Reading on COIN in Afghanistan: a place to start
Moderator's Note
This was called 'UK Army officer writes' and has had a two post thread merged in 'Books that might have changed the war'. Now it is called 'Reading on COIN in Afghanistan: a place to start'. On a quick review I cannot see other threads here to merge in, although a number cover reports etc (ends).
Published in The (UK) Independent, an anonymous Welsh Guards officer writes on the war in Afghanistan: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...f-1769938.html
Opening sub-title: 'There is no refuge, no place to go to deal with your grief'
In the first ever unauthorised dispatch from an officer on the frontline, one young Captain offers a brutally honest account of life in Afghanistan, revealing the pain of losing comrades, the frustration at the lack of equipment, and the sense that the conflict seems unending and, at times, unwinnable.
Nothing I fear startling for those who have served in combat; within are familiar arguments on the lack of helicopters and more.
davidbfpo
It ain't pretty any way you look at it...
...to the uninitiated, our Prime Minister is unlucky, hapless and a poor communicator who despite some errors, has an opportunistic opposition and some slightly dubious senior military advisors who have recently been tainted with party-political affililiations.
To the initiated, this man is singlehandledly responsible for the politicisation of Defence and its serial under-resourcing since 1997. As Chancellor (in charge of all tax-raising and national budgetary decisions), he had near total ownership not only of how much each department received, but also audit over how it was spent. Therefore our output and policy based Strategic Defence Review never stood a chance of being realised as a resourced plan. Blair could make no decision without Brown's approval, as he had no mastery of detail, and wouldn't challenge his symbiotic ally. Brown was therefore part of the flawed decisionmaking that saw us strategically distracted by Iraq, therefore allowing Afghanistan to fester. At no point did the man understand, support or sympathise with the Armed Forces in anything they did as an entity, other than to individual empathise with young working class men and women whom he instinctively felt were being exploited by people from privileged backgrounds who leap-frogged them in life.
You have to understand, this man is a lifelong committed socialist who is dedicated to State control and intervention of all aspects of life. He does not understand international dynamics. He refuses to acknowledge opposing points of view. Any dissent is to be isolated, discredited and then destroyed in detail. He has achieved his political success by the most ruthless form of socialist machine politics. You have to study it to believe it, the way the UK New Labour movement is straight out of George Orwell's 1984 - starting with control of language and the ownership of the single 'narrative'.
Other than that, he's a hell of a fella. We're very lucky to enjoy such enlightened leadership.
Books that might have changed the war
Hat tip to Kings of War in pointing to Anatol Lieven's review of three books on Afghanistan.
The link:http://www.currentintelligence.net/r...han-field.html
Sub-titled:
Quote:
Security policy in Afghanistan may be powered by sublimated imperial nostalgia, but most of the really valuable practical memories and lessons of empire have long since been forgotten. Veteran journalist and author Anatol Lieven reviews three recent books that illustrate what we should have known about the Taliban.
Followed in the opening paragraph:
Quote:
IF BOOKS LIKE the ones under review had appeared in 2002, and been read by Western commanders and officials, they might have changed the course of the Afghan War. Even today, should a US administration ever be able to disentangle itself from the Karzai government and nerve itself to open serious negotiations with the Taliban, such works will be indispensable to understanding the people on the other side of the table.
KoW comments:http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2010/09/cur...stan/#comments
Enjoy.
Reading Lawrence in Afghanistan: The Seven Pillars of Counter-COIN Wisdom
Reading Lawrence in Afghanistan: The Seven Pillars of Counter-COIN Wisdom
Entry Excerpt:
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Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
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