High level meeting focuses on future of special ops in Afghanistan
By Barbara Starr
The head of U.S .Special Operations Command recently held a closed-door secret meeting at his Florida headquarters to discuss the future of special operations forces in Afghanistan after the U.S. formally withdraws at the end of 2014.
The Tampa meeting was called by Adm. William McRaven, commander of SOCOM. It involved some of the most senior officers in the military, as well as officials from U.S. intelligence agencies, two U.S. military officials told CNN.
Gen. John Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan; Gen. James Mattis, the commander of U.S. Central Command, as well as Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were just some of the participants, the officials said.
The officials declined to be identified because what was discussed at the meeting is considered highly private by the participants prior to key decisions being made about the future role of special operations forces.
For McRaven, the essential question is the number of forces Special Operations need and the mission they will perform in Afghanistan as conventional forces added last year as part of a 'surge' of troops are withdrawn by the end of 2012, and all combat troops are removed by the end of 2014. The meeting was not aimed at coming to any decisions, but rather a discussion at the highest levels about how to proceed in the coming months, CNN was told.
The meeting included discussing various options for the command structure to oversee commando operations as well as the need to keep other conventional units in the country to assist them, according to the sources.
For example, even if only several thousand commando troops are kept in Afghanistan, they will still need other troops to provide helicopters, medical evacuation, support at bases, transportation and other key needs, the officials explained. Support forces could range up to three times the number of actual commandos on the ground.
Current military planning calls for special operations forces to remain after combat troops withdraw in 2014 with the primary mission of hunting down terrorists.
If they stay beyond 2014, a new agreement with the Afghan government would have to be reached.
The U.S. and President Hamid Karzai's administration are negotiating a status of forces agreement, but it's been held up over disagreements about handing over control of some prisons to the Afghan government and concerns about night raids, an official in Kabul said.
Officials have previously confirmed plans for a new high level command in Afghanistan to be headed by Maj. Gen. Tony Thomas, currently the deputy commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, which overseas all military counter terrorism operations. But sometime around 2013, if the bulk of the forces fall under SOCOM, then command of the entire war could fall under that element.
There are currently 89,000 US troops in Afghanistan, about 8% are special operations forces. McRaven Tuesday told the Senate Armed Services Committee the number is expected to increase even as the conventional forces are drawn down through 2014.
McRavens' forces not only conduct raids against terrorism targets, but also oversee operations to assist local villages with their security and establishing local Afghan police for those areas. So far, special operations forces have recruited and trained nearly 11,000 local police.
McRaven also told the committee that virtually all raids conducted at night now are led by Afghan forces so cultural sensitivities to foreign forces do not flare up especially in remote areas. The raids, McRaven told the committee, are vital.
"We think the night raids are essential for our task force to go after high value individuals. The high value individuals that we pursue during the course of a 24-hour period or days or weeks generally bed down at night," McRaven said on Tuesday. "They are much more targetable at night and in fact, I think if you look at it tactically, what you'll find is the Afghans are actually much safer if we target an individual at night because there aren't so many people out and about the little villages."
@natlsecuritycnn on Twitter
https://uoft.me/index.php?format=simple&action=shorturl&url=http://newrvowners.com
A fascinating discussion is definitely worth comment. I believe that you need to publish more about this topic, it may not be a taboo subject but typically people don't speak about such issues. To the next! All the best!!
http://goldankauf-oberberg.de/out.php?link=http://fleetservicesocrv.com
https://openforbusinessmagazine01.businesscatalyst.com/Redirect.aspx?destination=https://www.fleetservicesocrv.com
http://www.your-hoster.de/info.php?a%5B%5D=<a+href=https://commercialrepairshop.com/
This is a topic which is near to my heart... Thank you! Exactly where are your contact details though?
https://www.vinsnaturels.fr/777_includes/003_compteur_commerce.php?url=https://ocrvcenter.org
http://dp.do/redir?http://ocrvmotorsports.us
Itís nearly impossible to find educated people on this subject, however, you seem like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks
http://www.battledawn.com/linkexchange/go.php?url=https://fleetservicesocrv.com
Having read this I thought it was really informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this article together. I once again find myself spending way too much time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
http://www.all-cs.net.ru/go?https://ocrvmotorsports.net
Excellent post! We will be linking to this great content on our site. Keep up the great writing.
http://www.mn2020.org/?URL=http://ocrv.fun
https://www.rondomusic.com/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=bwcornwell&page=http://ocrvcenter.biz
Very good post. I definitely appreciate this website. Keep it up!
