THE LIVYJR FILES

REUTERS

"Dozens killed and injured in suicide attack at Afghan protest"

Abdul Qadir Sediqi, Ahmad Sultan

September 11, 2018 / 5:31 AM

KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber in Afghanistan killed at least 32 people and wounded more than 120 at a demonstration on Tuesday on the highway between the eastern city of Jalalabad and the main border crossing into neighboring Pakistan, officials said.

Officials and elders said Tuesday’s attack targeted a gathering to protest against a police commander.

The blast scattered the crowd numbering hundreds of people, but more gathered after the explosion to continue the protest.

The details of the complaint against the police chief were not immediately clear.

The bombing, less than a week after a suicide attack killed more than 20 people in the capital Kabul, took place as violence has flared across the nation, with heavy fighting in northern provinces.

Officials have said violence is likely to intensify before parliamentary elections next month and a presidential election in April.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s attack.

The Taliban denied involvement.

Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar, said 32 people were dead and 128 were wounded in the blast but Sohrab Qaderi, a member of the Nangarhar provincial council, said at least 56 bodies were taken to hospital, with 43 more wounded.

That higher death toll was not confirmed.

“I feel profound indignation at this latest wave of attacks deliberately targeting civilians,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the senior United Nations official in Afghanistan in a statement.

“The planners must face justice.”

The escalating violence has dampened hopes of peace talks to end Afghanistan’s 17-year conflict but two Taliban officials on Tuesday told Reuters the movement was preparing for another meeting with U.S. officials following one in July.

Nangarhar, one of the main strongholds of Islamic State militant fighters since early 2015, has been one of the most volatile regions this year, with a string of suicide bombings and attacks on its capital, Jalalabad.

The explosion at the protest followed a series of smaller blasts on Tuesday that targeted schools in Jalalabad and surrounding districts that were returning after summer breaks.

A 12-year-old boy was killed and several children and adults were wounded by a secondary blast that hit first responders and families rushing to the scene of the explosion.

In the northern province of Sar-e Pul, hundreds of armed men assembled to boost the city’s defenses as security forces fought to push the Taliban back from the city center, said Zabihullah Amani, the provincial governor’s spokesman.

U.S. air forces have conducted a number of strikes in northern Afghanistan as the fighting has picked up in recent days, with three strikes in Sar-e Pul on Monday, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan said.

In addition, two air strikes were carried out in Baghlan, another northern province on Tuesday, following six the day before and U.S. advisers were on the ground supporting Afghan troops, the spokesman added.

Ghulam Mohammad Balkhi, deputy spokesman for the Afghan army’s 209 Corps, said at least 30 Taliban fighters were killed in the joint operation.

Additional reporting by Ahmad Sultan, Rafiq Sherzad, Abdul Matin Sahak; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Angus MacSwan

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afgh ... SKCN1LR0W9

FOX NEWS

"Trump's new strategy 'is working,' Afghan leader says"

Hollie McKay

1 OCTOBER 2018

Despite seventeen years of war with no apparent victory in sight for the U.S-led effort, the chief executive of Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, insists that the Trump administration's renewed approach to the stalemate conflict “is working.”

“Imagine a situation without that commitment."

"Things would be very different."

"It is working,” he told Fox News in an exclusive interview during last week’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

“They announced a strategy and mobilized other countries and partners in NATO."

"They doubled the size of our Afghan Commandos, they’ve supported our Air Force -- which is important in the way of Medevacs transporting the injured."

"These things are going to take time, but it is working.”

Most significantly, Abdullah said, is the Trump team’s “conditions-based” procedure rather than the Obama administration’s “time-based” plan, which entailed a 2014 drawdown and has been widely condemned to have enabled the Taliban to simply regroup and wait.

“These sorts of policies will yield results; you will see fruition."

"It won’t be in a matter of days or months, but as long as it’s the right track it will bring results,” he continued, noting that while it is too hard to give an estimated time frame of how long U.S. troops will be needed on the ground, it “won’t be a 50-year engagement.”

Army. Gen. John Nicholson, the former commander of NATO’s Resolute Support – the name given to the Afghan mission after 2014 – echoed such a sentiment of slow success in his final press conference on the state of affairs in Afghanistan in late August, indicating that they were “on a glide path to reduce our forces and eventually close down the mission” and that the “enemy believed we had lost our will to win” prior to President Trump’s welcomed new South Asia effort in August 2017.

