Tag Archives: Afghanistan

Frank Miller’s Geostrategic Theory

Frank Lovece sat down with Frank Miller for Newsday to discuss his upcoming film The Spirit. Toward the end of it Lovece asked Miller about remarks he’d made in 2007 in support of the Iraq War, and offered him an … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Foreign affairs, Military Matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

So Very LP

What’s this? Bob Barr wanted Ronpaul as his veep? Take your eyes off the Libertarian Party for a minute and you miss a lot of foolishness. Our old friend Steve Newton fills us in on the amusing drama that ensued … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Libertarianism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Clear Blue Sky

(NASA) Today is the 11th. The unwelcome anniversary. Everyone remembers where they were when they heard. I was awoken by a phone call on the day. “The country’s under attack!” the phone said. You wake up rather fast when that’s … Continue reading

Posted in Lee's Page | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Test for French Will in Afghanistan

In the wake of a horrific magazine spread depicting Taliban fighters showing off war trophies looted from the bodies of French soldiers, President Sarkozy has been predictably and commendably resolute. France isn’t going to run away for a change. Unfortunately … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bloody Day for Australia

In Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, the Australian army suffers its worst casualties in a single engagement since the Vietnam war, after a Taliban ambush of an SAS patrol.

Posted in Around the Web | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Logistically Untenable?

Belmont ClubWe could be forced to entirely revamp our strategy in Afghanistan if the situation in Pakistan continues to deteriorate and the Russians intend to be uncooperative. There are in fact serious concerns that troops in Afghanistan can be cut … Continue reading

Posted in MikeR's Page | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Rising Tide of Violence

An excellent visualization of the increase in attacks in Afghanistan’s individual provinces. Broadly, there’s been about a 50% increase in Taliban attacks from last year. An urgent situation, whatever Geoff Morrell thinks.

Posted in Around the Web | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Setbacks”

We see this kind of thing in the press all the time: U.S. and Afghan troops have abandoned a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine American soldiers earlier this week, officials said Wednesday. Compounding the military setback, … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Media, Military Matters, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Support Citizen’s Media: A Challenge Grant

Official friend-of-Registan.net Sean-Paul Kelley, of The Agonist fame, has set forth an offer I simply cannot refuse: He is willing to pitch in $1000, if I can raise the remainder of my costs for going to Afghanistan August 22. That … Continue reading

Posted in Josh's Page | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire & Invasion, by Paddy Docherty

This book was written entirely in the passive voice. The passive voice was used to avoid assigning causation or personhood to various events. As a result, we learn that places were invaded, people were slaughtered, armies were founded, but no … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Foreign affairs | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is

Blogging can bring about some amazing opportunities. Through my involvement with Global Voices I’ve had the opportunity to meet some extraordinary people working very hard for the basic right to speak their minds—something I routinely take for granted. It is … Continue reading

Posted in Blogs, Josh's Page | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Boumediene — The Great Sandbagging

UPDATE: Welcome QandO readers. Please look around after you’ve finished with this post, but McQ says you have to go back over to QandO when you’re done … but I won’t tell if you won’t. _____________________________________________________________ The recent Supreme Court … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Law, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

(Relatively) Measuring Success

This is the most recent of a series of posts on Registan.net where I explore some of the fundamentals of conflict within the tribal areas of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. At the end of this post is a link to the … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Military Matters, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Because Aren’t All Insurgencies the Same?

Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal is a frustrating columnist. In April he made the head scratching argument that Khost province in Afghanistan, which has, along with the rest of RC-East, experienced a 36% jump in insurgent attacks over … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Retreating Periphery

(photo: Mani Babbar) After 9/11 widened Al Qaeda’s ambitious war against most of the world, Osama bin Laden described his own axis-o-evil as being composed of “Crusaders, Zionists and Hindus.” But at some point, without anyone much noticing, that seems … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Lee's Page, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Of “Battle Fatigue” and National Caveats

Posted first to Registan.net, your one-stop shop for all things Central Asia, this is a tangent to a really excellent theme I’ve been tracking the past few weeks—the flow of press releases masquerading as journalism from Afghanistan to our largest … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Military Matters, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Danger of Funding Thugs

Sure it’s nice when you pay them to pretty please stop attacking us, but what of the consequences? This is the dark side of the CLC/Sons of Iraq/Awakening bandwagon we jumped on, and it’s one I’ve been mocked repeatedly for … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Why the Taliban Cease Fire Won’t Matter

Published first at Registan.net, this is the culmination of some research I’ve been doing into the nature and history of Pashtun tribal militancy. It draws from a mixture of out-of-print ethnocgraphic and geographic surveys, as well as contemporary news accounts, … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, History | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Roads, More Roads, and Still More Roads Indeed!

This is the latest post in a running commentary on a new meme to emerge from the PR folks in Afghanistan: the security benefits of building roads. The argument, advanced by a few American reporters and one David Kilcullen, is … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Media, Military Matters, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Forgive the Self-Promotion

I honestly don’t have the time to reformat everything for several cross-posts, so this is a summary of posts at my other blog, Registan.net, where I’ve been discussing some interesting topics related to counterinsurgency and reconstruction in Afghanistan, as well … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Josh's Page, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Two Myths About Afghanistan

In the interest of sparking another weekend long 30 reply post, I present this Washington Post article by freelance writer Ann Marlowe who was embedded with the US forces twice in 2007. To spoil the surprise, The first is that … Continue reading

Posted in Chris' Page, Foreign affairs, Notes on the war | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

McCain Speaks to Europe

photo: Chris Dunn Spiegel has a typically aggressive (and aggressively European) interview with John McCain today. In many ways it’s an interesting yet disappointing exercise, due to its focus on the perceived past sins of the Bush administration. While much … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2008, Foreign affairs, Lee's Page | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Air Mobility for Afghanistan

President Karzai presided over the opening of a new US funded $22 million hanger, for the Afghan military’s growing fleet of aircraft. Of primary focus in acquisitions have been transport helicopters to support army field operations. The plan is for … Continue reading

Posted in Around the Web | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment