OTher Motives for Military Presence in Afghanistan

I have found an interesting video, It is an interview, dicsussing reasons for U.S presence in Afghanistan. and Evidence, and opinions, seem to suggest that the United States may have other motives for staying in Afghanistan. Afghansitan is also a important strategic objective for the U.S Military presence in Afghnasitan gives them the power to govern and spread influence, in Asia, and would give the US strategic advantage against China, and Russia, if any war or conflict were to break out.

Source

http://therealnews.com/t2/about-us

Special Forces conduct a Raid In Afghanistan

This is a video from Fox news and shows a team from the U.S Army Special Forces or more commonly known by thier infamous nickname the "Green Berets", conducting operations in 2009 , Southeastern Afghanistan.

The Raid and Death of Osama

Osama Bin Laden was once head of the extremist Islamic militant group known as Al Qaeda, and was killed during a U.S operation which was an attempt to capture him. He was killed in Pakistan on May 2nd, 2011, around 1 am local time.

After post 9/11 the CIA’s main goal was to find and locate Osama. Over the years, they had began tracking al Qaeda members, and eventually the CIA had located one of Al Qaeda Couriers, The Courier had been tracked for many years, until the Courier finally lead the CIA, to a compound in Pakistan, in the city of Abbottabad just 55 miles (34 km) from the capital city of Islamabad. In 2010 The CIA had rented a house in the city of Abbottabad, and operatives had ‘steaked out” and observed the compound. The CIA analysts back in the US had extensively analyzed all the circumstantial evidence to determine whether or not Osama, was hiding out in that location since no voice recording, or any sort of physical identification of Osama had been verified from the extensive Intelligence gathering.

In late 2010 after numerous Intelligence gathering operations, plans to assault the compound were being made. It was to be called Operation Neptune Spear. The objective would be to raid the compound, find out if Osama was indeed was residing there; he was to be killed or captured.

The raid consisted of 2 dozen Navy Seals from DEVGRU or formerly known as Seal Team 6 deployed from 2 Blackhawk helicopters, along with a few CIA operatives. After President Barrack Obama had authorized the action, Operation Neptune Star was to commence. The Seals were flown in by helicopters from a staging base in eastern Afghanistan from Jalalabad. 2 heavy lift Chinook helicopters were left on standby with and additional 2 Seal teams in case anything was to go wrong. During the evening, once it was dark, helicopters approached the compound, the Seals, fast roped down to the roof of the compound, while the second team  moved down into the courtyard and secure the ground floor, at least according to the battle plans. Acording to released information from the media, and that the U.S government released, once the Seals had breached the house, Al – kuwati, Osama’s coureier opened fire on the Seals, but was shot, a woman identified as the couriers wife was killed in the ensuing firefight. Another male was killed who was identified as a relative of the courier, when it was claimed he grabbed a knife. The Seals had supposedly encountered Osama while going upstairs and approaching his bedroom. The man who was visually identified by the Seals as Osama, ran towards his bedroom, the Seals chased him to the room ,where he was shot in the chest and head. It had been assumed that he was going for a weapon, since an Ak47, and a 9mm Makarov pistol were found by his bedside, one of Osama’s wifes, and children were wounded in the raid. Any other children or individuals found in the compound unarmed were restrained with plastic zip cuffs. The raid was to take 30 minutes but , the actual time between the Seals entrance and departure was reported to be 38 minutes, slightly longer than expected.  The Seals had identified Osama by taking a photograph of his corpse and taking a digitalsample of his DNA, an of one of his relatives, nad was electronically sent back to America for analysis. Also weapons caches, ammunition. Three ak47’s and 2 pistols were found. Hard drive, and electronic hardware’s, along with computers were seized, in hopes for obtaining more information. During the raid 1 helicopters had accidentally crash-land, and was destroyed by the SEAL operators in order to prevent anyone from capturing sensitive electronic data. After the raid was over, Osama’s body once identified was taken to the aircraft Carrier USS Carl Vinson, and his body was later buried in the sea. This was explained later by U.s officials that this was done because, no country wanted to bury him, nor did they want his burial grounds to become a sacred place for Islamic extremists.

After the raid it became apparent that the Pakistani government had not been aware of the American surveillance of the area or the raid, and had deep concerns about the Americans for crossing over Pakistani territory without permission. This argument had been countered by American officials asking the question how it was possible that the Pakistan government had no idea that Osama bin laden was in the country, even going as far as to accuse Pakistan for being knowledgeable of Osama’s presence, supporting him, and letting him remain.

