PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT ON END OF COMBAT MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE PRESIDENT 
December 28, 2014
Statement by the President on the End of the Combat Mission in Afghanistan

Today's ceremony in Kabul marks a milestone for our country. For more than 13 years, ever since nearly 3,000 innocent lives were taken from us on 9/11, our nation has been at war in Afghanistan. Now, thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, our combat mission in Afghanistan is ending, and the longest war in American history is coming to a responsible conclusion.

On this day we give thanks to our troops and intelligence personnel who have been relentless against the terrorists responsible for 9/11--devastating the core al Qaeda leadership, delivering justice to Osama bin Laden, disrupting terrorist plots and saving countless American lives. We are safer, and our nation is more secure, because of their service. At the same time, our courageous military and diplomatic personnel in Afghanistan--along with our NATO allies and coalition partners--have helped the Afghan people reclaim their communities, take the lead for their own security, hold historic elections and complete the first democratic transfer of power in their country's history.

We honor the profound sacrifices that have made this progress possible. We salute every American--military and civilian, including our dedicated diplomats and development workers--who have served in Afghanistan, many on multiple tours, just as their families have sacrificed at home. We pledge to give our many wounded warriors, with wounds seen and unseen, the world-class care and treatment they have earned. Most of all, we remember the more than 2,200 American patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, and we pledge to stand with their Gold Star families who need the everlasting love and support of a grateful nation.

Afghanistan remains a dangerous place, and the Afghan people and their security forces continue to make tremendous sacrifices in defense of their country. At the invitation of the Afghan government, and to preserve the gains we have made together, the United States--along with our allies and partners--will maintain a limited military presence in Afghanistan to train, advise and assist Afghan forces and to conduct counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al Qaeda. Our personnel will continue to face risks, but this reflects the enduring commitment of the United States to the Afghan people and to a united, secure and sovereign Afghanistan that is never again used as a source of attacks against our nation.

These past 13 years have tested our nation and our military. But compared to the nearly 180,000 American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan when I took office, we now have fewer than 15,000 in those countries. Some 90 percent of our troops are home. Our military remains the finest in the world, and we will remain vigilant against terrorist attacks and in defense of the freedoms and values we hold dear. And with growing prosperity here at home, we enter a new year with new confidence, indebted to our fellow Americans in uniform who keep us safe and free.

LEGAL BACKGROUND FOR WAR AGAINST AL-QAIDA

Emergency response vehicles line the area around the Pentagon, and smoke clouds the horizon shortly after a terrorist attack Sept. 11, 2001. President George W. Bush announced a war on terrorism and initiated homeland-defense efforts, including Operation Noble Eagle, which involved combat air patrols within the United States.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Johnson Gives Legal Background for War Against al-Qaida
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2012 - The United States remains in an armed conflict with al-Qaida, but it is important that the fight against the terrorist group is done in a lawful manner that does not compromise American values, Jeh C. Johnson told the Oxford Union in England today.

The group invited Johnson, the Defense Department's general counsel, to discuss the implications of the fight against al-Qaida -- a conflict that Britain has been involved in as well since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

Al-Qaida planned and executed the attacks that killed 3,000 people from their base in Afghanistan. The United States has taken the fight directly to the terrorists, "the result of which is that the core of al-Qaeda is today degraded, disorganized and on the run," Johnson said. "Osama bin Laden is dead. Many other leaders and terrorist operatives of al-Qaida are dead or captured; those left in al-Qaida's core struggle to communicate, issue orders, and recruit."

But, the group remains a danger. While the international coalition has degraded al-Qaida's capabilities, it has decentralized, and relies much more on affiliates. The most dangerous of these are al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula based in Yemen and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in northern and western Africa. In Yemen, the United States works with the government there in counterterrorism operations.

But the question for some is whether all of these actions are legal. Taking on al-Qaida is not like declaring war on a sovereign nation. It is an amorphous terror group that operates worldwide. Some have asked what is the legal basis for armed conflict against such a group?

