Mission creep - US bombing consolidates in AFPAK with O'Bomber's new plan - with no end in sight

President Obama gave a speech this morning outlining his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, (AFPAK) as a taster for a (slightly) more detailed white paper [PDF].

The plan outlined what O'Bomber cals "realistic and achievable objectives."

• Disrupting terrorist networks in Afghanistan and especially Pakistan to degrade any ability they have to plan and launch international terrorist attacks.

• Promoting a more capable, accountable, and effective government in Afghanistan that serves the Afghan people and can eventually function, especially regarding internal security, with limited international support.

• Developing increasingly self-reliant Afghan security forces that can lead the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism fight with reduced U.S. assistance.

• Assisting efforts to enhance civilian control and stable constitutional government in Pakistan and a vibrant economy that provides opportunity for the people of Pakistan.

• Involving the international community to actively assist in addressing these objectives for Afghanistan and Pakistan, with an important leadership role for the UN.

Which begs a lot of questions - questions that remain unanswered - meanwhile bombs coninue to rain down on Iraq (yes they still do - Coalition aircraft flew 24 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. March 26th) , Afghanistan (In total, 68 close-air-support missions were flown in support of the ISAF and Afghan security forces,) and the Hell fire misiles go popping off in Pakistan territories. See recent posts

Iraq / Afghan bombing continues - IEDS kill 10 in Khost and Helmand

Air Force Link reports that yesterday In total, 76 close-air-support missions were flown in support of the ISAF and Afghan security forces, reconstruction activities and route patrols.

In Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 25 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. 29 Air Force and Navy ISR aircraft flew missions as part of operations in Iraq. In addition, three coalition and Air Force aircraft performed tactical reconnaissance.

In Afghanistan, an Air Force MQ-9A Reaper used Hellfire missiles to target a group of anti-Afghan gunmen operating an illegal checkpoint near Kandahar.(indicating reprts arecorrect that Taliban forces are closing ) The group was spotted by a coalition ground unit in the area, who coordinated with the drone operator to ensure civilians were not in danger when the airstrike occurred.

In the vicinity of Malek Din, an Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II preemptively flew a show of force in the route of a coalition convoy, expending flares. The maneuver was intended to discourage enemy action while the convoy passed a point where enemy forces historically set up ambushes.

An Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle hit a group of anti-Afghan forces in an open field with a guided bomb unit-12 after an engagement between the enemy personnel and coalition ground units. The individuals had been firing their assault rifles at coalition soldiers which prompted the air response.

A Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet conducted a show of force and expended flares near Tarin Kowt for a friendly convoy under fire from enemy forces. The show of force caused the enemy to stop firing and retreat from the area. The convoy completed its mission successfully.

Meanwhile on the ground Seven Afghan soldiers were killed in an IED attack in Khost province. Four civilians were killed and six were wounded in an IED attack in Helmand province. Afghan and British forces have launched an operation in the Aaabi Toorah, Kanishin area of Helmand province according to NATO/ ISAF.

After being inserted into the Kanishin area by helicopter, Afghan troops, supported by the British 42 Commando Group, encountered a series of enemy-held compounds. The ANSF and ISAF combined efforts, including precisely targeted air support from helicopters, resulted in the insurgents’ defeat. Searches of the secured compounds uncovered weapons and suicide Improvised Explosive Device (IED) vests.

Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Afghanistan. Why the RAF are calling in the Tornado GR4's and replacing the Harriers .... or maybe not

The UK public are vaguely aware that the RAF have a role in Afghanistan and prefer probably not to think of the aerial bombing of civilians, the deaths of women and children or even of Taliban being blown to bits.

It has however been an exciting week for Afghanistan bombing anoraks in (and outside) the House of Commons.

17 Nov 2008 : Column 134W of Hansard ... Has a fascinating series of written answers to questions to the Secretary of State for Defence Mr Huttton by Messrs Ellwood, Swire, Ancram, and the terriet like Mark Lancaster with his subsequent questioning about the decision to deploy 8 Tornado GR4's to replace 8 Harriers.

This reveals that 24 aircrew and 122 ground staff will be required and that related costs given by bluff, non nonsense, no sense Bob Ainsworth claimed

..." The financial costs for continuing to sustain eight Harrier GR9 on
Operation Herrick are estimated to be £30 million p.a. This cost includes, for
example, fuel, forward and depth maintenance, associated equipment support and
is based on current levels of activity. The costs associated with sustaining
eight Tornado GR4 on Operation Herrick (not yet deployed) are estimated to be
£31 million p.a. on an equivalent basis. The cost of deploying Tornado GR4 to
Operation Herrick is up to £40 million."

19 Nov 2008 : Column 89WH of Hansard ...Provides the details of the debate initiated by Mark Lancaster (Con. Milton Keynes TD) on RAF Operations ..."I intend to focus on the Harrier force in this debate—I have given the Minister advance warning that I intend to focus solely on the Joint Force Harrier—and it has been doing a sterling job, rightly earning a reputation as being very much the soldier’s friend in Afghanistan."

