
OH-58 Kiowa Warriors - Close Air Support In Afghanistan
OH-58 Kiowa Warriors - Close Air Support In Afghanistan More @ 3.03.2012 - OH-58D Kiowa Warriors from Task Force Saber, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, are firing rockets and .50 cal machine...
By: World War
See the article here:
OH-58 Kiowa Warriors - Close Air Support In Afghanistan - Video
Story highlights A group of fighters in Afghanistan is filmed by a CNN cameraman parading ISIS flags U.S. official: ISIS militants have "no military capability" at present, but are trying to recruit disillusioned Taliban in several areas Rivalry between ISIS and the Taliban in Afghanistan is fierce enough to mean the ISIS fighters could be killed for brandishing the flag
A group of fighters in Afghanistan agreed to be filmed by a CNN cameraman parading their ISIS flags in a valley not far to the south of Kabul, the Afghan capital. They are the first images of their kind shot by western media inside Afghanistan.
The rise of ISIS is an issue that the Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, has termed a "terrible threat."
U.S. officials CNN has spoken to have voiced their concern about the potential for an ISIS presence.
One U.S. military officer said the militants currently have limited capability but are trying to recruit disillusioned Taliban in several areas around the country's east and south.
"There has been some very small numbers of recruitment that has happened," Colonel J B Vowell, told CNN.
"You have disaffected Taliban who are losing politically and some of the younger, newer fighters are moving to that camp. It doesn't mean it's operationally better. We are concerned about it -- resources, weapons, capabilities. (But) I don't see an operational effect."
In the valley, the men display their weapons, and practice high kicks. They are a little breathless at altitude, a little clumsy. They are all masked, all in military-style uniforms. Our cameraman described how locals seemed to keep their distance from them.
It is often said that rivalry between the nascent ISIS presence and the Taliban, who remain the big guns in Afghanistan, is fierce enough to mean the ISIS fighters could be killed for brandishing the flag.
But it is fatigue with the Taliban that appears to have provided fertile ground for their rise. One of them told CNN: "We established contacts with IS (another acronym for the group) through a friend who is in Helmand (in southern Afghanistan).
See the original post:
ISIS flag rises in Afghanistan
U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, right, greets Sen. Maria Cantwell prior to a markup hearing on Keystone XL pipeline before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee January 8, 2015 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong, Getty Images North America)
WASHINGTON Fresh from an eight-day, six-country tour that included hotspots throughout the Middle East, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner said Monday that it was imperative that American leaders avoid repeating in Afghanistan many of the mistakes that were made when the U.S. military left Iraq.
Specifically, the Colorado Republican applauded as "wise" the recent White House decision to slow the drawdown of troops and advisers from Afghanistan, and he urged a continued U.S. presence there.
"What I don't want to see happening is a collapse of Afghanistan like we saw with Iraq," said Gardner, pointing to the violent rise of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the region. "We have to make sure we can get the Afghanis to a point to where they can defend themselves."
Asked then how long he thought U.S. military personnel should remain in Afghanistan which he estimated at 10,000 in strength the freshman senator demurred to the Pentagon and White House. "That's something that our president and commanders and leaders on the ground will work through," he said.
His position on Afghanistan troop levels forceful in some ways but deferential or amorphous in others is representative of how Gardner, new to both the Senate and the Foreign Relations committee, is approaching his growing role as policymaker in U.S. global affairs.
The eight-day trip, to Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom, was designed to connect the rookie senator with world leaders and also help him bone up on his global affairs while traveling with other U.S. leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
"It was an intense seven to eight days," said Gardner, who added that he took copious, handwritten notes throughout the international trip.
And at every stop, he said, loomed the issue of Iran and its tentative deal with U.S. and international negotiators.
"It came up everywhere," he said. "In every single meeting that we had."
Here is the original post:
Cory Gardner: Avoid Iraq mistake in Afghanistan