Another Taliban leader reportedly dead; Are US troops cleared hot vs. Taliban, or not?; Human shields in Fallujah; USSOF ‘invade’ Florida; And a bit more.
May 24, 2016
By Ben Watson
Marcus Weisgerber
http://www.defenseone.com/news/2016/05/the-d-brief-may-24-2016/128552/ The D Brief
The Taliban’s shadow governor in southern Helmand province has been killed in an airstrike, Helmand police chief Aqa Noor Keentoz said this morning, though it’s unclear what nation’s air force carried out the alleged hit, Stars and Stripes reports. The Taliban denied the allegation, and said that governor, known as “Muzamil,” was actually their deputy in Helmand and that everyone is a-okay there.
Ben Watson is news editor for Defense One. He previously worked for NPR's “All Things Considered” and “Here and Now” in Washington, D.C. Watson served for five years in the U.S. Army, where he was an award-winning combat cameraman and media advisor for southern Afghanistan's special operations ... Full Bio
Marcus Weisgerber is the global business editor for Defense One, where he writes about the intersection of business and national security. He has been covering defense and national security issues for nearly a decade, previously as Pentagon correspondent for Defense News and chief editor of Inside ... Full Bio
Adds Stripes: “It was not immediately clear whether the strike, which Keentoz said was carried out in the Marjah district, where government forces have been fighting to wrest control from the Taliban, was conducted by coalition forces or by the fledgling Afghan air force. NATO officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.” More here.
U.S. troops want to know: Is it time to take the fight to the Taliban—or wait around for the peace process to play out? After the U.S. tracked former Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor from Iran to Pakistan via his phone’s SIM card prior to killing him with two Hellfire missiles in a Reaper drone strike on Saturday, the Pentagon and the White House are at odds over how to proceed militarily against the group’s remaining fighters, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. “The American military wants presidential permission to use airpower to blunt the group’s threatened advances this summer, according to several U.S. officials. The White House first wants to see what effect the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour in Pakistan over the weekend will have on the Taliban, senior administration officials said.”
The problem with that: It “would require a significant revision in the so-called rules of engagement, which were changed in January 2015 under Mr. Obama’s plan to scale back U.S. military involvement and to encourage reconciliation efforts with the Taliban. Mr. Obama has told aides he is not inclined to restart regular U.S. operations against the Taliban, the senior administration officials said. But the strike in Pakistan on Saturday that killed Mr. Mansour has boosted the idea that the U.S. can continue pursuing so-called high-value targets and mid-level Taliban extremists.”Meantime, there’s very little wiggle room: “Under existing military authorization, U.S. operations against the Taliban can only be conducted under three broad circumstances: when U.S. or coalition forces are under threat; when U.S. officials deem that the Taliban is providing direct support to al Qaeda; or when the Taliban pose a ‘strategic threat’ to Afghan forces. U.S. officials say Saturday’s strike was considered defensive in nature because Mr. Mansour was plotting against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In addition, the strike was authorized by Mr. Obama, because it took place on Pakistani soil. But there is little room for commanders in Afghanistan to maneuver in attempting to target Taliban foot soldiers, under current rules of engagement.” Read on for some of the fine-print ways being pitched to work around the directive, here.
And here’s a bit more on how the strike means Obama’s drone war has crossed another line with the “unprecedented” move of authorizing the Pentagon rather than the CIA to carry out an airstrike inside Pakistan, The Atlantic’s Kathy Gilsinan writes.
By the way: What was Mansoor doing in Iran? “Although it is Pakistan that has traditionally been condemned for secretly supporting Afghan insurgents, analysts say Iran also provides weapons, cash and sanctuary to the Taliban. Despite the deep ideological antipathy between a hardline Sunni group and cleric-run Shia state the two sides have proved themselves quite willing to cooperate where necessary against mutual enemies and in the pursuit of shared interests.” The Guardian has more from that angle, here.
The Fallujah express rolls on but with lighter fighting than on Monday, Reuters reports from the capital, where the Iraqi military said it had dislodged the militants from Garma, a village east of the city, overnight. “No one can leave. It’s dangerous. There are snipers everywhere along the exit routes,” one resident said.
Gen. Abdul Wahab al Saadi, chief of the Fallujah operation, said the military retook a hospital just outside Fallujah. “We are pushing steadily and very soon we will control the main highway north of the city,” he said.Saadi’s troops are bracing for the Islamic State using civilians as human shields, USA Today reports. “People trapped in the city told USA Today that the Islamic State has imposed a curfew and moved many residents to the city center to use as a human shield. The group also prevented civilians from leaving the city and threatened to kill anyone attempting to do so.”
For your eyes only: Here’s video of airstrikes on Monday delivered by Iraqi warplanes.
