NATO Committee Chairman Reaffirms Afghanistan Commitment

By John D. Banusiewicz

American Forces Press Service

BRUSSELS, April 25, 2012 – The chairman of NATO’s military committee today reaffirmed the alliance’s commitment to Afghanistan in remarks opening a conference of defense chiefs at NATO headquarters here.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is representing the United States in a series of meetings and forums at the two-day conference for the top military officers from member and partner nations.

Gen. Knud Bartels of the Danish army, the chairman of the alliance’s military committee, said NATO must continue the work laid out at the November 2010 summit in Lisbon, Portugal, where alliance members’ heads of state and other senior government officials agreed that Afghan forces would have security responsibility in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The next summit, scheduled next month in Chicago, will set NATO’s course in Afghanistan beyond 2014.

“What is important now is that we must stay the course in accordance with the Lisbon strategy,” Bartels said. “In this respect, the Chicago summit provides an excellent platform on which NATO will express its commitment to Afghanistan’s future and commit to the delivery of sustainable success.”

Despite recent challenges, the general said, the plan remains on track.

“Our service men and women working alongside their partners in the Afghan national security forces continue to do a superb job,” he said. “Their personal sacrifice and commitment is a credit the nations of the coalition.”

Afghan forces increasingly are taking the lead and becoming more effective, Bartels said. They now lead 40 percent of all combat operations, he noted, and 50 percent of Afghanistan’s population lives in areas where Afghan security forces are responsible for security.

Afghan forces have demonstrated their effectiveness through challenging threats to security in recent months, including coordinated attacks April 15 in and around the Afghan capital of Kabul, the general added. This month alone, he said, 99 Afghan soldiers and police officers have been killed in action.

“Despite this sacrifice, we have grounds for optimism,” Bartels said. “We are increasingly seeing that the Afghan national security forces will prevail, and the enemy will see that the fight cannot be won -- not now or in the future. We can be cautiously optimistic that we are seeing clear evidence that the comparative advantage lies with the government of Afghanistan, its security forces and its people, and not with the Taliban.”

Dempsey is participating in the conference during his third stop on an overseas trip that has included visits to Jordan and Afghanistan.

Panetta: NATO at ‘Pivotal Point’ in Afghan Mission

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

BRUSSELS, April 17, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta arrived here today ahead of this week’s NATO “jumbo” ministerial conference, where the alliance’s defense and foreign ministers are scheduled to discuss Afghanistan security transition and alliance capabilities.

Panetta said during a Pentagon news conference yesterday that the gathering will take place against a backdrop of change within the 63-year-old alliance.

“We're at a pivotal point for the alliance as we build on the gains that have been made in Afghanistan and try to chart the course for the future in that area,” he said.

George Little, acting assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, today told reporters traveling with the secretary that Panetta views NATO as a strong alliance. International Security Assistance Force contributing nations remain committed to the strategy, agreed upon at the alliance’s 2010 summit, of a gradual handover of security responsibility to Afghan forces by the end of 2014, Little said.

Panetta judged those forces performed capably and decisively in quelling a series of coordinated attacks attributed to the Haqqani network in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul on April 15, Little noted. The secretary expects Afghan forces will sustain that level of performance, and he believes “the overall [Afghanistan] narrative is a very positive one,” he added.

A senior defense official accompanying Panetta said the secretary will attend a meeting of defense ministers tomorrow. Participants will discuss ongoing alliance defense needs and the “smart defense” approach of combined investment in NATO military equipment, the official said.

Many NATO member nations face budget challenges, while operations in Afghanistan and Libya have exposed some shortfalls in the alliance’s overall defense capabilities, the official noted.

Later, along with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Panetta will attend the larger session involving defense and foreign ministers, which the official said will focus on Afghanistan and funding for Afghan security forces. Foreign minister meetings will continue into April 19, but the defense segment of the week’s NATO gathering will conclude tomorrow, the official added.

The official called the “jumbo” ministerial conference “a rare bit of geometry.” While the two groups of ministers normally hold separate meetings, this last gathering before the alliance’s Chicago summit in May will allow senior officials to “move issues along” so heads of state won’t need to argue over policy questions next month, the official said.

