The Long War

by David Loyn

  27  SIGAR; report to the U.S. Congress; July 30, 2020.

  28  Nordland, Rod; New York Times; April 6, 2016; https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/afghanistan-helmand-opium-poppy.html.

  29  Rasmussen, Sune Engel; Guardian; April 30, 2017; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/30/it-feels-like-groundhog-day-us-marines-return-to-helmand-province-afghanistan.

  30  Haqqani, Husain; New York Times; July 6, 2017; https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/06/opinion/to-win-afghanistan-get-tough-on-pakistan.html.

  31  Senate Armed Services Committee; February 17, 2017.

  32  Logan, Lara; “Kabul Under Seige While America’s Longest War Rages On”; 60 Minutes, CBS; June 3 2018.

  33  ANI; February 18, 2018; https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/no-terror-outfit-camps-exist-on-pakistan-soil-gen-bajwa201802180856310001/.

  34  Senate Armed Services Committee hearing; February 27, 2017.

  35  Rowlatt, Justin; Afghanistan Fighting the Forever War; BBC; March 12, 2018.

  36  Pentagon press conference; May 30, 2018.

  37  Senate Armed Services Committee; September 22, 2016.

  38  BBC News; January 25, 2019.

  39  BBC News; September 16, 2019.

  40  Pentagon press conference; May 30, 2018.

  CHAPTER 16: TALKING TO THE TALIBAN—II

    1  Author interview.

    2  Mashal, Mujib; New York Times; March 29, 2018; https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/world/asia/afghan-helmand-hunger-strike.html.

    3  Agence France-Presse; March 31, 2018.

    4  Mashal, Mujib; New York Times; June 15, 2018; https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/world/asia/afghanistan-peace-march-.html.

    5  Farrell, Theo, and Semple, Michael; Ready for Peace? The Taliban After a Decade of War; RUSI; January 31, 2017; https://rusi.org/publication/briefing-papers/ready-peace-afghan-taliban-after-decade-war.

    6  CBC News; January 13, 2016; https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/colin-rutherford-released-afghanistan-taliban-1.3399377.

    7  Author interview.

    8  Rubin; Afghanistan—What Everyone Needs to Know; p284.

    9  Khaama Press; February 24, 2016.

  10  Rubin, Barnett; New Yorker; June 4, 2016; https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-the-u-s-strike-on-the-taliban-means-for-peace-in-afghanistan.

  11  Craig, Tim, Olivo Antonio and Ryan, Missy; Washington Post; May 23, 2016; https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/airstrike-on-taliban-leader-escalates-us-involvement-in-afghan-war/2016/05/22/f26ced5a-2014–11e6-aa84–42391ba52c91_story.html.

  12  Gall, Carlotta; New York Times; August 9, 2017; https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/09/world/asia/taliban-leader-feared-pakistan-before-he-was-killed.html.

  13  Ibid.

  14  Yusufzai, Rahimullah; Arab News; March 1, 2018; https://www.arabnews.com/node/1256866/%7B%7B.

  15  Barker, Memphis; June 17, 2018; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/17/taliban-refuse-to-extend-truce-with-afghan-forces.

  16  Ibid.

  17  Mashal Mujib; New York Times; September 2 2018; https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/02/world/asia/afghan-commander-us-john-nicholsonhtml.

  18  Lawrence, J. P.; Stars and Stripes; August 17, 2019; https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/a-decadelong-program-to-turn-the-tide-in-afghanistan-is-ending-long-after-military-shifted-its-focus-1.594651.

  19  Rubin; Afghanistan—What Everyone Needs to Know; p274.

  20  Author interview with Afghan involved in the talks; it was Noorzai whom Colonel Jason Amerine had wanted to exchange for Bowe Bergdahl in 2014.

  21  CBS News; March 14, 2019; https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghanistan-us-envoy-zalmay-khalilzad-undermining-ghani-hamdullah-mohib-says/.

  22  U.S. embassy in Kabul press release.

  23  Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China; July 12, 2019; https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjdt_665385/2649_665393/t1680481.shtml.

  24  Congressional Research Service; July 15 2019; https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11270.

  CHAPTER 17: ELECTION AND AFTER

    1  Crane, Conrad C.; “Phase IV Operations—Where Wars are Really Won”; Military Review; May/June 2005.

    2  Author interview.

    3  Even when it was ruled that there would be tribal identity onto the cards, it included only the fourteen tribes named in the Afghan constitution, leaving eight aggrieved small minorities, who needed to side with an identity they did not own to be seen as citizens.

    4  Jakes, Lara; New York Times; September 19, 2019; https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/world/asia/us-afghanistan-aid.html.

    5  Thanks to Shazia Haya from the BBC bureau in Kabul for this research.

    6  Author interview.

    7  See Crile, George; Charlie Wilson’s War—The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History; Atlantic Books; 2003.

    8  Adili, Ali Yawar, Bjelica, Ruttig, Thomas; Afghanistan Analysts Network; October 22 2019; https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/afghanistans-2019-election-20-even-lower-turnout-figures/.

