Month: August 2021

‘Unforced Errors’ could be applied to many circumstances in relation to the war in Afghanistan (or life in general really) and today The Modern War Institute details one of those in: An Unforced Error: How US Attempts to Suppress the Opium Trade Strengthened the Taliban – I

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Another weekend catch-up when my real job keeps me away for a couple days. I watched and read with horror like most of you about the attacks in Afghanistan. It was only a matter of time, is terrible, and we undoubtedly lost some incredible young men and women. For some of

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It’s information operations on steroids in The Small Wars Journal’s: U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan: The View From Pyongyang. Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture, Foreign Affairs has an excellent, in a depressing kind of way, online magazine chronicling

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Reuters reports that the Taliban Resistance has lost ground in Afghanistan: Taliban say they have retaken three northern districts seized by Afghan militias. I wonder how long they can hold out. For that though, DW can help with:  Why Afghanistan’s Panjshir

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A weekend catch-up following the white screen of death as the site was down for a day and half…Afghanistan is still front and center and today we have one of the best takes on the situation I have read yet. The Small Wars Journal has a short piece,  Passing the Baby ,

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In the last two decades do you know who else asked the question, ‘Why didn’t they fight?” Mullah Omar and Saddam Husein. I have no actual knowledge that the collapse of the Afghan Army will give rise to a protracted insurgency but I have hope as the flag of the Northern

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I can’t really explain why the situation in Afghanistan has bothered me so much. I only served in Iraq, but this has felt worse than I remember the rise of ISIS. Maybe it’s the quickness of it all? Anyway, as the evacuation pace has picked up my mind has turned from despair

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The blame game begins as the world witnesses the chaotic withdraw that will most certainly be disastrous for the Afghans that are left behind. The New York Times has been tracking the updates here: Live Updates: Taliban Promise No Reprisal Killings, but Afghans Are Desperate

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For most of the weekend I sat frozen to Twitter watching for updates that the kids couldn’t understand as the Taliban overran Kabul. If you are looking for answers on how this could have happened, I suggest The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War as a good

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When you can’t look away, try the Long War Journal for a detailed recap of the continuing fall in Afghanistan. Defining Leadership is more difficult than you think (in my real job we spent two days arguing about evaluating it…and the verdict is still out). What

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