Allen Discusses Insider Attacks in ‘60 Minutes’ Interview

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

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2012 – In an interview on the CBS program “60 Minutes” last night, the commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan said he takes his mission personally and is angered by insider attacks by Afghan security forces and militants wearing Afghan uniforms.

“I'm mad as hell about them, to be honest with you,” Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, told CBS correspondent Lara Logan. “We're going to get after this. It reverberates everywhere across the United States. We're willing to sacrifice a lot for this campaign, but we're not willing to be murdered for it.”

The general said it is important to understand the Afghan people still support ISAF troops and their mission to guide Afghan troops as they prepare to take full responsibility for security in their country.

“The key point is for us to understand that the vast majority of the Afghans, … they're with us in this,” Allen said. “They understand right now the severity of this problem and the urgency of what's happening.”

Afghans have been killed trying to save coalition forces when some attacks have been under way,” the general noted. “[It] was the only reaction that they could have taken … to try to save us at that moment of attack,” he said.

More than 50 coalition members have been killed by insider attacks this year. Allen said insurgents recognize the vulnerability posed as coalition forces work alongside Afghan counterparts, and they have adapted their tactics to exploit it.

“In Iraq, the signature weapon system that we hadn't seen before was the [improvised explosive device],” he said. “We had to adjust to that. Here, I think the signature attack that we're beginning to see is going to be the insider attack.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, also interviewed in the segment, acknowledged the attacks and pledged to help ISAF eliminate the threat. “These attacks are sad,” he said. “This is something I have discussed in detail, something that I bear responsibility for to correct.”

Allen also discussed the presence of al-Qaida and ISAF’s commitment to continuing to “target and eliminate them.”

“Al-Qaida has come back, [and] is a resilient organization,” he said. “But they're not here in large numbers. But al-Qaida doesn't have to be anywhere in large numbers.”

The terrorist organization is not significant in a traditional military sense, Allen said. “Al-Qaida has significance beyond its numbers, frankly,” he added. “And so for us, our 24-hour-a-day objective is to seek out those al-Qaida cells.”

It is important to ensure al-Qaida doesn’t feel as though it can put down roots in Afghanistan, the general said, and while security isn’t perfect around the country, there has been much improvement.

“An awful lot of the population of this country is living in an area where there is vastly improved security from where it was just a few years ago,” he said.

Meanwhile, Allen said, coalition officials are doing a great deal to address terrorist safe havens in Pakistan, and the relationship between ISAF forces and the Pakistani military has improved dramatically.

“There's a very complex relationship with Pakistan, and we'll work very hard and very closely with the Pakistani military to achieve common objectives,” he said. “But to some extent, the Pakistani military has been successful in cooperating with us in the last several months with regard to complementary operations on both sides of the border, but much more needs to be done.”

ISAF is doing everything it can within its authority to hunt down and kill Haqqani network operatives in Afghanistan who “ultimately threaten my troops, threaten the Afghan troops and the Afghan society, the Afghan civilians, and ultimately the Afghan government,” Allen said.

The general also described his intense commitment to the mission in Afghanistan, which he said often leads him to “turn around and go back” to work some nights after asking himself while he’s walking home if he’s done enough.

“I came here believing this would be the last job I'd ever have,” Allen said. “I don't care about anything beyond this. This is what's important to me. I almost can't remember ever having been anywhere else.

“This is completely consuming for me, and I am dedicated 24 hours a day to these magnificent troops, to the Afghans, to this cause, and ultimately to successful completion,” he continued. “This is very personal to me. And I take it very personally.”

Partnered Coalition Operations Continue Despite Insider Attacks

By Nick Simeone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2012 – Partnered operations between coalition and Afghan forces are continuing despite a decision by the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan to scale them back in response to a series of deadly insider attacks, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today.

On Sept. 16, Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen ordered that all combined International Security Assistance Force and Afghan operations below the battalion level must be approved at the regional command level following attacks by Afghan soldiers and police that have killed 51 members of the coalition this year.

