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Report: Biden to Deploy 650 More Troops to Afghanistan

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Afghan news outlets, citing CNN, reported Tuesday that the administration of President Joe Biden would soon deploy another 650 troops to Afghanistan, where Biden expanded the U.S. presence through at least September in an order this month.

Afghanistan’s Khaama Press and Pajhwok Afghan News reported the alleged troop number increase as meant to protect American forces as they withdraw. CNN claimed the news originated with “several defense officials,” none of whom went on the record.

“The deployment was approved by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin late last week as part of a package of military assets being sent to the country to facilitate the US withdrawal, which is due to be complete by September 11,” CNN alleged.

Former President Donald Trump arranged an agreement with the Taliban, which the United States has been fighting in Afghanistan for two decades, last year that would have resulted in a full American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by May 1. The deal required the Taliban to cut ties to foreign terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and no longer attack American forces. Biden broke the deal this month, disregarding Trump’s May 1 deadline and claiming all American forces would leave by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the jihadist attacks on the U.S. homeland that prompted the Afghanistan invasion.

The Taliban denounced Biden’s breach of the agreement and asserted their jihadists now had no reason to abide by their vow not to attack American forces between May and September. (Read more from “Report: Biden to Deploy 650 More Troops to Afghanistan” HERE)

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Biden To Withdraw All U.S. Troops From Afghanistan By Sept. 11

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President Joe Biden plans to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, missing the May 1 deadline he inherited from the Trump administration, according to two congressional aides and a senior administration official briefed on the plans.

The decision, which Biden is expected to announce this week, will likely prompt the Taliban to renew attacks on the roughly 3,500 American troops there, which have largely halted since the February 2020 agreement between the Trump administration and Taliban officials.

The news comes just weeks after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made his first visit to Afghanistan, where he met with U.S. officials on the ground and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul. (Read more from “Biden To Withdraw All U.S. Troops From Afghanistan By Sept. 11” HERE)

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Acting Defense Secretary Announces Troop Drawdown To 2,500 in Afghanistan and Iraq

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Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller on Tuesday announced a U.S. troop drawdown to 2,500 in both Afghanistan and Iraq, consistent with President Trump’s promises to bring U.S. troops home and his goal to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“I am formally announcing that we will implement President Trump’s orders to continue our repositioning of forces from those two countries,” Miller said. “By January 15th, 2021, our forces, their size in Afghanistan, will be 2,500 troops. Our force size in Iraq will also be 2,500 by that same date.”

Miller said the drawdown would be executed in a way “that protects our fighting men and women, our partners in the intelligence community, and diplomatic corps, and our superb allies that are critical to rebuilding Afghan and Iraqi security capabilities and civil society for a lasting peace.”

Miller said the U.S. continues to stand with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani as his government works towards a negotiated settlement with the Taliban for peace.

The move brings down the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan from 8,600 and from the mid-5,000s in Iraq when Trump first entered office in 2017. (Read more from “Acting Defense Secretary Announces Troop Drawdown To 2,500 in Afghanistan and Iraq” HERE)

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Lost Cause: A Special Forces Soldier’s Case for Leaving Afghanistan

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. . .Several factors have allowed this conflict to become the longest war in American history. Through advances in equipment, medicine, and technology, the survivability rate for American soldiers is the highest on record. According to the Department of Defense casualty statistics, 20,354 American service members have been wounded in Afghanistan, with 1,868 killed in action — a 90 percent survivability rate for those wounded in combat in Afghanistan.

. . .In October 2001, 88 percent of Americans approved military action in Afghanistan. The military objectives at the time were to bring al-Qaida leadership to justice, prevent them from using Afghanistan as a safe haven, and remove the Taliban from power. From a practical perspective, all of these objectives had been accomplished by December of 2002.

. . .But instead of turning the country over to the Afghanis that U.S. Special Forces had fought alongside to defeat the Taliban, the U.S. military began increasing its footprint and became tasked with assisting the new Afghani republic with establishing effective governance. The mission changed from a clearly defined and realistic military objective to one beyond the scope and expertise of the entities involved. According to a letter by Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley, the stated mission is of the U.S. military is, “To deploy, fight, and win our Nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt, and sustained land dominance by Army forces across the spectrum of conflict as part of the Joint Force.”

While the U.S. military can help provide security to the frontiers of warzones, it is simply not designed to help establish civil governance. Even if its post-Taliban role in Afghanistan is defined as providing security assistance to the new government, this in itself is not an objective with a tangible end state but a recipe for the perpetual conflict the U.S. military finds itself mired in.

