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<body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'>It's a 'ceremonially ending'. Maybe there is also a figure head in charge of nothing.<br><br><div><hr id="stopSpelling">From: sunilramalingam@hotmail.com<br>CC: vision2020@moscow.com<br>Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2014 06:44:38 -0800<br>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] U.S., NATO ceremonially end Afghan combat mission<br><br>
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<div dir="ltr">I'm going with me every time.<br><br><div><hr id="ecxstopSpelling">Subject: Re: [Vision2020] U.S., NATO ceremonially end Afghan combat mission<br>From: thansen@moscow.com<br>Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2014 06:42:34 -0800<br>CC: vision2020@moscow.com<br>To: sunilramalingam@hotmail.com<br><br><div><span></span></div><div><div><span></span></div><div><div>Who should we believe, Mr. Ramalingam?</div><div><br></div><div>You or the U.S. Department of Defense?</div><div><br></div><div>Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123791" target="_blank">http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123791</a></div><div><br></div><div>-------------------------------------</div><div> </div><div><h3 style="padding:0px;"><font size="3"><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hagel Explains Differences Between Afghanistan, Iraq Drawdowns</span></font></h3></div><div><br><table id="ecxcontentFrameworkCenterColumnSubTable" style="padding:0px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="600px"><tbody style="padding:0px;"><tr style="padding:0px;"><td style="padding:0px;vertical-align:top;" valign="top"><div class="ecxnewsStory" style="padding:0px;font-size:12px;line-height:1.3em;"><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2014 – The Afghanistan drawdown and the situation in Iraq when U.S. troops left that country in 2011 are poles apart, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday.</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We left Iraq under totally different circumstances,” the secretary told reporters during a visit to Forward Operating Base Gamberi in Afghanistan’s Laghman province.</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The current transition in Afghanistan is taking place with the agreement and the invitation of the Afghan people and the Afghan government, Hagel said.</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“This is a transition with our closest 50 partners over the next two years after we continue to help the Afghans build their capacity, build out that capability, build their institutions, train, assist and advise,” he added. “That's totally different than how we left Iraq.”</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><span style="padding:0px;line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="padding:0px;"><font size="3">The Transition Mission</font></strong></span></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">During 2016 -- the second year of the transition in Afghanistan -- the role of coalition troops will be to work themselves out of a job, Hagel said. “That's the whole point of this,” he added.</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When the drawdown concludes, it will mark 15 years of active U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, the secretary said. “Thirteen of those have been combat roles. The last two have been train, assist, advise and working through this,” Hagel noted.</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“So I see it as a fundamentally different set of dynamics here,” he said. “It's planning, it's training [and] it's transitioning. It's an agreement with everybody knowing what the objectives are every month as we transition out and help build their capacity.”</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><span style="padding:0px;line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="padding:0px;"><font size="3">The Plan Remains the Same</font></strong></span></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The drawdown plan and bilateral security agreement are unchanged despite a change in government earlier this year, the defense secretary said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his opponent Abdullah Abdullah formed a new unity government in September, which approved the agreement shortly thereafter.</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ghani’s predecessor, Hamid Karzai supported the bilateral security agreement, even as the government was transitioning, Hagel told reporters, noting that Karzai endorsed the pact at a national assembly of local Afghan elders and leaders.</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“As that transition went forward,” he said, “President Karzai took the bilateral security agreement to the Loya Jirga that he called, and endorsed it to the Loya Jirga. … So there's no shift just because … one government wants to change it and the other one doesn't -- not at all. There's no shift in that.”</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><span style="padding:0px;line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong style="padding:0px;"><font size="3">Afghan Military Participation</font></strong></span></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Afghan military helped to write the plan, Hagel said.</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“And they understand it better than anybody,” he added, “because they want to have the capability to be able to do on their own without us having that constant, ‘We're the backup, call us in.’”</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This year’s Afghan presidential elections demonstrate the existing capability of the country’s forces, the defense secretary said. The Taliban and al-Qaida announced they would do everything they could to disrupt the vote, he said, but “the Afghan security forces independently assured those elections.”</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I think that's a pretty significant testament to the capability of the Afghan Security Forces and the people of Afghanistan wanting this to go forward,” Hagel said.</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><font size="3"><span style="line-height:normal;background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(Follow Claudette Roulo on Twitter: @roulododnews)</span></font></p><p style="padding:0px 0px 12px;line-height:1.2em;"><br></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>-------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares"</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" target="_blank"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div><div><br>On Dec 9, 2014, at 6:29 AM, Sunil <<a href="mailto:sunilramalingam@hotmail.com">sunilramalingam@hotmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote><div>
