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    Still Awaiting Comments From Obama on Maj. Gen. Greene

    Aug. 7, 2014

    President Barack Obama has yet to say anything publicly about the death of Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, the first American general killed in war since Vietnam.

    Greene is believed to have died Tuesday after a man in an Afghanistan military uniform shot Greene and 14 others in an attack near Kabul.

    Since his death, U.S. political figures have spoken publicly about the attack. “I’m deeply saddened by the coldblooded killing of an American hero today,” Senate majority leader Harry Reid said.

    “General Greene was a good man, a great leader and a mentor to me and all who knew him,” said former Sen. Scott Brown, who knew Greene. “His death is a reminder that conditions remain very tenuous in Afghanistan, and that the Taliban has sympathizers everywhere and still poses a very real threat.”

    On Tuesday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest discussed the attack, saying: “The thoughts and prayers of those of us here at the White House are with the family of the general, are with the soldiers and the family of those who were injured in this attack.”

    But Obama himself has still not commented on the attack.

    Citing a “national security source,” CNN’s Jake Tapper reported Wednesday that http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2014/08...-of-gen-greene

    ... “the administration does not like to signal that the particular rank of a casualty merits a different response – every loss of life is equally tragic; every sacrifice is equally heartbreaking.”

    “The source notes that President Obama has tended to go out to comment on military losses based more on when the U.S. loses a significant number of our troops – as when the helicopter was downed in the summer of 2011,” Tapper reported.

    The 55-year-old Greene was serving in Afghanistan as the deputy commanding general of Combined Security Transition Command.


    http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/06/ob...#ixzz39j7UrKvs


    http://patriotpost.us/posts/28029
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  3. #46
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    Maj. Gen. Harold Greene, 1st US general killed in combat since Vietnam, is buried at Arlington
    Published August 14, 2014 ·Associated Press

    ARLINGTON, Va. – The highest-ranking U.S. military officer to be killed in combat since Vietnam has been buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

    Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, a two-star general, was killed last week when a gunman believed to be an Afghan soldier opened fire at a military academy near Kabul.

    A riderless horse accompanied the caisson that carried Greene's flag-draped casket to his gravesite on Thursday afternoon. Greene's son, First Lt. Matthew Greene, clenched the hands of his mother and sister and handed his mother a tissue as soldiers folded the flag that had covered the casket and a military band played "America the Beautiful."

    U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno presented flags to Greene's widow, his son and daughter and his father.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/14...nam-is-buried/





    “Words cannot express the sadness we feel at the senseless loss of Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene,” Secretary of the Army John McHugh said last week in a statement. “Maj. Gen. Greene was a soldier, a scholar and, above all, a trusted professional leader.”

    The upstate New York native was 55. He leaves his wife, retired Army Col. Sue Myers, a daughter, Amelia, and a son, Matthew, a recent graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point now serving as an officer in the Army.

    http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/201...aid-to-rest/#1






    While a Military Daughter Buries Her 2-Star General Daddy,
    the Commander-in-Least is Nowhere to Be Found

    By Michael Hausam 12 hours ago



    When two-star Major General Harold Greene, the highest-ranking officer killed in combat since Vietnam, was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, neither the President nor the Vice President were present.

    The nominal Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama was playing a round at the Vineyard Golf Club with Valerie Jarrett’s cousin, Cyrus Walker, the World Bank president and former President of Darmouth College Jim Kim, and former lobbyist and ambassador Ron Kirk.

    The clownish Joe Biden was in the middle of the third day of a week long vacation in the Hamptons, which followed a week in Wyoming, which was preceded by a week at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.

    Was this noticed? Yes, it was:



    Colonel Morris Davis was the chief prosecutor at Guantanamo under George Bush, a 25-year Air Force veteran, and an Assistant Professor at Harvard. His tweet referenced the two most recent high-ranking military deaths, that of Major General John Dillard, Jr. who was shot down and killed in 1970 in Vietnam, and Lieutenant General Timothy Maude, who was killed in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

    While America has lost a two-star General who has served in a war the president has waged questionably, the Commander-in-Chief could not show the common decency to honor him with his presence.