"The United States government is in an armed conflict against al-Qaeda and associated forces, to which the laws of armed conflict apply," Johnson said. "One week after 9/11, our Congress authorized our President 'to use all necessary and appropriate force' against those nations, organizations and individuals responsible for 9/11."

Then-President George W. Bush, and now President Barack Obama have acted militarily based on that authorization ever since. The Supreme Court also endorsed this justification in 2006.

But, for the United States, this is a new kind of conflict. It is an unconventional fight against an unconventional enemy.

"Given its unconventional nature, President Obama -- himself a lawyer and a good one -- has insisted that our efforts in pursuit of this enemy stay firmly rooted in conventional legal principles," Johnson said. "For, in our efforts to destroy and dismantle al-Qaida, we cannot dismantle our laws and our values, too."

He added that the United States is "not at war with an idea, a religion or a tactic. We are at war with an organized, armed group -- a group determined to kill innocent civilians."

The nation is also in conflict with groups that aid al-Qaida.

"We have publicly stated that our goal in this conflict is to 'disrupt, dismantle, and ensure a lasting defeat of al-Qaeda and violent extremist affiliates," Johnson said. "Some legal scholars and commentators in our country brand the detention by the military of members of al-Qaida as 'indefinite detention without charges.' Some refer to targeted lethal force against known, identified individual members of al-Qaeda as 'extrajudicial killing.'"

Johnson countered, by pointing out that "viewed within the context of conventional armed conflict -- as they should be -- capture, detention and lethal force are traditional practices as old as armies."

He added, "We employ weapons of war against al-Qaida, but in a manner consistent with the law of war. We employ lethal force, but in a manner consistent with the law of war principles of proportionality, necessity and distinction."

The armed conflict is now in its twelfth year. How will it end?

"It is an unconventional conflict, against an unconventional enemy, and will not end in conventional terms," Johnson said.

Every defense secretary since 9/11 has said the war against terrorism will not conclude with a formal surrender such as the ceremony that took place on the deck of the USS Missouri that ended World War II.

"We cannot and should not expect al-Qaida and its associated forces to all surrender, all lay down their weapons in an open field or to sign a peace treaty with us," Johnson said. "They are terrorist organizations. Nor can we expect to capture or kill every last terrorist who claims an affiliation with al-Qaida."

Al Qaida's "radical and absurd goals" include global domination through a violent Islamic caliphate, terrorizing the United States and other western nations so they retreat from the world stage as well as the destruction of Israel.

"There is no compromise or political bargain that can be struck with those who pursue such aims," Johnson said.

The general counsel believes there will come a tipping point when so many al-Qaida leaders and operatives have been killed or captured that the group and its affiliates can no longer attempt to launch a strategic attack against the United States.

"At that point, we must be able to say to ourselves that our efforts should no longer be considered an 'armed conflict' against al-Qaida and its affiliates; rather, a counterterrorism effort against individuals who are the scattered remnants of al-Qaida," he said.

BIN LADEN LETTERS SHOW DESIRE TO ATTACK U.S.

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Bin Laden Letters Show Desire to Attack U.S. Targets

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2012 – Osama bin Laden’s letters urged jihadist groups to stop domestic attacks that killed Muslim civilians and focus on the United States, “our desired goal,” says a study of declassified documents captured during last year’s U.S. raid on his compound in Pakistan.

The 59-page study titled “Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Laden Sidelined?” released online today, was written by a team of researchers the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point and supplemented with reviews and support from other experts.

The center is an independent, privately funded research and educational institution at the U.S. Military Academy that informs counterterrorism policy and strategy.

The end of the Abbottabad raid was the start of a massive analytical effort, retired Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, the center’s chairman, said in the report’s foreword, adding that experts from across the intelligence community worked to exploit the captured documents.

