NATO reaffirms commitment to Afghanistan

by Gerry Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

NORFOLK, Va., (Sept. 9, 2009) – Despite the challenges it faces there, NATO will stay the course during its tough fight against Taliban and other extremists in Afghanistan, the alliance’s top leader said Wednesday.

“Let no one think that a run for the exits is an option; it is not,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, berthed at Naval Station Norfolk, after he’d participated in a ceremony transferring command of Allied Command Transformation from U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis to Gen. Stephane Abrial of France’s air force.

“My view is very clear,” Rasmussen said. “What we are doing now is very difficult, is very costly. But, if we were to walk away, we would pay a much higher cost -- and soon.”

A military withdrawal from Afghanistan would result in terrorist attacks originating from Afghanistan, Rasmussen said, as well as “profound instability in Pakistan and in Central Asia.” Extremists worldwide would become “emboldened” if NATO disengaged from Afghanistan, he added.

“This is simply not a future we can allow to happen,” Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen acknowledged to reporters that more needs to be done in Afghanistan – especially more progress in training higher numbers of Afghan soldiers and police. More trainers, he said, are required to achieve that goal.

“We need to further develop the capacity of the Afghan security forces,” Rasmussen said, “so that the Afghans can take responsibility themselves, gradually, province by province.”

What’s also needed, Rasmussen said, is “a clear step towards transition” to Afghan leadership in the realms of security, health, education, development and governance.

“Within NATO, that means investing much more heavily in training and developing the Afghan security forces,” Rasmussen said.

The road to success in Afghanistan entails achieving more progress, Rasmussen said, and demonstrating that progress through “clear, visible transition” to Afghan authorities, Rasmussen said. It’s also essential that the Afghan government deliver better services to its citizens, he added.

The bottom line, Rasmussen said, is “we need to show the Afghan people and the citizens of troop-contributing nations that we are getting somewhere.”

Reducing civilian casualties is Afghanistan is part of the strategy to achieve success there, the secretary general told reporters. “I know that our troops on the ground do their utmost to reduce the number of civilian casualties,” he said, noting that over the last year, civilian casualties in Afghanistan have been reduced by around 95 percent.

“But what we cannot and will not do is waver,” Rasmussen said. “Success in our efforts is essential to Afghan security, to regional security and our security -- and we will get there.”

Rasmussen cited the change-of-command ceremony as a “significant milestone” for NATO. Abrial became ACT’s first nontemporary European commander. Before 2003, ACT was known as Allied Command Atlantic, which was established in 1952. Most of ACA’s commanders have been Americans.

“I am truly honored by the command with which I have been entrusted,” Abrial said after the ceremony. “I am eager to serve alongside the dedicated men and women in NATO’s most diverse command serving here in Norfolk and throughout Europe.”

NATO established Allied Command Transformation in 2003. It works with U.S. Joint Forces Command to identify, advocate and facilitate continuous improvement of NATO capabilities to maintain the alliance’s effectiveness in the 21st century.

Earlier this year, France decided to rejoin NATO’s military command. Then-French President Charles de Gaulle had pulled France out of NATO’s military command in 1966. France has hundreds of troops deployed in Afghanistan in support of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force there.

“As NATO says, eventually you need France’s voice in the command structure if their troops are going to be in every operation,” Mattis told reporters after the change-of-command ceremony.

The Marine four-star general, who received NATO’s Meritorious Service Medal at the ceremony, remains the chief of U.S. Joint Forces Command, also based here. Mattis had served as Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation for about two years.

Source: CENTCOM.

General says Iran launch justifies missile defense

by Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON (July 15, 2008) – Iran’s launch of a missile with a 2,000-kilometer range last week is a concrete example of the threat the world faces from missile proliferation, the chief of the Missile Defense Agency said Tuesday. Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. “Trey” Obering, said the United States is concerned specifically about the threat posed by developments North Korea and Iran are making in their missile programs.

“Iran is working on an extended-range version of the Shahab-3 and a new 2,000-kilometer medium-range ballistic missile, which they term the Ashura,” the general said at a news conference. Iran also claimed that it had successfully launched an exploratory space vehicle in February, which, analysts concluded, also was a Shahab-3. Last week, Iran launched several short- and medium-range ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel and the U.S. bases in the Middle East. Longer-ranged missiles are capable of striking Europe.

