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Counterinsurgency

"Exit Strategy" Might Not Be What You Mean

Lorelei Kelly | Posted 11.30.2009 | World

Read More: Civil-Military Relations, Afghanistan, Exit Strategy, Counter-Terrorism, President Obama, Stanley McChrystal, Counterinsurgency, Afghan Taliban, World News
Lorelei Kelly

If we want to see this president succeed, a vocabulary shift is vital. The more we use leftover framing and messaging rhetoric from the Iraq War, the easier we make it for the right wing to do the same.

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The Counterinsurgency Debate: A Tale of Two Countries

Colin Thomas-Jensen | Posted 11.28.2009 | World

Read More: War Crimes, Human Rights, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eastern Congo, Afghanistan, Genocide, United Nations, Africa, Peacekeeping, Congo, Counterinsurgency, World News
Colin Thomas-Jensen

The sad truth is that a much-needed debate over what an effective counterinsurgency strategy would look like in eastern Congo -- similar to what is going on regarding Afghanistan -- is virtually non-existent.

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Gen. McChrystal's Assessment Ignores COIN Doctrine, Reality

Derrick Crowe | Posted 11.23.2009 | World

Read More: John McCain, Rethink Afghanistan, Bill Kristol, Escalation, Stanley McChrystal, Afghanistan, Joe Lieberman, Mike Mullen, Barack Obama, Counterinsurgency, World News
Derrick Crowe

If the president was looking for a signal that the situation had progressed to a stage in which the military could not offer a credible plan to deal with it, this is it.

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Helicopter Shortage Puts Green Berets At Risk In Afghanistan, Pakistan: Newsweek

Newsweek | Mark Hosenball | Posted 11.21.2009 | World

Read More: Resources, Chinook, Helicopter, Military, Pentagon, Counterinsurgency, Black Missions, Pakistan, Helicopter Shortage, White Missions, Green Berets, Taliban, Afghanistan, Insurgency, World News

Some U.S. special forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan may be at higher risk than usual of injury and death because the Pentagon has not equipped their ...

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Tom Ricks And The Military's New Philosophical Embeds

Columbia Journalism Review | Tara McKelvey | Posted 11.13.2009 | Media

Read More: Kabul, Iraq Surge, Washington, Tom Ricks, Pakistan, War, Philosopy, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Iraq, Surge, Afghanistan War, Al Qaeda, Embedded Journalists, Journalism, Iraq War, Baghdad, Taliban, Ethics, Insurgency, Policy, Foreign Correspondents, Counterinsurgency, Media News

Thomas E. Ricks has a photograph of a general--Ulysses S. Grant, looking haggard and defeated in Cold Harbor, Virginia--on the wall of his office. His...

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ReThinking The Battle of Algiers: A Movie the Pentagon, the Black Panthers and the IRA Can Agree On

Jonathan Kim | Posted 11.10.2009 | Entertainment

Read More: The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo, Afghanistan, Donald Rumsfeld, The Black Panthers, Insurgency, Counterterrorism, Iraq, Counterinsurgency, Asymmetrical Warfare, Ira, Entertainment News
Jonathan Kim

Why were the Black Panthers and the IRA such fans of The Battle of Algiers? Some credit the Algerian uprising with providing the blueprint for how modern insurgencies can win wars against militarily superior foes.

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A Changing Threat: Al-Qaeda Eight Years Later

Peter Henne | Posted 11.10.2009 | World

Read More: Al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, Algeria, Counterterrorism, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism, Obama Counterterrorism, President Obama, Iraq, Yemen Terrorism, Counterinsurgency, Al Qaeda, World News
Peter Henne

Al Qaeda's greatest weapon is not its bombs but its voice, and the threat it will hijack discourse in the Muslim world, which requires a concerted US outreach campaign to counteract.

