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← Older posts Newer posts →Iraq and Afghanistan War Costs Part 1: The Pace of Our Afghanistan Drawdown
September 27, 2011Mary Kaszynski Afghanistan Study Group Blogger President Obama’s plan to withdraw 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and 23,000 more by next summer was a moderate but welcome beginning. We’ve already started to see war … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged defense spending, drawdown, withdraw | Leave a commentTracing the Afghanistan and Iraq drawdown debate; Politicians and Public Divided
September 22, 2011Mary Kaszynski Afghanistan Study Group Blogger In the heated debates surrounding the drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of who stands where. The past week was no exception. Rick Perry kicked off an inter-party dispute … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged drawdown, polls, withdraw | Leave a commentAfghanistan Study Group Weekly Reader: The Wars America Doesn’t Talk About, Confusion on the Drawdown
September 21, 2011Following the attacks on the US embassy in Kabul last week, the death of Burhanuddin Rabbani, president of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, in a suicide bombing this morning was a grim reminder of how far we are from peace and … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Leave a commentNotes From Afghanistan Part V: Understanding the Taliban. Are Our Assumptions Wrong?
September 21, 2011Edward Kenney Afghanistan Study Group Blogger If there is one thing this month in Afghanistan has taught me, it is that our common assumptions about the Afghan conflict are likely to be fundamentally wrong. One assumption that is frequently made … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged Afghanistan government, Pakistan, reconciliation, Taliban | Leave a commentTime to Cut the Cord: It’s Time Afghanistan National Security Forces Were in Charge of Afghan Security
September 19, 2011Mary Kaszynski Afghanistan Study Group Blogger The jury’s still out on whether the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) are completely ready to take on responsibility for enforcing security in Afghanistan. Regardless of the exact extent of their capabilities, however, it’s … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged Afghanistan government, security, timetable, withdraw | Leave a commentNotes From Afghanistan Part IV: Politics is Broken in Afghanistan
September 14, 2011Edward Kenney Afghanistan Study Group Blogger Hamed, an Afghan journalist and good friend put it to me bluntly over dinner: “the government has lost the confidence of the Afghan people.” Time and again Afghans, NGOs, and researchers have echoed Hamed’s sentiment. … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged Afghanistan government | 2 CommentsThe Afghanistan Weekly Reader: The Afghanistan War Ten Years after 9/11
September 13, 2011The past week provided us with the opportunity to reflect on where we stand today, ten years after 9/11. Unfortunately, when it comes to the war in Afghanistan, this reflection is less than encouraging. Today’s report of an attack on … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Leave a commentWaste and Inefficiency Pervasive in Afghanistan and Iraq Defense Contracts
September 8, 2011Mary Kaszynski Afghanistan Study Group Blogger Waste and inefficiency in defense contracts has resulted in the loss of billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the recently released final report of the Commission on Wartime Contracting. The report, … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged defense spending, military contractors | 1 CommentNotes from Afghanistan Part III: The War is Going Badly
September 6, 2011For months groups like the Afghanistan Study Group, where I work, have argued that the claims of progress made repeatedly in the American media are not backed by facts and data. Casualty rates are increasing, and security incidents are on … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged drawdown, progress, security | Leave a commentNotes from Afghanistan: Part II, A Dismal Afghanistan Independence Day
August 23, 2011August 19th marked the Afghan independence. On this day in 1919, Amanullah Shah, King of Afghanistan signed the treaty of Rawalpindi, ending his country’s dependence of foreign (read British) support, and re-cementing the disputed Durrand Line as the border between … Continue reading
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