The U.S. concern with the spread of the technology was such that the current and previous administrations invested in fielding the missile defense program. “We needed to protect the United States and then to expand that protection for our deployed forces and our allies and friends in the European theater,” Obering said. The layered missile defense strategy melds boost-phase defense, mid-course defense and terminal-stage defense together. Various systems from ground-based interceptors, to airborne lasers to sea-based platforms provide protection against a rogue regime trying to launch one or two missiles at the United States or its allies.

U.S. officials are making great progress in integrating the missile defense systems with NATO programs, the general said. Obering discussed some of the systems’ successes. “In the boost phase, we've had great success with the airborne laser,” he said. The laser is mounted in a Boeing 747 and fires through the nose of the aircraft to destroy missiles just launching. “We have generated the power that we needed on the ground in a 747 fuselage mock-up, and we've also flown the aircraft,” he said. “We've demonstrated the tracking laser performance and an atmospheric compensation laser performance. All that goes together to show that we can shoot down a boosting missile. And we're on track to do that next year in a flight test.”

Thirty interceptor missiles at bases in Alaska and California make up the only defense the United States has against long-range missiles, Obering said. As time goes on, the general said, U.S. defense planners are concerned where countries like Iran and North Korea will go. They worry that the missile proliferators will develop more and more complex countermeasures to go along with their missiles. The agency is working to counter those moves, the general said.

Terminal-phase defense soon will receive another arrow in the quiver, as the agency prepares to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense system. The THAAD, which will come on line in the next year, shoots down missiles just inside and outside the atmosphere. Other agency projects include the launch of two space-tracking and surveillance system satellites and a test of missile interceptors scheduled July 18, Obering said. Tests have indicated the systems are working.

“Overall, since 2001, we have now conducted 35 of 43 successful hit-to-kill intercepts,” Obering said.

Source: CENTCOM.

PS. I am NOT adding the picture to this post, because it has been debunked as a photoshop forgery of the 9 missiles. There may have been one missile, and the others were copies. I do not know enough about it, and I cannot find the link to someone who does. Maybe you can find one from someone who has trackbacked to me! Ain't life grand? ;)

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas.

Gates Asks NATO to Follow Through on Promises

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates tossed away his script Thursday and told European defense ministers in Brussels that soldiers are dying in Afghanistan because the European governments are not living up to their promises. He pointed out that U.S. casualties for May in Afghanistan exceeded those in Iraq for the first time. That, he told ministers assembled for a NATO conference, fuels his passion on the subject.

Gates has been pushing for months for NATO nations to follow through on promises made earlier to increase their participation in Afghanistan. But the alliance's International Security Assistance Force is still short three battalions of troops. The NATO effort to provide security in Afghanistan also needs trainers and enablers, such as helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.

"I know I've been a big nag and I know I've been a pain... but for NATO to continue to be tied up in politics and issues between governments that are irrelevant to whether we are making progress in Afghanistan, I don't have patience anymore," he told his NATO counterparts. "I really have limited patience for these kinds of surrogate debates."

The U.S. simply expects governments' actions to match their rhetoric, he said. The troop shortages have caused gaps in the security in Afghanistan. "We've got kids dying because of these gaps," he said. A U.S. military official said the assessment in Afghanistan is that the problem can be addressed, but it will take longer without more troops. There are currently 52,700 troops from 40 countries serving in the NATO-led ISAF.

Creating legal, profitable economy leads to Afghan success

By Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg
Department of Defense

WASHINGTON (April 17, 2008) – A commitment to long-term success and improving cooperation with the Afghan government are the keys to success in Afghanistan, a NATO spokesman there said Thursday. “We can see a new way of doing things or development on doing things,” NATO spokesman Mark Laity said in a conference call from Kabul, Afghanistan, with online journalists and “bloggers.” During the call, Laity referred to the NATO summit held in Bucharest, Romania, on April 3. During the summit declaration, the United Nations-mandated International Security Assistance Force mission, currently comprising 40 nations, was made NATO’s top priority.