https://www.mydoterra.com/Application/index.cfm?EnrollerID=458046&Theme=DefaultTheme&Returnurl=http://ocrvmotorsports.net/&LNG=en_dot&iact=1
https://journalist.kg/redirect.php?url=http://ocrvcenter.info
http://www.gestionhumana.com/gh4/RedirectorNL.asp?Id_Tarea=_IDTAREA_&Email=EMAIL&Enlace=https://ocrvmotorcoaches.com/
After going over a handful of the blog posts on your website, I seriously like your way of blogging. I book marked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Please check out my website as well and tell me what you think.
http://beasthub.net/out.php?url=https://fleetrepairshops.com/
https://brivium.com/proxy.php?link=http://ocrv.life
https://closingbell.co/click?url=https://ocrvfleetservices.com
You've made some decent points there. I looked on the internet for additional information about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your views on this site.
http://ongab.ru/go?to=https://www.fleetservicesocrv.com/
http://www.gestionhumana.com/gh4/RedirectorNL.asp?Id_Tarea=_IDTAREA_&Email=EMAIL&Enlace=https://sprintervanrepair.com
I blog frequently and I seriously thank you for your content. The article has truly peaked my interest. I am going to bookmark your site and keep checking for new details about once per week. I opted in for your Feed as well.
http://docstyles.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=ocrv.life
http://nl.triger.com.pl/nl_status.php?red=29909679-1&ga=1&lp=2&url=https://ocrv.org/
http://bigmoviezone.com/banners/go.html?url=http://ocrv.tv/
Right now it seems like BlogEngine is the top blogging platform out there right now.
(from what I've read) Is that what you're using on your blog?
That is a great tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere. Short but very precise infoÖ Many thanks for sharing this one. A must read article!
http://www.b-idol.com/url.cgi/bbs/?https://ocrvcenter.com/
After checking out a number of the articles on your website, I really like your technique of writing a blog. I bookmarked it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back soon. Take a look at my web site as well and tell me how you feel.
http://scanverify.com/siteverify.php?site=www.ocrvshop.com
https://eao.rtrs.ru/go/?q=http://ocrv.club/
http://amp.wte.net/t.aspx?s=88&url=https://ocrv.life
I couldnít resist commenting. Very well written!
http://holidaykitchens.com/?URL=http://ocrvmotorsports.org/holostyak-stb-2021
http://tk.keyxel.com/?programId=1108767&affiliateId=900183&creativityId=11980&p0=&p1=&p2=&p3=&p4=&p6=10286&trType=I&url=https://www.ocrvcenter.mobi/
http://feed.thepund.it/?url=http://www.ocrvshop.com
This site certainly has all the information and facts I wanted about this subject and didnít know who to ask.
https://www.vmzinc.co.uk/literature.html?task=count&id=18&type=orig_doc&filetype=pdf&url=http://ocrvcenter.org/
http://kohalib.usim.edu.my/cgi-bin/koha/tracklinks.pl?uri=http://ocrvmotorcoaches.com/
I blog quite often and I genuinely appreciate your content. This article has really peaked my interest. I'm going to take a note of your site and keep checking for new details about once per week. I opted in for your Feed too.
http://www.brillkids.com/ra.php?id=46132&s=newrvowners.com/
An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you ought to publish more on this subject matter, it may not be a taboo subject but generally folks don't discuss these issues. To the next! Best wishes!!
https://mailer.bluelemonmedia.com/url.aspx?s=83626&m=1162&url=http://ocrvmotorcoachsales.com
http://outlink.webkicks.de/dref.cgi?job=outlink&url=https://www.ocrv.us/
Iím amazed, I have to admit. Seldom do I encounter a blog thatís both equally educative and interesting, and without a doubt, you've hit the nail on the head. The issue is something not enough folks are speaking intelligently about. I'm very happy I came across this during my search for something regarding this.
https://service.thecloud.net/service-platform/redirect/?url=https://www.www.ocrvmotorsports.us
I used to be able to find good info from your articles.
http://services.nfpa.org/Authentication/GetSSOSession.aspx?return=http://ocrvcenter.org/
http://e-librarian.net/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.newrvowners.com/
This is a good tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere. Simple but very precise infoÖ Many thanks for sharing this one. A must read article!
http://www.stevelukather.com/news-articles/2016/04/steve-porcaro-to-release-first-ever-solo-album.aspx?ref=http://ocrv.pro/
This website was... how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I've found something which helped me. Many thanks!
http://www.anastasiasaffiliate.com/aw.aspx?A=114623&TargetURL=//ocrv.mobi
Hi, I do think this is a great site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I'm going to return yet again since I book marked it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help others.
http://pt.tapatalk.com/redirect.php?app_id=4&fid=59573&url=https://ocrv.me
Having read this I believed it was very enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this content together. I once again find myself personally spending a lot of time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!
https://www.be-webdesigner.com/bbs/redirect.htm?url=https://ocrvmotorsports.life/