Presence could last beyond 2014; far different withdrawal plan than the
one for Iraq
"Now our leaders are making a smart decision in this regard... Being
tactful for a change."
Consul Nicholas Moore
The new focus builds on a desire to use the nation's most elite troops
to counter any residual terrorist threat over the coming months as well
as to devote the military's best trainers to the difficult task of
preparing Afghan security forces to take over responsibilities in their
country.
The plan would put a particularly heavy focus on Army Special Forces,
also known as the Green Berets. They would be in charge of training a
variety of Afghan security forces. At the same time, the elite commando
teams within Special Operations forces would continue their raids to
hunt down, capture or kill insurgent commanders and terrorist leaders
and keep pressure on cells of fighters to prevent them from mounting
attacks.
Created by President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, the Green Berets have
as one of their core missions what is called "foreign internal defense"
- using combat, mentoring, language and cross-cultural skills to train
local forces in rugged environments, as they are today in missions
conducted quietly in dozens of nations around the world.
Americans would no longer be carrying out large numbers of patrols to
clear vast areas of Afghanistan of insurgents, or holding villages and
towns vulnerable to militant attacks while local forces and government
agencies rebuilt the local economy and empowered local governments.
Those tasks would fall to Afghan forces, with Special Forces soldiers
remaining in the field to guide them. This shift has already begun to
take place.
The defense secretary, Leon E. Panetta, surprised NATO allies last week
when he announced that American forces would step back from a leading
role in combat missions by mid-2013, turning over security
responsibilities to Afghan forces a year earlier than expected. The
description of the shift to a Special Operations mission in Afghanistan
by senior officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the
final plans have not been approved, go a long way toward explaining what
Mr. Panetta sketched out for the allies.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46267459/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/
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