Although this is considered to be a great victory for the United States, and its NATO allies, the War will continue, and military operations to get rid of insurgents, and provide aid to Afghanistan will continue. American officials promise to increase security within the U.S fear Al Qaeda will retaliate.

Sources

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42852700/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/t/us-forces-kill-osama-bin-laden-pakistan/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Osama_bin_Laden

War In Afghanistan ( 2001 - Present)

A significant thing which has happened in Afghanistan and will be as significant part of Afghanistan’s history is the U.S’s and the international communities commitment to their nation which has resulted in the overthrow of the Taliban regime and humanitarian aid in an effort to stabilize their nation and find a suitable democratic leadership.

The War in Afghanistan began post 9/11, when terrorists hijacked and crashed planes into the twin towers in New York. The leader of Terrorist Organization Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban was harboring Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The United States demanded that The Taliban give up Osama Bin Laden. When the Taliban refused to cease harboring Al Qaeda, The U.S government authorized military action to be taken. On October 7^th, 2001 the first military operations were launched. The first military forces on ground were the CIA’s Special Activities Division (SAD) along with U.S Special Forces. The USA’s initial goal was to use covert specialized units to gather information on Al Qaeda and Taliban, and to capture Osama Bin Laden covertly without the use of a large conventional force. The initial military action, also involved intense bombing of cities, and areas held by the Taliban, and the Assistance of the Northern Alliance, group which opposed the Taliban. By Nov 2001, larger forces had begun arriving. 1000 U.S Marines were joined in, and were joined by the 75^th Ranger Regiment and 10^th Mountain Division. 

In late 2001 during the very early stages of the war, The U.S came very close to capturing Osama; CIA had discovered a secret Al Qaeda base in a series of caves in the Tora Bora Mountains, close to the Pakistan border. The raid failed. Although many hostile Afghans were killed Osama Bin laden escaped, which later turned out that he had already crossed into Pakistan before the raid had even begun

Operation Enduring Freedom was now over. In 2002 Operation Anaconda was initiated, and by this point other nations such as Britain, Canada, and other members from the UN authorized International Security Assistance force were permitted  to assist the U.S in providing security within the nation, and fighting Taliban Insurgents. U.S lead coalition forces would soon number over 10,000 soldiers.

From years 2003 to 2005, although the invasion of Afghanistan had been successful and military presence established. Taliban insurgency began to emerge, and coalition forces had to combat this threat. IN order to counter this coalition forces began to prepare offensives to root out the enemy rebel forces.

In 2006 most of the U.S soldiers have been being replaced with NATO’s authorized International Security Assistance force, and other nations began to play a larger role in Afghanistan. The Coalition forces were sent to reinforce Southern Afghanistan as it has always been the most violent region within the country, and insurgency began to emerge within that specific region. 2006 was a very intense year for the Nato forces.

In 2007 the coalition forces continued to wage their offensive within the southern regions of Afghanistan. A study also showed that 100 to 300 of the insurgents were in fact foreign Islamic extremists who originated from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and as well from Chechnya in Russia, who were assisting the Taliban

2008, in the war in Afghanistan was considered a time for reassessment and commitment. Decisions were made by different nations whether to continue their commitment, expand or lessen it, or completely withdraw. By this point an Afghanistan government was being formed, and Coalition forces have been training Afghan national police and Military, in hopes that Afghanistan can become a self sufficient country under the right leadership, although to this day Afghanistan remains one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

In 2009, the U.S increased their troops in Afghanistan, while some nations are either withdrawing or lessening their commitment. Canada, made plans with withdraw all troops by 2011. Security and humanitarian aid continue.

In 2010 – Present, A peace initiative was being made by coalition forces.  Negotiations were made with Government of Afghanistan and with the Taliban Insurgents. Little progress is made, and security as well as offensives against the insurgents continues.

Sources

http://militaryreporter.net/tag/war-in-afghanistan-2001%E2%80%93present

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%93present)

Afganistans Brief History

Afghanistan has a very long and ancient history, which has long political struggles and may civil wars and in order to understand them better you need to know some of their history, I will explain it briefly 

Afghanistan is a landlocked nation, dominated mostly by mountainous and desert terrain. While the nation’s climate is dry, with cold winters and hot summers.

