Crucial test looms for key Afghan battleground

This file photo taken on January 4, 2011 shows Afghan villagers waiting to check in to start their work outside the US Stout camp in Arghandab Valley, Kandahar province. Kandahar in southern Afghanistan has for the last year been the scene of a huge US push to stamp out the Taliban in its own backyard. But the key test is yet to come on whether it has worked. – AFP Photo

KANDAHAR: Kandahar in southern Afghanistan has for the last year been the scene of a huge US push to stamp out the Taliban in its own backyard. But the key test of whether it has worked is yet to come.
Control of the province, birthplace of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and the militia’s spiritual home, is seen as crucial to US-led efforts to reverse the Islamist insurgency and bring an end to America’s longest war.
The precarious security situation in Kandahar was highlighted Saturday when 19 people, including 15 police and an intelligence agent, were killed in a string of attacks claimed by the Taliban.
They were the only latest to target pro-Kabul government officials.
With support from locals ambivalent at best, the big question is whether US gains will withstand intensified violence expected in a spring counter-offensive.
Asked what will happen in May or June, US Lieutenant Colonel William Graydon, chief of operations for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kandahar, was frank.
“I don’t know. But what I do know is that we will continue the pressure all winter so that there will not be a gap for the insurgents to come back,” he told AFP.
The situation in the province also highlights wider uncertainty over what Afghanistan will look like after 2014, when Afghan forces are scheduled to take control of security, and to what extent foreign troops will remain involved.
In Kandahar, US troops led Operation Hamkari against the Taliban from last spring after President Barack Obama ordered a 30,000-strong surge under a last-ditch war strategy in late 2009.
Nato forces claim Kandahar city and nearby districts are now safer overall following intense fighting to clear traditional Taliban strongholds, which has left at least 99 troops dead.
But over nine years after the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Taliban, government officials are still regularly attacked in Kandahar city, the de facto capital of the south.
As well as Saturday’s police attack, the deputy provincial governor was assassinated last month.
Afghan security analyst General Helaludin Helal said the Taliban had been squeezed out of many of their heartlands but were now launching targeted attacks, particularly in and around Kandahar city, in retaliation.
“After their major defeats in Kandahar, the Taliban are now focusing on high-risk attacks to prevent people from joining the government side,” he told AFP.
Graydon said that a “security bubble” has been extended to the neighbouring districts of Arghandab, Zhari and Panjwayi, parts of which had been controlled by the Taliban since the 1990s.
Commanders are pouring money into “cash for work” schemes to try and stop locals making their living by fighting for the Taliban in poor agricultural areas which, like the militants themselves, are dominated by ethnic Pashtuns.
However, some officers acknowledge this is a stop-gap solution. Concerns also linger over corruption among Western-backed officials in Kandahar.
President Hamid Karzai’s brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, is a powerful figure who heads the Kandahar provincial council but has long been dogged by claims of graft and drug trafficking, which he denies.
What happens in Kandahar has wider implications for the war across Afghanistan, experts say.
“Success in southern Afghanistan is a necessary but not sufficient condition for successful counter-insurgency in Afghanistan as a whole,” said a report last month from Washington think-tanks the Institute for the Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute.
Like others of Afghanistan’s most dangerous provinces, it is unlikely Kandahar will see any of the limited foreign troop withdrawals due from July.
Officials now increasingly stress the 2014 transition date, and the US commander on the ground, General David Petraeus, last week warned of more bloodshed in the spring as the Taliban tries to retake territory.
Last year was the bloodiest yet for foreign troops in Afghanistan.
But even after 2014, it is not clear what role the West will play in Afghanistan.
Karzai this week said he is in talks with the United States about establishing permanent US military bases in the country.
Although the Pentagon insists this would not be lawful, officials say Washington will retain strong ties to Kabul after 2014.
This leaves open the possibility of US forces training Afghan forces, having access to bases or even keeping a small counter-terrorism force in Afghanistan indefinitely to protect its national security interests.

