What if we fail in Afghanistan?It’s time to start asking: what happens if the US and its allies can’t prevent the Afghani Taliban from taking control of the country and restoring a second Islamic Emirate? Steve Coll explores some hypothetical outcomes (spoiler: none of them are good).
War in Afghanistan
Life as a soldier in Afghanistan
A remarkable photo essay by AP photojournalist David Guttenfelder on the lives of American troops in Afghanistan gives a small insight into the fear and horror of the work, says W H Chong.
The Taliban grows more powerful than Al Qaeda
The power balance between the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan has flipped, with the latter’s numbers dwindling to fewer than 100 members in the country. Some Taliban factions are now shunning the terrorist group in an effort to win over local civilians.
Afghanistan: Karzai wins. What now?
It’s over: Hamid Karzai has been declared the winner of Afghanistan’s Presidential election by default. After such a failure of democracy, what does it all mean for the future of Afghanistan and the war? Five experts weigh in.
Shoot first, pay them later: US loses the Afghan drug war
US military are struggling to handle the Afghan drug trade. Although it’s a violation of Afghanistan’s laws, the US military have complied a kill on sight, drug lord hit list. Too bad some Afghan drug lords are on the CIA’s pay roll, writes Jeff Sparrow.
The economics of war: 1 soldier = 20 new schools in Afghanistan
Nicholas Kristof crunches the numbers on the war in Afghanistan: the cost of every additional soldier stationed in the country could pay for 20 new schools there. It’s not just value for money, it’s a better investment, too.
Friedman: We simply can’t win
America simply does not have the Afghan partners, NATO allies, domestic support or financial resources to win in Afghanistan, says Thomas Friedman. Who knows: if the rest of the world stops meddling, the country might actually manage to sort itself out on its own.
Bring the troops home
Obama faces an “either-or” situation in Afghanistan, says Eugene Robinson: he either commits the 40,000+ troops requested by the US commander, or pulls forces out entirely to pursue a counter-terrorism strategy. The latter is the right choice to make.
John McCain: We must fight on
America must succeed in Afghanistan as a matter of national security, writes Republican senator and former presidential candidate John McCain.
We outnumber the Taliban 12:1. Why aren’t we winning?
There are about 172,000 international troops in Afghanistan working with a 200,000-strong local force, fighting no more than 25,000 Taliban rebels. Yet more allied soldiers are dying than ever before. Is it finally time to “cut and run”?
The Pentagon’s secret Afghan war games
The US military has been testing new strategies for combat in Afghanistan in secret war games, an inside source reveals, including the possibility of adding 44,000 more troops for a full-scale counterinsurgency, or 15,000 more to target Taliban commanders.
VIDEO: Remote control warfare: the destructive double-life of drone pilots
By day, these US Airforce pilots fly combat planes over Iraq and Afghanistan; at night, they return home to their kids in Las Vegas. They’re the remote control navigators of unmanned “drone” planes whose lives are in America while their heads are in a warzone.
‘Chaosistan’? US General spills secret CIA report
The US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, accidentally let slip about a secret CIA report called “Chaosistan”, which advocates letting Afghanistan become a “Somalia-like haven of chaos that we simply manage from outside.”
Why the US can’t beat the Taliban: their secret finances revealed
It’s no longer just opium poppies funding the Taliban. Fundraising from foreign donations, kidnappings and extortion have created a financial monopoly so strong that the US military have publicly admitted they are struggling to fight it.
NYT reporter tells: Seven months as a Taliban prisoner
NYT reporter David Rohde spent seven months as a prisoner of the Taliban in Afghanistan before making a daring escape in June. In a six-part series, he tells the entire story.
When it comes to Afghanistan, we’re slow learners
Securing Kabul is not the same as gaining control over warring tribes in regional areas. The British realised this in 1839 with the Afghan War, occupation doesn’t equal victory. Can we never learn from history?
How Italy’s Taliban bribery got French soldiers killed
When French soldiers arrived in the Afghan region of Sarobi last year, they believed the area to be peaceful. Ten dead and mutilated soldiers later, it’s clear they were wrong. And it was Italy who misled them.
US military bans photos of war dead in Afghanistan
The US military has officially banned embedded journalists from taking photos or recording footage of soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Is it press censorship, or just giving the deceased and their families the respect and privacy they deserve?
Americans resign themselves to a state of perpetual war
A new poll has found that 68% of Americans reckon that after eight year, the US will neither win nor lose the war in Afghanistan — it will just remain there. And they’re cool with that. 1984, anyone?
Afghanistan: Get nasty or get out
Obama’s “soft” approach in Afghanistan is a joke, says Michael Scheuer. It’s time to start making some unpleasant choices: get tough with half-a-million more troops, landmines and loads of civilians casualties, or get out.
Shhh! Obama sneaks 13,000 extra troops into Afghanistan
The White House publicly announced that 21,000 more troops would be sent to Afghanistan this year — what they didn’t mention was that an additional 13,000 “support” troops were also being deployed. Sneaky semantics.
Americans are under threat from their own ignorance
Most Americans don’t know enough about what is going on in Afghanistan to form an educated opinion on the subject, says Courtney Martin. The country cannot win a war or overcome a threat it simply doesn’t understand.
What is our military hiding from the media?
A Dateline journo reporting on the war in Afghanistan, John Martinkus, was repeatedly denied access to Australian military or embraced so whole heartedly that no just reporting could occur. What is the ADF trying to hide?
