Over 150 Afghan soldiers brought to America for training have gone rogue in the last few years, with 83 of them still on the loose. These are men with military training, roaming the streets. Some of them are considered “high risk” by the government. How could this happen? Kelley Beaucar Vlahos writes at The American […]
The Failed Petreaus Counterinsurgency Strategy
Military theorists and generals are urging President Trump to adopt the principles of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. Giving the failed COIN playbook developed by General David Petreaus another chance is the wrong move. As William Smith explains at The American Conservative, the COIN manual doesn’t take into account issues of history and culture that are vital […]
A Conversation Between Two of My Favorite Americans: Dr. Michael Scheuer and Erik Prince
Both Dr. Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA’s bin Laden unit and current author of the blog non-intervention.com, and Erik Prince, former Navy SEAL, former CEO of Blackwater, and current Chairman of Frontier Services Group appeared on the John Frederick Show to discuss Afghanistan recently. Listen to their conversation below.
Will America Ever Learn the Lessons of Afghanistan?
Former CIA officer and regular contributor to The American Conservative, Philip Giraldi recommends the book Fool’s Errand, by Scott Horton as a guide to the Afghan war and its background. Will America learn its lesson in the country, or forever continue a war without an end game there? Giraldi writes: I don’t know to what […]
Preble: A Recipe for Continued Conflict
President Trump has chosen to continue the war effort in Afghanistan. Trump has been criticizing the Afghan effort for years, but is now surrounded by generals in his administration who have been preoccupied with “winning” there for over a decade. They and others like them have convinced the president that either for some military purpose, […]
America Faces the Same Problems in Afghanistan as in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq
The drawn out war in Afghanistan seems to be headed toward two decades of misguided intervention. With President Trump’s re-engagement in the remote, mountainous country, America is repeating the same mistake it made in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. As in those conflicts, America’s battlefield enemies in Afghanistan find safe haven in neighboring countries, namely Pakistan. […]
Has Congress Forgotten Afghanistan?
Writing at The American Conservative, Andrew Bracevich wonders, where is Congress on Afghanistan? While the Trump administration can’t seem to make up its mind on a strategy, the branch of government actually tasked with declaring and funding wars is silent. He writes: the Afghanistan War (ostensibly part of a Global War on Terrorism) differs from […]
Will Congress Ever Accept Responsibility for Never Ending War?
Writing at The American Conservative, William S. Smith trashes Paul Ryan and House leadership for refusing to debate the Authorization for Use of Military Force. Congress is avoiding any responsibility for the never ending war in Afghanistan. Smith writes: Last month, Fox News host Tucker Carlson engaged in a raucous debate on air with foreign-policy analyst Max […]
How Long Should America Spend in Afghanistan?
Here Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA’s bin Laden unit, slams the idea of a generation-long fight against extremism in Afghanistan. Children born at the beginning of the war in Afghanistan are three years away from fighting it. Given the exhortation of America’s neocons to continue to the wars in the Middle East, […]
Could Trump Win Afghanistan Using Mercenaries?
A money man, an ambassador, a former SEAL, and a former Army policy advisor to the Joint Chiefs are all trying to persuade the Trump administration to outsource the war in Afghanistan to hired gun contractors. The money man, Steve Feinberg, is working the policy circuit in Washington trying to drum up support for the […]