Military Tactics

Thomas Lorenz
Prof. Speetzen

Changing Tactics in Afghanistan

Technology during the beginning of wars is greatly improved upon during and by the end of the war a whole new way of doing things has evolved. The American Civil War produced new tactics and styles of warfare to include tunneling and machine guns. The concepts of trench warfare goes back further than the American Civil War, but the idea of tunneling underneath enemy positions to rig explosives and blow up that part of the line is. Same with machine guns and how DR. Gatlin invented the Gatline gun, it wasn't used during the war for the most part, but was established as a primary weapon after the war. Medical improvements are noticed as well. If it wasn't for Iraq and Afghanistan technology for disabled veterans would not have improved as quickly as it has. All though war is not a great excuse for improvement, it is reason enough to get people of thinking of better ways of getting things done. Afghanistan is now forcing today's military to improve the lives and the ability to fight for those servicemen and woman. The Marines are the latest case of that happening. They Marines have adopted new hybrid dirt bikes to use during missions. The bikes are silent running and make minimal noise, they also allow those Marines to cross longer distances and harsh terrain quickly and make a bigger impact in their zone of operations.

These upgrades are necessary for so many reason. It keeps the soldiers fresher and more capable when combat commences. It counter acts the Taliban's tactics of using mopeds and other means of transportation of quick infill and ex-fill procedures. This will limit the enemies capabilities to maneuver around the battle field and restrict the locations they are willing to defend. With the up and coming elections in Afghanistan, it is imperative to let the enemy know their ability to withdraw from the battle field will be limited and force their hand.

Afghanistan proves to be more volatile to civilians.


With the recent deaths of Doctors, and journalists which both can be considered non combatants have increased. The looming election for the new President of Afghanistan, the violence on civilians is apparently getting worse. The United States has attempted to work with the Afghanistan Government on staying past 2014, but Current Afghan President Karzai has resisted. President Karzai has outwardly reisisted U.S. support and policy and has invited certain sections of the Taliban in for peace talks. It is clear hostilities will not cease but will increase as the the inevitable changes in Afghanistan will happen. The future situation of Afghanistan now lays in the hands of its people and how they want to handle the pressures of foreign and local influence.

Karzai has made his bed.

Karzai made his bed.

            The Afghanistan Presidential Elections are now just days away and the increase in violence have made each candidate a target. President Karzai has not quelled these attacks with his constant banter towards American policies and tactics in Afghanistan and surrounding countries. President Karzai has openly discussed treaties with the Taliban and has released prisoners without United States consent or advisement. Is currently holding a Tri-Lateral peace meeting with Tajik (Taliban) presidents and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. All these activities and talks are blatant jabs at U.S. interests. Chairman of Joint Chief of Staffs General Martin Dempsey, when approached about the recent events and up and coming ending of the BSA (Bilateral Security Agreement), is considering total withdrawal of troops and civilians. This will mean the end of the longest war in U.S. history, but also the increased threat of violence in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

            While looking back through recent Afghanistan history, in 1996 the Soviet Union left a figurehead of a President in Afghanistan, Mohammad Najibullah and was subsequently removed from office for being a puppet of the Russian regime then executed along with his brother. President Karzai would apparently not want the same fate and with the increased violence in Kabul, the writing is on the wall. President Karzai has been stalling on the signing of the BSA and with this passive approach may be to late to secure the proper support from U.S. troops. Numbers from 5,000 to 10,000 troops are currently proposed to stay in the provincial capital for security and training of Afghanistan security forces. This means if the security forces there are not properly trained and maintained, warlords will take over the majority of the country and Kabul will be a state within itself.

            The world in general understands that the U.S. government is under a lot of pressure to bring its budget under control and with that military cuts will follow. Afghanistan will no longer be a base of operations and any future support will not be available unless the BSA is signed. The U.S. has lost over 19, 000 troops in Afghanistan since the beginning of the war, and now with mass media being so prevalent and available to every persons touch has given each death more purpose to bring troops home, and Terrorism is no longer as good as excuse as in previous years.

