Afghanistan Wants Troop Withdrawal Adjustment, Says US Commander
The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan says President Ashraf Ghani has requested greater flexibility in the final drawdown of America #39;s military presence in the country, expected to...
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Afghanistan Wants Troop Withdrawal Adjustment, Says US Commander - Video
While the United States has close to 10,000 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan following the end of combat operations at the beginning of the year, the Obama administration has already announced plans to draw that number down to 5,500 by the end of this year.
READ: Afghan president asks Obama to 're-examine' troop commitments
Gen. John Campbell told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday his recommendations deal with both the "glide slope" and "locations" for where to make withdrawals as the summer fighting season in Afghanistan gets underway.
"I have provided options on adjusting our force posture through my chain of command," Campbell said, adding that he "absolutely" favored the options without elaborating on their specificity.
"I think I provide some options both for [Afghan President Ashraf] Ghani and for my senior leadership here to take a look at what would allow us the flexibility to continue to get after the [Train, Advise and Assist] mission and the [Counterterrorism] mission" in Afghanistan, he said.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday the Obama administration is considering a slow-down in its planned withdrawal from Afghanistan.
There are currently 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and an additional 3,000 from other NATO partner nations.
Campbell told the committee he was "concerned" about the coming summer season, when fighting with the Taliban typically reaches its highest levels, because it will be the first fighting season for Afghan forces on their own without the assistance of coalition assistance.
"We're doing everything right now in the winter campaign to get them ready to do that," he said, in reference to the ongoing training and advising mission.
Many Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have voiced their concern over both the pace, and specific time frame, laid out by the Obama administration for the additional drawdown of U.S. troops. Some are drawing parallels to the quick removal of U.S. forces in Iraq at the end of 2011, and the deteriorating condition that followed.
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ISIS 'nascent' in Afghanistan
While the United States has close to 10,000 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan following the end of combat operations at the beginning of the year, the Obama administration has already announced plans to draw that number down to 5,500 by the end of this year.
READ: Afghan president asks Obama to 're-examine' troop commitments
Gen. John Campbell told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday his recommendations deal with both the "glide slope" and "locations" for where to make withdrawals as the summer fighting season in Afghanistan gets underway.
"I have provided options on adjusting our force posture through my chain of command," Campbell said, adding that he "absolutely" favored the options without elaborating on their specificity.
"I think I provide some options both for [Afghan President Ashraf] Ghani and for my senior leadership here to take a look at what would allow us the flexibility to continue to get after the [Train, Advise and Assist] mission and the [Counterterrorism] mission" in Afghanistan, he said.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday the Obama administration is considering a slow-down in its planned withdrawal from Afghanistan.
There are currently 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and an additional 3,000 from other NATO partner nations.
Campbell told the committee he was "concerned" about the coming summer season, when fighting with the Taliban typically reaches its highest levels, because it will be the first fighting season for Afghan forces on their own without the assistance of coalition assistance.
"We're doing everything right now in the winter campaign to get them ready to do that," he said, in reference to the ongoing training and advising mission.
Many Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have voiced their concern over both the pace, and specific time frame, laid out by the Obama administration for the additional drawdown of U.S. troops. Some are drawing parallels to the quick removal of U.S. forces in Iraq at the end of 2011, and the deteriorating condition that followed.
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U.S. provides options for drawdown of forces in Afghanistan amid ISIS fears
U.S. military bases in Afghanistan spent over $20 million of taxpayer money on incinerators for waste disposal which were never used, according to the final assessment of incinerators and burn pits by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
The report delivered strong criticism of the way Defense Department installations in Afghanistan managed their waste disposal systems -- mistakes which were both expensive and may have exposed U.S. military personnel to significant health risks.
DOD did not adequately plan for and manage disposal of solid waste at its installations in Afghanistan, the report reads, calling the approach to waste disposal haphazard and reactive.
Throughout its engagement in Afghanistan, U.S. military personnel in the country generated hundreds of tons of solid waste per day, including plastics, food waste, electronic equipment and other products. For years, without proper policies or procedures in place, simple open-air burn pits remained the militarys preferred method for disposing of solid waste.
But the toxic smoke of those open-air burn pits, often contaminated with lead and mercury, posed serious health risks of service members and civilians in their immediate area, SIGAR said. U.S. military personnel returning from Afghanistan complained of health problems, which they said stemmed from exposure to the burn pits on installations.
By August 2010, 251 of these open-air burn pits were in operation on U.S. military bases, according to the SIGAR report.
New regulations from U.S. Central Command ordered long-term military bases to install alternative methods, such as incinerators, to provide a safer way of disposing of waste. The military spent over $81 million to install 23 incinerator systems at nine military installations in Afghanistan.
But the SIGAR report said four military basesFOB Salerno, FOB Sharana, FOB Ghazni and FOB Maywandnever used their eight incinerators, which cost $20.1 million to build. At one of those bases, FOB Sharana, a design error left the loading area too narrow to even allow forklifts to deposit waste in the 40-ton capacity incinerator. FOB Sharana officials decided to continue using open-air burn pits.
Given the fact that DOD has been aware for many years of the significant health risks associated with open-air burn pits, it is indefensible that U.S. military personnel, who are already at risk of serious injury and death when fighting the enemy, were put at further risk from the potentially harmful emissions from the use of open-air burn pits, said John F. Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction in an introductory letter to the report.
The report also strongly criticized the management of contracts for the construction and maintenance of the incinerators.
Afghanistan Dari News 31.01.2015
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By: 1TV Kabul
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Afghanistan Dari News 31.01.2015 - Video