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← Older posts Newer posts →The Kill Team Scandal: A Symbol of Fundamental Rot in the War in Afghanistan
March 29, 2011Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group Rolling Stone has the deeply troubling backstory on the US Army infantry platoon implicated in the murder of unarmed civilians in Kandahar province last year. The “Kill Team” story made headlines around the … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Leave a commentAfghanistan Weekly Reader: Taliban Cuts off Cell Phones in Helmand; New Report Offers Way Out
March 25, 2011World attention shifted this week to Libya and coalition involvement in establishing the no-fly zone. At a cost of $100 million per day to the U.S., it raised anew questions as to whether our ten-year involvement and $330 million per … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Leave a commentTaliban to U.S.: “Can You Hear Me Now?”
March 25, 2011Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group As signs of progress in the fight against the Taliban, U.S. officials offer metrics of success ranging from small arms seizures and the capture of opium shipments to body counts. But the most … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Leave a comment“The Kill Team” Photos: The Potential Fallout and the Brutal Reality of War
March 23, 2011Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group Five American soldiers are facing murder charges for their roles in the deaths of three civilians in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province last year. The men are accused of deliberately killing unarmed civilians and then … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged atrocities | 9 CommentsThe Afghanistan Weekly Reader – March 18, 2011
March 18, 2011The big news of this week centered around the testimony of General Petraeus—in town for his annual appearances before Congress. His testimony was utterly unsurprising—progress is being made, we can’t afford to threaten that progress by pulling out now, this … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Leave a commentQuagmires Make for Strange Bedfellows
March 18, 2011Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group Some might say that it would take a particularly cold day in political hell (or Washington D.C. for that matter) for conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA-46) and progressive Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH-10) to … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Tagged economy, strategy | Leave a comment#WINNING in Afghanistan
March 16, 2011Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings on the parallels between the PR campaign of a self-destructive major drug-consuming Hollywood star and General Petraeus’ publicity tour for a self-destructive policy in major drug-producing Afghanistan: “This … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Leave a commentGen. Petraeus Comes to Washington: Will Congress Buy What He’s Selling?
March 15, 2011Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group This week the Afghanistan war’s top salesman is going door to door in Washington to hawk his counterinsurgency wares. His newest product is a one-year old escalation of the conflict that increasingly looks … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Leave a commentThe Afghanistan Weekly Reader – March 11, 2011
March 11, 2011The week started with Secretary Gates’ unannounced visit to Afghanistan, in part to assess the number of troops that can be withdrawn starting in July (the President’s stated deadline). But Gates (or perhaps the media) buried the lead—while stating that … Continue reading
Posted in Blog | Leave a commentIs This What Population-centric Counterinsurgency Looks Like?
March 10, 2011Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group In the farmland west of Kandahar City the US Army is building what it calls a “Security and Commerce Wall” as part of its strategy to protect the Afghan people. But the reaction … Continue reading
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