From the Guardian

US defence secretary Robert Gates issues Afghanistan warning

Public in Britain and US will not tolerate loss of soldiers in Afghanistan unless there is a breakthrough soon, claims Gates

By Richard Norton-Taylor
guardian.co.uk
Wednesday 9 June 2010 18.33 BST


The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, warned that public opinion in Britain and America would no longer tolerate the loss of their soldiers in Afghanistan unless Nato forces achieved a strategic breakthrough by the end of the year.

He delivered his stark warning amid increasing concern in London, Washington, and other Nato capitals about the security situation in Afghanistan.

"The public expects to see us moving in the right direction," Gates said. If Nato-led forces were making progress then public opinion would be patient. However, he added: "One thing none of the public will tolerate is the perception of a stalemate where we are losing young men."

He said that in talks in London with the defence secretary, Liam Fox, the two men agreed that "all of us, for our publics, are going to have to show by the end of the year that our strategy is on the right track and making some headway".

The Ministry of Defence announced today that a British soldier was killed by a blast in southern Afghanistan, the fifth to have died there within a week.

The soldier, the 294th to have died in Afghanistan since 2001, was from the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, attached to 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment, the MoD said. He was killed in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province.

Gates said the US, which has about 20,000 troops in Helmand, more than double the number of British forces, "simply did not have enough manpower" in Afghanistan. More US troops are on their way and Gates kept open the prospect of some of them reinforcing British forces.

Gates said: "If I understand Dr Fox correctly, the view of the British military is that they probably don't have enough manpower in their areas of Helmand." He said the issue was for General Stanley McChrystal, US commander of all Nato-led forces in Afghanistan. Nato forces are to start handing over responsibility for districts or provinces to Afghan security forces by the end of the year.

Despite his harsh warnings, Gates said McChrystal was "pretty confident that by the end of the year he will be able to point to sufficient progress that validates the strategy and also justifies continuing to work at this". He added: "I think there will be measures of effectiveness that he [McChrystal] will be able to show by the end of the year."

However, Gates marked July 2011, the time president Barack Obama has set for the start of a reduction in US troops in the country, as the "beginning of a transition process".

As Gates praised Britain for doing "all that can be expected of it", General David Petraeus, commander of American forces throughout central Asia and the Middle East, said the Nato coalition in Afghanistan could not succeed without Britain.

In an address to a Royal United Services Institute conference in London, Petraeus singled out the "world-class counter-terrorism expertise" of British special forces for particular praise.

He said there was an "inherent and abiding trust" between the two militaries. "The US-UK alliance formed the core of our operations in Iraq, and continues to form the core of the operation in Afghanistan and beyond."

"British SAS forces were fully integrated into the special operations element that conducted operations against leaders of the extremist networks throughout Iraq. Indeed, the SAS led the way in a number of the most important counterterrorism operations of the war."

Petraeus added: "UK forces are, of course, in the thick of the fight in some of the toughest places in Afghanistan."

British and US military commanders, meanwhile, are making it clear that a large-scale operation which began in February to clear Taliban-led insurgents out of Marjah and surrounding areas of central Helmand has not gone as well as hoped. Nato and Afghan forces, in close consultation with Karzai's government, are now preparing a campaign to stabilise the neighbouring province of Kandahar, the Taliban's traditional heartland.

That's the kind of article, the Taliban likes to read. It keeps them motivated ...

smart man, he knows what he's about at least.

__________________
Give unto Caesar that what is Caesar's, and lie like hell to keep as much of the rest of your shit as you can.

"If you want something said ask a man...if you want something done, ask a woman" Margaret Thatcher

Originally Posted by LiberalNation

smart man, he knows what he's about at least.

He is ... and he is, of course, correct. You notice the demotivation already now, especially when reading German newspapers. The German public has already had enough from losing soldiers to a fight that, they feel, really isn't theirs to fight in the first place.

If Merkel's government doesn't stumble over the aid to Greece (which troubles the German voters even more), she may stumble over her insistence to stay the course in Afghanistan.

