I’m watching Rory Stewart’s narration of the life of Lawrence (yes, that Lawrence). On difficult terrain: can’t patrol it with small units, because those units can then be ambushed; can’t garrison it, because units there couldn’t be resupplied. So much… Read More ›
Afghanistan
Message to Exum: Political Endorsement Doesn’t Make it Right
I’ve been following with interest some of the discussion of MGen Michael Flynn’s views on intelligence reform for the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. It revisits the debate on civil-military relations that came up back in September when Flynn’s ISAF boss,… Read More ›
Omnivore 08/01/2010
A Sobering Statistic For Aspiring Academics // Savage Minds On the Gulf Between Academia and Journalism // Daniel Bennett Journalism Academics Must Learn From Multimedia Reporters // Tim Luckhurst Measuring the Impact of Charisma // (via) MIT Media Lab Google… Read More ›
Afghan Hands – The Blog
A little over a week ago, I made a return visit to the ISAF webpages to poke around. It looks like some changes have been in the works. The website, which was pretty static before, is all swish now, and… Read More ›
The Battle for Tora Bora
If you haven’t already read Peter Bergen’s TNR piece on the late 2001 battle for Tora Bora, Afghanistan, you should. It’s a page turner, and offers a “definitive account” of “how Osama bin Laden slipped from our grasp.” It definitely… Read More ›