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davidbfpo
05-11-2018, 04:35 PM
Stephen Tankel is a US academic and sometime USG adviser. The link is to a recent article which is sub-titled:
The administration has quietly expanded how the U.S. uses military force around the world. The consequences are grave. Why is no one paying attention?

There are several telling phrases:
But where capacity can be built, political will cannot be. This was especially true in Pakistan and Yemen.(Later) In the meantime, drone strikes have also escalated considerably in Yemen—jumping from 37 in 2016 to over 127 in 2017 according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism—and increased in Somalia as well.
(Ends with) Trump has swung the pendulum too far in the other direction: removing policy constraints and reducing oversight of lethal action while pursing a military-centric approach to counterterrorism where operations are divorced from the political-strategic environment in which they are occurring. History tells us this will prove counterproductive and unsustainable.

The article is based on his new book 'With Us and Against Us: How America's Partners Help and Hinder the War on Terror', so far minus any reviews as it is released on May 22nd (in the USA).

Link to book:https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/09/donald-trumps-shadow-war-218327
Link to Politico article:https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/09/donald-trumps-shadow-war-218327


(https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/09/donald-trumps-shadow-war-218327)

davidbfpo
05-11-2018, 04:39 PM
There is a separate thread on Niger and the recent US SOF deaths there. This WoTR article fits here and there.
Link:https://warontherocks.com/2018/05/the-accompany-they-keep-what-niger-tells-us-about-accompany-missions-combat-and-operations-other-than-war/

davidbfpo
08-02-2018, 07:41 PM
Hat tip to WoTR for a multi-authored reviw of Stephen Tankel's book. It ends with:
Although none of these authors offer a silver bullet — or assert that any are available — policymakers and citizens alike will benefit from thinking about the post-9/11 counter-terrorism challenge, soon entering its third decade, with a clearer analytical framework and a dispassionate understanding of recent history. And in this respect, Tankel’s With Us or Against Us, and the essays it inspired in this roundtable, are a terrific place to start.
Link:https://warontherocks.com/2018/08/the-trouble-with-counter-terrorism-partnerships-tackling-the-toughest-cases/