latimesblogs.latimes.com - 11/2/2008
—
As the debate over revamping U.S. policy in Afghanistan intensifies, Bing West has checked in with strong views. West -- a Marine veteran of Vietnam, former assistant secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration and author of three books and...
telegraph.co.uk - 11/9/2008
longwarjournal.org - 10/31/2008
—
longwarjournal.org —
South Waziristan Taliban leader Mullah Nazir. Click to
view. US unmanned Predator aircraft struck inside Pakistan's tribal...
areas for the second time today. After targeting a mid-level al Qaeda operative in North Waziristan, US ...
(more)
US Predators strike again in Waziristan
change.gov - 11/6/2008
—
change.gov —
The Problem Inadequate Security and Political Progress in
Iraq: Since the surge began, more than 1,000 American...
troops have died, and despite the improved security situation, the Iraqi government has not stepped forward to lead the Iraqi people and to ...
(more)
Iraq
Comments
Blog Reactions
Afghanistan: Next President's Top Challenge
Informed Comment —
The British commander of an elite special operations unit in Afghanistan, Major Sebastian Morley, has resigned over what he says is the inadequate equipment given by the British government to his troops, leading to the deaths of some of them. The US military claims it killed 2 dozen neo-Taliban in a recent battle. Can the US kill its way to victory in Afghanistan? One third of Afghans is suffering from chronic food insecurity, which may be a bigger story that the resurgent Taliban. Aljazeera English explores the ...
For Bing, Before I Was Against Bing
democracyarsenal.org —
Looking over all the interesting things I didn't read this weekend, I caught this blurb about Bing West's latest contribution to the debate over what to do in Afghanistan, in which he argues that against the popular wisdom that A) Iraq's lessons arent applicable in the Afghan context, and B) that the U.S. should adopt a nation-building lite plan to stabilize the Afghan state.
As DA readers may know, West has become a bit of a controversial figure within the COIN and journalist communities after he criticized Nir Rosen for embedding with ...
Related Content
In Time of War
michaelyon-online.com 11/10/2008 — 10 November 2008 The Iraq war is over. Barring the unforeseen, the darkest days are behind, though we are still losing soldiers to low-level fighting with enemies that are true “dead-enders.” Last month we lost seven Americans in combat in Iraq. ...
Get Afghanistan Right
dailykos.com 1/13/2009 — An ad hoc group of bloggers has come together for the purpose of opposing a U.S.-led escalation in Afghanistan that is slated to double the number of American troops there. Organized by Alex Thurston at The Seminal and Robert Greenwald's ...
Shakedown
michaelyon-online.com 11/18/2008 — By Tim Lynch Printed with permission from: http://blog.freerangeinternational.com/ Afghanistan We had to make a run to Kabul last Friday to take some clients to the airport and to pick up new ones. The Jalalabad to Kabul road is considered very ...
What, I Was Serious?
windsofchange.net 1/15/2009 — I saw this the other day, and waited for it to get picked up and commented on. It wasn't, so I'll raise it here.
Here's Spencer Ackerman writing in the Washington Independent :
Today a cohort of progressive bloggers unveils a new effort against ...
Obama's Afghanistan Dilemma: "Growing Dissent" On More Troops
huffingtonpost.com 12/10/2008 — No more than one year ago, it was widely assumed that the great foreign policy challenge facing the next president would be what to do with U.S. troops in Iraq. The surge had produced a unexpected geopolitical dilemma: was the reduction of violence ...
Taliban mock West for calling Afghanistan unwinnable
longwarjournal.org 10/14/2008 —
Multimedia presentation of the senior Taliban commanders in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Click to view.
The Taliban have seized on what US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates described as "defeatist" comments made by Western ...
GetAfghanistanRight.com
washingtonindependent.com 1/12/2009 — Today a cohort of progressive bloggers unveils a new effort against the planned 20,000-troop increase of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. A website called GetAfghanistanRight, set up by bloggers at the Seminal and Brave New Films — and with the ...
McCain on Afghanistan at AEI
weeklystandard.com 2/25/2009 — Senator McCain is just now delivering a speech at AEI on the war in Afghanistan. Some highlights:
"Success is possible in Afghanistan. Afghans reject the Taliban. Just 4 percent of Afghans wish them to rule the country, and they rate the Taliban ...
More Troops for Afghanistan
attackerman.firedoglake.com 2/18/2009 — He promised to do so on the campaign trail, and now he's done it: President Barack Obama has approved a troop increase to Afghanistan. His just-released statement is below. Notice that the forces approved appears to be less than the 20,000-30,000 ...
Follow BeltwayBlips on Twitter
