yglesias.thinkprogress.org - 11/2/2009
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Greg Jaffe, speaking to Andrew Exum, says “This whole conventional vs. irregular debate is stupid.”
War is war. And we waste far too much energy trying to categorize it. I think most lieutenants, captains and majors are beyond this false conventional vs. irregular frame that we ...
blackfive.net - 10/28/2009
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blackfive.net —
How many troops do we need in Afghanistan?
Yesterday's publishing of State Department officer's letter of resignation...
brought us a practical expression of a theory: essentially, that the unified insurgency would collapse if we weren't there for it ...
(more)
Beyond COIN v. CT or COIN + CT: An Emerging Third Position
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Blog Reactions
COIN v. CONV - A Significant Difference
Crooks and Liars —
... I don't usually comment on a blog post that comments on another blog post, but I believe Matt Yglesias hits on an important issue in his observations on ...
Two Points on COIN
Lawyers, Guns and Money —
First, I don't think that there's quite enough appreciation of this: But the choice between a mindset that says “the main purpose of the military is to scare China & Russia” or a mindset that says “the main purpose of the military is to intervene effectively in third world backwaters” has very real implications for what kind of hardware purchases look cost effective. The 2017 budget deficit or the potential economic impact of a manufacturing plant closure in Georgia is not the kind of thing a lieutenant, captain, or major serving in the field is going to think about. But it’s still, in an objective sense, quite important and senior Pentagon figures are ...
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Obama and the conventional wisdom
krugman.blogs.nytimes.com 11/3/2009 — Obama, being who he is, apparently feels compelled to give at least rhetorical obeisance to the CW. We can only hope that his economists, who know better, can convince him not to act on it.
Teaching COIN in Afghanistan
blackfive.net 10/8/2009 — There is an excellent article in The New Republic about a course being run in Afghanistan to ensure that our tactical leaders fully understand the concepts of population-centric counterinsurgency and how to implement it in the field. There are a ...
In Wake Of Afghan Election Fiasco, COIN Becomes Colonialism
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The Afghan Independent Electoral Commission stands revealed as not at all independent, as Dave noted earlier - declaring Karzai the victor in the presidential election without a run-off. That, as I understand it, isn't technically ...
Women in COIN (II): How to do it right
ricks.foreignpolicy.com 10/11/2009 — I've been reading a recent
internal summary of how Marine "Female Engagement Teams," or FETs, have worked
in Afghanistan. The bottom line is that done right, this approach works
surprisingly well, with benefits among the population that ...
A Feminist Case for War?
prospect.org 10/27/2009 — Women's rights activists are conflicted over a continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan.
Round Two
mudvillegazette.com 10/28/2009 —
By the looks of it, this NY Times story was going to tell the whole truth : The Great American Arm-Twist in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan -- By the looks of it, the ceremony that unfolded last week inside the Presidential Palace here was marking a joyous, even triumphant, occasion.
...
Frontline does COIN in Afghanistan
ricks.foreignpolicy.com 10/4/2009 —
"Frontline," the PBS documentary
series, has consistently done great work on our post-9/11 wars. In a new one,
they tackle the issue of whether counterinsurgency doctrine can work in
Afghanistan. They've already posted the first ...
A Call for Clarity on the Afghanistan War
fpif.org 11/3/2009 — Untitled Document While President Barack Obama reviews his strategy on Afghanistan, a perfect moment to send a strong unified message to end the war is slipping through our fingers. Whether it's because we seem to have bought into the lies about the ...
Obama WH bought COIN without understanding the cost: WaPo
hotair.com 10/8/2009 — If nothing up to this point convinced people of the amateurish and bungling nature of Barack Obama and his administration, this Washington Post story makes the case all by itself. For two years, Obama campaigned on changing the strategy in ...
Flipside of the Afghan COIN | James Denselow |
Comment is free
guardian.co.uk 10/7/2009 — The next month is a pivotal time for America's Afghanistan strategy. The Senate is expected to vote on the Obama administration's $128bn request to fund war operations in Afghanistan and Iraq for the coming fiscal year. Next week, the administration ...
WH congratulates Karzai, wants reforms —
First Read 11/2/2009
From NBC's Athena Jones President Obama called Afghan President Hamid Karzai to congratulate him on being named the winner of that country's election, and urged him to work to improve governance and end corruption there.
Karzai was named ...
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