    Instead, President Obama showed it was more important to play yet another round with well-connected elites, as the nation grieves and families suffer. The disconnect could not be more profound.

    http://www.ijreview.com/2014/08/1686...ral-laid-rest/

    12-1-03

    Have Presidents in the Past Attended the Funerals of Dead Soldiers?
    by HNN Staff

    - http://hnn.us/article/1784#sthash.FpmY0a53.dpuf
    Last edited by Jolie Rouge; 08-17-2014 at 08:57 AM.
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    Afghanistan Bailout of $537M Needed to Meet October Payroll
    Thursday, 18 Sep 2014 12:28 PM By Clyde Hughes

    The Afghanistan central government needs a bailout of $537 million in the next "five to six days" so it can meet its payroll and is asking the United States and other international sources for help.

    According to the Washington Post, the Afghan government has burned through its reserve funds for the year, blaming it partly on the ongoing stalemate between who will replace outgoing president Hamid Karzai.

    Officials reported the government barely made payment to its 500,000 employees in September but those payments won't happen in October without some assistance. "We hope they will pay for us, and we are asking at once," said Alhaj M. Aqa, the director general of the treasury at the Afghan's finance ministry. "They are asking me when I need it, and I told them this week or we will have a problem."

    The U.S. Embassy in Kabul confirmed to United Press International that it is in talks with Afghan officials about a possible solution to its financial situation. "(We're) working to find ways to help the new government meet some of its challenges and priorities using resources already allocated," U.S. embassy officials said in a statement to UPI. About 65 percent of the Afghan government's $7.6 billion operating budget is funded through international help.

    John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, told Fox News that infrastructure problems in the country will be nearly impossible for the Afghans to repair, maintain and afford going forward, possibly creating major problems in the future. "We have predicted for a while that we have spent too much money, too fast and built an infrastructure that the Afghans cannot afford," said Sopko.

    http://www.Newsmax.com/TheWire/afgha...#ixzz3DivNCv8A


    SERIOUSLY ??
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge View Post
    Obama: Afghanistan decision in 'coming weeks'
    Julie Pace, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 13, 4:04 pm ET

    WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said his decision on the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan will be made in "the coming weeks." While military and security decisions will be an important element in that strategy, Obama said "another element is making sure we're doing a good job in building capacity on the civilian side."

    The Obama administration is in the midst of an intensely debated review over how to overhaul its approach to the Afghan conflict. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan is believed to have presented Obama with a range of options, from adding as few as 10,000 troops to — the general's strong preference — as many as 40,000.

    Obama has held four meetings top-level meetings with key administration officials. A fifth meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, and a sixth will be held next week.

    Though he gave no indication of what he will decide, Obama said the U.S. mission in Afghanistan hasn't changed.

    "Our principal goal remains root out al-Qaida and its extremist allies that can launch attacks against the United States or its allies," he said Tuesday.

    A senior administration official told The Associated Press last week that Obama will determine how many more troops to deploy to Afghanistan based only on keeping al-Qaida at bay.

    A focus on al-Qaida is the driving force behind an approach being advocated by Vice President Joe Biden as an alternative to the McChrystal recommendation for a fuller counterinsurgency effort inside Afghanistan.

    Biden has argued for keeping the American force there around the 68,000 already authorized, including the 21,000 extra troops Obama ordered earlier this year, but significantly increasing the use of unmanned Predator drones and special forces for the kind of surgical anti-terrorist strikes that have been successful in Pakistan, Somalia and elsewhere.

    Also Tuesday, the White House rejected reports that the president authorized 13,000 additional troops that were now arriving in Afghanistan. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the troops were part of a deployment ordered by the former Bush administration that had not made their way to the Afghan theater by the time Obama took over the presidency.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_afghanistan

    --

    more : http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-inf...ed-afghan.html

    U.S. Ends Its War in Afghanistan
    Mark Thompson ~ 20 hrs ago

    The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan ended its combat mission Sunday, marking the formal—if not real—end to the longest war in American history. American warplanes began bombing the country on Oct. 7, 2001, less than a month after the 9/11 attacks. Their goal was to drive the ruling Taliban from power, after they had given sanctuary inside the country to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, which had plotted the terror strikes.

    That was accomplished on Nov. 13, 2001.

    The U.S. and its allies have remained since then, trying to build up Afghan military and police forces sufficient to defend their country without outside help. Despite Sunday's bowing out, the U.S. will remain involved in Afghanistan's fight against the Taliban for years to come. "In the wake of the Taliban’s defeat in 2001, Afghanistan possessed no standing, professional security forces," Army General John Campbell, chief of the International Security Assistance Force, said. "Over the course of a decade, our Afghan partners and we have built a highly capable Afghan army and police force of over 350,000 personnel."

