Friday, September 29, 2017
Thursday, September 28, 2017
NATO and Afghanistan:Mattis and Stoltenberg Discuss the New Strategy - a compelling advantage
On 27 September,NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis held talks with Afghan leaders in Kabul,including President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr.Abdullah Abdullah of the National Unity Government.*
At a press conference after the discussions,Mr.Mattis and Mr.Stoltenberg gave a frank briefing on the new approach.
Mr.Stoltenberg:NATO doesn't quit when the going gets tough.That is why I much welcome that many nations have pledged further contributions to our mission here in Afghanistan,including more troops from the US.And I welcome President Trump's new,conditions-based approach to Afghanistan and the region.NATO is committed to funding the Afghan security forces until at least 2020,and we will continue to provide almost a billion each year to the Afghan defence and security forces.
At our defence ministerial in June,we actually decided to increase our NATO troop levels in Afghanistan,and several Allies have already started to step up to their pledges to send more troops.So they are sending more troops because it is in their interest to have a more stable Afghanistan.*
Mr.Mattis:We will not abandon Afghanistan to a merciless enemy trying to kill its way to power.
This new strategy is conditions-based,and not time-based,because war is principally a matter of will,and we've made clear that we have the will to stand together.
Through our partnership,we will suffocate any hope that al-Qaida,or ISIS-Daesh,Haqqani or the Taliban have of winning by killing.
We are up against an enemy right now that intentionally fights among innocent people;that intentionally hides behind women and children;that intentionally tries to draw fire on the innocent,and we do everything humanly possible...to protect the innocent on the battlefield.We're not the perfect guys;but we are the good guys.
We are bringing in reinforcements,and those reinforcements are designed to add more advisors to your units in the field,and more trainers in your military schools.We are going to give them more advantage to the NATO access,and advantage to the NATO air forces overhead,to make sure that at no time does the Taliban own the high ground.We will always own the high ground.
I prefer to not go into the specific numbers right now.We are bringing more Americans in;there are more coalition forces coming in.I don't want to tell the enemy exactly what we're doing,but the whole point is to make certain that we have a compelling battlefield advantage over anything the Taliban tries to mass against your forces.We are not going to stand for that.
There's an increasing collusion.There's increasing teamwork among the various terrorist bands,and I will just tell you that this simply gives more impetus to those of us who are against terrorism to work together,Secretary Mattis told the reporters gathered in Kabul.*
Among others attending the talks were General John Nicholson,US Army,NATO Resolute Support Mission and Operation Freedom's Sentinel commander;Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison,US Ambassador to NATO;and Afghan national security officials.
At a press conference after the discussions,Mr.Mattis and Mr.Stoltenberg gave a frank briefing on the new approach.
Mr.Stoltenberg:NATO doesn't quit when the going gets tough.That is why I much welcome that many nations have pledged further contributions to our mission here in Afghanistan,including more troops from the US.And I welcome President Trump's new,conditions-based approach to Afghanistan and the region.NATO is committed to funding the Afghan security forces until at least 2020,and we will continue to provide almost a billion each year to the Afghan defence and security forces.
At our defence ministerial in June,we actually decided to increase our NATO troop levels in Afghanistan,and several Allies have already started to step up to their pledges to send more troops.So they are sending more troops because it is in their interest to have a more stable Afghanistan.*
Mr.Mattis:We will not abandon Afghanistan to a merciless enemy trying to kill its way to power.
This new strategy is conditions-based,and not time-based,because war is principally a matter of will,and we've made clear that we have the will to stand together.
Through our partnership,we will suffocate any hope that al-Qaida,or ISIS-Daesh,Haqqani or the Taliban have of winning by killing.
We are up against an enemy right now that intentionally fights among innocent people;that intentionally hides behind women and children;that intentionally tries to draw fire on the innocent,and we do everything humanly possible...to protect the innocent on the battlefield.We're not the perfect guys;but we are the good guys.
We are bringing in reinforcements,and those reinforcements are designed to add more advisors to your units in the field,and more trainers in your military schools.We are going to give them more advantage to the NATO access,and advantage to the NATO air forces overhead,to make sure that at no time does the Taliban own the high ground.We will always own the high ground.
I prefer to not go into the specific numbers right now.We are bringing more Americans in;there are more coalition forces coming in.I don't want to tell the enemy exactly what we're doing,but the whole point is to make certain that we have a compelling battlefield advantage over anything the Taliban tries to mass against your forces.We are not going to stand for that.
There's an increasing collusion.There's increasing teamwork among the various terrorist bands,and I will just tell you that this simply gives more impetus to those of us who are against terrorism to work together,Secretary Mattis told the reporters gathered in Kabul.*
Among others attending the talks were General John Nicholson,US Army,NATO Resolute Support Mission and Operation Freedom's Sentinel commander;Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison,US Ambassador to NATO;and Afghan national security officials.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
CIA Paramilitary Officers Acknowledged in Death - some of the nation's most secret,heroic and highly trained warriors
Following their long-delayed burial this summer at Arlington National Cemetery,the identities and partial biographies of two CIA Paramilitary Officers,members of the Agency's Directorate of Operations,specifically the Special Activities Division/Special Operations Group,or SAD/SOG,were revealed by The New York Times on 6 September 2017.Any substantive information about the unit is a very rare find,so those who die in this form of heroism do so largely in obscurity-part of the deal they signed onto.
