U.S., allied and Afghan troops greet the new day as they prepare to conduct “village stability operations” in Farah …
Nation-Building
First, Stop Digging
U.S. Army Cpl. B.J. Buie, foreground, an infantryman with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, digs a machine-gun position during Operation Southern Fist in the Spin …
The War Winds Down…
Two different, but mutually reinforcing, newspaper takes Sunday on the U.S. role in Afghanistan:
— In a lengthy editorial, the New York Times says it’s time to speed up the U.S. military’s withdrawal, well before the 2015 …
Bird of Pray
Nation Building: The Fine Print
Sometimes it tough to understand the scope of what the U.S. and its allies are trying to do in Afghanistan. Then the latest batch of contract solicitations in Federal Business Opportunities rolls in and makes it tough to …
The Candywoman…Makes the World Taste Good!
“In the last year -- year to date compared with last year -- our casualty rate is down by nearly 40%. And this reflects the fact that across the force as a whole, the risk to our people is reducing as we hand over responsibility for the combat operations to our Afghan partners.”
“We’re In It To Win It”
Playing to a Draw, at Best?
Don’t expect to hear about it in the presidential campaign debates, but the U.S. will leave Afghanistan locked in an escalating civil war when it observes the 2014 deadline for withdrawing combat troops set by the Obama …
The Trust Deficit
COMBAT OUTPOST GARDA, WARDAK PROVINCE — Increasingly, coalition troops feel they cannot trust the Afghan soldiers and police with whom they live and serve. The increasing toll of “green-on-blue” killings drives a wedge of …
Standing Guardian Angel
“We’re Here to Help”
“Under the Taliban, less than 9,000 boys and almost no girls had access to education [in Afghanistan]. Today, more than 8 million children, more than a third of whom are girls, are enrolled in school.”