The Folly of the Next Afghan “Surge”

by Danny Sjursen We walked in a single file. Not because it was tactically sound. It wasn’t — at least according to standard infantry doctrine. Patrolling southern Afghanistan in column formation limited maneuverability, made it difficult to mass fire, and… Continue Reading

“Nation-Building” Is Back: Now with Contractors

by Tim Shorrock Last month, President-elect Donald Trump told The New York Times that the United States under his watch will not “be a nation builder.” It was a variation on a comment he had made dozens of times during… Continue Reading

America Begins Nation-Building at Home

(Provided Your Home is the Middle East) By Nick Turse via Tom Dispatch A billion dollars from the federal government: that kind of money could go a long way toward revitalizing a country’s aging infrastructure.  It could provide housing or better water… Continue Reading

Petraeus’ Failed Legacy of Nation-Building in Afghanistan

Further to Jeremy Scahill’s reporting on General David Petraeus’s impact on the CIA is a post at the Afghanistan Study Group by Mary Kaszynski on the costs and feasiblity of nation-building in the war-torn country: Bing West, assistant Secretary of Defense… Continue Reading