When This Cruel War is Over…or at Least Forgotten
When you live and work long enough here in the graveyard of common sense, you come across a lot of people whose sole contribution to the planet may be converting oxygen to carbon dioxide. Since it’s...
View ArticleMeet the Three Stooges of Afghan-centric COIN: I Write for Vice
Occasionally, I manage to convince other people to let me write for them. The good folks over at Vice News are such people, and this week I’ve got a piece on Dostum, Raziq, and Azizullah. I’m not...
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5 Things We Can Learn About Commandos from the Daily Beast
Taking a cue from the CIA, this week the Department of Defense outsourced its press release on Afghan commandos to the Daily Beast. The result was a closer look at Obama’s great camouflaged hope in...
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In the Land of Few Runways, the Cessna Is Not King
As the latest American experiment in Afghanistan has come to close with all the grace and poise of the closing scenes of a Lifetime movie on Monica Lewinsky, the crack International Security Assistance...
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ANA Deliver Volleyballs: What Happens Next Should Surprise No One
It seemed simple enough: if the Americans could just bring enough footballs, volleyballs, and bookbags to Afghan kids, their parents would love them some foreigners. And if the Americans built enough...
View ArticleANA Strip Club Integration
Not sure where your foreign guests would be comfortable? Here’s a handy guide if you ever have to answer the question: Should we take the Afghans to the strip club?
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Too Little, Too Late
Not since the coming of the Baby Yeezus has a new arrival been so heralded: buried in the news that the US had driven another nail into the global democracy coffin in Kabul was the delivery of the...
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Your ANSF Metaphor of the Day
The ANSF is moving blindly forward , hoping that it doesn’t blow itself up. #COINerific
View ArticleWhat John Campbell Doesn’t Want You to Know About the Afghan Army
This week, breaking coverage by the New York Times of a three month old Afghanistan story interrupted eulogies to the passing of the blog age just long enough for BuzzFeed to explain Matthew...
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Afghan Cops Have a Ferguson Problem
When cops forget what it means to protect and serve, you get what happened last year in Ferguson. When citizens are the enemy, that’s when cops stop being police and become a paramilitary...
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King of Battle: ANA Artillery Gets Their Boom On
Sgt. Gul of the Afghan National Army’s 201st Corps Public Affairs shop snapped this picture of a D30 providing indirect fire support for insurgent conflicts in Kunar province. The Afghan National...
View ArticleRemember When We Fixed That Helmand Problem?
Because it’s that time of year, Sangin, in Helmand province, is back in the news. [quote_box_center] At least 160 Taliban insurgents have been killed and 100 others wounded so far during the military...
View ArticleAfghan Army Officers Have Dreams, Too
It was always my dream to become a soldier and maybe one day become a talented general in the Afghan Army. Why? Because our country has been in constant turmoil. I have seen many problems and also...
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4 Reasons NATO Used A White Lady To Explain Afghan Lady Problems
International Women’s Day is March 8th, and since NATO cares about the ladies, they’re going all out this year. It’s tough being a woman in Afghanistan, especially if you’re a woman in the dude heavy...
View ArticleHope Is Not A Strategy But I Like It Anyway
“If you come back in 13 years, I don’t think it will be with the military,” Safie said. “You will come back as a tourist and see all the great things Afghanistan has to offer, that is my hope.” ―...
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Why The US Wants To Forget About Female Afghan Pilots
Nowhere is the Great Etch-a-Sketch that is American planning in Afghanistan more evident than in the Afghan Air Force (AAF). With the kind of Orwellian obfuscation that relies on the American public...
View ArticleWhat American Vets Can Learn From Afghan Amputees
This week the New York Times ran a beautifully written Rod Nordland ‘where are they now’ feature on wounded Afghan soldiers and cops, capturing the underappreciated entrepeneurial spirit of these brave...
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Afghan Army Killing It At Binocular Training
It’s springtime in Afghanistan, which means the pundits have awakened from their winter slumber and the Taliban are in full bloom. It also means that the 101st Airborne Division has decided that the...
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Making MacGyver Proud: An Afghan Air Force Update
Over the years I know you’ve come to expect a certain cheerful disposition to the blog, but my natural optimism flickers when looking at the Afghan Air Force (AAF). It’s a topic I’ve covered before,...
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1230 Week: ISAF Goes Full Copperfield with ANA Attrition Numbers
This was originally posted in mid-2013. Since we don’t get these reports anymore, figure a throwback here would be nice. From 2013: This week on the blog I’m looking at the latest Department of Defense...
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