. . .Predictably, with increasing U.S. troop presence, casualties, and costs, members of Congress have occasionally attempted to clarify stated military goals and create some measure of accountability to the leaders of the war effort. But in December 2019, the publication of the so-called Aghanistan Papers revealed that high-ranking military and public officials lied to the American people for years. (Read more from “Lost Cause: A Special Forces Soldier’s Case for Leaving Afghanistan” HERE)

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Government Watchdog: 284 Americans Died Working on Afghanistan ‘Reconstruction’

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Dying while building for others.

A new report from the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR) shows that the human cost of the war in Afghanistan wasn’t limited to U.S. soldiers engaged in combat.

“At least 284 Americans were killed in Afghanistan while performing reconstruction or stabilization missions,” according to the new SIGAR report specially focused on the human cost of the reconstruction effort. “This includes 216 U.S. service members and 68 U.S. civilians (government employees, contractors, and those with unknown statuses). An additional 245 service members and 76 civilians were wounded.”

While the loss of soldiers in any form of warfare is tragic, it’s truly unsettling to find that so many soldiers and American civilians died working on urban renewal projects for a nonexistent nation-state on behalf of a corrupt government.

In testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, laid bare the myth of the Afghan military as a worthy cause for American interests. “The Afghan military — and particularly the Afghan police — has been a hopeless nightmare and a disaster,” said the inspector, who has been the lone voice exposing the Afghan fraud for years.

Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee earlier this week, Sopko noted how every time things deteriorate with the Afghan government and military, the Pentagon moved to classify the information so it’s off-limits to public scrutiny. “Every time we find something that looks like it’s going negative, it gets classified. … Most of the [methods] of measuring success are now classified,” he said Tuesday before the Senate panel.

This is the state of the failed mission so many people are dying for. In addition to the 284 who have died from reconstruction efforts, according to SIGAR, 245 U.S. soldiers and 76 civilian workers were injured. These casualties are all for the reconstruction efforts and don’t include the tens of thousands who were killed or injured during combat and counter-terrorism missions, such as patrols, raids, and ambushes.

According to the report, 59 American service members were killed and another 49 wounded from insider attacks while engaging in reconstruction activities. Hundreds more have been killed in ambushes in combat-related activities by the very soldiers they are training. The latest are two special forces soldiers – Sgt. Javier Jaguar Gutierrez and Sgt. Antonio Rey Rodriguez – who were killed last weekend in the far east of the country when soldiers they were training led them into a Taliban ambush.

Bizarrely, rather than voting on a new mission or withdrawing from a war with an enormous human and fiscal toll, the Senate passed a war powers resolution on Thursday to curtail Trump’s authority to combat Iran in a war that is nonexistent. Eight Republicans joined with every Democrat to pass the resolution 55-45.

Democrats are right to be concerned that 100 soldiers wound up being injured in Iraq from the Iran missile attack launched in retaliation for the killing of Qassem Soleimani. However, that is a reason to pull out of Iraq, so that we are not sitting ducks for Iran while we are propping up a government in Baghdad that is allied with Iran.

As I reported in January, most of these very same members voted for a defense authorization bill last December that continues to authorize our military and diplomatic missions all over Iraq. What do they want from the president? To keep them there but not to defend them? All but four Democrats supported that bill, yet they want to tie the hands of the president in defending a mission they keep greenlighting.

When one GOP member offered an amendment to clarify that the president can use force to “defend U.S. territories, citizens, or personnel at military bases and diplomatic facilities or to restrict missions related to force protection of U.S. aircraft, ships, or personnel,” it was defeated, 51-49, with GOP Sens. Collins, Lee, Moran, and Paul joining the Democrats.

Also, so many of the members who voted for this resolution absolutely savaged Trump for pulling out of an undeclared war in Syria. What gives? They oppose a pullout from Syria, are silent on Afghanistan and Iraq, but want to tie his hands from deterring the one enemy that harms our interests the most? Besides, Trump has already made it clear that he has no interest in getting involved with Iran on the ground as we did in other countries and that regime change is up to the people of Iran.

Clearly, this is all about virtue-signaling and appeasing Iran. This has nothing to do with national security, the safety of our soldiers, or concern for congressional input in unaccountable wars. If that were true, Mr. Sopko’s voice wouldn’t be so lonely sounding the alarm on Afghanistan for so long.