“We don’t want our bosses to have to deal with things that we can’t resolve on our own,” the official added.

NATO Conference Focuses on Post-2014 Afghanistan

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

BRUSSELS, April 18, 2012 – NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen today emphasized support to Afghanistan beyond 2014 in remarks opening a conference of the alliance’s defense and foreign ministers here.

Rasmussen noted the NATO summit in Chicago is a month away. “We have important work to do today and tomorrow to help set the stage,” he said.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has been engaged in Afghanistan since 2001, and Rasmussen said the alliance will continue to support that nation beyond 2014.

Meetings of NATO defense and foreign ministers today and tomorrow will shape the decisions on Afghanistan that the alliance’s heads of state and government will make in Chicago, Rasmussen said, including completing the transition to Afghan security lead by the end of 2014 and what form NATO’s contributions in Afghanistan will take after that transfer.

Rasmussen noted Afghan security forces defeated coordinated enemy attacks April 15 in and around Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul.

“This shows that the Afghan security forces can deal with dangers and difficulties, and they are getting stronger every day,” the secretary general said.

He said his clear message to Afghanistan’s enemies is that they can’t just wait NATO out. “As we gradually draw down,” he added, “a still stronger Afghan security force is taking charge to protect the Afghan people against brutality and inhumanity.”

NATO will maintain a training mission and financial support to Afghan security forces beyond 2014, Rasmussen said. “We must make sure we maintain the gains made with so much investment in lives and resources,” he added.

Even in tough financial times, the secretary general said, supporting the Afghan forces is “a good deal in financial and political terms.”

NATO remains committed to its strategy and its long-term partnership with Afghanistan, Rasmussen said.

“This is our message to the people of Afghanistan, to the enemies of Afghanistan, and to the neighbors of Afghanistan,” he said, “because it is in the interest of our own security.”

Before a morning meeting of defense ministers this morning, Rasmussen said their discussion would center on alliance “smart defense” efforts to acquire capabilities jointly that the alliance will need to counter future threats. Smart defense, he said, “means setting the right priorities. We must specialize in what we do best and focus resources on what we need most. And we must work together to deliver capabilities that many nations cannot afford on [their] own.”

At the Chicago summit next month, Rasmussen said, NATO will demonstrate its commitment “to continue to invest political, military and economic capital in a transatlantic alliance that is fully fit to deal with the security challenges of today and tomorrow.”

In a news conference following the morning session, he announced ministers have prepared an interim missile defense plan for Europe, with details to be announced in Chicago.

NATO defense ministers also discussed a “connected forces” initiative to be finalized at the Chicago summit, he added. This agreement will strengthen member nations’ coordinated education, training and technology efforts, the secretary general said.

Financial support to Afghan forces after 2014 is expected to cost $4 billion per year, Rasmussen added, though details of NATO nations’ contributions to that total have not been finalized.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are both here for the NATO meetings, and are scheduled to hold a joint news conference later today.

Libyan Regime Forces Feel Effects of Coalition Attacks

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2011 – Moammar Gadhafi’s forces are feeling the effects of the coalition attacking command and control centers and logistics hubs, as evidenced by the progress the Libyan opposition has made, the director of the Joint Staff said during a Pentagon briefing today.

Coalition aircraft – now including Air Force A-10 Warthogs and AC-130s – have attacked regime forces threatening civilians. They also have hit command and control centers, ammunition supply points, missile sites and radars.

On March 25, regime forces were outside Ajdabiyah and the city was contested, Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney said. Today, opposition forces have control of Ajdabiyah and have pushed west to within 80 miles of Surt -- a strategic port on the Mediterranean.

Coalition officials believe Gadhafi’s troops are digging in and placing tanks and armored vehicles in and around the city, he said. Farther west, regime forces are digging in around Zintan, and fighting continues in Misrata.

