Afghanistan « Feral Jundi

Friday, February 12, 2010

Military News: U.S. Marines Launch Major Offensive Into Marja, Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Military News — Tags: Afghanistan, Marines, Marja, Military News, offensive, Taliban — Matt @ 3:19 PM

Big news, and a big operation. The biggest since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, and I really hope the devil dogs tear apart the Taliban in Marja. Go get ’em!! –Matt

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U.S. Marines launch major offensive in Afghanistan

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran

February 12, 2010

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN — Thousands of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers traveling in helicopters and mine-resistant vehicles began punching into a key Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan early Saturday, as one of the largest operations to assert government control over this country got underway.

The first wave of Marines and Afghan soldiers swooped into the farming community of Marja at about 2 a.m. Saturday local time (4:30 p.m. Eastern), their CH-53 Super Stallion transport helicopters landing amid clouds of dust on fallow fields. As the troops, weighed down with ammunition and supplies, lumbered out and set up defensive positions, AV-8B Harrier fighter jets and AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters circled overhead in the moonless sky.

Subsequent waves of troops were expected to alight in other parts of Marja in the hours before dawn. At sunrise, hundreds more Marines and Afghan soldiers plan to enter Marja by land, using mobile bridges to ford irrigation canals — built by U.S. engineers 50 years ago — that have served as defensive moats for the Taliban. Heavily armored mine-sweeping trucks and specially outfitted tanks will try to carve a path through a belt of makeshift bombs buried around the town.

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Funny Stuff: Ice Cream Attendant For DynCorp, Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Funny Stuff,Jobs — Tags: Afghanistan, DynCorp, ice cream, Jobs, private military company — Matt @ 6:28 PM

I thought this was funny, just because it is DynCorp. But it’s a job and I am sure it pays pretty damn good. You would probably be very popular during the summer as well. No word if you have to go to the Crucible for the spin up. lol –Matt

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Ice Cream Attendant

Location: Kandahar,

Job ID: FN13627-2

Status: Vacant

Position Type: Contract

Category: Food Services

Company Description

Position Description

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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Afghanistan: Tribe To Fight Taliban In Return For Aid From U.S.

Filed under: Afghanistan,Military News — Tags: Afghanistan, Jezailchis Scouts, Jim Gant, Military News, pseudo operations, Shinwari tribe, Taliban, tribal engagement teams — Matt @ 11:32 AM

This is good news, if in fact these guys want to oppose the Taliban. Boy, a 400,000 strong tribe is impressive, and 1 million dollars in aid for their loyalty is a good deal in my book. Now will they actually produce and truly run the Taliban out of town is the big question? Now would be an excellent time to keep on ODA team right there with these tribal leaders, and ensure that we get what we paid for. Some of that TET that Jim Gant was talking about. Hell, throw in a couple of shotguns as gifts, and lets fire this thing up.

I would be curious to hear what all the Afghan hands have to say about this latest deal. Also, this would be a prime opportunity to get a few folks from this tribe to help in a pseudo operations. Or they could set up a Jezailchis Scout program, and give a little capability to the tribe. The point is, if these folks are serious about joining the fight, then we should be taking full advantage of that. –Matt

Edit: Check out Tim’s post about the subject here.

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Afghan Tribe to Fight Taliban in Return for Aid From U.S.

January 28, 2010

By DEXTER FILKINS

JALALABAD, Afghanistan — The leaders of one of the largest Pashtun tribes in a Taliban stronghold said Wednesday that they had agreed to support the American-backed government, battle insurgents and burn down the home of any Afghan who harbored Taliban guerrillas.

Elders from the Shinwari tribe, which represents about 400,000 people in eastern Afghanistan, also pledged to send at least one military-age male in each family to the Afghan Army or the police in the event of a Taliban attack.

In exchange for their support, American commanders agreed to channel $1 million in development projects directly to the tribal leaders and bypass the local Afghan government, which is widely seen as corrupt.

“The Taliban have been trying to destroy our tribe, and they are taking money from us, and they are taking our sons to fight,” said Malik Niaz, a Shinwari elder. “If they defy us now, we will defeat them.”

