NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence: Afghanistan

Afghanistan - Afghan war trend worse than Iraq: U.S. trainer

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:09:25 GMT

Reuters - LTC John Nagl comments on the situation in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan - Battle Company Is Out There

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:38:36 GMT

New York Times Magazine - The counterinsurgency in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley is one day after another of difficult decisions and bloody consequences. Hearts and minds are hardening.

Miscellaneous - The Professional

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:56:31 GMT

New York Times - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the anti-Rumsfeld: cautious, courteous and conciliatory. But will that be enough to bring Washington together on Iraq and Iran?

Afghanistan - Think tank: Surge now needed in Afghanistan

Michael D'Alessandro — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:12:26 GMT

Army Times - Sean Naylor writes that the American Enterprise Institute, the think tank that came up with the “surge” strategy for Iraq, has just completed a re-evaluation of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan and concluded that another surge of U.S. forces is required, this time into southern Afghanistan.

Air Warfare - Rex Replay

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:59:56 GMT

Air Force - Once again, as in 1938, the bombers show they can find ships at sea.

Afghanistan - Into the Valley of Death

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:42:05 GMT

Vanity Fair - A strategic passage wanted by the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley is among the deadliest pieces of terrain in the world for U.S. forces. One platoon is considered the tip of the American spear. Its men spend their days in a surreal combination of backbreaking labor-building outposts on rocky ridges-and deadly firefights, while they try to avoid the mistakes the Russians made. Sebastian Junger and photographer Tim Hetherington join the platoon’s painfully slow advance, as its soldiers laugh, swear, and run for cover, never knowing which of them won’t make it home.

Afghanistan - In Counterinsurgency Class, Soldiers Think Like Taliban

Michael D'Alessandro — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 11:20:04 GMT

Wall Street Journal - An inside look at the US Army's new Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Academy.

Nuclear Warfare - Missteps in the Bunker

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:05:48 GMT

Washington Post - Security failures at multiple levels last month led to six missiles being flown across America for 36 hours without notice, U.S. Air Force sources show.

Afghanistan - The Taliban's Opium War

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 10:03:21 GMT

New Yorker - The difficulties and dangers of the poppy eradication program in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan - A double spring offensive

Michael D'Alessandro — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 09:45:53 GMT

Economist - After a dreadful year in Afghanistan, a newly confident NATO is preparing itself to take on the Taliban. Success will be difficult, but not impossible.

Afghanistan - On patrol with the Marines in Afghanistan

Michael D'Alessandro — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 09:57:08 GMT

Daily Telegraph - British forces in Afghanistan have been fighting the Taliban at the strategic Kajaki dam this week. Film-maker Chris Terrill is spending a year with the Royal Marines and has just returned. Here, in a powerful dispatch, he tells how the soldiers, including one since killed in action, engaged the enemy

Afghanistan - Conversations with the general

Michael D'Alessandro — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 09:14:03 GMT

The Economist - The Economist's defense correspondent visits British troops, including Royal Marines, in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan - NATO's failure portends a wider war

Michael D'Alessandro — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:21:03 GMT

International Herald Tribune - Ahmed Rashid comments on the current state of affairs in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan - Taking the Fight to the Taliban

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:58:05 GMT

New York Times Magazine - The experience of American soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan shows what a counterinsurgency can, and cannot, do.

Afghanistan - Return of the Taliban

Michael D'Alessandro — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:44:58 GMT

Nearly 5 years after the Taliban were toppled, Al Qaeda and the Taliban continue to use Pakistan as a de facto base, virtual unchallenged and far out of America's reach.

Here is the Transcript.

Afghanistan - In the Land of the Taliban

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:54:32 GMT

New York Times Magazine - A journey through the tribal borderlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where drug smuggling, anger at warlords and age-old resentments could be preparing the way for a restoration of the radicals.

US Marines - Iraq-Bound, Without Reservations

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 11:55:49 GMT

Washington Post - A look at the reserve's 4th Civil Affairs Group as it prepares for its third tour in Iraq.

Afghanistan - U.S. Airstrikes Rise In Afghanistan as Fighting Intensifies

Michael D'Alessandro — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 09:29:09 GMT

Washington Post - Thomas Ricks notes as fighting in Afghanistan has intensified over the past three months, the U.S. military has conducted 340 airstrikes there, more than twice the 160 carried out in the much higher-profile war in Iraq, according to data from the Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East.

Afghanistan - Air heads: Misperceptions and rivalries obscure air power's potential

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 09:36:21 GMT

Armed Forces International - William Arkin writes on the role that airpower played, and could have played, in the initial phases of the campaign in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan - US sets up £215m deal for Afghan arms - from Russia

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 22 May 2006 09:57:44 GMT

Daily Telegraph - American defence officials have secretly requested a "prodigious quantity" of ammunition from Russia to supply the Afghan army in case a Democrat president takes over in Washington and pulls out US troops.

Afghanistan - Navy's role in Afghanistan grows

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 22 May 2006 09:56:20 GMT

Virginian Pilot - With the war in Iraq straining U.S. Army and Marine units, missions in Afghanistan are increasingly being turned over to the Navy and Air Force.

Afghanistan - We Were Abandoned

Michael D'Alessandro — Mon, 22 May 2006 10:01:08 GMT

Macleans - An elite unit of Canadian snipers went from standouts to outcasts -- victims, many say, of a witch hunt driven by jealousy and fear.