Locklear Lauds Australia’s Commitment, Sacrifice in Afghanistan

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

CANBERRA, Australia – Acknowledging Australia’s strong commitment to the mission in Afghanistan, the U.S. Pacific command chief said the lessons learned through a decade of shared operations there lays a foundation for closer future U.S.-Australian cooperation in addressing regional challenges.

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, speaking to reporters here today at the National Press Club, expressed condolences for Australia’s losses in Afghanistan. An Australian Special Forces soldier serving his seventh deployment there was killed July 2, bringing the number of Australia’s combat casualties in Afghanistan to 33. In addition, two Australian troops were wounded July 12 in a roadside bomb attack on a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province.

“It has been very difficult,” Locklear said. “Some of the challenges we have faced in Afghanistan together have been very difficult.”

The admiral noted the size of Australia’s contributions to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, particularly in light of the country’s population. About 1,550 Australian Defense Force troops, about one-third consisting of special operators, are working in what Locklear called “very challenging environments,” predominantly in the south.

Their focus is on training and mentoring the Afghan National Army’s 4th Brigade and Afghan National Police and improving the Afghan government’s capacity to deliver core services and generate economic opportunity in Uruzgan province, according to Australian defense officials.

Meanwhile, troops assigned to the Special Operations Task Group concentrate on disrupting insurgent operations and supply routes, they said.

Locklear lauded the Australians for their commitment to Afghanistan. “We are all hopeful that we will have a better security environment in that part of the region when this is all over,” he said.

As both the United States and Australia look forward drawing down their forces by December 2014, Locklear said they’ll apply the enhanced interoperability gained as they refocus on the Asia-Pacific.

The question, he said, is “how do we take those interoperabilities, [those] aspects of the U.S.-Australia alliance and the relationship, as well as the demonstrated capability of Australian forces to lead in a multiple of environments, and how do you translate that into the security challenges that we face in the Asia-Pacific?”

Locklear has been meeting with senior Australian military leaders over the past two days to explore ways to continue to bolster the two allies’ robust military-to-military relationship.

The Australians “have demonstrated themselves to be a very reliable partner with us in a lot of different areas,” Locklear told American Forces Press Service during the flight here. “They have done a lot to contribute to global security and they have been a good partner to the United States.”

Taliban Have ‘Utterly Failed’ to Regain Ground, General Says

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2011 – The Taliban have failed to deliver on their promises to recapture population centers secured by NATO forces in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command's chief planner told Pentagon reporters today.

“I’ve seen it as a bit of a contest or struggle … for the key population areas here in Afghanistan, especially Kabul, Kandahar, [and the] central Helmand River valley,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Krause of the Australian army, ISAF Joint Command’s deputy chief of staff.

“I’d probably also include in the north and west, Herat and Mazar-e Sharif and the Kunduz-Baghlan corridor,” he added.

ISAF has every intention of retaining the areas it has secured, with a specific emphasis on the south, Krause said.

“We [wanted to] ensure that the insurgents did not re-occupy these areas, or push the Afghan security forces out,” he said. “The insurgents, particularly the Afghan Taliban, for their part, said they would … retake those cities.”

Krause evaluated the outcome of a Taliban offensive in those areas.

“We still hold all of those population centers, and we’ve done so since we secured them,” he said. “The Taliban have not been successful.”

Improvements in security in those key areas have been “really quite remarkable,” Krause said, with attacks down 80 percent. ISAF troops recently intercepted a transmission from the Taliban that admitted that their offensive to regain territory had “‘utterly failed,’” he said.

“This is pretty significant,” he said. “We’ve seen the insurgency cede the initiative to us. We know this because enemy-initiated attacks are down in every region now, except Regional Command East.”

Although insurgents’ fighting season may seem to be coming to a close, Krause said, ISAF will continue its operations.

“We fight all year round,” he said. “And over this winter, we will remain on the offensive and drive home our initiative. We will continue to retain what we've fought so hard to hold, and we'll expand in some places.”

Afghan security forces, currently 305,000 strong, will continue developing their capabilities, he said.

“Our intent is that if there is the traditional cyclic pattern, a return of the insurgency next year, that they will face not the coalition, but the Afghan security force in the lead, who will be able to demonstrate their ability to retain key centers and expand their influence,” Krause said.

Despite many successes, the general envisions critical times ahead as operations continue and Afghan security forces continue their transition into the lead.

“Now, I expect that there'll be tough days ahead, and I don't think we can be complacent, nor are we complacent, or think that we're near the end,” he said. “This was never going to be easy, and I expect that there will be setbacks and some bad days ahead.”

But the trends still are positive, the general said.

“I work on a daily basis with the Afghans and their planners,” he said. “I have the opportunity to get out and see the country.

I'm sensing that the Afghan people sense that they have the initiative. They do have confidence in the future.

“Now, they are born skeptics,” he added. “They've been let down before. But their children are going to school. They are healthier, and they have a brighter future.”

Winter Gains Position Coalition Forces for July Transition

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2011 – Significant gains during winter fighting have wrested key areas from the Taliban and set the stage for July’s transition of the first provinces and district centers to Afghan control, an International Security Assistance Force official said today.

Australian army Maj. Gen. Michael Krause, ISAF Joint Command’s deputy chief of staff, briefed reporters at the Pentagon live via digital video conference from the command’s headquarters in Kabul.

The Joint Command is responsible for operations throughout Afghanistan. Krause serves as senior plans officer with Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, commander of ISAF Joint Command.

They’re on track for the first group of coalition troops to transition by about the end of July, Krause said.

