|
U.S. to deploy 100s of additional troops to Helmand
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] As the battle between Afghan forces and Taliban toughens and reports suggest that some areas are on the verge of collapse, the United States has decided sending hundreds of additional troops to southern Afghanistan's Helmand...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province. By month's end, a force described as battalion-strength, consisting of mostly army soldiers, will arrive in Helmand province where US and UK forces have struggled in battles for over a decade to drive out the Taliban, the Guardian reports. In keeping with Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... 's formal declaration that the US is not engaged in combat, despite elite forces recently participating in an hours-long battle in Helmand, defense officials said the additional troops would not take part in combat. But they will help the existing Helmand force defend itself against Taliban attacks, officials said. US military officials declined to offer many specifics about an upcoming reinforcement, but they described the mission as primarily aimed at bolstering the performance of the embattled 215th Corps of the Afghan military, through training. The 215th Corps has recently had its commander replaced amid performance and corruption concerns, and has endured "unusually high operating tempo for long periods of time", outgoing US commander General John Campbell testified to Congress last week. It is among four Afghan corps that still have US military advisers embedded within it, despite a recent pullback to advise at higher levels. "Our mission remains the same," said Colonel Michael Lawhorn, a front man for the US command in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the Worldand didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... , "to train, advise, and assist our Afghan counterparts, and not to participate in combat operations." The Guardian understands the additional forces in Helmand will not increase the current total troop numbers in Afghanistan, which currently stand at 9,800, but will instead be deployed from troops already in the country. Batallion strengths vary, but can constitute a force of up to 800 troops. While new advisers make up a significant component of the additional forces, Lawhorn said that another mission of the reinforcement will be to "bolster force protection for the current staff of advisers", suggesting a concern for the safety of the existing Helmand force amid major recent Taliban gains. The US military has sounded warnings of a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, in Helmand and beyond, that have prompted significant revisions in Obama's war plans. Already Obama has agreed to leave 5,500 troops in Afghanistan past the end of his presidency, but his newly confirmed commander, General John "Mick" Nicholson, told a Senate panel recently that increased bully boy violence will prompt him to re-evaluate troop requests, and left the door open to bolstering a force Obama has sought to draw down. Opium-rich Helmand has emerged as a Taliban priority, as most of its 2015 attacks focused on the province. Unlike earlier eras of the war, the Taliban have declined to take a winter break and have fought in the province all year. The Taliban have come close to overrunning a district center in Helmand, Sangin, where more than 100 UK troops died during a war that has entered its 15th year, despite US Outgoing commander Campbell, testifying to Congress last week, said that while current rules of engagement prevented US troops who are not engaged in counter-terrorism raids from initiating fights with the Taliban, "I have no restrictions on providing force protection" for troops that train Afghans. Lawhorn described the reinforcement as a "planned deployment of additional personnel", but at least one congressional official contacted by the Guardian was unaware of the plan. Posted by: Fred 2016-02-10 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=444893 |