I haven't seen any recent statements by Stanley McChrystal about how he would define victory. This report, 31 minutes ago according to Google News, ducks the point:

Special Operations triple in Afghanistan -McChrystal

Thu Jun 10, 2010 11:24am GMT

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Special Operations forces in Afghanistan have grown nearly three-fold over the last year and Afghan authorities are increasingly involved in their missions, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said on Thursday.

Afghans have singled out secretive Special Operations missions for criticism over civilian casualties, but General Stanley McChrystal said: "Numerically, special operating missions don't produce the big percentage of civilian casualty events."

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a NATO conference in Brussels, McChrystal said Special Ops now had "about three times the capacity" in Afghanistan than a year ago.

He said Afghans were involved to "a much greater degree" in the operations than before.

In most cases, Afghan forces take part alongside U.S. personnel, and President Hamid Karzai gets "detailed briefings of how we operate, detailed demonstrations," McChrystal said.

Afghans are "part of the coordinating process" and help decide whether missions go forward, he added.

McChrystal, citing the growing role of Special Operations forces, said more than 120 Taliban leaders around the country have been captured or killed in the last 90 days alone.

We've had a number of years of reports that Taliban leaders have been killed or captured "in the last 90 days", but there seems to be an unlimited supply. What is actually being achieved?

I surmise that leading an insurgent guerilla group does not require four years training at West Point Academy. The basics can probably be picked up by someone who knows the area and has a bit of leadership potential in 6 months. The real gurus - those who design ever better "improvised" explosive devices (IEDs) are likely to stay well behind the front line.

From the Independent

Cameron offers cash – but not troops – to help fight the Taliban

By Kim Sengupta
Defence Correspondent
Friday, 11 June 2010


David Cameron offered extra funds to combat roadside bombs taking a relentless toll on British lives during his first visit to Afghanistan as Prime Minister yesterday, but ruled out sending any extra troops to help turn the tide of the war against the Taliban.

Mr Cameron's declaration that sending reinforcements was "not remotely" on the agenda and that the question should be "Can we go further, can we go faster?" on the date of withdrawing troops showed a desire to disengage from the conflict as soon as possible. In the meantime, however, he stated that a further £67m will be spent on countering IEDs (improvised explosive devices) on top of £150m pledged by Gordon Brown during his own visit to Afghanistan last year when he was still prime minister.

The issue of IEDs has been given added sensitivity following the resignation of Colonel Bob Seddon, the head of the Army's bomb disposal squads, last month, over concerns about the pressure being faced by his men in tackling what has become the insurgents' weapon of choice.

The new funds will be spent on doubling the number of counter-IED teams to 20, up to 13 new Mastiff armoured vehicles and Dragon Runner robots used to track the bombs. In addition, £200m will be diverted from the existing international development budget for reconstruction work in Helmand. Other measures included an "information sharing" initiative under which the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, and the Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, will make quarterly "situation reports" to the Commons.

Mr Cameron arrived in Afghanistan the morning after a suicide bomber killed 40 people and injured 70 others at a wedding ceremony near Kandahar. He also came at a particularly bloody period in the conflict during which 29 Nato soldiers, including Britons, had died in a month.

Part of his Afghan tour was re-routed after the military intercepted calls suggesting insurgents planned to shoot down his helicopter, an aide said.

Mr Cameron had visited an agricultural college in Helmand and was scheduled to continue to the Shahzad military patrol base, but that excursion was called off by the Brigadier Richard Felton, the British commander. Still airborne, the Prime Minister's Chinook was diverted to the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, where Mr Cameron had a barbecue with troops.

At a press conference in Kabul with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Mr Cameron was careful to highlight what he claimed to see as signs of progress after Dr Fox had described the country as a "broken 13th-century state". The Prime Minister stressed that Afghanistan was the "most important foreign policy issue, the most important national security issue facing our country, and it is that national security approach I want to stress here today".

But he also stressed that the focus should be on ending the deployment of the British force saying: "We should all the time be asking: can we go further, can we go faster? Nobody wants British troops to be in Afghanistan a moment longer than is necessary. The President doesn't, the Afghan people don't, the British people don't."

