Dramatic Steps Taken to Secure 'No-Fail' Missions During Pandemic
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Volume 79, No. 15B ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY EDITION Sunday, May 10, 2020 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas AFGHANISTAN CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK US lawmakers: Taliban violence Dramatic steps is ‘unacceptable taken to secure violation’ of deal ‘no-fail’ missions during pandemic BY J.P. LAWRENCE Stars and Stripes BY MISSY RYAN Increased Taliban attacks in Afghani- The Washington Post stan call into question whether the militant group can be trusted to adhere to a peace n late February, Brig. plan, two high-ranking members of the Gen. Pete Fesler prepared House Foreign Affairs Committee said about 130 troops under Friday. his command to mobilize “The dramatic increase in violence in for a new mission, one Ithat would take them away from Afghanistan is an unacceptable violation of the Trump Administration’s February their families and involve exten- agreement with the Taliban,” Democratic sive precautions to keep service Rep. Eliot Engel of New York and Republi- members safe. can Rep. Michael T. McCaul of Texas said Tapping his experience from in a joint statement. deployments in Asia and the Engel, chairman of the foreign affairs Middle East, committee, and McCaul, the group’s rank- the former ing Republican, join a chorus of U.S. offi- fighter pilot RELATED cials condemning the Taliban for violating made plans More cases the deal signed in Doha, Qatar, meant to for adapting end the war. the unit’s emerge as The deal says that if the Taliban keep ter- sensitive rorists from operating in Afghanistan, stop mission to countries attacking the U.S. and its allies, and hold new haz- intra-Afghan peace talks with the Kabul ards over reopen government, foreign forces would begin a an unknown Page 5 phased withdrawal to leave the country in period of 14 months. time, as au- A wave of offensives against Afghan thorities scrambled to anticipate troops followed the signing of the deal, the moves of an unpredictable with attacks surging above “seasonal adversary. norms,” according to a report by the Spe- The difference from his pre- cial Inspector General for Afghanistan Re- vious assignments: At the end construction released last week. of the day, instead of being half- This violence must stop, or it will place way around the world, Fesler can the deal at risk, Engel and McCaul said. look out from the base where he’s “The Taliban’s continued attacks on Af- lodging and see the neighborhood ghan forces make us question whether the where his wife and kids are hun- kered down during the coronavi- SEE DEAL ON PAGE 3 rus pandemic. The general is a senior com- mander at the North American Aerospace Defense Command ‘ (NORAD) in Colorado Springs, The dramatic increase in Colorado, where he heads a team violence in Afghanistan is that is attempting to sequester it- an unacceptable violation of self to ensure that COVID-19, the the Trump Administration’s SEE SECURE ON PAGE 4 February agreement with Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station has a new mission: the Taliban. ’ protecting key personnel from Rep. Eliot Engel the coronavirus pandemic. and Rep. Michael T. McCaul DENNIS HOFFMAN/U.S. Air Force House Foreign Affairs Committee MILITARY MUSIC VIRUS OUTBREAK DOD rolls back plan Lucinda Williams Hopes lift as sports inch to keep more fighters gets right to the point closer to return — but ready for combat on fiery 14th album many obstacles remain Page 3 Page 12 Back page Online: Get the latest news on the virus outbreak » stripes.com/coronavirus PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Sunday, May 10, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Stocks rise despite unprecedented jobs report Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9724 Euro costs (May 11) ..............................$1.06 Thailand (Baht) .....................................32.24 Dollar buys (May 11) ........................ €0.8987 Turkey (Lira) ..........................................7.1314 British pound (May 11) ........................$1.21 Associated Press (Military exchange rates are those million jobs last month, the gains prospect of growth resuming Japanese yen (May 11) ......................104.00 available to customers at military banking actually accelerated. later this year. They bought stocks South Korean won (May 11) ..........1,186.00 facilities in the country of issuance Wall Street doubled down on Commercial rates While the number is a night- of retailers that laid out plans to for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the its bet that the worst of the reces- Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3781 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For mare, it was slightly below the reopen in coming weeks, energy British pound .....................................$1.2374 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., sion has passed, sending stocks 21 million that economists told companies that would benefit as Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3953 purchasing British pounds in Germany), higher again on Friday despite China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.0752 check with your local military banking markets to brace for. More im- people start driving again and Denmark (Krone) ............................... 