Laity explained that he hopes NATO’s summit declaration will have an impact in Afghanistan. “There was a lot more unity there than in the run up to it, and I think you saw a willingness by NATO nations to bury their differences and actually try and get on with something better than they had in the past,” he said. “At the same time, you saw the United Nations come out with a strengthened mandate and new special representative [Ambassador Kai Eide] to the United Nations’ secretary general, who is being told to take more of a leadership role, cooperate more with ISAF, and finally we saw a commitment to the long term.” Laity said he is pleased to see the reinvigorated strategy.

“To win in Afghanistan, we’re not going to win by fighting, we’re not going to win by development, we’re not going to win by having government -- we’re going to win if all three are working together,” he said. That has been the problem up to this point -- working together hasn’t always gone well, which can be problematic, he said. Despite some difficulties in getting all areas to cooperate, he said, the NATO force in Afghanistan has had an impact on the Taliban insurgency, which he stated is currently contained. “It’s not resurgence, as some people say, but it still is a potent threat,” he said. “They can still do a lot of damage and keep the pot boiling, but to defeat them, it’s not just enough to do it in the field; we got [have to] have better development, more jobs, better government -- everything working together. That’s the challenge for us now.”

Another challenge facing ISAF is convincing farmers to cultivate crops other than poppies. The best way that NATO can help in reducing the menace of narcotics is by improving security. “The essential problem is not just eradicating poppy; it’s what the people who are growing poppy should do,” he said. “What we need to do is create the alternative economy, which being legal is also profitable, and to do that, we need better security. “If we can make an area secure, people can build roads; they can grow alternate crops and get them to market,” he said.

Despite reducing the areas where poppies are grown, ISAF has seen an increase [in] poppy farms in concentrated areas. Laity said four percent of the agricultural land in Afghanistan is being used to grow poppies, and the Taliban and narcotics warlords continue to reap the benefits of this crop. “There is a close and, we think, increasing linkage,” he said. “So whether you are growing poppy just because you want to make money or whether you’re a Taliban, you want one thing, and that's insecurity.” He added that the Taliban are increasingly being funded by the proceeds of poppy, often through allowing its transit through areas they are fighting over. “In effect, poppy is helping to fund the insurgency,” he said.

Securing narcotics-prone areas is one key to successfully eradicating [of] both the Taliban and the drug lords. “Eradication is only the beginning. Security is important, but it is only the beginning. You need to give people an alternative to poppy,” he said. Laity cautioned that security still remains one of the biggest problems. Without security, the sense of synergy can’t take hold. The lack of security continues to allow the movement of illegal drugs and profits to grow from the illegal wealth, he said. “It’s a huge problem, and I don’t want to understate it,” he added.

Laity said he is encouraged by the increasing number of Afghan police and Afghan soldiers assisting with security efforts. “They understand their territory better than we do, and they can often smell the bad guy,” he said. “They can deal with these issues in a way that we can't.”

Source: DefenseLink.mil. Digg!

Wednesday's Hero: Staff Sgt. Jason Kimberling

Today is Wednesday. This is a day we set aside to honor those who are risking their lives so that we may remain free. We should not take that lightly. We must also do our part here at home.

Today I would like to introduce to you Staff Sergeant Jason Kimberling. He is from Rathdrum, ID, he is with the USAF's 366th Mission Support Group and on that day, he earned the Bronze Star with a 'V' (I believe that stands for Valor.) Here is a taste of his character:

Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason A. Kimberling.

On a sweltering 115-degree day in August 2006, Staff Sgt. Jason A. Kimberling was part of a 3-person security force assigned to a convoy of 15 Afghan National Police (ANP) officers and 20 members of the Afghan National Army (ANA).

Bronze Star with “V” recipient.

A highway checkpoint in Qalat Province had come under attack, and the convoy was sent to assist. As Kimberling’s convoy searched for the enemy, they were attacked by more than 100 well-trained, well-equipped Taliban fighters. The coordinated ambush began with a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) that landed only about 5 yards away. After several RPG rounds had been fired from a base about 325 yards away, a barrage of machine gun fire began to spray the group from only about 55 yards away and came from a different direction.

The driver of the security forces Humvee, a fellow airman, created cover with the vehicle, allowing Kimberling to jump out and return fire. Their position was hit by an RPG that knocked down Kimberling and his driver. As Kimberling was recovering from the blast, he saw two enemy gunmen heading toward them from a house just 35 yards away – from a third direction. Kimberling exposed himself to gunfire to kill the two gunmen. His actions allowed the ANP and ANA members to regroup, killing additional enemy fighters.