The letters total 175 pages in the original Arabic and 197 pages in the English translation. The earliest is dated September 2006 and the latest April 2011, the authors write, adding that some letters are incomplete or undated and not all attribute their authors or indicate an addressee.

Besides bin Laden, those who appear in the letters as authors or recipients include al-Qaida leaders Atiyyatullah and Abu Yahya al-Libi; Adam Yahya Gadahn, an American al-Qaida spokesman and media advisor; Mukhtar Abu al-Zubayr, leader of Somali militant group Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahidin; Abu Basir, or Nasir al-Wuhayshi, leader of Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula; and Hakimullah Mahsud, leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

“Bin Laden’s frustration with regional jihadi groups and his seeming inability to exercise control over their actions and public statements is the most compelling story to be told on the basis of the 17 declassified documents,” the report said.

Bin Laden’s public statements focused on Muslim enemies such as corrupt Muslim rulers and their Western “overseers,” the analysis said, but “the focus of his private letters is Muslims suffering at the hands of his jihadi ‘brothers.’”

The late al-Qaida chieftain also had been burdened by the incompetence of affiliate terror group, the report said, “including their lack of political acumen to win public support, their media campaigns and their poorly planned operations” that killed thousands of Muslims.

The failures of al-Qaida in Iraq worried bin Laden, who urged other groups not to repeat their mistakes. Gadahn advised al-Qaida to publicly dissociate itself from the group, the report says.

Bin Laden also worried about expansion plans of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, for example warning them not to declare an Islamic state in Yemen, and about indiscriminate attacks against Muslims by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.

Such attacks “caused Atiyyatullah and Abu Yahya al-Libi to write to TTP leader Hakimullah Mahsud to express their displeasure with the group’s ‘ideology, methods and behavior,’” the report said.

The al-Qaida leaders “also threatened to take public measures ‘unless we see from you serious and immediate practical and clear steps towards reforming [your ways] and dissociating yourself from these vile mistakes [that violate Islamic Law],’” the report added.

Bin Laden withheld recognition of a February pledge of loyalty to al-Qaida by Somali rebel movement al-Shabab, the report said, fearing “that a formal merger with al-Qaida would prevent investment and foreign aid in Somalia.”

The documents released to the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point mentioned al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the Taliban and Jaysh al-Islam, but the report says the discussions “are not substantive enough to inform an understanding of the relationship between al-Qaida’s senior leaders and these groups.”

Among the documents is an April 2011 letter from bin Laden responding to the Arab Spring, which he considered a “formidable event” in the modern history of Muslims.

“This letter,” the report says, “reflected his intended strategy of responding to the new political landscape that was emerging in the Middle East and North Africa.”

In the Arab world, bin Laden wanted al-Qaida to focus its efforts on media outreach and “guidance.” He believed that a media campaign should be launched to incite “people who have not yet revolted and exhort them to rebel against the rulers,” the report said.

But he also wanted to invest, the report said, in “educating and warning Muslim people from those [who might tempt them to settle for] half solutions, such as engaging in the secular political process by forming political parties.”

In Afghanistan, bin Laden wanted jihadis to continue the fight against the United States.

Bin Laden believed their efforts, the report said, “weakened the United States, enabling Muslims elsewhere to revolt against their rulers, no longer fearing that the United States would be in a powerful position to support these rulers.”

The documents show that al-Qaida’s relationship with Iran is one of “indirect and unpleasant negotiations over the release of detained jihadis and their families, including members of bin Laden’s family,” the report said, adding that discussion about Pakistan in the documents is “scarce and inconclusive.”
 

PRESIDENT REPORTS ON CURRENT MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN

Photo:  White House

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

President Updates Nation on Afghanistan Mission

By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2012 - After joining Afghan President Hamid Karzai in signing a strategic partnership agreement in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul today, President Barack Obama took to the airwaves at Bagram Airfield to update the American people on the mission in Afghanistan.

The speech from the large NATO base about 35 miles from Kabul was the last event of an eventful night that saw the president fly in to Afghanistan, sign the agreement and meet with American service members.