6.8910 facility. Commercial rates are interbank another historic, crushing report portantly, investors are betting banks that may skirt the worst- Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.7505 rates provided for reference when buying on the job market. Stocks around Euro ........................................$1.0825/0.9238 currency. All figures are foreign currencies they won’t see another report that case avalanche of loan defaults. Hong Kong (Dollar) ............................. 7.7518 to one dollar, except for the British pound, the world were already rising bad again because the number of The S&P 500 rose 48.61, or 1.7%, Hungary (Forint) .................................323.21 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, Israel (Shekel) .................................... 3.5111 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) before the U.S. government gave workers filing for unemployment to 2,929.80 for its fourth gain in Japan (Yen) .......................................... 106.63 its monthly report on jobs, in Kuwait (Dinar)0 ...................................0.3094 INTEREST RATES benefits has slowly declined the the last five days . The Dow Jones Norway (Krone) .................................10.2186 part on hopes that the U.S. and last five weeks. Industrial Average added 455.43, Philippines (Peso)................................ 50.48 Prime rate ................................................3.25 China won’t restart their trade Instead of looking backward or 1.9%, to 24,331.32, and the Poland (Zloty) ..........................................4.21 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7558 Federal funds market rate ...................0.04 war. After the report showed em- at last month’s job losses, some Nasdaq composite rose 141.66, or Singapore (Dollar) ............................. 1.4142 3-month bill ............................................. 0.10 ployers cut a record-busting 20.5 investors focused instead on the 1.6%, to 9,121.32. South Korea (Won) .......................... 1220.40 30-year bond ...........................................1.32 WEATHER OUTLOOK SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUNDAY IN EUROPE MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 63/54 Kabul 80/51 Seoul 66/50 Baghdad 88/70 Kandahar 95/64 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 66/51 76/64 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 55/49 70/48 71/56 Iwakuni 65/59 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 86/81 Brussels 72/51 Guam 93/80 68/58 Ramstein 68/59 87/76 Lajes, 72/52 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 104/79 101/78 63/60 74/56 72/55 Aviano/ Vicenza 65/53 Naples 66/55 Okinawa Morón 75/71 69/56 Sigonella Rota 70/51 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 91/78 66/57 67/58 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 18 Books ....................... 14 Comics/Crossword ...... 15 Lifestyle .................... 16 Music ....................11-12 Opinion ..................... 19 Sports ...................21-24 Sunday, May 10, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 MILITARY Deal: Envoy DOD axes Mattis to Afghanistan urges Taliban order to improve leaders to halt FROM FRONT PAGE Taliban will uphold its com- fighter readiness mitments, jeopardize progress towards peace, and prevent ne- gotiations from moving forward,” BY COREY DICKSTEIN cessor Defense Secretary Mark the congressmen said in the Stars and Stripes Esper’s office, Brown wrote. The statement. Mattis policy, issued in Septem- Other U.S. officials in recent WASHINGTON — Pentagon ber 2018 gave the services one days have also said Taliban at- officials have dismissed a 2018 year to reach 80% mission-ca- tacks on Afghan troops violate directive from former Defense pable rate. The policy did not in- the deal, despite such attacks not Secretary Jim Mattis ordering clude some fighter jets, including being expressly prohibited in the the military to ensure nearly 80% F-15 models and the A-10. released text of the deal. of its fighter jets were combat-ca- Under the Mattis policy, Brown On Thursday, the U.S. peace pable, according to the nominee said F-16 flyability rates jumped envoy for Afghanistan, Zal- to be the next Air Force chief. to a high of 75% in June 2019, may Khalilzad, tweeted that he Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” up from about 70% in late 2018. pressed Taliban leaders in Qatar Brown wrote in testimony to sen- The F-35 rate climbed to a high on reducing violence in the coun- ators ahead of his confirmation of about 74% in September, up AIRMAN 1ST CLASS JANAE CAPUNO/U.S. Air Force try and on enacting a cease-fire. hearing Thursday that the Air from about 55%. The F-22 rate in- Force was no longer holding itself Capt. Nick Carballo, 391st Fighter Squadron pilot, enters an F-15E U.S. Defense Secretary Mark creased from 49% mission capa- Esper on Tuesday said both the to Mattis’ stringent policy meant ble in September 2018 to a high of Strike Eagle in 2018 at Mountain home Air Force Base, Idaho. Taliban and the Afghan govern- to drastically improve unusually 68% in April 2019.