            The recent violence in Kabul with attacks on guest house’s, government buildings, assassinations of pro U.S. individuals, Pakistan in peace talk agreements with the Taliban have made the case for complete U.S. withdrawal apparent. No one else is waiting on Karzai to sign the BSA and even if a new president signs it, it will be late. The obituaries will read that of heads of state in the future and the Taliban will hold control of Afghanistan once again.

Threats of Troop withdrawal from Afghanistan...ill timed?

Recent developments between United States and Afghanistan have become even more stressed. The proposed Bilateral Security agreement (BSA) has yet to be signed and the future operations in Afghanistan and surrounding area will severely be effected. This is not excluding future discussions with Taliban leaders on prisoner exchange and peace talks. With President Hamid Karzai’s lack of commitment to U.S. policies and recent support of Taliban have raised concern with which way the country is going to head after the U.S. ends its military and financial involvement.

            The U.S. recently involved in prisoner exchange talks to retrieve Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl,  ended by Taliban officials. Reported the Andrea Mitchel Reports show on MSNBC, the Taliban have refrained in any commitment with prisoner exchange due to the future Afghanistan Elections, the BSA agreement and future US involvement in the area. There is a lot riding on the future words of the two current presidents and their stances with these current problems arising. If the U.S. does leave the country, a top Pakistan official claims that 30% of the Afghanistan security forces will desert and the country of Afghanistan will go into a civil war. Pakistan has been the most affected country during hostilities in Afghanistan commenced. This is not only due to it being a border country, but its close personal ties with Afghanistan.

            The U.S. will be pressuring Karzai to sign the Agreement allowing at least 13 thousand US and 4 thousand Allied forces to remain in the country. If Karzai does refuse to sign the agreement, then there will be aggressive U.S. and N.A.T.O support for Afghanistan Presidential Candidate Abdullah Abdullah who has promised to sign the bill if elected.  The BSA will most likely be the single driving force to help decide the future of Afghanistan along with the moral and commitment of its military and how the Taliban will be addressed. The U.S. is more than ready to bring its troops home from this 13-year war, and the BSA will help do that.

Afghanistan already has surpassed any other American war in time spent. Besides this distressing fact, Americans are still filling body bags from an increasing controversial country that may end up the same way Iraq has. Iraq has lost cities and regions to Al Qaeda and Iraq appears to be in more distress everyday with no end in site. With recent experience in foreign upstart government failure and lack of support, Afghanistan will remain in question if it is worth Government tax dollars and life to support its survival.

End State future U.S. and Afghanistan relations will hinder relationships in the entire region. Surrounding countries will have to deal with refugees, troops and fighting at its borders if there is to be a civil war. How just is it for the U.S. to maintain forces and spend millions of dollars for a country that may not want us there? This will require more help from the entire international community and support will for overall success will have to remain the U.S. main priority.

Afghanistan's continued risks

By Thomas Lorenz

Future plans for the military in Afghanistan are underway with the recent meeting of President Obama and Commander of Afghanistan Operations General Joseph Dunford, on January 29, 2014.  A proposed total 15,000 U.S. and N.A.T.O troops are to remain in country and Senator (REP) John McCain spoke with reporter Wolf Blitzer during the show “The Situation Room" on CNN on January 28th about the future plans of withdrawal. Senator McCain stated right off with “Haven’t we learned from Iraq?” He discussed the loss of Iraq cities previously fought and won by U.S. troops and subsequently are currently held by Al Qaeda. Senator McCain warns that if this administration allows us to leave Afghanistan the same way we will see a repeat of Iraq. 

 With the impending U.S. troop withdrawal, continued threats of Taliban, and last but not least the up and coming April 5th, Afghanistan Presidential Elections have made Afghanistan one war that the U.S. can no longer afford.  As reported by Fox News, the Taliban have threatened to disrupt the elections and have already done so with 2 workers already dead from attacks. The campaigns of 11 people vying to be the next president in line will complicate matters not only for the campaign trail, but national security. It will require more frequent patrols and surveillance to ensure the safety of locals and politicians alike. Iraq had similar problems with bombings and drive by shootings during their first elections. Safety had became a major problem with little to no resolve and expect hostilities in this region to double before April.