Soon another round of shooting began from enemy fighters, and Kimberling did not hesitate to move from his protected position in order to return fire, giving an ANA soldier the opportunity to successfully throw a hand grenade into the enemy’s position.

The convoy was then able to move away from the ambush site and onto higher ground, though still under enemy fire. Kimberling exposed himself a third time to enemy fire so that he could use a satellite phone to communicate with the tactical operations center to coordinate air support that eventually ended the battle and allowed the convoy to return to base.

"And if all of that wasn't enough, during the attack, Sergeant Kimberling had the situational awareness to call in close-air support from nearby Dutch NATO aircraft that were patrolling the area," said Col. Thomas Laffey, 366th Mission Support Group commander. "He achieved this while under very heavy fire for more than two hours."

An estimated 20 enemy combatants were killed in the firefight, without a single causality among the security forces, ANA or ANP. Kimberling was awarded a Bronze Star with Valor and the Army Commendation Medal for his actions.

Air Force Story.
KIVI-TV Story.

These men and women are amazing. I just have to say, "Thank you for all you do. Stay 'safe' and much success." If you would like to find out how to honor our troops, just go to DefenseLink.

Now this a post I am proud to offer as an Open Trackback. Not because I wrote it, because I did not. It is because of who it is about and so many others like him. To participate in this Open Trackback, you just add this permalink to your site, then you can trackback with whichever post you would care to share others. Please go to Linkfest and join. You don't have to, but it really would be a big help to you as far as sharing your posts and meeting other people. The only rule is no porn. Thank you, and have a nice day everyone.

Posts I've trackbacked to at Linkfest and other sites:
Wolf Pangloss: The Billary Clintons play the race card.
Woman Honor Thyself: Sderot and the UN Party Balloons.
Diary of the Mad Pigeon: Thurday Open Roost.
Outside the Beltway: Everybody Hates Mitt.
Pirate's Cove: TLF: Barking Moonbats Plan Anti-Bush Campaign During W’s Last 365.
Dumb Ox Daily News: Truth About McCain's Lies.
Right Truth: Civil War for Americans.
Conservative Cat: Notes from Ferdy - Bill Clinton Admits to the Existence of Shame.
The World According To Carl: Godly Wisdom — January 24, 2008.
Thanks so much to: Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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New Ramps Increase Bagram Capacity

2 Oct 07
By Capt. Michael Meridith
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs.

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — Two new flightline ramps have opened at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, bringing new capabilities to coalition air operations, NATO and U.S. Air Force officials said.

"These ramps represent a vision of continuous improvements in our warfighting capability," said Royal Netherlands Maj. Gen. Freek Meulman, the International Security Assistance Force's deputy commander for air. "They will serve as launch pads and resting sites for the long-term commitment of our coalition in the fight to achieve safety and security in Afghanistan."

The $9.3 million joint venture between the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency and the Yuksel Construction Co. provides significantly more parking space for helicopters and the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing's F-15E Strike Eagles and A-10 Thunderbolts, said Kevin Cullen, the project manager.

"These ramps represent quite a bit of capability for Bagram," said U.S. Air Force Col. Dan Debree, the vice commander of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing. "I fly in the F-15E and this is something we desperately needed. Although ramp space here has increased by 70 percent in two years, it doesn't matter because a quick look will show you that every bit of it is used up."

Meulman said the ramp is one of a continuing series of projects designed to increase Bagram Air Base's ability to support coalition efforts throughout Afghanistan.

"We will continue to work together in building what I call an overwhelming capability in our common mission toward security and stability throughout Afghanistan,” Meulman said. “This new ramp will provide a long-lasting base for our dedicated airmen, who are committed to executing their challenging job here in Afghanistan."

Such projects also help fuel the local economy, said Cullen, noting that 80 Afghan workers were hired for the project, which was finished on time, on specification and within budget.

Photo - U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jamie Cabral helps land an International Security Assistance Force helicopter on one of two new ramps that were opened to aircraft at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, Sept. 27, 2007. Cabral is a transient alert quality assurance evaluator for the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing. U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Michael Meridith.

Source: Defend America. Digg!