Afghanistan (69 page)

482.
Quoted in: Steven Munson and Walter Pincus, “Supplying Troops in Afghanistan With Fuel Is Challenge for US,”
The Washington Post
, 15 December 2009, p. A11.

483.
David Rhode, Carlotta Gall, Eric Schmitt, and David E. Sangar, “US Officials See Waste in Billions Sent to Pakistan,”
The New York Times
, 24 December 2007.

484.
Dan Balz, “Obama Says He Would Take Fight to Pakistan,”
The Washington Post
, 2 August 2007.

485.
On the potential for near-term collapse in Pakistan, see “Centcom Adviser Warns Pakistan In Danger; Says Pak Security Services a Rogue State Within a State” (
The News
[Islamabad], 24 March 2009); Pamela Constable, “In Pakistan, a Sense of Foreboding” (
The Washington Post
, 27 April 2009, p. A6).

486.
Ahmed Rashid, “Pakistan on the Brink,”
The New York Review of Books
, v. 67, n. 10, 11 June 2009, pp. 12–16.

487.
Interview following talk at the Brookings Institution, Washington, 25 February 2009.

Chapter Nine

488.
Interview, Kabul, 19 October 2009. The minister was suggesting that this book be re-titled.

489.
Yet the imperial—British or Soviet—experience can still provide valuable insights into Afghan realities. See, for example, Thomas H. Johnson and M. Chris Mason, “No Sign until the Burst of Fire: Understanding the Pakistani-Afghanistan Frontier,”
International Security
, v. 32, n. 4, Spring 2008, pp. 41–77.

490.
Sean M. Maloney, “The International Security Assistance Force: The Origins of a Stabilization Force,”
Canadian Military Journal
, Summer 2003, pp. 3–11.

491.
Carlotta Gall, “UN Official Raises Alarms Over Killings in Afghanistan,”
The New York Times
, 16 May 2008.

492.
Talk given at the Association of the US Army annual meeting, Washington, 6 October 2009.

493.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero,
Assisting Afghanistan: The importance of a comprehensive approach
, Keynote address at the GLOBUS Conference, Bratislava, Slovakia, 17 January 2008,
http://www.nato.int/docu/speech/2008/s080117a.html
.

494.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Pentagon Worries Led to Command Change,”
The Washington Post
, 17 August 2009.

495
. “Afghanistan’s NATO Force Needs Top Civilian: UN,”
AFP News Report
, 4 January 2010.

496.
Talk given at the Association of the US Army annual meeting, Washington, 6 October 2009.

497.
GEN Stanley McChrystal,
COMISAF Initial Assessment
(“McChrystal Report”), Kabul, 20 August 2009, p. B–1.

498.
Bill Gertz. “Inside the Ring,”
The Washington Times
, 10 July 2008.

499.
Placemat
, 22 October 2009.
http://www.nato.int/isaf/docu/epub/pdf/placemat.pdf
.

500.
Before an audience at the Atlantic Council in Washington, 11 May 2009. Craddock is the former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).

501.
On national caveats in general, see: LTC Leah R. Sundquist,
NATO in Afghanistan: A Progress Report
, Carlisle Barracks, 25 March 2008, US Army War College Strategy Research Report; COL Michael L. Everett,
Merging the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF): A Strategic Imperative
, Carlisle Barracks, 8 February 2006, US Army War College Strategy Research Report; Susan Koelbl and Alexander Szander, “German Special Forces in Afghanistan Let Taliban Commander Escape,”
Der Spiegel Online International
, 19 May 2008,
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,554033,00.html
.

502.
Manfred Goetzke, “How the Rules of Afghanistan Have Changed for the Bundeswehr,”
Deutsche Welte News Report
, 16 December 2009,
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5019739,00.html
. Jerome Starkey, “They Came, They Saw, Then Left the Afghan War Without a Single Mission,”
The Scotsman
(Edinburgh), 9 October 2008,
http://news.scotsman.com/world/They-came-they-saw-.4573584.jp
.

503.
Interview, Kabul, 12 October 2009.

504.
Pentagon news conference, Washington, 18 May 2009,
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?idAfghanistan53604
.