Bagram is the headquarters for the International Security Assistance Force's Regional Command East, and is an outpost for the war on al-Qaida. Obama said it is important for Americans to remember why U.S. service members are in such a place. "Here, in Afghanistan, more than half a million of our sons and daughters have sacrificed to protect our country," he said.

Afghanistan was where Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror group planned, trained and financed the attacks that killed almost 3,000 men, women and children on Sept. 11, 2001. "And so, 10 years ago, the United States and our allies went to war to make sure that al-Qaida could never again use this country to launch attacks against us," the president said.

American and anti-Taliban Afghan groups had initial success, but bin Laden and his lieutenants escaped across the border and established safe havens in Pakistan. "America spent nearly eight years fighting a different war in Iraq, and al-Qaida's extremist allies within the Taliban have waged a brutal insurgency," the president said.

But the tide has turned, he added, and the Taliban's momentum has been broken.

"We've built strong Afghan security forces," the president said. "We devastated al-Qaida's leadership, taking out over 20 of their top 30 leaders. And one year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. The goal that I set – to defeat al-Qaida and deny it a chance to rebuild – is now within reach."

The president said the key to completing the mission is transitioning security responsibility to Afghans. He noted that half of the population of the country is already protected by Afghan soldiers and police, and the Afghans are prepared to move into the lead in other parts of the nation. At the NATO summit in Chicago later this month, he said, leaders will endorse a plan to turn security responsibility over to the Afghans in 2013.

"International troops will continue to train, advise and assist the Afghans, and fight alongside them when needed," Obama said. "But we will shift into a support role as Afghans step forward."

American forces already have started coming home. In 2011, 10,000 troops from the Afghan surge returned to their bases. Another 23,000 will return by the end of September. "After that, reductions will continue at a steady pace, with more and more of our troops coming home," the president said. "And as our coalition agreed, by the end of 2014, the Afghans will be fully responsible for the security of their country."

The coalition is working to train Afghan soldiers and police to shoulder that security burden. This summer there will be 352,000 members of the Afghan security forces. As it stands, Afghanistan will field an army and police force at that number for three years, and then reduce the size of the force.

The United States is building an enduring partnership with Afghanistan, the president said, citing the strategic partnership agreement he and Karzai signed earlier at the presidential palace in Kabul. "It establishes the basis of our cooperation over the next decade, including shared commitments to combat terrorism and strengthen democratic institutions," Obama said. "It supports Afghan efforts to advance development and dignity for their people. And it includes Afghan commitments to transparency and accountability, and to protect the human rights of all Afghans – men and women, boys and girls."

Within this agreement, the president explained, the United States will work with Afghan partners to accomplish two narrow security missions beyond 2014: counterterrorism and continued training. "But we will not build permanent bases in this country, nor will we be patrolling its cities and mountains. That will be the job of the Afghan people," he said.

The United States is working with Afghan government leaders to negotiate a peace in the country. "My administration has been in direct discussions with the Taliban," Obama said. "We have made it clear that they can be a part of this future if they break with al-Qaida, renounce violence, and abide by Afghan laws."

Many members of the Taliban are looking at this offered hand, and many already have taken it, the president said. "A path to peace is now set before them," said he added. "Those who refuse to walk it will face strong Afghan security forces, backed by the United States and our allies."

Finally, the United States seeks to build a global consensus to support peace and stability in South Asia, and needs Pakistan to be part of the process. "It can and should be an equal partner in this process in a way that respects Pakistan's sovereignty, interests and democratic institutions," he said. "In pursuit of a durable peace, America has no designs beyond an end to al-Qaida safe-havens and respect for Afghan sovereignty."

Working on a timeline provides a sense of urgency, spares treasure and saves lives, Obama said. "Our goal is to destroy al-Qaida, and we are on a path to do exactly that," he added. "Afghans want to assert their sovereignty and build a lasting peace. That requires a clear timeline to wind down the war."

