Tom Ricks lists the top 10 COINdinistas, and Schmedlap, not unreasonably, takes issue with the omissions.
My question, though, is this: who are the top practitioners of COINcraft — or whatever you prefer to call inventive soldiering these days — on the ground in Afghanistan right now? No, I don’t mean McChrystal and Rodriguez. Who — [...]
Archive for November, 2009
Where Are the McMasters and MacFarlands of Afghanistan?
Posted in Afghanistan on November 29, 2009 | 3 Comments »
On ‘Finishing the Job’ in Afghanistan
Posted in Afghanistan on November 25, 2009 | 9 Comments »
Reuters:
U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to ‘finish the job’ of an unpopular and costly eight-year war in Afghanistan, and officials said he could announce an increase of around 30,000 troops next week.
Okay. If by “finishing the job” he means achieving the core goals he set in his March White Paper — “disrupting terrorist [...]
The Best Blog About Iraq
Posted in Iraq on November 25, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Many of you probably already know this, but just in case you don’t, Reidar Visser now has a blog. What was supposed to be “an occasional supplement” to his excellent website Historiae.org has quickly become the place to visit for deep and up-to-date information on Iraq. There’s a lot to absorb there, but if you [...]
Afghanistan: Recommended Reading
Posted in Afghanistan on November 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’m going to recommend a couple of things that y’all should read, ay-sap. One you can download for free; the other you need to pay for. One you can digest pretty quickly; the other is academic and requires a little effort.
The first one is the new Oxfam Afghan poll (sort of), titled The Cost of [...]
Iraq: When Violence Becomes Banal
Posted in Iraq on November 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
There is much to recommend in Joost Hiltermann’s article in The New York Review of Books about the daunting challenges that may yet lead to Iraq’s unraveling. Money quote from a Western aid worker living in Baghdad’s “red zone”:
Some four hundred to five hundred people are killed per month. Compared to other countries, this is [...]
Afghan Elections: The Untold Story
Posted in Afghanistan on November 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
They may have looked like a farce, but at the local level the Afghan elections actually did change the balance of power, and in a relatively peaceful manner, Noah Coburn and Anna Larson write in an excellent new AREU briefing paper. Their conclusions:
Local elections matter and need to be prioritised by both national and international [...]
Obama’s Options Dwindle as Abdullah Bows Out
Posted in Afghanistan on November 1, 2009 | 7 Comments »
So he quits.
I’ll be very interested to hear what Obama has to say about Afghanistan when he finally lays out his strategy, presumably next week. How does he explain a troop increase to bolster a COIN campaign when the host government clearly has lost its legitimacy? Or will he use this as an opportunity for [...]