    Sunday marked the formal handoff to that largely U.S.-trained Afghan military. "The road before us remains challenging, but we will triumph," Campbell told a small gathering at ISAF headquarters. “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,” President Obama said in a 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.”

    The new, slimmed-down allied mission, Campbell said, will be called Operation Resolute Support. Back in Washington, the Pentagon said its piece of the new mission will be called Operation Freedom's Sentinel. "We will work with our allies and partners as part of NATO's Resolute Support mission to continue training, advising, and assisting Afghan security forces," outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said. "And we will continue our counterterrorism mission against the remnants of al Qaeda to ensure that Afghanistan is never again used to stage attacks against our homeland."

    The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, which peaked at about 100,000 in 2010, will fall to 10,800 in January, aimed at helping the Afghan government hold on to power, even as Taliban units occupy territory increasingly close to the capital. Nearly 1 million U.S. troops pulled at least one tour in Afghanistan.

    Yet during 2002 and 2003, the average number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan never topped 10,400. That means the U.S. forces left in country following the war will top the number fighting there during its first two years.

    A total of 3,485 allied troops died in Afghanistan over the past 13 years, including 2,356 Americans. The war cost U.S. taxpayers, past, present and future, about $1 trillion. “We will never forget your sons and daughters who have died on our soil," Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar said at the flag-lowering ceremony Sunday. "They are now our sons and daughters."

    http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...ocid=anstime11
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    ISIS sets up its first base in Afghanistan, run by former Guantanamo prisoner
    now operating out of Helmand less than three months after British troops left the region

    Post Date: 27 mins ago

    An offshoot of the Middle East's Islamic State insurgency has begun operating on southern Afghanistan, less than three months after British combat troops withdrew from the region. A man identified as Mullah Abdul Rauf was actively recruiting fighters for the groups, flying black flags and, according to some sources, even battling Taliban militants.

    Local sources said Rauf, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, had set up his base in Helmand province and was offering good wages to anyone willing to fight for the Islamic State.

    General Mahmood Khan, the deputy commander of the Afghan army's 215 Corps, said residents of a number of districts in Helmand have said Rauf's representatives are fanning out to recruit people.

    'A number of tribal leaders, jihadi commanders and some ulema (religious council members) and other people have contacted me to tell me that Mullah Rauf had contacted them and invited them to join him,' Gen Khan said.

    But he said the Taliban, which is active across Helmand, has warned people not to contact Rauf.

    'People are saying that he has raised black flags and even has tried to bring down white Taliban flags in some areas,' said Saifullah Sanginwal, a tribal leader in Sangin district, where British troops once patrolled.

    'There are reports that 19 or 20 people have been killed' in fighting between the Taliban and the IS group, he added. Sulaiman Shah, who was Sangin district governor until last month, told the Times that Rauf was believed to be moving back and forth to Iraq and Syria via Iran.

    'He is telling people that his leader is in Iraq and that they have some activities in some parts of Afghanistan,' Mr Shah said.

    Helmand provincial council head Haji Mohammad Karim Atal told the Times that Rauf's Islamic State cell was offering wages of $500 (£330) a month to tempt Taliban fighters to switch sides.

    Tensions between the established militant group and the new pretender had reportedly turned deadly on at least one occasion, including a week ago when five or six people were killed when a gunfight broke out between Rauf's followers and those of Mullah Ahmad Shah, the Taliban commander in northern Helmand.

    The violence comes less than three months after the withdrawal of British combat troops from the country, where they had been waging war against the Taliban for 13 years.

    A total of 453 British forces personnel or MoD civilians died while serving in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001. More than 2,200 members of the U.S. military have died.

    Estimates of the number of Taliban fighters killed are sketchy, but range from 25,000 to 40,000. The war also resulted in the deaths of an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 Afghan civilians.

    Rauf was a corps commander during the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan, according to Amir Mohammad Akundzada, governor of Nimroz province, who says he is related to Rauf but has not seen him for almost 20 years.

    Both Gen Khan and Amir Akunzada said Rauf was apprehended after the fall of the Taliban in the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and was detained for years at Guantanamo Bay.

    They suggested Rauf may have fallen out with Taliban leaders after spending time in the Pakistani city of Quetta, where Afghan officials and analysts believe senior Taliban leaders are based.

