General Assesses Progress, Momentum in Afghanistan

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Less than a week before the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a senior U.S. officer assigned to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said each such observance “serves to remind me of why we are here.”

Army Lt. Gen. James L. Terry, commander of ISAF Joint Command, spoke today with Pentagon reporters via satellite from the Afghan capital of Kabul. The general offered an assessment of Afghan forces, ISAF’s future role, challenges involving the Pakistan border and the Haqqani network, the insurgency and this summer’s drawdown.

“I understand the importance of this mission, and over time my understanding of Afghanistan has grown, as has my appreciation for the people of this country,” Terry said.

The general noted this will be his third 9/11 anniversary over his three tours in Afghanistan. There has been “tremendous progress” in Afghan security since his first deployment there in 2006, he said.

“Back then, [Afghan army and police forces] were barely 132,000 strong,” he said. “The [Afghan forces] are now approaching 352,000, and more importantly, they are growing more capable every day.”

Terry noted that with the third phase of security transition from ISAF to Afghan forces now under way, Afghanistan’s own army and police units are in charge of providing security to about 75 percent of the country’s people. The combined ISAF-Afghan team and its campaign make up a continuum that will arc naturally over the next 28 months toward Afghan-led security throughout the country, he said. Meanwhile, Terry added, ISAF’s structure for its supporting role is taking shape.

“The way or the method will be security force assistance,” the general said, as ISAF is moving toward developing security force assistance brigades that will advise, assist and build capability within Afghanistan’s army and police forces.

Each brigade will man, equip, train and deploy together, the general said, and “will come with typical brigade-level enablers in terms of battle command, intelligence, communications, fires, sustainment and force protection.”

ISAF’s resolve and commitment remain strong leading up to 2014 and the decade beyond, Terry said, and he acknowledged the coalition will retain some combat role.

“We will fight alongside them,” he said. “[Security transition] does not mean that there will be no challenges along the road ahead. It does mean that we have momentum. And while our role and our methods are changing, our commitment will endure.”

Responding to reporters’ questions, Terry said the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and cooperation between the two countries, remains a key factor in long-term security.

“What I would offer is that we'll continue to make military-to-military contact,” he said. “I think that is going to provide a mechanism that potentially will be calming over time and reduce some of the tension that's up on the border.”

The Haqqani network based in Pakistan is “very lethal,” but has recently succeeded in mounting fewer attacks in the Kabul area, Terry said. 

“We have arrayed our forces so that we can counter that threat, and at the same time [have] arrayed the Afghan national security forces … in depth from the border back. It appears to be pretty effective,” he added.

Insurgents, including the Taliban, remain threatening and deadly, but “are trying hard to stay relevant,” the general said.

“The insurgents' position with the people of Afghanistan -- these are the very people the insurgents seek to control -- is continually eroding,” he said.

Insurgents are killing and maiming Afghan people “at an alarming rate,” he said. “Their intimidation and assassination campaign is working against them,” he added, “their leadership is under constant pressure, and their resources are strained.”

Most Afghans are tired of war and tired of “the heavy-handed approach of the insurgency, an insurgency that attempts to control the people of Afghanistan by limiting their education, controlling their freedom of movement and intimidating them,” he said.

Terry said the Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program, designed to bring former insurgents back into their communities and into support for the Afghan government, is “alive and well.” More than 5,000 former combatants have formally entered the program, and about a thousand more are waiting to be accepted, he said.

“It's very effective,” the general said. “It's most effective where the provincial and district governors get involved in it. And I think it provides some opportunities for the insurgent population to come back home.”

Terry said the surge of U.S. forces, which began in 2010 and saw an additional 30,000-plus troops deploy to Afghanistan, is “on track” to end by late September, when U.S. troop levels will return to the previous level of 68,000.

“The surge has served to break the momentum of the insurgency and has provided the time and space for our Afghan partners to develop,” the general said. ISAF is setting the conditions for an Afghanistan that will contribute to regional stability and never again provide safe haven for terrorists, he added.

“There is progress over here in the campaign; we have momentum,” Terry said. “And the Afghan national security forces, again, are steadily moving out into the lead. I think that the insurgents out there are really growing more concerned about that every day.”

