The Afghanistan and Pakistan Thread

[Rapid]

Why Taliban special forces are fighting Islamic State - BBC News

"Why Taliban special forces are fighting Islamic State"

Oh brother.

The Afghan Taliban say they have unleashed "special forces" in an increasingly bloody battle with fighters from the rival, so-called Islamic State (IS) group. The Taliban's dominance and monopoly on insurgency in a region home to numerous local and foreign militant groups is being challenged by IS, which has been gaining some support. Who's winning the war of the militants?

How many Taliban special forces are fighting Islamic State?

According to Taliban sources, the special task force, part of the Taliban's special forces command, was set up in early October and has more than 1,000 fighters - better equipped and trained than regular Taliban and with the sole aim of crushing IS.

 

[x SF med]

Inter-tribal warfare is de rigueur for the region/culture discussed.... loyalty follows, in order except for the first two which really flip flop - family/Allah/village/tribe/ region/and possibly country... and the tribal affiliations are as fluid as an ocean in a storm... In the eyes of the tribal leaders, Afghanistan won't fall, tribal affiliations will change, and as long as they are allowed to follow their brand of Islam (the high country tribes still have a fairly animistic version of Islam, a melding of pre Islamic rituals with the koranic version of islam) and their tribe, village, and family are fed and sheltered - the larger government can go fuck itself, unless their is an appearance of a strong leader who rules by intimidation - and threatens the existence of that tribe or lower affiliations. But, we cannot educate our western society in the vagaries of tribal thought and control... that is going to be the downfall of any campaign - Lawrence said it, Kipling said it, Gandhi said it, and anybody looking at the region, it's history, and the 'religion' of islam and its history would be able to see the ability of islam to keep its adherents in the 12th C. CE...

my very brief .02 on this...

 

[AWP]

A pretty good article on Marjah and how it really applies to the rest of the country.

A look at how the US-led coalition lost Afghanistan's Marjah district to the Taliban

There are too many great points to post here, but the short version is this is the same stuff we've said here since the inception of this board.

 

[Brill]

Why are you spreading hate speech?

"For more than 13 years, ever since nearly 3,000 innocent lives were taken from us on 9/11, our nation has been at war in Afghanistan," Obama said in a written statement. "Now, thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, our combat mission in Afghanistan is ending, and the longest war in American history is coming to a responsible conclusion."

Also from Obama's statement:

" ... Our courageous military and diplomatic personnel in Afghanistan -- along with our NATO allies and coalition partners -- have helped the Afghan people reclaim their communities, take the lead for their own security, hold historic elections and complete the first democratic transfer of power in their country's history.

 

[AWP]

Why are you spreading hate speech?

"For more than 13 years, ever since nearly 3,000 innocent lives were taken from us on 9/11, our nation has been at war in Afghanistan," Obama said in a written statement. "Now, thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, our combat mission in Afghanistan is ending, and the longest war in American history is coming to a responsible conclusion."

Also from Obama's statement:

" ... Our courageous military and diplomatic personnel in Afghanistan -- along with our NATO allies and coalition partners -- have helped the Afghan people reclaim their communities, take the lead for their own security, hold historic elections and complete the first democratic transfer of power in their country's history.

I guess I'm just that kind of guy.

Also, the president is full of shit. You can spin a turd but that doesn't make it cotton candy.

 

[CDG]

If it was a known hospital, it would have been on the No-Strike List.

Well, it was known, and it was on the NSL. Epic fail by both air and ground parties involved.

Exclusive: U.S. Military Readies Punishments for Botched Afghan Airstrike

 

[pardus]

Well, it was known, and it was on the NSL. Epic fail by both air and ground parties involved.

Exclusive: U.S. Military Readies Punishments for Botched Afghan Airstrike

Unforgivable mistake.

 

[CDG]

Unforgivable mistake.

Indeed it is. A lot of checks and balances were either forgotten or ignored for this to happen.

 

[Tyrant]

In regards to the AC-130 strike on the MSF hospital in Kunduz, has anyone heard if LTC Johnston will be reprimanded? I understand he is under investigation. He is an excellent officer and I hope this doesn't ruin him.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

In regards to the AC-130 strike on the MSF hospital in Kunduz, has anyone heard if LTC Johnston will be reprimanded? I understand he is under investigation. He is an excellent officer and I hope this doesn't ruin him.

