WASHINGTON --
The U.S. is sending Special Forces teams into one of Pakistan's most violent regions as part of a push to accelerate the training of the Pakistani military and make it a more effective ally in the fight against insurgents there.
Senior U.S. officials said 25 to 50 Special Forces personnel are deploying to two new training camps in Baluchistan, a Taliban stronghold on the porous Afghan-Pakistani border. The deployment brings U.S. personnel deeper than before into tribal regions of Pakistan, which the Obama administration views as among the world's most-dangerous flashpoints.
The Special Forces personnel will focus on training Pakistan's Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force responsible for battling the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, who cross freely between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the officials said. The U.S. trainers aren't meant to fight alongside the Pakistanis or accompany them into battle, in part because there will be so few Special Forces personnel in the two training camps.
A senior American military officer said he hoped Islamabad would gradually allow the U.S. to expand its training footprint inside Pakistan's borders. A former U.S. official familiar with the plans said the deployments would "get more American eyes and ears" into the strategically important region.
The project, which draws on proposals first discussed under the Bush administration, is a joint effort with the U.K., senior U.S. officials said. The U.K. plans to help fund the training, although it is unclear if British military personnel would take part in the initiative. British officials have been pushing for such an effort for several years. It builds on small-scale, U.S. training efforts already under way in the northern part of Pakistan.
The Pakistani and British embassies in Washington declined to comment. The U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, also declined to comment.
The Pentagon has asked Congress to allocate $400 million this year for a new "Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund" that is designed to allow U.S. military commanders to quickly direct money to specific Pakistani training and equipping needs. The money, the first installment of a five-year program, would be funneled through Central Command rather than the State Department.
Senior U.S. commanders argue that the arrangement would allow them to ensure Pakistan uses the money to train its forces in counterinsurgency, rather than in conventional warfare.
Pakistan has regularly rebuffed Pentagon offers to provide military trainers, saying U.S. trainers would be irresistible targets for the country's militants. Many Pakistani officers also say Pakistan's primary threat comes from India, not the Taliban, and question the utility of counterinsurgency training.
A senior Defense official said Pakistan has in recent weeks warmed to the idea of accepting training assistance from the U.S., after the civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari realized that militants pose an existential danger to their country. "They finally get it," the official said.
Baluchistan is believed to harbor an array of senior leaders from al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and other armed groups. The area is also seen as strategically important because it borders Afghanistan and Iran and is home to a strong separatist movement.
Under the current plans, the U.S. is deploying two Special Forces Operational Detachments Alpha to the region. So-called ODAs typically have 12 soldiers, but a U.S. official said the teams might be augmented to help speed training work.
Special Forces teams are seen as ideal for the deployments because they are used to operating clandestinely and in harsh conditions with little external support.
Source:
http://www.military-world.net/Afghanistan/1389.html
2009-06-09
Demand for elite forces growing fast
As the U.S. and its allies pressure insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan, there will be a greater need for intelligence in North Africa where extremists seek sanctuary, the military's top special operations commander told Congress on Thursday.
Adm. Eric T. Olson, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, told the House Armed Services terrorism subcommittee Thursday that increased military pressure "will not necessarily end the (insurgent) activity, it will shift some of the sanctuaries to other places."
Counterterrorism officials have warned that battle-hardened extremists have been moving from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to safe havens in north and east Africa, bringing sophisticated terrorist tactics with them.
Olson also said that it will take a long, patient effort to defeat insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan and win the hearts and minds of civilians.
Olson also told the subcommittee that his elite special operations forces can't grow fast enough to meet increasing global demands, so the Pentagon is depending more heavily on support that is not always available from regular forces.
He turned to intelligence concerns in North Africa in response to a question from Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the subcommittee.
Smith asked Olson if the special operations forces could use more intelligence and surveillance coverage in North Africa, where al-Qaida has set up a franchise in the vast ungoverned areas.