He first asked ..."why are we due to withdraw the Joint Force Harrier from Afghanistan from next year?" In answer to a parliamentary question ( 2 days earlier) , Minister for the Armed Forces said ...

“Mindful of the strain that this extended deployment has put upon the crews,
their families and the wider role of Joint Force Harrier we have decided to
withdraw the Harriers from Afghanistan and replace them with an equivalent force
of Tornado GR4s.”—[Official Report, 17 November 2008; Vol. 483, c. 136W.]

Mark Lancaster says "I now intend to go into some detail about those concerns, which are based on capability, finance, the impact on personnel,..." and those anxious for more and better particulars are advised to read hansard . Sufficient to report here...

" ....from a weapons point of view — of the six weapons systems that are carried on the Harrier, four cannot currently be carried on a Tornado......of the eight specialist items on a Harrier for close air support, four will not be available for the Tornado."

The he added, quoting from information not supplied by the MOD .. but not questioned by the Minister.

"I will not go into the details of ground abort rates, but suffice to say that at the moment the Harrier is operating at a 0.34 per cent. ground abort rate. That means that only about four in every 1,000 times that we call on a Harrier to go on a mission in Afghanistan it cannot take off, because of some technical problem. By comparison, the Tornado GR4 is operating at a ground abort rate of 11.6 per cent. That means that more than one in 10 times that a Tornado is scrambled on operations, it simply fails to get off the ground. If that is the case, why are we replacing eight Harriers with eight Tornadoes? Why are we accepting that one in 10 times a Tornado will not get off the ground and therefore one in 10 times it will not get to serve our soldiers on the ground on the front line? Is the Minister really happy to take that risk? In fact, the ground abort rate for Tornadoes peaked last month at 12.7 per cent., so this problem is getting worse, not better."

Adding ..

"We have already spent £728 million on upgrading the Harrier to capability E, which was effectively to improve its performance specifically for roles in Afghanistan. We have also spent £112 million on the new Mk 107 engine, which is specifically designed to operate in hot climates."

He then goes on to argue , with some justification that with defence cuts looming and Tornado's exiting Iraq that the Tornado is looking vulnerable to cuts so a role is being discovered for it in Afghanistan.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, Mr. Kevan Jones (Labour N Durham website 10th September ..."today highlighted the ongoing litter problems caused by the fast food chain McDonalds".) in the few minutes remaining of the debate paying tribute to Colour Sergeant Krishnabahadur Dura, paying tribute to the RAF, the Ghurkas, find time to point out ... "In some ways the Tornado brings capabilities that the Harrier does not, such as the 27 mm cannon and the new RAPTOR imaging system—the reconnaissance airborne pod Tornado—which has been used very effectively in Iraq and, I am told, will be in Afghanistan as well."

Mr Lancaster was anxious that Mr Jones also dwelt on the things that the Tornado could not do that the Harrier could not do . So the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence whinged that ..."if there are concerns among serving personnel, they cannot be articulated through the chain of command." Which they evidently had but with no or little effect.

In the dying minute Mr Lancaster asked ..."Will he also write to me with answers to the questions that he has not answered?"

Probably not.

Dead of many nations , killed in Afghanistan, remembered in Manchester today

Bob Woodward's Bush at War, pp. 35-36 confirmed that that National Security Presidential Directive #9, after being vetted by NSC Advisor Condoleezza Rice in the White House, was "ready to go to the President on September 10." This was a plan to "eliminate" al Qaeda by going "on the offensive" against the Taliban.

On September 4 the deputy secretaries of defense and state had, "approved and recommended a plan [to this effect] that would give the CIA $125 million to $200 million a year to arm the [Northern] Alliance."

Operation Enduring Freedom was alunched on October 7, 2001 as the as ajoint US and UK military operation.

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the US and our allies have prevailed," Bush said 19 months later on FridayMay 2nd 2003, from the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln which was returning to its home port on the West Coast after ten months of service in support of the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September 11, 2001 and still goes on," Bush told 5,000 sailors on the carrier.

Stop the War manchester took the opportunity after countless deaths since Enduring Freedom unleashed daily aerial bombing on Afghanistan ad Pakistan to rmember some of the dead.

Names garnered from news reports of the dead of many nations were written on 1,000memorial labels in schools, doctor's waiting rooms, streets, pubs, clubs and diaplyed in the middle of the main pedestrian precinct in Manchester immediately outside the entrance to the Arndale centre - remodelled after the Irish terrorists required it to be re-modelled some years ago.

Ex Labour Mayor of Manchester City Council Cllr. Afzal Khan came to provide support.

It was a brisk shopping day amajor retailers were launching major sales and the site was visited by many others and granparents of serving soldiers who generally expresed concern over the safety of their family members at war, and a wholseome desire for a speedy exit.

A surly scalped young man claiming to have served with 3rd Para in Musa Quala was a sole critic of the display - many of whose coleagues names were listed.

Lord Patel an inoccent remarked to the energetic organiser Mark that PC PLod was noticeably in non - attendance. With a weary shrug he indicated the wealth of CCTV cameras.