Subsequently, the U.S. increased its troop presence from 8,400 to roughly 15,000 now and in the past twelve months has rooted out sanctums for ISIS fighters and continued to train Afghan soldiers.

Nonetheless, the Pentagon estimates that the Afghanistan government still only controls just over 60 percent of the nation, with the rest either contested or under the thumb of the Taliban.

Yet despite the seemingly frequent rash of horrific suicide bombings and attacks, Abdullah commended efforts to reform and improve the nation’s top intelligence branch, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) especially in the realm of capturing ISIS leaders in Kabul.

“They are making a lot of arrests,” he said.

“But out of 10, if one succeeds, then that is what makes the news.”

While Pakistan officials staunchly deny they are to blame for allowing terrorist sanctuaries that subsequently destabilize and launch attacks inside the borders of its neighbor, both U.S. and Afghan leaders contend that Pakistan has failed to clean up its act.

“The Afghan people are not supporters of the Taliban."

"They impose their rule here and there, but that is because they still continue to receive support from the outside,” Abdullah claimed, pointing the finger at Pakistan.

“The Taliban are operating there and using Pakistan soil as a sanctuary."

"Their leadership is there, their shuras are there."

"Their foot soldiers cross back and forth, receiving treatment (in Pakistan) or sometimes the bodies are transported back there.”

But unlike the US quest in Iraq and Syria to completely annihilate every last member of ISIS, the approach in Afghanistan is centered on talks with the Taliban to lay down arms.

Since February, the Afghan government with the support of U.S. officials has sought to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table – with an array of incentives on offer – ranging from recognition as a political party, to the release of some prisoners along with a ceasefire agreement – in the desperate quest of inking a peace agreement.

But to-date, the Taliban have not responded to the olive branch extension – and other national security experts are somewhat less optimistic that the modernized Afghan policy is producing positive results.

“The fundamental problem we face in Afghanistan is that we are limited to geographic boundaries and our enemies are not,” asserted Ryan Mauro, national security expert and director of Clarion Intel Network.

“I will not be hopeful about Afghanistan until we have a specific strategy to dismantle the jihadist factories in Pakistan and Iran."

"It is most important to remember that we have been fighting with one hand tied behind our backs for the duration of this entire conflict.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. military and intelligence officials are at odds over the direction of the war, with spy agencies far less pessimistic about the revived blueprint than their Department of Defense counterparts.

Trump, too, is said to be deeply frustrated by the war, on which the U.S. has spent more than $900 billion since 2001.

For the fiscal year 2019, the budget request stands at $46.3 billion.

Nonetheless, Abdullah also expressed some silver linings amid the protracted bloodshed and terror.

“The Taliban are in control of parts of the country, that is nothing new."

"Unfortunately, in recent years, some high-profile attacks have taken place in which we have had civilian casualties,” Abdullah added.

“At the same time, lots of good is happening."

"Millions of people are off building their lives, the younger generation are in the private sector, education, civil society, media."

"The minute you don’t have a security incident, life looks like normal for the people."

"The story has two sides.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tru ... id=HPDHP17

BUSINESS INSIDER

"A US service member has been killed in action in Afghanistan ahead of 17th anniversary of the war's start"

Ryan Pickrell

4 OCTOBER 2018

A US service member was killed in action Thursday, Operation Resolute Support said in a statement.

The incident is under investigation, officials said.

"We mourn and honor the sacrifice of our servicemember," Resolute Support and United States Forces-Afghanistan Commanding General Scott Miller said.

"We remain committed."

The individual's name will be withheld pending notification of his family.

Thursday's death is believed to mark the eighth this year for US troops in Afghanistan.

In early September, a US service member was killed in a non-combat incident, and one day prior, another died in an insider attack.

Another apparent insider attack in July claimed the life of a 20-year-old Army soldier.

Casualties among Afghan forces are also on the rise.

Around 500 Afghan troops were reportedly killed in September.

The latest death comes just ahead of the 17th anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan, which began in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Children born after the deadly attacks are now old enough to enlist to fight in the war, a bloody stalemate with no clear end in sight.

Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command, told reporters Thursday that the Taliban can seize the initiative in short campaigns, but they can't sufficiently hold territory to secure victory.

