NATO’s top general in charge of military operations spoke to a conservative think tank on May 8 in the United States. During his speech to the Heritage Foundation, General John Craddock spoke about NATO’s military operation in Afghanistan and explained what’s at stake with the mission:

“First and foremost, our very own security, here and in Europe, as well as in Afghanistan itself.  Just as economies are increasingly interdependent in our globalized world, our external and internal security is equally interwoven.  Afghanistan is a mission of necessity rather than of choice.  Less than a decade ago, Afghanistan was a hotbed of terrorism.  Our mission is crucial to ensure that the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is never again a place that terrorists, transnational terrorists, call home.”

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Here’s a story about an NCO that we thought we’d share. Warrant Officer Ashok Kumar Chauhan MBE is in charge of all interpreters in ISAF’s RC South region in Afghanistan. His commanding officer calls him a “force multiplier in his own right”. The 30-year British Army veteran volunteered to stay in Afghanistan twice after his initial six-month tour.  American Forces Network reporter Rolla Suttmiller has profiled him for NATO’s Year of the NCO. Click here to watch the video. 

Last Friday SHAPE’s Chief of Staff, General Karl-Heinz Lather, spoke to about 20 international media representatives about NATO’s operations following the Bucharest Summit. The general talked about NATO enlargement, his views about the future of Kosovo, and the current situation for ISAF in Afghanistan.

The general spoke about the necessity of stamping out transnational terrorism so it can’t return to Afghanistan. He also reiterated our Ops staff analysis (posted on this blog February 4) that “seventy percent of the security incidents last year, 2007, occurred in only 10% of the 396 districts in Afghanistan. These districts are home to only 6% of the Afghan population.”

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