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Vested Interests in Afghanistan

Derrick Crowe | Posted 11.09.2009 | World

Read More: El Salvador, Eric Martin, Brookings, Afghanistan, Rethink Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency, Andrew Exum, Bruce Riedel, World News
Derrick Crowe

Bruce Riedel at Brookings says we have a vested interest in shoring up Karzai's legitimacy. That's not surprising, given that Riedel certainly has such a vested interest.

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Is "Escalation" the Right Word?

Lorelei Kelly | Posted 11.08.2009 | Politics

Read More: Nato, Counterterrorism, National Security, Afghanistan Surge, Afghanistan, Afghanistan Escalation, Progressives, Defense Department, State Department, Counterinsurgency, Al Qaeda, Anti-War, Politics News
Lorelei Kelly

Seeking an alternative to the word "escalation" to describe U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, I asked deployed or recently back friends and they each offered a different answer.

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Afghanistan: Where This Is Going

Derrick Crowe | Posted 10.20.2009 | World

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, Rethink Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency, World News
Derrick Crowe

If anti-government violence breaks out in Helmand and other Pashtun regions, there would be absolutely no room to argue against the conclusion that counterinsurgency has failed.

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In Afghanistan, We Know Failure When We See It

Derrick Crowe | Posted 10.16.2009 | World

Read More: Pashtuns, Afghanistan, Rethink Afghanistan, General Mcchrystal, Counterinsurgency, Bruce Riedel, World News
Derrick Crowe

I've been mulling over the inability of Ambassador Holbrooke and Secretary Gates to define success in Afghanistan or to speculate about how long we should expect to be fighting a war there.

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Avoiding Defeat in Afghanistan

Peter Henne | Posted 09.25.2009 | Politics

Read More: Tom Ridge, Counterterrorism, Pakistan, Terrorism, Afghanistan, Taliban, Obama Foreign Policy, Counterinsurgency, Politics News
Peter Henne

In the absence of an apparently imminent threat, will the American public continue to support sending forces to Afghanistan, or will they punish Obama for taking ownership of this conflict?

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Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Director: "We Totally Missed The Boat"

GlobalPost | Posted 09.12.2009 | World

Read More: George Bush, Sarkozy, World, Afghanistan, War in Afghanistan, Afghanistan Surge, George W. Bush, Kabul, Taliban, American Troops, Nicolas Sarkozy, Afghanistan War, Counterinsurgency Afghanistan, American Army, Taliban Afghanistan, Surge in Afghanistan, Afghan Taliban, Counterinsurgency, Us Troops Afghanistan, World News

At every turn in Kabul, there are the remains and ruins of old kingdoms and empires that provide hard lessons, for those willing to learn them, on the...

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Jason Linkins

Sarah Palin: Working Class Hero? (And The Rest Of Your Scritti Politti)

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 08.06.2009 | Politics

Read More: David Broder, Sarah Palin Resigns, Thomas Ricks, Al Franken, Ross Douthat, Death of Auto-Tune, Sarah Palin Resignation, Sarah Palin, Auto-Tune, Elitism, Washington Post, Sarah Palin Reaction, Counterinsurgency, Washington Post Salons, Politics News

I appreciate that Ross Douthat is looking for a working-class hero for the future GOP of his book, Grand New Party. The sooner he can bring himself f...

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Our President in Cairo: Muslims Listened. Did America?

Lorelei Kelly | Posted 07.06.2009 | World

Read More: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, New Media, International Relations, Public Diplomacy, Counterterrorism, Obama Cairo Speech, Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency, World News
Lorelei Kelly

We need to step back, take a deep breath and realize that we are at a turning point -- where all of our middle east relationships converge.

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President Obama's Speech: Classic Lesson in Counterinsurgency

Sean Gilfillan | Posted 07.05.2009 | World

Read More: Obama Speech, Military, Al Qaida, Egypt, Terrorism, President Obama, Muslim, Barack Obama, Counterinsurgency, Al Qaeda, World News
Sean Gilfillan

If you don't think that President Obama's speech today was a classic lesson in counterinsurgency, then you are not looking at the big picture.

