Sec. 1215. Sense of Congress on United States policy and strategy in Afghanistan
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/bill/114/hr/4909/rh/section-1215·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: The United States continues to have vital national security interests in ensuring that Afghanistan is a stable, sovereign country. President Obama signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement and a Bilateral Security Agreement with the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which commits the United States to the long-term security of, and defense cooperation with, the Government of Afghanistan and designates Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally .
The unity government in Afghanistan, led by President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah, should be applauded for their continued leadership and commitment to Afghanistan’s stability and security. Stability and security in Afghanistan reinforces stability and security in the region. The best long-term guarantor of stability and security in Afghanistan is a stable unity government and a capable Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). The President’s current policy is to draw down from 9,800 to 5,500 United States troops by January 1, 2017.
As the recent commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the 5,500 [U.S. troops] plan was developed primarily around counterterrorism. There’s very limited train-advise-and-assist...in those numbers. To continue to build on the Afghan Security Forces, the gaps and seams in aviation, logistics, intelligence...we’d have to make some adjustments to that number. . The President’s policy of limiting the number of United States troops that the commander can employ in Afghanistan is hindering the effectiveness of the United States mission therein.
Further, at the current policy of 9,800 United States troops, the new commander of Operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan, General John Mick Nicholson, agreed in testimony with the Senate Armed Services Committee that the security situation in Afghanistan has been deteriorating rather than improving. General John Campbell also stated …Afghan shortfalls will persist beyond 2016. Capability gaps still exist in fixed and rotary-wing aviation, combined arms operations, intelligence collection and dissemination, and maintenance. .
General John Campbell further stated I have the authority to protect coalition members against any insurgents…to attack the Taliban just because they’re Taliban, I do not have that authority. . The Taliban have made territorial gains and are holding terrain in key geographic areas in Afghanistan, including in Helmand Province. The Taliban held the city of Kunduz, Afghanistan, which is the first time the Taliban have held a major city in Afghanistan in 14 years. The Haqqani Network, a designated foreign terrorist organization aligned with the Taliban, is the most lethal group on the battlefield in Afghanistan, and continues to provide safe haven to al-Qaeda.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL)has established an affiliate in Afghanistan. Since the death of the Taliban’s leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and the ascendance of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and Saraj Haqqani, head of the Haqqani Network, to Taliban leadership, the Taliban have not engaged in political reconciliation negotiations with the Government of Afghanistan. The President has the statutory, legal authority to strike the Taliban and the Haqqani Network. It is the sense of Congress that— the President should authorize at least 9,800 United States troops to continue the train, advise, and assist and counterterrorism missions in Afghanistan after 2016; the President should provide the United States commander in Afghanistan with the authority to unilaterally strike the Taliban and the Haqqani Network; the President should provide additional resources to strike the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL)in Afghanistan; the President should provide the United States commander in Afghanistan the authority to conduct the train, advise, and assist mission below the corps level of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF); the United States should provide United States Armed Forces lift and close air support to ANDSF units until the ANDSF has a fully capable, organic lift and close air support capability and capacity; the United States should provide monetary and advisory support for 352,000 ANDSF personnel and 30,000 Afghan Local Police, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support, through 2018; it should continue to be a top priority to provide United States Armed Forces deployed to Afghanistan with necessary medical, force protection, and combat search and rescue support; and United States military personnel who are tasked with the mission of providing combat search and rescue support, casualty evacuation, and medical support should not be counted as part of any force management level limitation on the number of United States ground forces in Afghanistan.