‘From the Imperium’ Archives
Obama’s Choice: Withdraw or Reinforce Failure?
Los Angeles Times | By Doyle McManus | 17 June 2010 Obama's mixed Afghanistan messages Choices are stark: Stick to the timetable and drawdown, or stick it out until the job is done. And so far, he has signaled intent to do both. The news from Afghanistan has been bad lately. The military campaign to win control of Kandahar, the [...]
By Marjah Failure, McChrystal Pushes Karzai into Taleban’s Arms
New York Times | By Dexter Filkins | 11 June 2010 Karzai Is Said to Doubt West Can Defeat Taliban “Mr. Karzai suggested in the meeting that it might have been the Americans who carried it out .” “Last winter, Mr. Karzai accused NATO in a speech of ferrying Taliban fighters around northern Afghanistan in helicopters. Earlier this year, [...]
CNAS Panel: Advice on “Af/Pak” to the Next U.S. President
CNAS | 10 June 2010 CNAS Fourth Annual Conference Shaping the Agenda: American National Security in the 21st Century BEYOND AFGHANISTAN: AMERICA'S ENDURING INTERESTS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH ASIA Beyond Afghanistan & Keynote Address by Michèle Flournoy 00:00:00 Panel Discussion 00:57:20 Questions & Answers 01:11:30 [...]
Americans Failing to Suppress Afghan Resistance to Occupation
DefenseTech | By Greg Grant | 9 June 2010 The “Lone Guerrilla Paradox” and the Failure of COIN Doctrine in Afghanistan The New York Times runs a story today from reporter Rod Nordland in Kandahar about the shift in strategy there away from a military headlined offensive to more aid and reconstruction efforts, with a gradual increase [...]
Petraeus Faints During Senate Grilling
New York Times | By By Thom Shanker | 15 June 2010 Petraeus Appears to Faint During Senate Testimony WASHINGTON — The commander of American forces in the Middle East. Gen. David H. Petraeus, appeared to faint briefly during an intense period of questioning Tuesday by senators concerning whether the military can fulfill President Obama’s [...]
Mavi Marmara and the U.S.S. Liberty
Brookings | By Charles K. Ebinger | 15 June 2010 The Attack on the USS Liberty: Lessons for U.S. National Security General Petraeus warned that the stalled Middle East peace process is a direct threat to U.S. interests and prestige in the region and that the lack of progress in Palestine foments anti-Americanism, undermines Arab [...]
Bogged Down, McChrystal Postpones the Helmand “Offensive”
New York Times | Editorial | 13 June 2010 Taking Stock in Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is trying to strike a secret deal with the Taliban and Pakistan and doubts that the Americans and NATO can ever defeat the insurgents. Karzai is telling aides that he believed the United States, and not the Taliban, might have been responsible [...]
Pentagon: Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium”
New York Times | By James Risen | 13 June 2010 U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan But see also: Before You Start Freaking Out Over Afghanistan's $1 TRILLION In Mineral Deposits... WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously [...]
COAS Lt. Gen. V. K. Singh Modernising the Indian Army
Aviation Week | By Neelam Mathews (New Delhi) | 10 June 2010 Slow Going As India Revamps Army Program delays and an urgent need for upgrades and new equipment are among the challenges confronting Lt. Gen. V.K. Singh, India’s new army chief of staff, as he begins wrestling with modernization of the 1.1-million-strong force. The service [...]
From the CENTCOM Af/Pak Conference in Tampa, Florida
Registan.net | By Joshua Foust | 7-8 June 2010 Dispatches from the CENTCOM Afpak Conference Jump to: 1. The Art of the Implausible | 2. Assertions, or Arguments? 3. A Problem of Implementation | 4. Extremely Extremist Extremism 5. Opinion Polls Make You Dumb This week, the United States Central Command, CENTCOM, is holding a conference [...]