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A Weaver's Welcome

Kathy Kelly | Posted 07.03.2009 | World

Read More: Pakistan Counterinsurgency, Taliban, Counterinsurgency, Pakistan Taliban, Pakistan, World News
Kathy Kelly

Generosity in the face of such massive displacement and suffering is evident everywhere we go. But Pakistan needs help on a much larger scale.

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The March of Folly, Continued

Norman Solomon | Posted 06.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Cognitive Dissonance, Barbara Tuchman, Predator Drones, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Vietnam, John Kennedy, Pakistan, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency, The March of Folly, Baghdad-Iraq, Iraq, Fallujah-Iraq, Politics News
Norman Solomon

Obama can make many wise comments about past international affairs while proceeding with actual policies largely unfettered by the wisdom.

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A Progressive Case for the Supplemental

Lorelei Kelly | Posted 06.14.2009 | Politics

Read More: Strategy, Military, National Security, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Progressives, Obama Administration, Counterinsurgency, Politics News
Lorelei Kelly

This is an excruciating vote for many on the Left who want to support their new president, but decry the fact that less than 10% of the funds will go to non-military items. What to do?

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Torture ... Fifty Years of U.S. Practice

Thomas A. Bass | Posted 06.11.2009 | Politics

Read More: Vietnam, Torture Memos, Counterinsurgency, Dick Cheney, Disinformation, Torture, Politics News
Thomas A. Bass

Torture works. Hanging from the yardarm works. Disembowelment, rape, death by stoning, electroshock -- they all work at extracting information. But what kind of information?

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Striking the Right Balance: The Utility of Drone Attacks in AfPak

Sam Black | Posted 06.04.2009 | World

Read More: Polls, US Drone Missiles, War in Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan Taliban, Pakistan, Drones, Afghanistan War, David Kilcullen, Counterterrorism, Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan Crisis, Pakistan Drone Attacks, Taliban Pakistan, Us Troops Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency, World News
Sam Black

Finding a way to conduct effective tactical counter-terrorism operations without compromising counterinsurgency in Pakistan or Afghanistan should be a U.S. priority.

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The Victory of the Neoconservatives

Bernard I. Finel | Posted 05.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: Iraq War, Neocons, Neoconservatives, Robert Gates, Defense Budget, Counterinsurgency, Barack Obama, Politics News
Bernard I. Finel

Let us make no mistake; the new defense budget unveiled earlier this month marks the final victory of the neoconservative worldview.

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Lawrence Korb is Wrong on Afghanistan

Derrick Crowe | Posted 05.25.2009 | World

Read More: Lawrence Korb, Afghanistan, Escalation, Counterinsurgency, War on Terror, Troop Surge, Progressives, World News
Derrick Crowe

The War on Terror is a metaphor designed to bludgeon the progressive movement to death. Write that in stone. Tattoo it somewhere on your body where it will hurt.

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Fiasco Author: Obama's Iraq Optimism "Sounds a Lot Like Bush"

David Quigg | Posted 05.11.2009 | World

Read More: Iraq War, John McCain, The Gamble, Thomas Ricks Fiasco, Thomas Ricks, Afghanistan, Success of the Surge, George W. Bush, David Petraeus, Iraq, Counterinsurgency, Barack Obama, World News
David Quigg

There's the saying about how people who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. But what about people who actively lie to themselves about the past, about something like the surge?

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No Vietnam is This

Stephen Herrington | Posted 04.30.2009 | World

Read More: Russia, Great Britain, Pakistan, Vietnam War, President Obama, Iraq Insurgency, Counterinsurgency, Afghanistan War, Afghanistan, World News
Stephen Herrington

The Afghan conflict, in which we find ourselves, is a war simply neglected, materially and strategically.

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