Recently, Trump has expressed his desire to pull out from Afghanistan altogether. Watch for Senate Democrats once again take the other side of the war issue and suddenly demand that he not end a war without Congress. (For more from the author of “Government Watchdog: 284 Americans Died Working on Afghanistan ‘Reconstruction’” please click HERE)

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U.S. Special Forces Soldiers Killed in Ambush Set by Our Afghan Army ‘Friends’

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During last week’s State of the Union address, President Trump promised to wind down the operations in Afghanistan, noting that our troops “are warfighters, the best in the world, and they either want to fight to win or not fight at all.” Given that there really is nothing to fight for there but an unreliable Afghan government, Trump said, “We are working to finally end America’s longest war and bring our troops back home!” The deaths of two more soldiers demonstrate that the pace needs to be picked up.

On Saturday, it was announced that two soldiers were killed and six others wounded when a team of commandoes from the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group were ambushed by the very Afghan National Army forces they were helping in east Afghanistan. Last year, every special forces group suffered at least one fatality in Afghanistan, and that deadly trend is continuing this year: 22 soldiers died in 2019, the most since 2014. Six soldiers have already died so far this year, in only five weeks.

In the case of Antonio Rodriguez, one of the soldiers killed this week, this was reportedly his tenth deployment. What could possibly be so vital in that land that warrants such exhaustion of our special forces?

Not only are we sending our best warfighters into a meat grinder with no defined mission or logical outcome, we are having them fight for a compromised force, making them subject to endless “green on blue” attacks. In the ultimate paradox, we are so invested in building up the Afghan military that we bring thousands of unvetted Afghans to our shores every year under the guise of helping a war effort that in itself is placing our troops in danger from unvetted coalition “partners.”

Several hundred Afghan military trainees have gone AWOL in our country. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) observed that the “limited vetting of Afghan trainees, and the restrictions of the investigatory and asylum processes, may pose a security risk to the United States when trainees go AWOL.” We’ve spent about $81 billion on the Afghan security forces, as part of a nearly $1 trillion price tag for the two-decade war.

This social work in a dangerous combat zone should have ended the first month of the Trump presidency. The president has wanted to put Afghanistan in our rear-view mirror, but despite the bipartisan support for ending this madness, the nearly unanimous voices from our broken national security leadership demanded the president double down. In August 2017, the president announced a surge of troops with no strategy of what to do with them. Two and a half years later, it’s time for the president to follow his better judgement and fire those in the administration who are resisting.

What he is likely hearing is what we continue to hear from many establishment Republican congressmen. They essentially argue, “We need to fight them there, so they don’t come here.”

This is exactly what Reps. Dan Crenshaw and Michael Waltz regurgitated yesterday.

This is the most absurd line of argument imaginable. It’s only because of the war that we are bringing foreign nationals to our shores in record numbers. The same unvetted Afghans ambushing our soldiers are being brought here in the thousands every year. The number of special immigration visas from Afghanistan has increased over the Trump years, and they are not subject to the refugee cap. We’ve brought in roughly 65,000 individuals who helped us fight “there.”

These swamp congressmen must understand the admonition of the 9/11 commission staff report: that 9/11 was all about visas and immigration because “terrorists cannot plan and carry out attacks in the United States if they are unable to enter the country.” Now, in addition to 2,500 dead and tens of thousands of wounded soldiers fighting “over there,” we have nothing to show for the war other than 100,000 largely unvetted new Afghan migrants.

There is no need to “negotiate” a phony peace deal with the Taliban. We should pull out on our own timetable, keep our naval and air assets in the region for strike and maneuver operations, which allow us to fight to our strengths instead of our enemies’ strengths, and then seal our own border.

The fact that we had a surge in Afghanistan rather than a redeployment of those soldiers to our border under the Trump presidency is a prime example of the failure of conservative media. The president is undeniably unhappy with our presence in Afghanistan. However, the inertia to stay there is one-sided among the voices at the DOD and State. Absent counter-pressure from outside conservatives, who have been distracted by everything but policy issues for the past three years, the president feels forced to stay the course. Thus, by conservatives laying off the administration, they are not only allowing bad policies to continue, but not giving the president the backing he needs to follow his instincts.

For the families of Sgt. 1st Class Javier J. Gutierrez and Sgt. 1st Class Antonio R. Rodriguez, isn’t it time we all apply John Kerry’s famous question: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” (For more from the author of “U.S. Special Forces Soldiers Killed in Ambush Set by Our Afghan Army ‘Friends’” please click HERE)

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U.S. Air Force Plane Crashes in Afghanistan; Pentagon Denies Enemy Fire but Taliban Claims They Shot It Down

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A U.S. Air Force E-11 plane crashed in Afghanistan on Monday, and at least two pilots were discovered dead, according to reports. The Taliban claimed to have shot down the plane, but the Pentagon has deni

U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett confirmed the crash in a statement to American Military News on Monday afternoon. “A U.S. Bombardier E-11A crashed today in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. We will provide additional information as it becomes available. Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false,” Leggett said.

