Category Archives: war in Afghanistan
NATO: A Dangerous Paper Tiger
Authored by Patrick Armstrong via The Strategic Culture Foundation, The Chinese have a genius for pithy expressions and few are more packed with meaning, while immediately understandable, than "paper tiger". NATO is one, but paper tigers that overestimate their powers can be dangerous. Some Russians are concerned that there are today more hostile troops at […]
US Administration Defends Its Right To Start Wars On A Whim
Authored by Andrei Akulov via The Strategic Culture Foundation, The US Constitution says that only Congress can declare war for an extended time but there is a workaround. Congress approved the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), giving the president the authority to track down and destroy al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The resolution stipulates that […]
US Reaper Drone Shot Down Over Afghanistan
In a rare, successful attack on one of the most advanced US offensive weapons, a US drone has reportedly been shot down over Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Voice of Jihad) reports that Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) said to be operated by the United States. The […]
America’s Slow-Motion Military Coup
Authored by Stephen Kinzer via The Boston Globe, In a democracy, no one should be comforted to hear that generals have imposed discipline on an elected head of state. That was never supposed to happen in the United States. Now it has. Among the most enduring political images of the 20th century was the military […]
Domestic Politics Is Dictating Our Foreign Policy
Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute, There is a common naïve view among many conservatives — and other supporters of a bloated military establishment — that foreign policy is made as part of a rational process in which foreign threats are assessed, and then requests are made to Congress to fund projects that […]
The Plan To “Privatize” The Afghanistan War Doesn’t Privatize Anything
Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute, Any time we hear the term "privatize" coming from the usual suspects in Washington, DC we should immediately be suspicious. When this word is used, there's usually precious little actual privatization going on. Thus, we should regard the Trump administration's proposed plan to "privatize" the war in […]
The Latest Attempt To Win The Afghan War: Replace The Soldiers With Mercenaries
Authored by Daniel Lang via SHTFplan.com, One of the most controversial aspects of the Iraq war was the heavy use of defense contractors, who were in many cases paid vast sums of money to do jobs that you’d think an ordinary soldier could do. When it was all said and done, defense contractors had reaped […]
Mission Accomplished? Civilian Casualties In Afghanistan Are Mounting
A massive Truck bomb shook the center of Kabul, killing at least 80 and injuring up to 400 civilians on Wednesday. Attacks against civilians have been on the rise in recent years, causing more than 11,400 deaths and injuries in 2016, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). You will find more statistics at […]