Marc | April 16, 2010
On March 24-25, 2010, the Small Wars Foundation brought together a group of current and former military, academics, think tank members and policy people for a two-day focused workshop on what is being called the Tribal Engagement Strategy in Afghanistan. The workshop was co-sponsored by the U.S. Joint Forces Command Joint Irregular Warfare Center, the [...]
Marc | April 13, 2010
For several years, now, I have been complaining that there is very little publicly available on what and how the Human Terrain System (HTS) does while in the field. As a result of this lack, all of us who are following the system have had to deal with various and sundry news reports only. The [...]
Marc | January 28, 2010
In a recently released article in prospect magazine, Edward Luttwak argues that the US should adopt a “Byzantine” strategy in dealing with the Taliban. His suggestion is simple With Afghanistan, the west faces a simple strategic calculus: too costly to stay in, too risky to leave. A Byzantine response would be, first to withdraw the [...]
Marc | November 26, 2009
CBC just ran a report that noted that Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan, the German Inspector General (roughly Chief of Staff) has asked to be “relieved of duties” after the Bild published still photographs of the September 4th airstrike against two tanker trucks captured by the Taliban (see also AFP, Earth Times, Die Zeit). Not only has [...]
Marc | October 13, 2009
There is a “rule” known as the rule of the excluded third that derives from a particular form of knowledge construction: X either is or is not Y. This rule is often used in the construction of rhetorical positions that seek to present options in an either / or format. While this may work in [...]
Marc | September 21, 2009
With the release of an unclassified version of GEN McChrystal’s assessment (pdf; w/ hat tip to SWJ and the Washington Post) we can finally start to get a handle on the rationale behind the new (?) strategy for Afghanistan. I have only skimmed the Assessment as yet, but several points jump out at me. In [...]
Marc | September 16, 2009
I’ve been having an email discussion with my friend Drew about narratives for the past little while. One of the things that bothers me about the general topic, and by this I mean the military use and analysis of narratives, is that it is all to often focused at the wrong “levels”; in milspeak, it [...]
Marc | December 29, 2008
After the riding we dispersed, we drifted home in twos and threes. through cold and rain we spat and cursed, this ancient war of families. Armies past and then returned, they killed and raped, they stole and burnt. so from the cradle we have learnt, to be as hard as stone. and learned to stand [...]
Marc | December 24, 2008
A recent report by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has been something of a hot potato for Canadian (and US) troops lately. Entitled From Hope to Fear: An Afghan Perspective on Operations of Pro-Government Forces in Afghanistan, the report highlights two central types of operations that are extremely problematic: AIHRC is concerned that lack [...]
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