    9  George, Susannah; Washington Post; Febrruary 26 2020; https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/afghanistan-us-taliban-peace-deal/2020/02/26/0cf11080–57d8–11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html.

  10  Ibid.

  11  The event was witnessed by the author, invited as a guest at the inauguration.

  12  Loyn, David; In Afghanistan.

  13  Crane, Conrad C.; “Phase IV Operations—Where Wars are Really Won”; Military Review; May/June 2005.

  14  Dobbins, James; Preparing for Nation-Building; Survival, Vol. 48, No. 3; 2006; https://doi.org/10.1080/00396330600905486.

  15  Afghanistan Study Group report; February 3 2021; USIP; https://www.usip.org/programs/afghanistan-study-group.

  16  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/04/14/remarks-by-president-biden-after-wreath-laying-at-section-60-of-arlington-national-cemetery/

  17  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/opinion/afghanistan-taliban-army.html

  INDEX

  The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

  Abdullah, Abdullah

  Abizaid, John

  Abrams, Creighton

  Abu Risha, Abdul Sattar

  Accelerating Success

  Achakzai, Abdul Raziq

  Afghan development zones (ADZ)

  Afghan Local Police (ALP)

  Afghan National Army

  casualties of

  desertions in

  Taliban and

  Afghan National Security Council

  Afghan National Security Forces

  Afghanistan1

  illusion of victory in

  Phase One 2001–2006

  Phase Two 2006–2009

  Phase Three 2009–2011

  Phase Four 2011–2014

  Phase Five 2015–2011

  war in north 2001

  war in south 2001

  weather in

  Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF)

  AfPak

  Agha, Tayyib

  agricultural experts

  Ahmad, Haji

  Ahmad, Mahmud

  Ahmad, Sardar

  Ahmadzai, Akmal Ghani

  Aikins, Matthieu

  airpower (air strikes)

  against Canada

  civilian casualties from

  Kunduz hospital and

  Akhunzada, Mullah Haibatullah

  Akhunzada, Sher Mohammad (SMA)

  Alexander, Chris

  Ali, Hazrat

 
; Allen, John R.

  detention centers and

  Karzai, Hamid, and

  Obama and

  Pakistan and

  Allen, Kathy

  ALP. See Afghan Local Police

  Amanullah, King

  Amerine, Jason

  Amerkhel, Aminullah

  Amos, James

  Anaconda strategy

  Al-Anbar Province

  Annan, Kofi

  Anwar, Muhammad

  Arg

  Arghandab Valley

  Army Field Manual 3–24

  Arroyo, Israel

  ARTF. See Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund

  A-Team

  Atmar, Muhammad Hanif

  Atrafi, Auliya

  Australia

  Authorization for Use of Military Force

  Auxiliary Police

  Axis of Evil

  Aynoddin

  Azizabad

  B-52 effect

  Back, Gerhard

  Bagram Air Base

  Obama at

  Parwan Detention Facility at

  Bajwa, Qamar Javed

  Baker, James A., III

  Bala Hissar

  Bales, Robert

  Baradar, Mullah

  Barakzai, Nisar

  Barmak, Wais

  Barno, David

  Bashardost, Ramazan

  Basir, Abdul

  Bauguess, Larry

  “bear hunting”

  Bell, Gertrude

  Benghazi

  Bergdahl, Bowe

  Berger, Louis

  Bernsten, Gary

  A Better War (Sorley)

  Biden, Joe

  CT and

  CT-plus and

  withdrawal announcement from

  Bigeard, Marcel

  bilateral security agreement (BSA)

  bin Laden, Osama

  killing of

  in Pakistan

  Black Hawk Down

  Black Watch

  Blair, Tony

  Blake, James M.

  Blanc, Jarrett

  Blinken, Antony

  Bordin, Jeffrey

  Bosnia

  Bradshaw, Adrian

  British

  in Helmand Province

  in Musa Qala

  Operation Medusa by

  Operation Mountain Thrust by

  Broadwell, Paula

  Brostrom, Jonathan

  BSA. See bilateral security agreement

  Buckley, Edgar

  Buckley, Gregory

  Buddha statue destruction

  Bundy, McGeorge

  Bush, George W.

  Axis of Evil of

  Iraq and

  Karzai, Hamid, and

  McNeill, D., and

  nation-building by

  9/11 and

  al-Qaeda and Taliban and

  war on terror of

  Butler, Ed

  Byrd, William

  Cameron, David

  Camp Leatherneck

  Campbell, John F. “JC”

  Obama and

  Canada

  air strike against

  hostage from

  Operation Medusa and

  Canadian Battalion (CANBAT)

  Carter, Ash

  Carter, Nick

  ISAF and

  Petraeus and

  Category IV intelligence

  Cavoli, Chris

  CENTCOM. See Central Command

  Center for Strategic and International Studies

  Central Command (CENTCOM)

  Petraeus and

  Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

  bin Laden and

  CT of

  McChrystal, S., and

  Petraeus and

  Sherzai and

  warlords and

  The Centurions (Lartéguy)

  CERP. See Commander’s Emergency Response Program

  Chandrasekaran, Rajiv

  Chayes, Sarah

  Cheney, Dick

  Chretien, Marc

  Churchill, Winston S.