Afghanistan has had a very turbulent history.  Alexander the Great actually passed through the lands that were later to be known as Afghanistan in 328 BC, which at the time was part of the Persian Empire. In ad 642, the Arabs had retaken the territory, and introduced Islam. This led to Persian leadership before the area was taken over by the Turks in ad 998. In 1219 the country was invaded by Mongolians led by emperor Genghis Khan. After his death in 1227, a succession of chiefs, and subordinate rulers tried to run the country, but none had succeeded. In 1747 an individual by the name of Ahmed Shah Durrani, who was the founder of what is today known as Afghanistan, established his rule. As a Pashtun, Durrani was elected king by a tribal council. In the early 19^th century impact of British colonialism and czarist Russia also had significant influence on how the country is today. British were concerned about the Russian advances in Central Asia which in turn resulted in the British – Afghan wars first being fought in 1839 which resulted in a humiliating and later another war was fought once again in 1878. The British and Russians established the boundaries of what would now be modern day Afghanistan through the signing of the Treaty of the Durand Line. The British remained in control of Afghanistan’s foreign affairs. After fighting yet a third Anglo- Afghan warm, which resulted on an attack in India as well the war weary British decided to give up their control of Afghanistan and withdraw their soldiers, by signing the treaty of Rawalpindi in August 1919. August 19 is celebrated as Afghanistan’s Independence Day. From 1919 to 1978, the Afgan’s although independant continued to see powers struggles, and many coup d’états, from different leaders trying to secure power of themselves. In 1978 the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) a socialist party which had close ties to the Soviet Union, initiated a coup d’état which resulted in the overthrow and murder of  the Afghan leadership. During its power, the PDPA established a Marxists style reform which differed from Afghanistan’s tradition, which also resulted in many religious people being imprisoned. By summer of 1978 a revolt began, which soon resulted in countrywide insurgency occurring towards the government run by PDPA.
In 19178 a treaty was signed with the Soviet Union which marked improved diplomacy and military assistance. The PDPA had to rely on Soviet support and funding to stabilize their government, and prevent any revolts. In 1979 things began to deteriorate when the President and leader of the PDPA, Hafizulla Amin refused to listen to the Soviet’s advice on how to deal with their deteriorating security situation, which was threatened by insurgents who were trying to violently remove the PDPA from power. The Soviets were extremely dissatisfied with Hafizulla Amin’s inability to deal with the situation and feared they would lose their influence in the region. In October 1979, large numbers of Soviet Airborne soldiers were deployed around Kabul the capital of Afghanistan. Once on ground The Soviet’s KGB had found and assassinated President Amin and replaced him with Babrack Karmal. By early 1980, Soviet forces had numbered over 100,000 in Afghanistan. Even  with the large force of soldiers the Soviets could not control all of Afghanistan and in fact as much as 80% of the country side was uncontrolled by the communist forces. The Soviet presence in Afghanistan had actually worsened the situation, as many Afghans whether openly or not opposed soviet occupation and Soviets faced, and the mujahideen(Afghanistan resistance fighters) had made it difficult for soviets to maintain control. Poorly armed at first, but in 1984, the mujahideen began to receive support from the U.S. They had sent in the CIA as advisors to train and arm the fighters. The war had lasted from 1979 and ended in 1989. In 1989 the Soviets had withdrawn due to the high casualties, little progress stabilizing the country, and simply couldn’t take the financial burden of funding the war, especially considering that the Soviet regime was coming to end, and would come to end in 1991. After the Soviets had left a civil war was waged among different groups. In the early 1990’s the Taliban began to rise to power and had plans to take over the government. In 1994 gained enough strength and began to fight, to try and gain power. In 1996 the Taliban had captured the capital Kabul and by 1998 they controlled 90% of Afghanistan. The Taliban wanted to impose extreme interpretation of Islam, and proceeded to rule the country with an iron fist, committing massive human rights violations, especially towards women. They committed massacres to minority groups, and killed or tortured anyone who showed the slightest amount of opposition towards them. The Taliban fell in 2001, when after 9/11 when they refused to cease harbouring Osama Bin Laden, and his Al Qaeda, The USA invaded Afghanistan allying with the Northern Alliance, A  large amount of minority groups who opposed the Taliban. The marked the beginning of the War. Now that Americas has support from the UN and other nations in the world, thir goal has not only been to find Al Qaeda, and get rid of the Taliban, but to restabllize the nation, provide humanitarian aid, and ensure that a democratic leader is chosen to run the nation.

Sources

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5380.htm

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad09

Introduction to my Topic - Afghanistan

I have chosen my topic on Afghanistan because the country has a interesting history.It has had struggled with many issues and conflicts, Internal and foreign during its history especially during recent years, since the invasion of the country began after the events of 9/11. The War In Afghanistan has been going on for 10 years now and not much progress have been made, Although the Taliban’s Islamic regime was toppled and they lost many battles, The Taliban were never destroyed, the remaining Taliban and Al Qaeda crossed over to Pakistan and are launching their attacks from there. How this will all turn out in the end no one really knows.



Sources
http://www.state.gov/p/sca/ci/af/