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<div dir="ltr">Nothing is ending, little is changing.<br><br><div><hr id="ecxstopSpelling">From: <a href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">thansen@moscow.com</a><br>Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2014 04:34:49 -0800<br>To: <a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>Subject: [Vision2020] U.S., NATO ceremonially end Afghan combat mission<br><br><div><span></span></div><div><div><span></span></div><div><div><span></span></div><div><div><span></span></div><div><div><span></span></div><div><div><span></span></div><div><div><span></span></div><div><div>Courtesy of the Army Times.</div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div> </div><div><span style="color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:32px;line-height:34px;"><b>U.S., NATO ceremonially end Afghan combat mission</b></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. and NATO ceremonially ended their combat mission in Afghanistan on Monday, 13 years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks sparked their invasion of the country to topple the Taliban-led government.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">NATO's International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, which was in charge of combat operations, lowered its flag, formally ending its deployment.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">U.S. Gen. John F. Campbell, commander of NATO and U.S. forces, said that the mission now would transition to a training and support role for Afghanistan's own security forces, which have led the fight against the Taliban insurgents since mid-2013.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The Afghan security forces are capable," Campbell said. "They have to make some changes in the leadership which they're doing, and they have to hold people accountable."</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">From Jan. 1, the coalition will maintain a force of 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, down from a peak around 140,000 in 2011. There are around 15,000 troops now in the country.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The mission ends as the Taliban is increasing its attacks. U.S. President Barack Obama recently allowed U.S. forces to launch operations against both Taliban and al-Qaida militants, broadening the mission of the U.S. forces that will remain in the country after the end of the year.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Violence continued Monday in the country, as suicide bombers launched an assault on a police station in southern Kandahar province. Police killed three suicide bombers, said Samim Akhplwak, the spokesman for the provincial governor. He said casualty figures were unclear.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Campbell said that Afghan security forces, including the army, police and local militias, were capable of securing the country despite record-high casualty figures that have risen 6.5 percent this year, to 4,634 killed in action, compared to 4,350 in 2013. By comparison, some 3,500 foreign forces, including at least 2,210 American soldiers, have been killed since the war began in 2001.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Up to 10,800 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan for the first three months of next year, 1,000 more than previously planned as the new mission, called Resolute Support, waits for NATO partners to deploy, said a NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop deployments.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As a result, there will be little, if any, net drop in U.S. troop numbers between now and Dec. 31. By the end of 2015, however, the U.S. troop total is to shrink to 5,500, and to near zero by the end of 2016.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Monday's ceremony was the first of two that will draw a formal close to NATO's combat mission by Dec. 28.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span class="ecxcutline ecxjs-caption" style="display:block;"><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson, right, and commander of International Security Assistance Force, Gen. John F. Campbell, center, salute during a flag-lowering ceremony Monday in Kabul. The U.S. and NATO ceremonially ended their combat mission in Afghanistan.</span></span><span class="ecxcutline ecxjs-caption" style="display:block;"><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></span><span class="ecxcutline ecxjs-caption" style="display:block;"><img src="cid:331BE037-83D3-4068-A6CC-925059936FE3" alt="image1.jpeg" id="ecx331BE037-83D3-4068-A6CC-925059936FE3"></span><span class="ecxcutline ecxjs-caption" style="display:block;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/Photos/Afghanistan/Kabul_Retiring_the_Colors_120814.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.tomandrodna.com/Photos/Afghanistan/Kabul_Retiring_the_Colors_120814.jpg</a></span></div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares"</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" target="_blank"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it.</span><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- Gen. George C. Marshall (1956)</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br>=======================================================
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