Conflict by David Petraeus

Author:David Petraeus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

The Afghans take the lead, 2012–201477

The surge of 2010 and 2011 was a tactical and operational success and bought time for the ANSF to grow and mature, but it did not change the underlying political and strategic dynamics of the war in Afghanistan. The Afghan people remained largely distrustful of a corrupt and inefficient government that often seemed, especially in rural areas, to do little to improve their everyday lives. Pakistan targeted some insurgent groups in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, but predominantly those operating inside and against Pakistan rather than the Taliban and Haqqani Network that were the main antagonists in Afghanistan. Those groups were able to rebound from the setbacks in Afghanistan, using sanctuaries inside Pakistan or remote areas in Afghanistan to regroup after the beating they had sustained during the surge.

As provinces transitioned to Afghan control, provincial reconstruction teams also withdrew to make way for Afghan takeover of governance and reconstruction activities. While inevitable, the assumption of these responsibilities by the Afghan government increased opportunities for the pervasive corruption.

After the US command in Afghanistan had transitioned detention facilities and control over SOF raids to the Afghan government in spring 2012, Obama and Karzai began contentious negotiations for an Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement, providing authority for US personnel to remain in Afghanistan in an advise-and-assist role.78 Obama also designated Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally, giving it priority in obtaining security force assistance. Obama initially committed to keeping 9,800 troops in Afghanistan, but on 27 May 2014 he announced that he intended to withdraw most US troops (except for a small security force assistance office) by the end of his second term in office in early 2017. The transition process ended on 31 December 2014 when a non-combat NATO training mission replaced ISAF, and Operation Enduring Freedom morphed into Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, a mission that focused on training, equipping and advising Afghan forces, as the Afghan forces assumed full control of the security of their country.

Removing vast quantities of coalition equipment from Afghanistan during the drawdown strained logistical routes through Pakistan, a situation exacerbated by an incident in late November 2011, when an Afghan special forces company supported by US special forces personnel raided the village of Maya in eastern Afghanistan at night and came under fire from nearby Pakistani forces positioned on the high ground just across the (less than distinct) border. When a low-level pass by an F-15E Strike Eagle failed to stop the fire, the US Commander on the scene called in airstrikes, killing more than two dozen Pakistani soldiers and wounding nearly a dozen more.79 In response to the incident, the Pakistani government closed for some seven months the routes running through the two official border crossings with Afghanistan to the port of Karachi. To meet the withdrawal timeline, a great deal of equipment left Afghanistan via airlift, some was transferred to the ANSF and some deemed not cost effective to be shipped out. Four thousand vehicles, a thousand of which were mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, were destroyed in place.

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