India to pull 10,000 troops from Kashmir

An Indian paramilitary trooper stands guard in front of a graffiti in Srinagar during a curfew in Srinagar. – AFP (File Photo)

NEW DELHI: India plans to withdraw 10,000 paramilitary troops from Kashmir in 2011 and renew efforts to hold talks in the rebellion-hit Himalayan region, a top government official said Sunday.
A separatist insurgency has raged in Indian-administered Kashmir, a Muslim-majority state, for 20 years and at least 114 people died in street protests last summer in pitched battles with security forces.
“I think this year we can easily take out 10 battalions (10,000 personnel), if not more,” Indian Home Secretary Gopal Pillai told the Press Trust of India news agency.
“Irrespective of the situation, I can take out 10 battalions and it would not have any impact.”
There are currently 70,000 paramilitary troops in Indian-administered Kashmir plus 100,000-150,000 army soldiers.
Many state politicians in Kashmir believe their huge presence has fuelled recent deadly violence.
“There are more than adequate forces in Kashmir and it can do with less central forces,” Pillai, the home ministry’s top civil servant, said.
“You have to start talking to other people and get fresh ideas so I think we have to reach out to the people of Kashmir.”
Security forces opening fire at separatist demonstrations have triggered a cycle of violence in Kashmir over recent summers, and the government in New Delhi is keen to calm tensions in the year ahead.

JF-17 thunder Program Continues to Grow

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani extended the government’s complete support of the JF-17 Thunder aircraft program. PM said this project has proven to be a great positive in the Pak-China relationship.

“This is the project that can become a true flagship of the historic cooperation and strengthen the relationship between our two countries”. These were the words of Gilani as he addressed a gathering of Chinese and Pakistani technicians during his visitation to the JF-17 manufacturing facility at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.

He also expressed his satisfaction and pride of the successful progress of the JF-17 program and the fact that it is constantly completing milestones. The JF-17 project is definitely one of the biggest joint project going on between Pakistan and its strategic partner – China. Both governments expect that such cooperation will strengthen their time-tested relationship. Gilani said that every Pakistani is cherishing the help which China provides to the JF-17 program and a couple of other project. PM believes this project will write another glorious chapter in the history of the cooperation between the two countries.

Gilani wasn’t the only official visiting the factory, other names there were General Khalid Shameem Wynne, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Chief of the Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force were also visitors of the factory. They had the opportunity to witness the amazing progress which the JF=17 aircraft manufacturing program has achieved.

The JF-17 project is one of the most ambitious Pakistani programs and it has successfully complete many milestones. Thanks to this program, Pakistan can now proudly stand amongst the group of countries which manufacture modern combat aircraft.

The JF-17 is one of the most cost-effective, multi-role combat aircraft and it is specifically designed to meet the needs of the Pakistan Air Force.

Iran to launch long-range radar systems

The Islamic Republic is to install and launch long-range radar systems in certain parts of the country in the near future, an Iranian military official says.


Deputy Head of Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base for Communications and Technology Information Brigadier General Hamid Arzhangi said that the radars are of two kinds, ISNA reported Saturday.

He further pointed out that the first type can cover a distance of up to 1,000 kilometers while the other is capable of covering up to 3,000 kilometers.

According to General Arzhangi, the radar antennas have been installed and the systems will soon become operational.

The Iranian official went on to say that Iran was also developing and using monitoring systems capable of passing on intelligence to command and control headquarters in the shortest possible time.

The Khatam al- Anbiya Air Defense Base is in charge of coordinating aerial defense activities of Iran's Army and Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

Iran successfully tested and utilized advanced equipment used for communication and exchange of intelligence during massive defense maneuvers dubbed "Modafean Aseman Velayat 3" (Defenders of Velayat Skies) in November, 2010.

Iran also successfully test operated a new generation of its first domestically manufactured air defense system during the drills.

The Mersad (Ambush) modern medium-range system is capable of spotting and destroying advanced aircraft at low and high altitudes.

In addition to its high mobility, Mersad's new generation can be used in electronic warfare and can be networked with other radar and defense systems.

