Category: Intl Security

Afghanistan: "Test on the grandest scale"

Gates Seeks More Military And Civilian Support In Afghanistan
(New York Times)…Thom Shanker, Oct 15, 2008.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Wednesday that the mission to stabilize Afghanistan had shown significant gaps in the ability of the United States and NATO to integrate their civilian and military efforts, and he warned that it “remains to be seen” whether the allies could better coordinate their work.

The defense secretary’s grim assessment came in an evening address to the United States Institute of Peace in which he described the Afghanistan security and stabilization mission as “the test, on the grandest scale, of what we are trying to achieve when it comes to integrating the military and civilian, the public and private, the national and international.”

Mr. Gates said the challenge of better integrating civilian and military missions was vital for more than just success in Afghanistan. “The security of the American people will depend increasingly on our ability to head off the next insurgency or arrest the collapse of another failing state,” he said. “These are the things that we must be able to do as a nation, as an alliance and as an international coalition.”

“That country has become the laboratory for what I’ve been talking about for the past year — how to apply and fully integrate the full range of instruments of national power and international cooperation to protect our security and our vital interests.”

Speech: Dean Acheson Lecture – U.S. Institute of Peace (Washington D.C.). As Prepared for Delivery by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Washington D.C., Wednesday, October 15, 2008

 

Afghanistan: More Troops vs. Negotiation

The Reality Of War In Afghanistan
(Boston Globe)…Stephen Kinzer, October 15, 2008

Despite their differences over how to pursue the US war in Iraq, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama both want to send more American troops to Afghanistan. Both are wrong. History cries out to them, but they are not listening.

Deploying more US troops in Afghanistan will intensify this highly dangerous conflict, not calm it. Compromise with Al Qaeda would be both unimaginable and morally repugnant, but the Taliban is a different force. Skillful negotiation among clan leaders, based on a genuine willingness to compromise, holds the best hope for Afghanistan. It is an approach based on reality, not emotion.

nKorea: Accommodation is not Progress

Settling With North Korea
(Washington Post)…Editorial, October 15, 2008, Pg. 20

…Under the circumstances, keeping its nuclear complex shut for the next few months may be worth the political bribe delivered by the State Department. But no one — especially not the next U.S. president — should mistake this accommodation for genuine progress toward the goal of disarming what remains a dangerous, and terrorist, state. 

Georgia: NATO

    Georgia And U.S. Will Weigh Military Aid In Upcoming Conference
    (Bloomberg.com)…Ken Fireman, Bloomberg News, Oct 9, 2008
    …Speaking to reporters today after a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Budapest, Kezerashvili said his country will submit a detailed request for military aid at the Washington meeting.

    U.S. Wants NATO Membership Plan For Georgia This Year
    (Reuters.com)…Reuters, Oct 9, 2008
    The United States is pushing NATO to put Georgia on a formal track to alliance membership in December, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday, despite concerns about the country’s security after its war with Russia.

Afghanistan: NATO, Reconciliation, Military Policy

Gates Urges NATO To Take On Afghan Drug Traffickers
(Washington Post)…Peter Finn

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates called on NATO allies Thursday to target Afghanistan’s drug traffickers as part of a wider effort to confront a resurgent Taliban, which he said is using heroin money to fund the insurgency.

Gates Says US Talks With Taliban Conceivable
(Financial Times)…James Blitz, October 10, 2008
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said on Thursday night that Washington could “ultimately” contemplate the idea of negotiating with the Taliban to secure a political settlement in Afghanistan, if the Afghan government were to pursue such talks.

Gates: Political Reconciliation With Parts Of Taliban May Be Possible
(Mideast Stars and Stripes)…Jeff Schogol  October 10, 2008
…But Gates said some allies voiced concerns that taking on such a mission would put NATO troops at risk and absolve the Afghan government fighting the drug lords. NATO officials planned to discuss the matter further on Friday morning, he said.

Pentagon Sees Reconciliation With Taliban, Not Qaeda
(Reuters.com)…Kristin Roberts, Reuters, Oct 9, 2008.
…Gates said reconciliation would be the political end to the conflict in Afghanistan, but it must happen on the Afghan government’s terms and the Taliban must commit to subject itself to the sovereignty of the government.

