Tag: Afghanistan

  • Why Conservatives Must Reject Trump’s Homonationalism

    Why Conservatives Must Reject Trump’s Homonationalism

    In a RNC nomination acceptance speech widely maligned as dystopian, Donald Trump received rare mainstream media praise for asserting: “Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted LGBTQ community. No good. And we’re going to stop it. As your president, I will…

  • On the Limitations of Air-Power for Counter-Insurgency/ Counter-Terror Operations

    On the Limitations of Air-Power for Counter-Insurgency/ Counter-Terror Operations

    Due to the intentionally vague language of the post-9/11 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), both the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations have been empowered to interpret their counter-terrorism mandate broadly, to include targets from the Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram and other derivatives and affiliates of al-Qaeda—anywhere around the world and indefinitely.…

  • What Was Accomplished in Afghanistan?

    What Was Accomplished in Afghanistan?

    The U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan was justified in large part by highlighting the plight of women under Taliban governance. Within the first weeks of the campaign, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Cherie Blair helped spearhead a highly-effective propaganda effort to convince the public that the U.S. and the U.K. were engaged in a moral war—one…

  • Foreign Policy Fundamentalism

    Foreign Policy Fundamentalism

    Originally published in The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. XXXIX, No. 3 (Summer 2015) Print version available here.   With pomp and polish and platitudes, the 2016 presidential campaign is underway. It began in December, as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush announced he was “actively exploring” a run for the White House. Bush is more moderate than much…

  • If Underpants Gnomes Took Over the Pentagon, Very Little Would Change

    If Underpants Gnomes Took Over the Pentagon, Very Little Would Change

    In the Comedy Central television series South Park, the boys discover a cartel of gnomes who steal people’s underwear. Over the course of the episode it’s revealed that these seizures are part of their business plan which goes:   Step 1: Collect Underpants → Step 2: ? → Step 3: Profit   The punchline, of…

  • Gen. Petraeus Must Face Justice

    Gen. Petraeus Must Face Justice

    The U.S. Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation have recommended felony charges against David Petraeus for giving classified information to his biographer and mistress, Paula Broadwell. While not a crime in itself (because Petraeus was retired from the military at the time the scandal broke), the affair put Petraeus, then director of the Central Intelligence…

  • Normalize Relations with Iran Now, Not Later

    Normalize Relations with Iran Now, Not Later

    In an administration which has become known for largely continuing the disastrous policies of the previous White House and doubling-down on its own proven failures—President Obama stunned the world with his surprise announcement that the United States would be normalizing relations with Cuba. The President pointed out that the extraordinary sanctions regime, which has been…

  • Credibility is about Outcomes, not “Resolve”

    Credibility is about Outcomes, not “Resolve”

    In wake of Vladimir Putin annexing Crimea into the Russian Federation and supporting Eastern separatists against a Ukrainian government it perhaps rightly views as illegitimate, U.S. policy hawks argued the entire crisis could have been prevented: had President Obama followed through on his August 2013 commitment to bomb the Syrian government in retaliation for its…

  • Forget the Islamic State, Focus on the United States

    Forget the Islamic State, Focus on the United States

    America’s War on Sexual Violence, Mass Atrocities & Religious Persecution Should Begin at Home Without question, the so-called “Islamic State” is an abomination that should be wiped from the face of the earth. However, it is unclear whether America is the right agent to see this through. Part of the trouble relates to the Obama Administration’s strategy, which…

  • The Obama Administration’s “Yeminization” of the Mideast

    The Obama Administration’s “Yeminization” of the Mideast

    Earlier this month, the White House unveiled its new foreign policy credo: “Don’t do stupid shit.” While many lamented the modesty of this approach, acting with restraint in order to limit iatrogenesis is certainly a worthy goal—and an approach with wide and enduring popular support—in fact, this is the vision most of Obama’s voters endorsed…

  • A Metacriticism of the U.S. Drone Program

    A Metacriticism of the U.S. Drone Program

    “Before we can talk about what is ‘effective’ we have to talk about what the goal is of using military force at all. Is it to make Americans safer? Is it to keep Afghanis, Pakistanis or Yemenis safe? What’s the goal?  The question of being ‘effective’ – if you’re asking do drones work to kill…

  • Barack Hussein Obama, Moderate Neoconservative

    Barack Hussein Obama, Moderate Neoconservative

    In early 2003, Saddam Hussein’s regional and international allies were all warning him that an American invasion was imminent. Hussein’s reply was basically, “I know Washington’s tone is getting aggressive, but they aren’t going to try to remove me. I’m the only one in the region who is really taking the fight to the terrorists…

  • Afghanistan Faces a Post-Modern Security Crisis

    Afghanistan Faces a Post-Modern Security Crisis

    So far in 2012, NATO forces have seen a 45% increase in “insider attacks” against coalition forces by their Afghan security counterparts, accounting for more than 18% of the total 2012 NATO casualties. Beyond the loss of life, these attacks have had a devastating impact on the trust and cooperation between NATO and Afghan forces,…