National Security Agenda on the Web and Afghanistan Update
Cobras Strike in Afghanistan
AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters sit on the flight deck of Camp Bastion, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Jan. 12, 2009. Marine Light/Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, a section of the air combat element of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Afghanistan, provides fire support, security and visual reconnaissance support to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment (Reinforced), the ground combat element of SPMAGTF-A and other alliance forces. Marines with SPMAGTF-A protect human rights, promote shared values, and respect Afghan culture, traditions and religion, while carrying-out the mission of conducting counterinsurgency operations, and training and mentoring the Afghan national police.
Photo by Lance Cpl. Brian D. Jones
National Security Agenda on the Web and Afghanistan Update
More and more it’s becoming a digital world, an online world. Shortly after Obama took the oath of office, the new president’s agenda (including his strategy for defense and his Middle East policy) was uploaded to the www.whitehouse.gov website.
According to the agenda on the website, the current administration will support the effort begun in 2007 to increase the size of the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 27,000 to help units retrain and re-equip properly between deployments and decrease the strain on military families.
The new commander in chief also plans to create a Military Families Advisory Board to make senior policymakers and the public more aware of military families’ concerns. Meanwhile, a vignette on the site about first lady Michelle Obama states that supporting military families is an issue “close to her heart,” and an issue on which she intends to focus her efforts.
“Obama and Biden will end the stop-loss policy and establish predictability in deployments so that active duty and reserves know what they can and must expect,” the site states.
Another piece of Obama’s defense agenda is building defense capabilities for the 21st century by fully equipping troops including members of the National Guard and reserves for their missions, and balancing conventional and counterinsurgency weapons systems. The president also advocates reforming a corruptible contracting process while maintaining aerial and naval capabilities, and supporting a pragmatic and cost-effective missile defense system.
Obama and Biden have vowed to build up special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations, and other units and capabilities that are in chronic short supply; to invest in foreign language training, cultural awareness, human intelligence and other needed counterinsurgency and stabilization skill sets; and to create a more robust capacity to train, equip and advise foreign security forces.
This agenda item dovetails with the administration’s pledge to develop “whole-of-government” initiatives to spur global stability, in which military and civilian efforts are linked and a 25,000-strong Civilian Assistance Corps consisting of doctors, lawyers, engineers and police is formed as a deployable unit available in times of domestic or international need.
In Afghanistan, the Pentagon is expected to add about 25,000 additional troops over the next 12 to 18 months, according to defense officials. Some 32,000 American forces currently are deployed there.
Both Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who replaced Donald H. Rumsfeld as then-President George W. Bush’s defense secretary and whom Obama has retained as Pentagon chief, have spoken about the need to push for stronger commitment from NATO allies in Afghanistan.
Speaking of Afghanistan, the U.S. Troops over there are doing a great job. Coalition forces killed 22 armed militants, including two Taliban leaders, and captured 11 in eastern and southern Afghanistan on January 19, 2009, according to U.S. military officials.
In Kapisa province, coalition forces killed Taliban commander Mullah Patang and 18 other militants during an operation to disrupt the Taliban’s terrorist network in the Tagab Valley, north of the city of Kabul. Patang carried out orders from senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and abroad, including numerous roadside bombings and direct attacks against civilians, Afghan officials and coalition forces throughout the region, officials said.
As coalition forces approached Patang’s compound, multiple armed militants came out of several buildings and engaged the force with small-arms fire. Coalition forces returned fire and used close-air precision munitions to stop them.
A search yielded more than 20 AK-47 assault rifles, multiple hand grenades and bandoliers of full magazines. The items were destroyed, and eight suspects were detained. Coalition leaders are investigating Afghan news reports that civilians were killed in the operation.
In Kandahar, coalition forces killed a second Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Rahim Akund, and another armed militant while targeting the Taliban’s roadside-bombing network, officials said. Akund was known for planning, coordinating and carrying out bombings throughout the province.
Despite coalition forces’ efforts to peacefully empty the compound, the militants resisted and were killed. A search revealed a 105 mm artillery round that had the explosives removed, presumably to construct roadside bombs.
In Khowst province, Afghan and coalition forces netted a targeted Haqqani militant during a successful combined operation. The detained militant was believed to be in direct contact with senior Haqqani leaders outside of Afghanistan, coordinating activities aimed at destabilizing Afghanistan and harming civilians.
In Zabol province, coalition forces continued to apply pressure to the Taliban’s roadside-bombing network, killing an armed militant and detaining two others. The operation in Jaldak district, northeast of Kandahar, targeted a Taliban militant believed to carry out bombings and attacks against coalition forces along Highway 1. The targeted militant also is believed to be in contact with multiple Taliban commanders in the region.
During the operation, an armed militant was shot and killed after he attempted to engage the force.
This is Sgt. Stryker signing out.