thedrifter
02-19-04, 06:38 AM
02-18-2004
For the Record: A New Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan
Editor’s Note: The following are excerpts of a videoconference between Lt. Gen. David Barno, commander of the Combined Forces in Afghanistan, and Pentagon-based reporters on Feb. 17, on a major shift in coalition tactics in Afghanistan. Also participating was Col. Richard Perry, commander of civil-military operations in Afghanistan.
BARNO OPENING REMARKS:
With the activation of our Combined Forces Command Afghanistan headquarters … what we’re looking to do is balance the ongoing need for focused combat operations against the remaining terrorists with a growing emphasis on what we call enduring security and aggressively enabling reconstruction. This balance in many ways reflects evolving new realities here in Afghanistan. With the help of our embassy here, we and our coalition partners continue to work very closely with the government of Afghanistan to ensure a more stable and secure future for the Afghan people.
Beyond security, reconstruction is perhaps the most critical part of our mission, because it impacts every citizen of Afghanistan. We recognize that our efforts here must be focused on the people of Afghanistan and [Provincial Reconstruction Teams] are a huge part of reaching out to the people.
In military terms, the Afghan people are our center of gravity. We currently have 11 fully operational PRTs with the 12th opening this week. Eight of these PRTs are U.S.-led, and the others are led by our coalition partners, to include New Zealand and the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, under the auspices of NATO. We expect to have 16 operational PRTs by this summer.
These PRTs are the cutting edge of stabilization here in Afghanistan. They’re changing both the face of security and of rebuilding efforts here in the country.
A PRT is really a catalyst. It forms focal point in a particular area, with the goal of building not only relationships but also serving as an accelerator in the rebuilding of the nation and extending the reach of the Afghan central government.
Working together with the provincial governors and ministries, as well as the U.N. and international organizations, PRTs help enable and integrate this reconstruction process. Our PRT presence here helps extend the reach of the Afghan central government, establishing security in an area and encouraging nongovernmental organizations and other international assistance organizations to move in. Provincial governors and village leaders are learning that where PRTs go, good things follow. …
Hand in hand with our PRTs, we’re also initiating new, complementary strategies; specifically, the Regional Development Zone, or RDZ, and also a concept called area ownership by our combat forces, which will maintain sustained presence in specific geographical areas.
Establishing an RDZ will allow us to focus on the local integration of security and development assets in a particular area and thus gain a synergistic local effect. An RDZ in conjunction with a Provisional Reconstruction Team can deliver a very clear message to those who would interfere with the dramatic progress in today’s Afghanistan.
This combination of PRTs, Regional Development Zones, and sustained presence in areas by our combat forces will present terrorist organizations with an impossible situation, one where they cannot demonstrate any viable alternative of value to the Afghan people.
We’ll continue to face challenges from terrorist groups that choose to operate in the south and east of the country. Their tactics have targeted innocent women and children, as well as targeting NGOs who are seeking nothing more than to help the Afghan people. We’re focusing our efforts first in those areas.
Our pilot RDZ has been established in Kandahar province, an area where recent attacks demonstrate both the criminal nature of the enemy and the need for our focused security effects. Kandahar’s status as a regional development zone will help ensure that this critical province remains a strong model for the potential out there for the Afghan people.
Finally, I will tell you that Afghanistan is moving toward a stable political and economic future and we're very proud to be part of that future. Provincial reconstruction teams are expanding at a very quick pace as the first of the series of regional development zones is also opening at the same time; all this in addition to more than $1.5 billion of reconstruction aid coming into the nation this year.
So again, we’re in a period of transition; many challenges remain, but we here will stand resolute against any of those out there that would deny the Afghan people their rightful future in this country. Which should be free of terror, free of oppression and free of intolerance and bridging towards a democratic state. We stand firmly behind our pledge to foster enduring security here throughout the country. …
So with that opening statement, we’d be happy to take your questions. …
Q. Do you still expect to apprehend Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar this year and if so what's the reason for this optimism?
