Battered NATO Considering Early Afghanistan Withdrawal

[Shah-i-Kot]

http://www.eurasiareview.com/0210201...an-withdrawal/


Battered NATO Considering Early Afghanistan Withdrawal

By: RT
October 2, 2012
NATO could pull its forces from Afghanistan before its planned withdrawal date of 2014. Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also conceded that intensifying green-on-blue attacks could be a premeditated Taliban ploy.
“From now until the end of 2014 we will see announcements of redeployments, withdrawals or drawdown,” Rasmussen told The Guardian. “If the security situation allows, I would not exclude the possibility that in certain areas you could accelerate the process.”

Afghanistan

There are currently 120,000 NATO troops in the country training a local force three times this size.
But Rasmussen admitted that the transition is hindered by a stream of so-called green-on-blue attacks, where local trainees turn on their mentors, often unexpectedly and with deadly result. Nearly 50 NATO troops have been killed in such incidents so far this year.
“There’s no doubt insider attacks have undermined trust and confidence,” said Rasmussen, who left his post as Prime Minister of Denmark in 2009 to take the top NATO job.
Previously, NATO claimed the majority of such attacks were isolated incidents driven by petty conflicts and personal grudges, but Rasmussen admitted the situation is more complex.
“It’s safe to say that a significant part of the insider attacks are due to Taliban tactics – probably it is part of a Taliban strategy.”
He also claimed that not all infiltrations are as intricately planned as they may seem.
“We have seen where the militants were in Afghan uniforms, though they are not members of the Afghan security force.”
Rasmussen says the ultraconservative Islamist organization hopes to force a drop in public support for NATO’s Afghanistan mission with a constant drip of negative publicity.
Despite the morale-draining attacks and the continuing failure to establish control over the entirety of the mountainous country, Rasmussen asserted that any withdrawal would not be “a race for the exits,” and would only happen once the transition is secure.
“Political decisions will be taken based on … recommendations as to how we will adapt to the transfer of lead responsibility to the Afghans,” he promised. “The pace will very much depend on the security situation on the ground.”
About the author: RT
RT, previously known as Russia Today, is a global multilingual television news network based in Russia. RT was the first all-digital Russian TV network.

[Shah-i-Kot]

Nato withdrawal from Afghanistan could be speeded up, says Rasmussen

Exclusive: Redeployment of some troops might be accelerated, says Nato chief, who admits 'green on blue' attacks have hit morale

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• Ian Traynor in Brussels
• The Guardian, Monday 1 October 2012 19.15 BST