IAF to finalise 350 helicopter order in a month: IAF Chief

Plans for modernising Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Soviet-era helicopter fleet are gathering momentum with acquisition plans of attack, heavy-lift and medium-lift helicopters reaching final stage. The IAF is gearing up to induct new rotary wing machines to match the emerging strategic scenario and for ferrying troops, men and material even during natural calamity.

The decision on acquisition of nearly 350 helicopters of different genre will be reached in a month’s time, according to Air Chief Marshal PV Naik. The procurement process is on for acquiring 22 attack helicopters to replace fleet of ageing Mi-35 attack choppers. The contract value is pegged at $600 million approximately.

“The contest for the attack helicopters is between Russian Mi-28 and American Apache AHG-64D. The flight trials have been completed and the report is expected in a week or so,” said Naik.

The IAF has contracted the Russian Rosoboronexport to supply 80 Mi-17 V5 medium-lift helicopter valued at $1.3 billion. The rotary wing aircraft will be supplied in 2011 only. The force is going for add on order of 40 choppers, the IAF chief said.

The Mi-17 V5new acquisitions will replace the existing fleet of around 150 Mi-8 helicopters of Russian vintage.

In the heavy-lift segment the trials have been conducted between the US’ Chinook CH-47 and Russian Mi-26 helicopters for a deal potentially worth $2 billion. The IAF intends to buy 15 of these units.

“The flight evaluation bit is over and final report is expected in a month or so,” revealed Naik.

Alongwith this, IAF in conjunction with the Indian Army would be getting 197 light utility helicopters to replace its 300-odd ‘Cheetah’ and ‘Cheetal’ choppers.

“For light utility helicopters army is the main buyer. Flight trials are over in this and the report would be reaching to us in a week.”

Moreover, the successful flight of the indigenously built Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) in 2010 has given another option to the IAF which will be inducted the machine in its force only by 2014-2015.

Apart from this, the IAF is actively pursuing a comprehensive plan to upgrade its Soviet era helicopter fleet by upgrading older machines. A parallel plan is underway to renew assets in the next 10 years as part of the air force's overall perspective plan. Plans are afoot to upgrade over 50 choppers in the fleet of Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters. The upgrades are expected to increase the life of the rotary wing aircraft by a decade.

U.S. Air Force Needs Long-Range Strike

The U.S. government should be lamenting the fact that despite numerous warnings and sufficient international stimulus, it has failed to attend to the desperate need for robust, rapid, long-range strike capability.
As the military service charged exclusively with arming, training and equipping forces for air and space operations, with the exception of its airlift fleet, the U.S. Air Force has chosen to build a short-range, limited payload combat force. Its fleet of very effective F-22 and F-35 fighters are about to take center stage in the global arms arena. As capable as they are, with a combat range of 400 or so miles, they just don't fit the bill. Let's review:

The Opposition

We are still heavily committed to major combat operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan while ramping down our efforts in Iraq. Relations with China, the largest and second most militarily powerful nation on Earth, can only be conservatively described as "testy." It is rapidly building a military structure that its leaders hope will be able to keep American sea and air forces at bay during a not inconceivable conflict, including a ballistic missile designed to attack aircraft carriers well out to sea.
A paranoid, bipolar North Korean government is increasingly belligerent, having recently killed 50 South Koreans in military attacks. And in addition to its huge advanced conventional force, it is known to have nuclear weapons as well as a burgeoning missile fleet with which to deliver them.
Iran is genetically hostile to anybody in the Western world and reportedly on the cusp of nuclear capability, never mind its substantial band of conventionally armed fanatics.
Then there are a bunch of Mexican drug lords with more money with which to buy weapons than the Mexican government has. They are committing murder and mayhem right up to, and occasionally across, our border.
Have I missed anybody? And we are looking to our military forces - already to a large extent pinned down in Iraq and Afghanistan - to also keep a lid on this global menagerie of hostility.

