https://southfront.org/afghanistan-war-report-september-23-2017-us-deploys-troops-warplanes/
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The US is increasing its military involvement in the Afghanistan conflict in an attempt to take an upper hand in a battle against the Taliban.
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis announced on September 18 that the US will send more than 3,000 troops bringing the total number of personnel serving in the country to at least 14,000. On September 19, Lieutenant General of US Air Forces Central Command Jeffrey L. Harrigian announced that the US has increased the number of deployed F-16 warplanes from 12 to 18.
At the same time, the US is pushing an effort to transit the Afghan Air Force (AAF) helicopter fleet from Mi-17 to UH-60 helicopters. In total, the US is planning to deliver 159 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to the AAF. First few aircraft have already been delivered this week.
Despite this, the Taliban is continuing its expansion in the country’s north. The Taliban captured Koz Pur, Bar Kano, Atish Khano and several other areas in Rabat Sangi district of Herat province as well as attacked Afghan security forces in in Yaka Khana area in Almar district of Faryab province and in Shalgar district of Ghazni province.
What is the source for Taliban activity in Kushk District (Rabat Sangi) Herat?
Any attacks on Herat or Faryab are diversionary attacks to distract from the main and secondary Taliban attacks in Northern Afghanistan. The ANA usually respond in a few days to them:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-09/23/c_136632395.htm
Are the Taliban still heavily contesting Shalgar Ghazni? Or is it now a moderate contest?
Two other large factors are at play:
1) China’s growing help to the ANA. China is spending $85 million on forming, training, equipping an ANA mountain brigade for Badakshan. This could be a start to increasing Chinese help for Afghanistan. Although any possible role played by Chinese embedded advisers remains unclear.
2) India’s growing economic aid to Afghanistan and growing aid to the ANA and Afghan Air Force. India is considering repairing, refurbishing and maintaining Afghanistan’s fleet of Mi17s and Mi35s; in addition to supplying incremental aircraft to the Afghan Air Force. India is also considering an Afghan request to transfer 550 D30 used artillery to the ANA along with substantial other equipment. India is further considering a major increase in training for the ANA and Afghan Air Force (AAF), including inside Afghanistan. India has already training more ANSF out of country than any other country. [Turkey being number 2. UAE and Jordan number 3 and 4.]
This is in addition to a possible large increase in assistance from Turkey, UAE and Jordan (since their troops are no longer required against Daesh and Al Qaeda.)
Can India persuade Iran and Russia to help the Afghan Air Force and ANA more?
160 blackhawk helicopters? They will all probably end up in some future Taliban government’s airforce.
How would that happen? Do you really think that Turkey, Russia, Iran, India, China, Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, Jordan will allow a Pakistani Army proxy to take over the Afghan Air Force? Soon the Afghans will have three supply routes (Northern, Iranian and Chinese through the Badakshan railway) which should enable the Afghans to hold out. The United Front / Northern Alliance government was able to withdraw their aircraft to the North and not allow the Taliban access to them.
Assume you are talking about the possibility that America elects a Corbyn type village idiot in 2024. Don’t think that is likely but you never know.
Busted. The Russians have shown aerial photo evidence of pindo-daesh collusion, breaking news story.
Russia Reveals Footage of US Forces Near Daesh Positions North of Deir-ez-Zor
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201709241057647972-russia-mod-daesh-deir-ez-zor/
“The aerial photographs, taken on September 8-12, 2017 in the areas of Daesh troops’ deployment, detected a big number of US Hummer armored vehicles, used by the US Army’s special forces,” the ministry wrote on Facebook.
The Defense ministry added that the footage clearly showed that the units of US Army’s special forces were deployed in the footholds previously set up by Daesh militants. However, no signs of ongoing clashes with terrorists, as well as shell craters left after the coalition’s airstrikes were seen.
“Despite the strongholds of the US armed forces being located where Daesh militants are currently deployed, there are not even signs of the organization of a battle outpost. This shows that all the US servicemen who are currently there, feel completely safe in the areas under the terrorists control,” the ministry outlined.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW”
More details at RT:
US special ops forces & hardware spotted at ISIS positions north of Deir ez-Zor – Russian MoD
https://www.rt.com/news/404365-us-special-forces-isis/
“US Army special units provide free passage for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) through the battle formations of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists, the ministry said in a statement.
The aerial photos of ISIS’ territory north of #Deir_ez_Zor where #USA special operation troops are seen https://t.co/lH6u8H9bvZpic.twitter.com/gjqlQubi9o
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) September 24, 2017
“Facing no resistance of the ISIS militants, the SDF units are advancing along the left shore of the Euphrates towards Deir ez-Zor,” the statement reads.
“Despite that the US strongholds being located in the ISIS areas, no screening patrol has been organized at them,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
This could mean that the US military staff “feel absolutely safe” in the area which is held by the terrorists, the ministry of defense stated.
Though, the ministry identifies, among others, cars, armored vehicles and tents, it does not provide information on the exact whereabouts of the US troops on the images posted.
All of the images were taken from September 8 to 12. The photos show several Cougar infantry mobility vehicles and Hummer armored vehicles of the US Army special forces, according to the Russian MoD data.”
See also the MoD Facebook site for the photos:
https://m.facebook.com/mod.mil.rus/photos/a.1985688301673916.1073742384.1492252324350852/1985688358340577/?type=3&theater
Background info recount and further details of this pindo-daesh collusion bust:
CONFIRMED: ISIS, the United States and SDF unite on the battle field against Syria and Russia
http://theduran.com/russia-releases-photos-proving-ussdfisis-collusion-deir-ez-zor/
This info needs to get spread throughout the zionazi media held regions, since those sods won’t be covering it.