Allen Predicts Period of Hope, Challenge in Afghanistan’s Future

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2012 – After the International Security Assistance Force mission ends in December 2014, Afghanistan will experience a period of hope combined with lots of challenges, the ISAF commander said today.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters via satellite from his command in Kabul, Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen said Afghan security forces will be at full strength by 2015 with 352,000 members, and Afghanistan will have a new, democratically elected government.

Afghan forces will be fully in the lead for the security of the entire Afghan population, and they will be deployed in a manner to deal with violence

Apparent improvements in security will create opportunity for improved governance from both Afghanistan’s central government and the provincial governments throughout the nation, the general said.

Enhanced security has provided opportunity for improved governance at the at the local level, “which is really key for the Afghans -- increasingly key, even today, in some areas of Afghanistan where we have seen really dramatic improvements in security,” Allen said.

“This is now the moment for [Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s] administration to begin the process of concentrating on subprovincial and district governance and the establishment of the rule of law,” he said. As security continues to improve, he added, Afghanistan has the opportunity to improve subnational governance and give the Afghan people the chance to commit themselves to the government.

Allen noted by Jan. 1, 2015, Afghanistan will have new national leadership in place following democratic elections.

“So we will see a transition in [2014] to a new administration and a new government with a new president,” he said. “And that president will have seen the period of time in the last 28 months, in the last several years, of the emergence of an Afghan national security force.”

The general described the 2015 Afghan security force as professionals willing to sacrifice mightily on behalf of the Afghan people to achieve a level of security to give the new administration, ministries and judiciaries the opportunity to become a part of Afghan citizens’ lives.

Allen also said the Afghan people will feel the reassurance of the international community as it fulfills the commitments to Afghanistan decided upon three months ago at NATO’s summit in Chicago.

““[Afghans will see] the promises that were made by the heads of state of the ISAF coalition in Chicago to continue to support and sustain the [Afghan national security forces] … with the right amount of resources.”

Afghanistan also will see support from some form of an international force in Afghanistan to provide for the continued professionalization and development of Afghan security forces, Allen said.

After the current transition is complete at the end of 2014, Allen said, a decade of transformation will follow.

“The international community, in close partnership with the new administration … will move forward to take advantage of the sacrifices that have been made by the troops of ISAF and the coalition and, increasingly, the sacrifices that are being made every single day by the [Afghan forces],” he said. “They will move forward together into the decade of transformation starting on the first day of January 2015, into what I believe will be a period of hope.”

But challenges lie ahead in the next 28 months, the general acknowledged, including the installation of governance, the embracing of rule of law, and rooting out corruption.

“I believe the Afghan people understand [that],” Allen said. “We will prove that the international community will not abandon Afghanistan.”

Dempsey Arrives in Afghanistan to Meet with Leaders

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 19, 2012 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived here today for consultations with coalition and Afghan leaders.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said he tries to come to Afghanistan every 60 to 90 days to hold face-to-face meetings with leaders. The chairman spoke to reporters traveling with him aboard his C-17.

During this visit, Dempsey will hold meetings at the highest coalition levels – Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, commander of NATO forces here, and Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command. The chairman will also meet with “the new players” on the U.S. side, including Army Lt. Gen. James Terry, the commander of the corps command here.

“They’ve been in country about 60 to 75 days and I want to get some insights from them on how they think the campaign is coming,” Dempsey said. “Then I’ll talk to John about the same thing.”

The chairman will also hold meetings with his counterpart, Afghan Army Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi.

The general said he is coming to Afghanistan with an open mind and wants to hear the ground truth.

“I don’t have any new insights to share with you before I get there, but I hope to leave with some new insights,” Dempsey told the reporters.

The coalition leaders will discuss the problem of insider attacks – where members of the Afghan forces turn their weapons on coalition personnel. There have been 40 such insider attacks, and 23 Americans have been killed. The most recent was today in southern Afghanistan.

Dempsey said he was pleased that Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly spoke out against these attacks.

“The president speaking on it was tremendously important, and I hope it permeates to the lowest levels of the Afghan government and military,” he said. “We speak out about it, and we take measures to mitigate the risk.”

But the more Afghan leaders speak out about this, “the better off we will be,” Dempsey said.

Coalition and Afghan leaders are looking at the vetting process for Afghan soldiers and police. “We’ve had an eight-step vetting process in place in earnest for about a year, but we haven’t turned the corner on it,” he said.

Officials are examining the vetting process and investigating where it failed. This includes going back to village leaders who vouched for these men and asking them what happened.

