Blog Posts tagged with "transition"
Back From Afghanistan
I've just returned from a three day visit to Afghanistan.
As always, Afghanistan presents a mixed picture; but I remain cautiously optimistic that we can execute our planned transition to Afghan security responsibility across the country by the end of 2014. We are continuing to build on a successful 2011 from a security perspective.
Naturally, the challenges remain: I received a sobering brief on the depth of corruption in Afghan society, for example. The narcotics challenges -- representing perhaps 15% of the gross domestic product -- are immense. The situation with neighboring Pakistan remains difficult.
Yet overall, in the security sector, I believe we are making progress.
SACEUR and U.S. EUCOM, Admiral James Stavridis during briefing by MG Abdullan at FOB Gamberi, Afghanistan.
SACEUR and U.S. EUCOM, Admiral James Stavridis during conversation with Governor of Laghman Province, Mohammad Iqbal Azizi.
I also visited with Provincial Governor Azizi, an urbane and energetic civil leader. He is satisfied with the progress in this largely agrarian region, and seems genuinely convinced that the quality of life is improving. He provided many statistics to support this view, from the thousands of young girls now in school to the fact that every adult seems to have a cell phone, as well as vastly improved medical care and basic services.
SACEUR and U.S. EUCOM, Admiral James Stavridis with COM RC-W, BG Luciano Portolano at FSB Camp Arena in Herat, Afghanistan.
In a series of good discussions with our NATO Commanders, I came away with a sense that the transition to Afghan led security is on track.
Today about 50% of the population is under Afghan led security, and 40% of all operations in the country are Afghan led. Afghans participate in over 90% of the total military operations. Coalition forces have made concrete gains on the ground, especially in the south -- Kandahar and Helmand -- where two years ago the Taliban held sway. Today the Afghan national flag flies, children are in government schools, and governance is taking hold. Overall attacks in the country are down about 10% from last year, the first drop in many years.
But as I said earlier, it is a mixed picture. Anybody who says everything is going well is missing the mark. On the other hand, people who say everything is failing simply are refusing to look at the facts.
My personal sense is that we have a reasonable shot at completing a successful transition by the end of 2014, and if the international community continues to support the Afghan government and helps finance the security forces, I believe we can succeed.
Best,
Jim
Admiral, USN
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Commander, US European Command
"Stronger Together"
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No Trainers, No Transition
In the past ten months there has been measured progress in the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF); in quality as well as quantity. Since last November, NATO Training Mission Afghanistan has supported the Afghan Ministries of Interior and Defense to recruit, train and assign over 100,000 soldiers and police, an incredible feat. To achieve this, the training capacity was increased, moving from under 10,000 seats for police training alone to almost 15,000.
Comments: 1
Admiral thanks for the update. After reading this I feel you seem hesitant we will be successful in our mission, which is understandable and expected. What concerns me is the GDP of 15% is narcotics. How are we addressing this if we cannot control the shipment of drugs across the US Borders?