505.
Gary Langer,
Public Opinion Trends in Afghanistan
, ABC News, 11 February 2009.

506.
Noor Rahman, “Afghans Dispute US Version of Raid Casualties,”
Reuters News Report
, 20 May 2007.

507.
Interview, Kabul, 20 October 2008.

508.
Kirk Semple, “Official Calls for Sensitivity to Afghan Demands,”
The New York Times
, 8 December 2008.

509.
For an estimate of the scope of the problem, see:
Conflict-Related Civilian Deaths
, Kabul, 13 May 2009, NATO Briefing Chart.
http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2009_05/20090514_090513-Conflict-Related_Civilian_Deaths.pdf
.

510.
ABC Polling
, 11 February 2009. These polling results likely also reflect that those in areas where indirect fire is being used probably are living in districts in south and east Afghanistan where the US presence is not popular for multiple reasons.

511.
HQ ISAF Strategic Advisory Group “Unclassified Metrics” May 2009 figures quoted in Anthony Cordesman,
The Afghan War at End 2009: A Crisis and New Realism
, Washington, 4 January 2010, CSIS, p. 13.
http://csis.org/files/publication/100104_afghan_war_at_end_09.pdf
.

512.
For one example: Jessica Stern,
Terror in the Name of God
, New York: HarperCollins, 2004.

513.
John R. Dyke and John R. Crisafulli,
Unconventional Counter-Insurgency in Afghanistan
, Monterey, CA, June 2006. Naval Postgraduate School thesis, p. 8, for example.

514.
See: Sean Naylor,
Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold History of Operation Anaconda
. New York, 2005, Berkeley.

515.
Wayne Washington, “Once Against Nation-Building, Bush Now Involved,”
The Boston Globe
, 2 March 2004.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/03/02/once_against_nation_building_bush_now_involved/
. Bush’s State of the Union speech,”
CNN News Report
, 29 January 2003,
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/28/sotu.transcript/
.

516.
Interviews, Kabul, October-November 2008. There are two highly diverging views of this situation. Karzai supporters and veterans of this stage of his administration report Karzai’s concern about a cross-border insurgency. Northern Alliance figures believe he saw the Northern Alliance leadership (and increased political power of non-Pushtuns) as Afghanistan’s major security threat.

517.
Walter Pincus, “Growing Threat Seen in Afghan Insurgency: Defense Intelligence Agency Chief Cites Surging Violence,”
The Washington Post
, 1 March 2006.

518.
Talk at JHU Asymmetric Warfare Symposium, Washington, 10 March 2008.

519.
COL Peter Mansoor, “How the Surge Worked,”
The Washington Post
10 August 2008, p. B–7.

520.
On the background of this approach, see: MAJ Stephen C. Phillips,
Establishing a Suitable Tactical Design for Clear-Hold-Build Counterinsurgency Operations
, Ft. Leavenworth, 12 June 2009, Thesis at the US Army Command and General Staff College.

521.
FM3-24,
Counterinsurgency
, Washington, December 2006, U.S. Army, paras 5-51–5-8.
http://www.usgcoin.org/library/doctrine/COIN-FM3-24.pdf
.

522.
MAJ Quy H. Nguyen, Achieving Unity of Effort:
Leveraging Interagency Cooperation Between the Department of Defense (DoD) and the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID)
, Ft. Leavenworth, 12 June 2009, Thesis at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

523.
Interview, Kabul, 20 October 2008.

524.
Security Summary
, Kabul, 13 May 2009, NATO briefing chart,
http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2009_05/20090514_090513-Security_Summary.pdf
.

525.
IED Related Casualties
, Kabul, 13 May 2009, NATO briefing chart,
http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2009_05/20090514_090513-IED_Related_Casualties.pdf
.

526.
Joint Operations Intelligence Information System (JOIIS) 4 May 2009 figures quoted in Anthony Cordesman,
The Afghan War at End 2009: A Crisis and New Realism
, Washington, 4 January 2010, CSIS, p. 6.
http://csis.org/files/publication/100104_afghan_war_at_end_09.pdf
.

527.
ABC Polling
, 11 February 2009.

528.
MG Mike Hindmarsh, “Special Forces Battle Against Terror,”
Defence
(Australia), October 2006,
http://www.defence.gov.au/defencemagazine/editions/200610/coverstory/coverstory.htm
.

