First U.S. Official Resigns Over Afghan War

[Ken White]

Apologies for inaccuracies. The only things I know about Afghanistan is from the UN Habitat Reports, and stuff I get open net.

that the figures -- as also you note -- are imprecise but that, regardless, Afghanistan is primarily a rural Nation to the hilt -- it poses different parameters in many senses than anyplace we've operated since the Indian wars in our own west -- and not even I am old enough to recall that...

It's also very xenophobic and very mountainous -- real mountains. the corridors and compartments mess up many things...

Schmedlap's got it right as to purpose and content.

"I find the assertions that he made to be of little interest. I'm more interested in knowing who had this letter released and why. This appears to be little more than a PR stunt in the ongoing back and forth between folks who want different courses of action."

True.

Fingers crossed for the right one.

Also true...

[wm]

that the figures -- as also you note -- are imprecise but that, regardless, Afghanistan is primarily a rural Nation to the hilt -- it poses different parameters in many senses than anyplace we've operated since the Indian wars in our own west -- and not even I am old enough to recall that...

It's also very xenophobic and very mountainous -- real mountains. the corridors and compartments mess up many things...True.Also true...

Ken,
I would be very hesitant to apply the term "nation" to the area we happen to call Afghanistan. I submit that the first order of business to getting on with business in that part of the world is to recognize that the place is nothing like a nation as Western Europeans understand that term. As I've previously posted, the closest thing to it that we might use as a basis for understanding is the amalgamation of efforts by ancient Greek city states in response to the Persian invasions or to the perceived slight against Menelaus of Sparta when Helen left for Troy with Paris.

Alternatively, to follow up on your point about Native Americans, we might consider the "cooperation" among the various Apache tribes, like the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, and Mescalero under leaders like Cochise, Managas Coloradas, Geronimo and Victorio as more like what is happening in the socities that are the focus of our current fight. And as far as tactics in unforgiving terrain goes, I suspect we could learn some lessons from the Modoc Indian War.

[Steve Blair]

Alternatively, to follow up on your point about Native Americans, we might consider the "cooperation" among the various Apache tribes, like the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, and Mescalero under leaders like Cochise, Managas Coloradas, Geronimo and Victorio as more like what is happening in the socities that are the focus of our current fight. And as far as tactics in unforgiving terrain goes, I suspect we could learn some lessons from the Modoc Indian War.

This is why I've been contending for some time that our own experiences in Arizona are perhaps a touch more germane to discussions about Afghanistan than the oh-so-common Vietnam analogies. Even Hoh tried to drag out the Vietnam skeleton (poorly, in my view). All of our major post-CW Indian conflicts were against loose tribal confederations (and the emphasis in that line is on loose, not confederation), and many took place in difficult terrain. Most of the major Apache campaigns took place in rugged, mountainous country and required some major changes in the standard operational templates used at the time. The Modoc campaign was difficult for a number of reasons, terrain being one and poor leadership in the early stages on the part of the Army being another. And there are even similarities in the policy conflicts we're seeing now.