The US remains confident in its ability to secure victory.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-u ... id=HPDHP17

THE WASHINGTON POST

"U.S. commander in Afghanistan survives deadly attack at governor’s compound that kills top Afghan police general"

Pamela Constable, Sayed Salahuddin

19 OCTOBER 2018

KABUL — A gunman wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire Thursday on participants in a meeting with the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, killing three senior provincial officials and wounding at least three Americans.

Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller, the target of the attack claimed by the Taliban, escaped unharmed.

Among those killed in the assault inside the governor’s compound in southern Kandahar province was the region’s top police general, Abdul Raziq, who was seen as the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan.

U.S. military officials confirmed that an American soldier, a contractor and another civilian were wounded in the attack, which occurred shortly after a high-level meeting attended by Miller.

At a news conference later Thursday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed that Abdul Raziq and the Kandahar provincial intelligence chief “were martyred.”

The Afghan Interior Ministry said the provincial governor, Zalmai Wessa, was wounded in the shooting and was rushed to a hospital, where he was later reported to have died.

The ministry said Miller was not hurt and returned to Kabul.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yusuf Ahmadi, said in an email to journalists that the group carried out the attack and that Miller was among the main targets.

Ahmadi asserted that Miller had been killed, which U.S. military officials denied.

Ahmadi claimed that in addition to Abdul Raziq, whom he described as “the savage commander of Kandahar,” the dead included Wessa and Kandahar’s intelligence chief, Abdul Momin.

The attacker opened fire as the officials were in the governor’s compound after a meeting about security for crucial parliamentary elections set for Saturday, officials said.

The lone attacker was killed after fatally shooting Abdul Raziq and wounding several of his bodyguards, Afghan and U.S. security officials said.

The attacker was reported to be a member of the provincial governor’s security team.

Several current and former officials lamented the death of Abdul Raziq, 39, a close U.S. ally and fierce anti-Taliban fighter.

“It is a big loss for Afghanistan,” Shakeba Hashimi, a legislator from Kandahar, said by cellphone as she was en route to his funeral.

“We have security in Kandahar that we don’t have in the capital."

"It is because of this honorable general.”

Amrulleh Saleh, a former Afghan national intelligence chief, tweeted that Abdul Raziq had been “an architect of stability” in Kandahar and had established “deep political networks” in support of the government.

“This is a pan-Afghan loss,” he wrote.

Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal, tweet­ed that Abdul Raziq’s death was “a dark day” for the country and that he was “shocked and heartbroken by the demise of close friend, great patriot & national hero.”

He said Abdul Raziq had “single-handedly restored stability to a volatile Kandahar and the greater south.”

Abdul Raziq, a lieutenant general in the Afghan National Police, was a controversial official who had been repeatedly accused of complicity in severe human rights abuses during his rise to power in Kandahar, birthplace of the Taliban militancy — allegations he denied.

Nonetheless, he earned a reputation as a ferocious opponent of the Taliban and gained the respect of successive American and NATO military officials in Afghanistan.

He had survived a number of assassination attempts, including suicide attacks.

A slight and youthful-looking man, Abdul Raziq earned a reputation for brutality and corruption in the border police beginning a decade ago.

But in recent years, as a top police official and ruthless anti-insurgent fighter, he was widely praised for bringing Kandahar and the surrounding region under government control.

His forces received Western training and funds, and U.S. military officials often consulted him.

Last year, a United Nations report said the worst torture in Afghanistan took place in police jails in Kandahar, and the U.N. Committee Against Torture called for the investigation and prosecution of Abdul Raziq.

A decade earlier, a 2006 U.S. State Department study alleged that he had been removed from his post with the border police for arresting and tormenting a group of men from a rival clan.

He categorically denied any wrongdoing.

Miller, 57, took over last month as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, replacing Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr.

A veteran of some of the U.S. military’s most secretive combat units, Miller formerly led the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command and participated in numerous combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and, in 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Thursday’s brazen attack followed a spate of insurgent and political violence during the run-up to Saturday’s parliamentary elections.

The Taliban has threatened to “severely disrupt” the elections and warned Afghans against participating in what the radical Islamist group regards as a pretext for perpetuating U.S. intervention in the country.

The Taliban warned students and teachers in particular to stay away from voting places, many of which are in schools.

But the group said it would seek to avoid harm to civilians.

The attack in Kandahar narrowly targeted senior U.S. and Afghan security officials, as well as the provincial governor and intelligence chief.

The lone attacker reportedly opened fire at close range as those officials were finishing their meeting.

