Correcting the Record

by Joshua Foust on 2/8/2010 · 3 comments

An Open Letter to all Journalists and Pundits Covering Operation Moshtarak in Marjeh, Helmand:
When the Marine Corps spearheaded a massive new operation to retake parts of Central Helmand Province last year, there was little mention in the press about how common such offensives were. In just one area, Garmsir, it was the third year in [...]

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Loving Language

by Joshua Foust on 2/8/2010 · 1 comment

The Christian Science Monitor:
Since being deployed here six months ago, the United States Army company (1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment) has been pushing due west of the provincial capital, Kandahar, into what foreign forces call the “heart of darkness.” Zhari district – a patchwork of irrigation ditches, grape fields, and tightly packed mud compounds – [...]

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Richard Engel (Falsely) Raises Troubling Questions

by Joshua Foust

Enough with the journalistic clichés, already.
The answer isn’t straightforward and raises troubling questions about who decides where American troops are positioned on the battlefields of Afghanistan. Military officials familiar with decision making in eastern Afghanistan suggest that delays in closing COP Keating were motivated by politics in Kabul and a desire to appease the [...]

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Let’s See How They Measure Success

by Joshua Foust

The article of faith that we must have an Afghan face on Coalition operations, or that they must be Afghan-led, or at least have Afghans on them (which didn’t work out six months ago during the last Helmand Surge) has a few wrinkles in it, like the ANP’s habit of rampant corruption and brutality. But [...]

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Not Really Sure What to Say

by Joshua Foust

I thought I’d made peace with the Small Wars Journal. Sure, about 70% of what they run is crap, but there is, on occasion, some compelling content they link to. I’d even come to grips with the free-wheeling nature of the site: despite the drawbacks, it does present a forum for soldiers and researchers to [...]

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Possibly, Kapisa Insurgent Figure Detained

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According to ISAF (thanks Spencer!), Colonel Attaullah, the provincial deputy police chief, has been arrested on charges of facilitating IED networks and possibly a murder.
Attaullah has been at the forefront of security efforts in Kapisa—he was the government’s point man when an IED killed three U.S. soldiers in Sayad District; he was a voice of [...]

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Maybe, Finally, Some Accountability?

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(For background on the COP Keating attack, also called the Battle of Kamdesh, see here, here, here, and here.)
Let’s summarize the Army’s report on the Battle of Kamdesh:

Because the outpost was located in a deep bowl surrounded by high ground, the attackers were able to pin down defenders and prevent them from using mortars to [...]

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Remember When Our Leaders Said They Wanted to Turn Afghanistan Into Colombia?

by Joshua Foust

(A common theme on Registan.net)
Most recently, the Foreign Minister of Colombia said, on his way out the door to attend the London Conference on Afghanistan, that he hoped NATO officials would look to Colombia for an example of how to properly fight a narco-insurgency.
Ignoring the rather significant problem that FARC is not an Islamist resistance [...]

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Did it “open a rare window” and “raise troubling questions,” too?

by Joshua Foust

Dig the cliches:
Afghan border guards never search him, even though he passes through this bustling crossing four or five times a week. “What searching?” said Mr. Abdulmalek, a 34-year-old clothing store owner who like many Afghans has only one name. “There is no searching.”
Other Afghans say they can easily enter Pakistan by bribing guards on [...]

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I’ll Have What He’s Smoking

by Joshua Foust

Who is General McChrystal’s hashish dealer? Because that stank be good.
A top U.S. military commander offered a hint of optimism on the war in Afghanistan on Thursday by declaring, in contrast to other officials, that the security situation in the Central Asian state was no longer “deteriorating” but merely “serious.”
Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s assessment, a [...]

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