Independent journalist Anand Gopal discusses why counterinsurgency strategy works better in theory than in practice; the short term PR victories in Afghanistan that create long term problems; the only two policy choices deemed worthy of popular consideration: continue the Afghan War forever, or scale down to night raids while moving into Pakistan; how the ‘denying al-Qaeda sanctuary’ justification for US military deployments ignores the real reasons the 9/11 attacks succeeded; why the Taliban’s Iranian-sourced weapons are more likely from black market deals than the Iranian government; and how the India-Pakistan rivalry ensures a continued stalemate in Afghanistan.
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