Even the medals these commandos receive are themselves classified and may not be taken home.*
They were Brian Ray Hoke (1974-2016) and Nathaniel Patrick Delemarre (1968-2016).The paramilitaries were killed in a firefight while mounting an assault in Jalalabad,Afghanistan on a compound of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Khorasan militants on 21 October 2016.Mr.Hoke was a US Naval Academy graduate and former Navy SEAL;Mr.Delemarre was a veteran of the US Marine Corps Reserves,in which he was a radio operator,and a commissioned officer in the US Naval Reserves at the time of his death.Both men were married and had children.In May 2017,they received stars on the memorial wall at CIA Headquarters in Langley,Virginia,bringing the total number of CIA Afghan War deaths to 18.Another star added at that time was in memory of George A. Whitney,38,also killed in Jalalabad-but in December 2016.Mr.Whitney had served in the Third Marine Reconnaissance Battalion in Anbar Province,Iraq.*
The SAD/SOG is thought to number in the low hundreds.It is used for highly dangerous paramilitary or covert operations the US Government wants deniability for.These operatives have been awarded most of the stars on the CIA memorial wall,as well as a large number of the Distinguished Intelligence Crosses and Intelligence Star medals for distinguished valour and excellence in the national service.
Besides paramilitary operations,the tactical personnel may carry out covert political action in hostile and austere environments.Unlike the Pentagon's Special Operations Forces,the SAD/SOG is tasked directly by the President or National Security Council on his behalf.It is highly regarded by the combatant commanders and often linked with the US military's Special Operations Forces and indigenous commandos on sensitive missions.
Another unique characteristic of the SAD/SOG members is that they combine unconventional warfare expertise with clandestine intelligence operations skills,being fully qualified to recruit and run foreign agents as well as conduct direct action raids and sabotage,counterterrorism and hostage rescue missions in any environment,with little to no support.*
Indeed,the SAD/SOG is a self-contained,combined arms paramilitary service within the CIA.It has four branches,including an Air Branch;Maritime Branch;Ground Branch;and Armor and Special Projects Branch for heavier and more esoteric equipment.Training is centered at the nearly 9,000 acres of the US Navy's Camp Peary near the historic enclave of Williamsburg,Virginia.Most of the tract is a natural area famed for its hunting;but,besides academic buildings,it additionally includes an air strip and a boat facility.
One surreptitious photo shows that a cargo drop practice went wrong and the cargo got stuck in a tree.*
The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency trains its agents at Camp Peary as well.
Even the medals these commandos receive are themselves classified and may not be taken home.*
They were Brian Ray Hoke (1974-2016) and Nathaniel Patrick Delemarre (1968-2016).The paramilitaries were killed in a firefight while mounting an assault in Jalalabad,Afghanistan on a compound of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Khorasan militants on 21 October 2016.Mr.Hoke was a US Naval Academy graduate and former Navy SEAL;Mr.Delemarre was a veteran of the US Marine Corps Reserves,in which he was a radio operator,and a commissioned officer in the US Naval Reserves at the time of his death.Both men were married and had children.In May 2017,they received stars on the memorial wall at CIA Headquarters in Langley,Virginia,bringing the total number of CIA Afghan War deaths to 18.Another star added at that time was in memory of George A. Whitney,38,also killed in Jalalabad-but in December 2016.Mr.Whitney had served in the Third Marine Reconnaissance Battalion in Anbar Province,Iraq.*
The SAD/SOG is thought to number in the low hundreds.It is used for highly dangerous paramilitary or covert operations the US Government wants deniability for.These operatives have been awarded most of the stars on the CIA memorial wall,as well as a large number of the Distinguished Intelligence Crosses and Intelligence Star medals for distinguished valour and excellence in the national service.
Besides paramilitary operations,the tactical personnel may carry out covert political action in hostile and austere environments.Unlike the Pentagon's Special Operations Forces,the SAD/SOG is tasked directly by the President or National Security Council on his behalf.It is highly regarded by the combatant commanders and often linked with the US military's Special Operations Forces and indigenous commandos on sensitive missions.
Another unique characteristic of the SAD/SOG members is that they combine unconventional warfare expertise with clandestine intelligence operations skills,being fully qualified to recruit and run foreign agents as well as conduct direct action raids and sabotage,counterterrorism and hostage rescue missions in any environment,with little to no support.*
Indeed,the SAD/SOG is a self-contained,combined arms paramilitary service within the CIA.It has four branches,including an Air Branch;Maritime Branch;Ground Branch;and Armor and Special Projects Branch for heavier and more esoteric equipment.Training is centered at the nearly 9,000 acres of the US Navy's Camp Peary near the historic enclave of Williamsburg,Virginia.Most of the tract is a natural area famed for its hunting;but,besides academic buildings,it additionally includes an air strip and a boat facility.
One surreptitious photo shows that a cargo drop practice went wrong and the cargo got stuck in a tree.*
The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency trains its agents at Camp Peary as well.
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