Inside DC| More...
 

Insurgency

US Seeks Up To 7,000 More NATO Troops For Afghan War

Wall Street Journal | PETER SPIEGEL and STEPHEN FIDLER | Posted 11.21.2009 | World

Read More: Uk, Afghanistan Surge, Afghanistan, Troop Levels, Kabul, Italy, Diplomacy, Hamid Karzai, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Foreign Policy, Afghan War, Mcchrystal, Insurgency, Nato, Obama Troop Decision, White House, Barack Obama, Germany, South Waziristan, Stanley McChrystal, Counterinsurgency, World News

U.S. and European estimates of the new troops they may get from NATO allies vary from 3,000 to 7,000. Those would complement the additional U.S. force...

Read Whole Story

The New Strategy for Obama's War: Precision Power

Mayhill Fowler | Posted 11.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Insurgency, Obama's War Afghanistan, President Obama, President Obama Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Al Qaeda, War in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Waziristan, American Military, Taliban, War on Terror, Politics News
Mayhill Fowler

There is nothing like the convergence of two equally unpleasant scenarios -- in this case the danger in Pakistan and American forces settling further into Afghanistan -- to sharpen a leader's mind.

Read Post

An Open Letter to President Obama About Afghanistan From William R. Polk

The Nation | Posted 11.11.2009 | World

Read More: Russia, Afghanistan War, Nato, Afghan Election, Tribes, Durand Line, Kabul, Middle East, Taliban, Policy, Hamid Karzai, Afghan War, Chicago, Afghan Strategy, Un, South Waziristan, Soviet Union, Pentagon, Britain, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Troop Levels, Terrorism, Pashtun, Foreign Policy, Kashmir, Insurgency, Al Qaida, State Department, Pashtunwali, Soviet Afghan War, Counterinsurgency, World News

I was an early supporter of yours. So I hope you will accept the following analysis and proposals as being from a friend as well as a person with cons...

Read Whole Story

Obama Faces Revolt From Generals Over Strategy In Afghanistan

Rolling Stone | Robert Dreyfuss | Posted 11.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, White House, Afghanistan, Obama War in Afghanistan, War in Afghanistan, Troop Levels, General David Petraeus, Obama, Joe Biden, Taliban, Sen. John McCain, Barack Obama, Al Qaeda, Obama's War, Biden, Insurgency, The-Institute-for-the-Study-of-War, Counterinsurgency Field Manual, Petraeus, General Stanley McChrystal, Counterinsurgency, Us Troops Afghanistan, Politics News

In early October, as President Obama huddled with top administration officials in the White House situation room to rethink America's failing strategy...

Read Whole Story

5 British Troops Killed By Afghan Cop, Says UK Military

AP | ELENA BECATOROS and DEB RIECHMANN | Posted 11.04.2009 | World

Read More: Uk, Afghan National Security Forces, Voter Fraud, Karzai, Afghan Election, Afghanistan, Afghan, Kabul, Nad-E-Ali District, Helmand, Afghan Cops, Taliban, Hamid Karzai, Mcchrystal, Insurgency, Kandahar, Nato, Un, Stanley McChrystal, Counterinsurgency, Afghan Police, World News

KABUL — The killing of five British troops by a rogue Afghan policeman underlines concerns about training and discipline within the ranks and po...

Read Whole Story

Keeping Afghanistan Safe from Democracy

Robert Scheer | Posted 11.04.2009 | World

Read More: Robert Scheer, Insurgency, David Axelrod, Lyndon Johnson, Afghanistan, Matthew Hoh, Al-Qaida, Vietnam, Democracy, Hamid Karzai, Stanley McChrystal, Soviet Union, World News
Robert Scheer

The most idiotic thing being said about America's involvement in Afghanistan is that the best way to protect the 68,000 U.S. troops there now is by putting an additional 40,000 in harm's way.

Read Post

Taliban Claims That Canceled Afghan Election Proves Its Success

AP | ROBERT H. REID and KATHY GANNON | Posted 11.04.2009 | World

Read More: Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai, Afghanistan War, Afghanistan, Terrorism, Pakistan, Kabul, White House, Obama, Taliban, Afghan Election, Insurgency, Runoff, Un, Counterinsurgency, World News

KABUL — President Hamid Karzai promised to stamp out corruption. The image suggested otherwise. Standing at Karzai's side on Tuesday were his tw...

Read Whole Story

ReThink Interview: Daniel Ellsberg -- the Most Dangerous Man in America Speaks, Part Two

Jonathan Kim | Posted 10.14.2009 | Entertainment

Read More: The Battle of Algiers, Nationalism, Henry Kissinger, Afghanistan, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Rethink Reviews, Daniel Ellsberg, Film, Jonathan Kim, Movies, Paul Wolfowitz, Movie Reviews, Insurgency, Whistleblowers, Jonathan Kim Movie Reviews, Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith, Richard Nixon, Occupation, Vietnam War, Documentary, Movie Critic, Counterinsurgency, Pentagon Papers, Machiavelli, Torture, Entertainment News
Jonathan Kim

The second part of my interview with Daniel Ellsberg, the true American hero who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971.

Read Post

The Explosion of the Afghan Insurgency: Utterly Predictable, Yet Hotly Debated

Derrick Crowe | Posted 10.13.2009 | World

Read More: Insurgency, Marines, Al Qaeda, Afghanistan, Washington, NATO Troops, Taliban, Intelligence Community, US Army, War on Terrorism, World News
Derrick Crowe

Recently leaked intelligence assessments reportedly show that Al-Qaida and the jihadist Taliban groups account for only 10 percent of the insurgents in Afghanistan.

