Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 Common sense may finally be beginning to prevail: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/02/08/the-framework-for-a-us-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-has-been-set-will-it-stick/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MAR 02.08.19&utm_term=Editorial - Marine Corps - Daily News Roundup 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Or at least blind willingness to believe that anything will be different. See the article today about the suicide bombing of an Iranian revolutionary guard bus by folks based out of Pakistan? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47231959 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 13, 2019 Author Share Posted February 13, 2019 The whole Baluchistan thing is an issue yet to be resolved.....IMHO, leave it in the ground for future generations, we've got enough on our plates already. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 (edited) Future generations of whom? Seems to be more of Pakistan playing the “I can support terrorists for all my adversaries and surely that will never come back to bite me”. As a nuclear power that couldn’t possibly have any consequences for us Edited February 13, 2019 by sburke 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 2 hours ago, sburke said: Or at least blind willingness to believe that anything will be different. And a deep commitment to remain stupid forever. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 The Afghan village built from missiles Residents of Qezelabad in Afghanistan have lived for years with unexploded weapons built into their walls and holding up their ceilings. After Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan 30 years ago, following a decade-long war, the villagers could not afford building materials. They used what they could find, including missiles left behind by the Soviet army. A de-mining team is working to remove the weapons, and the BBC's Aulyia Atrafi went to see them at work. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Which reminds me, a few days ago I watched the first episode of a BBC series called The Bomb Squad. This is a documentary that focuses on a squad of British soldiers detailed to dispose of explosive ordnance in Afghanistan, IEDs, spent but undetonated shells, rockets, captured ammo dumps, etc. It gets into the personal lives of the men and their families, which ties in nicely with a recent thread in these forums on the subject of battlefield neurosis. I've been watching it via Netflix, but it is probably also still available directly from the BBC. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Meanwhile on Pakistan's other front. 37 Indian soldiers are killed by a suicide bomber. https://news.yahoo.com/attack-kills-12-soldiers-indian-kashmir-002710652.html 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 Al Jazeera has a story of relevance: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/pakistan-saudi-money-190215091327661.html 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Interesting - although notable that it doesn't mention that China has been doing even worse to Pakistan (and other countries) - getting them addicted to so much unsustainable debt that these nations lease out strategic ports etc to the Chinese for strategic military bases. Glad that we are finally noticing and doing something about that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 (edited) Article/review of a rather interesting sounding book (To the Mountains-My Life in Jihad, from Algeria to Afghanistan, Abdullah Anas and Tam Hussein) over at War On The Rocks: https://warontherocks.com/2019/03/why-did-it-all-go-so-wrong-an-arab-veteran-of-the-anti-soviet-jihad-speaks/ Edited March 9, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 'The Secret Life Of Mullah Omar': https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bf5692f4611a019a7c69ea6/t/5c77f4fdeef1a10b17f2abda/1551365379168/Secret+Life+of+Mullah+Omar-FINAL3.pdf Interesting reading. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 Another interesting article, this one focussing on Abdul Rashid Dostum: https://limacharlienews.com/mena/general-dostum-hero-afghanistan/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted April 25, 2019 Author Share Posted April 25, 2019 (edited) While VOA doesn't seem terribly positive about future prospects: https://www.voanews.com/a/us-official-afghan-peace-deal-could-trigger-internal-woes/4890152.html SIGAR itself seems to be borderline suicidal: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/04/24/sigar-drug-lab-bombing-was-a-dead-end-and-most-metrics-for-success-or-failure-in-afghanistan-are-classified-or-nonexistent/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Navy DNR 04-24-19&utm_term=Editorial - Navy - Daily News Roundup Quote “almost every metric for success or failure is now classified or nonexistent,” Still, I guess it's an improvement on just making stuff up. Edited April 25, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Thanks sgt 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 9, 2019 Author Share Posted May 9, 2019 (edited) Based on recent comments from Zalmay Kalilzhad (US 'envoy' to the Taliban) there seem to be hints of a rather drastic change in policy: Quote While testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) in July 2016, Zalmay Khalilzad said that Pakistan should be designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism because it is an ardent supporter of the Taliban. He described the Taliban as an “extremist organization” with enduring ties to al Qaeda. Just over two years after his testimony, Khalilzad has completely reversed his views without explanation. Since being appointed to serve as the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation in Sept. 2018, he has showered praise on Pakistan for its supposed efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan. He has even treated the Taliban as a credible counterterrorism partner. https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/05/khalilzad-flip-flops-on-pakistan-talibans-relationship-with-al-qaeda.php Edited May 9, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Totally understandable given Pakistan's assistance to India in combating terrorism... err wait.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 9, 2019 Author Share Posted May 9, 2019 (edited) The Soviet war in Afghanistan seems so much simpler in retrospect doesn't it.....One knew which side everyone was on back then! PS - Someone should make a modern game about it. Edited May 9, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 12, 2019 Author Share Posted May 12, 2019 Stars & Stripes suggests a change of posture is underway for the ANA too: https://www.stripes.com/news/afghan-military-looks-to-bigger-bases-while-closing-checkpoints-in-hostile-taliban-territory-1.580570 Have to say, that doesn't sound very encouraging. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted May 12, 2019 Share Posted May 12, 2019 2 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Stars & Stripes suggests a change of posture is underway for the ANA too: https://www.stripes.com/news/afghan-military-looks-to-bigger-bases-while-closing-checkpoints-in-hostile-taliban-territory-1.580570 Have to say, that doesn't sound very encouraging. yeah pretty much handing over the initiative and the Taliban has shown the capability of launching large scale attacks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 12, 2019 Author Share Posted May 12, 2019 Yeah.....It's a familiar enough pattern and that's a fact. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted May 12, 2019 Share Posted May 12, 2019 3 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Yeah.....It's a familiar enough pattern and that's a fact. It will be curious to see if our current President will want the Taliban to be seen back in Kabul as the gov't under his watch. I doubt it would play well in Election politics. Just unclear how brittle the ANA is. Some interesting parallels in the US army document on the Iraq war about trying to create a viable army and police force and how difficult it was to get the Iraqi forces into a position where they could stand on their own. We all saw how well that worked during the early ISIL offensive.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 13, 2019 Author Share Posted May 13, 2019 NYT has a decent article on the subject: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/11/opinion/afghanistan.html?save=nyt-gateway-stories It seems that current policy mostly involves sweeping inconvenient facts under the rug. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 54 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: NYT has a decent article on the subject: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/11/opinion/afghanistan.html?save=nyt-gateway-stories It seems that current policy mostly involves sweeping inconvenient facts under the rug. That is called politics. Every administration does it regardless of party. One thing I really liked about that Iraq study is it pulls no punches. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artkin Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 NYT fake news btw 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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