In his conversations with Allen, the chairman said he will ask if he the commander has all he needs to combat the problem of insider attacks.

The Afghan police are the group most susceptible to launching insider attacks. In discussing the issue, the chairman drew on his experience building the Iraqi police forces.

“The vulnerability of local police to (terrorist) influence is great … They don’t move around the country the way the Army does, so they live at the point of corruption. I’m sure that’s the case here too,” Dempsey said.

“Are the local police more vulnerable to those kind of activities? Absolutely,” he said.

ISAF Condemns ‘Despicable’ Suicide-bomber Attack

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2012 – The International Security Assistance Force condemned today’s "senseless and cowardly" suicide-bomber attack at a wedding in Afghanistan’s northern Samangan province that killed nearly 20 people, including a member of the country's parliament, and wounded dozens, military officials reported.

A suicide attacker blew himself up at the entrance to a wedding hall in Aybak, the province’s capital, officials said, noting the blast killed at least 19 people and wounded more than 43 others.

Ahmad Khan Samangani, a member of the Afghan parliament; Mohammad Khan, the provincial director of the National Directorate of Security; and Lt. Gen. Said Ahmad Samse were among those killed in the attack, officials said.

Regional Command-North is providing medical and surgical assistance to the injured, according to a RC-North news release issued today.

The International Security Assistance Force stated in a release issued today that it “strongly condemns this senseless and cowardly act of insurgent terror that resulted in the murder of innocent civilians. These despicable acts continue to disrupt peace and demonstrate an utter lack of respect for Afghan lives.”

“Once again the Taliban have murdered Afghans in cold blood with complete disregard for innocent life or to the sanctity of a wedding,” ISAF commander Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen stated in the release. “Their depravity clearly knows no bounds. The disgust of the Afghan people for these criminals only continues to grow.

“ISAF continues to stand with the noble people of Afghanistan and we offer our assistance in solving this crime,” Allen continued. “I offer my sincerest condolences and prayers to the family and friends who are suffering from the loss of their loved ones."

ISAF “remains committed to stopping acts of terror together with Afghan National Security Forces in order to build a secure environment that promotes lasting peace and a secure way of life for the Afghan people,” the command’s release said.

General, Governor Call Helmand Gains Sustainable

By Karen Parrish and Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2012 – The turnaround in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province can be traced to the troop surge and the resulting growth and increasing professionalism of Afghan forces, the Afghan governor and U.S. commander in the province said today.

Briefing Pentagon reporters from Helmand, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus and Helmand Gov. Muhammad Gulab Mangal said that while the environment in Regional Command Southwest remains challenging, coalition and Afghan forces have made steady progress establishing and maintaining security. This, they said, has allowed growth in economic and political development.

The Marines in the province are in the midst of drawing down. Most American troops in the region will be gone by the end of September, with Afghan troops and police taking charge of security. Progress, the general said, is steady.

“I think we’re on the right path, and we're moving forward out here with confidence,” he said. “Our mission is evolving; we’ve moved out of the lead for the counterinsurgency and moving more and more into a security force assistance role, whereby we’re providing partnerships where necessary.”

The command continues to provide advisors and mentors to the Afghan army and police, he said. The command also provides “enablers” – intelligence information, logistics, command and control and so on – as needed.

“We’re on track with executing our portion of the Phase 2 surge recovery, and we’re reshaping our presence to be in a position to support the Afghans as they move into the lead across the province,” Gurganus said.

Before the Marines arrived, only one brigade of the Afghan army was in the region – and it was virtually under siege. Today, the Afghan army has a full corps – three full brigades – deployed to the province, with another brigade outfitting and training for deployment to the region.

The Afghan police in the province during the surge were ineffective, the governor said, and the police force was rife with drug addicts – the Taliban used the province as its source for opium and heroin. “The police, which were almost nonexistent in 2009, now number somewhere over 8,500,” Gurganus said.

But it isn’t just the number of troops and police that gives him confidence, Gurganus said -- it’s their quality.

“I will tell you I'm very confident that … as we hand over this counterinsurgency fight to the Afghan national security force, they’re going to be able to accomplish the mission, they’re going to be able to provide the protection for the population and the people of southwestern Afghanistan,” the general said.

The general and governor also praised the cooperation the command has with the U.S. State Department and allies in the province.