But the lethal shooting seemed likely to have a chilling effect on voter participation Saturday, especially in the south, where several candidates have been assassinated.

On Wednesday, a prominent candidate, former army general Abdul Jabar Qahraman, was killed in neighboring Helmand province by a hidden bomb that exploded while he was holding a meeting at his campaign headquarters in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.

Qahraman, an ardent opponent of the Taliban, was the 10th candidate killed in the past two months.

In a suicide attack Wednesday near the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, a bomber killed two Afghan civilians and wounded at least five Czech soldiers belonging to the U.S.-led NATO coalition in the country, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing near Bagram air base, about 30 miles north of the capital, Kabul.

pamela.constable@washpost.com

foreign@washpost.com

William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us- ... id=HPDHP17

THE HILL

"Utah mayor killed in Afghanistan while on National Guard deployment"

John Bowden

3 NOVEMBER 2018

The mayor of North Ogden, Utah was killed Saturday on duty in Afghanistan as part of Utah's National Guard.

Brent Taylor was killed Saturday in an "insider attack" in Kabul, according to a statement from the Utah National Guard to Fox 13 Salt Lake City, while the terrorist responsible was immediately killed by Afghan forces.

"These reports also indicate the attacker was immediately killed by other Afghan Forces," the statement said.

"The incident is under investigation."

The attacker was reportedly posing as a member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, which U.S. officials have hoped can take over battling terror groups in the region in the coming years.

Taylor had temporarily stepped down as North Ogden's mayor during his deployment, which began in January of this year.

The Fox affiliate reported that Taylor had been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times in the past.

"Things are going great, and I absolutely love the dedicated US and Afghan soldiers I serve with every day," Taylor wrote in an update about his deployment earlier this year.

Taylor was killed just two weeks after another U.S. service member, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smiley, was wounded in an "apparent insider attack" in Afghanistan.

Two Afghan officials were also killed in that attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, according to CNN.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/uta ... id=HPDHP17

BUSINESS INSIDER

"America's 'war on terror' has cost the US nearly $6 trillion and killed roughly half a million people, and there's no end in sight"

John Haltiwanger

Nov. 14, 2018, 12:57 PM

Analysis

* The US will have spent nearly $6 trillion on the war on terror by the end of fiscal year 2019, according to a startling new report.

* "If the US continues on its current path, war spending will continue to grow," the Costs of War report states.

* Between 480,000 and 507,000 people have been killed in the United States' post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan - including nearly 7,000 US troops - according to the Costs of War project.

* America is conducting counterterror operations in 76 countries and US troops are fighting and dying everywhere from Afghanistan to Niger.

The US will have dished out nearly $6 trillion on the war on terror by October 2019, and there's no end in sight to the convoluted, ill-defined conflict.

According to an annual report from the Costs of War project at Brown University's Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs, the total cost of the war on terror will reach roughly $5.9 trillion through fiscal year 2019.

This is far higher than the Pentagon's official calculation of $1.5 trillion because it goes beyond Defense Department appropriations and includes the cost of "spending across the federal government that is a consequence of these wars."

The report also factors in war-related spending by the Department of State, past and obligated spending for war veterans' care, interest on the debt incurred to pay for the wars, and the prevention of and response to terrorism by the Department of Homeland Security.

"If the US continues on its current path, war spending will continue to grow," the report states.

"Even if the wars are ended by 2023, the US would still be on track to spend an additional $808 billion to total at least $6.7 trillion, not including future interest costs," the report adds.

"Moreover, the costs of war will likely be greater than this because, unless the US immediately ends its deployments, the number of veterans associated with the post-9/11 wars will also grow."

'This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while'

The war on terror was born out of the 9/11 terror attacks over 17 years ago.

"This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while," former President George W. Bush said on the White House South Lawn on Sept. 16, 2001.

"And the American people must be patient."

"I'm going to be patient..."

"It is time for us to win the first war of the 21st century decisively, so that our children and our grandchildren can live peacefully into the 21st century."

This was two days after Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which essentially gave Bush and his two successors carte blanche to deploy US military personnel and assets virtually anywhere in the world for the sake of fighting terrorism.

Nearly two decades later, America is conducting counterterror operations in 76 countries and US troops are fighting and dying everywhere from Afghanistan to Niger.

At this point, it's not clear what victory would even mean in the context of this broad conflict, which the US public seems to pay less and less attention to.

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, is dead.