 Joint Chiefs Chairman Is Gloomy On Afghanistan
(New York Times)…Eric Schmitt, October 10, 2008
With security and economic conditions in Afghanistan already in dire straits, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday that the situation there would probably only worsen next year. 

 Mullen Urges New Strategy On Taliban
(Washington Times)…Sara A. Carter, October 10, 2008
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that U.S.-led forces are “not going to be able to kill our way to victory in Pakistan and Afghanistan” and a new strategy is needed to suppress a resurgent Taliban movement before it’s too late.

Joint Chiefs Head: ‘Enablers’ Needed In Troop-Scarce Afghanistan
(Christian Science Monitor)…Gordon Lubold, October 10, 2008
The Pentagon’s top officer is pushing to get more helicopters, remote control aircraft, and other “enablers” to Afghanistan to make up for what remains a shortage of American troops there.

U.S. Plans To Train Afghanistan Tribal Militias
(Los Angeles Times)…Julian E. Barnes, October 10, 2008
Confronting the prospect of failure after seven years in Afghanistan, the U.S. military is crafting a new strategy that is likely to expand the power and reach of that country’s tribal militias while relying less on the increasingly troubled central government.

Financial Crisis Will Not Detract From Taliban Fight, Says John Hutton
(London Daily Telegraph)…Rosa Prince
…His plea for more equipment as well as troops, was echoed at the meeting by Robert Gates, the US defence secretary. Germany has announced to increase its troops in Afghanistan, but rejected Washington’s request to station them in the south, where most of the combat action takes place. 

 Brother Of Afghan President To Give Up Seat In Parliament
(New York Times)…Timoor Shah, October 10, 2008
An older brother of President Hamid Karzai who has one of the worst attendance records in Afghanistan’s Parliament said Thursday that he was giving up his legislative seat. The brother, Abdul Qayum Karzai, cited kidney problems as the cause.

nKorea: Disarmament, Negotiations …

Headline News …

Envoy Pushes To Save Deal On Disarming North Korea
(New York Times)…Helene Cooper
The Bush administration’s top envoy for North Korea, Christopher R. Hill, extended his trip to Pyongyang on Wednesday as negotiators from both sides searched for a way to salvage a nuclear disarmament deal that the White House had hoped to portray as a major achievement. 

North Korea Upgrading Missile Test Site: Report
(Reuters.com)…Reuters
North Korea has been upgrading the facilities at the site of its past missile tests in what may be preparations for another long-range missile launch, a news report said on Thursday quoting government sources.

The World Shouldn’t Fear The Collapse Of North Korea
(Wall Street Journal)…John R. Bolton and Nicholas Eberstadt
…In both Washington and Pyongyang, voices have been raised essentially arguing that a regime crisis is the last thing we should want. But is the stability of an internationally criminal, cruelly dictatorial, nuclear-weapons-equipped North Korea really something we should value above all conceivable alternatives?

N. Korea Reportedly Fires Missile Into Yellow Sea
(Washingtonpost.com)…Associated Press
North Korea has fired a short-range missile into the Yellow Sea, media reports said Tuesday.

Nuclear Inspectors Barred From Site In N. Korea
(New York Times)…Helene Cooper, October 10, 2008, Pg. 16

North Korea heightened pressure on the Bush administration on Thursday by barring international inspectors from all parts of its Yongbyon nuclear complex, even as administration officials said they believed that they were close to a deal to end a stalemate with the North over its nuclear program.

U.S., N. Korea May Be Reaching Deal In Nuclear Negotiations
(FNC)…Jennifer Griffin, October 9, 2008 .
There is a possibility that North Korea’s main argument with the U.S. in the nuclear negotiations may soon be resolved. Meanwhile, North Korea is making more noise about restarting its main reactor.

Military Transformation: South Korea

ArmyTimes.com
October 8, 2008

Korea Commander: More Family Facilities Needed

By William H. McMichael, Staff writer

Money and facilities shortfalls are the only barriers to lengthening troop tours and increasing the number of fully sponsored families stationed in South Korea, the top U.S. commander there said Wednesday.