    A video released on Saturday purports to show militants from both Afghanistan and Pakistan pledging support to Islamic State. But Amir Akundzada said the group was not likely to gain traction with ordinary Afghans.

    'People who want to fight in Afghanistan just create new names - one day they are wearing white clothes (of the Taliban) and the next day they have black clothes and call themselves Da'esh, but they are the same people,' he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

    In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the U.S. has noted the 'rhetorical message of support' for Islamic State by some in Afghanistan.

    'We continue to watch for signs that these statements could amount to something more than just rhetorical support,' she said. 'That doesn't mean it's unimportant.'

    Analysts say most claims of allegiance to IS in Afghanistan have been motivated by opportunism and that a new jihadist outfit would find it difficult to establish a presence where there are already long-established militant groups with tribal links.

    The Taliban have confined their insurgency to Afghanistan, and do not espouse the pan-Islamic model of jihad embraced by the Islamic State

    http://www.your-poc.com/isis-sets-fi...s-left-region/
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge View Post
    ISIS sets up its first base in Afghanistan, run by former Guantanamo prisoner
    now operating out of Helmand less than three months after British troops left the region

    Post Date: 27 mins ago

    An offshoot of the Middle East's Islamic State insurgency has begun operating on southern Afghanistan, less than three months after British combat troops withdrew from the region. A man identified as Mullah Abdul Rauf was actively recruiting fighters for the groups, flying black flags and, according to some sources, even battling Taliban militants.

    Local sources said Rauf, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, had set up his base in Helmand province and was offering good wages to anyone willing to fight for the Islamic State.

    General Mahmood Khan, the deputy commander of the Afghan army's 215 Corps, said residents of a number of districts in Helmand have said Rauf's representatives are fanning out to recruit people.

    'A number of tribal leaders, jihadi commanders and some ulema (religious council members) and other people have contacted me to tell me that Mullah Rauf had contacted them and invited them to join him,' Gen Khan said.

    But he said the Taliban, which is active across Helmand, has warned people not to contact Rauf.

    'People are saying that he has raised black flags and even has tried to bring down white Taliban flags in some areas,' said Saifullah Sanginwal, a tribal leader in Sangin district, where British troops once patrolled.

    'There are reports that 19 or 20 people have been killed' in fighting between the Taliban and the IS group, he added. Sulaiman Shah, who was Sangin district governor until last month, told the Times that Rauf was believed to be moving back and forth to Iraq and Syria via Iran.

    'He is telling people that his leader is in Iraq and that they have some activities in some parts of Afghanistan,' Mr Shah said.

    Helmand provincial council head Haji Mohammad Karim Atal told the Times that Rauf's Islamic State cell was offering wages of $500 (£330) a month to tempt Taliban fighters to switch sides.

    Tensions between the established militant group and the new pretender had reportedly turned deadly on at least one occasion, including a week ago when five or six people were killed when a gunfight broke out between Rauf's followers and those of Mullah Ahmad Shah, the Taliban commander in northern Helmand.

    The violence comes less than three months after the withdrawal of British combat troops from the country, where they had been waging war against the Taliban for 13 years.

    A total of 453 British forces personnel or MoD civilians died while serving in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001. More than 2,200 members of the U.S. military have died.

    Estimates of the number of Taliban fighters killed are sketchy, but range from 25,000 to 40,000. The war also resulted in the deaths of an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 Afghan civilians.

    Rauf was a corps commander during the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan, according to Amir Mohammad Akundzada, governor of Nimroz province, who says he is related to Rauf but has not seen him for almost 20 years.

    Both Gen Khan and Amir Akunzada said Rauf was apprehended after the fall of the Taliban in the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and was detained for years at Guantanamo Bay.

    They suggested Rauf may have fallen out with Taliban leaders after spending time in the Pakistani city of Quetta, where Afghan officials and analysts believe senior Taliban leaders are based.

    A video released on Saturday purports to show militants from both Afghanistan and Pakistan pledging support to Islamic State. But Amir Akundzada said the group was not likely to gain traction with ordinary Afghans.

    'People who want to fight in Afghanistan just create new names - one day they are wearing white clothes (of the Taliban) and the next day they have black clothes and call themselves Da'esh, but they are the same people,' he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

    In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the U.S. has noted the 'rhetorical message of support' for Islamic State by some in Afghanistan.

