Tag: Taliban

How the Taliban Defeated the Pentagon’s “Best and Brightest”

Sat., 15-Aug-26, is the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s victory over the US. In a 20-minute podcast, two discussants analyze the intellectual failures that led to the US’s strategic defeat. It is based on Shivan Mahendrarajah’s article in “Small Wars & Insurgencies,” and “is a scathing indictment of Generals Petraeus, McChrystal, et al., who brought military hardware to a political battlefield.” The “Afghan Surge” was doomed from day one. Generals were blind to the Taliban’s Maoist “revolutionary warfare” strategy (Rev. War = Guerrilla Activity + Political Activity); and systematic development of “parallel hierarchies” (shadow state) throughout rural villages.

CIA’s Hunt for bin Laden

Netflix’s recent documentary, “American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden,” features CIA and National Security players from that era who inadvertently expose CIA’s institutional incompetence. As one Congressman said “the truth is we have an intelligence network that is so dumb they could throw themselves at the ground and miss.” Clips and comments in the post.

Afghan Follies

Installation of a new administration should be occasion for evaluation of foreign policy and for adjustments, but Marco Rubio’s statements about the Taliban portend enhanced misery for 42 million Afghans suffering under the Islamic Emirate. Influence of Afghan émigré groups, viz., “National Resistance Front,” will prevent the Trump Administration from forging a diplomatic path to Kabul that enhances U.S. National Security.