“I would like Korea to become an assignment of choice for all our service members and their families,” Army Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of U.S. Forces Korea and United Nations Command, told Pentagon reporters. “Our goal is to reach the point when the majority of service members can bring their families to Korea and stay there for normal three-year tours.”

Sharp’s predecessor, Gen. B.B. Bell, launched a sharp increase in two-year command-sponsored tours of South Korea. Command sponsorship grants families full privileges for use of U.S. facilities, the receipt of housing and living allowances, and travel costs.

The command wants to accelerate that change, eventually move to three-year tours and provide command sponsorship for all families — a plan that would complement the planned movement of USFK forces away from the Demilitarized Zone to large bases further south and the ongoing shift of U.S. combat command responsibilities to South Korea, both slated for completion in 2012.

Cash for the moves will come from two sources: South Korea, which provides about 43 percent of non-personnel stationing costs for the U.S. presence, and Congress.

Sharp said that the current burden-sharing agreement, which expires at the end of 2008 and is being renegotiated, could result in a greater South Korean expenditure for U.S. facilities.

“The more we get, the more I can put it in, the quicker that we can build the facilities, so that we have the capability to move to this in the longer run,” Sharp said.

Sharp called the initiative to increase tour lengths and command sponsorships, first launched by Bell, a “win-win” for everyone.

“It improves the readiness by keeping our trained forces in place for a much longer period of time, improving continuity, stability and the retention of regional and institutional cultural knowledge,” Sharp said. “It improves the quality of life for our service members and their families, who no longer have to be separated from each other for extended periods of time. It also strengthens the alliance by encouraging more meaningful interaction between the American and the Korean citizens.

“Finally, it demonstrates a strong and visible commitment by the United States to the Republic of Korea,” he said. “In short, it improves our ability to operationally defend Korea, strengthen the alliances and improves the quality of life for our service members and our families.”

Officials have also said that despite the unpredictable nature of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, they feel the security situation on the peninsula has improved enough over time to safely allow more family members to live there — albeit, eventually, further south, out of North Korean artillery range. Should it come to war, they say they are confident in the ability of the South Korean military to defend the nation.

Sharp said he had nothing to add to recent news reports describing Kim’s deteriorating health.

“We really have nothing new,” Sharp said. “What we’re focused on is what is going on up in North Korea and are we, the ROK-U.S. Alliance, prepared for any contingency, whether it be an all-out war plan that we practice any day, or instability in the north. And we are prepared for that.”

There currently are about 28,500 U.S. troops assigned to South Korea. Sharp, who assumed command in June, said that about 1,800 of these troops live with their command-sponsored families, and 2,100 U.S. families live in Korea without command sponsorship.

The U.S. command grants the latter families limited benefits: a housing allowance for living off post, membership in Tricare Standard rather than Prime and a cost-of-living allowance at the rate without dependents, Sharp said.

But Sharp is working with Pentagon officials to offer command sponsorship and full benefits to these families. Most are living in the very northern sector of South Korea that is the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division’s area of operations, and Sharp said that full sponsorships have recently been instituted in Uijongbu, home to Camp Red Cloud. Benefits there include some financial assistance to send children to international schools, he said.

The availability of schooling, health facilities and other services will drive the pace of the initiative, he said. Sharp said he is comfortable with the current level of medical services U.S. families in South Korea enjoy, touting U.S. facilities, the “very good” quality of Korean medical and dental care and the new hospital under construction at Camp Humphreys, site of a major facilities expansion.

“I am going to increase it somewhat on the margins, to the point where I think that I am comfortable, service-wise,” Sharp said.

The next step would be to extend by one year, to three full years, the command-sponsorship of families on two-year tours living in larger areas to the south, such as Seoul — for now — and the area surrounding Osan Air Base, about 55 miles south. Sharp also wants to give those stationed in more remote areas who want to stay on extensions from 12 to 24 months and also allow command sponsorship to families, with the understanding that they will enjoy only limited services.

Then, Sharp said, “We will just continue to grow. … The goal is to grow as facilities become available to be able to expand into as many service members as possible.”

Eventually, nearly all U.S. forces in South Korea will be located around two major hubs: Pyongtaek and Daegu.