Tag Archives: Taliban

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

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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.

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Lagalize Drugs

InstapunditStop the cash flow to criminal gangs and the Taliban. Help stabilize Mexico. “Prohibition is a failed luxury that I am not sure we can afford for that much longer.” An illusion of control.

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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.

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(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

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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

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Monthly Book Roundup

A new monthly feature here at A Second Hand Conjecture, is going to be a roundup of what we’ve been reading during the past month. Feel free to discuss, or ask questions about any of the books. Joshua: Right now … Continue reading

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A Waziristan Awakening?

Sunni tribal leaders in Pakistan are organizing militias and some are ready to revolt against Al Qaeda. David Montero at the CSM takes a look at the risks and rewards of applying our successful counterterrorism strategy from Anbar, in Pakistan’s … Continue reading

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