    'We continue to watch for signs that these statements could amount to something more than just rhetorical support,' she said. 'That doesn't mean it's unimportant.'

    Analysts say most claims of allegiance to IS in Afghanistan have been motivated by opportunism and that a new jihadist outfit would find it difficult to establish a presence where there are already long-established militant groups with tribal links.

    The Taliban have confined their insurgency to Afghanistan, and do not espouse the pan-Islamic model of jihad embraced by the Islamic State

    http://www.your-poc.com/isis-sets-fi...s-left-region/
    ISIS recruiter, once freed from Gitmo by U.S., killed in drone strike in Afghanistan

    By Josh Levs and Masoud Popalzai, CNN
    Updated 7:57 AM ET, Mon February 9, 2015



    He was a Taliban commander captured by the United States and held at Guantanamo Bay. But he was let go and returned to Afghanistan. Mullah Abdul Rauf went on to become a recruiter for ISIS in Afghanistan.

    He was killed in a drone strike Monday, two officials told CNN.

    Rauf and five others were killed, four of them Pakistani militants, said Mohammed Jan Rasoulya, the deputy governor of southern Helmand province. A senior Afghan security source confirmed Rauf's death.

    The Washington Post, in a headline last month, called him "the shadowy figure recruiting for the Islamic State in Afghanistan."

    The New York Times called him the "militant commander at the center of the concerns in Helmand Province" but said some local Taliban figures "dismiss claims" that he had established "a significant new Islamic State cell in Helmand Province."

    He was known to many with the name "Khadim" tacked on to the end of his name.



    "Until 9/11, the hard-nosed Khadim commanded (Taliban creator) Mullah Omar's elite mobile reserve force, fighting regime opponents all over Afghanistan," Newsweek wrote of Rauf in a 2011 list of list of most-wanted insurgents. "Arrested and sent to Guantanamo soon after the Taliban's collapse, he was released in late 2007, having convinced his jailers that he wanted only to go home and tend his farm. Escaping from house arrest in Kabul, he fled to Pakistan."

    Although the United States does not publicize the names of detainees at Guantanamo, a document posted by WikiLeaks showed that the United States recommended Rauf be "transferred to the control of another country for continued detention" as early as 2004.

    In a 2011 hearing of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations -- part of the Armed Services Committee -- a lawmaker asked about Rauf and another former detainee.

    Ed Mornston, director of the Joint Intelligence Task Force of the Defense Intelligence Agency, responded that "there have been instances where detainees who have been transferred from Gitmo have reengaged and have been in the fight and have impacted the lives of U.S. service members. We do track that. I can't discuss that much further in this open session, but we do in fact know that that has happened."

    http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/09/world/...nce/index.html
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    Obama agrees to slow U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
    U.S. to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through end 2015
    By Greg Jaffe and David Nakamura March 24 at 9:28 PM

    President Obama said Tuesday that he would freeze U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan at 9,800 through the end of the year but vowed to end the American war by the end of his presidency.

    Obama announced that he would slow the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops after a White House meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The decision to keep more U.S. forces in Afghanistan this year was driven by the administration’s confidence in Ghani, whom Obama praised repeatedly. Relations between Ghani’s predecessor, Hamid Karzai, and the U.S. government had been steadily deteriorating for years. Obama lauded Ghani, who took office in September, for taking on “the mantle of commander in chief in a way that we have not seen in the past from an Afghan president.”

    But Obama also made it clear that he wouldn’t depart from his current plan to close the remaining U.S. bases in Afghanistan and consolidate the remaining U.S. forces in Kabul by the end of 2016.

    “Afghanistan is still a dangerous place,” Obama said. “The way it’s going to become less dangerous is by Afghan security forces* being capable of keeping law and order and security in the country, and that is not going to happen if foreign forces* are continually relied upon.”

    The White House decision to keep about 5,000 additional troops in Afghanistan came at Ghani’s request and also reflected the growing concern of U.S. military commanders. Last year’s fighting season was one of the bloodiest for Afghan civilians and security forces* since the U.S. invasion in 2001.

    Obama insisted that Afghan security forces* were capable of defending the country against the Taliban. “They’re better equipped than the Taliban,” he said. “They are better equipped than the Haqqani network,” an insurgent group closely allied with the Taliban.

