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This Week at War: Heading for a Bad Breakup
Entry Excerpt:
Here is the latest edition of my column at Foreign Policy:
Topics include:
1) What happens when the U.S. and Pakistan split up?
2) Americas Asian allies examine their options.
What happens when the U.S. and Pakistan split up?
How close is the U.S.-Pakistan security relationship to a break-up? Self-interest, not affection, seems to keep the partnership going. Thats fine until a better arrangement for one side comes along or emotion overrides logic. An even larger U.S. military expedition in Afghanistan will be at the mercy of this fragile bond.
The reasons for cooperation are well known. The United States could not prosecute its war in Afghanistan without access through Pakistan. Washington hopes the Pakistani government will deliver up more al Qaeda terror suspects to join Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The U.S. engages Pakistan on a variety of levels to keep Pakistans nuclear weapons stockpile under control. Indeed, notable U.S. analysts such as Stephen Biddle and Steve Coll believe that stabilizing Pakistan is the best justification for continuing the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan.
For its part, Pakistan counts on the United States to moderate its friction with India. More recently Pakistan has exploited its intelligence and military connection to the U.S. to target the Islamists at war with Pakistans government. But Pakistans enduring interest in America seems mostly to be about money.
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Entry Excerpt:
Here is the latest edition of my column at Foreign Policy:
Topics include:
1) What happens when the U.S. and Pakistan split up?
2) Americas Asian allies examine their options.
What happens when the U.S. and Pakistan split up?
How close is the U.S.-Pakistan security relationship to a break-up? Self-interest, not affection, seems to keep the partnership going. Thats fine until a better arrangement for one side comes along or emotion overrides logic. An even larger U.S. military expedition in Afghanistan will be at the mercy of this fragile bond.
The reasons for cooperation are well known. The United States could not prosecute its war in Afghanistan without access through Pakistan. Washington hopes the Pakistani government will deliver up more al Qaeda terror suspects to join Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The U.S. engages Pakistan on a variety of levels to keep Pakistans nuclear weapons stockpile under control. Indeed, notable U.S. analysts such as Stephen Biddle and Steve Coll believe that stabilizing Pakistan is the best justification for continuing the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan.
For its part, Pakistan counts on the United States to moderate its friction with India. More recently Pakistan has exploited its intelligence and military connection to the U.S. to target the Islamists at war with Pakistans government. But Pakistans enduring interest in America seems mostly to be about money.
Click through to read more ...
--------
Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
Friday Night Reading, Viewing and Visiting Assignment
Entry Excerpt:
U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Workshop Videos - Watch the presentations from the COIN Center's COIN Leaders Workshop held 27 - 29 October 2009. Includes a COIN Center overview, COIN doctrine, urban simulation, COIN lessons learned from OIF and OEF, the Soviet approach to COIN and border operations in Afghanistan, security architecture and COIN in Pakistan's tribal belt, why Pakistan is secure, Air Force Special Operations Command overview and an address by General Jim Mattis, Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command.
West Point's Combating Terrorism Center's CTC Sentinel - The November 2009 issue includes the following articles: Lashkar-i-Tayyiba: One Year After Mumbai, Success of the Meta-Narrative: How Jihadists Maintain Legitimacy, AQIM and the Growth of International Investment in North Africa, Allahs Domestic Containment and Regional Expansion Strategies, Jihadist Radicalization and the 2004 Madrid Bombing Network, The Past and Future of Deobandi Islam, Maintaining the Message: How Jihadists Have Adapted to Web Disruptions, and Recent Highlights in Terrorist Activity.
On the Knifes Edge: Yemens Instability and the Threat to American Interests - Read this new Center for a New American Security policy brief by Andrew Exum and Richard Fontaine. This brief addresses the deteriorating situation in Yemen, which includes a growing al-Qaeda presence, a separatist movement in the South, and an active insurgency in the North, and the authors' opinion that the situation demands immediate U.S. attention.
