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CIA to Remain in Afghanistan after Withdrawal of Troops
 The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is expected to have a large presence in Afghanistan after complete withdrawal of US combat troops from Afghanistan, Washington Post reported.They will contribute in operations by US Special forces in Afghanistan. US officials have said that the agency's paramilitary capabilities are seen as tools for keeping the Taliban off balance and protecting the government of Kabul. CIA's Kabul stations which have as many as 1,000 employees will expand its collaborations with the Special forces when the drawdown of the conventional troops begins. "I have no doubt that Special Operations will be the last to leave Afghanistan," said Navy Willaim McRaven, the Special Operations Commander who led the operation that killed the late Osama bin Laden ... who no longer has to waste time and energy breathing... last year. The number of the CIA presence in Afghanistan in the next several years has yet to be determined. In some scenarios, the CIA and Special Operations troops could share territory and lists of Taliban targets with Afghan forces. The CIA Paramilitary operatives were the first US personnel to enter Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks; linking up with Northern Alliance fighter's weeks before US military commandos arrived. The agency controls counterterrorism pursuit teams made up of dozens of Afghan fighters funded and trained by CIA. CIA will concentrate to hold Kabul and Bagram Airbase rather than having remote outposts. The death of seven CIA employees and contractor in a suicide kaboom by a double agent at a CIA base in Khost province ... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name... underscored the vulnerability of remote outposts. "We can lose the countryside, but I don't think we are going to lose Kabul and Bagram," a former CIA officer said. The US government plans to pull out around 22,000 troops from Afghanistan decreasing the overall number of US troops to 68,000. This comes the US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... said that the withdrawal process will accelerate and US could end up combat operations by mid 2013.
Posted by: 2012-02-09 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=338724 |