At a Pentagon news conference today, Little told reporters he did not know how long such operations would be scaled back, but that some patrols below the battalion level do continue. “This is a temporary measure,” he said, “and let me be clear as well that operations with our Afghan partners continue.”

Last week, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the pullback as precautionary and partly in response to the violent anti-American demonstrations that broke out across the Islamic world after an American-made video surfaced on the Internet defaming the Prophet Muhammad. “The protection of our personnel is paramount, and we will continue to make adjustments as required over time to ensure their security,” Little said.

The spokesman said it would be up to the command in Afghanistan to determine how long partnered operations are curtailed, and that Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta strongly supports Allen’s decision. He called coalition operations “successful” and stressed that the U.S. goal in Afghanistan remains the same.

“We see Afghans more and more in the lead for their own operations and for their own governance. That is the goal here, that is what we’re training toward,” he said.

“At the end of the day,” he added, “that is how success is going to be defined: whether Afghans can provide for their own security and govern themselves.”

Allen: Surge Bought Time for Afghan Forces to Grow, Mature

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – The goal of the just-completed U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan was not to defeat the Taliban, but to provide Afghan security forces the time needed to develop, the commander of NATO forces in the country said today.

And, Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen added, it succeeded.

Allen spoke to NBC’s Lester Holt this morning and stressed the coalition campaign in Afghanistan has allowed Afghan soldiers and police to develop their capabilities.

The sacrifices made by coalition service members have given Afghan national security forces, “the wherewithal, ultimately, to create security in this country so that governance can take root, the rule of law can be embraced and economic opportunity and development can move forward,” Allen said.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced Sept. 21 that the drawdown of the 30,000 additional U.S. forces deployed as part of the surge was complete. From January 2010 to today, officials said, the Afghan government has added 85,000 more soldiers to the ranks and 50,000 police. Seventy-seven percent of Afghan army units are rated in the top three levels of capability, up from 52 percent in 2010, officials added. The gains for police -- a boost from 47 percent to 59 percent – are not as dramatic, they acknowledged, but they noted that the police had farther to go to reach that capability level.

But the threat of insider attacks remains in Afghanistan, Allen said, and it has his full attention.

“We’re going to work as … hard as we possibly can, around the clock, to understand the problem,” he told Holt. “And I think we've got a good grip on it now.”

Eliminating the threat will require close cooperation with Afghan government partners, he said. “See, the Taliban, in infiltrating the ranks of the [Afghan security forces], recognize that this is an opportunity for them to try to split us apart,” the general said. “We’re going to work very hard to prevent that from happening.”

Allen said he probably will recommend bringing more American troops home from Afghanistan, and that he expects to make his recommendation to U.S. leaders before the end of the year once his evaluations of the situation are complete.

“I’ll evaluate the nature of the insurgency,” he said. “I’ll evaluate the progress that we have made with the Afghan national security forces. We’ll look at the operational environment we think we’ll face in 2013. And the combination of all of those will permit me to make a recommendation.”

The general would not speculate on the size of any potential force reduction.

Panetta Announces Completion of Afghanistan Surge Drawdown

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Sept. 21, 2012 – The drawdown of U.S. surge forces in Afghanistan is complete as scheduled, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced here today during a news conference with New Zealand Defense Minister Dr. Jonathan Coleman.

Panetta said the return of 33,000 troops President Barack Obama committed to the war in Afghanistan in 2009 is “an important milestone.”

“As we reflect on this moment, it is an opportunity to recognize that the surge accomplished its objectives of reversing Taliban momentum on the battlefield and dramatically increased the size and capability of the Afghan national security forces,” he said.

The surge of forces allowed the United States and its coalition partners in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force to begin transitioning to Afghan security lead, he said, noting that Afghan forces soon will be responsible for leading their country’s defense in areas of every province, and for more than 75 percent of the Afghan population.

“At the same time, we have struck enormous blows against al-Qaida's leadership, consistent with our core goal of disrupting, dismantling and defeating al-Qaida and denying it a safe haven,” the secretary said.