The Home Team

The U.S. government has been building a military force that is exceptionally good at placing ground forces directly in harm's way to fight terrorists and insurgents. That's all well and good if the enemy is an insurgent with no sophisticated weapons, which many are. But some of our opponents are technologically savvy with powerful conventional and nuclear force structures that demand something substantially different than a boots-on-the-ground, infantry-heavy structure.
Critics have maligned even the latest generation of advanced but short-range combat aircraft for the wrong reasons. They are referred to as relics of the Cold War and the faceoff with the Soviet Union, too complex and expensive for what they say we face today: terrorists and insurgents.
The fact is, they are indeed effective against just about all our opponents, if they have sufficient range to get to where they can have some effect.
These same "experts" also often seriously question the need for a force component with the capability to fly farther than from Topeka to Chicago. But range is absolutely vital to a defense structure like ours designed to conduct expeditionary operations from long distances. We got that one wrong.
So, here's the big rub. This nation is just about broke. With a $14 trillion debt (ironically, mostly owed to our friendly neighborhood banker, the People's Republic of China), unemployment close to 10 percent, and overdue projects from dilapidated bridges to a foundering health care system, we are not likely to begin a crash weapon-building program to protect ourselves.
Those long-range strike aircraft we so desperately need to reach out and touch adversaries around the world are just not coming, unless we re-arrange some priorities. Even the fleets of fifth-generation fighters the Air Force has ordered are being drastically reduced.

Bitter Medicine

The only way to reverse a situation that has been a generation in the making is a change of strategy, requiring bitter medicine for the folks in blue who are managing what we may eventually see as a flying circus - good for air shows and moving ground forces and supplies around, but not much else.
Rather than relying on short-range aircraft that must be brought into close proximity to the adversary, making them and their bases vulnerable, we need to be able to cover global distances to carry our message to diverse adversaries from secure bases. That is the domain of the long-range combat aircraft: the bomber.
But they cannot be so expensive that we can afford only 20 of them. We've been there, done that. And note I have not said they all must be manned.
Yes, it would be very useful to have a massive fleet of both advanced fighters and bombers. That would truly put a lid on at least the aviation portion of many contingencies, but it is just not going to happen. The alternative is not to lock ourselves out of high-threat theaters by not having sufficient range and payload. It is to adapt range and payload to mission needs.
There are rumors of Air Force plans to build a new long-range strike aircraft over the next decade. We have heard that before. I question the service's commitment to this and the cuts in other plans that would be an inevitable result. And would Congress be willing to fund it if USAF leaders showed they would compromise on some fighter fleet plans?
It would signal a major shift in defense strategy. I just wonder if it's too late to switch horses

India Considers 'Pain Gun' Buy From Raytheon

BANGALORE, India - U.S. defense group Raytheon says it wants to sell India a controversial "pain gun" it claims would be safer than rubber bullets in quelling unrest in the insurgency-racked country.
The Silent Guardian Protection System is billed by its makers as the 21st-century equivalent of tear gas or water cannons - a way to subdue rioters while inflicting minimal harm.

The U.S. military withdrew the weapon last year from war-torn Afghanistan amid opposition from human rights activists worried about its safety. The U.S. Army has not commented on why it withdrew the system.
"We are meeting various elements of the Indian government, who are seeking information" on the weapon, senior Raytheon executive George Svitak said Feb. 11 while attending Aero India.
Raytheon says the weapon, which causes agonizing pain but no lasting damage, would be less likely to cause injury than water cannons, tear gas or rubber bullets frequently used by Indian troops to break up unruly crowds.
Raytheon has already sold the system, variously dubbed the "pain gun" or "ray gun," to unnamed government clients, Svitak said.
India has been searching for better ways to control crowds after 114 people were killed last summer during anti-India street protests in restive India-controlled Kashmir, mainly by police bullets.
The weapon sends out beams of radiation that stimulate human nerve endings from a transmitter the size of a large TV screen mounted on the back of a truck.
The beam barely penetrates the skin, meaning it cannot cause visible or permanent injury, Svitak said. However, anyone in its path will feel an extremely painful sensation across their body.
It can also be used to pinpoint individuals.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently told state police chiefs to deal with protesters humanely.
"We need to revisit crowd control measures to deal with public agitations with non-lethal, yet effective and more focused measures," Singh said, referring to use of excess force in Kashmir.