Returning home via Victoria Station later the folowing Transport Police sign confirmed the ubiquity of the searching lens.

Air Force LInk back reporting Air Power summaries - Nangalam get special treatment

Air Force Link reported 74 missionsover Afghanistan on 13th September 51 missions on 12 th September and 81 on 11th September ...they did of course bomb our allies in Iraq who are all subdued now but nonetheless on the three days reported 131 close support missions were flown - missions were also reported on 7th/8th/9th and 10th of September. This was totally proportionate .e.g Sept 9th - Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs dropped general purpose 500-pound bombs, guided bomb unit-12s and fired cannon rounds onto anti-Afghan fighting forces using small arms fire from a building in the vicinity of Nangalam

The on-scene joint terminal attack controllera declared the missions were successful in every single case reported in detail . Indeed in years of reading reports we have yet to see a "close support mission" where JTAC reported an unsuccessful one.

The excerpt at the top of this post is from a blog From cow pastures to Ksosovo with a post dated earlier this year Sunday March 9th 2008 ... it continues " The reason that we conduct the Nangalam patrol so often is to become familiar with the locals and to make the locals of the village more comfortable with us,” said Staff Sgt, David Dzwick, 30, of Traverse City, Mich., a squad leader with 1st Platoon.

In order to monitor traffic in the village of Nangalam, and make sure that the enemy is not making the village their home, Soldiers of 1st Platoon enrolled the local shop owners and villagers into the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment System to make sure that they are not wanted by the local police or government. "...."The Afghans of the village recognize these Soldiers and greet them warmly by welcoming them into their shops and cooperating in every way possible when asked to help. "
Perhaps there is a disconnect here ... ? One minute glad handing the next bombing the shit out of them ?

There is a well illustrated article by embedded journos Sebastian Junger with pics by Tim Hetherington of the 173rd Airborne in action in this area in Vanity Fair October 2008

Afghanistan - Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drops bomb on enemy - State of Hearts and Minds on Ground unknown

Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations July 8. In total, 74 close-air-support missions were flown as part of the ISAF and Afghan National Security Forces, reconstruction activities and route patrols. according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.

In the vicinity of Molla Ashraf, an Air Force MQ-9 Reaper dropped a guided bomb unit-12 onto enemy combatants. A JTAC controller declared that Hearts and Minds were won.

An Air Force B-1B Lancer dropped GBU-38s onto enemy combatants and an enemy compound near Bagram. A JTAC controller declared that Hearts and Minds were won.

In the vicinity of Now Zad, a Navy F/A18E Super Hornet and F/A18C Hornets dropped GBU-38s onto enemy combatants and an enemy compound.A JTAC controller declared that Hearts and Minds were won.

F/A-18Es conducted shows of force to deter enemy activities near Gardez.. A JTAC controller declared that Hearts and Minds were won.


A-10s performed shows of force to deter anti-Afghan activities near Gardez. A JTAC controller declared that Hearts and Minds were won.


Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles conducted shows of force to deter enemy activities in the vicinity of Tarin Kowt and near Gardez. A JTAC controller declared that Hearts and Minds were won.

Near Gardez, French 2000 Mirages performed shows of force to deter anti-Afghan activities. No JTAC to report state of Hearts and Minds

In Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 27 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions integrated and synchronized with coalition ground forces, protected key infrastructure, provided overwatch for reconstruction activities and helped to deter and disrupt terrorist activities..... and ...er won Hearts and Minds.

Bombing Hearts and Minds - again and gain and again ... the rain of terror

Feb. 6 airpower summary: F-15s hit enemy combatants

Afghanistan

An F-15E Strike Eagle dropped a guided bomb unit-38(1 tonne HE) onto a position where enemy combatants were located. JTAC = successful.

An RAF GR-7 Harrier conducted shows of force in the vicinity of Kajaki Dam (which NATO forces took in February 2007) in order to deter enemy activities in the area. JTAC = successful.

In total, 33 close-air-support missions were flown as part of the ISAF and Afghan security forces, reconstruction activities and route patrols.

In Iraq, F-16 Fighting Falcons used a GBU-12 (500lbs HE) and GBU-38s (1 tonne HE) to successfully destroy a house-borne improvised explosive device, an enemy combatant command and control building and an enemy weapons bunker. The strikes took place in the vicinity of Baqubah.

A Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet dropped GBU-38s(1 tonne HE) onto a car that had been destroyed and was filled with ordnance. JTAC = successful.

In Basrah, a RAF GR-4 Tornado successfully destroyed enemy mortar rocket rails using cannon rounds. Additionally, the GR-4 Tornado conducted a show of force to deter enemy activities in the area.

In Mosul, F-16s dropped a GBU-12 and GBU-38s onto an enemy building that coalition forces had been taking fire from. JTAC = successful.

In total, coalition aircraft flew 65 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom



Benjamin Lowy, USA, VII Network.
Kabul market, Afghanistan (cropped)
Daily Life Singles prize World Press Awards this week (More award winning pics here)