These pieces are part of a strategic dialogue on Afghanistan, as part of our new South Asia focus. You can read Ed Corcoran’s piece here and Erik Leaver’s piece here.
Strategic Dialogue: Afghanistan
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Asia & Pacific
Review: ‘Guardians of the Revolution’
Guardians of the Revolution, by Council on Foreign Relations scholar Ray Takeyh, offers candid insights into Iranian politics, delving into the origins of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and tracking its evolution over the past 30 years. The current debate in Iran and among outside observers centers around whether or not the spirit of that revolution is still alive today. Many of the figures instrumental in building and sustaining the Islamic Revolution and which Takeyh brings to life in his book — Mir Hossein Mussavi, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ali Larijani, Mohammad Khatami, and Hosein-Ali Montazeri are now virulently opposed to the regime. On the other side of the debate, Takeyh explains the rise of the New Right, a group of conservatives headed by Ayatollah Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who have slowly gained and entrenched themselves in the heart of the Iranian government.
Losing the Moral High Ground
On the eighth anniversary of the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, the spotlight is on the Obama administration’s evolving war strategy in a nation long known as the "graveyard of empires."
From Killing Fields to Fields of Dreams
Send Bosworth to North Korea
Decision Point: Afghanistan
Note: This is part of a strategic dialogue on Afghanistan. You can see Ed Corcoran’s piece here.
For years, the war in Afghanistan has been in crisis. But now with a failed Afghan election, the resurgence of the Taliban as a political power, NATO allies withdrawing from the battlefield, and Pakistan’s tribal areas under increasing influence from the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the situation looks worse than ever. Obama and his team are spinning their wheels trying to devise a policy to right the sinking ship, but the most sensible solution, for Afghans and U.S. citizens, is to start planning a way out.
Why Afghanistan
Note: This is part of a strategic dialogue on Afghanistan. You can read Erik Leaver’s piece here.
A major U.S. effort in Afghanistan makes no sense in its own right: a faraway country with very limited resources and a history of hostility to invaders. But Afghanistan was intimately involved with the World Trade Center attack — a major psychological blow to the American people, and that has given Afghanistan a major psychological tie in U.S. minds. The present focus on Afghanistan, as articulated by President Barack Obama, "has a clear mission and defined goals — to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda and its extremist allies."
"We Deeply Regret"
“We deeply regret” are words that almost always end with something terrible.
60-Second Expert: Afghanistan: What Are These People Thinking?
The Obama administration consistently fails to learn the lessons of Vietnam in Afghanistan. It mischaracterizes the Taliban threat, has not deployed an adequate number of troops, and faces waning support from the public. Despite the hopelessness of the task, the administration continues its delusional policies.
Afghanistan and the German Peace Movement
On September 4, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force conducted an airstrike on a fuel tank hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan. The attack killed dozens of people including civilians, according to NATO sources. However the German Minister of Defense, Franz Josef Jung, has stubbornly denied that the attack harmed civilians, insisting instead that “only Taliban were killed.” Jung even verbally attacked NATO and EU statements on the topic, saying that “other countries should not interfere.”