Afghan Deputy Governor: Helmand Province on the Verge Of Falling To The Taliban

Reuters: Afghan official warns Helmand province may fall to Taliban

Afghanistan's Helmand province could fall to the Taliban after months of heavy fighting, with 90 members of the security forces killed over the past two days, the deputy governor of the volatile southern province warned on Sunday.

Mohammad Jan Rasulyar said unless President Ashraf Ghani took urgent action, the province, a centre of opium production and a Taliban heartland that British and American troops struggled to control for years, would be lost.

"Your Excellency, Helmand is standing on the brink and there is a serious need for you to come," he wrote on Facebook.

The highly unusual public plea from a serving official painted a picture strikingly similar to the situation that led up to the fall of the northern city of Kunduz in late September, when Taliban fighters seized and held on to for several days before government troops regained control.

Update #1: Afghan Official Uses Social Media to Ask President for Help -- AP
Update #2: Afghan official makes plea to president via Facebook (BBC)

WNU Editor: The takeover of  the Afghan city Kunduz by the Taliban for a few days two months ago was a disaster for the Afghan government and the military. The fall of Helmand province would be many magnitudes worst than that.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Carter Issues A Warning On The Growing Instability In Afghanistan

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, center, walks with Afghan Defense Minister Masoom Stanekzai, front left, and U.S. Army Gen. John F. Campbell, right, commander of NATO’s Resolute Support mission and U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, while visiting Forward Operating Base Fenty in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2015. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Tony Coronado

L.A. Times: Pentagon chief warns of rising danger in Afghanistan

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned Friday of the threat of deteriorating security in Afghanistan from a resurgent Taliban and a growing number of Islamic State fighters.

On a visit to about 600 U.S. troops on this remote base near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, Carter said Islamic State has created "little nests ... around the world, including here in Afghanistan."

U.S. commanders estimate that the Sunni Muslim extremist group has 1,000 to 3,000 fighters here. Many apparently are former Taliban members who shifted allegiance.

WNU Editor: I will be blunt .... the U.S. and its Afghan allies are losing this war.

More News On U.S. Secretary of Defense Carter Issuing A Warning On The Growing Instability In Afghanistan

Carter: Afghanistan Mission Remains a Top Priority -- US Department of Defense
Defense Secretary Warns of Another ‘Hard Year’ as ISIS Grows in Afghanistan -- Antiwar.com
U.S. Defense Secretary, in Afghanistan, warns of IS threat -- Reuters
Pentagon Chief: Afghan War Far From Over -- VOA
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter makes surprise visit to Afghanistan -- DW
Pentagon Chief in Afghanistan As Violence Escalates -- AFP
Afghan Forces Remain Resilient Against Multiple Adversaries, Commander Says -- Department of Defense
Islamic State expands Afghan footprint with terror campaign -- AP
ISIS Building ‘Little Nests’ in Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Warns -- NYT
ISIS is creating ‘little nests’ in Afghanistan, US defense chief warns -- Khaama Press
IS seeking foothold in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province -- Military Times
ISIS Takes to Airwaves, Transmits Fatwas in Jalalabad, Afghanistan -- NBC

Remembering An Iconic Image From The War In Afghanistan

Photo: Staff Sergeant William Bee, without wearing a helmet or Kevlar vest, aims at a window from where he feared a Taliban sniper was positioned. Seconds later his world was plunged into darkness. The sequence of images taken in Garmsir, Afghanistan, on May 18, 2008, would become one of the most iconic from the War on Terror

Daily Mail: EXCLUSIVE: It's an iconic image from the War on Terror - but the heroic Marine captured fighting the Taliban without his helmet now has flashbacks, violent outbursts and even tried to kill himself... so why won't the VA give him the help he needs?

* Staff Sergeant William Bee heard a single shot from what he feared was a Taliban sniper, so he grabbed his rifle
* The Marine - whose wife Bobbie was seven months pregnant with their first son - wasn't wearing a helmet or Kevlar
* Seconds after pointing his weapon at a window 150 meters away, his world was plunged into complete darkness
* He survived the close call in 2008 and the sequence of photographs were printed and broadcast around the world
* Seven years since, in his first interview, Bee tells Daily Mail Online in his last tour he killed a Taliban commander
* But since he returned home, he has constant flashbacks, suffered a string of violent outbursts and has tried suicide
* He also says he’s struggled to get the psychiatric help he truly needs from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA)
* Bee accuses government agency of having too many bureaucrats making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year

When Staff Sergeant William 'Bill' Bee heard a single shot from what he feared was a Taliban sniper, he quickly grabbed his rifle and prepared to fire back.

The Marine - whose wife Bobbie was seven months pregnant with their son Ethan - risked his life by running to a nearby wall without wearing his helmet or Kevlar vest and aimed at a window 150 meters away. Seconds later his world was plunged into darkness.

The bullet missed his head by inches and caused the sandbank in front of him to explode, but his friends fighting alongside him in the 24th Expeditionary Unit thought he had been hit.

WNU Editor: Staff Sergeant William Bee concerns about the VA are justified .... and here is the latest VA scandal .... Here Are The Documents Showing Massive Whistleblower Retaliation At Phoenix VA (Daily Caller).

U.S. Senators: Classified Briefings Paint A Far Darker Picture Of Afghanistan

Senate Armed Service Committee. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Johnny Bivera.

The Hill: Public statements on Afghanistan rosier than classified briefings, senators say

Public statements by U.S. officials on the situation in Afghanistan are more optimistic than what they say in closed briefings, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Wednesday.

“What we hear in classified briefings about the direction and signals and all of the things that are occurring in Afghanistan directly contradict some of the rosy public statements that are made about what is happening in the country,” he said. “It’s actually alarming to go to a classified session and then to hear reports about those discussions in the Armed Services Committee itself.”

Corker, who said he was in a closed briefing Tuesday, did not elaborate on what differences exist between statements in closed briefings and public hearings.

WNU Editor: So the White House and the Pentagon have been lying to all of us .... why am I not surprised. But they are now having trouble at lying .... as I commented only yesterday .... Pentagon: War In Afghanistan Intensifying. Islamic State Now Operational In The Country.