  CIA. See Central Intelligence Agency

  civilian casualties

  from air strikes

  in battle for Kabul

  from meteor strikes

  by Taliban

  at wedding parties

  Civilian Casualty Tracking Cell

  CJTF-Mountain

  Clapper, Jim

  Clark, Wesley

  Clarke, Michael

  Clifford, Clark

  Clinton, Bill

  Clinton, Hillary

  Eikenberry and

  Pakistan and

  Taliban and

  Cohen, Eliot

  COIN. See counterinsurgency

  Coll, Steve

  Combat Fitness Test

  Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP)

  Cone, Robert

  conflict resolution cell

  Conway, James

  COP Keating

  Cordesman, Anthony

  CORDS program

  corruption

  COIN and

  Karzai, Hamid, and

  USAID and

  of warlords

  counterinsurgency (COIN)

  corruption and

  in Iraq

  McChrystal, S., on

  McKiernan, D., and

  McNeill, D., and

  Obama and

  Petraeus on

  in Vietnam

  Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice (Galula)

  counterterrorism-plus (CT-plus)

  counterterrorist tactics (CT)

  of CIA

  Dunford, J., and

  COVID-19

  Cowper-Coles, Sherard

  Craddock, Bantz

  Crane, Conrad C.

  Crellin, Brent

  cricket

  Cripwell, Richard

  Crocker, Ryan

  Crumpton, Hank

  CT. See counterterrorist tactics

  CT-plus. See counterterrorism-plus

  Cubbison, Douglas

  Cunningham, James

  customs revenues

  Dailey, Dell

  Daoud, Muhammad

  Daudzai, Muhammad Umer

  David McKiernan

  Davis, Dickie

  Davis, Skip

  Dawlatzai, Esmatullah

  Dayton Accords

  DEA. See Drug Enforcement Agency

  Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

  Dempsey, Marty

  Department for International Development (DFID)

  detention centers. See also Parwan Detention Facility

  prisoner releases from

  DFID. See Department for International Development

  DIA. See Defense Intelligence Agency

  Dickinson, Scott

  disarmament

  Dobbins, Jim

  Docherty, Leo

  Donahue, Pat

  Dostum, Abdul Rashid

  drones

  against Mansour

  in Pakistan

  Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

  Dunford, Ellyn

  Dunford, Joseph F., Jr.

  BSA and

  CT and

  NATO and

  Obama and

  prisoner releases and

  Trump and

  Dupree, Louis

  Dupree, Nancy Hatch

  Durand Line

  Dutton, Jim

  DynCorp

  Eggers, Jeff

  Eid cease-fire

  Eide, Kai

  XVIII Airborne Corps

  eighty secure districts plan

  Eikenberry, Karl

  Clinton, H., and

  Karzai, Hamid, and

  Eisenhower, Dwight

  Elizabeth, Queen

  Equality for Peace and Democracy

  expeditionary advisory packages

  Facebook

  Fahim, Muhammad Qasim

  Faizi, Aimal

  Fallon, William “Fox”

  Far
khunda

  Farnood, Sherkan

  Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)

  Fenzel, Mike

  Fergusson, James

  Ferozi, Khalilullah

  1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne

  Five Pillars (magic carpet)

  Fixed Failed States (Ghani, Ashraf)

  Fixing Failed States (Loyn)

  Flournoy, Michèle

  food aid

  Four-Hundred-Bed hospital

  Fox, David

  France/French

  Franks, Tommy

  Fraser, David

  Freakley, Ben

  Freedom’s Sentinel

  Fuller, Peter

  Galbraith, Peter

  Gall, Carlotta

  Galula, David

  Galvin, Jack

  Gandamack Lodge

  GAO. See Government Accountability Office

  Garmser

  Gates, Robert

  Helmand Province and

  McChrystal, S., and

  McKiernan, D., and

  Mullen and

  Obama and

  Petraeus and

  terms sheet by

  General McMahon (fictional character)

  General Orders 100

  Germany/Germans

  Gerson, Michael

  Ghafour, Mullah

  Ghamsharik, Haji Zaman

  Ghani, Ajmal

  Ghani, Ashraf

  Abdullah and

  Campbell and

  Eid cease-fire and

  in election of 2019

  IS and

  Khalilzad and

  Pakistan and

  warlords and

  Gilani, Ali Haider

  Gilchrist, Peter

  Government Accountability Office (GAO)

  Graham, Lindsey

  Graham, Mark

  Grant, Ulysses S.

  Green Berets

  Greene, Harold

  green-on-blue attacks

  Gregory, David

  Grenier, Robert

  Grossman, Marc

  Ground Zero

  Guantánamo Five

  Guggenheim, Scott

  Haass, Richard

  Habibullah, King

  Hagel, Chuck

  Hagenbeck, Franklin