“And while there is a bit of work to be done,” he added, “there's also a bit of actual excitement on behalf of the Afghans, and they're almost ready. We're confident it's going to work.”

The first transition “will put about 22 percent of the population, including the capital, Kabul, under Afghan control,” Krause said.

One area that will transition is Lashkar Gah, the general said, which is in the middle of a key area in central Helmand that combined forces cleared over the winter and that Afghan security forces now hold and secure.

Krause said other transition areas include Mehtar Lam near Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, Herat and the Bamiyan province.

Kabul and centers of Taliban movement in Kandahar are among the gains made this winter, the general said. “It is our operational objective to retain that area this year,” he added.

“We know the Taliban want it back, and we’re going to continue working hard to hold it,” Krause said. “We believe that by retaining that key area of Kandahar and central Helmand, we’ll have an operational-level effect and it will represent a significant achievement.”

Despite recent incidents and losses -- including Kandahar provincial police chief Khan Mohammad Mujahid and northern Afghanistan police chief Gen. Mohammed Daud Daud -- Krause said he has confidence and hope for the mission.

“We have to see the complete picture,” the general said. “We have to take a longer-term view. And we look for indicators that have an enduring effect.”

From that perspective, Krause said, “we feel that we have made real progress. While it's always reversible and is fragile, the momentum is such to suggest to us that what we have can be made enduring and can be made robust.”

Today, the general said, coalition forces are living through insurgency attempts to reverse that momentum.

“We've seen suicide attacks in the center of Kabul, in Kandahar, in Herat and Takhar,” he said, that have killed civilians, Afghan officials, Afghan soldiers, and police and coalition troops.

“They've grabbed a lot of headlines, but they've grabbed nothing of operational significance,” Krause added.

“The combined team retains the operationally significant populated areas it started the year with,” the general said. “We are solidifying and hardening the gains, and we're expanding in many areas.”

Importantly, he added, “we've seen no weakening or doubt in the minds of the Afghan people. They are amazingly resilient. They've filled the positions of those who were killed and they continue to reject the Taliban.”

An increased number of tip-offs about weapons caches is a sign of growing confidence in coalition forces by local Afghans, Krause noted.

During winter operations in the Sangin area, near Musa Qaleh and the Kajaki Dam area in Regional Command Southwest, and in the northern parts of Kandahar toward Arghandab, coalition forces found traditional caching areas and, Krause said, “took a lot of weapons and explosives off the battlefield, far more than we'd seen previously.”

“The really important thing for us was not only taking it off the battlefield,” the general added, “but the fact that the vast majority were actually handed in or tipped off to us by the locals.”

Every day the combined team retains the key areas of Kabul, Kandahar and central Helmand, Krause said, the Afghan army and police get a little stronger and a little more proficient. “Local leaders get better, and opportunities for development emerge and start to flourish, and that all leads to a stable Afghanistan,” he added.

The coalition temporary surge of 40,000 troops has created a permanent Afghan surge of 80,000 troops, the general said.

“I work with them daily, and I'm impressed by their courage. I'm impressed with their growing professionalism and indeed their capability,” he said. “They do get better every day.”

ISAF Joint Command Deputy Chief of Staff to Brief Media

Australian Army Maj. Gen. Michael Krause, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command Deputy Chief of Staff, will brief the media live from Afghanistan at 10:30 a.m. EDT, June 1, in the Pentagon Briefing Room (2E973) to provide an update on current operations.

Journalists without a Pentagon building pass will be picked up at the River Entrance only.  Plan to arrive no later than 45 minutes prior to the event; have proof of affiliation and two forms of photo identification.  Please call 703-697-5131 for escort into the building.

Obama, Gillard Consult on Afghanistan, Libya

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2011 – President Barack Obama today thanked the Australian military and their families for the sacrifices they are making in Afghanistan.

Obama met with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the White House this morning, and the security situation in Afghanistan was among the topics they discussed.

The president noted that Australia is the largest non-NATO coalition member in Afghanistan, with more than 1,550 Australian servicemembers deployed there. The Australians are based in Regional Command-South in Uruzgun.

“We’ve had the opportunity to talk about the fight in Afghanistan,” Gillard said. “It is hard, but it's something that I am very personally committed to, to seeing the mission done and to ensuring we play our part in training the Afghan National Army and bringing security to Afghanistan so that the Afghan people can lead their own security.”

Obama and Gillard discussed the transition process in Afghanistan as coalition forces turn more and more of the security mission over to Afghan security forces. They also discussed the situation in the Middle East.

“I think Prime Minister Gillard and I both share a very firm conviction that the violence that’s been taking place and perpetrated by the government in Libya is unacceptable,” Obama said. “Australia joined with us in imposing swift and firm sanctions, comprehensive sanctions against the Libyan government. We continue to monitor the violence there.”

Obama said that those supporting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi will be held accountable for whatever violence occurs. He added that NATO is looking at a wide range of options, “including potential military options, in response to the violence that continues to take place inside of Libya.”

The United States has pledged another $15 million to humanitarian aid organizations that are already on the ground.

“We’ve been coordinating with the United Nations, which now has a number of personnel on the ground as well, to make sure that people are getting the help they need, and we are in a position to respond to any additional emergencies that may arise out of the situation there,” Obama said.

Australia and the United States stand for democracy, the president said.

“We stand for an observance of human rights, and … we send a very clear message to the Libyan people that we will stand with them in the face of unwarranted violence and the continuing suppression of democratic ideals that we've seen there,” Obama said.