Afghan Training Mission Faces Tough Obstacles
03 December 2009
, The Associated Press, 3 December 2009
EXCERPT: "America's eight-year effort to build a functional Afghan security force has been a study in slow motion, raising doubts about President Barack Obama's new plan to quickly get the nation's army and police in shape so U.S. forces can begin to leave in 18 months. A lack of competence, resources and confidence have hampered Afghanistan's...
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Panel Criticizes US Military's Use of Embedded Anthropologists
03 December 2009
, The New York Times, 3 December 2009
EXCERPT: "A two-year-old Pentagon program that assigns social scientists to work with military units in Iraq and Afghanistan has come under sharp criticism from a panel of anthropologists who argue that the undertaking is dangerous, unethical and unscholarly. The committee, which released the [pdf] on Thursday at the annual meeting...
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Deadly Vanguards: A Study of al-Qaeda's Violence Against Muslims
03 December 2009
Scott Helfstein, Nassir Abdullah & Muhammad al-Obaidi, , Combating Terrorism Center - West Point, 3 December 2009
EXCERPT: "In a 2007 online forum, al-Qa'ida's second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri, confronted questions about the organization's use of violence and especially violence against Muslims. Zawahiri and other leaders have defended al-Qa'ida's...
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"Shape, Clear, Hold, and Build:" The Uncertain Metrics of the Afghan War
03 December 2009
Anthony H. Cordesman, , Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2 December 2009
EXCERPT: "The brief shows the rise in violence from 2001 to the present. It tracks the comparative US efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the failure to properly resource the Afghan War. It looks at the expansion of Taliban influence over time, and the rise in the intensity of the...
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