Image via Wikipedia
The British retreat from Kabul commenced on January 6, 1842. Snow had been falling steadily for nearly 3 weeks. The 4,500 British troops and 12,000 camp followers set off through horrid conditions on what they thought would be an unopposed passage to Jalalabad ninety miles away in British India. Most knew from the outset that traversing the Afghan mountain passes in winter with little food would be deadly… More>>
Posted in Afghanistan, Essays, History, Middle East, War
Image via Wikipedia
The “fortified Green Zone” in the heart of one of Islam’s sacred cities is a symbol of subjugation to millions of Iraqis and Muslims worldwide. Now there is the addition of the new multi-million dollar embassy smack dab in the middle of it all. This is no ordinary embassy mind you– no, this is the biggest US embassy in the world—a sprawling 21 building complex—which houses a small army of diplomats and bureaucrats. It also serves as a depressing reminder to Iraqis of their country’s new foreign administrators.
Ironically the lucrative contract to build this mega-monstrosity was given to a firm from, of all places, Kuwait– the country, along with the US, that millions of Iraqis hold most responsible for their misery and ruin.
Add all of the other forts and checkpoints we’ve constructed throughout the country and, well– pretty humiliating huh? Not exactly the behavior of people who are planning on leaving soon.
Here is what Niccolo Machiavelli had to say about such matters in The Prince:
CHAPTER XX
Are Fortresses, And Many Other Things To Which Princes Often Resort, Advantageous Or Hurtful?
“For this reason the best possible fortress is — not to be hated by the people, because, although you may hold the fortresses, yet they will not save you if the people hate you, for they will never be wanting for foreigners to assist a people who have taken arms against you. It has not been seen in our times that such fortresses have been of use to any prince, unless to the Countess of Forli, when the Count Girolamo, her consort, was killed; for by that means she was able to withstand the popular attack and wait for assistance from Milan, and thus recover her state; and the posture of affairs was such at that time that the foreigners could not assist the people. But fortresses were of little value to her afterwards when Cesare Borgia attacked her, and when the people, her enemy, were allied with foreigners. Therefore it would have been safer for her, both then and before, not to have been hated by the people than to have had the fortresses. All these things considered then, I shall praise him who builds fortresses as well as him who does not, and I shall blame whoever, trusting in them, cares little about being hated by the people.”
Posted in Essays, History, Iraq, Middle East, Philosophy, Politics, US Military, War
Tagged Cesare Borgia, Fortification, Green Zone, Niccolò Machiavelli, Prince
Image via Wikipedia
Original Post – September 14, 2007 by Crooked Timber:
With the anniversary of 9/11 as backdrop, General David Petraeus, after months of tense build-up, suddenly emerged from the trenches and unleashed a frontal assault designed to besiege the airwaves– he was a one-man human wave attack…. More>>
Posted in Essays, History, Iraq, Middle East, US Military, War
Tagged David Petraeus, International Security Assistance Force, Iraq, Iraq War, Pentagon, Robert Gates
Image via Wikipedia
A new team is taking over the U.S. effort in Iraq. For the first time since 2004, there is a fresh U.S. commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, and he is an expert on counterinsurgency tactics… More>>
Posted in Essays, History, Iraq, Middle East, Politics, US Military, War
Tagged David Petraeus, Iraq, Iraq War
Image via Wikipedia
In the movie Three Kings the heist involved a truckload of Saddam’s gold, but in reality the prizes are even bigger… More>>
Posted in Essays, History, Iraq, Middle East, US Military, War
Image via Wikipedia
From the New Yorker, February 14 & 21, 2100:
“The investigation into Kabul Bank was run by a remarkable but little-known group of Americans working at the Embassy called the Afghan Threat Finance Cell. Their findings are considered so sensitive that almost no one—generals, diplomats, the investigators themselves—is willing to talk about them publicly… More>>
Posted in Afghanistan, Asia, History, Middle East, News Articles, Politics
Tagged Afghanistan, Dexter Filkins, Hamid Karzai, Kabul Bank, New Yorker, Politics of Afghanistan
Image via Wikipedia
This look back features an essay written when the Iraq War was at a crucial turning point in the spring of 2007…More>>
Posted in Essays, History, Iraq, Middle East, Politics, US Military, War
Tagged 2003 invasion of Iraq, History, Iraq, Iraq War, Politics, Warfare and Conflict
Image via Wikipedia
On February 14, 1979 a largely overlooked news story flashed briefly across the wires–about a shootout in a hotel in Kabul. As it turned out, what happened there had enormous implications for the world. At the time though, the story was nudged off the front pages by events happening elsewhere… more>>
Posted in Afghanistan, Asia, Cold War, Essays, History, Middle East, Politics, Vietnam, War
Tagged Afghanistan, Asia, Essays, Kabul, StumbleUpon
NPR – Talk of the Nation NPR – All Things Considered NPR- Fresh Air with Terry Gross Free Speech Radio News ThinkProgress.org KPFA Evening News KPFA – Against the Grain KPFA – Flashpoints KPFA – Living Room KPFA – Terra Verde The Onion LaborStart.org AFL-CIO.org AP News Feed NY Times News Feed ITN News Feed Union Communication Services ILWU News Feed