Why- because Trump and his Deep State handlers know that if Putin had an ounce of International Common Sense, he’d expell all US forces from Syria tomorrow. And while the Deep State hopes Putin will continue to be very foolish on that issue, and allow US troops to inflict as much chaos and misery as possible on a very ‘long tail’, the US is still outa Syria eventually.
So the Deep State wants to keep its hand in where it can. Afghanistan (as I hope everyone here knows) is a classic tug-of-war between Iran and Pakistan. If Iran is in danger of winning in Afghanistan, America simply gives covery assistance to the Pakistan Team. And if the Pakistan Team is winning, the zionist press of the West can highlight the need for American forces in Afghanistan to combat the ‘original’ extremist islamic terrorists. Afghanistan is so very useful even if the place itself just doesn’t matter, even by the standards of the region.
And standard Human psychology kicks in too. There is some natural jealousy of Russia in Syria- since Russia has had a much ‘cleaner’ mission than America in Iraq, Libya, Syria, earlier Afghanistan etc etc. And while America plans war with Iran ,the irony is that America has previously closely cooperated with Iranian forces in the earlier invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan- indeed those US invasions would never have happened without Iran’s very willing assistance. Aggressive warfare is a dirty, dirty, dirty business- corrupting the very spirit of Humanity.
Some fools will say “what idiocy, how can the USA co-operate with a nation it is planning to wage war on?”. And I despair. That’s how the biggest wars go down! Remember the alliance between Russia and Nazi Germany – and alliance that had Russia trade war resources for industrial secrets? Think Stalin had failed to read ‘Mein Kampf’? Russia bought time for the construction of war factories in the old out-of-reach old viking lands of the north. The nazis built up essential stockpiles of resources. When the nazis thought the time of maximum advantage had arrived, the treaty was torn up and they declared war.
This is the same for America and Iran in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran ‘uses’ America muscles to grind down the sunni military powerbases. And to ‘flavour’ the sunni factions as ‘terrorist’ as far as possible. America buys influence with cold hard cash and a promise of generational improvements for ‘leading’ families by giving members of those families access to the best the West has to offer in the USA and Europe.
Iran calculates that none of this improves the US position re:war with Iran- and they are kinda right, but really wrong in every way that matters. Afghan and Iraq bases would be lousy positions for the USA to operate from in a time of war. And by being lousy, the Deep State demons are better able to argue to their generals that nuclear tipped missiles from a safe distance are the ***only*** real option for taking Iran down.
You see Iran has no choice but to expand its influence in the region against Saudi efforts to do the same. But by doing so, the USA can state, behind the scenes, that Iran is a growing menace that the greater community is going to have to confront sooner or later. Iran is placed in the classic “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” position. And even ‘reasonable’ fools fall for the ***sectarian*** argument that Iran cannot be allowed to make too much progress against the sunni population.
Meanwhile to be certain of being safe from the infinitely evil racist state of Israel, Iran must develop missile systems certain of hitting those zionist demons, and be close to being able to make nuclear warheads for them. Nothing else, and I mean ***nothing*** else will deter Israel. But again such actions allow Iran to be labelled, behind the scenes, as a ‘clear and present danger’.
Without Russia’s active assistance, Iran is coerced by events to move to its own doom. Growing American forces in Afghanistan are a small but significant part of these ‘events’.
Now it is true that for dumb ole Trump, Afghanistan is sold as a land of endless opportunities for US ‘spectaculars’ – a free fire zone for US special forces where the possiblity of negative fallout from a mission gone wrong is zero. Sadly no-one cares about the lives of innocents in Afghanistan- the owrld long since grew bored about anything that happens there. So Trumpy can amuse himself giving the greenlight to various Tom Clancy actions and dribble with joy when watching the night vision footage of Afghanis being blown away by US soldiers.
However Afghanistan will remain a tiny sideshow for the Deep State- and its main immediate use will be using it to train US forces to ***veteran*** status- something that all serious generals always want for the forces under their command.
Would you support Iranians helping the Afghans and ANSF more directly? Perhaps opening a major supply line through Iran so that Pakistan no longer has any influence on either the Afghans or any member of the international coalition (US, Europe, Turkey, India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, UAE, Jordan, Qatar etc.)
The UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Oman, Kuwait, Turkey, Azerbaijan, India, Europeans, America don’t see eye to eye with KSA. Wouldn’t allowing then a supply route to resupply and assist the Afghans be a good way to wean them from KSA? If the US becomes dependent on an Iranian supply route, wouldn’t the Iranians be able to leverage this along with global big business (that wants to do business inside Iran and have powerful lobbies in Washington) to persuade Washington to lower sanctions against Iran?
Winning America’s Commander in Chief (CINC) should be easy. Praise the amazing masculine physique, extraordinary hair and towering intellect. A very, very impressive person. Let him see that Iranian woman are the envy of the world. And the POTUS will say “SOLD”. [Isn’t this what KSA attempted?]
The Afghan Government (GIRoA), Afghan parliament, ANA and ANP see Iran as a natural ally against enemy number 1, the Pakistani Army, KSA establishment and their proxies (AQ, QST, Peshawar Shura Taliban, Haqqani, LeJ/Siphah e Sahaba/Jundullah, LeT, JeM, TNSM etc.) Wouldn’t it be in Iran’s interest to strengthen this ally?
Iran’s help would be especially useful in improving the Afghan legal system, number and quality of judges and lawyers, and Afghan police.
The Iranians could demand a unanimous request for help from the Afghan parliament if Iran wished. I think the Afghan parliament would pass such a resolution.