The retreat of western forces from Afghanistan could come sooner than expected, the head of Nato has said as he conceded that the recent Taliban strategy of "green on blue" killings had been successful in sapping morale.
In an interview with the Guardian Nato's secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, responded to pressure for a faster withdrawal from Afghanistan by stating that the options were being studied and should be clear within three months.
"From now until the end of 2014 you may see adaptation of our presence. Our troops can redeploy, take on other tasks, or even withdraw, or we can reduce the number of foreign troops," he said. "From now until the end of 2014 we will see announcements of redeployments, withdrawals or drawdown … If the security situation allows, I would not exclude the possibility that in certain areas you could accelerate the process."
Rasmussen admitted that the killings of almost 50 allied troops this year in "green on blue" attacks – Afghan security forces turning on their trainers and mentors – had damaged the relationship between the international forces and the Afghan police and military.
"There's no doubt insider attacks have undermined trust and confidence, absolutely," he said.
Nato aims to have an Afghan security force of 352,000 taking over responsibility for the country in just over two years when the US-led combat operations are scheduled to end.
Amid argument among analysts as to what has been behind the stream of "green on blue" attacks, Nato officers on the ground are reported to have ascribed them mainly to disgruntled and embittered Afghan security forces with grudges against their western mentors.
While Rasmussen conceded there may have been some such cases, Nato has clearly concluded from intelligence that the attacks have more to do with a Taliban strategy of infiltration of the Afghan security structures aimed at sowing distrust and confusion.
"It's safe to say that a significant part of the insider attacks are due to Taliban tactics … Probably it is part of a Taliban strategy," he said.
While it was allied soldiers who were being killed, Rasmussen said the Taliban campaign's ultimate target was to turn western public opinion against the war.
"Political leaders in the capitals of troop-contributing countries know very well that this is part of a tactic or strategy to also undermine public and political support at home … The real target is politicians, media, opinion-formers at home in partner nations and allied nations."
He added that some of the killings had been carried out by Taliban infiltrators disguised as Afghan police or soldiers.
"We have seen also where they were in Afghan uniforms though they are not members of the Afghan security force."
On the pace and phasing of withdrawal – the difficult task of pulling out more than 120,000 troops from forbidding and frequently hostile terrain – Rasmussen said a key moment would come later this year when General John Allen, the US overall commander of the operations, delivered a report with his military recommendations.
"Political decisions will be taken based on his recommendations as to how we will adapt to the transfer of lead responsibility to the Afghans," he said. "The pace will very much depend on the security situation on the ground."
Rasmussen stressed that any accelerated rate of withdrawal should not be seen as "a race for the exits". The end of combat operations is to be followed from 2015 by a Nato-led training mission for the Afghan security forces, which will also require the continued deployment of fighting units or special forces, – "enablers" as they are called in military jargon.
"The core will be a training mission. Of course, we will have to ensure that our trainers can operate in a secure environment so we need capabilities to make sure that our trainers can operate," said the former Danish prime minister, who was appointed head of Nato in 2009.
Additionally, there will be further US forces remaining in Afghanistan under a bilateral "strategic partnership" deal struck between Washington and Kabul.
Amid mission creep fatigue across Europe, squeezed defence budgets and sweeping austerity cuts, it is not clear how many of the European Nato allies will contribute troops to the training mission. Defence ministers meet next week in Brussels to start planning the operations.

[Shah-i-Kot]

http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts...om_afghanistan

NATO could speed up withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan

By Jennifer Rowland Tuesday, October 2, 2012 - 8:45 AM




New post: William Byrd, "Ten lessons the U.S. should learn from Afghanistan's history" (FP)
Must see: "Insider Attacks" kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan (60 Minutes)
Early dismissal?
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen told The Guardian on Monday that the international coalition could withdraw troops faster than originally planned, as troops' morale declines due to rising "insider attacks" by Afghan forces against their NATO counterparts (Guardian). Rasmussen said that between now and 2014, the deployment and tasks of international troops will depend on the security situation in specific regions of Afghanistan, and acknowledged that, "a significant part of the insider attacks are due to Taliban tactics" in an effort to "undermine public and political support" for the war in NATO member countries.
American military and civilian officials are reportedly conceding that they have abandoned the goal of reconciliation with the Taliban in Afghanistan, which was once a primary goal of the war there (NYT). Officials say they've scaled down their ambitions to establishing a sustainable system of government that will allow the Afghans to find a political solution to the conflict on their own, as they don't expect progress to be made on peace talks with the Taliban until after NATO combat troops complete their withdrawal at the end of 2014.
Safe passage
The Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday reportedly offered their protection to Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan during a planned rally to protest drone strikes in South Waziristan (Tel). On Monday, supporters of the Difa-i-Pakistan Council (DPC), an umbrella organization for Pakistan's most conservative religious parties, rallied peacefully in Peshawar against the anti-Islam movie Innocence of Muslims (ET, Dawn). But at the rally, former legislator and leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) Ikramullah Shahid offered a $200,000 reward for "anyone who kills the filmmaker" (ET).
Speaking at the United Nations on Monday, Indian external affairs minister S. M. Krishna denounced a speech last week by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that brought up the issue of Kashmir, which Krishna called "an integral part of India" (AP, ET).
Private eyes are watchin' you
In a country where adultery still carries the death sentence, a job as a private detective for individuals who are suspicious of their spouses might seem like a strange idea, but Masood Haider, a former Pakistan Army pilot, says business is booming (Reuters). In one juicy case, a cheating husband disguised himself as a rental car driver when going to meet his lover, so Haider sent one of his female detectives -- disguised as a maid in the woman's house -- to get the scoop.
-- Jennifer Rowland