But the Taliban seem stronger than ever in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and its affiliates are active across multiple continents, and the US is also still fighting against the Islamic State group.

It's unlikely the roughly 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan will be coming home anytime soon, and the same goes for the approximately 2,200 US troops in Syria.

The war has been accompanied by hundreds of thousands of deaths as well as violations of human rights and civil liberties, both at home and abroad.

Between 480,000 and 507,000 people have been killed in the United States' post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan - including nearly 7,000 US troops - according to the Costs of War project.

Beyond the monetary issues related to the so-called war on terror, there's a massive human cost as well.

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-war ... ?r=UK&IR=T

BUSINESS INSIDER

"The most elite US-trained forces in Afghanistan routed by the Taliban, another sign the war is a lost cause"

John Haltiwanger

Nov. 13, 2018, 11:19 AM

* The most elite US-trained forces in Afghanistan suffered a devastating defeat to the Taliban in what's often referred to as the country's "safest district" over the weekend, yet another sign the war is a lost cause.

* Over 30 of the US-trained commandos were reportedly killed in a district that is "famous" for how peaceful it is.

* The Taliban has made major gains over the past year or so, and controls or contests 61% of the country's districts.

* In October, America's top general in the Middle East said he's confident Afghan security forces can defend the country against the Taliban, but there are few signs they can consistently do so.

The most elite US-trained forces in Afghanistan suffered a devastating defeat to the Taliban in what's often referred to as the country's "safest district" over the weekend, in yet another sign the war is a lost cause.

Early on Sunday, a company of roughly 50 Afghan special-forces commandos was almost entirely destroyed in the rural district of Jaghori, according to a report from The New York Times.

Over 30 of the US-trained commandos were killed, The Times said, in a district that is "famous" for how peaceful it is.

The scene in Jaghori's capital, Sang-e-Masha, was reportedly quite a depressing one following the fighting, as soldiers and policemen fought back tears as they piled bodies and bandaged commandos wandered the streets in "apparent despair."

Officials discussed the best escape plan as the Taliban surrounded the district, which is apparently on the brink of falling to the Taliban.

The US has dedicated a massive amount of time and resources to training Afghan forces with the ultimate goal of ramping down America's role in a war it's been fighting for over 17 years — the longest in US history.

In October, America's top general in the Middle East, Joseph Votel, expressed his confidence in Afghan security forces in terms of their ability to take on the Taliban.

But the Taliban has made major gains over the past year or so, and controls or contests 61% of the country's districts.

Last month, the Taliban took a shot at America's top general in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin "Scott" Miller, and barely missed.

It also managed to wound another US general in the process.

During the same incident, a powerful Afghan police chief, General Abdul Raziq, was killed.

Beyond the Taliban, the Islamic State also has a foothold in Afghanistan and claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in the capital, Kabul, on Monday that led to at least six deaths and wounded more than 20 people.

The US has spent nearly two decades, lost over 2,400 soldiers, and spent roughly $900 billion on this disastrous war.

America is increasingly finding it difficult to justify the ongoing presence of 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan as the security situation there continues to deteriorate.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-trai ... an-2018-11

BUSINESS INSIDER

"'We are losing': Trump and his top advisors aren't publicly admitting how bad things are in Afghanistan"

John Haltiwanger

Sep. 7, 2018, 2:53 PM

• Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, the Trump administration continues to reject the idea Afghanistan is America's "forever war" as the conflict nears its 17th anniversary.

• Experts say America is losing the war even as the Pentagon contends increased military pressure will help spark peace talks.

• Research shows the war has reached its deadliest point in years.

• A US soldier on his 13th deployment overseas was killed in an insider attack in Afghanistan on Monday.

Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Bolyard was on his 13th deployment overseas when he was killed in an insider attack in Afghanistan on Monday.

Bolyard, who was 42, had served in the US Army for 24 years and was less than two months away from coming home and retiring, according to his son.

The following day, Army Staff Sgt. Diobanjo Sanagustin died in a non-combat incident at Bagram Airfield, becoming the seventh US service member killed there so far in 2018, fighting in a war that has largely been forgotten by the US public and that experts say America is losing.

These deaths are another sign the war is not going well for the US as the Trump administration continues to avoid the subject or downplay the situation on the ground by pointing to signs of progress even as the death toll spikes higher.

President Donald Trump is reportedly so eager to find a way out that he's asking anyone around, including his 27-year-old personal assistant, for military advice.