BARNO: Well, I’ll tell you that we have a very, very high priority in bringing to justice here the leadership of each of the terrorist organizations that we face. And we have significant efforts and people devoted on a daily basis to tracking the leadership of these organizations and in bringing them to justice. …
Q. I think we’re all very curious about your very specific previous public statements that you would get Osama bin Laden this year. Could we ask you to specifically address the statements you've made in the past? Why your optimism about him in particular? Is there anything you can tell the American people about the hunt for him? You say that you're making every effort to close out these organizations. What about him specifically?
BARNO: Well, Barbara, I would tell you that he’s part of a leadership network in al Qaeda, and his significance is in the influence that he can continue to serve in the al Qaeda network. We also have other leaders of terrorist organizations – Mullah Omar of the Taliban; we have Hekmatyar, the leader of the HIG [Gulbuddin Hekmatyr] group in Afghanistan – who are also very serious leaders.
Clearly, Osama bin Laden has very much name recognition as a result of 9/11, and we take our mission to bring him to justice very seriously. I think our entire force here is energized with that mission here and the focus we have on it here in the coming months. But I won’t want to get into more specifics, beyond that, in terms of the directions we may be heading.
Q. I have two questions for you. Could you discuss the nexus that you're seeing with Afghanistan in the border region and with the work that’s going on in Iraq? There was recently an interception of a courier that was apparently making his way down to you. What effects have you seen from the war, and maybe what intelligence connections are you making there? And then, could you also just discuss in a little more detail the RDZs, how … that's going to make such a difference.
BARNO: Well, let me take the first question here, and then I’ll give [Col.] Rich [Perry] a chance to talk a little bit on the RDZs in the second part.
With regard to connections between terrorists between Afghanistan and Iraq, we certainly watch for evidence of that in our intelligence work. We see some potential indicators that there are some transfer of what we would call tactics, techniques and procedures between the groups that are fighting in each of these countries. Probably the most significant indicator there may be in some of their ambush tactics and some of their improvised explosive devices.
But we’re continuing to be watchful in terms of any movement of these elements back and forth. But I don’t think there's strong indicators that I’ve been able to see in that regard yet. But we do see what we would believe, at least preliminarily, to be connections in terms of them trading off lessons learned, and tactics and things of that nature.
continued...
For the Record: A New Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan
Editor’s Note: The following are excerpts of a videoconference between Lt. Gen. David Barno, commander of the Combined Forces in Afghanistan, and Pentagon-based reporters on Feb. 17, on a major shift in coalition tactics in Afghanistan. Also participating was Col. Richard Perry, commander of civil-military operations in Afghanistan.
BARNO OPENING REMARKS:
With the activation of our Combined Forces Command Afghanistan headquarters … what we’re looking to do is balance the ongoing need for focused combat operations against the remaining terrorists with a growing emphasis on what we call enduring security and aggressively enabling reconstruction. This balance in many ways reflects evolving new realities here in Afghanistan. With the help of our embassy here, we and our coalition partners continue to work very closely with the government of Afghanistan to ensure a more stable and secure future for the Afghan people.
Beyond security, reconstruction is perhaps the most critical part of our mission, because it impacts every citizen of Afghanistan. We recognize that our efforts here must be focused on the people of Afghanistan and [Provincial Reconstruction Teams] are a huge part of reaching out to the people.
In military terms, the Afghan people are our center of gravity. We currently have 11 fully operational PRTs with the 12th opening this week. Eight of these PRTs are U.S.-led, and the others are led by our coalition partners, to include New Zealand and the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, under the auspices of NATO. We expect to have 16 operational PRTs by this summer.
These PRTs are the cutting edge of stabilization here in Afghanistan. They’re changing both the face of security and of rebuilding efforts here in the country.
A PRT is really a catalyst. It forms focal point in a particular area, with the goal of building not only relationships but also serving as an accelerator in the rebuilding of the nation and extending the reach of the Afghan central government.
Working together with the provincial governors and ministries, as well as the U.N. and international organizations, PRTs help enable and integrate this reconstruction process. Our PRT presence here helps extend the reach of the Afghan central government, establishing security in an area and encouraging nongovernmental organizations and other international assistance organizations to move in. Provincial governors and village leaders are learning that where PRTs go, good things follow. …
Hand in hand with our PRTs, we’re also initiating new, complementary strategies; specifically, the Regional Development Zone, or RDZ, and also a concept called area ownership by our combat forces, which will maintain sustained presence in specific geographical areas.