Four-star Air Force Gen. David Goldfein also confirmed the crash while at a Center for a New American Security event. “It appears we have lost an aircraft. We don’t know the status of the crew,” he said, according to Military.com.

Goldfein confirmed that the plane was an E-11, but could not say whether or not the crash was the result of enemy fire. He added that the incident is under investigation.

Afghanistan government spokesperson Arif Noori confirmed the plane was flying between Kandahar province and Kabul when it went down in the Taliban-controlled Ghazni province south of Kabul, CBS News reported. (Read more from “U.S. Air Force Plane Crashes in Afghanistan; Pentagon Denies Enemy Fire but Taliban Claims They Shot It Down” HERE)

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Two Paratroopers Killed in Afghanistan

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The two soldiers killed when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan were paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, the defense department announced Sunday.

The IED attack took place Saturday in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, bordering Pakistan to the south. Killed in the blast were Staff Sgt. Ian P. McLaughlin, 29, of Newport News, Virginia; and Pfc. Miguel A. Villalon, 21, of Joliet, Illinois, according to a release. . .

“When our Nation called for its best Airborne Combat Engineers to deploy into harm’s way, Staff Sgt. McLaughlin and Pfc. Villalon answered without hesitation. They lived their motto, ‘Essayons,’ and embodied the values of the All American Engineer,” Col. Art Sellers, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, said in a released statement. “Their loved ones are now surrounded by a caring community offering comfort and assistance through this difficult time.”

McLaughlin, who joined the Army in 2012, was assigned to his current unit in 2016. He served there first as a horizontal construction engineer and then as a squad leader, according to officials with the 82nd Airborne. His awards included the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal with “C” Device, the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters signifying subsequent awards. . .

Villalon, who joined the Army in 2018 and was assigned to his current unit the following year, was also on his first combat deployment. His awards the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with “C” Device and the Army Achievement Medal. (Read more from “Two Paratroopers Killed in Afghanistan” HERE)

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Special Forces Soldier Killed in Afghanistan Two Days Before Christmas

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An Army Special Forces soldier from New Jersey was killed in combat operations in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said Monday.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Goble, 33, of Washington Township, died Monday from injuries he sustained while his unit was in combat operations the day before in Kunduz Province, the military said in a statement.

He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The Defense Department statement does not elaborate on the circumstances of the incident. . .

The Taliban claimed it was behind a fatal roadside bombing in northern Kunduz province, The Associated Press reported.

Talks between the U.S. and the Taliban resumed this month. On Dec. 12, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan tweeted that “we’re taking a brief pause” following a Taliban attack near Bagram Airfield. The envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he expressed outrage to the Taliban about the attack. (Read more from “Special Forces Soldier Killed in Afghanistan Two Days Before Christmas” HERE)

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New Report Reveals the Afghanistan War Was Always Based on Lies

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. . .The war in Afghanistan, now in its 19th year, is about as protracted and bloody as it has ever been. Throughout the entire conflict, hawks have told skeptical voters to sit down, be quiet, and leave it up to the professionals. For years they’ve said victory is supposedly just around the corner and that we’re making progress. And yet all the while, the situation on the ground tells a vastly different story. Still, those of us on the outside have never truly been able to witness the full gravity of Washington’s extravagantly expensive misadventure in Afghanistan — because the national security bureaucracy has a knack of keeping bad information hidden away in a vault.

No longer. After a three-year court battle, the Washington Post was able to get its hands on classified government documents that demonstrate the catastrophic nature of the war. The paper reports that “senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.”

Based on 2,000 pages and 428 interviews with American officials, the documents expose two disturbing key themes: For one, the United States had no clue what it was doing in Afghanistan, and even worse, government officials lied to voters every step of the way.

The picture that emerges is one of three successive administrations stubbornly resistant to confronting the depth of their mistakes, all too proud or scared to admit their failure. As Gen. Douglas Lute, the Afghanistan war czar in the Bush and Obama White Houses, summarized: “If the American people knew the magnitude of this dysfunction … 2,400 lives lost … Who will say this was in vain?”

What Lute worries about has already come to pass. A majority of the public and a majority of veterans don’t believe the war in Afghanistan was worth fighting. It’s not hard to see why the numbers are so high: There have been too many mistakes to count. (Read more from “New Report Reveals the Afghanistan War Was Always Based on Lies” HERE)

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