U.S. military suspends joint patrols with Afghans

[Jroc]

CBS News) The strategy for getting U.S. forces out of Afghanistan depends on training Afghan soldiers and police to protect the country themselves, but on Monday the U.S. military suspended most joint field operations with Afghan forces because so many Americans are being killed by the men they are training.


Afghan government troops -- our allies -- have turned their guns on NATO forces 36 times this year, killing 51, most of them Americans. That is more attacks than the last two years combined.


The order effectively suspends "until further notice" most of the operations which U.S. and Afghan troops conduct side by side. At higher headquarters, Afghans and Americans will still work together, but in the field small unit operations putting Afghan soldiers alongside Americans -- the guts of the U.S. strategy to turn the fighting over to Afghans -- will be suspended unless an exception is granted by a commanding general.


The order was issued after a long weekend in which four American and two British troops were killed by so-called "insider attacks" -- Afghans turning their guns on their supposed allies.

U.S. military suspends joint patrols with Afghans - CBS News

 

[Politico]

Good.

 

[Jroc]

We should probably just get out now instead of waiting other year and ½. if we have any more problems from there, just decimate the area… Screw it

 

[Mad Scientist]

We should probably just get out now instead of waiting other year and ½. if we have any more problems from there, just decimate the area… Screw it

I don't know why people think the US is gonna' get out anytime soon when there are HUGE opium profits to be made there.

Nuking or carpet bombing will only disrupt all that.

 

[JWBooth]

We should probably just get out now instead of waiting other year and ½. if we have any more problems from there, just decimate the area… Screw it

I don't know why people think the US is gonna' get out anytime soon when there are HUGE opium profits to be made there.

Nuking or carpet bombing will only disrupt all that.

The Christians In Action are not going to give up their primary source of off the books income.

 

[High_Gravity]

This is about a year too late, god what a waste of Americans lives and treasure.

 

[Katzndogz]

Joint patrols aren't enough. The afghans need to be prohibited from the base itself since that's where the insider attacks are coming from.

 

[High_Gravity]

Joint patrols aren't enough. The afghans need to be prohibited from the base itself since that's where the insider attacks are coming from.

I agree but that will never happen.

 

[mememe]

Joint patrols aren't enough. The afghans need to be prohibited from the base itself since that's where the insider attacks are coming from.

What US base is doing in Afghanistan?

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - Obama freezin' dat opium dealer's assets off...

Treasury targets alleged Taliban narcotics trafficker
November 15th, 2012 - The U.S. government sanctioned a senior Taliban official on Thursday for his alleged role in the narcotics trade in Afghanistan and across the region, saying illicit drugs are used to finance violence.

Mullah Naim Barich, who operates as the "shadow governor" of the Taliban movement in Helmand Province, was singled out by the Treasury Department for his alleged role in the production and trafficking of heroin and opium. The action freezes any of Barich's assets held under U.S. jurisdiction and bars anyone in the United States from conducting any financial or commercial transactions with him. "Today's action exposes the direct involvement of senior Taliban leadership in the production, manufacturing, and trafficking of narcotics in Afghanistan and underlines the Taliban's reliance on the drug trade to finance their acts of terror and violence," David Cohen, Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

According to Treasury, Barich issued a decree in early January to his Taliban confederates to do what they could to subvert an Afghan government-led plan for the eradication of poppy in Helmand. The decree called for steps that included planting improvised explosive devices, engaging in combat with NATO forces, and bribing Afghan officials as a way to safeguard the poppy harvest. Poppy is the raw material used in the production of opium and heroin. About 90 percent of the world's opium comes from Afghanistan, according to the United Nations.

Barich's operations "go beyond just generating profit from taxation of the narcotics trade," a senior Treasury official told reporters on a conference call. "He is directly involved in multiple levels of the heroin and opium trade, coordinating with other drug traffickers, controlling opium production, and controlling local drug shipments. This illustrates powerfully the crime-terror nexus of the Taliban," the official said. The flurry of Barich's involvement in the narcotics trade, the Treasury Department said, includes convening a meeting in Pakistan with narcotics producers and smugglers to establish mechanisms for the delivery of narcotics into Pakistan and Iran. His network has also distributed heroin to the Turkish border for further distribution, the Treasury said.

The sanction follows earlier action by the United States to cripple various Taliban financing mechanisms the group uses to move its proceeds. In June, Treasury targeted two money exchange houses that operated in Afghanistan and Pakistan through which the Taliban had moved money that officials say included profits from illicit activities including the narcotics trade. Thursday's action freezes any of Barich's assets held under U.S. jurisdiction, and bars any U.S. persons from conducting any financial or commercial transactions with him.

Source