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Afghan War Now More Dangerous Than Ever
If you’re part of the Noble Order of White Helpfulness, or you’re in Afghanistan as part of Uncle Same’s COINerific Interventiongasm, you have definite feelings about helicopters. They’re either your...
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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...
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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Afghan War Now More Dangerous Than Ever
If you’re part of the Noble Order of White Helpfulness, or you’re in Afghanistan as part of Uncle Same’s COINerific Interventiongasm, you have definite feelings about helicopters. They’re either your...
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No, no, I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Hey, you got any Doritos?
June 8, 2012: A policeman in the Afghan Uniformed Police searches a car during a weapon search in Loy Murghoz, Khowst province, Afghanistan, June 8, 2012. The police conducted the patrol with U.S....
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Wanted: New NDS Director
I used to get into arguments with this guy I knew. I thought we were the kind of friends that could do that, you know? The kind of people who could really get after it over something really important,...
View ArticleYou’ve Never Heard About This Arms Deal
In early November, India agreed to send four Mi-25 attack helicopters to Afghanistan. They will be equipped with machine guns, rockets, and grenade launchers, and transferred from Russia — the country...
View ArticleAfghan cops being blamed for Bagram deaths
According to U.S. personnel familiar with the incident, Afghan national police had failed to thoroughly search the suicide bomber and his vehicle before allowing him to proceed through the patrol. In...
View ArticleUNAMA: Afghan Air Force Better Than Ever At Killing Civilians
Everyone agrees that more airpower is the answer to the Afghan security question. “Everyone” in this case being level-headed luminaries like Michael O’Hanlon and David Petraeus. Kids: this is why you...
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