The pact appears to be the first in which an entire Pashtun tribe has declared war on Taliban insurgents.

But the agreement, though promising, is fragile at best. Afghan loyalties are historically fluid, and in the past the government has been unable to prevent Taliban retaliation. The agreement may also be hard to replicate, since it arose from a specific local dispute and economic tensions with the Taliban.

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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Legal News: Australian Sentenced To Death In Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Australia,Legal News — Tags: Afghanistan, Australia, death sentence, Langdon, Legal News — Matt @ 8:46 AM

Unfortunate to say the least. It is hard to comment on this, other than I truly hope that justice is being served and the Australian government can help to commute the sentence. This kind of deal is one of those things where you had to be there, in order to understand the dynamics. Was there an ambush, or was Langdon trying to cover up a killing? Did he shoot this individual out of self defense, or what?

What I can do is highlight the fact that just because this man was a contractor, does not make him a criminal or instantly label him guilty. It’s too bad that most folks out there, who call themselves human rights activists, seem to be pretty quite when folks in my industry get screwed over by less than perfect legal systems.

In final, the Afghanis will do whatever they want with this case, and Langdon is at their mercy. If any readers have anything to add, feel free to do so in the comments section. Also check out this article that shows the high level negotiations going on between the governments about this.-Matt

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Australian Sentenced to Death in Afghanistan

January 27, 2010

SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian security contractor has been sentenced to death in Afghanistan for fatally shooting an Afghan colleague and trying to blame the slaying on the Taliban, Australian and Afghan officials said Wednesday.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his government would try to prevent the former Australian soldier from being executed — an act that could raise tensions between Afghanistan and its largest non-NATO contributor of international security forces.

Australia strongly opposes the death penalty and regularly lobbies governments to commute the sentences of Australians convicted abroad of capital crimes.

Australian Robert William Langdon, 38, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death last October in a court in Kabul, and an appeals court upheld the verdict last week, Australian officials said Wednesday. They were confirming a media report Wednesday that detailed the case for the first time.

The Australian newspaper reported that Langdon was working for U.S.-based private security company Four Horsemen International and had admitted killing the Afghan guard last May during a heated argument about security for a convoy.

The newspaper said the convoy was ambushed by suspected Taliban in Wardak province south of Kabul but escaped to the provincial capital, where the two men argued about whether to continue.

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Afghanistan: Canadian General Says Afghanistan To Regulate Private Security

Filed under: Afghanistan,Canada,Industry Talk — Tags: Afghanistan, Canada, government, private military companies, private security companies, security, security contracting — Matt @ 1:58 PM

I love this kind of stuff, because it is a prime example of the types of market forces that not only drive places like Afghanistan, but throughout the world. My thoughts on the matter is that if the police paid more than PSC’s and the Taliban, then more than likely, they will retain their officers. But that would take the government of Afghanistan actually coughing up that kind of dough, or I mean, the Coalition, and actually putting their money where their mouth is.

The other factor is free will. Men and women who are in this business throughout the world, all have families to feed, bills to pay and dreams to fulfill. You cannot tell a person in this industry, to work a job that pays them less than what they are worth, and especially if there is work that pays more or offers better benefits.

This is also about choice, and maybe working for a PSC is more convenient for these guys, as opposed to the military or police. Or they don’t trust the government or maybe they don’t like being cops. The other one could be time, and maybe the police force really doesn’t have a flexible enough schedule for these guys. Everyone has their reasons. –Matt

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Afghanistan to regulate private security: Canadian general

By Steve Rennie

25th January 2010

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The greener pastures of private-security firms lure away many an Afghan cop with the promise of bigger paycheques and relatively safer work.

But now the Afghan government is drawing up new rules for private companies as it tries to stop police from leaving the force.

Canada’s highest-ranking soldier in Afghanistan says the regulations will help put the country’s police force on an even playing field with security companies.

“I don’t think anybody wants to limit anybody’s ability to choose their own destiny,” Maj.-Gen. Michael Ward, deputy commander of NATO forces training the Afghan police, said Monday.

“But when AWOL and desertion are such a big problem in the security forces, then you don’t actually want to be stimulating it by letting the competition hire them away.”

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