Most of the targets hit in the last 24 hours were targets of opportunity, Gortney said. The coalition hit forces still attacking civilians and also the command and control nodes of the 32nd Brigade -- a loyal regime strike force allegedly commanded by one of Gadhafi’s sons and still attacking civilians.

The coalition flew 178 sorties over the past 24 hours with the majority being strike-related. The number of sorties continues to grow, “but the labor share [between U.S. and partner nations] is definitely evening out,” Gortney said.

Pilots from Belgium and Qatar have been flying missions, and 12 fighters from the United Arab Emirates will be joining the fight shortly, the admiral said. “U.S. military participation in this operation is … changing to one of support,” he said.

The USS Providence, a submarine that participated in the Tomahawk strikes against Libya, has finished its mission and will continue its patrol.

While the United States is still flying strike missions, “we are providing 80 percent of all air refueling, almost 75 percent of aerial surveillance hours and 100 percent of electronic warfare missions,” Gortney said.

NATO will assume command of the mission in the next few days. “The specifics are still being worked out,” he said. “The maritime embargo [transfer of command] was fairly easy and straight forward. They started taking on the no-fly mission … on Saturday morning, and we’ll see them taking the total mission, including the civilian protection mission, in the coming days.”

U.S. Africa Command chief Army Gen. Carter F. Ham is commanding now and will shift the command to Canadian Forces Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard. None of the commanders involved are anticipating any problems with that, Gortney noted.

“One of the benefits of transitioning to NATO is we’ve been working with NATO for many years, and we understand the command structure,” he said. “We exercise together, we operate in Afghanistan together, and that’s why we have tremendous confidence that we’re not going to drop the ball.”

Gortney said they haven’t received a single confirmed report of civilian casualties caused by the coalition. “We will continue to be just as precise as we can in keeping up the pressure on regime forces while protecting innocent civilians,” he said.

Strikes Degrade Libya's Defenses, But Threats Remain

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2011 – While the attacks on Libya’s integrated air and missile defense system have been successful, thousands of anti-aircraft artillery emplacements and portable missile launchers still pose threats to coalition air crews, the director of the Joint Staff said today.

On the second day of Operation Odyssey Dawn, Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney said the coalition cruise missile strikes against selected air defense systems and facilities were successful, and that coalition ships and submarines launched 124 Tomahawk missiles against these targets.

“We judge these strikes to have been very effective in degrading the regime’s air defense capability, to include their ability to launch many of their SA-5s – their long range missiles – their SA-3s and SA-2s,” Gortney said during a Pentagon news conference.

Moammar Gadhafi’s regime has not launched aircraft, and the coalition has not detected any radar emissions from the air defense sites targeted, the admiral said.

“There has been a significant decrease in the use of all Libyan air surveillance radars,” he added. “These seem to be limited to the areas around Tripoli and Sert.”

Air Force B-2 bombers also attacked Libyan airfields, flattening the hardened shelters Libyan fighter-bombers use, Gortney said. Coalition tactical fighters also hit Gadhafi’s ground forces on the outskirts of Benghazi, where 15 U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, French and British aircraft participated in the action about 10 miles south of the opposition stronghold. “We judge these also to have been highly successful at halting the regime ground movement in this region,” Gortney said.

Libya’s fixed surface-to-air missile threat and early warning radars are gone. The threat that remains comes from mobile surface-to-air missiles -- SA-6 and SA-8 systems – as well as thousands of shoulder-fired SA-7 missile launchers, the admiral told reporters.

The coalition has not directly targeted anti-aircraft artillery, Gortney said, because many are near homes and there are thousands of these guns.

The coalition has grown and will continue to increase, Gortney said, noting that it includes the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Italy, Qatar, Belgium, Norway and Denmark. More nations will directly participate in the coalition, he said, and other nations will provide overflight rights, basing and logistics. Gortney said those nations will make their announcements at their own times.

The United States leads the coalition effort now, but that will change, the admiral said.

“Our intent is to be a part of the coalition throughout, and transfer the command to a coalition command,” he said. The United States would shift to more of a support function that would include aerial tankers; electronic warfare aircraft; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft; and logistics.