The biggest problem is all the money wasting away in Afghanistan. Fox News reported that around 1 billion of U.S. Aid has gone unaccounted for. The USAID organization sent a letter to Fox news and requested the story not be published for future continuity with the country of Afghanistan. It appears that the billions of dollars we have spent, lives lost, and of course the protection of public perception of the current administration are at risk. Cutting ties will represent a lack of care towards lives lost and an overall waste of U.S. dollars.

News links:
Sen. John McCain Interview http://situationroom.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/28/mccain-havent-we-learned-from-iraq/?iref=allsearch 

Afghanistan Elections http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/02/02/campaigning-for-afghanistan-presidential-election-kicks-off-with-rallies-and/

USAID report http://video.foxnews.com/v/3128524393001/us-aid-to-afghanistan-going-to-waste/#sp=show-clips

 

 Can the Iraq and Afghanistan National Security Forces maintain?

 By Thomas Lorenz

     While the United States Military has initiated its withdrawal from Afghanistan, will the Afghan Forces be able to maintain security of the country?
     President Barack Obama addressed the problem during the State of the Union address and stated:
“With Afghan forces now in the lead for their own security, our troops have moved to a support role."(2014 State of the Union Address) President Obama has approached this problem on dates previous to the State of the Union address, yet in my belief the system does not work. The U.S. Military has had a system of training troops since its Declaration of Independence in 1776. To develop a well trained military member, at its lowest ranks is around 6 months to a year. Basic training for service members is no less than 10 weeks long, however it takes longer to understand the job. The leadership whom trains and leads the U.S. forces have generations of experience and expertise to back itself up. Iraq does not have this.
     President Obama is correct in the fact that Afghanistan and Iraq need to take care of their own, but at a cost. Currently Iraq has fighting in Al Anbar Province and Al Qaeda has taken control of Fallujah and the Capital of Al Anbar, Ramadi. Since the last troops to left Iraq in December 2011, Iraq has been in a steady down hill slide of civil unrest, political strife and tribal disagreement and raises another question "have we left to soon"?
     Yes, we have lost precious lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, but will those deaths be all for not. If the U.S. doesn't properly leave these countries in a position to defend themselves, it will be. Many questions of why and how the U.S. entered Iraq have been asked since the first day the U.S. invaded; it appeared that natural resources and revenge were behind the motivation of the invasion, especially when no weapons of mass destruction were not found. The biggest crimes during the Iraq invasion were the strategy of occupation, goals of the administration, and lack of proper planning for the country once we took control of it. 
     The United States has been coined as the worlds big brother and its original idea of isolationism had been on the out since Theodore Roosevelt. The U.S. invites itself to many countries, and in the eyes of the host counties, as an uninvited guests. Most instances of compromised national security and interests have required the U.S. presence in those countries, but that doesn't make them any less responsible for the actions in the countries that the U.S. have invaded. Any invading country with the goal to eliminate a threat, establish a government and infrastructure, should not leave before the status of that country is stable. Not to mention that Al Qaeda still hasn't been eradicated,  or that its presence evolved in Iraq during and especially now since U.S. Forces have been withdrawn.
     To break down in terms what I have discussed. The United States can not afford more mishaps nor indecision on how we conduct ourselves in World affairs. Our entry into Iraq was abrupt and ill planned, and it put the mission of Afghanistan at risk and extended the war there. The world is not safer, it is just more covert. Our foreign policies must change, especially if military intervention is needed. The security forces of Iraq and Afghanistan are minimal at best, they are not an Army. To call them such is not correct, and do not expect great things from either force. We will see in the next 6 months to a year how bad things can get if either of these countries can't get their act together.