... for the rest of his life. His personality was too strong, his profile too high, and the insecurity in Washington too pervasive to give him such a platform. At the end of his life, he fails to connect with President Obama as the envoy for Afghanistan. Holbrooke Richard C A Pardew James W media Kelly Michael...

...American landpower has failed in the wars of post-9/11, particularly while combating the insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq. The United States and its allies have a lot to learn before successes can be achieved again. Self-appraisal will only occur from studies like this one. Afghanistan Iraq...

...This chapter contends that the United States' inability to conclude the war in Afghanistan has been a direct consequence of its political aim. Policy-makers intended Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) to achieve a state of perpetual prevention that not only eliminated terrorist sanctuaries but also...

...The introduction embeds the book’s main argument within previous commentary and scholarship, and shows how the author’s personal experience can contribute valuable insights to our understanding of what went wrong in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Specifically, this chapter lays bare the lack of U.S...

...This chapter overviews different reasons why there never was a serious attempt at reconciliation in Afghanistan. These reasons can be found both within the Obama. administration and the complexity of the conflict itself. guerrilla warfare bargaining asymmetries Good Friday Agreement Dobbins...

... coordination of the opening of the Doha office and the transition ceremony from ISAF to Afghan forces set back the relationship. By continuing the drawdown, the U.S. was losing negotiating leverage. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Karzai Hamid Omar Mullah Mohammad Agha Mohammad Tayyab Doha Qatar Grossman...

...This chapter examines two facets of Obama’s military choices in Afghanistan, including the two troop surges in Afghanistan in 2009 and the evolution of his drone-strike policies. It focuses on how President Obama interacted with Congress over these aspects of his foreign- and military-policy...

...The Epilogue relates the Conflict in Vietnam with the Afghanistan War, arguing that there are lessons to be learned from the defeats of South Vietnam and Cambodia that can be applied current U.S. efforts, specifically that United States military aid to embattled nations must be matched by its...

...As this chapter shows, the situation in Afghanistan barely changde as Obama took over the presidency. Having promised to end the war soon, Obama was ready to increase resources – as demanded by McChrystal’s assessment – based on the assumption that a short, targeted campaign could bring the war...

... client relationship s Bonn process High Peace Council HPC Islamic State of Afghanistan ISA Jamiat e Islami Afghanistan Party Agha Mohammad Tayyab al Qaeda confirmation bias Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Omar Mullah Mohammad Doha Qatar Inter Services Intelligence ISI Pakistan Baradar Mullah...

...The final chapter on the Afghanistan case study argues that the Obama administration agreed to withdraw from Afghanistan when the country’s situation was highly unsatisfactory, and U.S. leverage was at a low point. The Taliban remained resilient, and the Afghan government plagued with problems...

...This chapter compares the insights from both case studies to show how the lack of war termination terminology led the U.S. to adopt myopic strategies aimed at decisive victory while ignoring the critical factors for such victory. In both Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. military invasion gave way...

... Donald air interdiction close air support CAS Johnson Lyndon Vietnam War Hussein Saddam Operations Schwarzkopf Norman al Qaeda Cheney Richard military intelligence Aideed Mohamed Farrah Kosovo Milosovic Slobodan Serbia Afghanistan Iraq Northern Alliance in Afghanistan special operations...

... the unit's successes. Afghanistan Operation Enduring Freedom Accelerating Success plan counterinsurgency operations COIN critical views of the 2007 Iraq Surge and 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit Forward Operating Base Rhino Global War on Terrorism GWOT Bush Doctrine and Marine Air Ground Task Forces...

... analyzes the application of the CAP concept in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, CAPs never materialized beyond a few Marine units. Unlike in the Vietnam War, CAPs in Iraq were comprised of hundreds of Marines who monitored small cities with tens of thousands of civilians. In Afghanistan, the number...

...The quality of military leadership among the counterinsurgents was inadequate. Inadequate counterinsurgent numbers of course resulted from several factors. One was the aforementioned failure, notably in French Vietnam and Soviet Afghanistan, to cut off outside aid to the insurgents, while in turn...

... and the causes of Soviet behavior. Chapter 4 discredits the claim that the Soviet Union became more cooperative with the West and withdrew from its war in Afghanistan because the Reagan administration compelled it to do so. It demonstrates that a reform movement had been growing in the USSR since the 1950s...

... Afghanistan Central Command CENTCOM Central Intelligence Agency CIA assistant deputy director of operations DoD CIA relationship global war on terrorism GWOT Herspring Dale Northern Alliance Rumsfeld’s Wars Herspring September Special Operations Command SOCOM “war on terror ” counterterrorism...

...This chapter discusses U.S. planning and assumptions before the invasion of Afghanistan. The Bush administration, with President Bush’s dislike of nation-building, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld’s preference for light, technological solutions, and the idea that Afghanistan was only one of many fronts...

...This chapter addresses early events in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime. The United States took steps to create a new government and constitution, but was preoccupied with the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Meanwhile, an internal struggle to fill the power vacuum ensued between local...