529.
Interview, COL Patrick McNiece, ISAF deputy director of intelligence, Kabul, 29 October 2008.

530.
Eric Schmitt, “Elite US Force Expanding Hunt in Afghanistan,”
The New York Times
, 27 December 2009.

531.
Interview, Bagram AB, 13 October 2008.

532.
For example, see Dyke and Crisafulli,
ibid
.

533.
Interview, Kabul, 23 October 2008.

534.
Minister of the Interior Mohammed Hanif Atmar, talk at the Brookings Institution, Washington, 25 February 2009.

535.
Syed Saleem Shahzad, “Afghanistan Strikes Back at Pakistan,”
Asia Times
, 9 November 2006; “Afghans Among Seven Held Over Quetta Bomb Blast,”
AFP Report
, 22 December 2006.

536.
M. K. Bhadrakumar, “Spooks Spill Blood in the Hindu Kush,”
Asia Times
, 23 September 2009.

537.
Interview with Afghan government official, Kabul, 21 October 2008.

538.
Rachel Morarjee, “What Has Afghans So Angry,”
Time
, 30 May 2006.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1199254,00.html
.

539.
“Afghanistan: NGOs Worried About Security in the North,”
IRIN News
report, 1 October 2009.
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,IRIN,AFG,4562d8cf2,4acaea891e,0.html
.

540.
Sebastian Fischer, Matthias Gebauer and Severin Weiland, “Defense Minister Calls Kunduz Airstrike ‘Inappropriate,’”
Der Spiegel Online International
, 4 December 2009
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,665132,00.html
.

541.
Reza Shir Mohammedi, “Dozens of Afghan, Taliban Soldiers Killed,”
Quqnoos News service report
(Kabul), 30 May 2009,
http://quqnoos.com/index.php?optionAfghanistancom_content&taskAfghanistanview&idAfghanistan3111&ItemidAfghanistan48
.

542.
Talk given at CSIS, Washington, 28 May 2009.

543.
An example of US SOF working with Afghans is: John R. Dyke and John R. Crisafulli,
Unconventional Counter-Insurgency in Afghanistan
, Monterey, CA, June 2006, Naval Postgraduate School thesis.

544.
Interview, Kabul, 27 October 2008.

545.
Ibid.

546.
Sources on Afghan Security Forces include: Anthony Davis, “Interview with Major General John McColl,”
Jane’s Defense Weekly
, v. 37, n. 22, 29 May 2002, p. 32; Anthony Davis, “Briefing: Afghan National Air Corps,”
Jane’s Defense Weekly
, v. 46, n. 1, 7 January 2009, pp. 28–31; Anthony Davis, “Briefing: Afghan National Army,”
Jane’s Defense Weekly
, v. 45, n. 1, 17 December 2008, pp. 24–29; Anthony Davis, “Interview with General Bismullah Khan Mohammedi, Chief of Staff, Afghan National Army,”
Jane’s Defense Weekly
, v. 45, n. 4, 23 January 2009, p. 24.

547.
Historically, Tajiks have been overrepresented in Afghanistan’s professional officers (at all but the highest levels) and soldiers since the 1870s, when British intelligence reported that uniformed Afghan regiments with European rifles were recruited from “Kohestanis.” This also reflected the non-enforcement of conscription in several Pushtun provinces during the Golden Age.

548.
Interview, Bagram AB, 13 October 2008.

549.
Interview, Kabul, 23 October 2008.

550.
US Department of Defense,
Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan
, January 2009, p. 35.
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/Report_on_Progress_toward_Security_and_Stability_in_Afghanistan_1230.pdf
.

551.
Joint Operations Intelligence Information System (JOIIS) 4 May 2009 figures quoted in Anthony Cordesman,
The Afghan War at End 2009: A Crisis and New Realism
, Washington, 4 January 2010, CSIS, p.6.
http://csis.org/files/publication/100104_afghan_war_at_end_09.pdf
.

552.
Talk given at the Association of the US Army annual meeting, Washington, 6 October 2009.

553.
Telephone conversation, Washington, 23 November 2009.

554.
Jonathan Burch, “NATO Takes Command of the Afghan Army, Police Training,”
Reuters
News Report, 21 November 2009; “NATO Activates New Afghanistan Training Mission,”
Army
, v. 60, n. 1, January 2010, p. 6.

555.
Interview, Kabul, 26 October 2008.

556.
Interview, Bagram AB, 13 October 2008.

557.
Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Elisabeth A. Bumiller, “Afghanistan’s President Says Army Will Need Allies’ Help Until 2024 or Longer,”
The New York Times
, 9 December 2009, p. A14.

558.
Abubakar Siddique, “Difficult Prospects for Building a Viable Afghan Army,”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Report
, 1 October 2009.