    Keeping the extra U.S. troops through the end of this year would ensure that the Afghan forces* continue to make improvements to guarantee that far-flung units have the food, ammunition and intelligence required to fight on their own, Obama said.

    Ghani, who is the most important figure in the administration’s plans to hold the country together, said that Afghan troops had made remarkable strides in recent years. But he noted that the U.S. and European troops have better training, superior weapons and the backing of attack planes and helicopters that can race to their aid.

    “The success has to be judged comparatively,” he said in an interview. “Not a single province has fallen; not a single battalion has deserted; not a single army corps has refused to fight. They secured the election; they have borne the casualties, and they’ve moved from defensive to offensive.”

    The still-unanswerable question is whether the Afghan army and police forces* will perform better than the U.S.-trained Iraqi troops that collapsed within years after the Americans left the country. “Everyone looks forward to the day when Afghans can meet all of their own security needs, but Iraq has shown us the consequences of leaving a fragile ally too early,” said the House Armed Services Committee chairman, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas). “The bottom line is that our own security is at stake.

    Ghani left open the possibility that he might ask the Obama administration to keep more troops in the country after 2016 but said that his focus for the moment was on preparing Afghan forces for the fighting season, which will begin in a few weeks.

    “Things can be done sequentially; let’s not preempt options,” he said. “We have had a very important window provided to us and that window is what we must use to maximum effect.”


    Both Obama and Ghani stressed that an end to the war in Afghanistan could only come through a political deal with the Taliban. In recent years, talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have shown few signs of progress. Since taking over as president, Ghani has sought to smooth relations with Pakistan, whose support would be critical to any long-term peace deal.

    Obama praised Ghani’s “bold leadership,” which he described as “critical to the pursuit of peace.”

    The extra U.S. forces would allow the Americans to keep troops in regions of Afghanistan that have been most hotly contested by the Taliban and possibly strengthen the Afghan government’s position in peace talks. “It lessens the chances that the Taliban can score a major victory this year and thereby could support a negotiating strategy,” said Carter Malkasian, a former top political adviser to the U.S. military in Afghanistan and researcher with CNA Corp.

    For Ghani, the trip to Washington this week was part of a broader campaign to build confidence in his government, which is heavily dependent on billions of dollars in annual U.S. aid for its survival. The Afghan government brings in only about $1 billion in annual revenue but spends more than $4 billion on its army and police forces*.

    Ghani and Obama highlighted their shared experiences at Columbia University, where they both studied, and in Washington, where Ghani spent several years working at the World Bank.

    In a nod to U.S. officials and human rights advocates concerned about the mistreatment of women, Ghani noted that about 20 percent of his cabinet ministers are women.

    “Hopefully, one day, we will see an Afghan woman president,” he said.

    The upbeat tone from Obama and Ghani did not reflect the often-dire assessments of Afghanistan analysts and former government officials.

    Shortly before Obama and Ghani met, several former senior officials from the Obama and Bush administrations released an open letter that described the war in Afghanistan as a “stalemate.” Among those who signed the letter were Ryan Crocker, Obama’s former ambassador to Afghanistan; and Michèle Flournoy, who was among Obama’s top choices to serve as defense secretary.

    “The Taliban are intensifying their pressure on Afghan civilians,” the letter said. “Meanwhile the political and economic situation is fragile.”

    The 23 experts said that a full U.S. withdrawal in 2016 would “unnecessarily put at risk hard-won gains of the last 13 years.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...4ff_story.html
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    US Bombing of Hospital is a War Crime – Afghan Legal Association Head

    Head of the Association of Democratic Lawyers Afghanistan Kabir Ranjbar expressed hope that the incident will be properly investigated by the Afghan government.

    The recent US bombing of a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz has all of the characteristics of a war crime, head of the Association of Democratic Lawyers Afghanistan Kabir Ranjbar told Sputnik. He pointed out that even high ranking US officials called for an investigation of the airstrike.

    "The Afghan people are still shocked and are unable to understand why such an undefended social facility was hit. And the NATO command knew that it was a hospital where, among other things, people who were injured during the fighting were treated," Ranjbar said. "So it was a clear breach of rules of warfare. It was inhuman and is a violation of the international law."

    He also expressed hope that the incident will be properly investigated by the Afghan government, although he wasn’t sure whether this will be an international investigation or not, and when exactly it would take place.