The 68,000 U.S. service members who remain in Afghanistan combine with other nation’s forces to make ISAF around 100,000 troops strong, Panetta said. Those forces will keep working to reduce the level of violence in Afghanistan, ensure the Taliban do not regain any of their previously held areas, and strengthen the Afghan army, he added.

Panetta said Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of U.S. and ISAF forces in Afghanistan, is confident he can accomplish his campaign with the current force level.

“I have always had tremendous confidence in General Allen’s ability to say to me, ‘This is what I need in order to accomplish the mission,’” the secretary said. “Right now, he is saying the force he has in place is sufficient to accomplish that mission.”

Panetta is in New Zealand for the final stop on his third Asian tour, which also included visits to Japan and China.

Coalition Remains Resolute Despite Insider Threat, Chairman Says

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Sept. 18, 2012 – The insider threat will not lessen the coalition’s resolve to accomplish its objectives in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said today.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke about the insider threat in Afghanistan during an interview conducted after a visit to Turkey.

“We are absolutely resolute in our commitment to the objectives of our campaign, but … on the path to achieving those objectives we will make adjustments as we go,” he said.

The insider threat -- attacks on coalition personnel by members of Afghanistan’s security forces or people wearing Afghan uniforms -- is serious, and coalition and NATO leaders are leaving no stone unturned in the efforts to reduce and eliminate the threat, Dempsey said.

“I have a very close relationship with my Russian counterpart [Army Gen.] Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff, and I’ve had two video teleconferences with him, seeking their insights into the experience of insider threats during their time in Afghanistan,” Dempsey said. “It was very helpful.”

The chairman also takes lessons from history. He noted that the British also faced an insider threat when they were in Afghanistan in the 19th century. The threat is part of every war in which outside forces help build indigenous forces, he said.

But building these indigenous forces is the right strategy for Afghanistan, he said. The roughly 340,000 trained members of the Afghan national security force today will grow to 352,000 shortly. These forces are taking the lead for operations, protecting roughly 75 percent of the Afghan population. At the end of 2014, NATO and coalition forces will end their combat mission and will remain in Afghanistan only to train and assist local forces.

Given the size of the Afghan forces, those who turn their weapons on their coalition allies are a small, small number, the chairman pointed out. But the coalition and Afghan government must assess the situation where the attacks take place and find out how to stop the attacks from happening, he added.

“What we need to do is look at these places and understand why there is a greater propensity, and to arm ourselves against it and to continue to encourage our Afghan partners at every level of their leadership to be engaged with us in this,” Dempsey said.

It should come as no surprise the coalition and Afghan forces are adapting operations to meet changing threat conditions, Dempsey said, and unrest over the portrayal of Islam in a YouTube video is part of the threat that coalition forces face.

“It’s important to note that it is not just the threat condition of the insider threats that we are reacting to, but the heightened tension related to the reaction of the Islamic world to the video,” he said. “You’ve got this kind of nexus of activities, and it’s absolutely prudent of commanders at every level to adjust their activity.”

Training for Afghan forces has not been cut, the general said. Recruit and unit training continue at the bigger base camps and operating locations, but there have been changes in the way Afghan and coalition units partner.

“I expect that two weeks from now, [Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan] will be looking at the conditions as he confronts them and making other assessments,” Dempsey said. “That’s what we expect our commanders do.”

The insider threat is complex and must be seen in context, the chairman said. While the Taliban have infiltrated and conducted some attacks, other killings are not ideological. The International Security Assistance Force has an assessment of what proportion of these attacks is related to infiltration, and what percentage is caused by other factors, the chairman said.

“ISAF has a team that goes to the location … to assess whether this was an infiltration or some other aspect of our interaction with them so we can stay ahead of it, or catch up to it,” he added.

The Taliban have been calling for the Afghan security forces to turn against their American partners for years, the chairman said. Insider attacks have increased this year, he said, and Afghan and coalition officials will work together to understand the root causes of these attacks.

“We will constantly make adjustments to our campaign in response to changing threats, whether that is increases in rocket and mortar attacks, or increases in improvised explosive attacks or increases in insider attacks,” Dempsey said.