New DoD Social Media Hub - Right now mostly feel good stuff and warnings - "How to Avoid Internet Coal in Your Stocking" is an example. That said and possibly of good use is the site's registry of DoD social media sites. RUMINT has it that the new DoD social media policy may make its debut here in the near future or not. Will check back and file a full report.
David Petraeus For D.C. Metro Police Chief - On the lighter side, or maybe not - might be a "progressive" and great idea - Spencer Ackerman spins off a Washington Times op-ed lavishing praise on the greatest Army officer of his generation for his farsightedness in demonstrating how a thorough security presence/posture combined with bolstered support for a host nations institutions of governance and rigorous subsidization of the tools for economic prosperity leads to a situation where a community comes together to oppose and to confront the extremists. Salinas, CA, seems to think this type of approach has merit.
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Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
Entry Excerpt:
U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Workshop Videos - Watch the presentations from the COIN Center's COIN Leaders Workshop held 27 - 29 October 2009. Includes a COIN Center overview, COIN doctrine, urban simulation, COIN lessons learned from OIF and OEF, the Soviet approach to COIN and border operations in Afghanistan, security architecture and COIN in Pakistan's tribal belt, why Pakistan is secure, Air Force Special Operations Command overview and an address by General Jim Mattis, Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command.
West Point's Combating Terrorism Center's CTC Sentinel - The November 2009 issue includes the following articles: Lashkar-i-Tayyiba: One Year After Mumbai, Success of the Meta-Narrative: How Jihadists Maintain Legitimacy, AQIM and the Growth of International Investment in North Africa, Allahs Domestic Containment and Regional Expansion Strategies, Jihadist Radicalization and the 2004 Madrid Bombing Network, The Past and Future of Deobandi Islam, Maintaining the Message: How Jihadists Have Adapted to Web Disruptions, and Recent Highlights in Terrorist Activity.
On the Knifes Edge: Yemens Instability and the Threat to American Interests - Read this new Center for a New American Security policy brief by Andrew Exum and Richard Fontaine. This brief addresses the deteriorating situation in Yemen, which includes a growing al-Qaeda presence, a separatist movement in the South, and an active insurgency in the North, and the authors' opinion that the situation demands immediate U.S. attention.
New DoD Social Media Hub - Right now mostly feel good stuff and warnings - "How to Avoid Internet Coal in Your Stocking" is an example. That said and possibly of good use is the site's registry of DoD social media sites. RUMINT has it that the new DoD social media policy may make its debut here in the near future or not. Will check back and file a full report.
David Petraeus For D.C. Metro Police Chief - On the lighter side, or maybe not - might be a "progressive" and great idea - Spencer Ackerman spins off a Washington Times op-ed lavishing praise on the greatest Army officer of his generation for his farsightedness in demonstrating how a thorough security presence/posture combined with bolstered support for a host nations institutions of governance and rigorous subsidization of the tools for economic prosperity leads to a situation where a community comes together to oppose and to confront the extremists. Salinas, CA, seems to think this type of approach has merit.
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Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
Greetings all! I'm assembling the syllabus for an undergraduate course on "Intelligence, Covert Action, and National Security Policy." Part of the course will discuss the transformation of defense/military intelligence-particularly the concept of "operationalizing" intelligence. There is quite a lot of literature on the subject, but I'd like to find one or two case studies explaining how the theories worked in practice in Afghanistan, Iraq, or elsewhere. Any thoughts? Many thanks! --Dave A.
Small Wars Journal's Notes
This Week at War: Heading for a Bad BreakupNov 20, 2009
Friday Night Reading, Viewing and Visiting AssignmentNov 20, 2009
Searching for Case StudiesNov 20, 2009
Wolves vs. Sheepdogs: People as the WeaponNov 20, 2009
Positive Petraeus LessonsNov 20, 2009
20 November SWJ RoundupNov 20, 2009
Tomorrow MorningNov 19, 2009
Paying homage to CeaserNov 19, 2009
Major Hasan reintroduces 'Terror and Consent'Nov 19, 2009
COIN Challenges for NATO Strategy and OperationsNov 19, 2009