DOD Buzz: War in Afghanistan Heats Up as Fight Against ISIS Winds Down
Another telling sign that the wars against ISIS in Iraq and Syria were winding down and entering the counter-insurgency phase recently came from the U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
Army Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and the NATO Resolute Support mission, said that he had used a B-52 bomber and an F-22 Raptor advanced fighter normally assigned to the Iraq/Syria theaters to bomb suspected drug havens in Afghanistan.
The use of the B-52, flying out of Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, and the F-22, flying out of Al Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates, showed that “Things have gone well in Iraq and Syria,” Nicholson said last Monday in a video briefing from Kabul to the Pentagon.
“So we’re beginning to see the effects of a shift of resources” from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan, Nicholson said. The shift “will increase over the course of the winter, going into the spring, as the situation continues to improve there” in Iraq and Syria.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: All that I can say is why? .... Obama Rules Of Engagement Didn't Allow Strikes On Taliban Drug Factories, Top General Says ( The Daily Caller).
More News On Army Gen. John Nicholson Giving An Update On The War In Afghanistan
South Asia Strategy Provides 'Path to Win' in Afghanistan, Commander Says -- Department of Defense
Over 1,000 US troops to patrol with Afghans in 2018. -- AFP
Nicholson: US troops will assume more risk in Afghanistan in next fighting season -- Stars and Stripes
Taliban lowering ambitions in Afghanistan after major losses, says US general leading fight -- CNBC
US Has 'Turned the Corner' in Afghanistan, Top General Says -- Foreign Policy
Top US commander: Trump's Afghanistan plan a 'game changer' -- Washington Examiner
Top US general in Afghanistan says Taliban fight has 'turned the corner' -- The Hill
US Has Tripled Number of Air-delivered Munitions in Afghanistan in 2017 -- Voice of America
Obama Rules Of Engagement Didn't Allow Strikes On Taliban Drug Factories, Top General Says -- The Daily Caller
As advisory role grows in Afghanistan, so does risk to US troops -- Washington Post
"All that I can say is why?"
ReplyDeleteAnswer: Obama had no commitment to US forces. It was an other way to destroy our forces, the other one was sequestration. He had the same way in Syria: he was extremely reluctant to destroy the oil production of ISIS " because fear of pollution".....
"On October 24 the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan General John Nicholson agreed with President Ghani:
ReplyDelete"With the mounting military, diplomatic, and social pressure that is building – that we all are collectively committed to sustaining over the coming years – the enemy will have no choice but to reconcile. I believe, as President Ghani says, 'we have turned the corner,’” he concluded.
But a month later General Nicholson seemed to disagreed with his earlier statement:
"We are still in a stalemate," Nicholson, a four-star Army general said in an exclusive interview.
Today, five days after his "stalemate" statement, the general's opinion has changed again. Kevin Baron, the editor of Defense One, reports:
JUST IN: Top US general in Afghanistan says war has "turned a corner... " The momentum is now with the Afghan security forces." ...
The General seems confused. But he is not the first to have such a change of mind."
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/11/turning-the-corner-in-afghanistan.html#comments
Funny thing about Opium Crops and Heroin Labs, is who owns and runs them.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/afghanistan-the-making-of-a-narco-state-20141204
After the Ashir Valley mess, which wound up with 34 Marines killed, 68 wounded, IFOR being driven from the valley, and the valley going to the Talib,
all because an Afghan Warlord, Gen. Goul, tried to use the Marines as his local muscle by telling them that the farmers, miners and loggers living in the valley were Taliban invaders,
The Obama Administration asked the NSC if they could positively identify the owners and operators of the heroin labs, and the NSC said "nope", and took labs "off the table".
The average cost of a heroin lab in Afghanistan is 382312.32 Afghani's, or $5,560 USD, the average cost of a GBU is $28,586 USD.