Mr Cameron stated there should be a political solution to the conflict, saying he welcomed last week's public meeting in Kabul at which Mr Karzai discussed proposals to encourage elements of the Taliban to rejoin the political mainstream. However, the overtures to the insurgents by the Afghan President, and the freeing of prisoners had alarmed a number of senior officials and human rights groups.

Mr Karzai's appeasement policy was said to be one of the main factors which drove Amrullah Saleh, the head of the intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, and Hanif Atmar, the Interior Minister, to resign from the government. The departure of the two men, seen as honest and effective, is seen as a major blow by the West. The US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said during a visit to London that he "only hoped" that Mr Karzai would "replace them with equally able people". Mr Gates also warned that the public in the West would want to see discernible signs of progress by the end of year.

Quote:

David Cameron offered extra funds to combat roadside bombs

Good move, but I have seen no research to show how many pound notes you have to pile on top of a roadside bomb to effectively muffle its force.

troops are still dying in Iraq. Don't forget we are still fighting there even tho astan is now the focus.

Iraq suicide bomb kills 2 U.S. soldiers, 3 Iraqis
Iraq suicide bomb kills 2 U.S. soldiers, 3 Iraqis - Yahoo! News

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide car bomb hit a joint U.S.-Iraqi military patrol in eastern Iraq on Friday, killing two U.S. soldiers and at least three Iraqis as the U.S. prepares to end combat operations.

There were conflicting reports on casualties from the blast in the town of Jalawla, 115 km (70 miles) northeast of Baghdad, when a car packed with explosives detonated alongside the joint patrol, near a market.

The U.S. military said in a statement that two U.S. soldiers, one Iraqi policeman and two civilians were killed. Six U.S. soldiers and around 24 other people were wounded, it said.

"U.S. soldiers provided immediate medical attention to the wounded soldiers and evacuated them to a nearby military post using ground vehicles," the statement said.

Iraqi security sources told Reuters that at least six people had died, including at least two U.S. soldiers. Two sources put the death toll at eight.

A spike in violence over the past two months since an inconclusive March parliamentary election has underscored the fragility of security improvements in Iraq.

__________________
Give unto Caesar that what is Caesar's, and lie like hell to keep as much of the rest of your shit as you can.

"If you want something said ask a man...if you want something done, ask a woman" Margaret Thatcher

my unit, the 1163rd is on this deployment list but it's never been announce so I'm hoping it doesn't happen.

http://www.defense.gov/news/d20100601ngr.pdf

1163 MEDICAL CO (ASG) (-) SHELBYVILLE KY ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

__________________
Give unto Caesar that what is Caesar's, and lie like hell to keep as much of the rest of your shit as you can.

"If you want something said ask a man...if you want something done, ask a woman" Margaret Thatcher

they can't send us again until 2012 anyway, we just got back in 2009.

Troops Return From Iraq

Troops Return From Iraq - Louisville News Story - WLKY Louisville

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. -- Dozens of troops from the Kentucky National Guard returned home Friday after a one year tour in Iraq.

The soldiers of the 1163rd Area Support Medical Company arrived in Shelbyville around 5 p.m. and were greeted with signs, hugs and tears.

During the tour, the 71 soldiers provided medical support to forces and detainees in Bucca, Iraq.

Sgt. Tyrone Morris of Prestonsburg said he's proud of what his unit accomplished during the tour.

"It's great. It's good to be home. Been waiting for a long time, long time. We went to Iraq. We done detainee operations, we tried to show the Iraqi people the best of the American people and hopefully we done them some good. Actually, I know we did them some good while we were there,” said Morris.

Saturday, the National Guard is teaming up with Panther Racing to honor the troops and airmen for their service. Soldiers will ride along in an Indy car down the runway at the Air National Guard base in Louisville.

__________________
Give unto Caesar that what is Caesar's, and lie like hell to keep as much of the rest of your shit as you can.

"If you want something said ask a man...if you want something done, ask a woman" Margaret Thatcher