He is mentioned specifically in the most recent update posted by @CDG (about 3 posts up). Here is his excerpt:

Also likely in the crosshairs of investigators is Army Lt. Col. Jason Johnston, the commander of the military’s special operations task force in Afghanistan. Given the strict rules of engagement in Afghanistan, it’s likely that his superior, Army Maj. Gen. Sean Swindell, who oversees all U.S. and NATO special operations forces in the country, and Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott West, the overall commander of the air war in Afghanistan, are also likely to have drawn the attention of the investigators.

 

[Tyrant]

He is mentioned specifically in the most recent update posted by @CDG (about 3 posts up). Here is his excerpt:

Also likely in the crosshairs of investigators is Army Lt. Col. Jason Johnston, the commander of the military’s special operations task force in Afghanistan. Given the strict rules of engagement in Afghanistan, it’s likely that his superior, Army Maj. Gen. Sean Swindell, who oversees all U.S. and NATO special operations forces in the country, and Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott West, the overall commander of the air war in Afghanistan, are also likely to have drawn the attention of the investigators.

I read that also. I was wondering if anyone has heard anything other than what was mentioned in the article. Thanks Ooh-Rah.

 

[JedisonsDad]

Well, it was known, and it was on the NSL. Epic fail by both air and ground parties involved.

Exclusive: U.S. Military Readies Punishments for Botched Afghan Airstrike

Negative, sir. It was not an epic fail by the air and ground parties, because no Americans died that day. It was an epic fail on leadership's part (not immediate leadership, but much higher). There is far more to the story than anyone will ever know, other than the ones directly involved.

 

[CDG]

Negative, sir. It was not an epic fail by the air and ground parties, because no Americans died that day. It was an epic fail on leadership's part (not immediate leadership, but much higher). There is far more to the story than anyone will ever know, other than the ones directly involved.

Bullshit dude. Leadership failed, yes. But they're not the only ones on the hook. You don't target without being sure of what you're hitting, and you take extra precaution when you're targeting a building you can't even see, and you take even more precaution when the target grids aren't lining up. You've played the insider knowledge card on this site before and you were out of your league. Don't make the same mistake twice.

 

[JedisonsDad]

Bullshit dude. Leadership failed, yes. But they're not the only ones on the hook. You don't target without being sure of what you're hitting, and you take extra precaution when you're targeting a building you can't even see, and you take even more precaution when the target grids aren't lining up. You've played the insider knowledge card on this site before and you were out of your league. Don't make the same mistake twice.

For a website that boasts about its professionalism and staying in your lane, there sure are a lot of people that avoid both. For the sake of those involved, I'm not going into anymore detail.

 

[CDG]

For a website that boasts about its professionalism and staying in your lane, there sure are a lot of people that avoid both. For the sake of those involved, I'm not going into anymore detail.

Tell me more about air to ground engagements being out of my lane.

Classic technique. "Yeah, I know things. Can't/won't talk about them. I know shit though. Wink wink." Unless what you "know" is that the news is completely fabricating the story and the guys could actually see the hospital, and the grids actually did match up, then there's blame at all levels. Leadership didn't call in the strike and didn't fire the rounds on a grid that didn't match the original target grid.

 

[JedisonsDad]

Tell me more about air to ground engagements being out of my lane.

Classic technique. "Yeah, I know things. Can't/won't talk about them. I know shit though. Wink wink." Unless what you "know" is that the news is completely fabricating the story and the guys could actually see the hospital, and the grids actually did match up, then there's blame at all levels. Leadership didn't call in the strike and didn't fire the rounds on a grid that didn't match the original target grid.

I was overhead Kunduz. I'm not saying that air to ground engagements are out of your lane. I'm saying that you weren't on the plane that night. You don't know what the crew saw. You don't know what NSL was passed to them. By all ROEs, it was a textbook shoot.

 

[AWP]

As a staff member on this board and guy on the outer fringe of this thanks to my job, I have a feeling that clarifying posts and positions is probably a matter for gubment networks, not this one. To provide an additional POV we were briefed the JTAC made some bad decisions, but there are also lingering questions about the strike cell's performance.

Unless someone's willing to cough up details, which are probably classified at this point, let's allow this discussion to drift into an uneasy peace.

 

[AWP]

Maybe we should retitle this "The Propping Up of Afghanistan Thread."

P.S. remember how combat operations are over? Yeah...

The US was supposed to leave Afghanistan by 2017. Now it might take decades.

In November, the U.S. military sent a company of elite U.S. Rangers to southeastern Afghanistan to help Afghan counter-terrorism forces destroy an al-Qaida training camp in a "fierce fight" that lasted for several days.

 

[pardus]

Maybe I'll get another deployment after all!

 

[AWP]

Maybe I'll get another deployment after all!

If I go back to that country it is to kill people. I will not Fobbit in Afghanistan.