"Nobody really wants to come to grips with this war - particularly within the Pentagon or this administration," said Anthony Cordesman, one of three influential defense experts who view the war as all but lost.

"They're letting it slide out of visibility."

The war is as deadly as ever

Last year, Trump announced a new strategy in Afghanistan, which involved increasing US troop presence by several thousand, ramping up the US bombing campaign against the Taliban, and increased focus on training and assisting local forces.

During a surprise visit to Kabul in July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed the strategy was working and suggested it was pushing the Taliban toward embracing a peace process.

But the numbers surrounding the conflict paint a different picture.

The Taliban controls or contests nearly half of all the country's districts and the Islamic State also has a foothold in the country.

There are currently around 15,000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Their presence serves as a tenuous support system for a weak, corrupt Afghan government, which would undoubtedly fall if the US military suddenly pulled out.

Safety can't even be guaranteed in the capital, which is frequently the site of bombings and other deadly violence.

Meanwhile, recent research suggests the total number of battle deaths in Afghanistan, including civilians and combatants on both sides, will soon surpass 20,000 in 2018.

Based on this data, the war is at its deadliest point in years.

'I can't guarantee you any timeline or an end date'

Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, the Pentagon and Trump administration continue to reject the idea Afghanistan is America's "forever war" as the conflict nears its 17th anniversary.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. in late August claimed he didn't believe the US would have an "enduring large military commitment."

Simultaneously, Defense Secretary James Mattis conceded the Afghanistan conflict is "not an easy fight," but pushed back against the notion the Taliban is routinely overpowering local forces trained by the US.

"If you look at where the Taliban were and what they were claiming they were going to do two years ago, one year ago, they have not succeeded in taking down these towns and holding these towns," Mattis said at the time.

But despite such assurances the US military and Trump administration still struggle to offer specifics on how long the US might remain in Afghanistan.

Army Gen. Austin Scott Miller, the new commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, in June said he could not guarantee "any timeline or an end date" regarding America's role in the conflict.

'We are losing, if we have not already lost'

As the war in Afghanistan has dragged on, historians and foreign policy analysts have often compared it to the Vietnam war.

Benjamin Hopkins, a professor in international affairs and history at George Washington University who specializes in Afghanistan, says policy-makers continue to look back to the devastating, humiliating conclusion to America's war in Vietnam as they seek to wrap up the conflict in Afghanistan.

"I always tell my students that I think the iconic image of the chopper taking off from the US embassy in Saigon in 1975 is emblazoned in policy-makers' collective consciousness, and they are bound and determined not to have such a image - even if the outcome is the same," Hopkins told Business Insider.

In this context, it's not surprising to Hopkins the government isn't being particularly forthcoming about the state of the war.

"Since early into the Obama administration, there has been a consensus amongst the US government and more broadly the American political establishment to play down this war," Hopkins said.

"When, after all, was the last time Afghanistan made front page news?"

"Yet it is the longest and, inflation adjusted, one of the most expensive wars in American history."

"And one we are losing, if we have not already lost," Hopkins added.

'Nobody wants to admit this is a war of attrition'

Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke chair in strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says there isn't as much "folly" surrounding Afghanistan as there was with Vietnam when it comes to the government's approach.

But he added there's a general reluctance to acknowledge what the conflict really is: a war of attrition.

"Nobody wants to admit this is a war of attrition," said Cordesman, an expert on the Middle East who has advised the Defense and State departments on Afghanistan.

Wars of attrition generally end when both sides get exhausted and one side "unexpectedly breaks," he said, adding there's no way of knowing when that might occur.

"None of this has a clear or predictable outcome and then the question comes to be, 'Is this war of attrition really worth the cost?'"

"And that's a basic question you have to keep asking," Cordesman said.

But Trump administration is seemingly determined to avoid this question.

"This isn't so much the forgotten war but the unreported war, not necessarily in the press, but nobody really wants to come to grips with this war - particularly within the Pentagon or this administration."

"They're letting it slide out of visibility," Cordesman said.

'It isn't so much that people don't care, it's they don't have to care'

Cordesman pointed to the growing disconnect between the public and military as a large part of the problem.

"You have such a tiny fraction of Americans who now assume the risk for everyone."

"It isn't so much that people don't care, it's they don't have to care," Cordesman said.

"People are taking those who are off on their second or third tours for granted," Cordesman added.

"You're asking a hell of a lot of a very few people."

