It is now the 10th day of what Gen. Petraeus called the ‘initial salvo’ of the mission in the former (can we call it that?) Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province. The fighting has been been fierce, yet sporadic, as reports of American soldier, Afghan army, and civilian deaths slowly roll in (Here’s a video of […]
The Dutch Christian-Democrat, Christian Union, and Labor Party coalition-led government has collapsed and it seems likely that a national election is in the offing. What does this has to with Afghanistan? Well, one of the major reasons for the collapse of the Parliamentary partnership was the Netherlands troop presence in Afghanistan’s volatile southern Uruzgan province. […]
Foreign Policy Magazine has produced some memorable photos documenting the Marja offensive: Check out more here.
In what will surely go down as one of the most important moves made possible by the American troop surge and shift to Gen. McChrystal’s COIN/Special Operations strategy, thousands of American, British soldiers, partnered with thousands more Afghan troops, are as we speak attempting to dislodge the Taliban from one of their strongest home bases […]
A couple days ago, I gave my latest views of the US use of drone assassination attacks, especially their substantial increase of usage by the Obama administration, in Pakistan. I am overall very pro-Drone use, but believe we can overuse them as a strategic tool. Here is a video of some members of the Wall […]
Some good stuff to stuff your brains with! Troops, Troops, and Less Troops – To supplement the 30,000 American soldiers headed to Afghanistan this year in President Obama’s Afghan plan, it was expected approximately 10,000 other NATO troops would also follow suit. Unsurprisingly, this is turning out to be difficult to accomplish. Germany has ponied […]
In his report to the President this summer, Gen. McChrystal stated that he thought the war in Afghanistan was winnable, but if things did not change quickly, it would be lost. McChrystal has now been handed nearly 100,000 American troops, along with thousands more NATO and Afghan partners, and given about a year to show […]
My original plan for today’s post was to be on how the US may be over-relying on drone attacks against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but then I read this Michael Phillips’ piece. But first the drones. The drone attacks have indeed proved effective in eliminating several high level Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders. These […]
I apologize for my absence as I’ve been in the middle of an apartment move that made me wish I was literally in a ‘graveyard of empires’. But now I’m nearly settled, the internet now is internetting effectively, and we can get back to all things Afghanistan shortly. During the past week of moving mayhem, […]
Yesterday’s attack in Kabul by a team of 7 Taliban members once again highlights the fragility of the Afghan government and state. Though only 5 non-insurgents were killed, 3 Afghan soldiers and 2 civilians, the militants were able to disrupt hundreds of Kabul citizens’ lives and threaten the safety of President Karzai and members of […]
FPA has a new China blogger that I highly recommend checking out. His name is Henry Hoyle and he wrote this great piece on the numerous implications of China’s Aynak investment in Afghanistan. Here it is in full below: China’s Afghan Investment: Brilliant Strategy or Expensive Gamble? The December 31st NYT had a great in-depth […]
Good news for President Karzai, the Afghan army, and US/NATO fighting forces in Afghanistan can be found in a poll commissioned by the BBC, ABC News and Germany’s ARD. 1500 Afghans from 34 provinces showed a surprising 70% affirmative that their country was headed in the right direction, a full 40% jump from last year. […]
Though it has yet to be confirmed, it appears Swedish diplomat Staffan di Mistura will replace Kai Eide as the top UN official in Afghanistan. Mistura has recently worked for the UN’s World Food Programme and as an official in Iraq. He served as director of fundraising and external relations for the U.N.’s office in […]
ForeignPolicy.com has a fantastic slideshow of Afghanistan: 2009. I recommend checking out the entire collection, but here are some of my favorites: All these dramatic photos are amazing, but this one I found earlier this year is still my favorite: _
A former intelligence official called it a “high-level asset meeting gone bad.” Bad is definitely an understatement. Of course the comment is in reference to the suicide attack which killed 7 CIA agents at Forward Operating Base Chapman in border province of Khost. They were “experienced frontline officers and their knowledge and expertise will be […]