War Report

The War Report

American forces are making historic progress in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Global War On Terror, yet the Mainstream Media is largely ignoring these efforts. Hopefully, we can help get the word out here at MNN.

Afghanistan Operations Leave 18 Militants Dead

Date: 02.20.2009

WASHINGTON - Recent operations in Afghanistan left up to 18 militants dead and another one captured, and one of the operations has triggered an investigation into allegations of civilian casualties.

A coalition air strike near the Gozara District of Afghanistan's Herat province Feb. 16 targeting a key insurgent commander left up to 15 of his suspected associates dead, officials said.

Coalition forces targeted Gholam Yahya Akbari through credible reports provided by Afghan civilians, officials said, adding that he is known to hide among the civilian populace to avoid detection. Coalition forces engaged his suspected hideout with a precision strike after he was reported entering a compound east of Herat.

A combined coalition and Afghan team, along with international observers, visited with key leaders in the Gozara District two days later as part of an investigation related to allegations that the strike killed innocent civilians.

Coalition forces and Afghan soldiers had inspected the site the day before, and they recovered weapons and ammunition while the Afghan army representatives conducted a meeting with local leaders.

"We take all reports of noncombatant casualties very seriously and investigate these claims with the assistance of our Afghan forces counterparts," Army Lt. Col. Rick Helmer, a U.S. Forces Afghanistan spokesman, said.

"If, during the course of investigation, it is discovered that any noncombatants were killed or injured in the strike, we will take responsibility and make amends," Helmer said. "However, it has been a past practice of the insurgents to surround themselves with women and children."

In another recent operation, Afghan national police, assisted by coalition forces, killed three militants Feb. 17 while searching a compound known for insurgent bomb-making in the Bakwa District of western Afghanistan's Farah province.

The three militants were killed after attacking the combined forces with small-arms fire. Police discovered bomb-making materials and three AK-47 assault rifles in the compound, and took the targeted leader into custody. After the search, the combined force met with village elders to explain the purpose of the operation.

Also on Feb. 17, coalition forces detained a suspected militant in the Tagab District of Kapisa province during an operation designed to disrupt Taliban and foreign-fighter networks in eastern Afghanistan.

No shots were fired, and 11 women and 13 children were protected during the operation, officials said.

Coast Guard Contributes to Counter-piracy Mission

By Coast Guard Lt. Tony Migliorini
Special to American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2009 - The Coast Guard is actively engaged in implementing the president’s counter-piracy action plan, senior Coast Guard officials said.

Capt. Charles Michel, chief of the Office of Maritime and International Law, and Capt. Michael Giglio, chief of law enforcement, discussed the Coast Guard’s international counter-piracy efforts yesterday with bloggers and online journalists.

"Piracy goes back many, many years -- many thousands of years, actually -- about the time that man started first taking onto the water in ships," Michel said. "Piracy is essentially an act of violence or depredation conducted on the high seas from one vessel to another vessel for private ends... That's the definition of piracy that's captured in both the 1958 Convention on the High Seas, of which the United States is a party, as well as the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention."

Recent incidents of piracy off the coast of Africa have raised the awareness of the issue on a global level. However, Michel described the Coast Guard’s longstanding efforts to combat acts of piracy internationally. "Modern piracy really, at least in my world of work, has been focused primarily in Southeast Asia, in the South China Sea and in the Straits of Malacca."

The Coast Guard is an active member of the multinational Combined Task Force 151 conducting counter-piracy missions around the Gulf of Aden, Giglio said.

"From my vantage point, my particular interest is ensuring the proper application of Coast Guard authority, competency and capability in support of the combatant commanders' requirements," he said.

CTF 151 apprehended seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Feb. 11, and nine additional suspected pirates were apprehended Feb. 12.

"This is just one small example of the ways in which the Coast Guard and the United States Navy can partner to deliver a very broad mix of skills to address what is a pretty broad spectrum of threats in the maritime environment today," Giglio said.

The counter-piracy plan focuses on three lines of action, Michel said: prevention of attacks, responding to attacks and prosecution of pirates. Through the combined task force, he added, the Coast Guard is working to execute all three lines of action.

The first line of action to combat attacks is prevention. The primary means of prevention include the hardening of targets, the establishment of a maritime security patrol area and international diplomacy, Michel said.

One of the primary roles of the Coast Guard personnel assigned to the combined task force, Giglio said, is to provide training in evidence-collection practices and procedures to ensure a complete case package, which facilitates prosecution.

From a legal perspective, the issue of prosecuting pirates in international courts is complex, Michel explained. "The challenges are pretty daunting, because you may actually have, for example … Coast Guard and Navy personnel involved with [Somali] pirates who may have attacked a Panamanian vessel with a Filipino crew being tried in a Kenyan court."

However, processes now are being put in place to effectively deal with the prosecution of pirates.

"We are in the best shape we've ever been for Horn of Africa pirates with the establishment of a [memorandum of understanding] with one of the regional partners that will allow us to bring those pirates ashore and, if the evidence can be tied up correctly, prosecute it in a Kenyan court," Michel said.

Michel emphasized the importance of dealing with the piracy issue. Even though "your chances of getting taken by pirates in that area are actually pretty small, should we tolerate that type of lawlessness and criminal activity and the nefarious results that can happen by the introduction of money and people being held at gunpoint?"

(Coast Guard Lt. Tony Migliorini serves in the Coast Guard Headquarters public affairs office.)

6-4 Cavalry Scouts Take Tough Mission to Northeast Afghanistan

By Army Staff Sgt. David Hopkins
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, 2/16/09

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - Cavalry Scouts of Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, along with the Afghan national army, perform regular missions along the unpaved roadways in the Konar province of northeastern Afghanistan.

"We do about 20 to 25 missions a month," said Army Capt. Paul Roberts, HHT commander, an Altus, Okla., native. "We do Combat Logistics Patrol over watch, night patrols, route recon."

Recently, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Soldiers conducted a CLP over watch at one of the most frequently attacked locations along the main road running through their area of operations. They were called on to guard a convoy of supply trucks and military vehicles as they passed through the dangerous stretch to transport supplies to out posts in the region.

"CLP over watch missions are the hardest. They require the most combat power and there are a lot of moving parts," Roberts said.

The location the scouts were watching has been attacked several times over the preceding months, including a large attack on a convoy last October wounding four American service members in a close-range ambush.

During the latest mission, the scouts sat on a plateau along the river where they have a vantage point along the road, while a group of Afghan national army soldiers headed up a mountainside to set up a position with a view from above.

As they scan the road, the valley and the hillsides, they watch cars and trucks, children playing in the small village, goat herders or any other movement for possible threat. They use binoculars, laser range-finders and the naked eye, and they watch and wait for the convoy to come through.

The scouts saw some suspicious signs along the road and on the mountain ridges, but the mission went off without incident. The supplies were delivered and no shots were fired. This is not always the case for the cavalry scouts. They are frequently attacked and have to counterattack. However, the scouts are well trained for such attacks and for the mission, and they are gaining experience with every operation they perform.

"I'm really proud of my guys," Roberts said. "They've been doing exactly what I expect of Cavalry scouts. They are out there all the time doing a tough job."

The scouts' leadership has many hopes for the future of their troop, but their main hope is for the Afghan national security forces.

"My biggest hope for the future of the unit is for the ANSF guys," Roberts said. "My hope is that all the ANSF guys get better and take on more responsibility, extending the face of the government, take the fight to the bad guys. Until then we'll be there doing our job."

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