"We've got to find ways of having a better understanding of what is happening there," Olson said, adding that increased surveillance would be one answer.
In Pakistan, Olson said the U.S. must be careful not to take any action that suggests the Pakistan military is an extension of the U.S. military. And in Afghanistan, he said, the key is to have as small a footprint as possible, and work "village by village, valley by valley."
"We need to get better at countering Taliban propaganda," added Smith, saying that the U.S., including Olson's special operations forces, must work with the locals to get the Afghan people "on our side."
He said he needs the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines to provide more logistics, intelligence, communications and air transportation support for his troops overseas.
"The non-availability of these force enablers has become our most vexing issue in the operational environment," Olson said.
Special operations forces can only grow by 3 percent to 5 percent a year, Olson said. But the need for those units to deploy in hot spots around the globe is outpacing that growth, he said.
The mobile, specially trained units carry out more secretive anti-terror missions, and in a number of countries they are used to train foreign forces.
In most cases, however, they rely on their brethren in larger, conventional military units to fuel their helicopters, fix their trucks, transport their troops and provide surveillance and other information.
Olson said there is still a shortage of manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft and systems, which are critical for his forces on the warfront.
Another challenge, he said, will be to ensure that special operations units serving in dangerous areas of Iraq get the support they need as the larger, conventional units leave the country.
There are 135,000 U.S. forces in Iraq, and they are scheduled to leave the cities by June. President Barack Obama has said that all combat forces will be out of the country by the end of August 2010, and all forces will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.
Source:
http://www.military-world.net/Afghanistan/1538.html
Adm. Eric T. Olson, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, told the House Armed Services terrorism subcommittee Thursday that increased military pressure "will not necessarily end the (insurgent) activity, it will shift some of the sanctuaries to other places."
Counterterrorism officials have warned that battle-hardened extremists have been moving from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to safe havens in north and east Africa, bringing sophisticated terrorist tactics with them.
Olson also said that it will take a long, patient effort to defeat insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan and win the hearts and minds of civilians.
Olson also told the subcommittee that his elite special operations forces can't grow fast enough to meet increasing global demands, so the Pentagon is depending more heavily on support that is not always available from regular forces.
He turned to intelligence concerns in North Africa in response to a question from Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the subcommittee.
Smith asked Olson if the special operations forces could use more intelligence and surveillance coverage in North Africa, where al-Qaida has set up a franchise in the vast ungoverned areas.
"We've got to find ways of having a better understanding of what is happening there," Olson said, adding that increased surveillance would be one answer.
In Pakistan, Olson said the U.S. must be careful not to take any action that suggests the Pakistan military is an extension of the U.S. military. And in Afghanistan, he said, the key is to have as small a footprint as possible, and work "village by village, valley by valley."
"We need to get better at countering Taliban propaganda," added Smith, saying that the U.S., including Olson's special operations forces, must work with the locals to get the Afghan people "on our side."
He said he needs the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines to provide more logistics, intelligence, communications and air transportation support for his troops overseas.
"The non-availability of these force enablers has become our most vexing issue in the operational environment," Olson said.
Special operations forces can only grow by 3 percent to 5 percent a year, Olson said. But the need for those units to deploy in hot spots around the globe is outpacing that growth, he said.
The mobile, specially trained units carry out more secretive anti-terror missions, and in a number of countries they are used to train foreign forces.
In most cases, however, they rely on their brethren in larger, conventional military units to fuel their helicopters, fix their trucks, transport their troops and provide surveillance and other information.
Olson said there is still a shortage of manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft and systems, which are critical for his forces on the warfront.
Another challenge, he said, will be to ensure that special operations units serving in dangerous areas of Iraq get the support they need as the larger, conventional units leave the country.
There are 135,000 U.S. forces in Iraq, and they are scheduled to leave the cities by June. President Barack Obama has said that all combat forces will be out of the country by the end of August 2010, and all forces will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.
Source:
http://www.military-world.net/Afghanistan/1538.html
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