Withdrawing immediately, he said, would leave Afghanistan vulnerable to a new civil war and re-establishment of terrorist safe havens. "We must give Afghanistan the opportunity to stabilize," he said. "Otherwise, our gains could be lost, and al-Qaida could establish itself once more. And as commander in chief, I refuse to let that happen."

The best course, Obama said, is to end the war responsibly.

"My fellow Americans, we have traveled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war," he said. "Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon. The Iraq War is over. The number of our troops in harm's way has been cut in half, and more will soon be coming home. We have a clear path to fulfill our mission in Afghanistan, while delivering justice to al-Qaida."

The future is possible, the president said, because of American service members, who have deployed to Afghanistan and other dangerous areas time and again.

"In an age when so many institutions have come up short, these Americans stood tall," he said. "They met their responsibilities to one another, and the flag they serve under. I just met with some of them, and told them that as commander in chief, I could not be prouder. In their faces, we see what is best in ourselves and our country."

Obama stressed that America must honor its debts to these service members. "We must give our veterans and military families the support they deserve, and the opportunities they have earned," he said. "And we must redouble our efforts to build a nation worthy of their sacrifice."
 

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF OSAMA BIN LADEN'S DEMISE

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

White House Photo

Obama Notes bin Laden Mission as Anniversary Nears

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2012 - President Barack Obama today praised the U.S. military and intelligence communities as he reflected on the approaching one-year anniversary of the mission that killed al-Qaida leader and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Speaking during a news conference alongside Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the president praised the intelligence effort of tracking bin Laden down and the May 2, 2011, military mission that killed him.

"It's a mark of the excellence of our intelligence teams and our military teams -- a political process that worked," the president said. "And I think for us to use that time for some reflection, to give thanks to those who participated, is entirely appropriate, and that's what's been taking place."

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, commenting April 27 on a return trip from South America, noted "America has become a safer place" since a team of Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in his Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound. Panetta was director of the CIA at the time of the raid.

"I don't think there's any question that America is safer as a result of the bin Laden operation," Panetta told reporters traveling with him. But al-Qaida remains a threat, he added.

U.S. BELIEVES AL-QAIDA IS STILL MAJOR THREAT

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Al-Qaida Offshoots Are Biggest Terror Threat, Official Says

By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2012 - Core Al-Qaida – the group led by Osama bin Laden – has been surpassed by its affiliates as the biggest terrorist threat to the United States, a senior intelligence official said.

"With bin Laden's death, the global jihadist movement lost its most iconic, most effective and most inspirational leader," Robert T. Cardillo, deputy director for intelligence integration with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, told reporters in an April 27 conference call.

Bin Laden's death allowed al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al Zawahiri to move up, but he has not changed the group's strategic direction and does not have the charisma to appeal to new recruits, Cardillo said.

Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in Pakistan during an intelligence-driven operation on May 2, 2011.

The al-Qaida offshoots – al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Shabob in Somalia, al-Qaida in the Mahgreb – "will surpass the core al-Qaida remaining in Pakistan," Cardillo said. "Each group will seek opportunities to strike Western interests in its operating area, but each group will have different intent and opportunity to execute those plans."

The "Arab Spring" uprisings that began last year have influenced the jihadist movement, the deputy director said. "The unrest and reduced security provides terrorists inspired by that movement more operating space as security services focus more on internal security and regime stability," he said.

As new Middle East leaders address public demands for their participation in government, "we assess that core al-Qaida and the jihadist movement will suffer a strategic setback in that the Arab Spring strikes at the very core of their jihadist narrative," he said.

Al-Qaida believes in progress by violence, but the elections in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and the up-coming election in Libya rebuke that assertion, Cardillo said.

"However, prolonged instability or unmet promises by these new governments ... would give al-Qaida, its affiliates and its allies more time to establish networks, gain support and potentially engage in operations," he said.