Establishing an RDZ will allow us to focus on the local integration of security and development assets in a particular area and thus gain a synergistic local effect. An RDZ in conjunction with a Provisional Reconstruction Team can deliver a very clear message to those who would interfere with the dramatic progress in today’s Afghanistan.
This combination of PRTs, Regional Development Zones, and sustained presence in areas by our combat forces will present terrorist organizations with an impossible situation, one where they cannot demonstrate any viable alternative of value to the Afghan people.
We’ll continue to face challenges from terrorist groups that choose to operate in the south and east of the country. Their tactics have targeted innocent women and children, as well as targeting NGOs who are seeking nothing more than to help the Afghan people. We’re focusing our efforts first in those areas.
Our pilot RDZ has been established in Kandahar province, an area where recent attacks demonstrate both the criminal nature of the enemy and the need for our focused security effects. Kandahar’s status as a regional development zone will help ensure that this critical province remains a strong model for the potential out there for the Afghan people.
Finally, I will tell you that Afghanistan is moving toward a stable political and economic future and we're very proud to be part of that future. Provincial reconstruction teams are expanding at a very quick pace as the first of the series of regional development zones is also opening at the same time; all this in addition to more than $1.5 billion of reconstruction aid coming into the nation this year.
So again, we’re in a period of transition; many challenges remain, but we here will stand resolute against any of those out there that would deny the Afghan people their rightful future in this country. Which should be free of terror, free of oppression and free of intolerance and bridging towards a democratic state. We stand firmly behind our pledge to foster enduring security here throughout the country. …
So with that opening statement, we’d be happy to take your questions. …
Q. Do you still expect to apprehend Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar this year and if so what's the reason for this optimism?
BARNO: Well, I’ll tell you that we have a very, very high priority in bringing to justice here the leadership of each of the terrorist organizations that we face. And we have significant efforts and people devoted on a daily basis to tracking the leadership of these organizations and in bringing them to justice. …
Q. I think we’re all very curious about your very specific previous public statements that you would get Osama bin Laden this year. Could we ask you to specifically address the statements you've made in the past? Why your optimism about him in particular? Is there anything you can tell the American people about the hunt for him? You say that you're making every effort to close out these organizations. What about him specifically?
BARNO: Well, Barbara, I would tell you that he’s part of a leadership network in al Qaeda, and his significance is in the influence that he can continue to serve in the al Qaeda network. We also have other leaders of terrorist organizations – Mullah Omar of the Taliban; we have Hekmatyar, the leader of the HIG [Gulbuddin Hekmatyr] group in Afghanistan – who are also very serious leaders.
Clearly, Osama bin Laden has very much name recognition as a result of 9/11, and we take our mission to bring him to justice very seriously. I think our entire force here is energized with that mission here and the focus we have on it here in the coming months. But I won’t want to get into more specifics, beyond that, in terms of the directions we may be heading.
Q. I have two questions for you. Could you discuss the nexus that you're seeing with Afghanistan in the border region and with the work that’s going on in Iraq? There was recently an interception of a courier that was apparently making his way down to you. What effects have you seen from the war, and maybe what intelligence connections are you making there? And then, could you also just discuss in a little more detail the RDZs, how … that's going to make such a difference.
BARNO: Well, let me take the first question here, and then I’ll give [Col.] Rich [Perry] a chance to talk a little bit on the RDZs in the second part.
With regard to connections between terrorists between Afghanistan and Iraq, we certainly watch for evidence of that in our intelligence work. We see some potential indicators that there are some transfer of what we would call tactics, techniques and procedures between the groups that are fighting in each of these countries. Probably the most significant indicator there may be in some of their ambush tactics and some of their improvised explosive devices.
But we’re continuing to be watchful in terms of any movement of these elements back and forth. But I don’t think there's strong indicators that I’ve been able to see in that regard yet. But we do see what we would believe, at least preliminarily, to be connections in terms of them trading off lessons learned, and tactics and things of that nature.
continued...