Afghanistan Advance

SPC. MARY L. GONZALEZ / ARMY
Soldiers with the 101st Division Special Troops Battalion, 101st Airborne Division watch as two Chinook helicopters fly in to take them back to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, on Nov. 4, 2008. The soldiers searched a small village in the valley below for IED making materials and facilities.


Afghanistan Advance

General pushes winter offensive, economic boost to quell violence
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jan 17, 2009 7:46:44 EST

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — The Army’s top commander for eastern Afghanistan predicts that his winter offensive against insurgents, along with boosted economic aid, will cut the rising violence and put the country on a faster track to stability.

“They don’t have to even attack us. We’re going to find them,” said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, commander of Regional Command-East and Combined Joint Task Force-101. “We’re prepared for winter operations.”

Schloesser also said RC-East will increase its Commander’s Emergency Response Program, or CERP, spending from $480 million in 2008 to $680 million this year for local projects, like improving water supplies.

“That development surge adds to a quality of life for the people, helps them link back to, ‘Hey, there is a future for my kids, and, oh, by the way, this government isn’t that bad,’” he said. “It also helps them say, ‘Wow, that’s a benefit of being part of this mission.’”

The goal is to set the conditions for the 82nd Airborne Division, which is slated to replace the 101st Airborne in Afghanistan in the middle of this year, Schloesser said.

more...


http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/01/army_afghanoperations_011909w/%2e