    "We cannot be certain that all those responsible will be punished if this investigation actually takes place," Ranjbar remarked. "Thing is, our legislator's hands are virtually tied when it comes to making independent decisions, unlike the US military and civilian officials that operate on our territory. They follow their laws, not ours."

    He added that most of these US officials end up acquitted when tried in court, and that some trials are actually held in the United States which is a blatant violation of Afghan law.

    "As a result, the interests of our citizens are not protected," Ranjbar said.

    http://sputniknews.com/analysis/2015...stigation.html

  10. #53
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    US Special Ops soldier killed in Afghanistan firefight
    Published January 05, 2016

    One U.S. special operations soldier was killed and another was wounded while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan Tuesday, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News.

    One other person wounded is an American service member, but not a special ops soldier, and was believed to be inside the U.S. military “medevac” helicopter that landed nearby, according to that official.

    U.S. forces were engaged in a "train, advise and assist" mission in Afghanistan, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. He did not give any other details about the mission.

    Cook said the battle was still ongoing around the helicopter late Tuesday in Afghanistan. He said some Afghan troops were also hurt.

    "We are deeply saddened by this loss," said Brig. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner, United States Forces-Afghanistan spokesman. "On behalf of General Campbell and all of USFOR-A, our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families and friends of those involved."

    The helicopter landed in Helmand Province in the city of Marjah to get wounded U.S. and Afghan troops out of the area, but sustained damage from a mortar attack.

    The Taliban in recent weeks have focused their efforts on retaking parts of Helmand, and the U.S. has countered with U.S. special operations forces working with Afghan troops.

    The helicopter is currently on the ground due to damage sustained in the attack. A U.S. Army spokesman told Reuters that the helicopter suffered mechanical malfunctions.

    http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01...?intcmp=hplnws

    http://w.graphiq.com/w/3GkmRBysKY5?d...ign=0c592639d1

    We have special forces under attack and in need of rescuing in Helmand province in Afghanistan. One U.S. special operations soldier was killed and another was wounded while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan Tuesday, a U.S. defense official confirms to Fox News. When a U.S. military “medevac” helicopter landed in Helmand Province in the city of Marjah to get wounded U.S. and Afghan troops out of the area, the helicopter sustained damage when mortars landed near the helicopter.

    Is this malfunction by a helicopter a result of poor parts and poor maintenance as we had under Jimmy Carter when he cut the pentagon budget? and Why bnot send in an attack ehlicopter when men are under fire (didn't have one available?)
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  11. #54
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    3 Out of 4 U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan Occurred Under Obama

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An estimated 75 percent of the all U.S. military deaths and about 90 percent of the injuries linked to the ongoing war in Afghanistan have occurred under President Obama’s watch, according to a Breitbart News tally.

    President Obama, citing a “fragile” security situation at risk of deteriorating, announced today that he will be extending the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan for an undetermined amount of time, handing over the conflict to his successor.

    In making the announcement, the President appeared clueless as to how many Americans were killed in Afghanistan in 2014 and this year.

    “Afghanistan remains dangerous; 25 brave Americans have given their lives there this year… Now, the 25 military and civilians who were killed last year, that always weighs on my mind,” said Obama from the Roosevelt Room.

    According to Obama’s own Department of Defense (DOD) however, 14 U.S. service members and one DOD civilian have been killed so far this year.

    A Pentagon tally shows that in 2014, at least 55 American troops lost their lives in Afghanistan.

    President Obama provided an estimate of the American fatalities in recognizing the sacrifice made by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but he made no mention of how many were wounded in action.

    “They served there with extraordinary skill and valor, and it’s worth remembering especially the more than 2,200 American patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan,” said Obama from the Roosevelt Room.

    Since the president was inaugurated for his first term on January 20, 2009, at least 1,672 U.S. soldiers, Marines, and sailors have lost their lives, and another estimated 17,425 have been wounded in action while supporting the Afghanistan war effort.

    Overall, at least 2,230 U.S. service members have been killed and another 20,127 injured in the ongoing conflict, which started on October 7, 2001.

    That means about three out of every four U.S. military deaths (75 percent) and an estimated 9 out of every 10 injuries (87 percent) in Afghanistan have taken place since Obama became president.

    Breitbart News’ count is gleaned from Department of Defense (DOD) casualty reports, a now-retired database compiled by The Associated Press (AP), a detailed CNN count, and various news articles.