Read Post

ReThink Interview with Daniel Ellsberg: The Most Dangerous Man in America Speaks (Part One)

Jonathan Kim | Posted 10.29.2009 | Entertainment

Read More: Nationalism, Henry Kissinger, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Rethink Reviews, Daniel Ellsberg, Jonathan Kim, Film, Movies, Movie Reviews, Insurgency, Jonathan Kim Movie Reviews, Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith, Richard Nixon, Occupation, Vietnam War, Documentary, Afghanistan, Movie Critic, Pentagon Papers, Counterinsurgency, Entertainment News
Jonathan Kim

I was enthralled by The Most Dangerous Man in America, and when I was told that Ellsberg would be in Los Angeles for a week in late September and would be available for an interview, I jumped at the chance.

Read Post

Robert Gates Wants War Advice To Obama Kept Private

The Washington Post | Ann Scott Tyson and Scott Wilson | Posted 10.05.2009 | Politics

Read More: Kabul, Pentagon, Troop Surge, Gen. Jones, Strategy, Troop Levels, Afghanistan War, Nato, Counterinsurgency, Robert Gates, General Jones, Stanley McChrystal, Taliban, Gen. Stanley Mcchrystal, Military, Afghanistan, Insurgency, General Mcchrystal, James L. Jones, Terrorism, White House, Obama, Politics News

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates stressed Monday that military and civilian leaders should keep their advice to President Obama on Afghanistan privat...

Read Whole Story

Fort Carson Experiences Deadliest Day Since Vietnam: 8 Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan (WATCH)

Posted 10.06.2009 | Denver

Read More: Insurgency, Fort Carson, Gen. Stanley McCrystal, Taliban, Army, Afghanistan, Colorado, Denver News

Update: NBC Nightly news reported on Fort Carson's tragic day on Monday evening: The headlines were jolting, even for the hometown of a military base...

Read Whole Story

8 Troops Killed In Afghanistan; Remote Outposts Attacked

AP | ROBERT H. REID and RAHIM FAIEZ | Posted 10.05.2009 | World

Read More: Hamid Karzai, Kabul, Pentagon, U.S. Troops, US Troops, Dod, Col. Randy George, Outposts, Nato, Military Deaths, Tribal Militia, Counterinsurgency, Coalition, Mcchrystal, Department of Defense, Taliban, Afghanistan, Insurgency, American Troops, Nuristan, World News

KABUL — Hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed a pair of remote outposts near the Pakistan bor...

Read Whole Story

Taliban's Diverse Funding Might Make It Impossible To Restrict Cash Flow

Washington Post | Craig Whitlock | Posted 09.27.2009 | Politics

Read More: White House, Kabul, Cia, Black List, Taxes, Pakistan, Gen. McChrystal, Obama, Iraq, Treasury Blacklists, CIA Blacklists, Afghanistan War, Pakistan Military, Donations, Iran, Nato, Black Listed, Mcchrystal, Funding, U.N., Opium, Iraq War, Taliban, Afghanistan, Un, Insurgency, Donors, Politics News

KABUL -- The Taliban-led insurgency has built a fundraising juggernaut that generates cash from such an array of criminal rackets, donations, taxes, s...

Read Whole Story

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 ...

Read Whole Story

Camp Bucca: Military Closes Largest Detention Camp In Iraq

AP | JASON KEYSER | Posted 11.16.2009 | World

Read More: Iraq, Shiite, Abu Ghraib, Camp Cropper, Insurgency, Ronald Bucca, Soldiers, Kuwait, Enemy Combatants, Fallujah, Camp Taji, Prison, Detention Center, Camp Bucca, Baghdad, Jail, Sunni, World News

CAMP BUCCA, Iraq — The U.S. military on Wednesday closed Camp Bucca, an isolated desert prison that was once its largest lockup in Iraq, as it m...

Read Whole Story

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...

Read Whole Story

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.

Read Post

Five Myths About the Afghanistan Escalation

Brandon Friedman | Posted 03.01.2009 | World

Read More: Insurgency, Military, Robert Gates, Surge, Escalation, John Nagl, Taliban, Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency, Barack Obama, Michele Flournoy, Obama Afghanistan, Troops, Afghanistan Surge, Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan Escalation, Obama Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, Al Qaeda, Afghanistan War, Soldiers, Us Troops Afghanistan, World News
Brandon Friedman

If we're going to win back the Afghans' support, then we need to show them that we can protect them from the Taliban -- something that will clearly take more troops -- both U.S. and Afghan.

Read Post

Obama's Team Stumbling Into Afghanistan Trap

Steve Clemons | Posted 02.27.2009 | Politics

Read More: Zalmay Khalilzad, John McCain, New America Foundation, Pakistan, Jon Nagl, US Foreign Policy, Center for a New American Security, Barack Obama, Bonn Conference, Andrew Exum, Insurgency, Taliban, Parag Khanna, Afghanistan, James Dobbins, Kori Schake, Michele Flournoy, Kurt Campbell, Giuiliani, Politics News
Steve Clemons

Throwing more troops into the mess in Afghanistan is the kind of mistake that the previous administration would make. Obama needs to show that he has learned something of those mistakes.

Read Post

Baghdad Car Bomb Kills Over 50, Wounds 75

AP | QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA | Posted 06.25.2008 | Politics

Read More: Warwire, War on Terror, Terrorism, Car Bombing, Terrorist, Car Bomb, Baghdad Market Bombs, Insurgency, Baghdad Car Bomb, Iraq Car Bomb, Baghdad, Shiite, Security, Iraq, Guerilla Warfare, Politics News

BAGHDAD — A car bomb ripped through a busy commercial street in a Shiite area of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 51 people and wounding sco...

Read Whole Story