"Being thanked for your service is a kind of cold thanks when you're coming home from the fights against extremism."

'The US is largely irrelevant to the issue at this point'

Andrew Bacevich, a professor of history and international relations at Boston University and retired Army colonel who fought in Vietnam, somewhat echoed these sentiments.

"The difference between Vietnam and Afghanistan is that the American people cared about the Vietnam War," Bacevich said.

"They don't care about the war in Afghanistan."

At the end of the day, Bacevich says it's up to the Afghan government and Taliban to bring peace to the country.

"I expect that the war there will end when the Taliban and the Afghan government decide to negotiate a peace," Bacevich said.

"The US is largely irrelevant to the issue at this point."

The US, Russian, and Afghan governments have all made efforts in recent months to spark peace talks with the Taliban, which has at times seemed open to such outreach.

At the same time, history offers many reasons to be skeptical of these developments, particularly as the Taliban has made major gains over the past year and staged devastating attacks in multiple provinces even within the past few weeks.

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-us- ... -it-2018-9

BUSINESS INSIDER

"A roadside bomb in Afghanistan killed 3 US special operations troops"

Ryan Pickrell

Nov. 28, 2018, 5:09 PM

* The US military identified the three service members killed by an improvised explosive device Tuesday in a statement Wednesday.

* The blast claimed the lives of two Green Berets and an airman and wounded four other Americans, three service members and one civilian contractor.

* Five US service members have died in Afghanistan this month, and 13 have died in country this year.

The US military identified the three service members killed by an improvised explosive device Tuesday in a statement Wednesday.

The blast claimed the lives of two Green Berets and an airman and wounded four other Americans, three service members and one civilian contractor.

Five US service members have died in Afghanistan this month, and 13 have died in country this year.

The Department of Defense identified the three US service members who were killed when an improvised explosive device detonated Tuesday.

Two soldiers and an airman died from injuries sustained when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Andar, Ghazni, Afghanistan.

Army Capt. Andrew Patrick Ross, 29, of Lexington, Virginia was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Sgt. 1st Class Eric Michael Emond, 39, of Brush Prairie, Washington was also assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin, 25, of Hookstown, Pennsylvania was assigned to the 26th Special Tactics Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.

Five US service members have been killed in Afghanistan this month, making November the deadliest month this year for US forces in Afghanistan.

One was killed in an insider attack, one died as a result of accidental friendly fire, and the latter three were killed by a roadside bomb.

Thirteen US service members have been killed in Afghanistan this year.

https://www.businessinsider.com/a-roads ... ps-2018-11

MILITARY TIMES

"Trump defends staying in Afghanistan after troop deaths"

By: Leo Shane III   

28 NOVEMBER 2018

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump defended the continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan as critical to national security in a Washington Post interview on Tuesday and promised to visit America troops stationed there “at the right time.”

The comments came just hours after the deaths of three U.S. service members in a roadside bomb attack in Ghazni and a few days after Army Ranger Sgt. Leandro Jasso was killed in a friendly fire incident over the weekend.

Thirteen American troops have been killed in the country since the start of the year.

More than 2,400 U.S. military personnel have died in the now 17-year-old conflict.
d the war in Afghanistan

When asked about the recent deaths, Trump expressed his condolences but also defended the ongoing mission there.

“We’re there because virtually every expert that I have and speak to say if we don’t go there, they’re going to be fighting over here,” Trump told the newspaper.

“And I’ve heard it over and over again.”

He said negotiations are ongoing with Taliban groups and Afghan officials looking towards a possible end to the fighting, but did not offer any timetable for that work.

“They would like to see it after all these years, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.

“A little bit too early to say what’s going to happen."

"But we are talking about things."

“But it’s a very sad situation when I look — we have incredible people, incredible fighters."

"… It’s very sad.”

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump indicated he would look to end U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan.

But since he took office, he has gone along with Pentagon officials recommendations to increase the troop presence there, in an effort to stabilize the still inexperienced Afghan security forces.

About 16,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan in training and counterterrorism roles.

Trump also did not offer any specific timeline for when he might visit the country.

The president has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks for not making any trips to meet with troops serving in combat zones overseas, something his previous two predecessors did earlier in their terms.

White House officials have said plans for such a trip are under discussion.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last week said he has discouraged the commander in chief from some such visits, because of security concerns surrounding both Trump and the troops who would have to manage the trip.

About Leo Shane III

Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies.

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