    The Pentagon’s “Afghanistan only” total death tally of 2,229, which includes fatalities under the old Operation Enduring Freedom (2,215) and the new Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (14), is one less than Breitbart News’ count.

    The majority of American fatalities throughout the war have been combat-related.

    Most clashes between the U.S.-led coalition and insurgents have been concentrated in areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. More than half of all American casualties have taken place in and around Afghan provinces that lie along the Af-Pak international boundary.

    The U.S. and Afghanistan have accused Pakistan of providing sanctuary to terrorists fighting American forces in Afghanistan.

    President Obama escalated America’s military presence in Afghanistan soon after taking office in 2009, eventually bringing the number of U.S. troops to its peak of about 100,000 in 2012.

    However, he is also responsible for withdrawing most American troops by the end of 2014.

    President Obama ended the U.S. combat mission in December of 2014, one of the deadliest years of the war for Afghan civilian and security forces.

    In January, American troops embarked on their new train and assist mission, placing the Afghan security troops in the lead of security operations.

    Afghanistan has experienced a Taliban resurgence since President Obama ended the combat mission. Military officials have also warned against the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Afghanistan. ISIS, which is reportedly making major military gains in a turf battle against the Taliban, is operating in about 75 percent of all 34 Afghan provinces, according to the United Nations.

    A top Russian military official recently estimated that there are about 40,000 Taliban terrorists and up to 3,000 ISIS jihadists in Afghanistan.

    Today, President Obama revealed that he will be handing the Afghanistan conflict to his successor.

    He said the U.S. will maintain 5,500 troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016. He did not specify how long they will remain there.

    Gen. John Campbell, the top commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, recommended that America leave behind more than the 1,000 troops that the president had promised would remain in Afghanistan after 2016.

    Obama has vowed to end the U.S. war in Afghanistan and withdraw most American troops by the time he officially leaves the White House in January 2017.

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-se...occurred-obama

    Obama has vowed to end the U.S. war in Afghanistan and withdraw most American troops by the time he officially leaves the White House in January 2017.
    He also "vowed" this when he took office ... and when he ran for a second term. Quite a few of my Liberal Friends stated this as a major reason for their support of Obama.

    3 Out of 4 U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan Occurred Under Obama
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

  12. #55
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    More than a dozen US troops trapped amid Afghanistan firefight
    By Jennifer Griffin, Lucas Tomlinson
    ·Published January 05, 2016


    More than a dozen U.S. Army special operations soldiers are trapped in Marjah, Afghanistan, taking cover in a compound surrounded by enemy fire and hostile Taliban fighters after a U.S. special operations solider was killed earlier in the day, senior U.S. defense officials told Fox News late Tuesday.

    A U.S. official described the “harrowing” scene to Fox News, saying there were enemy forces surrounding the compound in which the special operations team sought refuge.

    “On the map there is one green dot representing friendly forces stuck in the compound, and around it is a sea of red [representing hostile forces],” the official told Fox News.

    A U.S. military “quick reaction force” of reinforcements arrived late Tuesday and evacuated the U.S. special operations soldier killed in action, and the two wounded Americans in the compound, according to a U.S. defense official.

    The crew of the disabled helicopter also evacuated safely, the official said.

    The rest of the U.S. special operations team remain in the compound to secure the damaged HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter in an area surrounded by Taliban fighters.

    An AC-130 gunship has been called in for air cover as the U.S. troops now wait out the night.

    Earlier in the day, two USAF HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters were sent to rescue the U.S. special operations team. One of the helicopters took fire and waved off the mission and flew back to base.

    The other helicopter’s blades struck the wall of the compound while attempting a rescue of the special operations team, according to defense officials who compared the scene to one similar to the helicopter crash inside Usama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan on the mission to kill the Al Qaeda leader in May 2011.

    The joint U.S. and Afghan special operations team was sent to Marjah to clear the area of Taliban fighters, who have retaken most of the town since November.

    There were nine airstrikes on Tuesday in support of a clearing operation.

    Earlier in the day, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook confirmed to reporters that the fighting in Marjah remains ongoing.

    "There's fighting on the ground as we speak," said Cook.

    "Everything's being done to secure the safety of those Americans and the Afghan forces," he added.

    The Taliban in recent weeks has focused its efforts on retaking parts of Helmand, and the U.S. has countered with U.S. special operations forces working with Afghan troops.


    http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01...firefight.html
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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